November 21, 2024 • 35 mins
In this episode, Arthi is joined by Susi Astengo, Founder of CoachMatching. Susi gives us insight into her personal life and how key life changes necessitated her pivoting her career towards starting her own business. Sixteen years later, through navigating being a single mum (to a son she loves dearly and is so proud of), undergoing a major health situation, to new country dynamics to operate a business in, Susi has built a highly-respected (and been accoladed for) Coaching and Leadership development practice and coaching platform.
Susi shares that throughout all the challenges her superpower has been to be able to reinvent the business through continuous improvement and keeping abreast of emerging trends, while maintaining high standards in coaching practice.
Susi shares key lessons about how she manages the balance of being in the business and working on the business.
Her 3 tips for all entrepreneurs: to know your target market, stay connected, & don't be afraid to fail.
Some wise words from Susi:
- “just put one foot in front of the other, just do the next step”
- “if you start to worry about all the things that can go wrong, you probably wouldn't ever do anything”
- “we learn most from when we fail, not from when we're successful. So to know and to also to be prepared to see it as a cycle, and a bit like a roller coaster ride, there are going to be lots of highs, and then there'll be some lows, and actually, this too shall pass.”
Listen to the full episode for so much more insights and ideas offered by my wonderful guest!
About Susi Astengo:
Over 30 years’ experience with UK, South African & Multinational Companies from many sectors including Banking & Finance, FMCG, Telco’s, Production & Manufacturing, Retail, Education, Pharmaceutical, Oil & Gas and Fintech. Susi is a seasoned professional, with a proven ability to create simplicity from complexity & quickly understand key issues & work with her clients to identify the most appropriate & effective solutions. Susi is an effective communicator in both small or large groups and is able to modify the message to best suit the audience's needs. She is an energetic speaker, is adaptable, can react well in the moment and is able to blend humour & serious messages for maximum impact. Susi has chosen to focus on Coaching and Mentoring as a means for transformation at both an individual, team and organisational level and her vision is to democratize coaching. In 2024 she was “highly commended woman in Tech” at the Africa Tech Awards. In 2016 she won the Business woman of the Year award in the established entrepreneur category.
She is also a cancer survivor and the proud single mother of a 20 year old son, currently studying at Stellenbosch University.
Connect with Susi here:
Do rate, write a review and share with others.
Share too, your own insights from your journey based on themes from the episode - what has worked or hasn't for you. We can all learn from each other.
Connect with host Arthi here:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Arthi Rabikrisson (00:15):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the
inspire your life podcast withme, your host, Arthi Rabikrisin,
I believe we find inspirationall around us, especially from
(00:36):
the stories that we all have inus. My aim with the inspire your
life podcast is to bring some ofthose real stories to light,
stories of my guests thatresonate with you and me. It's
by listening to these storiesthat we can be inspired and
motivate ourselves to overcome,find a new path and rise even
(01:02):
higher than we thought possible.
Joining me on the show today isSusi Astengo, founder of coach
matching with over 30 yearsexperience with UK, South
(01:23):
African and multinationalcompanies from many sectors,
including banking and finance,FMCG, telcos, production and
manufacturing, retail,education, pharmaceutical, oil
and gas and fintech. Oh mygoodness, it's quite a list,
isn't it? Everybody you can tellSusi is a seasoned and
inspirational professional. Ican attest to that. Certainly,
(01:46):
Susi has chosen to focus oncoaching and mentoring as a
means for transformation at boththe individual, team and
organizational level, and hervision is to democratize
coaching. This she's bringing tolife with her business coach
matching where over the past 16years, with a team of now 51
coaches in place and fulldisclaimers, I am honored to be
(02:09):
among those esteemed colleaguesof coach matching too. Susi has
built a highly respectedcoaching and leadership
development practice, as well asdeveloping a coaching software
platform. So everyone, don'tjust take my word for it,
because Susi has won awards asan entrepreneur, including most
recently being highlighted ashighly commended women in tech
(02:31):
at the Africa tech awards. I canreally go on and on about the
depth and breadth of Susi'saccomplishments, but safe to
say, this is a woman of statureand I am delighted that in
today's episode, Susi will besharing some of those pieces of
her story of how became themother of invention, as we are
(02:51):
calling the episode today, andyou will soon realize why
everyone. Susi, a warm welcometo the inspire your life
podcast.
Susi Astengo (02:59):
Thank you so much, Arthi, and I'm absolutely
delighted to be here with youtoday, and a little bit humbled
by that introduction. So muchappreciated.
Arthi Rabikrisson (03:09):
Oh no, it's absolutely my pleasure. And I
mean, it was all you Susi sothis is all the things that
you've accomplished, but Iunderstand sometimes when you
hear it out loud, it's like ittakes you back a little bit
well. Yeah, you know, I've, I'mjust hearing a little bit more
on the bio side of things. Toyou. I mean, tell us a little
bit more about yourself. Susi, alittle bit on the personal
(03:31):
inside maybe,
Susi Astengo (03:35):
Sure thing. So, I am divorced. I am originally
British. I arrived in SouthAfrica in 2003 because my then
husband wanted to set up abusiness here. I for my sins. I
married a South African Italian.
It's the same story from thereason that most people move to
different countries. And my sonwas born in 2004 and I'm still
(03:59):
here. We the intention was we'regoing to be here for a year.
Yeah, but Africa got into myblood and under my skin, and it
has actually been very good tome. And in fact, somebody said
to me yesterday, so how manypeople did you know when you
first landed in Cape Town, and Isaid actually three, and one of
(04:22):
them was my husband. So it'squite it's quite something to
look back and think I've doneall of this without any family,
with little support internally.
So it just goes to show that itcan be done. My son is also the
center of my world. If I'm youknow, anybody that knows me will
(04:43):
know that, and I'm delighted tohave have raised a conscious and
emotionally intelligent andwholesome young man, and not
without its trials andtribulations. For sure, those
teenage years are not fun, orthe screemages, as we call them.
And. Definitely not fun, but heis in his second year at
Stellenbosch, and I'm very, veryproud of him. He's just
(05:06):
completed, like his mum, he's abit of an overachiever. I think
he he just completed themarathon and raised R25,000 for
the Cape Peninsula feedingsociety. And it means,
basically, yeah, really, really,really, incredible. It means
that 30 children will eat for ayear as a result of his his
(05:26):
efforts. So that's just a littlebit about about me. And then I
guess, you know, transitioninginto starting coach matching and
and the title of the podcast,need being the mother of
invention, you have alluded totwo things, one being that my
I'm divorced, and the secondbeing that I have a child and
(05:48):
and at the time, in 2007 when Icould kind of see the writing on
the wall around my my personalrelationship, I thought to
myself, you know, what am Igoing to do? You know, if we go
through divorce? At the time, Iwas working as a consultant with
Deloitte and my old consultancy.
I'd been an international HRconsultant for 10 years, based
(06:08):
out of the UK and operating in37 different countries around
the world. And they said to me,why don't you come back and and
head up the consulting team,which, to be honest, was a
really attractive offer at thetime, and then I kind of
reflected on what was my lifelike when I was consulting and
in that role, and I remember theterm primacy of work, and I was
(06:33):
thinking that I was a bit of aworkaholic, but I've never known
anything like it. And for anyconsultants listening in,
they'll be very, very aware thatit is grueling. It's 24/7 on a
Sunday night, on a plane,getting back on a Friday night,
and really only sort of Saturdayto turn your wardrobe around and
go back out again and and I wasabsolutely adamant that I wasn't
(06:56):
going to be doing that, and Iwanted to be present as a
mother, so I looked around andthought, Well, what, you know,
I've got this, this experience,I've got skills, I've got
talent. How do I pivot, really?
I mean, that wasn't a term then,but it is now. And how do I
pivot into a new role and a newlife? Because I didn't want to
(07:19):
to move. And South Africa offerssome, you know, amazing
opportunities. It's there's athere's a great frontier
mentality here. It's much easierto start a business in my
experience here, than it wouldbe in in Europe or in the
States, for example. And so Ithen conducted research into the
coaching industry and set upcoach matching on the back of
(07:42):
that in 2008 and primarily to beable to afford to pay for my
self and my son's lifestyle, butalso to be able to be flexible,
to be present as a mother. And Idon't mean, you know, like 24/7
every single day, because he,you know, he grew up knowing
that that mum was working. Andin fact, when I was awarded the
(08:04):
Business Woman of the Year awardin 2016 I actually took him with
me to the ceremony, because hewas at the I can't remember how
old he was at the time. I thinkhe was probably, well, I could
figure it out it was eight yearsago, so he would have been 12,
and I wanted him to grow uprealizing that what I did and
when I wasn't there for acricket match sometimes, or, you
(08:26):
know, where he had to come andwalk to my office after school
to do his homework. It wasn'tbecause I didn't care or love
him, it was because I was doingsomething important. And I
wanted to inspire him torecognize the the importance of
what it was that we did. And hewas obviously beaming. He was
the only child there, I think,out of about 250 attendees
Arthi Rabikrisson (08:47):
Ah what a proud moment. Yeah,
Susi Astengo (08:49):
very, yeah, very, very, very, very, and he'll
often say, you know, you're myhero. And I remember when I was,
you know, when I was up for thisaward for the women in tech, you
know, he said to me, we werechatting at home, and I said to
him, so, you know, how should Iintroduce myself? And he said,
Well, you know, how aboutentrepreneur and cancer survivor
(09:12):
and tech enabler? He said, andpeople be queuing up. So, yeah,
so that's been a that's a been alittle bit about the history of
why I started coach matching.
Arthi Rabikrisson (09:25):
Yes, I mean, Susi, thank you for sharing
this. I mean this incrediblejourney. And I mean two things
are so apparent to me. Firstly,this, this deep love and pride
for your your family, your son,especially, yes. And you know,
the that being a key impetus tothis, this next love of yours,
which is the work that you'redoing in coach matching as well.
(09:49):
And you know, so many differentchanges happen, you know, in
your personal life, and plusmoving to a completely different
context, coming into SouthAfrica as well. And yes, I mean,
I know a lot of onentrepreneurs, you know, they
undertake that research. Theythink of a business idea, but
often times there's a little bitof failure to start as well. And
(10:09):
Im curious about, you know, whatgave you the courage to kind of
say, You know what? I've donethe research? Yes, there's a
financial need. Yes, I want tobe present for my son, but
actually, I'm feeling braveenough to actually do this ago.
What what went on in your mindto help you make that decision?
Susi Astengo (10:28):
Gosh, that's a really interesting question. Um,
yeah. I mean, people will say,call it courage. I think it's
just from my perspective. I'mquite stubborn, okay, quite
stubborn and dogmatic and and Ido, you know, for those
listeners, you know, myEnneagram profile is 782, so
(10:50):
once I see a vision, it excitesme and energizes me. So I think
that there was less fear andmore excitement. So I think that
you know what was going on atthe time was, yes, of course.
You know, I don't know if it'sgoing to work, and I don't know
how I'm going to make it work,but it felt to me like it was a
really good idea at the time,and and, and that generated
(11:13):
energy and enthusiasm andexcitement. And, you know,
there's a there's a strongparallel between the marathon
run that my son's justcompleted, and my journey
throughout life, and a lot ofpeople's journeys throughout
life, I think, which is just putone foot in front of the other,
just do the next step. Because,you know, if you start to worry
about all the things that can gowrong, you probably wouldn't
(11:36):
ever do anything. You know,there's lots and lots and lots
of things. But, yeah, I think, Ithink it's a case of, I knew
that I had the capability. Ihoped that I would have a little
bit of luck, and I made surethat I surrounded myself with
people who I trusted and whowould kind of just, I think,
(12:00):
believe in me at the time. Sothere was a great deal of self
belief. I knew that I had skill,I knew I had something to offer,
and knew that it was a goodoption, a good vision. And, you
know, the vision at the time wasto professionalize the coaching
industry, and so I was in afield that I felt comfortable
and confident with. I don't knowif that's a helpful answer, but
(12:21):
it was very often. It was justone step at a time. And you
know, the whole thing about failforward. And, you know, fail
fast fail forward. It soundsvery, very cliched. And tries,
my God, have I had many, manyfailures over the years? And
hindsight is always 2020, and Ithink, yeah, absolutely. It's
(12:42):
about not beating yourself up,but learning, yeah, and that's
the that, for me, I think, isthe the silver bullet around
that fail fast and fail forward.
Yeah, I'm naturally quite riskaverse. So when it comes
financially to, you know, sortof, I wouldn't bet the family
silver on things, you know,there'll be a very measured and
considered approach and, youknow, and what I've tended to
(13:05):
do, and I think it's differentto other entrepreneurs as well.
There's, I haven't gone, Ihaven't actually sort of gone
full out and made sure I've gotfancy offices and stationary
and, you know, all of this, youknow, sort of all the external
things are very much focused onthe product and the service.
And, you know, if I've built agood service, and if I've got a
(13:27):
good offering, then I can justgrow all of those sorts of
things. So sort of put my ego toone side. See lots of
entrepreneurs fail because theyin, you know, they spend a huge
amount of money up front beforethey've even got secure
contracts. And my mentor at thetime, I was very lucky that the
(13:49):
first client that we landed wasSantam, and actually there's
still a client today. And I wentto him and I said to him, okay,
fine, so I've got this and anywords of wisdom or tips or
advice, and he said to me, Susi,just do a really good job, and
don't be greedy. And I've neverforgotten that, do a really good
job.
Arthi Rabikrisson (14:12):
No, I mean, so you're talking about, you
know, the knowing, having thispeople you were comfortable
with, the core, kind offoundation of what you are
doing, a little bit of luck, alittle bit of that support from
others. And then, of course,you're talking about some of
these obstacles. That brings meto my next thought and my next
question around this. Becauseabsolutely you know, as as a
(14:34):
founder, an entrepreneur, you'regoing to face a number of these
challenges, both from just beinga business owner, but then also,
more specifically, being a womanin business,
Susi Astengo (14:45):
yeah, for sure. I mean,
Arthi Rabikrisson (14:46):
you've already mentioned a few of the
obstacles and, of course, youknow, being a cancer survivor,
and, I mean, and that'sbrilliant. I completely,
completely, you know, get that,how that must have been such a
big part of you know, how you'veactually business. So maybe
share would ask, what are someof these challenges? What are
(15:06):
some of these that you had toface as a business owner, and
then also as a women?
Susi Astengo (15:13):
You know, it's, I think the obstacles are generic.
When you set up a new business,it's, you know, they're the
general things around cash flowand acquiring talented people
and retaining talent talentedpeople. So I think that many of
the obstacles that I wouldexperience as an entrepreneur
(15:34):
are very similar to those thatanybody would experience in
business. But I think thatthings that are very unique are.
It's really around the abilityto navigate the space between
being a visionary and seeingwhere the future opportunities
lie and having the confidence tolean into those opportunities
(16:00):
versus business as usual. And Ithink that my superpower has
been to be able to keepreinventing coach matching, and
keep adding something new eachtime, so that we have a
competitive advantage. And Ithink that has been one of the
most significant challenges isthat, you know, specifically
(16:21):
within the coaching industry, itis an industry, not a
profession. Basically, any manand his dog can, can call
themselves a coach and and doand you. So it's around. A lot
of the challenges have been,well, why should we trust you?
Yes, you know why you anydifferent and and overcoming
(16:42):
some of the poor, I think, youknow, the poor coaching that's
happened prior to, yeah, yeah,prior to engaging with Coach
matching and to ensure that ourstandards are really high. So it
makes for, you know, it makesfor a great story. And in fact,
somebody said to me the otherday, you know, looks really good
on paper. What it is that coachmatching offers, but does it
(17:05):
work? You know? And that's alsobeen one of the challenges is,
you know, people actually arevery, very busy, and they want
to constantly move on, ratherthan step back and reflect. And
from you know, anybody in theservice industry will know how
important it is to have that ROIdata. So the constantly proving
(17:25):
and constantly proving myselfand having those doubts and
imposter syndrome, because, youknow, there's, you know, that's,
that's real, that's very, veryreal. In fact, I was chatting to
your chap recently, and he, hehe said he struggles. He's also
very, very successfulentrepreneur, and he struggles
from imposter syndrome all thetime, because I suppose that
(17:48):
there, you know, we don't havethe luxury of people telling us
things like your introductionto, you know, to stop and
reflect on. Actually, 16 yearslater and 51 coaches on and an
enviable client list and a greatturnover and good profit
margins. You know, actually, youdid this because we're
(18:12):
constantly focusing on thefuture. So I think that's a it's
a very real challenge for a lotof a lot of entrepreneurs, and
just the loneliness of thedecision making you know it all,
and knowing that you're probablylikely to make a decision that's
going to be wrong and may maynot have enough data or
information to make it with andto make it anyway.
Arthi Rabikrisson (18:36):
Okay, okay, so I mean, Susi, a couple of
things coming up for me here, asyou're speaking, for example,
that loneliness at the top, thatthat balance between being
visionary or strategic versusbeing stuck in the business and
being operational. What would besome of your key lessons or
ideas about how you wouldovercome and and maintain some
of these balances. So forexample, how would you overcome
(18:58):
that loneliness? What, what haveyou done? Or what, what could
you share that would be usefulfor entrepreneurs in that space,
and similarly, managing thatbalance between being in the
business and working on thebusiness type of a situation?
Susi Astengo (19:17):
Yeah, Yeah. So the first one's easy. I actually
created my own, like little miniboard of other other women,
women who I respected and who Itrusted, and they weren't
necessarily, they weren't allentrepreneurs to two were and
one was in corporate and what Ifound really helpful was
(19:39):
maintaining that link intocorporate life, because I think
sometimes entrepreneurs forgetthat things move in corporates
at a snail's pace and and thereare a lot of politics, and there
are a lot of things to navigate,which, as entrepreneurs, you
know you have the benefit ofagility. So I set up that board.
I've always had a mentorthroughout my whole career as an
(20:01):
entrepreneur, and at variouspoints in time, I've also been
coached at various points intime I've been to therapy where,
you know, I felt thatemotionally, I was not in the
greatest of spaces, for example,after cancer and just yeah. So I
think that's for me, it's it'sbeen very much around creating
(20:22):
that support network around me.
Look at the end of the day, itstill rests on my shoulders, and
it's still my decision, andthere's nowhere to run and
there's nowhere to hide. So whenit goes wrong, you have to be
honest with yourself and look atyou know, well, why did it go
wrong? Yeah, I had a period of acouple of years where I really
(20:42):
questioned my own decisionmaking and, and I took that into
my coaching sessions, and weunpacked it together, and a lot
of it was just, you know,unfortunate, you know, sometimes
luck leads you, you know, it's,it's just the life, you know,
life in the world will throwcurveballs at you, and with it
(21:03):
doesn't matter who you are, andwith the best decision making
processes, sometimes, as theysay, shit happens. So it was,
yeah, it was just a case ofdigging deep, being resilient, I
think, at that time, and Ithink, you know, some of the
other things we I considermyself to be incredibly,
(21:25):
incredibly fortunate. And I'mvery grateful for the fact that
this job affords me access to aninordinate amount of information
around personal mastery, right?
So, you know, being exposed toDr Etienne van der Walt, for
example, and eurozone 10 yearsago, when he was looking at
optimal brain body performance,and being involved, being
(21:49):
exposed to Anna Marie, Drannamie Lombard, when she was
looking at sensory intelligenceand all the different
intelligences and and actuallyjust practicing what I preach.
And so, you know, covering thefoundations, making sure that I
stay healthy, that I exerciseregularly, that you know, that
my diet is good, that I have aneffective sleep wake cycle, that
(22:12):
I meditate so that I can silencemy mind when I need to, when it,
you know, it's really, really,really busy and screaming, and
because, you know, there'll besomething critical happening in
the business or in the industry,and to maintain that, that calm,
I guess the calm in the eye ofthe storm.
Arthi Rabikrisson (22:31):
Lovely I mean, as you say, I can hear
that personal mastery, thatsense of self, that reflective
nature. Oftentimes, as you said,we do forget as entrepreneurs to
do that, because we're runningalong at a particular pace,
trying to get these milestones,deadlines and everything else
into into line, but actuallytaking that bit of a pause and
(22:54):
just kind of understanding, youknow, well, where's that line?
Where's that fine line that Ineed to ensure I'm okay,
especially if it's a solopreneurtype of venture. But of course,
if you're leading a team,imagine if we're not showing up
the best versions of ourselvesin order to lead that team
effectively, exactly, yeah,exactly, I'm getting all of that
Susi Astengo (23:15):
And also a little bit around self awareness, you
Arthi Rabikrisson (23:17):
External.
Okay, okay. I mean, Susi, you,know, the Enneagram, the two
things I think that have reallyinfluenced the way that I
engage. The Enneagram reallyhelped me to understand myself,
and I alluded to it earlier. I'man inspirational visionary,
which is fantastic for my role,the active controller, which is
great for getting things done,and the drive and the
considerate helper, which givesme the heart for people, and
(23:38):
knowing that that's my profile,and knowing how to lean into it,
but also understanding when isit not helping me, and when I'm
when am I falling back into theless integrated versions of
that? So that's been reallyhelpful. So I think that's also
about balance, you know, havingthe the internal locus of
control. And I don't meanarrogance or ego, but just the
(24:01):
sense of, you know, this is notmy first rodeo. Reflect on what
you know. How can you do this,as well as the external ballast
and support? And for me, that's,you know, very, very important,
is that balance between theinternal and the external.
(24:23):
you're already giving me and ourlisteners some really, really
beautiful tips and ideas hereabout their journey, and I think
let's crystallize it a littlebit. So with everything that
you've shared, maybe share withus, what do you feel are your
maybe three, three key tips forour listeners, especially for
those who are maybe on that cuspof starting their
(24:45):
entrepreneurial journey, or eventhose who have started but are
having a little bit of doubtsand are not sure if they should
stay the course. What would youoffer?
Susi Astengo (24:54):
So narrowing it down to three is quite
difficult, but I think if Ireflect back on on my journey,
what has helped me is tounderstand my target market and
to stay true to that. So thevision, having the vision to
democratize coaching, and alsohaving the previous vision of
(25:15):
professionalizing coaching, thatkept me on course, because I
think it's very, very easy toget distracted. So know your
true north, identify what thatis, be very clear about your
market and stay connected. So Ithink that would be the second
point is to stay connected. Seekfeedback from your critical
stakeholders in your world andin your market. So make sure
(25:39):
that you are up to date withtrends and research, and don't
be afraid when one of the thingsI did in my first few years,
don't be afraid to actually sitdown with your clients and ask
them, What could I dodifferently? What can I do
better? What would make adifference for you? So to
remember that it's about it'salways, as an entrepreneur, it's
(26:01):
always going to be about themand not you. And if you can
focus on them and not onyourself, I think that will, and
will certainly help you to staythe course. And then I think the
third one, if I can onlyrestrict it to three, is be
prepared to fail. And it's Ihave had my greatest successes.
And I'm sure that's, you know,it's not something that, that
(26:24):
I've invented, is that, but welearn most from when we fail,
not from when we're successful.
So to know and to also to beprepared to see it as a cycle,
and a bit like a roller coasterride, there are going to be lots
of highs, and then there'll besome lows, and actually, this
too shall pass. So at home,that's our motto, this too shall
pass. So whenever having a highreally, really enjoy it, because
(26:46):
this too shall pass. And whenyou're in those low lows, you
know that this too shall pass.
So I think those would be mythose would be my top three.
Arthi Rabikrisson (26:58):
I love that.
So everyone know your know yourtarget market, know your
audience, stay connected to yourmarket as well. I mean, and and
know what the customer islooking for. So so keep them in
mind, as Susi saying, and I lovethis last one that you've
reiterated that that life is aroller coaster. So too is your
business. Know that the highsare going to come and enjoy
them, and when the lows come,grab the opportunities from
(27:20):
there to learn, and then, youknow, Move Move along. Move
ahead, from there too. Soreally, really love that Susi,
you know, and you and coachmatching has been, you know, has
been growing. As you said, it'sover 16 years. There's so much
that's been going on. I've, I'vebeen a part of that for a short
while now, but I can see howamazing things are going. Do you
want to share? Perhaps, whereyou envision the business
(27:44):
growing into and and some of thethings that you might be working
on that you feel would be you'dbe open to share in terms of the
next step?
Susi Astengo (27:53):
Yeah, sure thing.
So, yeah, the coaching industryhas evolved quite significantly.
And I think also with AI andchatgpt and navigate and Claude
and all those sorts of thingscoming. Yeah. So what I see
happening in the world is thatwe're moving from the knowledge
economy, because knowledge isvery easily accessible, into the
relational economy, and as such,the importance of how to connect
(28:18):
is becoming more and more andmore crucial. Is this ever
disconnected world? Wow. Youknow, the irony of the whole
thing is that, you know, withwith social media, we're
supposed to be so connected, andwe are very plugged into stuff,
but we're not necessarilyplugged into each other. And if
we think about creatingpsychologically safe, not soft,
(28:40):
work environments, thenorganizations need to to help
their people, whether those areindividual contributors or those
people in a leadership role. Howdo how do we connect and and so
the the a lot of what we'regoing to be doing is going to be
around that I also see that thethere is a significant shift
(29:05):
away from traditional leadershipdevelopment and leadership
development programs and cultureand transformation, and looking
for those bite sized connectionsand those sort of coaching
circles, and I always refer tothem as your tribe. You know,
who are my people? Who's mytribe and work, who can I trust
and who can who can I ask advicefor? And it's not necessarily
(29:30):
the whole sort of the linearapproach of I don't know how to
do something, so therefore I'mgoing to ask my leader or my
manager. It's I don't know howto do something, I'm going to
ask my peer group. And so Ithink that there is a huge shift
towards creating those socialconnection points. And coaching
is very, very well placed toassist in doing that. So you
(29:52):
know, as you will, you'll know,but the listeners won't know.
We've created a top to bottom,end to end. Fully integrated,
tech enabled coaching solutions.
So that means that right at thevery the very bottom, where
there's huge volume of peoplewho still want advice and
guidance and coaching, but thereisn't a budget there, we've
created the coach bots throughto training up leaders in a
(30:16):
coaching style of leadership andand then looking at the whole
relationship dynamic around youknow, how do I how do I
communicate for connectivity, asopposed to communicating to
command, control and clarify,but communicating to connect,
and that's where I see there's asignificant shift in the
(30:37):
coaching industry, in thecoaching world, and where we can
actually really make adifference. So as you all know,
we're running lots of masterclasses on things like
communicating to connect andthen putting in place those,
those human touch points. Sothere's the tech savviness, but
there's also the human touchpoints around, you know, setting
up a coaching circle, havingaccess to a coach on call, maybe
(31:01):
using a coach bot, and so reallygetting creative around blending
solutions that enable people toaccess just in time learning.
And I think that also talks tohow we see the generation
shifting in in the work,workforce, where, you know,
we've got the first trulydigital nomads and instant
(31:23):
gratification generations, sopeople who want it and they want
it now, as opposed to havingthe, you know, the traditional
sort of leadership development.
And then there's, you know,there's a long delay, there's no
social engagement, there's noreinforcement. And then there's
the critical point in theircareer where they need to do
something, and you need to beable to apply some of that
(31:44):
learning, and it's been so farsince, you know, so long ago,
since they actually, they'veforgotten, and they or they
remember, but they're notconfident because they haven't
been practicing. So it'sthinking about, how can we build
those, those skills and immersepeople and create a different
way of engaging. And we often,just to summarize, call it the
(32:05):
four C's. So it's courage, whichyou alluded to earlier,
curiosity to for self andothers, and compassion and that
leads to connectedness. Sowhere, I think that, you know,
that's the direction that we'reall headed in, and that comes
from comes from Prof and Davidclutterbucks work on what makes
for a great coach and what makesfor a great leader.
Arthi Rabikrisson (32:28):
Yes, oh, that's beautiful, and a
beautiful way to sum it up aspart of the values, because
you're right, that creativity tobuild solutions for a multi
generational workforce. I mean,that's the only real way we're
going to be able to capture thatconnectivity and the other C's
as well that you're talkingabout. So that's beautiful to
hear, absolutely beautiful tohear. Susi. I can't believe
(32:50):
we're coming to the end of ourshow, because you've you've
given us so many beautifulnuggets. You've shared bits and
pieces of your story, which areso beautiful and so touching as
well. I think as we wrap up theshow, Susie, I really love it.
If you could share somethingthat continues to keep inspiring
you, so it could be a poem, aquote, a song lyric, or
(33:13):
something spiritual that justkeeps you on your own journey of
personal growth and professionalgrowth. What would that be?
Susi Astengo (33:20):
Sure so it's an easy one for me, because it's
kept me focused for the last fewdecades. And it's a beautiful
quote by Maya Angelou, and itsays people will forget what you
did, and they'll forget what yousaid, but they will never forget
how you made them feel. And thathas that has really helped me to
(33:41):
stay in that space of the 4c becompassionate with people when
they are struggling, and becurious, as opposed to
judgmental and and be courageouswhen when articulating and
building relationships and andgrowing.
Arthi Rabikrisson (33:59):
That's beautiful and a beautiful way
for us to end off our episodetoday and our conversation so
Susi, thank you so much foreverything that you've shared
with us today and wishing youall of that this into the future
as well with the business.
Susi Astengo (34:15):
Thanks, Arthi, it's been such a pleasure
chatting to you today. Thank youthe opportunity.
Arthi Rabikrisson (34:19):
Thank you, Susi. Take care.
Susi Astengo (34:21):
Thanks. You too.
Bye.
Arthi Rabikrisson (34:32):
Thank you so much for joining me on this
episode today. If you like whatyou heard, rate the episode and
podcast and feel free to write areview, plus, of course, share
with others too. I love talkingaround topics like these, so if
you like my perspective orinsight on the subject close to
(34:52):
your heart or something thatyou're grappling with, reach out
to me in your comments or sendme an email via my website or
connect with me via LinkedIn,Instagram or Facebook, all my
social media on the podcast.
Information, if it's importantto you, then it's important to
you. So happy listening to theinspire your life podcast and
(35:12):
catch you soon on the nextepisode. Bye.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the
inspire your life podcast withme, your host, Arthi Rabikrisin,
I believe we find inspirationall around us, especially from
(00:36):
the stories that we all have inus. My aim with the inspire your
life podcast is to bring some ofthose real stories to light,
stories of my guests thatresonate with you and me. It's
by listening to these storiesthat we can be inspired and
motivate ourselves to overcome,find a new path and rise even
(01:02):
higher than we thought possible.
Joining me on the show today isSusi Astengo, founder of coach
matching with over 30 yearsexperience with UK, South
(01:23):
African and multinationalcompanies from many sectors,
including banking and finance,FMCG, telcos, production and
manufacturing, retail,education, pharmaceutical, oil
and gas and fintech. Oh mygoodness, it's quite a list,
isn't it? Everybody you can tellSusi is a seasoned and
inspirational professional. Ican attest to that. Certainly,
(01:46):
Susi has chosen to focus oncoaching and mentoring as a
means for transformation at boththe individual, team and
organizational level, and hervision is to democratize
coaching. This she's bringing tolife with her business coach
matching where over the past 16years, with a team of now 51
coaches in place and fulldisclaimers, I am honored to be
(02:09):
among those esteemed colleaguesof coach matching too. Susi has
built a highly respectedcoaching and leadership
development practice, as well asdeveloping a coaching software
platform. So everyone, don'tjust take my word for it,
because Susi has won awards asan entrepreneur, including most
recently being highlighted ashighly commended women in tech
(02:31):
at the Africa tech awards. I canreally go on and on about the
depth and breadth of Susi'saccomplishments, but safe to
say, this is a woman of statureand I am delighted that in
today's episode, Susi will besharing some of those pieces of
her story of how became themother of invention, as we are
(02:51):
calling the episode today, andyou will soon realize why
everyone. Susi, a warm welcometo the inspire your life
podcast.
Susi Astengo (02:59):
Thank you so much, Arthi, and I'm absolutely
delighted to be here with youtoday, and a little bit humbled
by that introduction. So muchappreciated.
Arthi Rabikrisson (03:09):
Oh no, it's absolutely my pleasure. And I
mean, it was all you Susi sothis is all the things that
you've accomplished, but Iunderstand sometimes when you
hear it out loud, it's like ittakes you back a little bit
well. Yeah, you know, I've, I'mjust hearing a little bit more
on the bio side of things. Toyou. I mean, tell us a little
bit more about yourself. Susi, alittle bit on the personal
(03:31):
inside maybe,
Susi Astengo (03:35):
Sure thing. So, I am divorced. I am originally
British. I arrived in SouthAfrica in 2003 because my then
husband wanted to set up abusiness here. I for my sins. I
married a South African Italian.
It's the same story from thereason that most people move to
different countries. And my sonwas born in 2004 and I'm still
(03:59):
here. We the intention was we'regoing to be here for a year.
Yeah, but Africa got into myblood and under my skin, and it
has actually been very good tome. And in fact, somebody said
to me yesterday, so how manypeople did you know when you
first landed in Cape Town, and Isaid actually three, and one of
(04:22):
them was my husband. So it'squite it's quite something to
look back and think I've doneall of this without any family,
with little support internally.
So it just goes to show that itcan be done. My son is also the
center of my world. If I'm youknow, anybody that knows me will
(04:43):
know that, and I'm delighted tohave have raised a conscious and
emotionally intelligent andwholesome young man, and not
without its trials andtribulations. For sure, those
teenage years are not fun, orthe screemages, as we call them.
And. Definitely not fun, but heis in his second year at
Stellenbosch, and I'm very, veryproud of him. He's just
(05:06):
completed, like his mum, he's abit of an overachiever. I think
he he just completed themarathon and raised R25,000 for
the Cape Peninsula feedingsociety. And it means,
basically, yeah, really, really,really, incredible. It means
that 30 children will eat for ayear as a result of his his
(05:26):
efforts. So that's just a littlebit about about me. And then I
guess, you know, transitioninginto starting coach matching and
and the title of the podcast,need being the mother of
invention, you have alluded totwo things, one being that my
I'm divorced, and the secondbeing that I have a child and
(05:48):
and at the time, in 2007 when Icould kind of see the writing on
the wall around my my personalrelationship, I thought to
myself, you know, what am Igoing to do? You know, if we go
through divorce? At the time, Iwas working as a consultant with
Deloitte and my old consultancy.
I'd been an international HRconsultant for 10 years, based
(06:08):
out of the UK and operating in37 different countries around
the world. And they said to me,why don't you come back and and
head up the consulting team,which, to be honest, was a
really attractive offer at thetime, and then I kind of
reflected on what was my lifelike when I was consulting and
in that role, and I remember theterm primacy of work, and I was
(06:33):
thinking that I was a bit of aworkaholic, but I've never known
anything like it. And for anyconsultants listening in,
they'll be very, very aware thatit is grueling. It's 24/7 on a
Sunday night, on a plane,getting back on a Friday night,
and really only sort of Saturdayto turn your wardrobe around and
go back out again and and I wasabsolutely adamant that I wasn't
(06:56):
going to be doing that, and Iwanted to be present as a
mother, so I looked around andthought, Well, what, you know,
I've got this, this experience,I've got skills, I've got
talent. How do I pivot, really?
I mean, that wasn't a term then,but it is now. And how do I
pivot into a new role and a newlife? Because I didn't want to
(07:19):
to move. And South Africa offerssome, you know, amazing
opportunities. It's there's athere's a great frontier
mentality here. It's much easierto start a business in my
experience here, than it wouldbe in in Europe or in the
States, for example. And so Ithen conducted research into the
coaching industry and set upcoach matching on the back of
(07:42):
that in 2008 and primarily to beable to afford to pay for my
self and my son's lifestyle, butalso to be able to be flexible,
to be present as a mother. And Idon't mean, you know, like 24/7
every single day, because he,you know, he grew up knowing
that that mum was working. Andin fact, when I was awarded the
(08:04):
Business Woman of the Year awardin 2016 I actually took him with
me to the ceremony, because hewas at the I can't remember how
old he was at the time. I thinkhe was probably, well, I could
figure it out it was eight yearsago, so he would have been 12,
and I wanted him to grow uprealizing that what I did and
when I wasn't there for acricket match sometimes, or, you
(08:26):
know, where he had to come andwalk to my office after school
to do his homework. It wasn'tbecause I didn't care or love
him, it was because I was doingsomething important. And I
wanted to inspire him torecognize the the importance of
what it was that we did. And hewas obviously beaming. He was
the only child there, I think,out of about 250 attendees
Arthi Rabikrisson (08:47):
Ah what a proud moment. Yeah,
Susi Astengo (08:49):
very, yeah, very, very, very, very, and he'll
often say, you know, you're myhero. And I remember when I was,
you know, when I was up for thisaward for the women in tech, you
know, he said to me, we werechatting at home, and I said to
him, so, you know, how should Iintroduce myself? And he said,
Well, you know, how aboutentrepreneur and cancer survivor
(09:12):
and tech enabler? He said, andpeople be queuing up. So, yeah,
so that's been a that's a been alittle bit about the history of
why I started coach matching.
Arthi Rabikrisson (09:25):
Yes, I mean, Susi, thank you for sharing
this. I mean this incrediblejourney. And I mean two things
are so apparent to me. Firstly,this, this deep love and pride
for your your family, your son,especially, yes. And you know,
the that being a key impetus tothis, this next love of yours,
which is the work that you'redoing in coach matching as well.
(09:49):
And you know, so many differentchanges happen, you know, in
your personal life, and plusmoving to a completely different
context, coming into SouthAfrica as well. And yes, I mean,
I know a lot of onentrepreneurs, you know, they
undertake that research. Theythink of a business idea, but
often times there's a little bitof failure to start as well. And
(10:09):
Im curious about, you know, whatgave you the courage to kind of
say, You know what? I've donethe research? Yes, there's a
financial need. Yes, I want tobe present for my son, but
actually, I'm feeling braveenough to actually do this ago.
What what went on in your mindto help you make that decision?
Susi Astengo (10:28):
Gosh, that's a really interesting question. Um,
yeah. I mean, people will say,call it courage. I think it's
just from my perspective. I'mquite stubborn, okay, quite
stubborn and dogmatic and and Ido, you know, for those
listeners, you know, myEnneagram profile is 782, so
(10:50):
once I see a vision, it excitesme and energizes me. So I think
that there was less fear andmore excitement. So I think that
you know what was going on atthe time was, yes, of course.
You know, I don't know if it'sgoing to work, and I don't know
how I'm going to make it work,but it felt to me like it was a
really good idea at the time,and and, and that generated
(11:13):
energy and enthusiasm andexcitement. And, you know,
there's a there's a strongparallel between the marathon
run that my son's justcompleted, and my journey
throughout life, and a lot ofpeople's journeys throughout
life, I think, which is just putone foot in front of the other,
just do the next step. Because,you know, if you start to worry
about all the things that can gowrong, you probably wouldn't
(11:36):
ever do anything. You know,there's lots and lots and lots
of things. But, yeah, I think, Ithink it's a case of, I knew
that I had the capability. Ihoped that I would have a little
bit of luck, and I made surethat I surrounded myself with
people who I trusted and whowould kind of just, I think,
(12:00):
believe in me at the time. Sothere was a great deal of self
belief. I knew that I had skill,I knew I had something to offer,
and knew that it was a goodoption, a good vision. And, you
know, the vision at the time wasto professionalize the coaching
industry, and so I was in afield that I felt comfortable
and confident with. I don't knowif that's a helpful answer, but
(12:21):
it was very often. It was justone step at a time. And you
know, the whole thing about failforward. And, you know, fail
fast fail forward. It soundsvery, very cliched. And tries,
my God, have I had many, manyfailures over the years? And
hindsight is always 2020, and Ithink, yeah, absolutely. It's
(12:42):
about not beating yourself up,but learning, yeah, and that's
the that, for me, I think, isthe the silver bullet around
that fail fast and fail forward.
Yeah, I'm naturally quite riskaverse. So when it comes
financially to, you know, sortof, I wouldn't bet the family
silver on things, you know,there'll be a very measured and
considered approach and, youknow, and what I've tended to
(13:05):
do, and I think it's differentto other entrepreneurs as well.
There's, I haven't gone, Ihaven't actually sort of gone
full out and made sure I've gotfancy offices and stationary
and, you know, all of this, youknow, sort of all the external
things are very much focused onthe product and the service.
And, you know, if I've built agood service, and if I've got a
(13:27):
good offering, then I can justgrow all of those sorts of
things. So sort of put my ego toone side. See lots of
entrepreneurs fail because theyin, you know, they spend a huge
amount of money up front beforethey've even got secure
contracts. And my mentor at thetime, I was very lucky that the
(13:49):
first client that we landed wasSantam, and actually there's
still a client today. And I wentto him and I said to him, okay,
fine, so I've got this and anywords of wisdom or tips or
advice, and he said to me, Susi,just do a really good job, and
don't be greedy. And I've neverforgotten that, do a really good
job.
Arthi Rabikrisson (14:12):
No, I mean, so you're talking about, you
know, the knowing, having thispeople you were comfortable
with, the core, kind offoundation of what you are
doing, a little bit of luck, alittle bit of that support from
others. And then, of course,you're talking about some of
these obstacles. That brings meto my next thought and my next
question around this. Becauseabsolutely you know, as as a
(14:34):
founder, an entrepreneur, you'regoing to face a number of these
challenges, both from just beinga business owner, but then also,
more specifically, being a womanin business,
Susi Astengo (14:45):
yeah, for sure. I mean,
Arthi Rabikrisson (14:46):
you've already mentioned a few of the
obstacles and, of course, youknow, being a cancer survivor,
and, I mean, and that'sbrilliant. I completely,
completely, you know, get that,how that must have been such a
big part of you know, how you'veactually business. So maybe
share would ask, what are someof these challenges? What are
(15:06):
some of these that you had toface as a business owner, and
then also as a women?
Susi Astengo (15:13):
You know, it's, I think the obstacles are generic.
When you set up a new business,it's, you know, they're the
general things around cash flowand acquiring talented people
and retaining talent talentedpeople. So I think that many of
the obstacles that I wouldexperience as an entrepreneur
(15:34):
are very similar to those thatanybody would experience in
business. But I think thatthings that are very unique are.
It's really around the abilityto navigate the space between
being a visionary and seeingwhere the future opportunities
lie and having the confidence tolean into those opportunities
(16:00):
versus business as usual. And Ithink that my superpower has
been to be able to keepreinventing coach matching, and
keep adding something new eachtime, so that we have a
competitive advantage. And Ithink that has been one of the
most significant challenges isthat, you know, specifically
(16:21):
within the coaching industry, itis an industry, not a
profession. Basically, any manand his dog can, can call
themselves a coach and and doand you. So it's around. A lot
of the challenges have been,well, why should we trust you?
Yes, you know why you anydifferent and and overcoming
(16:42):
some of the poor, I think, youknow, the poor coaching that's
happened prior to, yeah, yeah,prior to engaging with Coach
matching and to ensure that ourstandards are really high. So it
makes for, you know, it makesfor a great story. And in fact,
somebody said to me the otherday, you know, looks really good
on paper. What it is that coachmatching offers, but does it
(17:05):
work? You know? And that's alsobeen one of the challenges is,
you know, people actually arevery, very busy, and they want
to constantly move on, ratherthan step back and reflect. And
from you know, anybody in theservice industry will know how
important it is to have that ROIdata. So the constantly proving
(17:25):
and constantly proving myselfand having those doubts and
imposter syndrome, because, youknow, there's, you know, that's,
that's real, that's very, veryreal. In fact, I was chatting to
your chap recently, and he, hehe said he struggles. He's also
very, very successfulentrepreneur, and he struggles
from imposter syndrome all thetime, because I suppose that
(17:48):
there, you know, we don't havethe luxury of people telling us
things like your introductionto, you know, to stop and
reflect on. Actually, 16 yearslater and 51 coaches on and an
enviable client list and a greatturnover and good profit
margins. You know, actually, youdid this because we're
(18:12):
constantly focusing on thefuture. So I think that's a it's
a very real challenge for a lotof a lot of entrepreneurs, and
just the loneliness of thedecision making you know it all,
and knowing that you're probablylikely to make a decision that's
going to be wrong and may maynot have enough data or
information to make it with andto make it anyway.
Arthi Rabikrisson (18:36):
Okay, okay, so I mean, Susi, a couple of
things coming up for me here, asyou're speaking, for example,
that loneliness at the top, thatthat balance between being
visionary or strategic versusbeing stuck in the business and
being operational. What would besome of your key lessons or
ideas about how you wouldovercome and and maintain some
of these balances. So forexample, how would you overcome
(18:58):
that loneliness? What, what haveyou done? Or what, what could
you share that would be usefulfor entrepreneurs in that space,
and similarly, managing thatbalance between being in the
business and working on thebusiness type of a situation?
Susi Astengo (19:17):
Yeah, Yeah. So the first one's easy. I actually
created my own, like little miniboard of other other women,
women who I respected and who Itrusted, and they weren't
necessarily, they weren't allentrepreneurs to two were and
one was in corporate and what Ifound really helpful was
(19:39):
maintaining that link intocorporate life, because I think
sometimes entrepreneurs forgetthat things move in corporates
at a snail's pace and and thereare a lot of politics, and there
are a lot of things to navigate,which, as entrepreneurs, you
know you have the benefit ofagility. So I set up that board.
I've always had a mentorthroughout my whole career as an
(20:01):
entrepreneur, and at variouspoints in time, I've also been
coached at various points intime I've been to therapy where,
you know, I felt thatemotionally, I was not in the
greatest of spaces, for example,after cancer and just yeah. So I
think that's for me, it's it'sbeen very much around creating
(20:22):
that support network around me.
Look at the end of the day, itstill rests on my shoulders, and
it's still my decision, andthere's nowhere to run and
there's nowhere to hide. So whenit goes wrong, you have to be
honest with yourself and look atyou know, well, why did it go
wrong? Yeah, I had a period of acouple of years where I really
(20:42):
questioned my own decisionmaking and, and I took that into
my coaching sessions, and weunpacked it together, and a lot
of it was just, you know,unfortunate, you know, sometimes
luck leads you, you know, it's,it's just the life, you know,
life in the world will throwcurveballs at you, and with it
(21:03):
doesn't matter who you are, andwith the best decision making
processes, sometimes, as theysay, shit happens. So it was,
yeah, it was just a case ofdigging deep, being resilient, I
think, at that time, and Ithink, you know, some of the
other things we I considermyself to be incredibly,
(21:25):
incredibly fortunate. And I'mvery grateful for the fact that
this job affords me access to aninordinate amount of information
around personal mastery, right?
So, you know, being exposed toDr Etienne van der Walt, for
example, and eurozone 10 yearsago, when he was looking at
optimal brain body performance,and being involved, being
(21:49):
exposed to Anna Marie, Drannamie Lombard, when she was
looking at sensory intelligenceand all the different
intelligences and and actuallyjust practicing what I preach.
And so, you know, covering thefoundations, making sure that I
stay healthy, that I exerciseregularly, that you know, that
my diet is good, that I have aneffective sleep wake cycle, that
(22:12):
I meditate so that I can silencemy mind when I need to, when it,
you know, it's really, really,really busy and screaming, and
because, you know, there'll besomething critical happening in
the business or in the industry,and to maintain that, that calm,
I guess the calm in the eye ofthe storm.
Arthi Rabikrisson (22:31):
Lovely I mean, as you say, I can hear
that personal mastery, thatsense of self, that reflective
nature. Oftentimes, as you said,we do forget as entrepreneurs to
do that, because we're runningalong at a particular pace,
trying to get these milestones,deadlines and everything else
into into line, but actuallytaking that bit of a pause and
(22:54):
just kind of understanding, youknow, well, where's that line?
Where's that fine line that Ineed to ensure I'm okay,
especially if it's a solopreneurtype of venture. But of course,
if you're leading a team,imagine if we're not showing up
the best versions of ourselvesin order to lead that team
effectively, exactly, yeah,exactly, I'm getting all of that
Susi Astengo (23:15):
And also a little bit around self awareness, you
Arthi Rabikrisson (23:17):
External.
Okay, okay. I mean, Susi, you,know, the Enneagram, the two
things I think that have reallyinfluenced the way that I
engage. The Enneagram reallyhelped me to understand myself,
and I alluded to it earlier. I'man inspirational visionary,
which is fantastic for my role,the active controller, which is
great for getting things done,and the drive and the
considerate helper, which givesme the heart for people, and
(23:38):
knowing that that's my profile,and knowing how to lean into it,
but also understanding when isit not helping me, and when I'm
when am I falling back into theless integrated versions of
that? So that's been reallyhelpful. So I think that's also
about balance, you know, havingthe the internal locus of
control. And I don't meanarrogance or ego, but just the
(24:01):
sense of, you know, this is notmy first rodeo. Reflect on what
you know. How can you do this,as well as the external ballast
and support? And for me, that's,you know, very, very important,
is that balance between theinternal and the external.
(24:23):
you're already giving me and ourlisteners some really, really
beautiful tips and ideas hereabout their journey, and I think
let's crystallize it a littlebit. So with everything that
you've shared, maybe share withus, what do you feel are your
maybe three, three key tips forour listeners, especially for
those who are maybe on that cuspof starting their
(24:45):
entrepreneurial journey, or eventhose who have started but are
having a little bit of doubtsand are not sure if they should
stay the course. What would youoffer?
Susi Astengo (24:54):
So narrowing it down to three is quite
difficult, but I think if Ireflect back on on my journey,
what has helped me is tounderstand my target market and
to stay true to that. So thevision, having the vision to
democratize coaching, and alsohaving the previous vision of
(25:15):
professionalizing coaching, thatkept me on course, because I
think it's very, very easy toget distracted. So know your
true north, identify what thatis, be very clear about your
market and stay connected. So Ithink that would be the second
point is to stay connected. Seekfeedback from your critical
stakeholders in your world andin your market. So make sure
(25:39):
that you are up to date withtrends and research, and don't
be afraid when one of the thingsI did in my first few years,
don't be afraid to actually sitdown with your clients and ask
them, What could I dodifferently? What can I do
better? What would make adifference for you? So to
remember that it's about it'salways, as an entrepreneur, it's
(26:01):
always going to be about themand not you. And if you can
focus on them and not onyourself, I think that will, and
will certainly help you to staythe course. And then I think the
third one, if I can onlyrestrict it to three, is be
prepared to fail. And it's Ihave had my greatest successes.
And I'm sure that's, you know,it's not something that, that
(26:24):
I've invented, is that, but welearn most from when we fail,
not from when we're successful.
So to know and to also to beprepared to see it as a cycle,
and a bit like a roller coasterride, there are going to be lots
of highs, and then there'll besome lows, and actually, this
too shall pass. So at home,that's our motto, this too shall
pass. So whenever having a highreally, really enjoy it, because
(26:46):
this too shall pass. And whenyou're in those low lows, you
know that this too shall pass.
So I think those would be mythose would be my top three.
Arthi Rabikrisson (26:58):
I love that.
So everyone know your know yourtarget market, know your
audience, stay connected to yourmarket as well. I mean, and and
know what the customer islooking for. So so keep them in
mind, as Susi saying, and I lovethis last one that you've
reiterated that that life is aroller coaster. So too is your
business. Know that the highsare going to come and enjoy
them, and when the lows come,grab the opportunities from
(27:20):
there to learn, and then, youknow, Move Move along. Move
ahead, from there too. Soreally, really love that Susi,
you know, and you and coachmatching has been, you know, has
been growing. As you said, it'sover 16 years. There's so much
that's been going on. I've, I'vebeen a part of that for a short
while now, but I can see howamazing things are going. Do you
want to share? Perhaps, whereyou envision the business
(27:44):
growing into and and some of thethings that you might be working
on that you feel would be you'dbe open to share in terms of the
next step?
Susi Astengo (27:53):
Yeah, sure thing.
So, yeah, the coaching industryhas evolved quite significantly.
And I think also with AI andchatgpt and navigate and Claude
and all those sorts of thingscoming. Yeah. So what I see
happening in the world is thatwe're moving from the knowledge
economy, because knowledge isvery easily accessible, into the
relational economy, and as such,the importance of how to connect
(28:18):
is becoming more and more andmore crucial. Is this ever
disconnected world? Wow. Youknow, the irony of the whole
thing is that, you know, withwith social media, we're
supposed to be so connected, andwe are very plugged into stuff,
but we're not necessarilyplugged into each other. And if
we think about creatingpsychologically safe, not soft,
(28:40):
work environments, thenorganizations need to to help
their people, whether those areindividual contributors or those
people in a leadership role. Howdo how do we connect and and so
the the a lot of what we'regoing to be doing is going to be
around that I also see that thethere is a significant shift
(29:05):
away from traditional leadershipdevelopment and leadership
development programs and cultureand transformation, and looking
for those bite sized connectionsand those sort of coaching
circles, and I always refer tothem as your tribe. You know,
who are my people? Who's mytribe and work, who can I trust
and who can who can I ask advicefor? And it's not necessarily
(29:30):
the whole sort of the linearapproach of I don't know how to
do something, so therefore I'mgoing to ask my leader or my
manager. It's I don't know howto do something, I'm going to
ask my peer group. And so Ithink that there is a huge shift
towards creating those socialconnection points. And coaching
is very, very well placed toassist in doing that. So you
(29:52):
know, as you will, you'll know,but the listeners won't know.
We've created a top to bottom,end to end. Fully integrated,
tech enabled coaching solutions.
So that means that right at thevery the very bottom, where
there's huge volume of peoplewho still want advice and
guidance and coaching, but thereisn't a budget there, we've
created the coach bots throughto training up leaders in a
(30:16):
coaching style of leadership andand then looking at the whole
relationship dynamic around youknow, how do I how do I
communicate for connectivity, asopposed to communicating to
command, control and clarify,but communicating to connect,
and that's where I see there's asignificant shift in the
(30:37):
coaching industry, in thecoaching world, and where we can
actually really make adifference. So as you all know,
we're running lots of masterclasses on things like
communicating to connect andthen putting in place those,
those human touch points. Sothere's the tech savviness, but
there's also the human touchpoints around, you know, setting
up a coaching circle, havingaccess to a coach on call, maybe
(31:01):
using a coach bot, and so reallygetting creative around blending
solutions that enable people toaccess just in time learning.
And I think that also talks tohow we see the generation
shifting in in the work,workforce, where, you know,
we've got the first trulydigital nomads and instant
(31:23):
gratification generations, sopeople who want it and they want
it now, as opposed to havingthe, you know, the traditional
sort of leadership development.
And then there's, you know,there's a long delay, there's no
social engagement, there's noreinforcement. And then there's
the critical point in theircareer where they need to do
something, and you need to beable to apply some of that
(31:44):
learning, and it's been so farsince, you know, so long ago,
since they actually, they'veforgotten, and they or they
remember, but they're notconfident because they haven't
been practicing. So it'sthinking about, how can we build
those, those skills and immersepeople and create a different
way of engaging. And we often,just to summarize, call it the
(32:05):
four C's. So it's courage, whichyou alluded to earlier,
curiosity to for self andothers, and compassion and that
leads to connectedness. Sowhere, I think that, you know,
that's the direction that we'reall headed in, and that comes
from comes from Prof and Davidclutterbucks work on what makes
for a great coach and what makesfor a great leader.
Arthi Rabikrisson (32:28):
Yes, oh, that's beautiful, and a
beautiful way to sum it up aspart of the values, because
you're right, that creativity tobuild solutions for a multi
generational workforce. I mean,that's the only real way we're
going to be able to capture thatconnectivity and the other C's
as well that you're talkingabout. So that's beautiful to
hear, absolutely beautiful tohear. Susi. I can't believe
(32:50):
we're coming to the end of ourshow, because you've you've
given us so many beautifulnuggets. You've shared bits and
pieces of your story, which areso beautiful and so touching as
well. I think as we wrap up theshow, Susie, I really love it.
If you could share somethingthat continues to keep inspiring
you, so it could be a poem, aquote, a song lyric, or
(33:13):
something spiritual that justkeeps you on your own journey of
personal growth and professionalgrowth. What would that be?
Susi Astengo (33:20):
Sure so it's an easy one for me, because it's
kept me focused for the last fewdecades. And it's a beautiful
quote by Maya Angelou, and itsays people will forget what you
did, and they'll forget what yousaid, but they will never forget
how you made them feel. And thathas that has really helped me to
(33:41):
stay in that space of the 4c becompassionate with people when
they are struggling, and becurious, as opposed to
judgmental and and be courageouswhen when articulating and
building relationships and andgrowing.
Arthi Rabikrisson (33:59):
That's beautiful and a beautiful way
for us to end off our episodetoday and our conversation so
Susi, thank you so much foreverything that you've shared
with us today and wishing youall of that this into the future
as well with the business.
Susi Astengo (34:15):
Thanks, Arthi, it's been such a pleasure
chatting to you today. Thank youthe opportunity.
Arthi Rabikrisson (34:19):
Thank you, Susi. Take care.
Susi Astengo (34:21):
Thanks. You too.
Bye.
Arthi Rabikrisson (34:32):
Thank you so much for joining me on this
episode today. If you like whatyou heard, rate the episode and
podcast and feel free to write areview, plus, of course, share
with others too. I love talkingaround topics like these, so if
you like my perspective orinsight on the subject close to
(34:52):
your heart or something thatyou're grappling with, reach out
to me in your comments or sendme an email via my website or
connect with me via LinkedIn,Instagram or Facebook, all my
social media on the podcast.
Information, if it's importantto you, then it's important to
you. So happy listening to theinspire your life podcast and
(35:12):
catch you soon on the nextepisode. Bye.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.