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WELCOME!
Hello! I'm Catherine
Hello! My name is Catherine Westbrooks. I live in the Austin, Texas area with my husband and our 15-year-old Chihuahua/Rat Terrier mix, Sophie! She's our spoiled fur baby (see picture below as proof!). I am a full-time Special Education teacher, Outschool teacher, and Outschool Mentor.
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
-- WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD
THERESA STRICKLAND
FAQ'S
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What is Executive Coaching?Executive coaching is a series of focused and powerful conversations that accelerate success. It is a formal relationship between you and the executive coach of your choice, where the coach guides you, listens and acts as an external sounding board as you progress towards your goals. Coaching programs will often include various other components such as onboarding materials, assessment tools, 360 feedback tools, follow up resources, and laser coaching.
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Can anyone have a coach?Yes. Individuals, leaders, anyone seeking to develop themselves can benefit from a coach. We believe coaching should be scalable, measurable and affordable for everyone. All the top performers (sports, business and otherwise) in history have had coaches to reach their level of success. So why not you?
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What are the benefits of Executive Coaching?Executive Coaching will accelerate how fast you can reach your goal(s), no matter what the goal is. When working with a professional coach, leaders have the opportunity to work through obstacles and opportunities to support their professional growth. Coaches ask questions, share impartial observations, and provide tools to help clients reach their goals faster.
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What are the benefits of Career Transition Coaching?Career Transition Coaching will accelerate how fast you can reach your personal career goal(s), no matter what the goal is. When working with a professional career coach, individuals have the opportunity to identify, develop, and execute a career plan or job search to effectively achieve success. A coach will guide you as you work through obstacles and opportunities to support your professional interests. Coaches ask questions, share impartial observations, and provide tools to help clients reach their goals faster. Our clients say the greatest benefit to them has been to have a trusted resource and accountability partner they can work with as they focus on identifying, advancing, or changing their career.
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What can a Career Coach help me with?Our clients come to us with different goals and in different stages of their career. We meet them where they are at or help them to define clarity for their desired outcomes. Samples of support include goal setting, career assessments, building tools to market yourself, career or job search planning, interview skills training, how to effectively network, and more.
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What should I look for in a Coach?Our belief, is that there are three things clients should keep in mind when selecting a coach: business experience, coaching experience, and “fit” (personality, style, and shared values). A good “fit” between coach and client drives the coaching engagement to reach its full potential. We recommend starting with a complementary call to discuss your needs and to assess the “fit” between you and a coach.
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What is a job search focus team?A job search focus team is essentially a team of people working together with the common goal of executing a successful job search. Our clients find job search focus teams to provide additional networking, lead sharing, skill development, inspiration and moral support throughout the job search process. Facilitated by a coach or team member, participants meet online regularly and commit to a process that makes each team member stay motivated and on a path toward their success.
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How long are coaching sessions?Most sessions are 60 minutes, however depending on needs can be shorter or longer. Our intake sessions or 360 feedback debriefs can take up to 90 minutes.
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How long are coaching engagements?The length of a coaching engagement varies depending on the client’s goals and plan selected. During our initial assessment and coaching intake process, the timing or frequency of follow up sessions are agreed upon by the coach and participant. Most engagements are time bound, meaning sessions need to be completed within a specific time frame, most commonly 3, 6, or 9 months.
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Which coaching plan is right for me?No two people are alike and people seek out coaches for different reasons. We offer short and long term plans and can customize the right plan for you and your budget. Typically, Leadership Development plans run 3, 6 or 9 months, whereas Career Transition Coaching plans run 1 to 3 months. We encourage you to contact us for a complimentary call to learn more about the right plan for you.
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What towns or geographies do you work in?Theresa and her associates are mostly located in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area, however we serve clients across the US and globe. Most coaching programs are delivered via video conferencing, yet we do meet with clients face to face if preferred. We offer onsite services to our corporate clients for leadership training, peer coaching, or group career transition programs, and we’re open to travel.
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What is your cancellation policy?We are very fortunate we have never had any coaching clients cancel their coaching plans, however we understand things come up and that if a cancellation is needed, our policies are below. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with our services, we will offer you a 100% pro-rated refund for any unused sessions. As an engagement represents a commitment on both sides, if you are not satisfied with our services, we ask that you inform us early in the engagement so we can realign to meet your expectations, or assign another coach. For a specific consult: We ask our clients to notify us 48 hours in advance of any appointment. Cancellations after this time will be counted as ‘completed’ and the client will be responsible for payment. Cancelling your plan before your first consult: Prior to completing your first consult, you may cancel your entire plan and receive a full refund. Please see our policy about cancelling specific consults above. Cancelling your plan after your first consult: If you cancel your plan for personal or other reasons, including securing the job of your dreams, you will forfeit the fee. Please note that you can use our services for 6 months from the start of the engagement and in the event you find your dream job, we’re happy to apply any unused sessions towards professional coaching. Cancelling optional services that have not been initiated: You can cancel additional services (i.e. resume reviews, network training, interview training, etc.), and receive a full refund as long as they have not been initiated. A 48 hour cancellation notice is preferred.
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Can I purchase a one hour coaching session or additional services?Yes, you can request a one hour coaching session, or you may purchase hours in increments. In our experience, it often takes at least three to five coaching sessions to connect your interests and purpose to a sound plan or to getting unstuck, thus clients often purchase a plan or a block of coaching sessions. Additionally, we do offer services that just focus on specific job search strategies such as Preparing for an Interview, Mock Interview Training, Developing Your Personal Summary Statement, Job Search Focus Strategies and more. Our goal is to meet you where you are at in your career or profession! Contact us for a quote and to discuss your needs using the contact form on our website.
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How do I make a payment?We accept checks and online money transfers (i.e. Zelle, Venmo). Payments are due prior to services beginning.
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How do I get started, can I talk with someone directly to learn more?"Absolutely! Complete a contact form and we will reply to schedule a call or we’ll call you directly.
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