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In this interview, we explore life coaching as a tool to help individuals reconnect with their authentic selves. By blending compassionate guidance with personality testing, Alice supports a broad range of people through life transitions, helping them navigate change and take proactive steps toward their goals. Here, Alice shares her approach to coaching and how it can empower others to create a more fulfilling life.
What does ‘life coaching’ mean to you?
My life coaching is about empowering others to hear —and heed— their internal voice. Together, we peel away the masks that confine the way they see themselves. We all get labelled by others (even with loving intent). We’re known as “the golden boy” or “the class clown”. It’s human nature to place others in pigeon holes as a sort of shorthand. In fact, we’re so much more nuanced. I infuse clarity to help others think differently, and with compassion, about who they really are.
Too often, our internal voice gets drowned out by things happening externally. By becoming more attuned, we can better tap its guidance and direction.
Most of us see a gap between where we are today in our lives, and where we’d like to be. I help clients make a neutral and revealing assessment. Then we collaborate on an action plan that gets them to the next stage. The framework we build isn’t rigid, though —it evolves as they do. They can track their progress and adjust their plans accordingly.
What area of life coaching do you specialise in?
I’ll happily admit to being a generalist, serving a broad range of people and personalities. No matter the circumstances they find themselves in, all my clients are navigating change. Whether personally or professionally, they arrive at a crossroad; I help them explore their options moving forward. Rather than feeling painted into a corner, we always have multiple pathways ahead. We tend to define ourselves by what happens to us; in reality, it’s how we choose to reframe those events or relationships that make the difference.
My clients range from military personnel transitioning to civilian life to mid-career professionals seeking leadership opportunities. Others grapple with personal change, like a widowed spouse feeling their way through a future they’d never imagined. One thirty-something discovered she had been living her life according to her parents’ dreams, not her own. She took the wheel, and she hasn’t looked back.
My approach blends “headspace” with “heartspace”. I combine the evidence-based personality testing of the Birkman Method™ with compassionate, creative brainstorming around a client’s next chapter.
What led you to becoming a life coach?
I was in a serious car accident in the Adelaide Hills years ago. I didn’t know it then, but in the debris of that crash site were the beginnings of my new direction. I went from a corporate-driven, goal-oriented achiever, to having to relearn basic tasks. My recovery took eight months. Up until then, all my goals had existed outside of me: the next deadline, the next award.
After the accident, I turned inside. I had to question my beliefs and my thoughts. I explored each label and way of thinking, and whether to accept it. Where did I get these messages about myself and my life? Did they resonate for me, or were they hand-me-down beliefs from someone else?
Most pivotal? I had to learn what it really meant to ‘be present’. Sure, it sounds cliché, but in fact, there is so much more to be gained when we stay connected to the moment. Think about your last conversation with a spouse or friend. Did you react by habit? Do you know there is a crucial pause between an action and reaction? We can all harness that moment, and choose a different response. It can be transformative.
How could life coaching benefit someone’s wellbeing and help them achieve goals?
By helping them become a true expert on themselves. Too often, our thoughts, words and actions better serve other people. Along the way, the lens through which we view ourselves and our potential gets muddied. I offer a neutral, genuinely judgement-free zone to brainstorm their hopes and desires. I’m compassionate and practical too; I’ll challenge people to explore their beliefs. This is not about putting on a new personality like an overcoat; it’s about bringing to the surface what is already there.
What steps can someone take to make this year their best year yet?
Firstly, consider this: Imagine you have access to a library with a million books. Would you return each day to check out the same book? Of course not. But we keep returning to the same thoughts and behaviours when we have so many options to choose from.
Secondly: Decide (don’t hope) that this is the year that you move away from reacting on rote to people and situations around you. Instead, be proactive (even in small ways). Decide to step forward to create and claim the life you want.
Finally: Drop me a line. Move from vaguely hoping to change your life, to actually doing it.
What is your favourite part of being a life coach?
When I know I’ve done myself out of a job! I’ve helped to equip a client with the tools they need to discern their next step. I see them step into that new plan with joy and quiet confidence.
Contact Alice today to experience the power of the Birkman Method®.
