Get to know our Youth Coaching Institute alumni community. This column will feature the stories from our network of 500+ youth coaches spread throughout the world. YCI alumnae are diverse, but they share a common commitment: transforming the lives of adolescents and young adults. Read about their experiences with YCI here.
Series #3
Name: Lillian Powell, MA, ACC
Business: Generativity Coaching
Get to know Lillian:
After many decades in the corporate world, Lillian felt it was time to reinvent herself. She began working with students as a substitute teacher and eventually as a school-based counselor for grades K-12. However, that changed after moving to Montana in 2019. “My former role didn’t exist in my rural town or nearby,” she said. “I started doing some research about how to do a similar role in my area.” That’s how she found Youth Coaching Institute.
After talking to Dr. Leah Mazzola, YCI’s founder, about the training offerings, Lillian felt confident that YCI’s robust and affordable program would suit her. “The Certified Youth Resilience Coach program being International Coaching Federation approved meant that I could eventually get my Associate Certified Coach credential, which is a gold standard in coaching.”
Lillian enrolled in the Certified Youth Resilience Coach training in 2020. “The curriculum is evidence-based and the training was extremely supportive and fairly paced,” she said. “I have always considered myself pretty versed in human behavior and motivation, but learning about developmental stages truly opens up that knowledge from an evidence-based viewpoint.”
After finishing her YCI education, Lillian felt she had concrete ways to utilize her knowledge and certification as a Youth Resilience Coach. Lillian earned her ICF ACC credential in 2021, and is currently on her way to earning a Professional Certified Coach credential. She has a private coaching practice, is a YCI coaching practice evaluator, and works as a coaching contractor to larger companies around the country. Soon, Lillian will offer coaching services to her local middle and high school in an effort to expand mental wellness access. She says, “coaching has been the most fulfilling career I’ve ever had.”
Lillian has this to say to anyone who may be on the fence about joining a Youth Coaching Institute training program: “Call Dr. Leah, now! Youth mental wellness is important to us all, as they are our next generations and would definitely benefit from a coach who has accomplished [a] YCI certification. In addition to that, the YCI program is much more affordable than so many other coaching certification programs. Coaching continues to become more mainstream all the time and the opportunities to benefit from a YCI certification only continue to grow.”
CTA: Want to be the next coach to transform the lives of young people? Check out our training programs here.
