JOANNE BEA CHRISTIAENS, C.W.C ., C,E.I.C.
Certified Wellness Coach And Emotional Intelligence Coach
My Path To Becoming A Certified Wellness Coach
When I decided to take up life coaching, it took me weeks of research to find the ideal school. I came across difficulties because there weren’t any ICF accredited schools in my country and I had no choice but to do a live online class. When I contacted the schools, TCTA responded quick and asked for a personal interview. I was so surprised to receive a call directly from Steve Kiges, co founder of TCTA, because normally school admins will call the applicant. That event proved how personal and hands on they treat every student. TCTA has also provided me more than what I have expected when I decided to enroll in their academy. In the beginning, it was difficult for me to trust attending a class that is not face-to-face since I always believed that it was the best way. However, it only took me one class to change my entire perspective on the learning system. It is not the mode of teaching that’s matters , it’s the people who teach you that do. In TCTA, they don’t just lecture, they let you experience what they talk about even if it’s thru a live teleclass. You want an online experiential based program, this is it.
Aside from learning about coaching, I have learned so much more about myself and about life itself. Its such an amazing program because you have people who are experts on dealing with the realities of life that even difficult topics seemed so easy to understand. That’s what I learned most about being in TCTA. As a coach, you will need to absorb the energy, both negative and positive, of people you are coaching, which can be very draining. Having the ability to treat life situations as a “normal” situation [“it’s a part of life”] have taught me to deal with my own and others lives as something always fixable., therefore, giving me strength to always motivate that anything is possible.
When I finished the program, I was more confident and I had better character. I learned to listen, understand and accept that life can always be changed with one decision. Most of all, I learned how our lives can never be compared to another because we all have different sets of experiences, we are all unique individuals. Not only that, to be able to listen to things that is not being said is a skill I only developed in TCTA. With that skill, I have become a coach that can create real impact on the lives of individuals.
Most importantly…
TCTA gave me direction and the willpower to change the world. Because of them, I succeeded in making my Wellness program happen. For that, I thank TCTA for making my passion greater than it already was.
About Me, The Personal Stuff
There are a lot of reasons why I am the person that I am now. Like a lot of other people, I grew up with a very interesting childhood. By interesting, I mean a childhood full of arguments, ups and downs of relationships, and a battle to be in the limelight. It was not easy being born in a family of great influencers and having the interest to be one as well. I was always challenged and I always felt like I was not good enough. I didn’t have the good grades in school between my sister and I. Being overshadowed by her or by anyone else, for that matter, always left me wanting for security and acceptance. What made it harder was I grew up in a breaking family. Yes, I experienced the pain of watching my loved ones suffer when it could’ve been so much easier if they decided to part ways. Eventually, they did but it took years before everything became final. I also got pregnant when I was in my third year of college. I had no choice but to delay my last one and half years of school. Luckily, I didn’t let that stop me from finishing. But again, I thought of myself as unaccomplished. I thought of myself as nothing. I was a single mom for 6 years.
Those events didn’t shape me to who I am now but the after effects is what gave me the big tumble that forced me to get up and choose to be different…to love myself more. Since I lacked the attention I needed, I was becoming desperate to feel it, desperate enough to just do anything to get it. I ended up giving myself too easy to men that it ruined my reputation at some point of my life. I became that girl who follows people around because I didn’t know who I was. I was lost in the sea of alcoholics not realizing that it wasn’t real. I even jumped from one job to another because the people I worked with either disrespected me or toyed with me. I was getting frustrated finding peace. I didn’t know what it was until the day came where I found out that men were talking about me sexually even to women. I felt so disgusted of myself. That very moment I told myself, “This has got to stop.” I knew then that the only problem I had was I didn’t give myself the love it needed. I looked down on myself and let people see me that way. It was my fault and vowed never to let that happen again.
Today, I am married to a very loving husband and two active boys. I have better relationships with everyone I encounter. I am more confident with who I am that I never settle for anything less.
I am someone. I am a mother. I am a woman. I am me. I am a wife. I am a friend. I am a daughter. I am an Entrepreneur. That’s the sequence of my life.
AS AN ENTREPRENUER
The idea of The Wellness Camp, a transformational/personal development retreat, came to me in 2014. It started out as your common “yoga retreat” but with healthy food and you are traveling to different places. My objective for it was for people to experience fun and adventure but something that lasts. It shouldn’t be just a memory of a vacation but it should make a person want and be obsessed to a healthy and adventurous life (without giving up our responsibilities, of course). But when I was developing the program, I kept telling myself that it was too simple and again, its too common. “Why will people choose my retreat? I’m not even making a difference”, I asked myself so many times. I had so many competitors doing the same retreat so I had to develop something different or at least a program that would be considered a first in the Philippines. I then decided to evaluate my interests and my future self and came up with this statement:
I want to have a name for myself and not just a business owner but to be known for creating real change. I want people to enjoy and love the ups and downs of life just like I did when I told myself , “Life will always be complicated but they are experiences. They are just a part of life. Why not absorb it and enjoy its flow instead”, in 2014.
Knowing this statement, I became aware that I naturally help people with their problems, not as a therapist type but as a person who helps people see all sides of the story. When I discovered my love for helping people that’s when I figured out that it was the missing piece of my retreat. How can people live a fulfilling life not thru a checklist but based on the set of experiences, situations, interests and values that they have? Then I took up coach training with TCTA and became a certified wellness coach. It was the answer and it made my retreat complete.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The Wellness Camp (Transformational Retreat)
Website: www.thewellnesscamp.com
Facebook page: @TWCdiscoverME
Instagram: @TWCdiscoverLIFE
Twitter: @TWCdiscoverME
Coach Bea Christiaens
Website: www.conquerlifetoday.com
Facebook page: @CoachBeaChristiaens
Instagram: @CoachBeaChristiaens