How I stumbled upon Coaching

How I Stumbled Upon Coaching

My journey into coaching began unexpectedly—a series of hesitant steps into the unknown, sparked by curiosity and an openness I didn’t realize I had. What started as resistance evolved into a practice that reshaped my life, aligning my day-to-day with purpose and joy. Today, I work with people who dedicate time and energy to crafting authentic meaning in their lives, expanding their possibilities, and nurturing those around them.

This is a brief account of how, years after completing two coaching processes, I came to understand what coaching truly is. It’s the story of my first blind steps into the practice and the seductive curiosity that eventually opened the Atelier’s doors.

“Let yourself be silently drawn

by the strange pull of
what you really love.

It will not lead you astray.”

Rumi

Life in San Martín de los Andes

Eleven years ago, I was living in the enchanted Patagonian town of San Martín de los Andes, surrounded by mountains, lakes, and thorny rosehips along the riverbeds—a scenery of magnificent beauty. I had just broken up with my partner, a wonderful man to this day. I was ready for something new, a next level in life, but I didn’t know what that was. Inside, I felt a foggy, undefined longing, a constant doubt in my choices. Desires bubbled up, but they had no clear shape, no words. I was exhausted.

At the time, I was juggling remote work that paid too little and demanded too much, alongside bartending and waiting tables. The fatigue left a bitter taste of quiet defeat always at the back of my throat. I wanted to build a life in this beautiful place, but my energy was at its lowest, and I felt lost. I realized, reluctantly, that whatever needed changing had to start with me.

I didn’t want to dig into the past or stand on a tile pretending to be my mother. I craved something practical, something forward-facing. Yet I was wary. Vulnerability is a risky place to be, and I feared finding the wrong guide—someone rigid, manipulative, or unsuited for what I needed.

Meeting Jordi

Then a friend—followed by another, and finally a third—suggested Jordi, a Bio-Emotional Decoding professional who occasionally visited town. They spoke of how his varied tools helped people unblock themselves. Skeptical but curious, I booked my first session.

Jordi was a gentle, focused man from Barcelona, with an almost magical ability to adapt his approach. When his proposed activities didn’t resonate with me, he seamlessly pivoted, pulling out new ones that honored my boundaries. His flexibility earned my trust.

At the end of our first session, Jordi shared a story.
“We’re all born with glasses and a backpack,” he began. “Our glasses help us see the world, but the lenses are colored by what we carry in our backpacks. Over time, the load can make our vision blurry. When that happens, we can empty the bag, examine what no longer serves us, and see life more clearly again.”

I smiled. It was a gentle nudge toward my own responsibility, an invitation to reassess what I was carrying.

The Transformation Begins

Jordi’s sessions had a rhythm: he listened, I talked. He asked, and he waited. I dared.

He had a way of bringing me back to my intentions, gently clearing away distractions and letting me choose what to focus on. At first, this felt imposed. But as I made these micro-decisions, I found myself cultivating confidence. My inner garden, once barren, began to show fragile sprouts.

One moment stands out vividly: I realized that even in my messy, wobbly, uncertain state, I had made a choice of higher love when I left my partner. I had acted with courage and integrity, and heart—even when no one was watching. Even when I had felt lost, and all certainty had quivered under my feet.

The tenderness of that realization melted me.

I had been the person I wanted to be. I was possible.

With that in mind, I kept on doing my homework, convinced now that this was me learning to be reborn, daily crafting one possibility after the other. I began to dream bigger. By our sixth session, I was shouting from the mountaintops: I was looking for a job in the middle of nowhere, where horses, rivers, and mountain lions thrived. I felt I could lead a group of people—by reframing my experiences, I learned I could do it, as long as I stayed honest, asked for permission, and, when required, said sorry. Why couldn’t I? I missed traveling, so I wanted travelers to come to me—a sort of static journey of my own. I wanted to speak English and keep up my practice… Well, I basically started naming what I wanted, and playing.

Magic Happens

By the eighth session, something shifted. A regular customer at the restaurant—a lovely woman—approached me. She said a friend of hers owned a boutique hotel in the middle of a national park, catering to top-tier fly-fishing enthusiasts. They were looking for a new manager, and she thought of me.

I couldn’t believe it. Just like that, my ideas were coming to life!

I met Lole, the hotel’s owner and one of my greatest mentors to this day. Together, we began a working partnership that transformed my life for the next five years. I stepped into the role with all the confidence and creativity I had cultivated in Jordi’s sessions.

The challenges were real, and for the first time in a long time, it was fine—I felt ready to face them. I was accomplishing things. I made real money. I hiked, gardened, led with values, and created a life that aligned with my heart. I could.

I had finally cracked the code: making space for my “importants” in daily conversation, and through this practice, my ideas took root and began to bloom.

I had finally learned the power of small, purpose-driven steps toward a life I loved, infusing my little world with meaning and intention. I was breathing in the beauty of crafting a path aligned with joy—and walking it.

The Revelation About Coaching

Years later, I met Jordi for coffee in Barcelona. We reminisced about our sessions, laughing at my initial resistance to bio-emotional decoding. Then, casually, Jordi said, “You know, that was coaching, for you.”

I was stunned. Coaching?

All this time, I had thought coaching was something entirely different—like a too-fit person lecturing me on how wrong and vulnerable I was, or plastically cheering me on with a cookie-cutter recipe for life, warning that if I didn’t follow it, I’d be doomed to misery and loneliness. I thought coaches had scales, breathed fire, and would devour my authenticity along with the rest of me, leaving me to regret selling my soul to the devil.

But that wasn’t my experience at all.

With Jordi, coaching was about creating a safe space where I could unfold my future from the present. It was about reframing old narratives, clearing away what no longer served me, and aligning with a purpose that felt beautiful and true.

What Coaching Is

In my practice, coaching is a space for collaboration, where we define your North Star, address limitations, and challenge outdated stories to create a life that feels aligned and expansive. It’s about living connected to purpose.

Today, I know that coaching gave my practice the structure to work with any human, allowing for a spontaneous flow that always honors the intention. It’s about what matters to you and finding practical yet profound ways for you to believe you have everything it takes to get there. And that takes serious, loving, devoted work, alongside dedication, energy, time, and commitment.

For personal growth, I’ve come to understand that we must become friends with the process of unfolding. It’s about crafting authentic meaning in our lives, making sense both within and without, expanding our abilities, resources, and gifts to cultivate a support system that helps us create experiences that transcend—experiences that lead us toward connection, joy, and nurturing those around us.

And I believe there is unimaginable—impossible even—beauty in my daily connection to this practice. To still allow the mystery to amaze me feels, in itself, like a revolutionary act.

An Invitation

What gifts of yours is the world missing while you remain disconnected from joy?

I often wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t booked that first session. What if I had dismissed Jordi as “too holistic”? What if I had let fear win?

Today, coaching is the heart of my practice. It’s about meeting people where they are, accompanying them to unfold their possibilities, and crafting lives of meaning and fulfillment.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to connect. Together, we can nurture the seeds of your dreams and grow something of beauty.