Executive coach and leadership development mentor who helps executives, entrepreneurs, and emerging leaders take a step forward and succeed. Meet Christina Holloway, one of the mentors who Volvero is lucky to be supported by. This month Christina shares with us her coaching secrets, tips for professional and personal growth, and her vision of Volvero.
Can you tell us about your coaching and entrepreneurship experience and what you are doing now?
I’ve been a coach for about five years. I started consulting and coaching about 20 years ago when I had been laid off from a job I enjoyed. I came back as a consultant and continued to develop my skills in program and project management, marketing and communications, and employee development. It’s this experience that prepared me well to coach high performing individuals wanting to get to the executive suite. Currently, I work across a variety of companies from small businesses to large Fortune 500 companies. The problems are always the same — how do we show up better prepared to take the business in a new direction. I enjoy this part of my job.
At the same time, I started to volunteer for tech startups like the Founders Institute, mostly because that was exciting for me. It reminded me of that time when it was weird, uncertain, and I did the unusual thing of going to work independently instead of trying to find a new job. I find when the economic downturn happened in 2008, it was the same thing. People were struggling, but those that went out and found their own business and tried to go out on their own tended to have a level of self-satisfaction and some success. And now, in 2020, we are finding these hard times again. There are heaviness and challenge. And there are people who come to me and say: “I was not going to start my business but this year I’ve decided to do it”. So, I’m telling people: “This is how you start a business, and this is how these challenging times can help you maximize your opportunities”. I am finding that there is a connection there and we’re able to work on that level.
“We all deserve to have success. But how do I step outside my comfort zone to have the prosperity that I feel I deserve?”
What is your philosophy on coaching?
My philosophy on coaching is about uncovering our strengths and making sure we show up in our fullest self are our most realized self. I work mostly with people who are having a problem getting to the next level, and that’s because they have a level of confidence in the position they have and now they’re being asked to do something that’s uncomfortable. I also work with people who struggle with creating a business, growing their business, and questioning themselves, if they are capable of doing this, especially when things are hard. We do not always have that moment where we think, hey, it would be great if I just started a business and here is all the money I have set on side for that.
There are people who look for new opportunities because there’s an internal struggle. So, in my coaching philosophy, we work on strengths development, positive reinforcement, and effective communication. How do I communicate to other people where my strengths are? How do I create boundaries around what I will and will not accept? And how do I step outside my comfort zone to have the prosperity that I feel I deserve? We all deserve to have success.
“50 percent is better than zero.” Even if you can’t show up one hundred percent and things are really hard for you, give, give, give what you can. People who don’t show up, they don’t get the reward and satisfaction.“
Then what would be the first step for someone to find inner strengths?
The best way is to find mindfulness and living in this moment. In fear, we have insecurity related to the future. We tend to live with this feeling inside of us that terrible things could happen if we go out and do something that is scary. We have to redirect this feeling into mindfulness and say to ourselves, what’s the worst that could happen. Well, maybe somebody will disagree with me or the opportunity that I’ve been looking for will go away. And that’s OK, we have to move forward. We say I’m going to take a small step forward. So the framework is to really identify what’s holding you back, stay inside the moment and then tell yourself: “I can just take this one small step to move forward, which is better than not doing anything at all: 50 percent is better than zero.” So even if you can’t show up one hundred percent and things are really hard for you, give, give, give what you can. People who don’t show up, they don’t get the reward and satisfaction. We should give ourselves permission to start from small and break down the chunks into smaller pieces, it helps us through the difficulty of the upper limit problem, which is ‘I can’t get to the next level’, which isn’t true. We all can get to the next level. We just have to find it inside ourselves.
Lastly, what do you think about Volvero and its future?
First, there is a formula for it. We have seen that the sharing economy business concept works. And we also know that competition is healthy. Therefore, if you are just maximizing and putting a new spin on a framework that we know works, then you have an opportunity to grab a share of competition, the client base, the revenue share. What we look for here is how do we make these wins by breaking into the competition by providing the same level of service… You grow and you offer new verticals. How else do we break into the market? What else can we offer that the competition is not offering? It is a great working formula.
In addition, I like the concept that Volvero is taking the ride-sharing model to a new direction, one that helps with sustainability, economic stability, and new ways of addressing climate change in future years. It’s clear there is a market for this type of disruption. I look forward to watching Volvero contribute to this new reality in the coming years.
That is all from Christina, very insightful!
