What is an authenticity coach and why would I want one for my business?

One of the things people often say when we work together is that they feel more like themselves.  It’s an interesting thing we do in society.  We are often teaching our children that it’s not okay to be themselves.

The ways things should be

I know in my own parenting journey, when my daughter was much younger, I had a strong idea of how things “should” look.

Of course, they never quite looked like they were “supposed to” at my house.  Which left me feeling like I was doing something wrong.

Some days it even felt like everyone else knew how to do things right and it was just me struggling.

As an empath entrepreneur it can often feel just like that.  Everyone else has these shiny businesses that are working and here I am feeling that it’s not working for me.  I must be broken.

I can assure you that is not the case.  You are not broken.

Often what people post on social media is the shiny, happy stuff and it’s less likely that they are going to give you the real goods on what it took to get them where they are and the effort it takes to sustain their business.

What does being authentic even mean?

In the Wisdom of Trauma movie with Dr. Gabor Mate he talks about authenticity being a connection to ourselves.

For many of us who have experienced trauma we end up having to suppress or deny our authentic selves.

This isn’t something we consciously choose to do but it is often a survival technique that keeps us safe as children.

Giving up our authentic selves as children can make it quite an effort to come back home to ourselves as adults.

What is an authenticity coach?

I wouldn’t normally consider myself an authenticity coach but one of my clients recently pointed it out to me.

Helping highly sensitive entrepreneurs find themselves and awakening their consciousness is all about showing people how to become more authentic.

In my case it also helps them grow their business by freeing up their energy.  In the past they have been using an exorbitant amount of energy just trying to fit in.

Authenticity in business

When we head into the working world as young adults the majority of people put on some sort of mask. It’s the mask that we were told (whether explicitly or implicitly) was acceptable.

Masks we wear

In my case this means I smile a lot.  Don’t get me wrong – I love my smile and sharing this aspect of my personality.  I also notice that when I sense the least bit of discomfort in others, I smile at them.  This is my subconscious way of trying to smooth out the discomfort.  It’s something that I learned as a child.

For a long time, I felt an immense amount of sadness inside me.  You never would have known this because it’s not what I shared on the outside.

The problem with this mask was the challenge it presented in understanding my own inner being.  Smiling all the time would indicate that I was happy but that ball of sadness within me was rather confusing.  It took some dedicated time sitting with myself to figure out how to unravel that.

Blessings to be found

Each year of the past 10 years I have said to my hubby that I am going to be even more me.  And each year I am more me.  Authenticity is a process.  Allowing softness with myself and forgiving myself when I make mistakes is part of becoming more authentic.

This is why I do this work.  Helping empaths in business remember who they really are and helping them step into a more authentic version of themselves brings me fulfillment.

If you enjoyed this piece you might also be interested in business strategy for sensitive and empathic entrepreneurs.