Coach on call

By Tamar Satov

Whatever your goals are this year — from building your business to making more money to changing careers — Anita Pizycki wants to help you achieve them.

That’s because after 16 years in industry, government and public practice, the St. Catharines, Ont., CA made a career change of her own in 2002 and became a personal development coach.

“People would open up to me,” says Pizycki, 42, of her role as a chartered accountant and trusted professional. “I love that connection, so I searched out a framework I could use to talk to people and help them.”

Coaching was the answer for Pizycki, who signed up for training through The Coaches Training Institute based in California. A year and a half later she closed her CA practice and set up shop as a coach for accountants, mediators and lawyers. “I help them connect their values to goals that can bring them fulfillment, satisfaction and happiness,” she says.

For example, she coached one CA to be on top of his business and helped a lawyer close his practice so he could find his true passion. “I’m not giving advice,” she is quick to clarify. “By being a sounding board and by asking the right questions, I’m allowing them to make their own decisions. They have to do the work, I provide the support network.”

Pizycki finds clients through referrals and speaking engagements, such as district CA meetings or state-sponsored law functions. And, since she deals with clients by phone, fax and e-mail, she even has clients as far away as Warsaw, Poland.

For Pizycki, the switch from CA to coach isn’t such a stretch — in fact, she sees her CA experience as a plus. “I have credibility that other coaches may not have, especially for business coaching,” she says.

So what are Pizycki’s goals for 2005? She’s designing a business school for professionals that will combine coaching, training and consulting. And she hopes to move to a four-day work week. “It’s all about setting boundaries,” she says.