Meet Martina

Hi, my name is Carolyn with Noomii.com, the professional coach directory. Today I am interviewing Martina Payette in Calgary. Martina, how are you?

I’m well, thanks for having me.

Thanks for joining us. Can you start by describing your ideal client?

Yeah, my ideal client really is someone who is stuck getting off the ground. I kind of compare it to a balloon ride. So, there’s the stuck on the ground, [they] don’t know how to get started, to get up and launch their plans. And then there’s also the other side of sort of being up in the air and having a great time and discovering a leak, or not really knowing where they’re gonna land. And really I’m that person that brings the anchor to that process. So, [I] give them the hope and the safety net to really get started and to either find that place to land, or to get started on the journey itself.

Awesome, that’s a great analogy! Can you tell us a little about the process you use to help your clients?

Yeah, I think it’s a real creative process. I’ve been in career development for other 20 years, and so that together with coaching practices that really look at your whole self. So, a lot of time someone who’s very intuitive maybe needs to work a bit with the language side of things in order to be able to connect with people better [and] land that interview. Or as an entrepreneur, really put[ting] the package together that they need to sell. So, I really work holistically, so to speak. It’s kind of hard to explain sometimes but the best example that I can share in terms of process would be in, for instance, an interview situation. Where someone gets really nervous, and they get tongue-tied. It’s working with their actual physical ‘What do you look like when you’re in an interview? What happens to you? Are your feet tied around the chair? Do you start to slump? What happens to your voice in those situations and what happens to your words?’ So, we practice sitting up and putting the feet on the floor, and then also clear language and how to speak their story in an effective way that lands with the listener. That would be my best example, but it’s a creative process with structure and strategy from years working in the [career development] space.

That sounds excellent! What kind of feedback do you usually receive?

I think the most common thing is sort of a feeling of they felt really safe, and it was a very open environment to really share what they were thinking. To be able to talk through it with somebody who is an objective listener and somebody who’s going to challenge them a bit as well, feeling much more confident. And also a few people have said ‘You know, you just really gave me hope that I know everything I need to know, and I just needed to clarify what I need to get going- to actually get started.’ And then, really supportive I think is the other feedback that I get from people, kind of a new way to look at things and feeling supported in kind of trying that out.

Alright, well that’s really wonderful feedback. Martina, how did you get into coaching? What’s your background?

So, like I mentioned, 20+ years in a post-secondary world in career development. So, you know, working with clients and students, and sometimes their parents to help them let go of their students. And then the whole process of ‘What I want to be when I grow up?’ and how to actually effectively put that together to land somewhere or start a company. And then my coaching came in a bit later in terms of a leadership role that I was in and discovering the challenge of leading, but mostly leading yourself. And I think, in this workplace now we really have to lead ourselves so much more. So that’s where the whole ‘Being U’ came from, because it is about ‘Who am I? How do I relate in the world? And what’s getting in my way of helping me land somewhere where I want to be and get that work-life satisfaction? Or [how do I] start this new company and figure out how to run myself?’ So, background-wise, it comes from the career development and also a really holistic, or whole-person coaching/training that I did with Newfield. Because they really look at how we operate in a world and how we show up in our physical state, or body, emotions, as well as language. How we articulate and make requests and offers and all that good stuff. You know, how we relate to the world in a lot of ways. And I’ve done a lot of work in that body-mind connection, so some of my influences are narrative coaching and people like Amanda Blake with ‘Body=Brain’ kind of stuff. So, the neuroscience and those pieces really is the background that I bring to my coaching.

Alright! Well that’s so great! Thanks for your time Martina, it’s really been a pleasure.

Great! Thank you very much!

Here’s a taste of my “go-to” personal growth, leadership and all-important, inspirational books, that are always on my bookshelf! Please make your recommendations in the community as well. I love new reads!

Leadership & Personal Growth:

The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership – Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, & Kaley Warner Kemp

Language and the Pursuit of Happiness, Chalmers Brothers, (The main text in the Newfield Network Coaching Program – the reframing of learning and body/emotion/language that I work with come from this resource and the 10 years of learning I’ve done uncovering the many layers of the concepts of who we are and how we related to one another and how these concepts help me, help clients shift, change and grow with confidence.)

Making a World of Difference Personal Leadership, Barbara F. Schaetti, Sheila J. Ramsey, Gordon C. Watanabe

Reframing Perception:

Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, (recommend listening to this book read by the author)

Secret Teachings of Plants, Stephen Harrod Buhner

The Book of Qualities – J. Ruth Gendler

The Need for Beauty – J. Ruth Gendler –

All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum

The Web of Meaning  – Jeremy Lent

Career Change:

Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett & Dave Evans

Reinvention Roadmap, Liz Ryan

Self-Employment/Entrepreneurship Help!:

Do the Work!, Steven Pressfield

Start Finishing, How to Go From Idea To Done, Charlie Gilkey

The Self-Employed Life: Business and Personal Development, Jeffrey Shaw (SEBI Course is where to start your Expert business!)

Great kids’ books because they are a great reframe and fun!

Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura, Numeroff

Gratitude is a value of mine and it’s one of the 8 practices that supports a happy life.

I feel deeply grateful for my family, friends, teachers, mentors and coaches who I have worked with and learned from over the years. Some of the most impactful people in my life have been my kiddos, siblings, teachers and coaches.

They are the people who dive deep into their favourite subject areas and shared that deep knowledge with me as friends, coaches and teachers.

I can’t list everyone but I would like to thank:

The many clients who have graced me with their openness to share their challenges and seek to co-create and learn together with me as their coach.  Thank you.

My UCalgary and LHH colleagues and friends

Body & Movement Coaches and friends

Integrative Body Psychotherapy Teacher and Colleagues

Newfield Network Coach Training: My colleagues over our course time together, the coaches and teachers as well as continued learning as Alumni, and a consultant. 

Newfield was “the” transformational and continuous learning moment in my life: A cornerstone of my coaching career.

Grade 1 teacher – Mrs. Zacharisan and her animal crackers at recess 🙂

My beautiful family – My kiddos, parents, and siblings who challenge my learning and inspire me every day!

So many people have contributed to my personal and professional learning.  For that, I am ever grateful.