My personal Story: How I got Into Coaching

I'm Marina Movsissian, I'm originally Russian-Armenian, and this is my story and the story of how I became a Life & Leadership coach.

I was born abroad and moved to France with my parents and sister at 5.

I quickly learned French, became a key member in my family as being the big sister, having to lead by example, and the person who got the language faster.

I quickly became the best at school.

Excellence was a value I was taught, alongside criticism and the idea of never being enough.

And years have been tough and I decided I wanted to access a life of Abundance for myself.

I grew up in Paris for 20 years, I found interest in pursuing a career in Digital Marketing, started working alongside my studies at 18. At 25, I had a clear calling that I wanted more for myself, this was a key turning point, I quit my comfortable job in Paris and wanted to move to London.

Ultimately Dublin found me; I moved there for a 7 months job at Google, replacing a maternity leave. I was successful in the role, I applied to a new opening and got hired full-time. 3 managers wanted me in their team so I even had the luxury of choosing my team! The 7 months turned into 3 years.

My Nooglers (New + Googlers) group in Dublin

From being a foreigner in France, I became a French in Ireland and grew my imposter syndrome working at a big tech corporation that hired “the smartest people”.

I met a French guy in Ireland, who planted a seed early-on in our history together - moving to San Francisco. This one year process of job research, meeting Americans, networking, has been fruitful since I ended up landing a job in San Francisco and moved in July 2018.

I received a few coaching sessions via a friend who was finishing up his certification and this helped me move away from what was holding me back; myself, alongside a workshop I took at work which is called #IamRemarkable. More on this soon!

I thought things were going “according to plan”.

I was moving to San Francisco with my boyfriend, to boost our careers, leave an adventurous experience, and move back to France after 2 years to - “classically” - and start a family or whatever they say you’re supposed to do at 30 years old.

While I thought I was moving for love and career, I ended up moving single, the French 30 years old guy couldn’t commit after all, and in that process of moving away from everything I knew, I ended up finding myself. I embarked on the most important of journeys... The journey towards self-discovery and self-love.

My first team at Google in San Francisco !

Career-wise and life-wise, mid-2019 I hit a wall - while things always felt strangely natural to me, organic, I was faced with un-satisfaction. Loss. Not knowing what was the next thing anymore. In that race where I am competing against myself, I started losing. That “Return of Saturn” phenomenon some folks might be familiar with.

My job was not a source of fulfillment anymore and I started questioning my values and purpose. I started to question why I moved so far away from my family and my best friends that have been supportive all along. I should also mention that I had a terrible interim manager at that time, and these things basically make or break someone’s experience! If you are a manager, I strongly recommend being accompanied by a Coach. Let's talk about it.

America was not feeding me in ways I expected it to. Alongside it all I developed passions helping, mentoring entrepreneurs, startups, youth, and helping women talk about their self accomplishments to take control of their narratives and advance their careers, as I became myself an “ #Iamremarkable” facilitator to bring the magic of this content that gave me confidence to pursue my own dreams when I needed it, to more women.

Instead of nourishing my resume, I started nourishing my soul.

And even though it's still not easy most of the days, and I’m still trying to figure things out, I now know what I am here for.

It's just a matter now of trusting this process - which takes time, and that’s OK - and accepting that things won't always go the way I expect them to, nor to the pace I want them to. I decided in 2020, going through my Coaching Certification that I wanted to slow down, and slowly move away from being a human “doing” and embrace being a human “being”, in my perfect imperfect life story.

Early 2021 I left Google and the US and decided to move back to France. I first took a role in a startup selling coaching to companies, to initiate my transition, while coaching in my free time.

Faced with more challenges that year, I questioned what I wanted for myself, really.

So I made a jump again…

This all has led me to launch my coaching business full time now.

I’m convinced the world would be a better place if everyone was able to find their own fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness, living their own mission or purpose. Be a bit selfish but for more altruism. Living their life on their terms. Everyone should be empowered to live life on their own terms.

I am tired of this society, those norms, where we still tell a woman how she should live her life. And I want to see more gender equality and diversity at all levels of hierarchy. For healthier companies, and more performing too!

That’s where I come into play.

My mission is to empower women on their individual and unique journeys to self-actualization. I help them discover and unlock their full potential, reframe and own their narratives, allowing them to embrace fulfilling personal and professional lives, and make their dreams a reality.

I work with women to increase their self-confidence and develop their leadership through 1:1 Coaching as a Life & Leadership Coach amongst other group formats, with my own authenticity, joy, benevolence, and spirituality.

To connect with your own richness, and create a plan to start living life more aligned and authentic to YOU, let’s set up a chat to discuss your own goals, and see if it would make sense to work together. You can book your free 30 min session in my agenda on marinacoachme.com

Claim Your Free 30 Minutes Coaching

And tell me. Can you relate at all?

What were the turning points in your life?

How do you tell your own personal story?