Caroline Ferris

Originally from Washington, D.C., I had been teaching English abroad for over 25 years when I began to have doubts about my life trajectory. I was thriving as a teacher and enjoyed the different challenges of living and working in Japan, France and, later, Spain. However, it was beginning to dawn on me that I might not want to continue doing the same thing for another 20 years or so.

But what else would be a good fit? How could I reinvent myself now? Wasn’t it too late? Wouldn’t I miss teaching? Should I move back to the States? So many questions! Help!

I was at that time teaching at university, as well as working with executive clients, in Barcelona. For those who don’t know, ESL teaching is a pretty amazing, challenging and creative career. I loved it. But then, in 2013, the university where I had the majority of my teaching hours (the very well-respected ESADE) unexpectedly closed their Executive Language Center. Suddenly, this was no longer an existential crisis, but a very real one! I needed to make a decision fast to either recommit myself to teaching and start looking for a new position or take advantage of this ‘opportunity’ to reinvent myself.

As luck would have it, at the end of a session around about that time, an executive client remarked that our conversations were almost identical to the ones he had with his coach. Intrigued, I asked more about this ‘coaching’ he mentioned. Long story short, that one innocent offhand remark set me on the path to where I am today – coaching women online and splitting my time between Barcelona and St. Croix.