Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Mitchell.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jackie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
During my work as a Project Manager, I mentored many colleagues who went on to get high paying jobs, resolve work-related problems with managers, and get unstuck from the vicious cycle of not knowing what their next career move should be. I did this all under the umbrella of project management and outside of it as well. People would naturally gravitate towards me at the companies I worked with, especially women. They would tell me that they were inspired by how I carried myself or how I made it look effortless when working with very demanding executives and those in leadership positions. It didn’t take me long to decide that I wanted to do this on a regular basis because I really enjoyed watching people transform into confident individuals ready to take on anything.
I started a company called PM Professor™ in 2013. Initially, my intention was to work with junior PM’s and offer them career coaching and resume writing services. It quickly became more than just Project Management coaching. It became career coaching. Which I know now is really just life coaching with a specialized focus on tactical moves to make to help advance your career. I began to coach more than Project Managers when I realized that these clients needed more than a quick resume turnaround and interview. As I got more and more involved with my clients, I understood that they wanted a new career but they needed a transformation in their thinking and mindset, and doing that foundational work would translate into developed skills and growth that would help propel their careers.
In 2018, I rebranded, PM Professor™ to what is now, Jackie Mitchell Career Consulting. I did this to fully reflect who I am and what I offer my clients. I am my brand, I am my company, and I am a living example of how you can work the system to your advantage, with the right mentoring and tools in place. I teach my clients how to be strategic in their lives and careers. I teach them how to stop living by default and to start living with purpose and that they get to decide where to take their lives. Ultimately, I teach my clients how to prioritize themselves and become the CEOs of their own lives.
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth road? I am laughing. I love what I do. I still offer my Project Consulting services under my parent company, CJ Matthews Consulting, because I love working with companies and helping them bring their vision to fruition. At the same time, I love love love working with my coaching clients to help them define their vision and bring it to fruition as well. It has been a real eye-opener for me. I struggle with the balance of working with two very different types of clients. I don’t struggle with work and life balance per se. I struggle with wanting to see people succeed so much that I give so much of myself.
I’m learning boundaries before burnout, though, as one of my panelists spoke about in my latest virtual summit this summer. I’ve learned to meet people where they are and make a plan for them that is easy to get from their point A to their point B. I won’t take an extremely shy and low confidence client and tell her to go speak to the CEO of her company after one session with me. We work our way there. I meet my clients where they are. I see the potential in all of my clients and I had to learn to pace myself, so I can provide them with easy steps to take that are within their reach and challenge them along the way.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Jackie Mitchell Career Consulting, JMCC, as I like to call her, is a Career AND life coaching and consulting practice. I say life coaching, in the background, because that’s really what we do. I help women move through the issues that are keeping them stuck and playing small. I help women, professional women, gain the confidence they need to become successful and find their voice. I work with women utilizing my unique B.A.W.S.E.™ framework. I help professional women who are at the mid-level of their careers become Bold and Assertive, so they can create Win-Win Solutions Effectively every time.
These women grow out of their shells because I work with them on a ‘wholistic’ level. We don’t only talk about careers. I start with every client, discussing their lives. We look at each aspect of their lives and, with her permission, we dive into areas where she needs the most help. And believe it or not, it’s typically not with their careers. Typically it’s with another area of their lives that they fall short in because of certain character traits that they’ve settled into. And this manifests itself in their careers in many different ways. My one-on-one coaching follows my F.A.A.R.™ methodology, taking women from confusion to focus all the way through providing them an individualized roadmap for their careers.
In my coaching practice, women often complain about the lack of safe spaces and resources available to them for their growth. I heard this time and time again. So I founded the C-Suite Success Network, which is a community for professional women to have a safe space for personal and professional development, mentorship, and coaching. I developed C-Suite as an answer to the lack of mentorship and guidance in the workplace for women who are eager to expand their networks and grow professionally and personally.
Women either are concerned about being seen as weak or incompetent if they seek out mentorship and professional development within the workplace. They are also cautious at home and in their personal lives because they don’t have people in their lives who truly understand their concerns and they don’t want to be seen as a complainer. They eagerly come to me seeking guidance on professional and personal growth because I am a safe ally and champion for their growth, and as a woman, I understand their needs.
The C-Suite is a safe space for women to get the professional career coaching and mentoring they are looking for from women who understand the nuances of professional growth. They understand that the ‘whole’ woman needs attention. And just like my private one on one coaching practice, we address growth on a ‘wholistic’ level in C-Suite.
What sets me apart from other coaches is that I’m an insider. I know the secrets to getting promotions and getting jobs because I am in positions where I am doing the hiring for teams. I work with hiring managers who look to me for final decisions most times on who’s the best candidate for the job. Also, I am an empath. I know that most of the issues that my clients come to me about are not the issues they need to solve. I have a keen sense for problem-solving. I don’t solve my clients’ problems for them. I help them to see that they have the solutions and have had them all along. Most times, they’re looking for validation or permission to have the thoughts they have because they don’t trust themselves. My job as their coach is not to give them the solutions or solve their problems for them. My job as their coach is to help shift their mindset and empower them to make the decisions that will help propel them forward. Ultimately, my job as a coach is to help my clients exercise the muscles they can’t yet see.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love that a vacation getaway for me is just 20 – 30 minutes away. I least like that our city is a huge tourist destination.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jackiemitchellcareerconsulting.com
- Email: info@jackiemitchellcareerconsulting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackiemitchellcc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jackiemitchellcc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackiemitchcc
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinemitchell
Image Credit:
LIam Crotty (Photo by Liam)
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