Teacher Shift

One Small Leap, One Giant Leap for a Career Shift with Dominique Mas

• Ali Simon & JoDee Scissors • Episode 98

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Are you ready to make a shift? If so, you may need to take multiple little leaps to get to the bigger shift you’re looking for. Today’s guest shows how it took her multiple leaps to finally land where she was meant to be.

Today, Ali and JoDee sit down with Dominique Mas, a former educator who is now the CEO of Group Coaching HQ. Together, they’ll discuss Dominique’s path from education to coaching, how to leverage your existing skills while making a transition, and the reality of building a coaching business.

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Episode Transcriptions
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Ali  0:06  
Teachers are natural innovators, entertainers and problem solvers. They dream of growing old into the profession teaching their kids kids, but sometimes career goals shift, and that makes opportunities outside of the classroom seem intangible, questioning, who am if I'm not a teacher? I'm your host, Ali Simon.

JoDee  0:29  
And I'm your co host, JoDee Scissors.

Ali  0:32  
And this is Teacher Shift. 

Are you still in the exploratory phase of a shift? Sometimes where we want to land doesn't happen overnight. It may take little leaps that point you in the right direction. Today's guest shares how her transferable skills landed her right where she wants to be. Today, our guest is Dominique Mas. Dominique is the CEO of Group Coaching HQ, an International Coach Federation accredited organization, that equips coaches with the knowledge, toolkit and community they need to amplify their impact through group coaching. She is also a leadership and executive coach inspired by her experience in education. Welcome to the show today.

Dominique  1:24  
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

Ali  1:27  
We're so excited to have you on today, and you really have an impressive and varied background as an educator before you transitioned into coaching. Before we lined up this interview, I went down your LinkedIn profile, and you've done so many cool things. So I want to hear a little bit about, you know, how you ended up going into teaching, and the trajectory of your education career, you know, before you pivoted into what you're doing now.

Dominique  1:51  
Yeah, absolutely, I was a born educator. You know, I was one of those kids that wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to work in schools my whole life, and I wanted to learn English. Do I grew up in France, when I was 18, I moved to London to study English and then became a French teacher. I did all my exams in England. Is called a PGCE, a post graduate certificate in education. Became a teacher in public schools in the UK, and then a couple of years into that, decided to move to Barcelona. nd that's when I started to work in an international school. It was a British International School, and that opened up a ton of avenues for me. I suddenly realized that, well, there's a whole world out there. And actually, as an educator, I can do so much, and I can travel, and I can live in other countries and have a job wherever I go. And so I started to do that. And I got a job in Asia, in the Philippines, in Manila, the British School. And from there, I hopped to a couple of other international schools, and then moved to New York. So I also had to work in a school, in an international school here. So I I worked in a lot of schools that were there were IB school, International Baccalaureate schools, by the end of that time. But when I by the time I got to New York, I was also a trainer for the IB. So we trained teachers in the IB programs. And I just, I loved it. I got to meet so many awesome people. Got to travel and work with outstanding kids and parents and in other communities. Was it was awesome. That's the short of it.

Ali  1:51  
Yeah, no, that's really, really perfect cliff notes version of your teaching experience and education experience. And I love that you were in the IB programs. My oldest one actually just started a middle years IB program, so I saw that, and I was like, Oh, that's so cool. But I also see a lot of connection with that later work that you did, where you were training teachers. You were working with professionals. And I could see how potentially, I'm just guessing here, you know that might have lend itself to transitioning into coaching. So what did that look like, like when you decided, Okay, I'm ready for something different. I don't know what the impetus was for that change, but what, what did that look like for you? 

Dominique  4:13  
You know, it's funny, because I actually had no idea what I was going to do when I decided that I was going to leave education. I was tired. I was little burnt out, and I felt that where I was I would not be able to have much more impact. I had a department of about 20 teachers, which was wonderful, but I didn't feel that I would be able to make the changes I would want to make in the school. And so I decided to leave, and I had no idea what was going to be next. So I basically, I said to the school, I'm going to leave at the end of the school year. I had six months of money available to me that I knew was going to be sustaining me. I left. I did a one month yoga teacher training in Costa Rica, and did some soul searching. And out of that actually came coaching. And from there they said, Okay, let me, let me see what that could look like. I did a training, a coach training program, and I just knew that was it. And you're so right, Ali, that there was so many similarities. So the program I did was called the... it's with the organization called the Neuro Leadership Institute. So everything is brain based coaching. And everything they were talking about was about inquiry, was about asking questions, was about, you know, learning about other people through curiosity. And I was like, this is, this is me being an educator in a in a completely different way without.... we always say in education, the best teachers don't tell they get the kids to experiment. That gets the kids to to try things out. And that's what it felt like when I did that coach training for me is like, Oh, I'm getting people to come to their own conclusions. I'm asking them questions that guide them to understanding themselves better, understanding what they want to do, how they're acting, etc. And it just made so much sense to me. So that transition was really... It felt really organic. I'm so grateful and lucky that I had that money on the side, that I was able to take those six months because that's really what allowed me to have the time to find what I what I wanted to do when I grew up, you know, after education. From there, and I can talk about that later, but this is now eight years ago, and so there's a lot that's happened since then. And there's been a big evolution in my work that still involves teaching and being an educator in different ways. 

JoDee  6:47  
We hear that a lot, that teachers take time to build those connections between other career opportunities. A lot of times, people just don't up and leave. They take a moment, whether it's you leave your work behind and you take those six months, or it's while you're teaching. You're exploring ideas and trying to find those connections, because it makes the leap a bit less scary. It gives you the confidence to be able to make that transition, to reduce the anxiety and stress, or perhaps financial risks that may come with that. Something that I've noticed about you before we even met you though, is we have this thing called teacher brain skills that we talk about here. And just from communicating with you, I could tell that you possess this really, really strong quality of communication and preparedness. And we think that those are some of the most special qualities of educators, is how planned they are, how they can communicate very clearly, and just your communication with us, your expectations. You set the bar very high. And I could tell just like perhaps that teaching experience helped you build some of those traits to be able to communicate well, which I think probably helps you in your coaching. And so that's kind of what we wanted to touch on now, is how you made this transition into the coaching industry, and you found that inspiration. And so what are some of those benefits from group coaching compared to individual coaching?

Dominique  8:28  
Yeah, thanks so much for asking that. And I want to go back very quickly to one thing you said a second ago, JoDee, because I sometimes get people connecting me with teachers who want to leave the profession, who want to do something else, And the thing isthat feeling, and I had that to an extent of like, what else can I do? I can't do anything else. I'm just a teacher. And for those who are not watching, I put just in quotation marks, because there are so many skills that we can transfer. And actually back to your, your question of skills of one to one coaching versus group coaching. I think being an educator gave me that, yes, the communication skills and the ability to read the room. You know, the ability to be to see like who is engaged who isn't. And when you're in a one on one coaching situation, it's pretty easy to gage whether the other person is, you know, engaged and thinking and... but when you're in a group, and for a lot of people who are not trained educators, it's hard. It's hard. You're often on Zoom these days, and you have eight people, you have eight squares, and you have to look at each of them. And are they enjoying the conversation? Are they getting something out of it? Are they thinking? Are they, are they involved? And I think that comes for me, that skill was, was directly correlated to my work in education and looking at the classroom. And always thinking, is, is, you know, is little David over there, like doodling because he's bored, or is he doodling because he's processing? And is this kids, you know, looking at me? And is there look blank, or are they actually thinking? And I think with group coaching, you asked about the benefits, one of the main benefits of group coaching is perspective, because suddenly you have stories from, you know, 6, 7, 8 other people who are going through usually, usually people have a shared context in group coaching. So they're going through a similar experience in their life or in their work context. So perspective is one. I would say connection is huge. Because I work with a lot of people who are first time managers, for example, and they feel isolated. They feel that, you know, they're the only person going through what they're going through. And suddenly they get in a group coaching situation and they realize, oh, oh, all these other first time managers are having the same issues that I have. They find it hard to have a feedback conversation. They find it hard to manage up or whatever it may be. So think connection is the second one. And then the the last one I'll mention here is actually gaining new skills. Because as educators, we know we gain skills because we do. We gain skills because we experiment with things. And in a group coaching situation, the most important thing is that the coach is no longer the only coach in the room, and instead, the coach is giving the whole group the opportunity to coach each other, to ask curious questions of each other, and so all of your participants are now engaging in actual coaching, which is a skill they can then take back to, you know, their life relationships, their work relationships, and start to think about things and asking questions versus giving advice, for example, or trying to clarify what someone said by asking them a question and helping that person articulate their thoughts. They might not have been able to articulate it before because it was stuck in their, in their head. So now they're having to express it to someone else. So I think with group coaching, you get a sense of breadth, if you like, of thinking. You get perspective and that wider view of the world, of yourself, versus one on one coaching, where you can go a lot deeper with one person and help them to really drill down to what, what it might be that's getting them stuck, or what it is that they want to enhance. 

Speaker 1  12:32  
Love that answer. I think you know, my biggest takeaway from it is that there are two perspectives there. There's the coach coaching a group, and then there's the group being coached. And the benefit is being together with a group of people. I think there's so much power and doing something with others who are on the same mission, or with someone that wants to help you get there. And so as you were talking, I just kept thinking about all of the listeners we've had that have felt isolated because of the feelings they are having in their current work situation, and how one of Ali's and I's  goals was to be able to reduce that isolation and for people to know that there are others that you can connect with, that you can build a community with outside of the classroom to help you get to that next goal. In my own life, I you know, I choose group workouts instead of a one to one workout with a trainer. I choose a writing group over just writing all the time by myself. And so I know as a teacher, a former teacher, that has counted on a team, that has counted on other people in the building to be able to help build me up, that that type of group setting is so beneficial to me, and I'm so glad to hear that you have those offerings, because I really do, truly believe that there's so much power when we can do things together.

Dominique  14:10  
Yes to everything you said. I think there's also with a group, I think a collective consciousness that happens that just sort of emerges when a group gets to know each other. You know, with a writing group, for example, you get together, you know, whether it's every week or every other week, and you hear each other's writing, and you get to know people so deeply, you get to know people intimately. And in a group coaching situation, sometimes even in a in a corporate setting, when the group is well formed, when there's psychological safety in the group, people will share their deepest blocks in, for example, building relationships within their team or with their managers. And there's that I don't know, that deeper connection that happens, that that creates. The change that creates the transformation. That sense of I'm not alone. I'm not the only one going through this is so important. So I'm really appreciative of you both creating this podcast, because I know so many teachers who feel that they're the only one who want to do something else and they don't know where to go, and there are so many people out there. So I'm so glad you're building that community as well to support them.

Ali  15:26  
Thank you. Yeah, and you hit the nail on the head earlier about, like, feeling like you're just a teacher, and I'm, you know, doing the air quotes again. Because I think a lot of times, you know, when I think about coaching, when I think about the group coaching, you have to be vulnerable in those situations, and you have to put yourself out there, and you have to say like, you know, in that statement, like you do feel like maybe you're not capable of something else. So, you know, having a support group, having cheerleaders on your side when you're looking to make a big transition, is something that we've learned from our other interviewees, that you know they had when they were making their transition, and it sounds like you were able to find that maybe through, like, self discovery and through, you know, trying different things and and acknowledging, like, what was going to be a good fit for you. And I'd really love for educators or teachers who might consider a shift into coaching or perhaps a similar field, like, what advice would you give them to be able to navigate looking into this type of a career? Like, how could they leverage their existing skills or their experience? And that's like Part A, and then I guess Part B is like, what are the pluses and minuses to a coaching career? Because I think, you know, my guess is you're working as your own boss, and that can come with its challenges and also its benefits.

Dominique  16:44  
So part A in terms of like, what are the transferable skills, or what are the things that people can really think about? I go back to great teachers are always listening for what's not being said, whether it's by a colleague or whether it's by the students. And I think great teachers are not so much focused on their subject. They're more focused on skills and on the person and on building the student. And I think that translates so well into the coaching profession, where at the end of the day I'm here with the person. I'm not here to tell them. I'm not an expert in their fields. They're an expert in their field. I'm an expert in helping them understand themselves or understand what they're trying to do and and in asking them questions. And I think with teaching, that's the same thing. It's more... yes, we're experts in our in our fields, but also we're experts like getting a student to think and to understand and developing their thinking skills. And I think there's so much to say about what can be taken from education and into that. I think the other thing that's really important is that teachers are, JoDee you mentioned communication, but I think and planning and being prepared. And you know, teachers are amazing, and we have so many skills, like organization skills. We understand what it means to work as part of a team, because as a teacher, you're always going to be part of a team. We understand what it means to share learning. Because when we go to a professional development conference, or whatever it may be, we come back and we share what we've learned. Like there is so much that we can take from the teaching world into the real world. And I know a lot of teachers also who go into L and D, learning and development opportunities in organizations, corporations, again, because there's that love of learning. So I think there's so much. Then in Part B of your question as to what's difficult in building a career in coaching, you have to put yourself out there. You have to market yourself. It's hard. It's hard to find clients. I think my first two years, I felt like such a failure. I felt like I wasn't, you know, making enough money. It was hard, and I didn't really know how to build a business. I was an educator my whole life. I didn't have to build a business. 

JoDee  19:13  
Well, also, like teachers are taught to market and highlight their students, you know, that's what they're constantly exercising. So then to turn it back on yourself, that's a new muscle.

Dominique  19:25  
Yeah, totally. But you know, for me, what happened... what happened was that I got a job in an organization where they were focused on group coaching as a startup. They were at the very beginning of their journey, and they needed someone to help them build the team of coaches, develop their coaches, etc, in group coaching. And I stepped into that job. And this is where, you know, talk about transferable skills. This is where I was like, in my element. Suddenly I had to create capabilities for the coaches like i. I had done teaching and learning capabilities for million years in education. I had to recruit coaches. I had recruited and trained teachers through the IB, at all the schools at work that. I had to build curriculum for the organizations that we would work with. Like all of my skills were transferred to building that company. And they kept telling me, Wow, how do you know how to do these things? It's like, you have a map. And I'm like, yeah, it's a school. Building a school, I know how to do that. So I think what, what I want to say with the you know, it's really hard to build a business by yourself, because you might not have the skills, you might not have all of that. For me, what helped was finding that job and being able to support them in building and then coaching actually led to building my company, Group Coaching HQ, where we train coaches in group coaching. And it's so funny. I still coach quite a bit, but building this company for me was just bringing everything together, bringing all of my education background building a company for someone else, training teachers, being an educator, and suddenly it just everything made sense. It took me, I would say seven, six to seven years to get there after leaving education. But now I just feel like all of my experiences have collided to create this thing, and I couldn't be happier. So while it can be difficult to go into coaching, there are different ways to do it. You can work for other companies. You don't have to do everything yourself. You don't have to go find your own clients all the time. You can contract for other companies. You can collaborate with other coaches. You can do teaching on the side, tutoring if you need to. There are many different ways to build a business that don't require you to do everything by yourself. So back to pulling from community network. We're not alone, and whoever is trying to do this, you're not alone.

Ali  22:13  
No, and I think it's really important that you outlined that it wasn't like an overnight success and easy transition, and we really appreciate that you shared the reality of, like, making a transition into something new. It's not just perfect the next day. You had a lot of learning to do, and honestly, reminds me a lot of becoming a teacher. It's like you're you know, you think you've got it, you're prepared. You go to the classroom, it's a lot different in practice than maybe you think it's going to be. And and having already gone through one career, you're really, I think, able to navigate a second career in something new. Working with coaches, I think, seems very natural. In my day job. I actually work with subject matter experts and coaches a lot that support grant recipients. And so I've even had to fall into that role myself. And it's something that comes very naturally after having been in the classroom, after working in, you know, planned learning communities with other educators, things like that. So I think, you know, teachers are really already in a good place if they're interested in this type of work, to be able to do the work. But it is that learning curve of perhaps running your own business, or how to start it up. So I love the idea of maybe working for someone first, or finding a mentor might be helpful as well, to really build up what you would like to do. And I also think it's just great to be able to hear from someone like yourself who shared their journey, and to understand a little bit more of what being a group coach might look like, and like doing group coaching, as opposed to one on one. So we're really grateful for your time today on the show. And we know that this is just really the beginning of of what our listeners can learn from you. So we want to be able to share with them how they can connect with you. You can find Dominique on LinkedIn at Group Coaching HQ. On Instagram at Group_coaching_HQ. And then her website, group coachinghq.com, which are all linked in the show notes. Thank you again. So much for your time today.

Dominique  24:11  
Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun. You

Ali  24:24  
Are you interested in suggesting a topic for Teacher Shift, being a guest or recommending a guest? Please see the episodes page on our website to make a submission. And if you'd like to write for us, see our blog page. If you liked Teacher Shift, give us a five star rating and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Apple podcasts, Spotify and Amazon music. Today's episode was written and recorded by me, Ali Simon and my co host, JoDee Scissors. Executive produced by Teacher Shift. Produced and edited by Emily Porter. Original music: Emoji by Tubebackr