I proposed a show called Life Coach to PICA for the 2012 TBA festival. Initially I planned to make fun of life coaching. That was part of my pitch.
But after taking a 3 day Life Coaching intensive (3 more days of training than is required to be a Life Coach in Oregon) I realized it would be more interesting to offer it as a genuine offering.
To further prepare I privately coached a few dozen friends and acquaintances. For the festival I offered 8 people a 45 minute life coaching session, but in front of a full audience.
Potential participants were instructed to email me through the festival catalog, and I programmed the 8 people I felt had a problem or issue we could address.
For the first 15 minutes of each “performance” I addressed the audience, running through some self-exploration exercises and an overview of the process, then I brought up the person getting coached.
But after taking a 3 day Life Coaching intensive (3 more days of training than is required to be a Life Coach in Oregon) I realized it would be more interesting to offer it as a genuine offering.
To further prepare I privately coached a few dozen friends and acquaintances. For the festival I offered 8 people a 45 minute life coaching session, but in front of a full audience.
Potential participants were instructed to email me through the festival catalog, and I programmed the 8 people I felt had a problem or issue we could address.
For the first 15 minutes of each “performance” I addressed the audience, running through some self-exploration exercises and an overview of the process, then I brought up the person getting coached.
What I hadn’t planned on was how invested the audience would become in each person’s session. So after a few sessions I handed out note cards for each audience member to give to the participant at the show's end.
Audience members were also surprised at how every show was completely different. After all, there was no script, nor was I the star. The person and their problem or predicament was.
So many audience members came to multiple shows. One group brought a friend to the final show. Afterwards the friend came up and told me that “She had seen what she needed to see.” Her tone suggested I had done something wrong or was a fraud.
But she added “I’m ready to hire you.” She was in fact a $300 an hour therapist and did hire me to life coach her in her own office.
Life Coach was invited to be part of a group show at Plug Projects in Kansas City in 2014.
And later part of S.A.D park, a project in Portland’s Pioneer Square by Ariana Jacob and Ralph Pugay.
Here’s a review from Erik Henrisen for the Portland Mercury.
Audience members were also surprised at how every show was completely different. After all, there was no script, nor was I the star. The person and their problem or predicament was.
So many audience members came to multiple shows. One group brought a friend to the final show. Afterwards the friend came up and told me that “She had seen what she needed to see.” Her tone suggested I had done something wrong or was a fraud.
But she added “I’m ready to hire you.” She was in fact a $300 an hour therapist and did hire me to life coach her in her own office.
Life Coach was invited to be part of a group show at Plug Projects in Kansas City in 2014.
And later part of S.A.D park, a project in Portland’s Pioneer Square by Ariana Jacob and Ralph Pugay.
Here’s a review from Erik Henrisen for the Portland Mercury.
