Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorena De Leon.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As a first-generation middle child growing up in a broken home, I saw the need to bring life and a little happiness to my immediate family members. I was not the first-born, or Junior. In fact, I was told to my face that I was not loved by my biological father. How a young girl of four decides to love herself in spite of that, I’m not sure, but I quickly became the comedian and the care-taker of my siblings, but especially for my mother. As a young child, I had a strong sense of right and wrong and stuck up for the underdog(s) in school. I found myself cheering up/on others that needed it.
People have a ‘tipping’ point or a pivotal time in their lives when things drastically change their timeline. Mine was in Junior High when I found out that my biological father denied me. It took me three days to process that and for the next few years, I had a burning desire to prove that I was worthy.
I worked hard, aced classes, studied, read and had student leadership roles and ended up graduating number 5 in my high school graduating class. With acceptances to the University of Texas and St. Edwards and now A&M Kingsville. I chose Kingsville.
Life is not anything without its hard knocks. After two summer semesters, I decided to keep my pregnancy, so I stayed home with my parents to have my first daughter and be with her until the following Fall Semester after her birth. I went back to school, sometimes bringing her to class with me so that she could see me striving, thriving and working hard for the things I wanted for me and us.
Time in college made me realize the love of people and what impacts/influences them. I became a high school teacher and realized I was more of a counselor than I was a Literature teacher.
I moved to East Texas with my family and taught English as a Second Language at Trinity Valley Community College and realized how much coaching my brilliant nuero surgeon, educators, etc. adult students needed to have faith in themselves. As my second job, I was a supervisor for a major electricity company.
In my careers, I was also a Manager and Trainer. All of my work patterns and decisions (God, in my personal opinion) have placed me in front of people, where I lead, teach and/or coach. I continued to dedicate my life to raising my children as a single mother for many years and volunteered at their schools. I wanted to make sure they were not just a statistic.
Once they were gone, I had been working at Baylor University through one of their vendors as a Client Relations Manager, still, leading people, being part of a team. I had been carrying a lot of my own personal goals with me, knowing there would come a time when I could start focusing on the things I always wanted to do before I started having children, but I was stuck in the day in and day out of my life. Then I saw a movie that I had been putting off. Hidden Figures.
It was like something went off in my heart. That same night, I dug deep into my pockets, enrolled myself into a coaching certification class and for the next four to five months, studied and completed my certification exam. I filed for a DBA and so on and so forth.
One of the scariest things for me was to put myself out there to network with other business owners. There are some real sharks out there but I knew I could be just like them. I had been trying to figure things out on my own as a young girl and had been thus far successful.
I love my Waco community. There are so many ways I could acquire clients from all around the globe, and I have a handful, but my community and network groups have brought me so many clients already. There is so much need here in Texas and with my certification as a translator and interpreter, I can do it in two different languages. To give back, I volunteer at the Christian Women’s Job Corp and I take one free client per month who is in need and willing to be coached. I don’t see myself ever retiring.
Today, I am a Member Director to the Female Executives of Waco where we empower women and have hopped into the Hispanic Leaders Network to continue to be involved and give back to the community where I have flourished. I am also almost done writing my first book.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been a lot of obstacles, but I see that as a normal thing. At first, as a younger person, I allowed limiting beliefs to guide me. My biological father taught me I was not worthy of anything. Even though I am grateful for my step-father, he taught me I had three strikes against me already: I was a woman, I was Hispanic and I was poor. He taught me I had to fight three times as hard to be seen, to be heard, to be respected, etc. I had to figure out the FAFSA on my own to go to college. I was a young mother, then I was a single mother. Motherhood, with a full time job was also comes with its own challenges. I dedicated those years to raising strong kids as much as I could. Time and money to go back to school were some of my challenges as well, but we endured.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about De Leon Coaching?
At De Leon Coaching, we seek to empower and level-up our clients so that they can reach their goals. We focus on women & accountability. We target those things that may hinder accomplishing those goals and offer programs that include major transitions, overcoming self-doubt and negative thinking and creating healthy habits. We are known for giving back to our communities by educating on wellness through volunteering and leading in groups. We want our readers to know that we all hold power to reach our dreams and passions. Sometimes we need a helping hand to point the way to tap into that power. ¡Hablamos español!
Any big plans?
Completing my book is my current goal. I am also currently researching how to implement more aspects of wellness into all levels of our public schools as well.
Pricing:
- Programs starting at $650 for 6 weeks
Contact Info:
- Website: https://positivemindsetwork.wordpress.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_lorena_says
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089382971375
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lorena-de-leon
Image Credits
I Come To Thee Photography
