Click your heels, and follow your authentic brick road….there’s no place like RCA!

Julia Meder | Founder, Dreamfinder Coaching, Germany

George Reichert | Chief Information Officer, Genworth Financial

Kathleen is the coach whisperer. Kathleen encourages her students to open their eyes, expand their horizons and unleash their inner coach. I attended a cohort that included a judge/lawyer, an OBGYN, a University Professor, a high tech change leader, an entrepreneur and a Chief Information Officer…quite a diverse and intellectual group. Kathleen created the space that allowed us to grow as coaches and as human beings, all in 3 long weekends. I am a better leader, husband and friend because of what I learned and experienced at RCA. I look forward to coaching others and if I can provide even a bit of the inspiration that Kathleen has provided me, I will be more than happy.

Heather Eck | Senior HR Generalist, Epic Games

I’m not sure it’s possible to love someone more than I love Kathleen and the Raleigh Coaching Academy. From the very first phone call to learn more about the program until this very moment, Kathleen has made me feel like anything is possible. Kathleen is like a symphony conductor gently directing all of the students in her class into perfect harmony with both the ICF core competencies and the authentic heart of a masters level coach training. This is a special program for individuals who are open to exploring deep, personal transformation and learning the powerful and life changing abilities of a skilled coach. I cannot fully express the tremendous gratitude I have for having found RCA and Kathleen. They have both been a gentle, healing balm for my soul’s journey and my professional work. Kathleen is truly a gifted teacher and coach. If you’re feeling called to become a coach, Kathleen is the answer.

Nicole Olivieri-Schupp | Leadership & Organizational Development Coach, e3people

As an experienced Leadership and Professional Development professional, I had been looking for answers to some deep questions concerning leadership in the corporate arena. Specifically, why there is so much disengagement in the work place (as many studies have highlighted) when there is more focus, energy and training on developing leaders than ever before? I think the answer to that question lies in Kathleen’s coaching model – that our development efforts are focused on the goal and not on the soul. The Raleigh Coaching Academy, under Kathleen’s loving leadership, gives us the permission to be human and therefore, vulnerable, in the workplace. Her program teaches coaching from the heart and helps us to become creators rather than victims in life. If you are a seasoned coach or looking to take your career in this direction, look no further than the Raleigh Coaching Academy. The program is ICF certified and I believe, one of the best Coaching certification programs in the world.

Julia Curtis | Senior Director of Talent, Quintiles

Look no further… whether you need a coach or want to become a coach, Raleigh Coaching Academy can help you achieve your dreams. Kathleen has created a strong, reputable practice taking the International Coaching Federation core competencies to the next level. Her sincere and disciplined commitment to integrity and authenticity is pervasive in her work. And her “wisdom beyond her years” will wow you… empowering you to become the best you can be. I am proud to carry a Raleigh Coaching Academy education, and I rely on my coaching sessions with Kathleen to keep me grounded, focused and growing. I am forever changed. Join us. Believe it. Authenticity really is contagious!

Keith Lawton | Authentic Leadership Coach, Ubritsa Coaching

I came to RCA with an open mind and heart. I have always believed that I can only get value from activities and learning when I give wholly and unreservedly of myself. I didn’t know what to expect with RCA, but found that very quickly I was safe. I was safe to be me, to express in ways I have wanted to for a long time, and that everyone else was open-minded enough to accept me as I was. After many years in a corporate environment, in three countries across two continents, I had evolved to be the lowest common denominator of myself. With the RCA cohort I rediscovered, or should that be re-animated, the true me that had been for too long below the waters, much like an iceberg.

I have made some steadfast friends thought the experience, friends that I would not have otherwise made, and they will be forever part of me. These include the cohort attendees, like myself, as well as the faculty that I had the amazingly rewarding experience of meeting and working with during the cohort. It has to be said, our cohort is reuniting every 6 weeks now, as that was the frequency that we met during the training. We don’t want to pass more time without a meeting, so we keep on meeting. We are united.

The training would almost be a side show, if it weren’t the perfect backdrop and catalyst for everything that I have described above. The training gave us frequent opportunities to explore, discover, reveal, and revel in our own selves as well as each other. Habits, themes, differences, and similarities all came out slowly and steadily. We all, together, separately, and at various times, struggled, led, listened, followed, and grew more confident in ourselves, our teachers, and being coaches. The exercises are sculpted towards the same special and inimitable authentic goal: putting us in the driving seat, and in front of clients to do the same for them.

Now, don’t let any of this fool you. It’s not a “turn up and succeed” class. It takes effort, it takes emotion, and it takes dedication. It takes a dose of self-belief, a leap of faith, and a pinch of vision to create the future.

I am indebted to Kathleen for creating RCA. I am amazed at the strength, yet simplicity, of the model. I am confident that if you have a strong sense that something needs to be done differently in this world, even if you are not yet sure what that difference is, then RCA will provide you more than enough collaborators, experience, and “fog-lifting-clarity” than you could imagine.

Laura Reichert | Founder, Believe In You Life Coaching, LLC

When looking for clarity with my life purpose, the universe brought me to RCA. Kathleen created a space during my interview with her that allowed me to confirm that authentic leadership life coaching was right for me. The energy present in the classroom was safe and nurturing. This space allowed my cohorts and me to explore and share newfound insights. I was very impressed with the quality of RCA’s curriculum and materials. I waited to write this review to give an authentic and honest perspective. I knew the class training experience was excellent but was I going to be able to create a successful life coaching business after graduation? It has been approximately one year since my graduation at RCA, and I have been able to create a professional and responsive website, LinkedIn, and Facebook business page. I LOVE my work as confidence, motivation, and entrepreneurial life coach. I have acquired 75 coaching hours towards my ACC with the ICF! One last important point I want to share. After graduation, Kathleen and her staff did not just drop off the face of the earth. RCA continued to be responsive and supportive throughout my transformation and successes as a life coach and business owner. Thank you, Kathleen for your love, style, and perspective.

Dina Maloney | Co-Founder at EPIC Coaching and Consulting

My experience as a participant in the RCA Authentic Leadership Training Program has been invaluable, both personally and professionally. To enhance the education process you are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in developing personal self-awareness, which is crucial to being an effective coach. I learned so much about myself, what is necessary to best serve my clients and how to offer my services at the highest level of consciousness. Kathleen provides a safe, nurturing and inspiring environment and her insight, experience and passion are “icing on the cake”! There are other certification programs available, but none provide the level of connectedness that you receive at RCA. Finally, one of the most important points is that Kathleen and her faculty walk the talk; they represent all of the concepts, characteristics and traits they teach that are paramount to effective leadership and coaching!

Anna Young | Founder, Durham Coaching & Consulting

Let’s be clear. I am HONORED to be writing a recommendation for Kathleen O’Grady. I have had the good fortune of knowing her on many levels. Teacher, mentor, client, and friend, because you can’t know Kathleen without falling in love with her.

As a student at Raleigh Coaching Academy, I witnessed this woman’s love, light, knowledge, and experience transform a room of humans who had different beliefs, backgrounds, reasons for being there, personalities, and stories over the course of the three month training. It wasn’t as though we were broken, on the contrary, but Kathleen’s gift for creating an intimate, trusting space allowed us to experience our training and our work through our own vulnerability, positioning us to experience exactly what our clients may go through as we work with them. Kathleen’s dedication to uplifting and empowering the lives of her students, clients, mentees even in her down time, when they are in need, I can compare only to the sacrifice we make for family.

As someone who has worked with her on a project on the business side of Raleigh Coaching/Raleigh Coaching Academy, Kathleen has been so much fun (& funny) to work with, even when we hit some challenges. She is highly creative, intentional, and I’ve had the good fortune to watch her push through her personal barriers as we’ve collaborated in order to manifest the most authentic product, which allowed me to see that even she has vulnerability.

From the standpoint of seeing Kathleen in many different lights…and hats, I highly recommend her whether as a Coach, a mentor, or if you are in search of a Coach training program because Kathleen is ridiculously knowledgeable, and she lives her motto of authenticity.

Laura Neal | Executive Career Coach, Be the Leaf Coaching, LLC

If you are interested in getting your coaching certification, I highly recommend Kathleen Ann O’Grady and RCA. Having just graduated, I can say she lives an authentic life, is a great coach and…bonus!! you will have FUN!! You will not find anyone who cares more about your success while balancing the development of your soul, in fact, I hired her as my mentor coach! The class is structured yet flexible enough to dance in the moment and her staff is top notch yet diverse in both coaching careers, experience and personalities. I was almost sad to graduate, it was such a positive and transformative experience!!

Lynn Guerrant | Project Manager at Access Care

Being a part of a class at Raleigh Coaching Academy is a life-changing event. If you are tired of doing things to please others and want to focus on doing things for you, investigate this coaching establishment. Kathleen O’Grady and her faculty are invested in providing the highest quality of education that can be found in the coaching field. Take a chance and change your life.

Chris Hendricks | Founder, Perfectly Afflicted

Kathleen deserves praise far beyond those suited simply for acts of service and experts in their field. She is a mentor who breaks down barriers of communication with the sort of intellectual kindness found only in the true movers and shakers of our universe. She facilitates comfort by allowing new coaches to explore the power found within their own vulnerability. It is only by being vulnerable ourselves that we earn the right to create a safe environment for our clients to be vulnerable. This, to me, is what separates Kathleen and her program from others out there.

Raleigh Coaching Academy has brought love back to the field of coaching and yet almost re-defines love for a modern world. There is a drive towards the emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual value of students. It feels like a covenant is made between faculty member and student, in which one sees true value in the other from the start. You are genuinely loved as both a coach and a client and therefore feel comfortable expressing your own personal brand of love. It is within this covenant that true authenticity appears.

In a world where “reality” television and plastic promises dominate the social norm, Kathleen’s contagious authenticity is not simply a declaration of war against this reality but a plea for peace. Students and faculty embrace RCA as a new home where vulnerability and learning water the seeds of creativity in order to create a new reality. Students complete the program with not only the ability to coach but with a new sense of who they truly are.

It was told to me that a good metaphor for RCA is a hammock. In closing, I’d like to offer an alternative. If you’re interested in coaching as a profession, Kathleen and her faculty offer more than a place of rest and learning but an opportunity for transformation. I see RCA as a cocoon. I came into the program with not only uncertainty regarding the profession but with a false sense of self. It was only though Kathleen’s program that I could re-emerge not only a coach but a person who sees the values in others and himself.

Sometimes life has a way of clipping your wings. RCA gives them back to you with the humble request you use this new found knowledge to teach others how to fly.

Vahbiz Shroff | Lab Manager at NCSU, College of Veterinary Medicine

Kathleen is truly the answer to my prayers! I had been praying and looking for someone who could help me connect with my true, authentic self. Since the day we met, we had a divine connection and I knew she would be my coach for life! I am fortunate to have trained under Kathleen and the incredible coaches at RCA. I’m proud to call myself a graduate of RCA. The training has changed me as a person altogether. I have come a long way in just one year! Thanks to Kathleen and her coaching model that she implements at RCA I’ve been able to look at life with a new perspective. I’m excited to be able to help others around me do the same. I look forward to a continued association with RCA and all my fellow coaches.

Marcelletta Miles | Chief of Clinical Operations & Affairs at AccessCare

Kathleen is a caring compassionate person who puts her entire being into her career at Raleigh Coaching Academy (RCA). She has a passion for teaching others how to be the best authentic person/coach they can be. She is personable, trustworthy, reliable and honest. But most of all, she is authentic. It has been a real honor to work with her and her colleagues at RCA. I recommend RCA to anyone interested in obtaining an authentic coaching certification.

Regina Bartolone | Owner, Bartolone Coaching, LLC

I am a graduate of Raleigh Coaching Academy (RCA) and I can’t say enough amazing things about the program. Kathleen and her very talented and experienced team of instructors not only skillfully teach coaching content, but they teach it from their hearts. This level of personal investment in their students is one of the things that sets this program apart from others. RCA teaches beyond helping clients set and achieve goals. We learned to coach clients holistically and developmentally. Kathleen and her team are doing good in the world and training her students to do the same.

Barbara Moore | Owner, Barbara Moore Somatics

Kathleen is a coach who is present, centered and grounded. She is congruent, and walks her talk. The ethics she embodies, extend not only to her clients, she is also concerned with the ethics of coaching as a profession. Kathleen has done much to advance and uphold coaching as a profession. Raleigh Coaching Academy is an excellent program if you are looking to train as a coach. Should you be looking to hire a coach for yourself or your organization, look no further. Kathleen gives 100 percent. The deliverables of her Authentic self and program tend to exceed expectations.

Michael Ramsdell | Founder & President, Pathfinder, LLC

If you are on the fence about attending Raleigh Coaching Academy, consider this: Yes you will learn the techniques of coaching, the words to say, and the right business entity to choose. But more importantly, if you are willing to be open, vulnerable and authentic within the safe space created by Kathleen, you will learn something about your heart that will empower you to hold healing conversations filled with grace and presence that will awaken the hearts of others. So get off the fence and make it your intention to become an RCA student, for what you will discover will be yourself.

Krista Davila | Global HRIS Project Manager at Kinetic Concepts

It only took me one look at Kathleen’s Raleigh Coaching website to know that this is the type of person I wanted to learn with. I’d considered other online programs, but between the material, the instructors, the content and the other students selected by Kathleen to participate, it was an amazing experience and highly exceeded my expectations. It has been so fulfilling to utilize everything I learned. I would not hesitate to recommend Kathleen and RCA.

Maria Glenn | Co-Founder & President, Trinitaz Coaching Systems, Inc.

My recommendation is not only for Kathleen as an incredible mentor who generously showed me the ropes of professional coaching, but for Raleigh Coaching Academy at large. Kathleen’s signature Creation Coaching Model transformed my modest coaching skills to that of an executive coaching rock star! My business has expanded dramatically and my impact on my clients’ is getting rave reviews. I’m so proud to be a part of this program as it gets ready to explode!

Beth Livingstone | MBTI Coach & Group Moderator

Kathleen is as passionate about developing her coaching students as she is about developing her coaching clients. Enthusiastic, fully engaged, and a skilled coach.

Lucetta Zaytoun, CPCC, PCC | Founder of Your Life in Bold, LLC

Kathleen created a brilliant new coaching model which encompasses every stage of instituting lasting change in ones life. Her desire for people to come into their best, highest self is not reserved just for her students in the academy, it spills over to those who work with her; colleagues, friends, family, and even passersby. Kathleen’s passion is contagious, her coaching experience broad, her creative genius unparalleled, and her love for humanity deep. If you ever have the chance to study under her, or be coached by her, do not hesitate.

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