Client Spotlight: Realise Realign

Warr & Co client, Realise Realign, offers a consultancy-based service to help individuals harness their inner reserves and to strengthen and re-envisage their future. Offering business, career and personal coaching to clients.

What if your life and business decisions were easier to make? What if your priorities and drivers could be more clear to you? Could life’s everyday challenges be easier to manage? These are the types of questions Rachel Kochany from Realise Realign will ask you when you sit down with her to discuss her consultancy services. We connected with Rachel from Realise Realign to learn more about her business and how she may be able to help fellow Warr & Co clients.

 

Why did you start Realise Realign? Please tell us a little bit about your background in coaching and consultancy

As well as a 5 year period working in Poland, I have spent 20+ years in complex global programmes as a Project Manager & Business Analyst in the British Council – a cultural relations organization. I’ve also served as a SAP Business Process Lead and Solution consultant supporting the organization through multiple multi-country SAP implementations. My work took me to many countries, including Hungary, India, and Nigeria.

More recently my career took a different path and I worked as a coach in the British Council (as well as my day job). I partnered with folk as they explored career possibilities, and worked through leadership challenges. I realised that I really enjoyed seeing the potential in people; drawing this out, and helping them to take the steps they dreamed of. Over time it became clear to me that I was making a significant contribution as a coach, so I started to think about how I could build on this.

I’ve cared about releasing potential in people and organisations for a very long time, and am very impressed by the difference coaching makes. Strangely I heard about coaching almost ‘by accident’, when I received an email from the Coaching Academy offering me a weekend’s introduction to coaching. I went along, learnt a lot about myself, and how I interact with others. I realised that without knowing it this was always something I had wanted to do. 

I’ve been trained in a number of coaching methods and this enables me to approach sessions with clients from many different angles. So when a redundancy situation came along I decided to leave my much loved organisation and set up my coaching, facilitation, and consultancy business – Realise Realign – it was certainly the right decision.

 

What services does Realise Realign offer?

I offer a variety of services depending on where you’d like to see improvements:

• 1-2-1 executive coaching sessions for senior leaders
• Personal Thinking sessions for senior leaders
• Transforming Meetings training – giving teams:
  • new ways to connect and understand each other – leading to increased trust
  • a more inclusive way of working – enabling quieter voices to be heard  
  • more effective use of meeting time for better results
• Facilitation of team and organisational change

I also run a Leadership forum as a peer support network enabling clients to share their experiences, intentions, and successes. This is a popular option for my current and past clients as they are able to continue their personal and professional development with likeminded individuals, celebrating their wins, finding peer support, discuss how to weather the storms of work and life better, and to give and receive wise input to keep them moving forward. 

 

What makes Realise Realign unique?

With my professional background being quite varied I bring a wealth of business experience relevant to my clients’ particular contents and challenges. 

I have an ability to work with teams in an organisational setting having worked in complex organisations myself, and so I am well-placed to help clients navigate the challenges they face.

I consider each client individually, and listen to where they wish to go next, knowing that every individual is able to decide what is best for them and that they require a thinking partner alongside them to support their journey.

I’ve gone through a number of transition periods where I have re-evaluated my life and career – reflecting back to what was important to me, and ensuring I was clear on what my decisions should be based on. This helps me to understand the landscape clients are walking through on their own journeys; and to provide a trustworthy, and generative space for growth as they move forwards.

 

What is the most rewarding part of running your own business?

Seeing success is hugely motivating for me – seeing the people I work with become happier in themselves and in their choices, and then watching them go on to achieve great things.

I also love being able to use my collective skillset, experience, and training to help advance organisations and individuals at the highest level. It makes me feel that my career has built to this point where I can now help people take the next step up themselves.

Finally, running my own business gives me the flexibility that I desire to plan my time around the things that matter to me the most.

 

What has been the biggest challenge for you along the way?

Marketing my services in a way that reflects the strength of what I offer.

 

What has been your biggest success so far?

The success that I am the most proud of – to date – was having a new client call me and tell me, ‘I’ve come into some money and realised that I don’t need to work anymore. But if I don’t work, who am I?’ After a series of sessions together my client was very much happier in the entirety of who she was, and could appreciate the richness that she brought to the world. In fact, she went on to continue working – doing what she found she loved.

 

How have Warr & Co helped you as a business owner?

Warr & Co were very helpful at the start of my journey, preparing and submitting annual accounts, and the in-house knowledge relating to my online accounts package has provided me useful support when needed.

 

Do you have any advice for other people who are thinking about starting their own business?

It’s a journey well worth taking for your own personal development, and for the benefit of the people you seek to serve. Just be prepared to meet a few bumps in the road on the way, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. There’s a lot of support out there.

 

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About Rachel

Rachel is a Personal Performance and Executive Coach with a background in Project Management, Business Analysis, Process and SAP Consultancy.  Having worked for many years for the British Council – a cultural relations agency – in the UK and Poland she realised she really enjoyed seeing people tap into who they are, excel in using their strengths and gifts, and go on to make the difference they were born to make. After working as an internal coach and supporting clients with their career and life transitions she set up in business to help people do just that.

Rachel has spent a lot of her working life collaborating with, and supporting, people from varied backgrounds – and she enjoys the richness and the variety that this brings. She seriously loves partnering with people to find out more about who they are and what they can bring – and helps them connect their inner and their outer selves for greater enjoyment, effectiveness, and impact.

She enjoys holding thinking sessions with senior leaders – providing a supportive generative space where the best ideas come to light, and are applied for improved results. She thrives on working with teams and groups – to help them build mutual trust; develop better understanding of each others’ perspectives; agree a common brief – and go onto deliver projects and events they both enjoy and are proud of.

She specialises in coaching purpose and identity; legacy; working in International teams for the first time; moving to live and work overseas – and making the transition back again; listening and EQ; Career exploration and transition.

She believes that being easeful about what we do, identifying and harnessing our strengths and opportunities, we will do our best work. She is able to draw on a number of different approaches, to meet the needs of the client.

In her spare time Rachel is inspired by the great outdoors, light, space, colour and good design. She loves visiting art galleries and finds this renews perspective every time.

 

Qualifications and Training

Rachel is one of those lifelong learners, often tuning into talks on neuroscience, engagement, telling our story in creative ways – and loves hearing others views on what works, and what more to be aware of. She holds a Personal Performance Coaching Diploma, and is completing a Corporate and Executive Coaching Diploma.

Rachel recently graduated from the Academy for Coaching Excellence Coaching Accelerator Enhanced Programme with David Peterson and David Goldsmith. David Peterson headed up the Coaching team at Google for ten years, and David Goldsmith is viewed as one of the founders of the Coaching Industry. To learn from these coaches at the top of their game has been a real privilege. Teaming up with coaches from all over the world has also been inspirational.

Rachel has trained with Nancy Kline to hold Thinking Partnerships – and is a Licensed Time to Think Facilitator. She excels in partnering with teams as they become their most creative and effective selves – increasing enjoyment and improving effectiveness. She is also a licensed Firework career coach.

Website:     https://realiserealigncoaching.com

Email:            [email protected]

Linked In :     https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkochany/

Mobile:       07904629109

 

Areas of Expertise

• Purpose and identity Coaching
• Leadership Coaching
• Performance Coaching
• Executive Coaching
• Career Coaching
• Transforming Meetings training for increased trust, and effective use of time