Ren Skubala-Szafir is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with her. She impressed us with her untiring dedication to her work.

She started with her coaching journey after a serious trauma in 2019, and she is progressing faster than most coaches we know.

Her dedication has pushed her to learn everything, from NLP, REBT, CBT to Christian coaching, fitness and nutrition in 2019 and she continues studying and upgrading her skillset. However, she is only using tools and techniques that she is certified to use.

But with the pace she is leveling up we are confident she’ll be able to tackle coaching from as many angles as there are really soon. She is such a wise person and shares really valuable lessons. Here is what she said.

Meet Life Coach Ren Skubala-Szafir:

Name: Ren Skubala-Szafir
Pillar: The Mind, The Body
Who is this coach for: Christian women who want help on their path in life, to revive and revitalize themselves, improve their health and wellbeing.
How they can help: Various tools and techniques she is certified to use like NLP, also health and nutrition guidance.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these Pandemic times?

Thank you, we are as well as can be during such situations.

I’ve actually had my hands full looking after family members for a variety of reasons. We’ve had our difficulties to face, but then again, I don’t know of anyone who didn’t have at least a few difficulties in the last few years.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?

Everyone has been affected in different ways and the one thing we can all hold on common are the strong emotions that arise from the pandemic issues.

What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?

Several lessons I have learned from this pandemic that felt like it was an extension of my trauma in some regard.

I was triggered on a few occasions which sent me right back to the basics of my training: to work on myself in such an unprecedented time.

I learned about the value of freedom, the right to think for ourselves, the value of equality and rights, the extremes of human behavior and how people don’t even know themselves until faced with situations, limitations as well as other factors such as social division, discrimination and the ways in which we need to be discerning of information.

I also witnessed the love, care and amazing ways people can act. The ways we can all work around issues and find solutions.

I can say with full certainty this pandemic only pushed me further on my journey that only had begun a year prior. Fueling my passion for coaching even more.

The Origin:

Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?

To tell you about myself at this point of time, I am essentially a new woman and leading a very different life to who I was just a few years ago. This is all the result of why I am actually in this field now.

I started because of a major trauma, the second actually in under a decade. In 2013, I had experienced a major trauma that I survived. However, in 2019 what I experienced had stripped me of my identity.

I only had one reason to keep going and that was the only tiny spark of light in a dark tunnel, or better I should describe it as a ‘sinkhole’. As I focused on that spark, I found myself being able to navigate my way back, out of that space to what I could describe as ground zero.

Proverbially speaking, once I climbed from the underground back to the Earth’s surface I have a very different perspective of everything and that was the start of my studies in coaching.

I went through NLP, REBT, CBT, Christian coaching, fitness, nutrition, image and etiquette sessions which then furthered into actual classes and courses. This was now my first foundation built, and I started with one client, then two, then more.

Being quite time restricted due to family responsibilities and studying a PhD in Life Coaching, I limit the amount of coaching I take on at the moment.

I practice what I preach and every day I grind to build more levels as I have a strong passion for this field and a desire to continue using my experience, acquired knowledge and tools to help others. I have also become an Ordained Minister and regularly serve at Church.

I have recently allocated my coaching services into my registered business “Tsarina” which is where all my certified coaching is unleashed.

I primarily focus on Women’s christian holistic life coaching which include NLP, Health and Nutrition coaching. Additionally expanding into a few other areas that I am qualified and experienced in, such as dance training (Oryantal Dance), among other areas soon to be included in my services.

What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?

It was overcoming the trauma, to an extent where I could really know who I was and feel like ‘myself’ again.

However the catch to that is, I had to essentially reinvent major parts of my sense of self, reintroduce elements of my former life that were not serving as a trigger to my trauma as the essence of who I was.

Just to be clear, everything I used to be, in how I term my “past life” was beautiful. I didn’t even know how much I had lost, until I did.

Not just myself as a person, but so much more that builds into what makes up our individual identity as people. It had all been destroyed. I had limited time to reestablish myself as my family and new life depended on it. I worked in such a speed, literally burning myself out.

There were days I couldn’t sleep. So I worked, my brain worked on overload to find ways and figure things out. I was almost like a computer until my health reminded me I was human.

I was doing so much at the early stages toward overcoming my trauma, it was not the right way, but I had no guidance at the early point of time. It wasn’t until I was directed toward life coaching that I started on the right path again.

As I mentioned there was only one little spark that was reason enough to keep going through the darkness. For all of that, what I have had to endure and pass through, not only did it turn me into a different person mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually but also brought with it new perspectives, experiences, knowledge and tools. A new essence of self in the world.

The Coaching Style:

How do you innovate with coaching your clients?

Currently my style of Life Coaching are Transformation, NLP, Health and Nutrition focused.

Keeping within the scope of practice, I work with my clients on these areas to help them achieve the motion they seek on their current life paths.

What’s unique about your coaching approach?

I believe because of my own experiences of what prompted me to even walk this path is already a starting point as what could be defined as my unique approach.

I don’t personally set out to be distinctive, I just put my passion into what I do and that drives me to want to be better as a coach, better as a person, to level up.

Life will never stop presenting circumstances that force us to expand upon where we stand. I’m just more aware of these steps now than I was previously and have access to tools for a smoother walk.

What benefits do your clients get after working with you?

The advantage of working with me is that my coaching input provides a holistic perspective and with that approach I strive for the client’s satisfaction as I take an interest in their welfare.

I also make sure that, prior to working with a client we have a compatibility as that is vital towards working together to achieve a desired outcome.

Like any type of relationship we have as people with others, there must be a suitable connection for it to provide us with what can be termed the ‘benefits’ of that association.

Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?

All of my tools in my coaching approach stem from both my experience personally blended with my certifications.

I only use the tools I am qualified to use, even if I have familiarity with more. I feel professionally obligated to stick within the scope of practice.

I am open to expanding professionally and in that instance once equipped to do so is when I implement something new into my professional tool kit.

The Impact:

If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?

There are so many messages that I would say to different fractions of the world that it’s hard for me to summarize just one message.

However, to reach every human being via one message, would be to care for others, and receive care from others. That is a core part of what humanity should morally function as.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?

The greatest lesson I have learned is how precious time is.

I have come to understand how quickly the sun sets everyday and the fact that we wake up to see a new morning, to see the sky, the faces of our friends and family and just being able to breathe, move, drink a nice coffee or have a nice meal with our closest ones is a gift to not be taken for granted.

Not everyday will present as a lovable one, but we need to love everyday regardless.

Nothing lasts forever, just as there is bad there will be good. Just as the sunsets and rises.

Your final thoughts?

The future is unknown, but we do have today, this moment to step forward on our path, or even step into a new one.

It’s important to be grateful for everything we have right now, for we have a chance to make a difference and make things happen.

Where Can You Find Ren Skubala-Szafir?

If you liked this interview and you would love to connect with Ren personally, you can do that via her LinkedIn profile until her website is up and running.

If you like to get a glimpse of her coaching, make sure to check her Instagram. It was an honor having this interview with her.