Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland never imagined that one day she would leave Australia to live and work in bustling China. Yet now you can find Bronwyn living amidst the combination of modern buildings and local communities in Shanghai, and overseeing the first accredited Mandarin-speaking coaching program in China.
Bronwyn is the co-owner of the million-dollar business, International Coach Academy – an accredited organization that certifies and trains people all over the world to be professional coaches. Seeing an opportunity to expand in China, Bronwyn moved to Shanghai with her family in 2007 – and loves it!
In addition to overseeing the coaching program, Bronwyn leads a virtual team of eighty staff members in nine countries that support the business. In addition, she manages Lobii, a consulting company that takes the coaching process and creates new work strategies for companies.
Bronwyn is also an author. Her first book was released in Australia in 2010 and is entitled This vs. That – Change How You See Your World.
Expat Women's Interview with Bronwyn
Expat Women:Bronwyn, what convinced you that moving to China was the right thing to do?
Bronwyn: In 2005 I came to Hong Kong and mainland China to carry out some research about coaching. I spoke to as many people as possible about coaching. I found that right from down the south of China to the north in Beijing, there was an enormous interest in, and curiosity about, the coaching profession. The last city I was to go to was Shanghai. As I got in a taxi and headed into the city on the elevated freeway I just felt this enormous surge of energy hit me. Shanghai is an unbelievably dynamic city that is both modern and rich in community life. I felt like the city captured all of my senses and I wanted to live here. I then brought my family to visit Shanghai for a holiday and they all loved it, so in 2007 we moved here. The potential for coaching and training managers and executives in using a 'coach approach' to their roles is massive.
Expat Women:What strategies helped you upscale your business for expansion into the Chinese market?
Bronwyn: We already had several graduates and student coaches in our English program in mainland China, so I reached out to all of them first. It was from this core group that we began translating materials and organizing to grow the market. We contacted local universities and found English Masters students who were excited to work with us to localize our materials and help us learn the culture. We then asked our core group to help us search for trainers whose first language was Chinese, and we began reaching out to their contacts as well. I also began speaking at conferences and connecting with other coaches and organizations that were using coaching.
Expat Women:What specific challenges do you face in running a business with so many virtual staff? How do you overcome them? Bronwyn: One of the "challenges" we have is that we have staff who are so inspired, so inspiring and have great ideas. We would love to be able to have them all come into a boardroom and thrash ideas around, brainstorm through to a business outcome. If we could do this face-to-face it would expedite the process, I am sure! I also love to physically see everyone I work with, as I believe it enriches our working relationships. However with all of us working virtually, we also get heaps more achieved as we do not have so many face-to-face work distractions too. I remember when I used to work in a corporate environment; some days I felt as though I did not get anything done other than meetings and chats in the corridors.
Expat Women: The coaching profession has gained increasing popularity in the last decade. What trends have you noticed emerging in this industry?
Bronwyn: The greatest trend I observe is how coaching skills have been adapted into every role. Coaching is a set of skills and an overarching philosophy that creates amazing workplace cultures. It is the foundation for building communities. There has been a big shift from a cornerstone of "knowledge" as the old paradigm to "self-awareness" as the new paradigm. This is where people now aspire to - in both their work and personal lives. Self-awareness is all about organizations that we need to look within ourselves to be able to see out. For so long, we have always looked at others or external factors to judge, but now we know that we need to start with ourselves first to understand how we impact things. Executives and managers who use a coach approach with their careers and in managing their staff, create workplace cultures that thrive on creativity. They have staff who take ownership of their responsibilities and see huge success.
Taking a coach approach in your life is also what can help expats assimilate into their new countries faster. It is a better way of viewing cultures different from the one you are most familiar with. Being coached – especially by a coach in your new country – is a wonderful way to learn more about yourself in your new environment.
I also see so many expats taking up coaching as the perfect career as they move around the world. Most coaching today is done via the telephone (which is why we became a virtual training school), and it is easy with Skype and other online communication tools to have a virtual business as a coach. Moving does not impact your business at all. In fact, it helps you truly become a global citizen.
Expat Women: What does your business do in terms of social media? How important do you think social media is for internationally minded coaches?
Bronwyn: If you choose to work in a relationship-oriented business, like professional coaching, then you are probably a very social person. So it is a fairly natural extension to adapt the typical kind of socializing people do – like networking, going to Chambers of Commerce luncheons, attending gatherings – to online communities like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
In the past 10 years, International Coach Academy has graduated more than 4,000 certified coaches. And we are grateful that many of our graduates want to keep us in their lives. They brag about their training and their new coaching businesses, so they end up referring their friends to us. We have such an active community of coaches, trainers, students and friends that this year we formalized everybody into a Social Media Army. Our Social Media "General" is Merci Miglino, one of our long-time trainers who lives in New York. Merci uses the Army to spread the word about what everyone is up to. She mobilizes our entire community via status updates, calendar listings and the thought leadership shared by our creative and insightful coaches. We frequently have more than 500 people register for our monthly International Speaker Series, which Merci hosts with another one of our coaches, Leon VanderPol, who is an expat living in Taiwan.
Expat Women:What are your top five tips for coaches who are trying to grow their business abroad?
Bronwyn:
1.
Find a supportive network, such as an expat group in the country you will be moving to.
2.
Work with a coach to support your transition. Because coaching is such an ideal profession for an expat, it will be easy to find someone who likely has had a similar journey to the one you want to embark on. ICA can recommend several in any country in the world.
3.
Recognize that changing countries does not mean a loss of your vision or your belief, but is instead another opportunity to be able to enhance them.
4.
Make it a priority to collect as many business cards as possible both at home and abroad. These can prove to be valuable contacts – especially if you publish a newsletter to let everyone know what you are doing!
5.
Devote time also to your own personal and professional development. Starting a business can be very demanding of your time. Plan "me" time each month. The focus on you, away from your daily obligations, allows you to return to your work/business refreshed and focused.
Expat Women: Do you have plans to expand to other countries and in other languages?
Bronwyn: We have begun translating our materials into Spanish and we are currently researching the Portuguese market too. We are also working with many of our students and graduates as a core group in India, another market we are working in.
Our vision is to continue introducing 'the Coach Approach' to enlightened individuals and multinationals around the world. We already have more than 4000 students and graduates around the world who are helping us fulfil this vision daily. We have only just begun.
Expat Women:Bronwyn, we congratulate you on the success that your business has had in China. We look forward to seeing your business expand worldwide!
