Betty-Anne Johnson, MBA, EAC

Betty-Anne Johnson, MBA, EAC

Betty-Anne Johnson

Betty-Anne Johnson, MBA, EAC

Professional Certified Coach

When Betty-Anne came to me she wanted a big career change and life transition and had this incredible dream of moving out West and rebuilding her life in a new and positive way. We worked together for 3 months, from April to June 2021, through online sessions.

We started our coaching with an EQ-i 2.0 Assessment and used her results to help navigate her self-discovery and growth journey in our sessions together. 

It wasn’t until October 2022 when we finally met in person for coffee in a North Vancouver coffee shop, that I saw in amazement that she was living her dream and accomplished the goals she set back in April 2021. 

 This is her story.

What was happening before I met Dagmar?

2020 was an interesting year for me.  In January, my divorce became final.  My daughter and I took our first trip to Antigua (and last vacation for 3 years).  The full force of the pandemic hit in March – my work offices closed to the public, and I ended up suddenly driving 22 hours to pick up my daughter at university.  As all the non-essential services started to close down, my daughter and I found ourselves in a new reality – working, studying, working out and socializing from home.  In April, my specialist recommended that I have a partial thyroidectomy due to a high risk of cancer.  I had my surgery in July and I found myself pondering my life and direction while I was recovering at home.  I was headed toward the 20-year mark at my workplace, and my daughter would be completing University soon.

Why was I open to talking with Dagmar?

I reached out to a career counsellor through my EAP, and he told me about Dagmar.  I went onto her website, and something immediately clicked.  With the mountains and the ocean in the background of her profile picture, and her write up about courage and change, I knew I needed to connect with her.

What was my experience with Dagmar as a coach? 

I told her about my dream of relocating to the west coast and that of becoming a coach.  We went to work together!  We did so many amazing exercises – I vividly remember the first visual to address the clarity I would need to make my “Big Leap.”  We systematically worked through my fears (I found out, hidden deep in my survival brain that there was a fear of living in my car).  She went above and beyond – introducing me to so many great people on the west coast.  We did my EQI together and I went forward with leveraging my strengths and identifying areas of growth.  We talked about the phases of major life transitions, and, through her guidance, I identified what I would need to keep my “fire” going strong.

What are my results now?

Well, fast forward to today, February 5, 2023… I am a certified coach living in North Vancouver – my dream.  I am now working on fulfilling the next phases – joining a company with a passion for workplace wellness and starting my own coaching and consulting company.  Having worked in high stress work environment for many years, I would love to help women in the workplace achieve healthy balance.  I am also working with small organizations to demystify the strategic planning process and develop a strategic plan that works!

Ryan Gilchrist, Athlete / Videographer

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When Ryan came to me, he was at a cross roads in his life. He was at his first major life transition, having just finished high school and about the embark on ‘the rest of his life’.

This can be a very overwhelming time for young adults, given the number of choices and options they have and feeling the pressure to do the right thing. In amongst that is figuring out who they are as an adult, what their passions are and making sure they make the right choice to set themselves on a path to success.

Ryan was no different to many kids in how he felt at this junction. However, what made him unique was his exceptional talent in BMX and MTB Enduro Racing. He was a state and national champion and had a dream of racing in the Enduro World Series. He was also top of his class and was a prime candidate for any of the best Engineering or Health Sciences programs in the country.  He couldn’t figure out how to do both and whether pursuing his dream was irresponsible. The indecision overwhelmed him.

We started our coaching with an EQ-i 2.0 Assessment and used his results to help him navigate the path ahead. This is the story.

Why was I open to talking to Dagmar?

I had never thought of talking to a life coach. I was in the most difficult part of my high school life, studying for exams that were (apparently) going to dictate my entire future, and at the same time facing pressure to enter into university courses, I knew nothing of and was completely unsure about. All of this was taking an extremely large toll on my mental health and was decreasing my ability to study effectively, creating a vicious cycle that seemed to have no end. The decision to see a life coach was suggested by my Mum. She had seen Dagmar before and encouraged me to have a go. 

What was my experience with Dagmar as a coach?

Dagmar was very friendly and made me feel extremely comfortable. I have had trouble articulating my issues to people before but Dagmar broke down these barriers and I felt as though I was able to talk about my situation freely. The session had some emotional moments because a lot of the issues I had been facing were related to stress so having such a comforting coach made the sessions feel less like a doctor’s appointment and more like a conversation with a friend. 

What did it facilitate?

I had a lot of balls in the air at the time I was talking to Dagmar and was really struggling to make sense of my situation. Talking to Dagmar wasn’t an immediate solution but more of a stepping stone to working out my priorities and becoming more comfortable with the uncertainty of my situation. One of the more impactful exercises was a visualization session where Dagmar asked me to visualize myself in a perfect situation where all of my goals were achieved. I never thought too much of it until now…

What are the results now?

18 months later I have found myself in a situation where all of my goals are starting to become reality. In my visualization session, I was racing in North America at the Enduro World Series round in Whistler. In the session, the visualization felt far-fetched and impossible. Today I booked my tickets for not just the Enduro World Series round in Whistler, Canada but the entire World Series. It was just a visualization 18 months ago and now to see that an actual plan has been put in place to make the visualization possible has been incredibly satisfying and makes me feel so positive about my future. I can truly say that my session with Dagmar was a catalyst for this positive plan.