Alexa Cole / Leadership Coach

Coaches @ VCET Series

Alexa Cole is a leadership coach in Burlington, Vermont. After graduating from UVM in 2008, she worked for nonprofits in the Bay Area, before stints at a number of larger coaching firms. Alexa now has her own practice and serves a wide range of clients. In this Q&A, Alexa explains her father’s influence on her decision to coach, how she is bringing the Vermont coaching community together, and what people misunderstand about the profession. 

Blaise: Alexa! You are a Vermonter and studied Women’s Health at UVM. Did you always think you’d get into coaching? 

Alexa: I didn’t always think I’d get into coaching, but I knew I’d be in a helping profession. Ever since I was a little kid, I was always a caretaker in my family and with my friends. I loved teaching my friends how to read –– I was always into learning. Then I started working for my father’s executive coaching firm when I was about 17. I helped him on the back-end, working on his 360 reports, and I thought, ‘Wow, this stuff’s really cool.’ He would work with leaders and assess where they were shining, where they needed to grow, and how they could get stronger. When I graduated, though, I moved to San Francisco and spent a lot of time working for nonprofits managing others and managing projects, and I really burned out. I wanted to help the helpers. So I got back into coaching from the Bay Area and went back to work for my dad around the time I was 23 or 24. 

Blaise: What type of clients do you serve?

Alexa: I’ve worked a lot in tech and startups because of my Bay Area beginnings. I work with everyone from executives, to startup co-founder teams, to someone who’s in a career shift. I’ve also really been blessed to work for a couple of much larger coaching organizations such as Reboot.io and SNP Communications, facilitating groups and teaching classes on management and presentation skill What my clients all have in common, as diverse as they are, is they all want to do self-reflection. They all have a burning curiosity to improve themselves and grow. I love helping people find where they’re stuck and getting unstuck. That can be any kind of person. But since moving to Vermont a few years ago, it’s actually been kind of hard. Especially moving here in a pandemic, I’ve been trying to figure out, how do I find Vermont clients? I have a network here from growing up here, but I’m still learning the landscape. 

Blaise: You use ‘somatic healing tools’ in your coaching. Could you unpack that for me?

Alexa: I bring in the body when I’m working with folks. Often in business, we can sometimes leave parts of ourselves at home. We think, ‘I’m gonna put my sore body, tender heart, or confused mind on the shelf and show up at work like a “real” professional.’ What research has found in recent years is that that’s not possible. So I help people breathe. I help people remember they’re human, even if they’re having a really tough time at work. How do they get back to themselves? I guide individuals and groups through meditation, or sometimes it’s just about laying down and turning off our video and coming back to the moment. 

Blaise: You are a coach by trade, but you also are a mom, a yoga practitioner, and a muralist. How do all these elements define your coaching style?

Alexa: One of the things that I encourage with my clients is to be a lifelong learner. When I’m working with managers at a more senior level, sometimes they think, ‘I can’t shift my career. I can’t ask for that promotion.’ Because the older we get, often the more stuck in our ways we get, or just stuck in our thinking. What if we really believed we could be anything? What if we believed that our dreams could actually be reality? What if I could paint murals and do yoga and have the job of my dreams and be a mom? I really do feel like we can have our dreams.

Blaise: Sam [Roach-Gerber] from VCET always asks people about their ‘secret sauce.’ What makes you unique in what you do? So Alexa –– what’s your secret sauce as a coach?

Alexa: I’m compassionate, an active listener and I call people out on their stuff. Mix all that together and you’ve got some Alexa sauce.

Blaise: What is the coaching community like in Vermont?

Alexa: I have a monthly coaching circle meetup for people like Peter [Anderson] and Steph [Lowe] and even some of my colleagues in California. We meet for an hour once a month on Zoom and go over what we are tackling with our clients. We help each other with problems. I’m sure you know Vermont, it can be slower. I haven’t actually met that many coaches here. But I’m trying to, because I love networking and connecting with folks. To me, it’s more than merrier, since we all have our specialties.

Blaise: What are your future goals in coaching?

Alexa: There are a few things I’m hoping to launch in the fall. One is the second round of a coaching group for women business owners in Vermont. I ran one group in January to June, and I’m hoping to launch again in the fall. It really becomes this beautiful cohort of support. And then I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a coaching group that incorporates yoga for pregnant people, because I have two little kids. I did my yoga teacher training when I was pregnant with my second child, so I feel really inspired to work with pregnant people and moms. My other goal is to get in touch with one big company here in Vermont and do professional development work, like a Ben and Jerry’s or an OnLogic.

Blaise: Are there any misconceptions about coaching?

Alexa: When I was first starting out, people would always think I was a soccer coach. When I’d say coach, they’d be like, ‘Oh, what sport do you coach?’ People have gotten a little bit more hip to knowing what a coach is. There’s also still a misconception that we’re work therapists and emotional handholders. No, definitely not. It’s very different from therapy, in that therapy is focused on the present and past. Coaching is focused on the present and future. It’s very goal-oriented; I give my clients homework every time we meet.

Blaise: When did you first hear about VCET?

Alexa: I can thank my father for that: Peter Cole. He had an office at VCET forever. When I would come back home and visit from California, I’d often come and work out of VCET with him. When I moved back [to Vermont] for good, I needed a VCET in my life and some people around me.

Blaise: What has it been like to be a member of VCET?

Alexa: It’s great here. It’s a home. I think that’s probably the highest compliment I could pay. I’ve been able to host workshops here. I did one on executive presence –– how to speak with passion about your topic, how to have gravitas in front of a room. That did really well here. I’ve signed on clients from meeting them in the [VCET] kitchen. I’ve brought in a lot of my friends, so now I can see them when I come in. It’s been really sweet.

Blaise: Do you have a favorite VCET memory? 

Alexa: The shenanigans. Playing ping pong, seeing my friend David help Ema put in new light bulbs in the hallway, worried that the ladder is going to fall off. All the silliness that happens here is my favorite, because we all need more silly in our work lives. 

Blaise: Is there anything else you want readers to know?

Alexa: I really want to support the community here. If you feel stuck, if you’re having a business challenge, if you’re feeling lost or confused, reach out to one of us. Get a free session. It can’t hurt, it can only help. Know that we’re here as a resource. 

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

You can follow Alexa on LinkedIn here. For more on her work, click here.