Having left corporate London after suffering burnout and subsequently moved to the South of France to pursue a better work-life balance, Felicity Sunderland Hall is a full-time coach and coach trainer. Having first completed our Coach Training programme, and then our Train-the-Trainer programme, Felicity is a fantastic ambassador for the MOE Coach Trainer’s pathway. She shares with us how the journey from student to trainer has transformed her life and career for the better.
Felicity Rose Sunderland Hall had been given the opportunity to attend the MOE Coach Training course for free, and it changed her life. She did the initial MOE course in June, and by September, she wanted to give back and joined the Trainer’s Pathway.
MOE Lead Trainer and Ambassador Tony Phillips had such a huge impact on her that she reached out and said, ‘I’d love to be on a training team with you.’ At the time, she didn’t even have aspirations to be a Lead Trainer—she was so nervous on her first course that she hardly spoke.
The journey was challenging. Felicity says: ‘It was a complete identity shift. The idea of showing up in front of people and “helping” them understand coaching when I felt like I didn’t know it myself was a huge step. But you have a parachute and all the tools you need to succeed and an amazing team there supporting you. It was the first professional space I’d been in where it was okay to be a human being and make mistakes.’
It was the first professional space I’d been in where it was okay to be a human being and make mistakes.
The best part of the experience for her was realising there is space for everyone to be different. She worked with one trainer who was very rigid with the “rules,” and the next who broke all of them. It taught her that we aren’t trying to cookie-cutter people into an “ideal trainer” mold. You can be your own person.
The Trainer’s Pathway has made a lasting impact on Felicity: ‘It was proof that I could do things I didn’t think I could do. Professionally, it helped me stretch; personally, it helped me see my value. It’s also given me my voice. I’ve learned that “giving it a go” and making mistakes is actually a gift. There aren’t many spaces for adults where you are encouraged to fail as part of learning.’
Beyond the technical skills you learn, like managing breakout rooms and timing, Felicity observes there is a massive growth in simply “giving things a go.” You’re meeting human beings at different stages of their journeys, and you’ll have internal reactions to them.
Often, those reactions are reflections of lessons you need to learn about yourself. The Pathway gives you space to understand your automatic responses.
The first steps on the Trainer’s Pathway are voluntary before moving into paid roles. ‘You get so much out of those first courses, even if they are financially voluntary. You get rewards in other ways – confidence, connection, and mastery’, Felicity adds.
To anyone who is sitting on the fence about joining the Trainer’s Pathway, Felicity states: ‘Just do it. For me, it was about wanting to be in the room where the magic happens and learning the “behind-the-scenes” info that you just don’t get as a participant!’
This blog post is a summary of the interview with Felicity. Read the full article in Q&A style on our Substack!
Joining the Trainer’s Pathway
Anyone who has graduated MOE’s Coach Training Programme can apply to join the MOE Trainer’s Pathway.For more information about the Trainer’s Pathway, visit this page.
Connect with Felicity
Felicity now is a Lead Trainer with MOE and has her own company, FRSH (Future Results Start Here) Coaching. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
Felicity has been a guest on the MOE blog talking about her burnout at age 23, and you can view her MOEvement Conference 2024 talk here.
