Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Abe Brown, Founder of Certified Flourishing Coaching, located in Calgary, AB, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Certified Flourishing Coaching™ is grounded in the psychology of flourishing and coaching best practices honed over decades of coaching and counseling tens of thousands of clients, along with training and certifying thousands of coaches all over the world. We make coach training and certification accessible to all.

As Coaching has evolved, clients are looking for an approach that is evidence-based and professionalized. The Certified Flourishing Coaching Model™ takes the best available current research around people, change, and specifically how people flourish and practically applies it with a coaching lens. Specifically, the Certified Flourishing Coaching Model™ draws on the psychology of human flourishing, which has a well-established theoretical framework and decades of coaching best practices and techniques. We serve people and organizations (both for-profit and non-profit) from all walks of life and sectors, believing that learning to coach unlocks our capacity to develop as leaders and people.

Tell us about yourself

I once went to a funeral that I will never forget. Even though it happened over two decades ago, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a 23-year-old ordained minister, and before getting into my current career as a leadership and executive coach, I spent 13 years as a full-time pastor. I was used to conducting funeral services packed full, often with hundreds in attendance. These funerals became celebrations of the life and contributions of the one who had passed. Though there was sadness, there was also grateful for the life lived and its contributions.

I will never forget one funeral. I was called by one of our local funeral homes to conduct a service for an older gentleman who had passed away. Because I did not know him, I wasn't sure what to expect, but when I arrived, I was shocked to see an open casket with just one mourner in attendance. I checked my watch and made sure I wasn't early. Actually, I was five minutes late. I waited 10 minutes to see if anyone else would arrive. At 11:15 am, fully 15 minutes after the funeral was supposed to begin, there was one mourner, an open casket, and myself present to celebrate and remember a life of more than 70 years.

I went through the motions of the funeral service, but I was forever shaken. I couldn't imagine living 70 years and connecting with so few people that there would be only one attendee at my funeral. That event shook me to my core, and I resolved that I wanted to build a life that was full of life, full of love, and making a difference. Maya Angelou understood this when she said, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away."

Part of this is determining to leave a positive footprint on the world. This sort of determination causes us to act like what we do makes a difference because, in reality, it actually does! The meaning of life is to find your gift, and yet the purpose of life is to give it away. Heart-centered and successful people make a difference in the people around them and are celebrated.

In the end, this is how I believe we will be evaluated: Was I a giver and not just a taker? Was I a person who plants and not just someone who harvests? Did I seek to serve, and not just to be served? Was gratitude my steady response or entitlement? And in the end, did my giving and planting and thanking and serving actually do anything that will last beyond this moment? Let's live in this moment but aim for an impact beyond just this moment.

Since that moment, I have not lived a perfect life, far from it. But for me, it's been pretty simple. Live fully. Love authentically. Serve gratefully. Lead effectively, with or without a title. And make a difference. I coach my clients to do the same.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Launching Certified Flourishing Coaching as a global movement for coach training and certification that is built on the science of flourishing and makes coaching accessible to all. In just over a year, we have already spread to over ten countries on three continents and continue to expand daily.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The sense of loneliness and isolation can sometimes play on your mind. Though this is often factually incorrect, this can be a mental challenge for many business owners.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Develop a daily routine. Your life is about your daily routine.
  2. Take care of your business by taking care of yourself. Your capability to produce is limited by your capacity to pause, rest, and take time to invest in yourself.
  3. Less is more. Think big picture, and don't get lost in the details that can consume you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://certifiedflourishingcoach.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbeBrownCoach
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachabe/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coach_abe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-brown-mba-569a9015/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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