Coaching For Starting Over: An Interview With Deborah Donenfeld, Owner of Photosynthesis Coaching

Deborah Donenfeld is the owner of Photosynthesis Coaching and a life coach specializing in supporting people in midlife who are starting over. Deborah coaches individuals and professionals in the realms of change and communication, helping people to navigate life when it feels like the rug has been pulled out from under them, and to learn how to choose trust over fear. She also works with professionals who want to communicate more authentically and effectively with clients, co-workers, bosses and those they manage.

Deborah shares her journey from working as a photographer to becoming a coach specializing in midlife transitions, influenced by her own experiences of divorce and financial upheaval, and describes the serendipitous email that opened the door to her true calling in coaching. She discusses the importance of having a guide to navigate life transitions, and the similarities between the people skills necessary to perform both as a photographer and as a life coach. 

The conversation explores the importance of practical and emotional soft skills in managing life changes, and the value of having tools and practices in place before crises occur. Deborah touches on personal growth, the balance between financial stability and time, and the transformative power of coaching.

“When I talk about having a guide, it's somebody to ask me the questions and help me get in touch with my intuition and get in touch with what I know, to help me celebrate the wins, because sometimes I don't think I could even see the wins. Remind me of the things in my toolbox, reflect back to me what I was saying or not saying, what my body language maybe had been saying that I wasn't saying. These are all the kinds of things that I do for my clients that I think would have been really helpful for me.” - Deborah Donenfeld

Key takeaways:

- Discover the links between one career to the next. Deborah worked for many years as a portrait photographer. She then decided to pursue coaching. What links the two for her is her ability and desire to connect with other people, and getting them to trust her so she can get to the essence of who they are.

- Have a backup plan. Information about a coaching program came into Deborah’s inbox, at a time when she began to have back problems that she feared would interfere with her photography work. She thought coaching could be her backup plan. Luckily, she no longer has back issues, and runs a successful coaching business!

- The more you put the energy out, the more you attract it back to yourself. Deborah noted that she didn’t make a conscious decision to focus more on coaching and less on photography. Instead, she loved the coaching so much she began spending more time thinking about it and doing it, so that her practice naturally grew. 

About the guest: 

Deborah Donenfeld is the owner of Photosynthesis Coaching, and a life coach specializing in supporting people in midlife who are starting over. She has been coaching for 13 years, and moved into this niche when her own life was turned upside down and she found herself in the position of navigating several big and painful changes all at once. Deborah coaches from the heart and compassionately helps her clients to work their edge and move through tough changes with grace.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photosynthesiscoaching/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahdonenfeld/

Website: Photosynthesis Coaching

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