Client Spotlight: Zovig Garboushian!
Meet Zovig Garboushian
When I first met Zovig through a business networking organization, she stood out with her vibrant enthusiasm and straight to the heart of the matter communication style. Being around her, although online, it felt like she energized the room, and those around her naturally. It was a wonderful experience to then work with her in person on her branding and headshot portraits. It is my hope to share more of her light here with you all in an interview style: how she empowers others through her Executive Coaching and Keynote Speaking.
How would you describe what you do?
In technical terms, I’m an executive coach, a keynote speaker, and a management trainer. In non-technical terms, I help my clients become intentionally self-aware because the more self-aware we are, the more access we have to change the things that aren’t working and create the things that do.
How did you decide to focus on this area of coaching?
This work naturally emerged because it’s always been something I’ve prioritized for myself, since my very first therapy session at 21 years old. He held a mirror in my face and showed me, me. It wasn’t fun but it was real and it freed me. So I continued to seek answers in every form I could. When I ran out of tools in one form, I would go find answers in another. No matter what kind of work I pursued and what form it came in, the search always led me back to me.
But, it took time to get to this level of connection and conviction with what I believe. When I first started coaching, I coached everything and anyone in careers, life, businesses, and general personal development. For a couple years, I was rigorous about learning and coached as many as 20 people at one time because I was determined to sort out not only what I was good at but what I wanted to spend my time talking about.
What I noticed was that no matter the conversation, the questions came back around to who the person wanted to be versus what they should do. We were always looking at the issue behind the issue, the block behind the block, which was always about the person, not the situation.
I could see that we as humans have a hard time connecting with ourselves because there’s so much noise that comes at us from outside. We take in so much information and opinion from every angle at every turn, it can feel impossible to connect with our own knowing. And since we’re not rewarded for inner work (who ever got a bonus for being the most self-aware?), we deprioritize the inner work for perceived outer gain.
The most masterful coaches, therapists, and guides I’ve worked with always led me back to myself. That’s all I can hope to do with my clients. So, my work is about creating the space and giving folks different tools and ideas to help people tune inward and listen.
When we can trust ourselves, everything gets easier.
What inspired you to become a speaker?
I’ve always been a speaker. My career started with 15 years in marketing, so I was regularly presenting and usually fighting for my ideas. After I left media and moved into training and organizational consulting, I began leading trainings and workshops. I even became a yoga teacher, which I know now was more about my love for sharing ideas with big groups than it was about downward dogs (even though I love a good hot vinyasa class). Once I started my own business, it occurred to me that speaking could and should be part of my regular work. I took the same approach I did with coaching. I spoke anywhere and about everything so that I could workshop ideas and material to see what I loved talking about and what resonated with my audiences. Then I immersed myself in an 8-month professional speaking intensive and I’ve been off and running since.
Who most benefits from your coaching/speaking?
Leaders and managers in intense industries like technology, finance, healthcare, and hospitality. Or, they are leaders in non-profits and emerging industries like cannabis, both of which do extraordinary work but are underrecognized. I also work with women in leadership who want to feel more at home in their own skin, particularly in times when they are the only (or one of the few) women in the room.
These audiences are filled with people who are really smart and know a lot about everything, but maybe not enough about themselves. The people who are curious about what else is possible for them. The people who say yes before they’re ready because they have an intuition about their success.
What’s a great way for people to connect with you to learn more?
You can find me at both of my websites, boldnessablazecoaching.com (for executive coaching) or Zovig.com (for speaking and training). You can always connect with me on LinkedIn or you can email me directly at zovig@boldnessablaze.com