Jana Kleitsch is the CEO and Founder of Wanderlust.co a tech startup focused on designing the next big tool for trip planning and discovery headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Jana is also one of our 2016 Awesome Coaching Scholarship recipients.
She recently sat down with us to share a bit about her Awesome experience...
Jana, what has been the biggest value of working with a coach for your business?
The Awesome Institue helped me really dive deep into my strengths and understanding where my weaknesses could prevent potential problems. I feel better equipped to lead my company and present the vision for our success.
What has been the biggest value of working with a coach for you as a human and as a leader?
Better self awareness of how to get myself humming as a healthy individual. I don’t believe I would have had the capacity to evaluate myself without Andrea’s help in figuring out what it was I needed to improve upon myself to be a better leader -- and ultimately a better human! She taught me to stay curious and have a growth mindset, and most of all, to have fun! Learning about the Enneagram helped me figure out how to interact with other people in my life too, including my kids and husband.
What does the future of your business look like now compared to before coaching?
I’m much better prepared to handle any challenging situation than I was before the coaching. Before I started coaching we were trying to get our product launched. Now we are getting closer to launching to a private beta.
What do you like in particular about working with Awesome?
I loved having a professional to talk over what I’m going through and having Andrea’s insightful feedback and advice.
What should people know before working with a coach?
If you are looking for a deep dive on your strengths and weaknesses and want to do the work to improve your life, you will not be disappointed. Coaching helped me shore up some insecurities I had about myself being a leader.
What has been the hardest part of working with a coach?
Sometimes I felt silly doing some of the assignments or didn’t want to expend the mental or physical energy to do the work (but I did it!)
Were you surprised by any part of the process? What was unexpected about working with a coach?
Not understanding the greater vision for some of the assignments that seemed silly. Turns out those silly ones were the important ones! The end results were “awesome.”
Thank you, Jana. Is there anything else that you’d like to share?
Investing in the coaching was one of the best things I’ve done for myself. I wish I could turn back the clock and have had a coach 20 years ago! Thanks for everything. I hope to employ the Awesome Institute again in the future.
Are you ready to be Awesome, too?
Let us know and we'll contact you when scholarship applications open.
