insideKENT Magazine Issue 36 - March 2015 | Page 122

EDUCATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH Flying Iguana Teen Career Coaching to Compliment Careers Advice Flying Iguana is a relatively new business in Kent, with an innovative take on careers advice for teens. Founded by Claire Foy, just over a year ago, Flying Iguana looks to provide one-on-one coaching to teens around careers not only available to them, but also most suited to their desires, not just their abilities. advice offered to teenagers in schools. Flying Iguana’s three coaching programmes are designed to work closely with your child to discover their ambitions and three pivotal points of their education: pre-GCSE subject selection, post selection, and post exams. In hourly one-toone sessions, Claire listens and challenges them to open their minds; she expects them to take ownership of their own choices, and allows them the responsibility of research and discovery by setting tasks between sessions. Most teens do not know what a job fully entails, let alone know what careers are available to them. Claire encourages them to unearth this for themselves. Whilst coaching professionals in the city for over 12 years, Claire found many adults were in careers they abhorred, but felt financially bound to. They worked to pay bills, and most were spending more time at work, than living the life they were Claire Foy born for. Claire found her clients' main desires were to go back to school and make wiser career choices from the start, and for their children to choose careers that really made them happy. “This personal dedication and respect for their research and decisions seems to spur on a passion and drive in my teenage clients. They are excited to work towards their new career,” explains Claire. “Suddenly, the subjects they As a qualified coach, mother, and stepmum of teenagers, the simplicity of career 'coaching' teenagers seemed an obvious solution to these desires, and so Flying Iguana was born. Teen coaching is common in America, and has proven results in lower secondary education dropout rates. Claire uses her expertise in executive career coaching to compliment the careers 122 struggle with have a purpose, if no more than to get them to the next stage of their career journey.” Since launching, Claire has coached teens that seemed unmotivated and disinterested, undecided or just bored with school. She has supported them through finding their specific path to follow, making sure it is one that they have personally chosen and are therefore much more driven to attain. www.flyingiguana.co.uk