Jackie started helping people transform their lives after rising above mental health challenges and abuse. She is an ICF certified professional coach, ELI Master Practitioner, and COR.E Dynamics Transitions Specialist through IPEC coach training. Jackie is the CEO of Choose to Be, where she coaches women and young leaders to embrace challenge and vulnerability to help them create change in their lives and communities.
In 2021 Jackie and her business partner started the Squirrel Friends podcast, discussing tips, motivational, and inspirational topics that create sustainable success. She is a health coach for Open Source Wellness, is a WOHASU 2022 coach, Director of Communications for Las Positas Student Government, and has mentored youth for the past two years. Jackie is a role model for introverted young Latina women who want support and strategies that will help them make their innovative ideas and goals a reality. She advocates for mental health awareness and speaks about the struggles Latina's face behind closed doors. Her purpose is to help mold young professionals into their most optimized and confident selves. Jackie walks the talk, being a role model for her Latino community and clients.
Jackie Carrillo, Latina Leadership Coach
What brought you to coaching?
I discovered coaching after healing from past abuse. I couldn't imagine any dreams, direction, or purpose in life. I was tired of being a follower and having my boundaries crossed in every area of my life. I blocked and cut out friendships, cleaned my diet, and started running daily. I soon achieved a 10-mile trail run within my first three months and lost 40 pounds. After my runs, I felt like I had connected with a deeper purpose, and I started discovering a strong, resilient, and confident version of myself. I wanted to do more, set higher goals, challenge myself even more, and help people. I became a mentor through Friends For Youth and soon discovered I could support people through their transformations by becoming a coach through IPEC.
How has your life changed after becoming a leadership coach?
My life has changed dramatically since coaching clients and integrating myself with various coaching communities. I was the shy girl who always presented last and couldn't breathe while public speaking. I kept my ideas to myself and always found it easier to agree and avoid confrontation. Coaching has turned my darkest night into the brightest of days. I have taken fearless action on innovative ideas and have created projects from nothing. My friendships are closer and stronger, my family relationships have blossomed, my professional life has grown, and I have returned to school achieving a 4.0, with the goal of becoming a clinical therapist.
What knowledge or life experience can you share to help any leader create sustainable results?
To make things better than they are now, we must first cleanse. I use the analogy of a house with no storage left. You cannot see your home, and you cannot find what you are looking for no matter how hard you try. The outcome is hard work for little results. Things will not change without a life inventory. Coaching helps you take an inventory, thus doing less hard work and more exciting work for higher-performing results. Cleanse your environment and diet, which includes the diet of the mind. After cleansing, we know what we will do next without hesitation, with higher confidence and more engagement, thus attracting the opportunities, people, and results you want.
Questions to consider right now:
What are the things causing you unnecessary stress in your life?
What needs to be cleansed or re-organized in your environment?
What inner dialogue do you want to change?
Cleaning allows space for new, better things. Challenge yourself to eliminate items you no longer need in your mental space and physical environment. Allow yourself to discover what is hiding under the trash; you will find that you were sitting on the treasure all along.
How do you measure results?
I measure results with clients using the ELI Assessment. This assessment generates a baseline of how my clients feel on a good day. It also highlights their stress response and the possible reaction surrounding that stressor. Clients retake the ELI at the end of our coaching relationship to reflect the growth over several months of working together. Clients usually start feeling and noticing the results without the ELI, although it is essential to have this assessment to reflect progress.
What makes you unique from other leadership coaches?
My age, background, and values make me unique from other coaches. I am 24 years old and have gained deep wisdom and understanding from my past experiences. I am the daughter of two Mexican immigrants and have learned to take a hard look at my mirror to create mastery and growth in my own personal and professional life. I don't like to brag or compare myself to others as a coach. To guide my clients, I must walk the talk and continue practicing my learned life principles with humility. I am a strong Latina woman who will not give up no matter how dark the night gets because I know that is when the brightest of stars shine.
