Coaching Courage History
Coaching Courage, LLC was founded in 2019 with a vision to change the world! The idea was to support and empower one person, then one team, and then one organization, creating a ripple effect. This ripple effect would create bold leaders and influencers! These change agents are beacons of hope, adding vibrant, bright, and colorful light, illuminating the good in the world.
Coaching Courage, LLC officially launched on February 29, 2020, a mere two weeks before the pandemic held the world within its grip. During this forced pause, the original vision remained and even expanded. The expanded vision included a desire to pay it forward and support individuals and groups that typically did not have access to leadership & mindfulness coaching. In addition, many events creating a need to shift focus toward building and developing courageous leaders. The recent events created a tipping point when building and strengthening our ‘courage muscle’ became a necessity.
Meet the Coaching Courage, LLC Founder and Owner
Shannon Cochran-Yzquierdo is the founder and owner of Coaching Courage, LLC. She is passionate about inspiring and motivating individuals to embrace their courage as they transition into their best selves. Shannon’s clients build and strengthen their ‘courage muscle’ with her creative & skillful coaching. She empowers her clients to increase their self-awareness, confidence, introspection, and emotional intelligence. Shannon’s superpower is her ability to connect & build a relationship with anyone.
Shannon’s Hispanic and Caucasian heritage and LGBTQ+ life experience provide a unique lens to see the world. She supports, empowers, and strengthens the leadership capacity of women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. She coaches middle managers to senior leaders across various industries infusing courage into every interaction. She provides tools, techniques, and skills that clients can utilize well after the engagement ends.
She is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, an active volunteer with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Coach, and creator of the workshop, Courageous Leadership in Action: No One Said It Would Be Easy. Recently, she held the Marketing Chair position for the Georgetown ITL Network Board of Directors.
Shannon’s leadership, collaboration and relationship-building expertise, flexibility, and teamwork make her a sought-after resource. She is a connector, who inspires and motivates others. She speaks ‘truth to power’ which is a gift she offers leaders. While being gentle and straightforward, she challenges boundaries clients place on themselves. Her clients build and strengthen their ‘courage muscle’ and find increased awareness of their own behaviors, which supports their journey of transformation into courageous leaders. Shannon’s use of situational role-playing and direct communication are her key strengths.
Her professional journey includes many pivot points which provide her with a unique lens to support each client on their own journey. Shannon’s journey includes navigation from High School Science Teacher & Head Volleyball Coach; FBI New Agent Trainee to Intelligence Analyst; Government Contractor within the United States Intelligence Community (USIC) to Executive Leadership Coach.
Shannon designed the workshop Courageous Leadership in Action: No One Said It Would Be Easy that was offered through Georgetown University in 2022. The workshop was designed to build and support leaders in their courageous leadership growth. Her drive, creativity, ‘out of the box’ thinking landed her a spot as one of The Top 5 Business Coaches to Follow in 2022. She was a guest on multiple blogs, such as the Georgetown University Institute for Transformational Leadership podcast Transformational Leadership for Transformational Times on Courageous Leadership, Make Life Less Difficult Part 1, The Courage of Authenticity and Coming Out and Part 2, Pivots, Depression, and Embracing the Puzzle of Ourselves, as well as the Queens of Moxie, A lesbian finds her footing and new lease on life living out and proud.
Shannon earned a B.S in Biology Education and a M.S. in Forensic Science. She received her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2016 from the Project Management Institute and an Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching in 2020 from Georgetown University. She is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Associate Certified Coach (ACC). Shannon completed certification for two 360 assessment tools, the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2 (EQ-i 2.0) and the Leadership Circle Profile (LCP).
To decompress, Shannon enjoys spending time with her wife, Kelly, their two kitties (Ireland & Skittles), and their German Shepherd dog (Ashford Ann). Shannon enjoys nature, listening to audio books, being creative, volunteering, and paying it forward.
