By Amira Elhamy
“At some point, if you feel you are stuck where you are, whether in your career path or your personnel life, you might be in need of another eye to evaluate things with you or an advice from an objective mind that can help you find the answers that are just within you.”
With these inspiring words, Nihal Soliman, life coach and founder of Ubetterfly Corporate and life Coach, starts her chit chat with MEO.
Nihal Soliman a Certified Life Coach; In 2011 she established Ubetterfly, an entrepreneurial and life coaching practice. She is also the first certified Entrepreunrial Life Coach in Egypt and the Middle East. She provides a range of coaching services including personal, entrepreneurial, career development and corporate coaching.
Prior to founding Ubetterfly, Ms. Soliman spent several years in Holland where she worked as a Life Coach, perfecting globally recognised coaching and training techniques.
Nihal brings over 10 years of entrepreneurial and corporate experience to Ubetterfly, having worked in marketing and market research for a number of internationally recognised organisations, including Intel, USAID, the World Bank and the Ministry of Communication and Information technology. She draws extensively on this experience in her entrepreneurial and career development coaching, using her in-depth knowledge of the corporate world to shape the lives of entrepreneurs and the personal career development of individuals.
Ms. Soliman holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics which she received from the American University in Cairo and. She is an internationally certified life coach and one of the founding members of the Arab Coaching Federation.
How did you get started with life coaching?
Well since I was very young, I was always interested in human beings; I used to love talking to people and analyze their personalities and listen to their problems. After finishing high school I was supposed to study medicine, however I joined AUC and studied economics, and later I went on to achieve Masters in International Business, from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands.
With all these areas of study, I always felt that something was missing, I was always searching for my real passion and for something that can make me combine all my experiences together. I wanted to do something related to helping people and at the same time employ my business experience.
The start really came when I traveled to India, I decided to study self- development and life coaching courses; after three years of studying I really felt that “I need to create my own job that I did not find it ready made.”
When did you start you own business?
I stated in 2011; I created my brand identity “Ubetterfly”, a corporate and life Coach Company; where I offer career coaching for start-ups and SMSs.
I actually employ my business experience with coaching in order to help my clients. I offer life coaching services as well, for people who feel stuck on the personnel level.
Who are mainly your clients?
Mainly my clients, are people who need objective advice related to their careers or related to their personal life. I have many clients in their twenties and thirties.
In your opinion, what is the most fascinating thing about career and life coaching?
There is a statement that I really like about coaching; if you are in a car that someone is driving, however you are not comfortable that someone is driving the car, coaching will enable you to know the techniques of driving and will empower you to be in control of many things. Imagine this car is your life.
At some point or at a certain age or with specific circumstances the human being might need a help or an advice. Coaching is mainly about being present with the client and be able to connect with him/ her on all levels in order to find answers that exist already within him/her. Coaching is also about taking advice from someone who objective, not judgmental and have an analytical eye.
