Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen Caldwell.
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
How I started? Wow! It’s funny because I had not planned to be here. Growing up, I thought I would be a pediatrician. That was my plan all the way until my senior year of college. I did an internship at Harvard in public policy and thought, “I really like this.” I also took the MCAT and let’s just say, there were no medical schools knocking at my door.
But I became really interested in public policy, so I started toward my masters. In that time, I moved to Seattle and started working the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While there, I joined our Organizational Effectiveness Team, the internal consultants for our agency. I loved it! I was introduced and trained in facilitation, conflict resolution, diversity, coaching, Myers Briggs, strategic planning, and more. I fell in love with group dynamics, understanding how personalities work and communicate; how people connect and engage toward a common vision. My interests were piqued. I started getting requests to do this work outside of our agency and from there I thought “this might be something that could make money; something that could be a business.”
After moving back to my home state of Georgia, I attended seminary and focused on pastoral counseling with a heavy nod to coaching in ministry. I took classes around family and relationship dynamics, again strengthening my knowledge and skills in connection and communication.
Fast forward and I started refocusing on my coaching and really creating a viable business as a coach, speaker, and trainer. I share all of that to say, it is important to remain open and follow God’s leading as opportunities arise. How do you connect the dots from wanting to be a pediatrician to where I am today? There were so many twists and turns along the way and the dots are only connected by looking back.
Looking back, I see the common thread of my desire to serve and help people. How that help looked became clearer and more specific as I continued my journey. The Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase” sums up my journey thus far. It’s just taking the next step, no matter how small.
A few times, I have just marched in place out of fear and doubt and it was miserable. I felt like I was moving and doing things, people were acknowledging my efforts, but I knew there was more and greater and while I was stepping, I was not moving forward. So, I got a coach and joined a group coaching program designed to help explore the things holding me back from showing up and playing full out. It was a great step forward that has me where I am today; courageous, confident, connected, and clear.
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh no, it has not been a smooth road. Most of my struggles have been internal They were all in my head. I was operating out of faulty belief systems. I was not emotionally healed from childhood stuff and broken relationships of the past. I doubted myself. I did not trust myself. I kept living out my old stories, “You aren’t business-minded.” “You aren’t creative.” “You don’t have it all together so how can you help someone else.” “You need more training and more experience.”
All of that negative stuff would stop me. I would experience some success and shrink back. I was fearful of success. I started to get overwhelmed with what could happen. I created problems before there were problems. I lived in self-defeat and self-sabotage.
THEN, I started to trust my training. I remember when I was in network marketing. That was one of the mantras one of our trainers would say, trust your training. The analogy was that of someone playing sports. They have been trained to respond based on what they learned in training. You do the thing so much that you can wake up in the middle of the night and do it. When the ball is snapped the quarterback trusts his training, despite the number of defensive linemen that are after him. I remember in high school when I ran track on the 4×100 relay team. We knew exactly when to take off, at what speed and when our teammate yelled ‘pass’, we knew exactly how to throw our hand back to take the baton and keep running, all without looking behind us.
I started to trust the training I had, even if at times I could not trust myself. I have over 15 years of training and experience and when I followed what I knew to do, I would always see great results. So even now, when the little gremlins rise in my mind about my competency and efficacy, I lean on my training and I lean on my faith.
I am clear about God’s call on my life. My ultimate purpose is to help people connect in relationship with Him, as they are in search for themselves and in search for love. My faith has helped me to overcome many obstacles. I stand on Romans 8:28 and trust that all things will work for my good, even if sometimes it does not feel good.
Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
My company is Life Fulfilled Coaching & Consulting. I help people activate their Love Power. Love Power is your ability to show up fully and connect in relationship with God, self, and others so you can experience joy and fulfillment in life and in love. It is all about relationships for me. I believe that the quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. When I look at the image of the Cross, I see relationship, vertically with God, and horizontally with others and with our personal relationship with Jesus at the center.
I am a coach, speaker, and trainer focused on connection in 5 Love Power relationships: God, self, love, family/friends, and community/work. I intertwine Biblical principles with practical action to support my clients in gaining courage, confidence, connection, and clarity in the life and love they desire and deserve.
Many of my clients are like I was, stuck in self-sabotage, living out faulty narratives that may be factual, but no longer true. They feel disconnected from God, they are unclear in their purpose and calling, their love lives are nonexistent or unfulfilled. They may be dissatisfied at work or have a hard time creating friendships. The common theme is ultimately, the desire for greater connection in relationship.
In addition to working with individual clients, I work with organizations to support them in building great working relationships in and across teams. I provide training in the areas of diversity, social responsibility, team building, and personal/professional growth.
I offer one-on-one coaching, group coaching, workshops, and I am available to be the keynote for events and conferences. I am also a licensed and ordained minister and am available for preaching engagements as well as premarital counseling and can serve as the wedding officiant.
How do you, personally, define success? What’s your criteria, the markers you’re looking out for, etc.?
Ultimately, I define success by my obedience to what I believe God is leading me to do. After that, my definition of success is found in the affirmative response to these four questions:
- Did I put forth my efforts in excellence?
- Are people better after having been engaged with me, no matter at what level?
- Did it light up my soul?
- Was I compensated well?
Pricing:
- Working with me requires a consulting session where we discuss the area(s) of focus for you, your desired outcomes, coaching options, and pricing. Those sessions can be booked at https://bit.ly/consultcarmen
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carmencaldwell.com
- Phone: (470) 765-6757 (calls and texts accepted)
- Email: hello@carmencaldwell.com
- Instagram: @carmenconnectsu
- Facebook: @carmenconnectsu
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