Today we’d like to introduce you to Helen Marie Carruthers.
Hi Helen Marie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Sure! My journey to becoming a life coach has been a winding one…
So I started out my career living my dream as a professional dancer. I performed with classical and contemporary ballet companies in the DC area, and did a national tour of a musical. I even got to dance in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular!
Even though it was a really tough life in many ways, I cherish the memories I have and all that I got to experience.
Along the way, I became a massage therapist. I had an innate interest in the body and how it works, and I was excited to learn how I could better support my own physical needs as well as help others feel at home and at ease in their body as well.
It was a perfect addition to my list of “side jobs” I used to support myself while I was still dancing, and later on became my full time work for a number of years. I ran my own business called Ellicott City Massage Therapy for about 11 years.
After several years of doing massage full time, I started having a nagging feeling that there was more I could be doing for my clients. I fully believe in the healing power of movement, and I wanted to help my clients move better and create a tension free body on their own in between our sessions.
When I discovered the Franklin Method, I knew right away that this was my next step. I became a Franklin Method Educator and learned so much about how we can move with ease and efficiency. Around this same time, I actually got back into dance, and began performing again. I was nervous about how it would feel to dance again ( I was in my late 30’s at the time), but to my surprise, my newfound knowledge using the Franklin Method made it feel easier than it did in my 20’s!
Fast forward a few more years-I recognized that I needed some support in shifting my business to include movement. I was already feeling burnt out from all the physical work and not enough downtime, and I just wasn’t able to make the changes I wanted to see. And I still wanted to give more value to my clients and help them transform their lives, not just massage out the stress temporarily.
So I got some coaching! In fact, I enrolled in a program at the start of 2020 that not only provided me with the coaching I needed, it also taught me how to coach. I thought I just needed the information-the “how to” of shifting my offerings, but what I actually needed was the personal growth necessary to take me to my next level and serve in a deeper way.
This was the start of some very deep personal work and un-learning of the ways I’d always operated before. I had to learn to move through perfectionism, include rest as part of my process, and get better with my boundaries so I had the space to create something new.
In 2021, I realized that I was ready to move on from massage therapy and I became a full time coach.
Today I help my clients get back the energy that perfectionism, people pleasing and overworking has been stealing from them. It’s my greatest joy to help them realign with their purpose and brilliance in a way that feels easeful and authentic.
And of course I still help people move well and connect to themselves through physical practices. Mindset shifts are wonderful and useful, but when we also get back in connection with the wisdom of the body, that is truly powerful!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh no, definitely not! The personal growth I help my coaching clients with now are the things that I struggled with, too. And being an entrepreneur brings up alllll the things we get to work on 🙂
Coming from the life of a professional performing artist, I had lots of “stuff” I took with me into my first business. Things like overworking, disregarding my physical limits, and feeling like I had to show up perfectly all the time, in order to be considered a professional. All of this fueled the deep burnout that I experienced right before becoming a coach.
It sounds crazy now when I look back, but when I first started my massage business, I expected myself to be the perfect receptionist, massage therapist, head of marketing and website builder- all at the same time. To be honest, I don’t know how I didn’t explode from all the pressure I put on myself back then.
The freedom I have now to learn by doing, and make mistakes out loud is something I love to share with my clients. It gets you where you want to go so much faster. And all that I went through makes it so easy now for me to spot it when a client is being paralyzed by perfectionism.
The major challenge I faced was re-learning how to show up to my work in way that wasn’t going to burn me out. I had to get better at setting boundaries that protected my energy in all the ways, and to stop being so hard on myself.
This new way of working has served me well as I’ve built my current coaching business.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a life coach, Franklin Method Educator, and I teach adult ballet classes.
As a coach, I help my clients learn how to really tune into themselves, and show up to their work and lives in a new way. One that gets them out of perfectionism, overworking and being on the constant edge of burnout, and instead feeling like they’re winning in all the areas.
I use the Franklin Method to help my clients drop physical tension and create how they want to feel through the use of imagery, anatomical experience and short self care practices.
Whether I am working one on one with a coaching client, teaching a workshop or a ballet class, I am known for creating a safe, non-judgemental space where you can really explore your connection to yourself and what you want to create.
At the end of the day, the thing that makes me the most proud is that people who work with me end up liking themselves more. They get reminded of just how freaking amazing, resourceful and resilient they are. And that is everything!
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
As a kid I performed at the White House Easter Egg roll with a unicycling group! So, had I not become a dancer, I could have had a life in the circus!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://helenmariecarruthers.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenmariecarruthers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/869455941468901
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-marie-carruthers-6012b748/
Image Credits
Simhas Photography-Jayasimha Reddy
