The Story الحكاية
Hi! let me introduce myself.
The Inspiration
I am Yasmin Abouelhassan, the first Life and Relationship coach in Egypt and the MENA region since 2005, where I spent my first 8 years of business before I moved to Calgary, AB, Canada. Let me share with you what inspired me, 17 years ago, to pursue the profession of Coaching as a solopreneur in a region that was unaware of it before that time.
There were 3 main inspiration points that sparked this path in me.
The first, was my divorce in 2000 shook my beliefs about family and how to choose a life partner. At the age of 29, working as a sales engineer in Cairo, I decided to get divorced and save my 3-year-old son from an unhappy childhood where parents grew apart so fast.In my head it seemed easy to find a new partner, have another child and create a happier, blended family. It seemed like a no brainer. Yet, the journey to face thestigma surrounding divorce, and women who ask for divorce, the workload of single parenting and all the cultural mess that adds to the stresses of a divorced
mom, was long and painful.
I put my head to learning. I was obsessed with finding out how I had reached this point despite having done everything by “The Book”. I discovered it wasn’t, actually, my book. It was my parents’ book and cultural norms that I had been trying to follow to be accepted and to fit where I should.
I really felt for my son. I didn’t want to influence him negatively with my experience and taint his father-son relationship, or his thoughts or beliefs on marriage and families. So, I just went on learning.
Studying through “The executive management diploma” has opened my eyes to the fact that family issues are all management challenges and with better awareness and understanding, people can have happy family lives. I took a diploma in Executive management where my thesis was about Happy Family Institute (My first name of my business although at that point I haven’t learnt about Life Coaching yet but the idea was the same).
Through my thesis I even learned more about families in Egypt, marriage and the case of divorce.This was my second inspiration.
The third that really opened the gate was a novel. While preparing for my graduation, I was given a gift for my BD. A novel by Lee Bryce called “THE COACH”. I didn’t know this gift would be the turning point in my life. Through this novel, I learned about Life Coaching: “I help people find their answers on their own, without any responsibility on my own.” I said to myself, “YES” that’s what I want. I want to help people find their own answers. I want to empower people to deal with their challenges. I believe people can. Not for fear of responsibility but why would anyone assume to be the expert on somebody else’s life. This one statement was like a light bulb.
I finished my management diploma, went online and started searching for life coaching. A whole gold mine opened in front of my eyes. I studied. I graduated, I resigned. And Happy Family Relationship Coaching (AKA Happy Family Institute) was born.
Some people ridiculed me, some didn’t comprehend what I am saying or doing, some challenged me, looked down on me, telling me that’s not a business and nobody will come to you but here we are, 17 years later and every door has opened, and my coaching business has blossomed.
I helped my clients with a wide range of challenges through self-discovery, making the right choice for their life partner, resolving marital conflicts and even starting their own businesses.
Among my clients, I particularly wanted to empower those who are struggling through divorce. I wanted to make them identify for themselves their right relationship choices while calming their internal havoc, the extra pain put on their shoulders by the cultural stigma.
I wanted an evolving profession that would never be obsolete, that has the flexibility yet creativity to fit in any era, that will continue to empower me and my clients, and can be applied in real life as well as a profession; that can serve my son and his generation to build happier and more fulfilling lives and families.
It was a good decision. My son, who was 3 years old, asking me “Are you still Crying?” when I was going through my divorce, has just turned 25 years old. He’s a basketball coach for kids and youth from 5-15years old.
Since then, my clients have been empowered and are successful. They are happy as singles, couples, parents and even business owners.
Your Happiness
Our focus is to help families navigate, marital conflicts, separation and divorce through to healing and being happy again.
Mostly women, and couples worldwide. But also, Arab Canadians and Arab Americans who have unique cultural challenges within the area of marriage.
All face THE BIG Questions;
“Should I continue in this relationship, or should I leave?”,
“Is there hope for change, or is it doomed?”,
“What else could I do?”
- They believe the relationship can work but don’t know how.
- They know, it’s not working but they are afraid to pull the plug.
- They are scared as the future is unknown in both situations.
Tailored Approach
Coaching is the profession of tailoring concepts to applicable doable steps further tailored to each clients’ situation, capabilities, talents and skills to find their own answers.
It requires a unique approach but there are main guidelines that I found helpful for my clients.
The first is to give them the safe space where they can tell their story and dump their concerns and fears and all that troubles them. Then to help them sort facts from stories and deal with each one separately moving from the focus of the challenge to the focus on the possibility of solutions.
Once there, sifting through the solutions to decide on the best fit, we take the smallest steps one by one to regain peace, harmony and happiness.
Book Your Free Self-Love Strategy Session
Better yet, Let's talk in person! نقدر نتكلم
Message us on WhatsApp
Happy Family Relationship Coaching
