55+
retirement
Reinventing Yourself After Retirement Lynette Loomis, 59, found her passion as a life and business coach. Now let her help you find yours. By Amy Cavalier
W
ouldn’t it be great to have a GPS to guide us through life? Enter Lynette Loomis, a certified life and business coach. According to the International Coach Federation, a life coach
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partners with clients in a thoughtprovoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. “Most people spend more time planning a single vacation than they do planning their life,” says Loomis. You could define a life coach as kind of an “insightful cheerleader.” Loomis enjoys “helping people discover their magnificence.” “All of us have gifts that we don’t recognize in ourselves,” she said. Just as professional athletes rely on coaches to help them master their sport, people can use a little coaching in every day life, she says.
“Anyone who excels at what they do has someone supporting them, mentoring, coaching them along the way,” Loomis adds. And for individuals 55 and over, life coaching can help you reinvent yourself or find a new passion. “I think at this stage in life we have usually had one or more careers and are ready for a new career or the change of life that is called retirement,” says Bob Emens, 60. “ We are so immersed in the responsibilities of parenting and career building that we need to open up to the endless possibilities of life after 55.” With a background in marketing, communications, and counseling, and several degrees under her belt, Loomis decided to pursue a career in coaching about 10 years ago. A former vice president of marketing and Medicare at Preferred Care, she became certified to coach individuals through the Coach Training Alliance. She graduated from Corporate Coach U to train as a business coach. Today, she is the proprietor of several businesses. In addition to Your Best Life Coaching, Loomis also offers marketing consulting under her business The Marketing Strategists. As a life coach, Loomis works with individuals from 20 to 70 years old, and from all walks of life. In her business coaching she tends to work with sales people, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and even someone who might be having a performance issue at work. People seek out