Navigating a Career Pivot in Kenya…and Tennessee

After attending college and working in the US for several years, Mary felt the pull to move back to her home country of Kenya. As with many returning professionals, the transition was difficult, but Mary found it rewarding and found a niche in corporate sales and marketing.

Along the way, she found herself informally coaching other people. In her professional life, Mary felt drawn to training and mentoring even though those were not her primary roles. People who were navigating a move from the West back to Africa also asked for her advice, and she became an unofficial connector for others on that path. 

Sinapis training watered the seed of an idea.

Mary began dreaming about leaving the corporate world to form her own business. When her church partnered with Sinapis to offer the Aspire Launchpad training, Mary eagerly took the opportunity to lay the foundation for what she then saw as a five-year plan to a full-time career change. 

After completing the Aspire program, Mary kept in touch with other Sinapis alumni, and saw how well her experience positioned her to help others. When her company offered her an early retirement option, she wondered if God was guiding her to shorten her five-year plan and stepped out in faith to start her business.

Circumstances forced a pivot, and Sinapis coaching filled a gap.

Launching a business was a challenge, and when Mary and her husband relocated to Tennessee where he had a job, the process became even more difficult. She tried to balance her desire to use her coaching training with her skillset in sales and marketing, all while getting acclimated to a very different culture.

Because her primary residence was no longer in Kenya, Mary didn’t initially think of Sinapis coaching as an option. However, during the first pandemic shut down in 2020, Sinapis moved all training programs online. With the coaching program happening digitally, Kenyans living abroad could easily participate and again Mary quickly took the opportunity.

“Even a coach needs a coach!”

At the beginning of her Sinapis coaching program, Mary was working on how to find clients and how to streamline her own coaching business with the consulting she did in sales and marketing. Her Sinapis coach and small group peer cohort helped her think of ways to structure her work and target the right customers. 

“We get busy and lose focus and other things seem more urgent. Coaching helps you take the steps to stay accountable to your journey.”

Coaching helped Mary put her commitments into practice in the context of her business needs. With accountability from her coach and the other entrepreneurs in her group, Mary saw her vision for a faith-based consultancy take root. 

Sinapis coaching helped Mary follow God’s path for her business.

When she first heard about Sinapis, Mary was drawn to the idea of building a Kingdom-based business. The Kingdom business principles that she learned in Aspire training continued to shape her decisions during the Sinapis coaching program. 

Three months after beginning the coaching program, Mary had taken on 25 new clients. With support from her Sinapis coaching group and the Sinapis alumni network, she began to see how God shaped her circumstances to give her a unique position—not only in coaching people moving back to Kenya from the West, but also helping those making the opposite transition!

Sinapis coaching empowers entrepreneurs to find God’s purpose for their work.

Sinapis uses a small group coaching model to help successful entrepreneurs take the next step toward putting their business skills and their faith into practice. Sinapis coaching provides expert input and peer support, combining the challenging and supportive accountability that entrepreneurs need to move forward.

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