When her two boys were 5 and 7, she had an ah-ha moment. Leonaura Rhodes had been a physician in the UK for many years but when her children were born she left her practice. She then went through a long period of what she calls self neglect, “Like so many moms, I put all of my effort into my children and let my own needs and wellness go.”

Leonarura began to explore coaching practices that looked forward rather than looking backward. She took a life coaching program that was strategic in that way, “The program asked where was I, where did I want to go, and what did I need to do to get there. This was the kind of action based coaching I needed myself and wanted to provide others.”

When her husband’s job brought her family to the states, she did work with attention deficit children in the world of neuro-feedback , “Because I was a doctor by training, the field of brain function was something I could wrap my head around.” But after a couple of years of long hours that were mostly after school and on weekends, Leonaura decided to focus entirely on coaching. This allowed her to make her own hours and be home when her kids were home.

As a physician, Leonaura had written a book on anxiety and found that she loved to write. So with her new focus on coaching, she set out to write a book for her clients and for those that couldn’t afford coaching, “I did a lot of public speaking to the special needs community because of my background and I found myself giving stalks to women in less affluent communities. It dawned on me that they could use some help with the difficulties they were facing with their children but there was no way they could afford a personal coach. I wanted to put my coaching in a book form that they could access.”

Leonaura gave herself eight weeks to write her book, “I wanted to take the best of what I knew from medicine, coaching and strategic intervention and put it on paper in a form that women could follow.” Getting her book picked up by a publisher was a lucky break, “I was at a conference and ran into the top guy in the publishing field for coaches in a hallway. I knew this was my opportunity to pitch him, so I did and he bought the book.” The next day at the conference after he spoke, he was inundated by book proposals. Leonaura knew she had been right to take the chance and talk with him. Her book Beyond Soccer Mom came out last fall.

Leonaura does quite a bit of public speaking about her book and strategies for a happier life. These appearances help bring in coaching clients as well as sell books. Most of Leonaura’s clients are middle aged women who are looking to revamp their lives after spending so much time focusing on their children or after a divorce. This is where she had been in her own life and she feels she has a unique perspective.

One of Leonaura’s most popular sessions is a 6 week stress management course. She provides a tool kit for busy moms who want to have less stress in their lives. In other coaching, she helps women get healthy and get their confidence back. After her ah-ha moment, Leonarua sure has hers back and now gets to help others find theirs too.