Young Leader Honoree: Mariya Staykova, PCC
The ICF Young Leader Award celebrates coach practitioners under the age of 40 who are poised to lead ICF and the coaching profession into the future. Honorees embody the core values of ICF and represent a diverse community of emerging thought leaders. This year, ICF celebrated the first class of Young Leader Award honorees during the 2018 ICF Midwest Region Coaches Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. In the coming weeks, we will profile each of this year’s honorees here on Coaching World.
Mariya Staykova, PCC (Bulgaria), joined ICF in 2013 and served as ICF Bulgaria’s director of professional development from 2016–2017. Currently, she is president of ICF Bulgaria. Mariya is co-creator, trainer and mentor for Bulgaria’s first ICF-accredited coach-training program, The PULSE of Coaching.
“Coaching provides a process, space and time for clients to learn more about themselves, their values, beliefs, habits and abilities and step by step make a lasting change while achieving their immediate and long-term goals. To be able to provide that to my clients and to see the result and feel the satisfaction of a job well done is what made me pursue coaching as a career,” said Mariya.
Mariya’s main coaching focus is helping moms in business balance their lives in a satisfying and authentic way. A mom herself, Mariya says her biggest inspiration comes from her three kids.
“I love witnessing my clients rediscovering their ability to dream again and build a solid working plan to make these dreams come true. And to partner with them in this process is a great honor and privilege. I love that [with] every session as my clients learn more about themselves I learn more about me too,” said Mariya.
Looking toward the future, Mariya hopes that changes in technology will help the coaching process, but not replace it.
“Coaching is a very intimate person to person interaction and this could never be replicated by technology. I already see technology facilitating coach-client interaction—applications that help organize the coaching business, book sessions and communicating long-distance,” she said.
Mariya said her advice for other young coaches looking for success in the industry is to join ICF.
“I found invaluable the belonging to such a great worldwide community and the access to so many resources that can support a coach at every step of their journey,” she said.
Savannah Patton
Savannah Patton is the ICF Communications Assistant and a freelance writer for Kentucky Sports Radio. She graduated in May 2016 from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in Integrated Strategic Communications with a focus in Public Relations.
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