.jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:22.73%25,w:70.42%25,h:52.74%25/rs=w:1209,h:605,cg:true,m)
My name is Alanna Matcek and I am the founder of BCS Life Coaching.
As an intuitive introvert who loves hard truths, trench dwelling, and words with all their definitions, my gift is finding the possible amidst the hard. My best coaching doesn't come from school or books. It comes from real life in the real world. I 've endured some deep losses and I know what grief does to change your life and reshape your identity. I also spent 20 years in the legal industry walking thousands of people through some of the hardest situations they've ever faced.
A former family law client once told me,
"You don't get to choose the cases or circumstances of the cases you're handed.
You just have to learn how to navigate their reality and that's what you help us as clients do too."
As a Professional Life & Equipping Coach, I know that sometimes the hardest thing of all is accepting the place where we find ourselves. So often it's the very one we never imagined possible.
Yet, ground zero is the birthplace where many good things begin.
My specialty is making real life practical and possible. It's bridging the gap between what you know and putting it into practice. After completing nearly all the classes for a Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, I changed my degree program to coaching for that very reason. Having a background in both has given me a unique perspective.
My journey has been one of learning how to equip myself on all the stops and starts, uphill climbs, downhill slides, and roads I never saw coming on the horizon. Life has taught me as much on my feet as it has on my knees and I don't know how to be anything but real about it.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said,
" Living and learning must go hand in hand...
No one finds ultimate solutions...
The essential thing is to learn...
In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves."
That's been my goal in founding BCS Life Coaching. I don't promise you a reinvented life or a new self but rather encouragement and equipping for the life you're already leading. Real support in real time. A partner to walk alongside you as you navigate obstacles, growth, setbacks, and celebrations. Someone to see your challenges, encourage your potential, and equip you with the resources you need right here, right now. Practical application that moves you from stuck to progress, from head knowledge to lived reality. Real tools for the real world.
Of all the things I can tell you about me, the one that seems most applicable is I know. I know the journey has all kinds of obstacles, high points, low points, and plateaus. I know it's probably the opposite of what you wanted but nevertheless is where you find yourself. I also know that what you see now isn't all that exists on the horizon.
Hard is possible. So is good. I know because I've done it. So can you.
I'd love to partner with you on that journey.
ABOUT ME
Coaching Style
Perhaps one of my favorite things about coaching is how practical it is. Coaching isn't just about education. It's about experience.
My coaching style is as non-traditional as me. If you'd rather get coffee or go for a walk during our session, I'm happy to do that. Often times it's the somatic (integrated body-mind-emotions) approach that works best. I also understand that life happens in real time and sometimes we need someone to talk it over with at a moment's notice. If you are an established client and that's where you find yourself, I'll gladly jump on a call or meet you over Zoom.
My goal is to give you a hand up instead of a hand out. Encouragement and challenge. A sounding board for your real life. Whether you're trying to make a choice between two great options or facing your hardest crisis, my job as your coach is to support and equip you with the tools you need to navigate your present reality.
Education
I have a Master of Arts from the School of Behavioral Sciences at Liberty University in Human Services Counseling: Life Coaching. As noted in my bio, I've also completed the majority of the classes necessary for a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Prior to earning my Master's, I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology: Christian Counseling. My education also includes training in Christian Life Coaching.
I consider myself a life-long learner and enjoy ongoing research into human behavior, neuroscience, social psychology, spirituality, personality, and the ways we as humans interact with God, ourselves, and one another. My goal is to continue the art of learning new or improved ways of incorporating this information into practical life terms while also utilizing tried and true methods that work.
Personal Story
One day, my plan is to have this section filled in with a book. It's almost complete and, as I say in its introduction, I never thought my first writing of that magnitude would be something so weighty and birthed out of grieving, but life has made me good at dwelling with people in the trenches.
The one thing I can say I was created to do is Hard. I know what it feels like to lose a parent, get divorced, have kids leave home, change communities, move across the country, have your faith upended, experience grief so deep you think it'll bury you before you can bury it, and make the difficult choice.
I also know what it means to start over, build from the ground up, try again, get excited about new adventures, remarry, raise kids not your own, fail, reclaim joy, have unexpected delight, and embrace situations you never imagined.
Life has taught me how to hold both light and dark in equal measure. Sadness and confusion make me lean in rather than running for the hills. Being an INFJ and Enneagram 4w5 have honed those traits in me and made me grateful for the path that led me here.
More than anything, my story has become a lifetime of getting to know God as He really is instead of how I want Him to be. Real life has made me as dedicated to the God of the valleys as the One of the mountaintops. I don't believe He's separate from the real world and you can find me on the back of a Harley as often as in a church pew, both at once some days.
Just like your story, there is so much more to tell. That's what this journey is all about. Doing real life in the real world - together.