Baron Creative Coaching

  • Life Coaching

    What does your heart want to create? In one-on-one sessions, we’ll discover your innermost desires, work through blocks, combat limited thinking, and create actions together to work towards your goals.

    This work can bring you to your authentic self, which can lead to real balance, and real peace and inspiration.

    Whether we’re talking about career, relationship, education… they’re all related and impacted by this work.

    COMMITMENT: Twelve (12) sessions over the course of six (6) months, meet every other week; $200 per session. (Zoom or in-person depending on schedule and location.)

  • Crisis Coaching

    Are you in a personal or professional crisis? I’m sorry you’re going through this. I’ve been there. What felt like the biggest nightmare imaginable turned out to be the thing I’m most grateful for, and it led me down an entirely new life path.

    In light of my personal crisis and my work as a coach, I’ve developed an eight-week program to holistically help you find peace amid crisis.

    If you need support and actionable steps this time of intense difficulty – anything upending your life – I’m here. (Crises can be: job loss, relationship loss, false allegation, existential overwhelm, etc.)

    COMMITMENT: Twelve (12) sessions over the course of three (3) months; meet weekly; $200 per session. (Zoom or in-person depending on schedule and location.)

  • Company Coaching

    Are you a business owner or stakeholder in an organization who wants to improve employee engagement? Interpersonal communication? Would you like to create agreements instead of living in expectations?

    I work with companies who want to offer coaching to their staff as a wellness benefit and/or business owners who want to enhance their day-to-day life in and out of the office.

    Please contact me for an exploratory call or, if you’re in the Chicagoland area, I could do an office visit to see if we’d be a good fit to work together.

    COMMITMENT: Six-month engagement; pricing varies.

It’s human nature to let daily tasks, commitments and limiting thoughts get in the way of our heart’s desires. But if there’s more you’d like to do, or things you’d like to let go of, it’s worth asking:

 

Is coaching right for you?


If you . . .

  • Struggle to articulate or commit to your dreams

  • Have creative projects sitting idle or feel blocked about sharing them

  • Have a project underway and want to take it to the next level

. . . then you might benefit from coaching.

A coaching relationship helps you gain clarity about your innermost desires and build practical accountability and structure to achieve what you really want.

Working together, we’ll develop creative ways to:

  • Define your vision for yourself and your future

  • Set meaningful goals with a plan to achieve them

  • Understand yourself better and recognize blind spots

  • Manage transitions

  • Create work-life balance

  • Establish healthy routines and boundaries

  • Identify what triggers or derails you

  • Develop courage, confidence, and self-worth

  • Reframe negative self-talk

  • Build and strengthen relationships

  • Move beyond limiting belief systems

  • Bring a more authentic and spontaneous version of yourself into your life

If you’re looking to expand your life in these ways, I’d love to offer you a full complimentary to see if working together would be a good fit.

 
 

Matthew Baron, M.Ed. , ACC
Certified Life Coach


Credentials

Coaching Certification
Goldvarg Consulting Group 2021
(ICF-approved program*)

Masters in Education
Quincy University 2009

B.A. in Communications
University of Illinois 2004

_

Tenured public school teacher with ESL, Spanish bilingual, and Social Emotional Learning expertise

Musician, photographer, writer, curator, curricula developer (see my work on this website)

Experience in somatic experiencing therapy, group therapy, recovery programs, and daily meditation

*International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.”

 

I write a weekly Substack newsletter.
Read and subscribe here.

My Coaching Story

 
  • How I Became a Client

    In May 2019, a personal crisis brought my predictable life into chaos. Though my inner spirit and relationships remained strong, I had no clue how to move my life forward when I didn’t know what each day would bring or what my future held.

    In August 2019, a chance series of Google searches led me to discover that renowned music publicist Kathryn Frazier had become a life coach. I figured if she was into this whole “coaching thing,” then it must be cool and could also be an effective way to find my footing. I contacted her, and we had our first session three days later.

    I came to Kathryn wanting to integrate the strength I felt inside with my unpredictable external world. I wanted to make and share creative work with consistency and courage. I wanted to navigate the crisis with grace. I wanted a lot. She assured me that as long as I continued to prioritize my inner well-being over external validation, the coaching process would yield prodigious results and I’d enjoy myself along the way. She was right.

    A key thing I’ve learned is that Kathryn (or any coach) is not a guru; the guru already exists within the client. A coach asks the right questions and holds space to help the client discover what they desire. Working with a coach has helped me articulate my creative, personal, and professional dreams and turn them into reality. I’ve formed deep commitments to my aspirations and relationships, while putting less pressure on myself.

    Most importantly, I’ve cultivated an inner joy while creating, increased my intrinsic gratitude for my life and relationships, and developed a steady optimism about what’s on the horizon.

  • How I Became a Coach

    After I’d participated in two years of twice-a-month coaching, Kathryn encouraged me to look into becoming a coach myself. She believed that my transformative experiences with creativity and relationships — plus my dedication to working with others in my teaching career — would make me an effective coach.

    So far, I absolutely love it. I’m forging meaningful connections with my clients and integrating what I’ve learned into being an effective coach.

    Here’s a key takeaway that I experienced as a client: regardless of what my external world looks like, it’s transformative to give myself the time and space to think deeply and build accountability for things I want to do but often resist. This is the essence of what a professional coach does.

    A coach facilitates and bears witness to transformation. While giving myself consistent and structured opportunities to mine my inner desires, I can uncover what my gut tells me I want (intuition), bring this desire into my heart (being), and then, with my coach’s help, put my mind to developing concrete steps (action). Through this process, I can begin to create what I say I want for myself and the world around me, today.

    Please email me to set up a complimentary phone call to see if coaching is something you’d like to pursue.







Here’s a list of some of the most useful and inspiring books and podcasts that have shifted my inner and outer worlds.*

 

*Please note I have no vested interest in any of these books or podcasts. I offer them as resources  I’ve shared with friends or friends have shared with me. I’ve found myself returning to them when I need a jolt of inspiration or a shift in perspective.

Books to Build Foundation as a Coaching Client

 

The Power of Now
by Eckhart Tolle

The Big Leap
by Gay Hendricks

The Four Agreements
by Don Miguel Ruiz

 

Books To Help Make and Share Your Art

 

The Artist’s Way
by Julia Cameron

Bird by Bird
by Anne Lamott

Make Your Art No Matter What
by Beth Pickens

 

Podcast Episodes to Melt Creative Blocks + Inspire

 

Brené Brown
on Tim Ferriss

George Mumford
on Tim Ferriss

Anne Lamott
on Tim Ferriss