Omar Iribe

My career began as a college student selling books door-to-door where I worked more than 80 hours a week and spoke with more than 30 families a day. It was one of the most challenging and transformative experiences of my young life.

That experience taught me lessons that continue to influence the way I coach today: don’t take things personally, give your best, question your assumptions, develop powerful self-talk, work hard and work smart, treat people as though they are the most important person in the world, be fully present, and learn to enjoy the journey.

I quickly realized that I wanted other young people to have the opportunity to experience that kind of growth for themselves. I began recruiting and developing college students and eventually built teams for 11 years. I taught them to pursue ambitious goals, overcome challenges, persevere when things became difficult, take things one step at a time, and create a clear vision for what they wanted.

That experience allowed me to develop some of the top-performing teams in the company while, most importantly, serving thousands of families every summer.

After my years in sales and recruiting, I was invited to join the coaching division of our company. I have now been part of the Southwestern Family of Companies for 20+ years, and coaching has become one of the most meaningful chapters of my professional life.

Two lessons immediately come to mind: the power of being present and the importance of becoming a problem solver.

Being present means not getting stuck in what happened yesterday or worrying about what may happen tomorrow. While selling and recruiting, I learned that being fully present to the person in front of me allowed me to listen more deeply, ask better questions, understand what truly mattered, and respond to what was actually happening in the moment.

That lesson continues to shape my coaching. Focus is powerful. Developing emotional intelligence requires mindfulness and the ability to direct our attention toward what matters most. From there, applied knowledge and intentional action move us closer to our goals.

The second lesson is learning to become a problem solver. Whether we are leading people, building a business, managing revenue, or responsible for a project, we will inevitably encounter circumstances outside of our control.

The question is: what can we control, and what can we do about it?

I help clients shift their energy away from what they cannot control and toward what they can influence. From there, we create a strategy, establish accountability, and take action.

Those two lessons, being present and becoming a problem solver, have shaped me not only as a leader, but also as a coach. They are skills I continue to cultivate in myself and help my clients develop in their own lives.

For 12 years, I was a Top Producer, consistently ranking in the top 1% of sales.

I was also a three-time Southwestern Advantage Spencer Award recipient and consistently built teams of 10 or more. Today, I am considered the #3 individual recruiter in the 170-year history of the company, based on the number of students personally recruited.

That accomplishment represents much more to me than a number. It reinforces one of the beliefs I carry into my coaching today: when we build people, people build the organization. People are the foundation of every great business.

Great coaching brings out the best in the person being coached.

It develops a deeper level of awareness and gives people the perspective, clarity, and strength to make their next best choice. Great coaching challenges people to think more deeply, see possibilities they may not have seen before, and create strategies and systems that produce a positive impact in both their business and their life.

Clients often tell me that after working with me, they are not only making more money: they have more time to do the things they love. They feel heard. They feel supported. They have a partner to build with and someone who is willing to be honest with them, even when the conversation is difficult.

The results I am most proud of are often deeper than financial or professional accomplishments. I love seeing clients become more present, gain clarity around their vision, and develop the accountability to live into that vision.

I also love seeing confidence transform: from conditional confidence, where someone feels confident only when circumstances are going well, to unconditional confidence, where they trust themselves regardless of the circumstances.

As their leadership grows, they create greater capacity. They learn to delegate, hire effectively, develop people, and build teams that can support the growth of the business without everything depending on them.

That is the kind of transformation that reminds me why I do this work.

I believe my secret sauce is my willingness to ask the tough questions while creating a space where those questions can be explored without judgment.

I don’t believe coaching is about simply telling people what they want to hear. Sometimes the greatest value comes from being willing to challenge a belief, shift a mindset, confront an uncomfortable reality, or look at a situation from a completely different perspective.

I push clients to create a no-judgment zone where we can be completely transparent and have the honest conversations that sometimes need to happen.

We can celebrate the wins, but we can also talk openly about what isn’t working.

My role is to challenge, support, listen, ask questions, help create clarity, and hold people accountable to what they say they want.

Clients often tell me they are grateful for that level of honesty because it allows them to move beyond what they already know and become the person and leader they are capable of becoming.

CI have always loved helping people and bringing out the best in others. Over time, I realized that coaching gives me a unique opportunity to use my skills, experience, and perspective in service of something I deeply value: helping people transform their lives.

When I ask God to work through me, to use my experiences, my strengths, and who I am to serve others, I feel deeply connected to the work I do. That is what ultimately led me to coaching, and it is why I continue to love it.

There have been countless moments of transformation throughout my career, but receiving Coach of the Year was one of the greatest honors.

It meant so much to me not simply because my clients were achieving meaningful personal and professional results, but because my peers also recognized the work and voted for me to receive the award.

To me, that recognition was a reflection of the commitment my clients made to themselves. Coaching can provide the space, questions, perspective, and accountability, but the client has to choose to do the work. Seeing people make that choice and transform is one of the greatest privileges of what I do.

Coaching has also profoundly impacted my own life.

I have had numerous coaches throughout my life, and each one has brought me to a higher level of awareness. They have helped me develop a deeper understanding of who I am, how I see the world, and how I can intentionally create the life I truly desire.

I am grateful for every coach who has been willing to challenge me, support me, and believe in me. They have helped me become a stronger person, find greater peace within myself, and pursue the goals I have set out to achieve.

That experience is one of the reasons I coach today. I know what it feels like to have someone believe in you, challenge you, and help you see what you may not be able to see for yourself. And now, I have the privilege of doing that for others.