Client Case Study: Karl Burrows

What began as a Maori cultural performing group evolved and scaled into global corporate workshops. Karl Burrows founded Haka Works to share the experience of unity, bravery and authenticity with the corporate sector through team-building workshops, by teaching words, actions and movements from Haka, the Maori ritual made famous by the All Blacks.

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Client Case Study: Karl Burrows, Haka Works

Coaching Contract: Karl Burrows worked with Jennifer across six months of bi-monthly 90-minute coaching sessions, moving from face-to-face to virtual with lockdown.

Why did you choose to embark on business coaching?

As Haka Works was experiencing its best and busiest year in 2019, I realised that I had started to operate on autopilot, responding to sales enquiries from clients with automated answers. As we grew and gained more clients for our team-building workshops I knew there was something deeper I wanted to share about our culture, but I found it hard to convince myself that I was able to work at that level and also that people would value it as I do. I lacked product confidence and self-belief.

I needed guidance out of the rut and the narrative I had built for myself, and to find more fulfilment, which I wasn’t getting by offering the same service repeatedly when I knew we had more to offer. We were looking at a steep growth curve and I approached Jennifer to help me work through some of the issues that come with growing quickly and also with my mindset.

What's it like working with Jennifer? How would you describe her coaching style?

Everyone is different, and you can connect in many ways. What’s important for me is spirituality, and for me there are some people who you can really engage with on various levels. With Jennifer we explored the issues which had been holding me back and I broke through them, and I was left with a great sense of calm and a feeling like I was on the right track.

Jennifer’s coaching isn’t just an intellectual or strategic exercise, she seems to have quite a few bases, which help you come out the other end feeling like some of the deeper, niggly things have been explored and have opened you up.

What has been the most valuable exercise you’ve done in a session?

Recently I had to work out whether I wanted to follow an opportunity to work in San Francisco, return to New Zealand or remain in the UK, my home of 20 years. There was a lot to process as I could see huge potential for my work but I also have four settled children in this country.

Jennifer helped me tease through all of these issues, she didn’t make the decision for me or hold my hand - she helped me to face up to what was really going on underneath and ask myself the question: “What is the most important thing for me in this?”

What changes have you noticed in yourself over the course of your work together?

As a result of lockdown and COVID-19, all of our planned events for Haka Works from March 2020 were paused or cancelled. This period followed what had been a high for our business with most of our work in North America and increasing enquiries from Asia. So it’s been a really difficult time for us and for all in the events industry. My identity was tied unconsciously and in large part to the success of the business. I had to wrestle with understanding that I am not my job and I am not my work.

Jennifer helped me through this process of disconnecting my self-image from my work. She helped me with this self-realisation, of knowing that I am more than my business.

It was then I reached a point where I could step back and ask: “How can I change from here? How can the business move forward from here and adapt to the new reality”

How did the coaching experience differ from or meet your original expectations of it? 

I’ve worked with mentors before who were very much focussed on numbers and figures. I find Jennifer has a very different approach, she looks at underlying issues that are stopping you from getting ahead, the thought patterns which are acting as roadblocks.

I was slightly nervous about whether the coaching would turn into psychotherapy, but Jennifer really helps you navigate this and allows you total control over how much you want to share.

Compared to the previous mentors who helped me address short-term issues with action points focussed on numbers and tasks, Jennifer provided me with a toolset I could use long-term.

How do you measure 'success' as an outcome of coaching?

With my previous mentor, the end of each session would result in a list of action points to check off, but Jennifer isn’t like this. She focuses on the deeper aspects of your mindset, which has a long-term impact. So for our sessions ‘success’ was my evolving mindset.

I always left our sessions feeling good, a feeling I was suspicious of as I didn’t at that time know how it could necessarily translate into business success - I was looking for concrete results. Now looking back, I realise I was better equipped to deal with the bigger issues that came up, which I didn’t realise straight away. You have to trust the process.

Who would you recommend Jennifer's coaching for, and why?

I would recommend Jennifer for entrepreneurs who want to grow their business. Everyone has to deal with personal issues, but when you want to grow a business quickly, we can end up letting these issues get in the way of our aspirations, career goals and family commitments.

As business owners we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and blocks can come up, so it’s great to have a support like Jennifer to help you work through those things.