Berry Fowler Shares How Coaching Changed His Life

 Interview by Jennifer Akers

Newsweek magazine dubbed him the “Colonel Sanders of Education”. Others called him a curriculum genius. Success magazine once reported, “Everything Berry Fowler touches turns to gold”.

Berry thinks of himself as simply a teacher and a coach with a genuine knack for helping others succeed.

At age 65, Berry Fowler’s genius continues with his new company, Fowler Wainwright International Institute of Professional Coaching, and yes, he’s still helping others succeed.

I had a chance to interview Berry and find out how his educational experiences led him to what he’s doing today.

Jennifer: I heard one of the reasons you founded Sylvan is you didn’t learn how to read until you were twenty-four-years-old. Is that true?

Berry: It’s true. Like millions of other children in our country, I managed to fool my way through elementary school, junior high school, high school and all the way into college without having the necessary skills to succeed.

Jennifer:  How did you manage college without being able to read?

Berry: It was a disaster. At the end of my first semester, I was put on academic probation. At the end of my second semester, I was invited to leave. It was a tough experience. I felt like an idiot, but I kept going back.  It wasn’t until my fifth try at college when things finally changed.

Jennifer: Fifth try? What changed?

Berry: I had knocked around trying different things, but I was still determined to finish college. Yet, each time I returned, I would become frustrated again and would quit. This continued for several years until I tried selling life insurance. I hated it, and that motivated me to try college for my fifth time.   I was twenty-four-years-old, determined to get through school this time, and talked my way into being accepted at Chapman University in Orange, California.  At class registration, I noticed a non-credit, speed-reading class for incoming freshman.  I thought reading faster would help me, so I signed up.  I met an amazing woman teaching the class. She told me I didn’t need speed-reading because I had missed some very basic reading skills.  She offered to tutor me; she was confident it would make a big difference. So, for the rest of the semester, she taught me the basics of reading and coached me to believe I could succeed.

Jennifer:  Coaching appears to have worked miracles for you.

Berry: It changed my life. Within one semester, my grades went from low C’s to straight A’s through the rest of my undergraduate and graduate studies. But more important than my grade point average was the way I felt about myself and about school. I began to feel successful,  and college became a place of excitement. It was like somebody turned on the lights after years of darkness, and because of that, I decided I had to become a teacher.

Jennifer:  You graduated from college and taught at Sycamore Junior High School in Anaheim, California. But, you didn’t stay?

Berry: True.  I taught there for five years. I loved every minute of it, but I couldn’t stay. It was too much of a struggle to make a difference. I didn’t have the budget, the tools or the time to offer my students the kind of individualized attention they needed. It was frustrating, so I developed a tutoring system that allowed me to help a student raise their reading skills by over one grade level in only 36 hours of instruction. This led to my founding of Sylvan Learning Centers.

Jennifer: What made Sylvan so successful?

Berry: It was really a combination of things. First, my tutoring system really worked, and I could easily train others to use it. Secondly, besides teaching basic skills, we were able to coach students to believe they could succeed. For many of the kids we worked with, that was 90 percent of the battle. Convince them they can be successful; teach them the skills they need, and watch them grow.

Jennifer: I understand your latest venture is a professional life coach training and certification company. You seem very passionate about coaching.

Berry: This is true. Coaching has played a significant role in my success, the success of my students, the success of my clients and the success of my companies. After I sold Sylvan, and during my retirement, I began to mentor and coach several entrepreneurs and small business owners.  I truly enjoyed coaching others. Back in my classroom days, I developed a coaching system, which I used at Sylvan and ever since. Coaching has been the most rewarding part of my career.

Jennifer: What made you decide to start a life coach training company?

Berry: In today’s crazy, fast–paced world, there is an enormous need for coaching. People are looking for help in achieving their goals and objectives.  Many people feel stuck.  They need a coach to help jump-start them on the road to success.  So, in October of 2008, my business partner, Master Coach Barbara Wainwright and I founded Fowler Wainwright International Institute of Professional Coaching.

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Jennifer: How has that worked out for the two of you?

Berry: Amazingly well. We have trained and certified over 4500 professional coaches all over the world. Best of all, our graduates are changing thousands of lives for the better every day. We have coaches helping clients on six continents. Jennifer: That is quite impressive. How were you able to grow your coaching business so quickly during these tough economic times?

Berry: There are three reasons for our success. First, we provide tremendous value. The total cost of our tuition begins at only $497, which in many cases is six to twenty times less than other coach training companies. Secondly, we make it easy and convenient for our students to become Certified Professional Coaches. Our students can earn their coaching credentials in only sixteen hours, and they can do it from home. Third, our coaching system is highly effective. Our students master the tools and techniques of a professional coaching system that I have been using for over thirty-five years. It’s easy to learn and it’s easy to use. Best of all, it really works.

Jennifer: What kinds of people make the best coaches?

Berry: All kinds. It’s true, people from all walks of life and literally all ages can become successful coaches. The most important factor in becoming a great coach is a genuine desire to help others. If they have that, we can teach them the rest.

Jennifer: How can people learn more about becoming a certified coach?

Berry: They can visit our website at www.FowlerWainwright.com, or call us at 800-711-4346.  They can also attend our free, weekly, live online webinars, where we share the many opportunities available to certified coaches and explain our coach trainings, which are listed on our website.

Jennifer Akers writes about business leaders, social media marketing, writers’ resources and other topics. For more information, visit her website: http://JenniferAkers.com