Yukiko (Yuki) Parent

Born in Hokkaido, Japan. After college graduation, I worked in the hotel industry, but unable to give up my childhood dream of becoming a flight attendant, I quit my job and studied abroad in Canada. Upon returning to Japan, I worked as a flight attendant for an international airline for ten years. After leaving my job to get married and raise children, I worked at an advertising company and as an English coach before embarking on my career in Co-Active Coaching. In 2018, I encountered coaching at a corporate workshop, and in 2019 began studying coaching with Co-Active Coaching Training Institute (CTI). For one year starting August 2022, I will be based in Canada, and all sessions held during this time will be online.

• Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (January 2021)
• Professional Certified Coach - International Coaching Federation (January 2021)
• NLP Practitioner (January 2024)
• Member of Silicon Valley Alliances 

When I was in elementary school, I learned about the profession of flight attendant from a Japanese television drama. Watching the main character triumph over challenges, I decided that was what I wanted to do with my life. My family knows my personality - once my heart is set on something, nothing gets in my way - and was supportive as I pursued my path, sending me to a school with a strong English program, for I would need to be able to speak English if I wanted to work on international flights. In college, I became an English literature major.

I worked hard and thought I was on my way to becoming a flight attendant, but after graduating from college, I tested and interviewed with several domestic airlines but was turned down by all. I wondered if I’d been aiming for a goal that was beyond my reach, and found a job in the hotel industry. While I enjoyed my job, I was unable to give up my dream of becoming a flight attendant. I quit my job at the hotel and decided to study abroad in Canada.

In Canada, I worked in a café and attended English language classes, making sure not to speak Japanese. And that was when I learned that back in Japan, I’d been so worried about what others thought of me that I could not voice my own opinions. I was never looked down upon in Canada because I did not speak perfect English. In fact, our differences were accepted and celebrated. I was able to start accepting myself in the way that I was embraced by others. And I began to believe that I too had things I wanted to share.

The year in Canada flew by, and as I was getting ready to fly back to Japan, the September 11 attacks shocked the world. It also affected the hiring of flight attendants at airlines, and again, I found the doors closing. But I was going to keep moving forward, enrolling in flight attendant school and keeping up my studies while working for a well-established hotel in Tokyo.

Six months later, the airlines began to hire again, and I was fortunate enough to land a job as an international flight attendant. It took several attempts and false starts but my dream had finally been achieved. I would be able to work on a plane, a special place for me.

Through this experience I learned that even when faced with various obstacles, things will start to move in the right direction if I believed in myself and my future. The career path I’d pursued since childhood, the challenges and disappointments included, provide the foundation to my coaching practice now.

I left my flight attendant career after marriage and children, and in 2018, attended a corporate training session in which I encountered coaching for the first time. Watching the participants’ expressions transform over the course of the workshop inspired me to learn more about coaching, to see how a coach is able to effectively support their clients.

I earned my coaching certification and currently hold client sessions with the belief that deep, insightful communication is essential to making big life changes.