College Campus Director to Life Coach – Meet Asher’s Josh Paulsen
Josh Paulsen is no stranger to helping people succeed. He has spent the better part of his career working to help people achieve their goals. Since graduating from Texas A & M University, he has worked for 15 years in the education field as a campus director and as Vice President of Operations overseeing multiple technical colleges. Josh is currently the Campus Director for the Asher College Dallas location and also serves as a life coach.
Why did you choose to work at Asher?
I had visited Asher’s campus in Sacramento and was really impressed by how they ran their operations. I have a lot of friends who work in the education industry for various schools, and I had never seen a school that was so student-focused and driven on helping their students succeed. They only had a couple locations at the time and I said ‘Hey, Dallas is a great market. Let’s expand the footprint and open up a location in Dallas.’
Tell me a little about Asher
Our student mix is a little different than other schools. The median age is mid-40’s. A lot of students are changing careers or wanting to move up in their career. I work with students who want to take advantage of some additional education. That makes it a lot of fun because it is a real mature group of individuals that juggle a lot of different obstacles but are pretty self-motivated.
Working at Asher is great. It is a small group and every month we get together with video conferencing and connect. So even though we are in different states, it is a really close-knit group and everyone is supportive. Everyone loves to watch students start and go through the program, graduate and move into the career they always wanted. It’s great to work with people who are here for the same reasons and want to help our students be successful.
How is Asher different from other colleges?
The main difference is the culture. The mentality at Asher is to help support students the best way we can and do what is best for our students. Another thing that is unique is the career success class that covers a lot of topics that most schools don’t cover. Everything from goal setting to addressing personal obstacles to success. That class is a cornerstone to what we do.
You are also a life-coach? How did you enter that calling?
My number one passion is working with students and helping them overcome their obstacles and helping motivate them to fulfill their potential. I realized that is a lot of what life-coaching is all about. I was already doing that on a daily basis so I looked into it a little further and ended up enrolling into a certified coach program. Another initial reason I enrolled into the life-coach program is because I have two young children. I knew that the skills I would learn would be applicable to being a father and guiding them along the way. It helps every area of your life, including self-coaching. Now I work with entrepreneurs and leaders from all walks of life.
Why would someone need a coach?
Someone may like to achieve a goal and they haven’t been successful and know they need additional accountability and support. Or someone is stuck in a certain area and there are obstacles they need to overcome to move on and they feel they need someone who can look in from the outside and identify the blind spots and get rid of some of those roadblocks.
The true power of coaching is being able to pull things out of a person and get them to walk their own path. Many times people know what they need to do but they need someone who is in their corner, who is guiding them and supporting them along the way but is also holding them accountable.
What should somebody do if they want a life-coach?
It is a very personal thing and there are a lot of different life coaches out there. I suggest they identify a few people, peruse some of their public profiles and published writing, such as their blogs, and see if their mindset and approach vies with them. Most coaches will do an intro session so you can feel each other out and figure out if it is going to be a good fit or not.
What would you tell potential students seeking a new school or career?
Ask yourself why you want to move into that career. There is a big difference between moving into a career for money or because somebody told you should be doing it versus a passion. You will commit a lot more time and be much more likely to master a career if you enjoy it. When you look for a school, you can only get so much information off the internet. Visit the school and meet as many people as you can from front office to instructors. Interact with as many people as you can so you can get a good vibe. Any educational facility is only as good as the people that are at that school. That is what is going to make up your experience.
Why should students pick Asher?
I tell people all the time, Asher College is incredibly unique because of how much everybody cares – top to bottom. Everyone wants the students to be successful and you can feel that when you walk into the school. Everyone is going to help them and support them any way they can. We also have two great classes on soft skills. You can know how to do the job, but soft skills, such as attitude, communication, teamwork and being able to present yourself in an interview are skills needed to succeed and neglected in most institutions.
For more information on life-coaching, visit Josh’s website at siteGOAL.com. For more information on Asher College, visit www.asher.edu or one of its convenient locations.
