Meet Ruth Kudzi, CEO at Optimus Coach Academy and Ruth Kudzi Coaching

Optimus Coach Academy provides best in class coach training solutions for both individuals and corporates. Established by Ruth Kudzi, Optimus Coach Academy teaches using a wide variety of approaches that have strong foundations in Psychology and Neuroscience. What makes the Academy different is its in house coaches and mentors, all of which are knowledgeable in understanding what it takes to build and grow a business, providing their mentees with both monthly mentoring and access to online programs.

 

 

Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role

 

My name is Ruth Kudzi and I am the CEO of two businesses: Optimus Coach Academy where we train people to become professionally accredited coaches and Ruth Kudzi Coaching where I work personally with leaders as a coach.

My background is varied: I have been studying Psychology & Neuroscience for over 27 years with a BA in Psychology & Management and a MA in Psychology & Education. Equally I have been coaching for well over a decade both within my roles, with corporates and individuals and am a MCC level coach (one of around 75 in the UK) with well over 10,000 coaching hours and over 500 hours of coach specific training including a PGCERT in coaching (psychology).

Prior to starting my own businesses in 2016 I worked in education and was a senior leader for 7 years as well as being a consultant. Before this I worked in recruitment and sales.

Now I combine everything in my role: teaching and training people to become great coaches and supporting my team to develop and be their best. I love what I do and am passionate about supporting people to become great coaches.

 

Have you faced any challenges along the way?

 

Running my own business has had many challenges: I have had to learn a lot along the way and have sometimes got the balance of work / life completely wrong. I have invested money in things which didn’t work out as planned. I have found building a team challenging at times as I tend to see the best in people and see strengths first : this has meant I have sometimes had the wrong people for the job plus the fact I didn’t always give myself time to lead! 5 ½ years in I would love to say I was now challenge free – there are still things which challenge me every day and I am definitely always building and growing because of this.

 

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

 

I think having a business that now employees 24 people is pretty amazing and reaching the ICF MCC level as well. I feel like I have only just started although when I look back I can see how much progress I have made.

 

 

What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success? 

 

The fact that I have always got support around me and I ask for help – so when I am stuck I have other people I can bounce ideas off. Equally, I know what my strengths are and am able to see that there are gaps in the market which we entered: we always look at how we can be different and I think this has stood me in good stead.

Finally, my resilience : there are always challenges and I think that the fact that I  have risen to these and learned from everything has meant that I have grown and the businesses have grown too.

How important is it for business leaders to keep up to date for the latest tech developments?

 

I think it is really important for business leaders to keep up to date with tech developments as they often help them save time and money, enhance customer experience and make processes more straightforward and easier.

 

As an organisation, how do you keep up to speed with Tech developments?

 

For us as an organisation we make sure that a team member keeps abreast of any changes with our tech providers and attends the training and development sessions that they put on. Equally, we invest in external support who advise us on systems, tech and operations.

 

What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?

 

I am to double the size of our company over the next two years, to go back to some more coaching and to have my third book released. By doubling the size of our company we will be reaching more people and will be having a positive impact on others.