In the first 11 years of my life, I moved 12 times. My father worked in finance and the family moved wherever the job dictated he go. I was a quiet child but observed everything, figuring out early how to listen deeply and learn what made each person I encountered unique. By 4th grade, friends would refer to me as their therapist, and I loved helping them work through their problems. This led me to study Psychology at Hampton University where I realized that I wanted to be a life coach instead of a therapist. Post college, I embarked on a practical but unfulfilling insurance career, believing I was too young to be taken seriously as a coach. Over time I became unsatisfied and burned out, doing work, and living a life that wasn’t true to who I was. One day I helped a new client; she was vibrant, in love with life, and gratified by the work she did. Her lived example reflected that it was time to stop living small and develop my potential. Soon after that encounter I pursued the work I was meant to do, coaching. Eventually, I connected with Christine through one of my mentors, and I was immediately captivated by her story as well as the EQuipt process. I have been working with the EQuipt team ever since!
Bio
Tarrynn Deavens is an executive coach and facilitator who works with individual executives, teams, and organizations to close gaps in their performance and support their professional development. She believes leadership is a delicate balance of both ‘what’ you know and ‘how’ you lead. Through her professional and personal experiences, Tarrynn has come to know leadership is not about perfection – it’s about having alignment and resonance between your intentions and the impact you make. She works to empower leaders and their team members to do their best work in happy, healthy environments.
Her early life was quite eventful; Tarrynn was born in London, England, and made 12 moves as a child. People often guess that she was part of a military family, but her parents were actually ‘corporate nomads’, who moved their family as they advanced in their careers. After high school, she went on to study Psychology at Hampton University, intending to become a therapist. Halfway into her program, she realized being a therapist wasn’t the right fit for her, and that a career as a coach would be a better pathway forward. However, believing she was too young at the time to be taken seriously in the profession, Tarrynn decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and work in the insurance industry.
During her years in the insurance world, she worked in account management and sales for a private agency and AFLAC. While she experienced significant success in her insurance career, coaching was always in her heart. She decided to leap into her coaching career in 2018. She is a certified Whole Person Coach, a discipline that emphasizes the need to address clients’ challenges holistically, taking into consideration all aspects of life to ensure positive and long-lasting change. As a coach she has worked with leaders and teams at organizations such as Merck, Converse, Bentley, Go Puff, Washington Post, and countless others.
Tarrynn’s mother, Beverly, always instilled in her that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason; we need to listen to others twice as much as we speak. So, from a young age, Tarrynn understood the power of listening. Additionally, her grandmother, who was an elementary school principal and minister, taught her the power of captivating storytelling. When a mentor connected her to Christine Miles, Tarrynn was immediately captivated by her story and the EQuipt process. She has been working with the EQuipt team since 2020 and has found that The Listening Path® works wonders, even for someone like herself who thought she was a good listener. It has upped her game, and she utilizes the tools daily.
When Tarrynn is not coaching she loves spending time with her family, many of whom live in Illinois and Missouri. When at home in Philadelphia, she enjoys being curled up under her favorite leopard snuggie with a good book or watching a movie. She also loves playing badminton in the park with her boyfriend, heading to the beach any time she can, or learning more about her newest hobby, archery.
