I started my full-time coaching practice in January of 1991 becoming Minnesota’s first Professional Business Coach. For 10 years, I identified myself as “Jim Earley, Performance Coach.” Then, in November of 2000, I sensed it was time for a new professional identity and created Trailblazer Coaching. Let’s talk about the word “Trailblazer.” I wanted a name that would fit me, and would also fit my clients. I wanted a name that spoke as much about creating a direction in life more as it did finding one. I wanted a name that hinted at the important choices we sometimes face in life that would be the context of our coaching relationship. When I considered the name Trailblazer Coaching, I realized it fit. I had certainly blazed lots of trails in my life, including one for the business/personal coaching industry in Minnesota, so the name fit me. I also knew that nearly every person who had hired me had faced the need to do something they had never done before. Every coaching client faces a trail they need to blaze. In July of 2001, I realized my life was great, better than ever. Yet there were a couple of areas of life where I was dissatisfied. I realized that in those areas, I had been consistent in how I’d approached them over the years and that what I had was as good as I could expect to have. If I wanted something more, I would need to live differently. I’d need to blaze some new trails.