Coach Spotlight - Paulina Vazquez from Equipo Yaocalli

Coach Spotlight is our special series where we feature one of the coaches around the world that makes Training Tilt possible. Today we have Paulina Vazquez from Equipo Yaocalli. Paulina comes to us from Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo in México.

Paulina and her coaching partner launched their business at the same time as the COVID-19 chaos started to take hold. Not the ideal start to a business but they did not get discouraged by such a challenging and difficult situation. They persevered and worked hard to discover ways to grow by building confidence and loyalty among their athletes.

Equipo Yaocalli decided to focus on trail and mountain running as they felt there was a lot of opportunities but not a lot of competition from other coaching businesses in México. They work hard to leverage their backgrounds in science and their own experiences in training and racing to help their clients reach their potential.

Why might other coaches benefit from hearing your story?

There are not that many coaches that focus on trail running and mountain training in México. So we decided to create our business even if it's hard to enter this sport that is not even regulated in México. We are a team of graduates in Sports Science and a Psychologist with a long career as an athlete.

What would you say is the greatest success you've experienced building your coaching business?

We started at the same time as the COVID-19 chaos but we didn't want to give up so we discovered a way to start growing and getting the confidence and loyalty of our athletes.

What would you say is the greatest failure you've experienced building your coaching business?

Not being aware of all the startup costs of the business upfront and asking for almost nothing in terms of payment for our services.

How would you describe your ideal coaching client? and why?

That he/she can give us sincere feedback so we can continue improving.

How do you think your coaching peers would describe you?

Easy to reach, always there to help and kind of inspirational because of our success in competitions.

What are your coaching philosophies? and how did they come about?

Always find to way to help in the best way for the client to reach their best potential. To always tell the truth about what they can and can't do or where they can reach. Promote just what we can give considering our conditions and studies.  They come because we both have been athletes our whole life, so we want to offer the parts that we consider more important in our formation till today.

When did you start coaching and why did you decide to become a coach?

I started 5 years ago in Archery, I did cycling and running but just for fun. Until I finished Sports Science I decided to change and become a better coach in the disciplines I practice most. And my teammate also 5 years ago, helping his coaches to coach the new ones in the pentathlon and the kids. Then we met and decided to get this project started together.

Track, run, trail? Is important to train them all?

No matter which of these 3 sports you are focus on, there will be always great benefits if you incorporate each of them into your training. Today we know every athlete must do something extra to get to their best and what if just running can give you all that you need, you just need to adjust where do you run, how do you run and the intensity at which you run.

You can learn more about Paulina and Equipo Yaocalli on her Facebook or on Instagram at @equipo_yaocalli