Maya Khare recently graduated from Parker and has been a life coach since her junior year. She came to Parker as a freshman. “I struggled so much my freshman year, academically and socially,” Khare said. It was hard for her to keep up with the hectic life of a high school student.
Her mother encouraged her to try to sort things out through therapy. Therapy did not work well for Khare, and she saw little improvement in her life due to the fact that in sessions, she was “often rehearsing a moment and not taking anything away from it.”
“I was in processing mode constantly,” Khare said. She was still struggling with getting used to her new school and felt lost. Later that year, her mom recommended she go to the Unleash the Power Within conference. Khare was reluctant, but went anyway. The conference is run by American self-help author Tony Robbins, who is renowned in the life coaching community. Focused on pushing one’s boundaries, setting oneself up for success, and a growth mindset, Tony Robbins’ view on life helped Khare learn and grow. Unleashing the Power Within inspired Khare to get a life coach.
“The conference genuinely changed my life,” Khare said.
Khare’s life coach helped her thrive at school and learn new ways to solve problems. Her life coach asked her thought-provoking questions that made her come to terms with struggles and acknowledge them. Khare said that by having a life coach, she was “able to free [herself] from beliefs that she wasn’t good enough.”
Therapy and life coaching are similar in many ways, but also have certain differences. Therapy focuses on the emotional aspect of events, while life coaching focuses more on goal setting and a focused mindset instead of reflecting on the problem. Those differences are why Khare preferred having a life coach to a therapist. When she was a junior, her life coach told her that she was making “amazing progress” and should consider becoming a life coach herself. Khare was shocked as she had never thought of becoming a life coach before. She took the test to become certified as a life coach in her junior year of high school and passed. She started coaching in November 2024, but finding clients proved to be difficult.
She started by reaching out to friends and family, and although she found it awkward at first, she eventually found many stable clients. Most of her clients are adolescents from around the country, and the closeness in age helps Khare create a stable bond and safe environment in her coaching sessions.
“I love getting calls from the parents of my clients about the small things,” Khare said, such as her clients finally having a clean room or doing their homework. According to Khare, “the small wins are what eventually lead to big successes in life,” and it’s this mindset that she builds her coaching around.
“Maya helped me through a lot,” one of Khare’s clients said. “She helped me when I was in my thoughts. She helped me get through fighting with my brother, mostly, and she’s helping me get along with my parents ever since. I don’t fight with people as much as I used to. I’m happier now. I don’t feel like crying at night. I don’t feel like I’m not loved. I feel appreciated. She’s amazing.”
Khare is now taking a gap year before attending Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in the fall of 2026. Khare decided to take this gap year because she wanted to focus on her passions, such as language, travel, and life coaching. She plans to do a Spanish immersion program in Spain with other gap year students, and follow that with an internship in Barcelona, focusing on marketing and advertising. Later this year, she also plans to visit India to see family in Mumbai, all while continuing coaching. Khare will not continue with life coaching as a future career because she is “so curious about the world, and often picks up many different passions.” She does not want to limit herself to just coaching, but will continue with her current clients as it is “not that much of a commitment” right now.
“I think it is so inspiring that Khare started coaching so young,” junior Abby Howe said. Despite the inspirational aspect of her story, the most important takeaway Khare has is to “follow your passion.” She doubted herself when she first started coaching, but believes it is one of the best decisions she could have made. Whether it’s a niche interest or a hobby that you might be scared to pursue, Khare would say to just do it.
