Where It All Began

One to One-Women Coaching Women was born on a 3x5 index card.

Susan Strauss founded OtO in 2004, after a simple realization changed the course of her work. In the early 2000s, while training as a life coach to complement her therapy practice, Susan experienced firsthand what it meant to have someone fully in her corner — listening, asking powerful questions, helping her move toward what she wanted. She knew not everyone could afford that kind of support. And she knew exactly who needed it most.

In her own words — lightly condensed and tightened for the web from her original writing; please have Susan confirm the exact wording before this goes live:

“I realized that everyone should have their own life coach, and while I was fortunate to hire one, many people could not afford this service. I knew that women especially could benefit from life coaching, as they are always putting others before their own interests. They attend first to the needs of partners, children, parents, work colleagues, and community, only to find their own needs and desires at the bottom of their to-do list. What if every woman, regardless of income, social status, and personal situation, could have her own professionally trained life coach? What changes would they see in their lives, in the lives of their family, community, and networks?

On a 3x5 card, I wrote that I wanted to give away coaching to two women a month. From that card was born One to One-Women Coaching Women in 2004.

One to One was designed to provide pro bono life coaching to women who wanted to improve their lives with the help of their own coach — someone who would listen to their desires and dreams and work with them to achieve them. It was also designed to provide a community for women coaches to connect, learn, and share their skills, offering coaching to women across the country, and now, internationally.

Who would have thought that this entirely volunteer-based nonprofit would still be growing, and still holding to its standards of excellence, 22 years later? It has shown that a woman-focused, coaching-based organization built on community, good listening, respect for others, and a commitment to service would find its place in the world — and thrive.

As a woman over 50, I was able to look beyond the immediate demands of childcare and career-building to see what was needed more broadly. I gave my time and resources to shaping and launching One to One, then invited others to join — many of them women starting new careers of their own in the second half of life. I found that the women I approached were eager to give back, and just as eager to be part of a larger professional community that shared their values.

One to One was built, intentionally, on the coaching skills of listening fully, asking powerful questions, and honoring one another — with our clients, our colleagues, and our leadership team. Our clients have been shaped by the coaching relationships they've built, and have carried those same skills into their own lives and the lives of people around them. Our coaches, too, consistently tell us how much they've gained from their coaching relationships and from being part of the One to One community.

I've had the privilege of modeling these relationship and coaching skills for our coaches and leaders, so they could carry them into their own relationships with clients — and into their own lives. I've watched that impact ripple into other generations, as younger family members and former clients have found their own way into the organization, and gone on to refer their own family members.

I continue to sit in awe that this organization, started on a 3x5 card, is still such a vibrant, well-supported community — sustained by our coaches, our clients, and our partners.”

— Susan Strauss, Founder

Her Legacy, Continued

More than two decades later, One to One-Women Coaching Women has connected over 1,500 women with free, professional coaching — and has been sustained by more than 60,000 hours of volunteer service. Susan's original vision, that every woman deserves a coach in her corner regardless of what she can pay, remains the foundation everything else is built on.