Gulmira Yusupova, 34, from Khujand, became the winner of the international competition "The Best Business Coach in Kazakhstan and Central Asia". About 30 coaches from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan participated in the competition. Gulmira is the only one who represented Tajikistan.

On August 12, International Youth Day is celebrated in many countries of the world. This date was set by the UN General Assembly in 1999 in order to recall the role of young people in the development and building of the future of the country, the world and the planet as a whole.

In Tajikistan, young people make up about a third of the population. The republic is the "youngest" among the CIS countries.

The best pro coach

The international competition "The Best business Coach of Kazakhstan and Central Asia" started in February this year. The final and announcement of the winners took place within the framework of the international forum Human Capital Days, which was held on May 23 in Astana.

In total, about 30 participants from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were announced for the competition. Gulmira Yusupova was the only representative from Tajikistan.

The competition was held in two categories – "Best professional start" and "Profi+". In the first nomination, novice business coaches competed for three prizes, among which a participant from Kazakhstan received the first place.

Professional coaches have already participated in the "Profi+" nomination, and Gulmira became the only winner in this category.

All the contestants passed several qualifying stages. As the organizers noted, the professional jury voted "blindly" without seeing the contestants' data (each was assigned a number), which ensured complete objectivity in the voting.

I went for the experience and won

According to Gulmira, after learning about the international business coach competition, she did not even think about winning. I just wanted to gain experience, prepare and apply again next year to increase the chances.

"Ideally, I dreamed of getting at least into the top three finalists, so my joy knew no bounds when I received the message of victory," Gulmira shares.

Even before winning the competition, the girl left her favorite company, where she had worked for more than 15 years, and began coaching. She was invited not only by well-known domestic companies. She successfully conducted trainings for Kazakhtelecom, the largest Kazakh telecommunications company. There she trained more than 230 employees of the company in Almaty, Kostanay and Astana.

Next year, the international forum will be held in Tashkent. Gulmira will act as a speaker there, and will also become a member of the jury in the competition among business coaches.

From a Call center operator to a certified trainer

Gulmira began to develop her communication skills since she was a student. In her second year, she began working as an announcer at the Tyroz radio station, and then at the Sogd regional television as an author and presenter of one of the programs.

However, Gulmira's long and interesting path to business coaching began at Indigo Somoncom, now Tcell.

Her career started from the very "bottom" - from the position of a call center operator. Later, she became a consultant at the service center, in 2008-2009 she was an official of the company and rose to the position of a specialist in VIP and B2B customer support and retention.

For 16 years, Gulmira has periodically voiced IVR (Interactive Voice Response - the company's voice answering machine - ed.), interactive voice responses and commercials.

In 2019, the girl decided to apply for training at the international school of business coaches ICBT. She passed a competitive selection, and Tcell sent her to study. Having successfully completed all the modules, Gulmira became a certified business coach.

"Initially, I was engaged in training interns, some of whom became new employees of Tcell. «I cannot express in words what a pleasure it is to see grateful guys with burning eyes», Gulmira shares. - After starting to work, some became the breadwinners of the family; students proudly shared that they can now pay for their own tuition and help their parents. At such moments, you especially realize what the value of your contribution to people is. It's motivating."

Later, the girl was appointed a senior business coach for the development of existing Tcell employees in Sughd region - consultants, specialists, experts and managers.

In January 2024, Gulmira decided to take up personal and corporate coaching.

"The work of a coach requires a lot of energy and strength. I decided to choose one area because I didn't have enough time for family and children, my health was failing. It is very important for a woman to keep a balance," says the girl.

The dream of having your own school

Gulmira notes that there are very few certified business coaches in Tajikistan. At the same time, not all companies understand the importance of having such specialists or attracting them from outside, especially given the personnel shortage.

"It is often more effective to grow internal staff than to attract those who are ready from the outside, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find such specialists with the necessary experience," the girl explains. - The formation of an internal reserve, the development of the necessary competencies and skills, strategic thinking, communication and other key aspects of business for entrepreneurs, managers and their teams is exactly what the business coach does."

In the future, the girl dreams of creating her own school for training specialists in the field of high-quality service and maintenance.

"I want to wish our talented youth – dare, develop constantly, do not be afraid to make mistakes, be open to new things and set goals for yourself."