Sherlyn Laurelli was born and raised in Plant City. She spent the majority of her professional life working as a teacher, then as a school counselor in Hillsborough County.
“I got into holistic coaching because I had some serious mental health struggles back in 2013,” Laurelli said. “For a number of years, I was on a personal growth journey that taught me that human beings are very complex. We are a sum of all of our parts and healing requires nourishment of all of those parts. Being witness to the decline of the mental health since COVID, it motivated me to step out into doing coaching full-time, but I use the skills I learned in education on a daily basis.”
Laurelli is the owner of Humanity’s Classroom, which is her holistic coaching business.
“Humanity’s classroom was created out of necessity,” she said. “While we have had an online presence for over a year, I have recently stepped out in faith to build the business, outside of my imagination. Working with young people, I noticed that many of them, and their parents, struggled with the things that are part of our human nature. Topics like emotional regulation, relationships, coping skills, developing healthy habits and mindset were all a part of my daily work. Changes in how we live our daily lives have eliminated that space where older generations learned how to handle these topics in dealing with the struggles of their time. Being human is magical when armed with the right knowledge and skills.”
Historically, wellness coaching has been associated with physical wellness. Laurelli’s brand of wellness coaching serves body, mind and spirit along the symbiotic relationships between the three.
“A life well lived is one in which you are at peace with who you are and the life you have now so that you can feel safe in building the life you want for the future,” Laurelli said. “My mission with Humanity’s Classroom is to help people learn what it means to be human, to be the person they were created to be, to empower people one lesson at a time to know and grow. We opened for business at the beginning of July. As I continue to build the business, there will be many more offerings.”
Laurelli’s favorite thing about being a holistic coach is helping her students make a connection to what she teaches them.
“My purpose in this life is to teach,” she said. “While I have learned much in my journey about experiencing joy in life, there isn’t much that has brought me as much joy as being able to teach someone something new and witnessing the moment that they make a personal connection to the knowledge I shared with them. For years I have quietly dreamed about owning my own school. One where I could create a curriculum that would help students be the best versions of themselves. Humanity’s Classroom is the beginning of that dream manifested.”
If you would like to learn more about Humanity’s Classroom or attend one of Laurelli’s workshops, you can visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577137838175 or email her at humanitysclassroom@outlook.com.