On a recent episode of Jeopardy!, the International Coach Federation got a shout-out in one of the gameshow’s clues: “With certification from the ICF, you can become not a football or a hockey one but a life one of these.”

The answer, of course, was coach.

What is a #coach? @Jeopardy is aware of #coaching and @ICFHQ; are you? #findacoach at https://t.co/mH17vzey7V #ExperienceCoaching pic.twitter.com/N2eCQ4WRcb

— IntlCoachingFederation (@ICFHQ) May 8, 2018

And as the news of the Jeopardy! mention reached ICF—mainly through its millennial staffers, who heard about it from their fathers watching the show at home—staff was thrilled.

According to Magdalena Mook, ICF’s CEO and executive director, the organization was excited that both ICF and the certification were mentioned in the clue. “We call it credentialing, but hey, we’ll take it,” she said.

Mentioning the credentialing part was particularly thrilling because, according to Mook, it’s something that ICF has worked hard to create awareness around. “That mention on Jeopardy! is a true recognition that the outside world … is picking up on it and is recognizing coaching as viable, as legitimate, as credible—and that’s music to our ears because that’s definitely part of our mission …” she said.

To capitalize on its Jeopardy! mention, which already dovetailed so nicely with ICF’s mission, ICF sent out a press release and launched a social media push in conjunction with International Coaching Week, which is taking place May 7 to 13. This weeklong celebration, launched back in 1999, was created to build awareness over what coaching was and wasn’t and help clear up some misconceptions around it.

“But being mentioned on Jeopardy!—and literally being brought into people’s’ living rooms—shows how far we’ve come,” said ICF Communications Manager Abby Heverin. “So, as we celebrate International Coaching Week, we’re really getting to move the conversation forward—and not just getting to talk with people about what coaching is, but around the world we have members and ICF chapters that are bringing coaching to people through community events, by coming into workplaces and providing opportunities to receive coaching.”

In addition, ICF has seen a lot of engagement with social media posts and had a lot of fun conversations about the gameshow mention.

“It’s just really fun to see everyone engaging with it and really, it’s such a tangible representation of what we’re doing as a profession, so it’s a really fun visual symbol for everyone to gravitate toward on social right now,” Heverin said.

(via the Jeopardy! Facebook page)