Have you ever been in a job and wondered, “What am I doing here?”
Me, so many times.
Now I know.
There was always something in it that interested me, but it never felt exactly right, for years. I came to coaching via a winding path, and every day I get to sit with people, I am so grateful to be doing the work I’m deeply compelled to do, finally!
My entire career has focused on support positions and knowledge sharing, and all of it influences my coaching approach–as a Peace Corps volunteer in the highlands of Guatemala; as an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual violence; as a medical interpreter and case manager; as a social services programs manager responsible for cross sector trainings and coalition building to consulting work focused on developing inclusive and collaborative teams at work. My background in supporting others and my personal experiences in doing that work while at times deeply disregarding myself and my own needs, all inform how I approach coaching today.
The most exciting approach to the work I do is to recognize that people, individuals and groups, are their own authority. You have all the answers you need in yourself–we all do. And most of us just need someone to ask the right questions, make an invitation with the right exploratory prompt to reveal what is already inside of them. In my social service work, for many years, I believed that for other people, but I still didn’t believe it for myself.
I poured everything I had into the work I was doing, until I landed in severe burnout. I got help because I had to get help in that moment. That help–a mix of skilled therapists, coaches, and health care providers– was my invitation to finally turn toward myself with love, with compassion, and with the promise to take care of me so I could do the things I love from a place of integrity. Through my own professional work and personal growth I came to a felt-sense understanding of the benefits of connecting my logical thinking to my body intelligence, and built trust in my own ability to find my answers in myself. Over a period of time, everything started to shift.
At the lowest point in my burnout the things I wanted but did not have included:
To have a marriage I wanted to be in
To have $0 credit card debt
To have a house that was adequate to hold the life I wanted
To have a career I loved
To make more than $40,000 a year
To figure out if I wanted to be a parent
I really truly wanted these things, and I had no idea how to get them. The shifts that eventually got me what I wanted came from accessing multiple modalities. In working with trauma survivors, I learned an incredible amount about human neurobiology and practical approaches to rewiring the brain for new thought patterns and behavioral approaches. In practicing yoga and studying for a teaching certification, I learned about how consciously managing physical discomfort supports a body in managing emotional discomfort as it moves off the mat and through the world. In working through a masters certificate program in The Inner MBA, I learned how mindfulness practices create space for more authentic responses, more innovation and creativity in problem solving, and more satisfaction in a person’s lived experience. In my Workshopper Master facilitation training, I learned to create meaningful experiences for teams by being the guide not the hero, which is to say trusting their experience and knowledge to guide solutions and outcomes rather than me creating a solution for them and telling them how to execute it.
The support and learning opportunities I experienced helped me realize more than I thought possible. I know what I want. I know how to get it now.
I want everyone who is ready for this kind of work to have access and support for creating the life they want. I firmly believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, and I am passionate about coaching as a means to grow individual self-awareness and confidence, to clarify personal goals, and empower individuals to go out and get what they want. Any investment you make in yourself is an investment that benefits your family, your community, your business. I’ve seen this in my own personal growth work and in the lives of my clients.
Your work has positive ripple effects greater than you may ever know. Are you ready to explore what’s possible for you?
Why coaching and facilitation?
I really enjoy the variety of moving between doing 1:1 work and group work. Coalition building and developing collaborative teams is still a passion of mine, and it turns out there’s a lot of overlap.
Coaching and Facilitation both require deep listening skills, the ability to synthesize seemingly disparate pieces of information, and asking powerful questions that invite participants to go deeper.
Coaching assists individuals and groups in moving from theory into practice.
Facilitation assists groups in clarifying goals and strategies, and to develop a timeline and responsibility chains that create the ownership and drive required to achieve those goals. Facilitation brings guidelines, clarity, and focus to group work that saves organizations and businesses time, money, and lots of frustration. It builds morale in teams as they collaborate and achieve results together.
Ready to Begin?
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