Welcome

ACT I

As a CPA who dedicated 25 years toward adding value to and growing within corporate finance and planning roles for large, international organizations, I felt largely unfulfilled.

I have always been more drawn to human behaviour, and how we relate with one another in leadership positions, within teams, and in our social groups and families, than I was to working with Excel. 

My ongoing drive and curiosity to better understand human nature and what shapes our organizational team cultures, similar to that of our family and community cultures, eventually drove me to make a change I never thought possible. 

ACT II

In the fall of 2018, I pursued my second career act in Human Resources, completing my CHRP designation by September 2020. At the time, I believed I had arrived in my final career destination. This was it!

I signed up for projects involving recruiting, onboarding, organizational change, leadership development, training, succession planning, workforce transition, and outplacement.

It's through the process of reflection and self-discovery that I learned my strengths-informed purpose is related to leadership and team development, one-on-one and in groups.

After a 30-year run in the corporate world, I decided to make another change I never saw coming. 

ACT III

When I focused my purpose toward professional coaching, I knew I had found what I am meant to be doing. 

In August 2022, I earned my Certified Executive Coaching (CEC) designation with Royal Roads University. A few weeks later I qualified as an ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC). And by May 2023, I achieved an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential. 

THE AWARENESS

I was not consciously attuned to the valuable skills, and first-hand insight I was building at the intersection of culture and team dynamics by leading, developing, and coaching teams throughout my career.

Reporting to senior executive leaders honed my awareness that how we meet the moment directly impacts team engagement. And collaborating with peers grounded me in how to productively enter conflict to arrive at a preferred outcome, while maintaining the quality of the relationship.

How we meet each moment, and how effectively we remediate conflict in our relationships has a direct effect on the depth, meaning, and substance of our connections. 

THE LESSONS

The common thread in all of work, in all of life, is that how well we recognize our historical adaptive patterns, understand our somatic sensations and feelings, and the degree to which we accurately express our emotions in a socially responsible manner that invites empathy, determines our level of fulfillment, growth and success. 

I have spent my entire adult life being inquisitive about, studying, and learning everything I can regarding human behaviour, neuroscience and neuroplasticity, organizational psychology, leadership theory, the mind/body connection, somatics, spirituality...whatever helps me access the complexities of how we are all interconnected, and how we motivate and influence one another with our emotional energy and intention. 

I have come to understand, partly from the learned experience of rebuilding my own platform of self-worth after internalizing toxic shame reinforced through adverse childhood experiences, and partly from applied theory, that everything we think, say, and do is a candid reflection of the beliefs we hold of ourselves. Our relationship with Self, our worldview, informs the lens of perception through which we experience our lives. 

With new understanding comes new ways of being, and new practices. I now believe that my needs are sacred, my worth is inherent, and my value is indisputable. 

THE INVITATION

 Life extends us endless opportunities to show who we are in the pursuit of meeting our needs.

Understanding our core values, needs, emotions, and motivations is the gateway to self-awareness and empathy, which requires vulnerability. And vulnerability is the foundation for courage, truth, and integrity...at home, work, and everywhere in between.

What new understanding, ways of being, and practices are calling for your attention to break down the barriers standing between you, and what you most care about?