My Story

Perhaps the best way for you to understand me is to tell a story of how I woke up in my own life.

For over 20 years I worked for many corporations where the work, bennies, and paycheck were steady, but my satisfaction level was not.  I was asleep at the wheel of my professional life, and deep down inside I knew it, but with bills to pay, a family to raise, I would just change companies doing the same kind of work whenever I got bored (which happened about every 2 years). In my last corporate job, I finally met with a career counselor who really got me, and who, unknowingly, changed and quite possibly literally helped saved my life.

After hearing my story for only about five minutes, she recommend I try an introductory class to a coaching program, which at the time she thought I had been doing for all those years and didn’t know it. I didn’t know what coaching was at the time, so I followed her advice, got hooked with coaching, and within two years became a certified coach.

While I was being trained as a coach while still employed at my last company, I was laid off during the dot-“bomb” period.  Although I was a solid performer, I was not happy (and not very good at hiding it I might add), and the company gave me a gift by sending me on my way. It was an opportunity to pursue my passion of helping people directly. And that “gift” of being laid off may have saved my life.

Not long after I was laid off my medical benefits were about to run out, so I decided to get a physical, which is something I probably would never have done otherwise. That physical eventually led to a diagnosis of cancer. This was wakeup call number 2. Since my dad had died of the same disease, I felt my number was up too, but fortunately the cancer was caught early and treated. Yes, I am cancer free today.

So eventually I saw that when I started showing up as myself, which led to me getting laid off and getting a medical checkup, I indirectly saved my own life.

I see the layoff as a gift in disguise, as I saw the cancer as a gift and a complete wakeup call. It served as a slap in the face to get going on whatever it was I needed to do and be in my life. I realized that life is indeed short, and can be taken away at any time, be it a serious illness, accident, etc.  I also realized that putting things off, procrastinating, etc. doesn’t serve any one, and that life can be taken away in an instant.

I am passionate about making a difference in peoples’ lives, about inspiring people to live their best lives, about achieving one’s full potential, about being fully alive, about not settling for a dull life, and about connecting and acting on what’s true in one’s heart.

Professional Background

• Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) through the Coaches Training Institute
• Former board member of a local ICF coaching chapter
• Conducted career development workshops at various companies
• Licensed sports coach, having coached kids from pre-school up through high school, from recreational to competitive travelling teams.
• 25 years experience as an instructional designer, human factors, online training, and documentation specialist
• Adaptive ski instructor and supervisor, where I trained cognitively and physically-disabled people how to ski
• For over 5 years I have coordinated a one day health fair that regularly attracts over 400 participants and uses 150 volunteers
• BA in English from Villanova University