Why I'm so passionate about empowering you as a woman in business

The story of my passion to empower women, started with seeing my mother--then later, myself, my friends a nd clients, playing small, doubting themselves, not making the impact or the income they are capable of making.

In my 20's, just when I was starting my professional life, I watched my mother--a talented, ambitious woman--be derailed and destroy her life because of lack of confidence. She never realized anything near her true potential. I decided right then and there, that would not happen to me--and I would do what I could to help other women.

I went to business school for my MBA and plunged into the world of corporate finance in the late 1980's. Although women were being given more opportunities, the workplace was very male dominated, competitive and not too welcoming. Trying to be a good corporate 'soldier' I accepted a grueling assignment that led to extreme overwork and depletion. After that assignment, I had a wake up call and realized it was time to heal...and move my life in a different direction, ultimately leading to my working with women as an empowerment and business coach.

The unsupportive atmosphere of the corporate world, which I was in full-time for 15 years, was a place where my lack of self-confidence and insecurity blossomed. My shyness and inability to speak up for myself, difficulty in asking for what I need an desire--did not advance my corporate career. When I had finally healed enough and made the transition to my own business--guess what happened?

I brought all of this baggage--this negative programming, limiting beliefs and a lot of history to self employment. In my own business, where there was no guaranteed salary, these issues came home to roost faster and limited my ability to succeed on my own. When the business is 100% you, your mindset--and the actions that come from that mindset--are what determine your success 100%.

It's been quite a journey for me...20 years' worth. Along the way I learned how to uncover and transform layers of blocks that were hidden below the surface, in my subconscious mind. It took a long time because I had very little coaching or guidance for most of this journey. I invested a lot in training, but did not get the personal guidance--nor the help in clearing blocks--that I needed. I didn't have a 'me' to turn to.

It certainly wasn't easy and I almost gave up at times. But I didn't --and now I can put all of this experience and training to work for you. Let me help shorten your learning curve, and grow your business more easily and so much faster. My extensive journey can serve you now with all the knowledge, experience, compassion and tools I had to gather for myself---to make your path to success a whole lot easier and faster than it was for me.

I AM SO DONE with watching talented women, under-earning, overworking, burning out and just not making the difference they are here to make. I AM SO READY to help women business owners believe in themselves, value themselves more, and realize their dreams. g worthy or good enough--the many ways we limit ourselves and what is possible for us. Women still under-earn men, and even women MBA students at Harvard had to be coached to become more confident in negotiating salary.

It's frustrating to see how deep-seated this is for women, even now, even after the gains we've made. Confidence is a huge issue for women--and it lurks behind the brave face of even the most successful women.

There is sadness for the wasted gifts and unrealized dreams of talented women, along with the frustration from knowing the far greater impact we are capable of having.

What inspires me and hopefully lights you up too, is the greater contribution and impact that women are urgenlty being called to create. Imagine the money we could be earning, as well as the good we can do with that money. These times call for, urgently demand that women step into greater leadership, speaking their truth clearly and be empowered and empowering messengers and voices of hope, care and wisdom.

We--and the entire planet--are calling for women to step up and break free. To release our habitual lack of confidence, self-doubt, insecurity, holding back, playing small, not asking or speaking our truth, Despite the real gains women have made, these patterns still plague us and limit our income and opportunities. I have spent most of my adult life working through these issues, at the same time also learning tools and using them with clients, so that I can now help many women break through their conditioning and limitations.

More about my journey: After my mother died I went to business school in New York City in the 1980’s, and was immersed in corporate culture there through the late 90’s--but I never drank the Kool-Aid. I experienced unhealthy extremes and the effects of our culture’s huge, hidden and unresolved psychological shadow about power, authority and conformity, what some are now called toxic masculinity.

My journey took me as far away from who I really am--as I could possibly go--to then back away from that into” my true path.

Extreme overwork and abusive treatment in my first professional job as an accountant led to depletion and dramatic exhaustion—I was only in my late 20’s but was so fatigued I couldn’t get up two flights of stairs. It was my first wake up call, clearly showing me I needed to change direction. I was given a frightening vision of where my current path would lead if I did not change course--an image of my soul shriveling and my body developing serious illness.

My healing journey:

After my radical depletion in my accounting career, I came to Kripalu center in the Berkshires. There I had a mystical experience of radical fear release during a session of 'energy balancing'. It was so powerful I knew instantly 'I have to learn that' and it led to my studying and certifying in Polarity therapy—my first modality. It went on from there as I continued to heal, and over the course of more than 20 years, received, practiced, learned and started to offer sessions based on the variety of methods I was learning.

As I studied, received healing myself, and deepened on my spiritual path, I was slowly preparing to take the leap. In 1999 I left my corporate accounting career and began my healing practice. Ever since, it’s been an ongoing personal growth intensive in learning how to grow and sustain my own business.

Over the years I learned how to nourish myself and how to create a life that truly supported my health. I began to learn who I was and what made me tick. It began with the body, and then learning about the psyche, soul and spirit. I then began to bring all of this learning into my healing and coaching work with clients.

There were so many lessons about self care, boundaries, respecting and honoring my own needs, and most of all learning how to believe in myself even when there was little support or encouragement. I bring all of that wisdom, and experience navigating the workplace and the challenges of self employment, to my work as a women's empowerment coach.

Meet the Real Me: A Conversational Truth Guide & What That Means to You

All these labels fit:

Trained accountant who can bottom-line it and whip out spreadsheets with the best of them.
Experienced business educator and coach.
Certified energy healer and movement teacher.
Deeply compassionate coach, meditator, spiritual practitioner.
Creative playful wordsmith and freedom-lover.
But these roles are the easy label, that act as a ‘storefront’ for what I really do. I am a prosperity catalyst, which means people naturally transform around me. I am also a Conversational Truth Guide working the fields of business and money (To learn more about YOUR marketing/message archetype, I highly recommend Beth Grant’s Marketing Alignment Grid).

As a Conversational Truth Guide, I don’t impose my answer or truth on you. Instead, I invite, empower and guide you to discover yours.

Some coaches can only teach you a formula based on what worked for them. I won’t. I’ll offer you options and suggestions, and help you explore possibilities. I will never insist that there is only one way that works--there are so many ways! The #1 reason people go into business for themselves is for more autonomy--more freedom. I don't care for boxes, myself, so why would I want to put you into one? You get to design it to work for you1 Sure, there are general principles that work, necessary steps and systems. Plus there are ways to make it faster and easier, and even more fun. You have plenty of creative latitude. Doesn't that feel better already?