Get to know me
WONDERING IF WE’RE A GOOD FIT?
Mindset is everything
But it doesn’t mean faking it ‘til you make it. It’s a skill, not a personality. If you get this right, your foundation for success becomes imminent. Developing, committing to, and practicing intentional adherence to mindset is key to consistent growth and success.
How I can help you
I’m an executive coach who helps “stuck” business leaders and athletes build clear visions and create mindset shifts to move past barriers in your life, work, the game and relationships.
For over 13 years I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of clients to achieve their personal and professional goals through my uniquely developed process of mindset mastery, while aligning their values and vision to reach beyond the potential they knew they had!
When we work together, we’ll dig deeper into your story and develop skills, strategies and tools to achieve measurable evolution in your progress.
Like the age-old question of which came first – the chicken or the egg… which factor do you think starts the domino chain: the behavior, the thought or the emotion?
A few fun facts about me… True or false?
1. My first job was at Bath & Body Works.
False!
My first job was as an umpire for youth baseball and softball, as well as for the adult softball league. I was 14. If anyone is curious, grown men don’t particularly love having a 14 year old girl calling the shots. Later on, I did work at Bath & Body Works for one day, but after about 27 minutes decided corporate America wasn’t going to work for me. I didn’t go back.
2. I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, that’s why I got such an early start in leadership.
False!
I had no clue! And I almost failed out of college. Midway through my junior year, after taking a load of summer classes every year, I asked my advisor which major my credits most tightly aligned with so I could get the heck out of school ASAP. I had accidently lined myself up for a double major in Sociology and Psychology. I’d used these subjects as my “easy fillers” because I could go to class and pretty easily follow and remember the information despite my… we’ll just say “challenges” with effectively studying and retain information in the traditional fashion. So I spent my senior year with my foot on the gas in these subject areas to get out of dodge ASAP. The cruel joke… my landing spot two weeks after graduation was Grad School. Great escape plan, eh?
3. I’m an extravert.
True & false!
I’m an ‘ambivert’, so sometimes I seem like an introvert, while other times I have clear extrovert type behavior. This is really who I am and has always been, so don’t let that surprise you or assume I’m playing characters. Surprisingly, it’s more common than you think for people to exist in this gray area, despite the cultural drive to categorize people as one or the other to create superficial predictability. I refuse to label people or put them in a stereotypical box.
4. I was an amazing basketball player in high school.
Totally False!
I’m 4’11” and though I was super quick, untreated ADHD was a barrier to ever remembering a single play. I still have nightmares about never landing where I was supposed to in a basic FIST play… Softball/baseball was always king, but I also played high school volleyball, golf, basketball, wrestled and was into weight lifting.
Keep reading to learn how weight lifting impacted my love life…
5. I enjoy being front and center.
False!
I’m a high achiever, competitive and goal driven. However, I love being behind the scenes. If I made films, I would be the director, not the lead. I believe in myself, my vision and ability- but my gift is assisting in cultivating the potential of others. I’ll do whatever it takes to help someone, and can step into the spotlight when needed, but my real joy is from playing a role in helping other people get there. It’s one of the reasons I don’t care much for posting testimonials. I prefer people to have the opportunity to credit themselves for their success. I understand fully I can do my job very well and some people might fail. That means the power is in you, not me. Marketing teams don’t love me for this 😂
6. I love reading in my downtime.
False again!
My downtime is usually sweating, getting dirty and watching happy endings (get your mind out of the gutter – I’m talking legit dirt and sappy movies!). I also love listening to audiobooks, or inappropriate music that I wouldn’t allow my kids to listen to. Nothing makes me happier than being outside, at the beach, in the mountains or in the woods beyond my backyard. I always have some kind of creative manual labor project going on. I love the satisfaction of completing a project, I guess because it’s a nice balance to the more process oriented nature of my day-to-day work.
7. In third grade, my teacher told my parents they should “just get used to having a daughter that is a typical blonde…”
True.
Yes, thanks Ms. Conley. This was when my attention differences started to appear, and I began spending long periods of time in the hall because I acted out when I was bored. I wasn’t stupid, but spending so much time out of the classroom started the cycle of academic disinterest and took a toll on having any kind of vision for my future or belief that I had anything of value to contribute to the world.
8. My husband compares me to a Koala.
True – kind of…
One of the best compliments my husband ever gave me was comparing my presence to a rabid koala in a note he wrote me for Mother’s Day 😂. Here’s a snippet: “She has an uncanny ability to meet people where they are and treats them with the utmost respect and dignity regardless of background or circumstance. She has an unwavering determination to do the right thing independent of the popular vote. She is able to carry out this mission with such an adorable ferocity it catches many by surprise- like a rabid koala.”
9. Investing in the outcomes of other people is a natural, intuitive behavior for me.
True.
In the process of writing this I called upon family and friends to help me recall things that would be helpful to know. My parents reminded me that I’ve been doing it since childhood in the streets with other kids. They reflect that I’ve always been excited to push other people to their ability- and apparently- when I’m not there they still talk about my odd attachment to driving potential. “She challenged them to be their best self, sometimes ruthless in her expectations for their success. They still laugh about her driving personality and style of getting results.” My education has helped me grow out of the ruthless part… most of the time 😂.
10. I’m super feminine.
True and False?
Much like the ambivert detail, I have a free and diverse approach to my whole identity. I like pretty and aesthetically pleasing things, I’m usually found wearing make-up, and can exhibit the stereotypical traits of a feminine person. However, I’ve never really had an appreciation for rules or norms. When I was 10, I started playing all-boys baseball, which included figuring out why a jock strap was required to play in the league (yep, they still made me have one). I’m dating myself, so this was before there was real movement towards addressing gender limitations. Though unique, it didn’t ever feel like a barrier. More like speed bumps that have likely been a huge contributor to my ability to work effectively as well as adapt to and collaborate with people in a broad range of situations and from diverse backgrounds.
11. My husband and I met on a blind date.
False.
We met in a weight lifting class in college when we were captains on opposing teams. Super romantic 😂
12. My biggest pet peeve is social media.
False.
Although I tend to avoid social media unless it’s for work related things, my biggest aggravation is the sound of styrofoam. I will go into a toddler-like fit of rage when I hear it.
How my background and methods can benefit you
In graduate school, I studied to be a licensed therapist, graduated at the top of my class and did just that. Then, I got dumped into a community mental health system where I very quickly realized how messy and poorly managed the system is. Naturally a problem solver, I began to ask questions, offering ideas, hard work and commitment to making things better.
My approach and enthusiasm quickly led me into middle management positions (notice I didn’t say “my skills and experience”) where I began to spread my wings into leadership. Through my years of failing forward and figuring things out, after many leadership blunders – just ask the people that worked for me! My mindset remained true. I continued to evolve and eventually worked my way up to clinical and executive leadership at two different large non-profit organizations.
A relevant detail about my leadership journey is that I got a really early start for the field that I am in. I was 24 when given my first role to manage a team of eight well-experienced, highly educated staff, including administrative supervision of a veteran physician. Two years later, I was offered my first role on an exec team and subsequently positions on boards and committees that had a significant role in determining access to mental health community resources, funding, regulations and distribution of Medicaid dollars.
This new role had its own set of struggles when it came to creating healthy leadership dynamics! I was incredibly driven, and motivated but seemingly clueless my age could create uncomfortable dynamics or be an issue to others (the elephant in the room). It’s not that I shouldn’t have been in the position, or that I didn’t deserve it, but I was unaware of how I impacted others just by being the youngest in the room.
I look back and still believe I was the best person for the job. I’m very proud of the work I did and what I was able to accomplish for the community and employees I served. As my skills and resume grew, my age became less of an issue, but I wonder how many growing pains could have been avoided if I’d carried myself with greater insight and sensitivity to that!
This is one of the many mistakes I made along the way. Not only am I educated in how this stuff plays out, I lived it- and before my brain was fully formed enough to understand some of the risks that I took. I was also in some very… complicated situations. Some significant enough that the details are legally sealed for sharing.
There are many aspects of my professional life that though I wouldn’t change because of the invaluable lessons and shaping experiences they were, I most certainly wouldn’t want to go through again. I’ll admit I’ve had more victories than losses, and been granted opportunities that others may never see.
I believe that if you focus on living, being present, following your intentions and being mindful of your experience, life will give you the lessons necessary if you pay attention to them. I invest in my growth based on barriers to specific personal goals that I may have, be it reading, training, education, exercise, spending time with family and friends, distance from work to grow creativity and perspective etc.
Despite our anxiety about “making poor choices” or life changing “wrong decisions,” the most critical moments that come in our lives often present themselves to us in the inches, and we often didn’t know what they were until we reflected back.
Learning to trust that you won’t recognize the critical moment, even if you are looking for it with a magnifying glass gives you the freedom to live.
I credit my mindset, and a willingness to fail. And as you know, sometimes I did. But I can’t imagine a life of being unwilling or too afraid to take a chance in life. How else can you know if you can be successful if you don’t even try something new? Embarrassingly often in the early days.
