Category: Coaching

On The View From The Bay: Lessons in Visioning

On Wednesday, I was live on a local San Francisco TV talk show The View From The Bay.  I talked with co-hosts Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang about balancing acts for busy moms (you can watch it here).  Janelle, Spencer and everyone at the studio are so incredibly nice which made the whole experience even that much more enjoyable.  I am extremely grateful to the several Lady Launchers who cheered me on from the studio audience and to Adryenn Ashley who was by my side backstage for extra moral support.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve reflected on a few important lessons that this experience underscores for me.  These lessons include the power of:

  • Visioning and writing things down
  • Showing up
  • Taking care of myself.

Lesson 1: Visioning and writing things down. Being on The View From The Bay was one of my goals for this year.  I wrote about it in a letter to myself from the future.  Also, in the marketing section my Right-Brain Business Plan, I included “be on The View From The Bay this year using creativity to get clear on vision.”  You bet I was excited that I got to show an Unfolding Your Life Vision collage book as one of the tips on getting more balanced!

Right before the Sacramento & Co. show and VFTB, I even wrote on my wish cards to get clear about how I wanted to show up.  My visions for each appearance included descriptions like being calm, comfortable, poised, engaging, informative, personable, positive, clear, present, relaxed, and inspiring.  I brought my cards with me and also printed out of all the lovely comments and e-mails people shared from the Sacramento show to help ground me.  It was really cool to get feedback afterward that was very much in alignment with my intention.

Lesson 2: Showing up. A few people have asked me how did I get on the show. It started simply by showing up!  Adryenn sometimes gets tickets to the studio audience, so when she offered tickets at the end of September, I said, “Yes!”  I was a geek and read up on the show and the hosts before I went.  I didn’t know this, but on commercial breaks they ask the audience trivia questions.  I actually won a prize because I got one of the questions right from reading the bios and I got to wave into the camera!  After the show, I had Adryenn introduce me to Janelle and I gave her one of my Unfolding Your Life Vision Kits.   Adryenn highly encouraged me to come back the next day and I did.  To my surprise, Janelle remembered me!  She said she had a story idea and to come see her after the show!  I worked with Adryenn to develop a formal pitch, sent it in and then was asked to be on for the end of October.  It all happened in about a week!

Lesson 3: Taking care of myself. I really had to pay attention to this since I was pushing myself out of my comfort zone.  The day before the show, I was starting to get anxious so I made sure to go to yoga.  After class I felt so much more grounded, focused and ready to prep for the next day.  The day of the show, while I was in the green room, there was a moment where this introvert/HSP got too overwhelmed by all the talking that I had to go find a quiet spot to just sit and breathe.  It definitely helped me center right before going on.

Lots of great learnings here from a truly wonderful experience!  I loved being on the show and getting to share tips and ideas about something I’m passionate about.  I hope to be on again and to also venture into other shows, too…  like Martha and Oprah, of course!  I’m including that in my next future letter to myself and on my new Right-Brain Business Plan!

Sacramento & Co. TV Appearance

Last Wednesday I was a guest on the live morning talk show Sacramento & Company where I spoke to the co-hosts about life coaching. It was my very first TV appearance and I was on the air in less than 24 hours of getting the call, which was perfect because I had less time to worry about it!

One of my 2008 goals in my Right-Brain Business Plan was to increase my media exposure, including being featured on TV. Even though it makes my palm sweaty just to write that here and my stomach was in knots the entire hour and a half drive back from the studio, I love that I am stretching myself outside my comfort zone. Each time I do, I learn and grow and new opportunities open up for me that I had never even considered before.

In fact, this opportunity was the result of meeting the very cool Jerusha Stewart at the Ladies Who  Launch Be Your Own Boss event last month.  (Sidenote: Signing up to do a vendor table there was another way in which I stretched myself as it encouraged me to finally finish my Unfolding Your Life Vision Kits and sell them!).  Anyway, Jerusha had mentioned me to the producers and I got called up when they needed a last minute guest!

Another lesson in showing up and saying YES!

The cool thing is before this opportunity even came about, I had already lined up a spot on our local talk show The View From The Bay.  I’ll be on live this coming Wednesday October 29th (yikes!).  I’ve been working with the very talented Chief Idea Bunny Adryenn Ashley to get ready.  I’ll write more later about how the VFTB opportunity manifested itself.

I’m noticing that even as I’m preparing to post this entry, I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.  Ha, that’s a good sign that I’m outside my comfort zone again!

Art Every Day Month Conference Call Posted

Tuesday’s Co-Active Network Creative Artists community call with creator Leah Piken Kolidas just got posted.  If you weren’t able to make the call, but wanted to hear Leah talk about her Art Every Day Month challenge please take a listen.  Although these community calls are intended for coaches of creative artists, feel free to check this one out even if you’re not a coach or a “creative artist” as Leah’s challenge is an invitation to everyone!  The recording has lots of great information about the AEDM challenge, ideas for how to participate AND Leah leads us through a quick and easy creativity sparking exercise.  What could be better?!

Art Every Day Month 2008 Starts Soon!

Today artist Leah Piken Kolidas was a guest on our Co-Active Network Creative Artists Community call. She talked to our group of coaches about her Art Every Day Month challenge and how this project could help us explore and express our own creativity and how it could be a great structure of inspiration, support and accountability for our clients.  I’ll post a link to the recording soon.

I participated in AEDM last year and got so much out of the experience, including expanding my own notion of what makes art, meeting new creative souls and sparking a product idea.  I’m looking forward to being a part of this wonderful community again next month.

And in honor of being the artists of our own lives, I’d like to share a video that both Jamie and Jessie posted on their blogs recently.  It’s by artist and visionary though leader Jan Phillips author of Marry Your Muse, which Leah had recommended to me awhile back.

Hope to see you in the AEDM community in a couple of weeks!

In the Spotlight on Pink Heels

Jennifer Moore of Pink Heels has created an awesome resource for professional and entrepreneurial women.  Check out her Follow Your Passions workbook and her blog.

Every month she features a couple of women entrepreneurs and also Pink Heels Goddesses (women who’ve used one of the Pink Heels services – ranging from business coaching to yoga – see Jennifer is my kinda gal!)  Today, Jennifer featured me In the Spotlight.

Be Your Own Boss Recap

Last Saturday was the annual Bay Area Ladies Who Launch Be Your Own Boss event.  Imagine a full day of inspiring and informative speakers, a gorgeous, sunny space filled to the brim with 350 vibrant, creative women and a buzz of entrepreneurial energy.  It took me several days to recuperate from all the excitement (hence not getting this post up until a week later!).

Kate and I shared a table to showcase our work (her design portfolio, my coaching business and the products she designed for me – The Right-Brain Business Plan e-book and my new Unfolding Your Life Vision kit).  Thanks to lady launcher photographer Monica Michelle for the beautiful photo of us above!

Had lots of late nights getting ready!  Above is a peek at the assembly line I had going for my new Unfolding Your Life Vision kit.  (BTW, kits will be available for sale online soon!).

We were amazed at how elegantly our table came together.  It helps that we have similar tastes!

Our lovely friend Hannah lent us a hand.  How awesome to have extra support that day!  Hannah and Kate incubated with me back in March.  It’s fun when friendships blossom out of the incubator in addition to all the other launching goodness!

Some highlights from the day were seeing so many familiar smiling faces, meeting many new launching ladies and getting such great response to my kits!  I enjoyed the panel about social media which basically reinforced my facebook and twitter habit.  The Real Good Project fed us a delicious, organic gourmet lunch.  My salmon salad sandwich was out of this world!  Oh, and my 10-minute chair massage was heaven-sent after being on my feet all day.

What I appreciated most at the event was experiencing how jazzed everyone gets about being their own boss.  How entrepreneurial women thrive on connections, community and creativity.  How together we are changing the way business is done.

Kate, Hannah and I topped off the night with a celebratory dinner at A Cote in Rockridge.  We were exhausted, famished and delirious from the record heat but that meal was incredible!  Great food and great company.  Cheers to being your own boss!

Back on the J.O.B.

My second interview on the J.O.B. radio show aired tonight.  Since I was a featured coach in “The Girl’s Guide to Kicking Your Career Into Gear,” Larry quizzed me on the differences between how men and women approach their careers.

Larry even asked a bit about the Right-Brain Business Plan and musepreneurs – this guy does his homework!  Oh, and speaking of musepreneurs, my article 10 tips for the creative entrepreneur is on the Ladies Who Launch site, so please check it out.

Swimming with the Sharks

This week is Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.  I, like many others who watched Jaws at a tender age, am scared to death of sharks.  In honor of Shark Week, Larry Olson of the J.O.B. radio dedicated a whole show to this theme.  So, I dove into the waters of radio once again, this time being interviewed by Larry on leadership and how to swim with sharks in the office space.

Luxury, Gratitude and Synchronicity

On Thursday, the question of the day at Cafe Gratitude was, “What is luxurious about your life?” My answer… the fact that I have the freedom and flexibility to have a nice lunch in the middle of the day with a friend I hadn’t seen in ages. I had been so looking forward to seeing my friend and old Old Navy HR teammate Meredith and hearing the latest and greatest in her life! We had such a wonderful time reconnecting. She’s getting her masters in Expressive Arts Therapy so we also had a great conversation about using Expressive Arts in therapy and coaching.

While we were there, I looked a few tables over and thought that the woman there looked kinda familiar. I said to Meredith, “I think that woman wrote the book that’s in my purse right now!” I’m taking a workshop from Kimberly Wilson this Sunday in the city, so I’ve been reading her awesome book Hip Tranquil Chick. When we were done with lunch, I went to the bathroom and pulled out the book to check the headshot. I was pretty sure it was her and thought, oh what the hell, I’ll just go over to the table and ask! Turns out it was indeed Kimberly. She was really sweet and she recognized me from the wishstudio blogzine where we both have a guest column. I’m looking forward to her Yoga & Creativity workshop this weekend.

After lunch, I had a quarterly in-person check-in session with a long-standing coaching client. We did some cool work together using the Inside Team model with Expressive Arts. I’m excited to be incorporating these new tools into my practice and seeing the powerful impact it has.

I had a couple of hours before my SF Coaches board meeting, so I stopped off at Fillmore Street to hang out. Went to Paper Source and bought some new pens. Then moseyed on over to Bittersweet for a lovely cup of White Chocolate Dream (my absolute favorite is their Spicy! hot chocolate, but I knew if I had it that late in the day I’d be wired… yes, I’m that sensitive to caffeine!).

Finished the night off with a great BBQ and meeting on the deck of fellow board member Heidi’s Marina apartment.

Ahhh, I’m grateful for my luxuriously leisurely and synchronistic day in beautiful San Fran!

Expressive Arts Coaching

On Wednesday night I had the honor of being a guest speaker along with fellow member, Greg Nelson, at the SF Coaches meeting. (I’m glad I recently took Patricia Fripp’s Public Speaking Class!) My presentation was on Expressive Arts Coaching.  I define this approach as combining multiple art modalities (e.g., drawing, painting, dancing, sound, music, poetry, etc.) to help clients deepen awareness, imagine goals, discover fresh perspectives and accelerate action.

It was so much fun to share what I know about this emerging field with my peers. We scribbled with crayons, danced around with colorful scarves, vocalized sound and some even penned haikus! I wish I had a picture to capture the energy of the room. In the midst of all the wild creativity, it was super cool to see people gain some really deep insights about themselves and their lives. Goes to show how powerful this work is!

Earlier this year, I was disappointed when a proposal I co-submitted to a large conference on this same topic was turned down. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I found out I was selected for this opporutnity. The icing on the cake was seeing the delight on people’s faces as they let their inner artists burst forth that night and to hear people say on their way out how much they had fun and learned.