welcome! I’m glad you’re here.

Before we get to the bio and the professional stuff, I’d like to tell you why I’m here.    I’ve always been fascinated by people…..always wondered what makes them tick.  I have a natural curiosity about the human condition.  I started the journey into myself years ago and now, I’d like to share what I’ve learned.   Martha Beck, my teacher, mentor and guru says that when we walk through the ring of fire and live to tell the tale, we can help others do the same.

Here, for your perusal, is a short and probably very incomplete list of some of the fires I’ve walked through:

• The guilt that goes with being a working mother

• The challenge of bearing and raising special needs children

• The complexity of blending families and raising stepchildren

• The trials and tribulations of climbing the corporate ladder

• The intricacy of navigating through compulsions and addictions

• The agony of losing one’s soul at work

• The self-deprecation that accompanies carrying extra weight

The very GOOD news is that I have survived this and more and have a burning desire to help others to do the same.

Look, I had a really great career.  30 years in the same industry, climbing the old corporate ladder……but when it was over…..it was WAY OVER.  It felt like when you’ve outgrown a pair of shoes, or when you can’t fit into your skinny jeans…extremely uncomfortable.  But , like most, I lived with that discomfort….for years.  I became numb…I conformed until I broke…. and boy did I break.  I went out with a bang!  (no, I didn’t go postal) let’s just say I got it all off my chest.  It wasn’t pretty but it sure felt good.  I knew that the bullet was coming so I had begun to prepare my exit strategy.  I got my finances in order and waited for judgment day.

I’ve been coaching people for years.  It wasn’t always called that.  It was referred to as being a manager, mentor, supervisor, and coworker… friend.  I was always the “go to” person to handle an issue or resolve a conflict.  It became the BEST part of my day.  I pushed my way through the parts of the job that bored me to in order to become a manager….a position I knew would allow me to train, mentor and develop talent.

In my many years in radio,  I did everything from answer the phones to manage markets.  It appeared to many that radio was my passion, but that was not true at all, it was the PEOPLE that I had a passion for.  I had a reputation for creating great teams and retaining valuable employees.  I had a penchant for resolving difficult issues and breaking through challenging situations.  It was the people that excited me.  What made them tick?  Why did he say that?  What is she thinking?  How can we improve that?  It was FASCINATING to me.

When I ran screaming from my last job, I ran into the arms of Martha Beck (not literally).   Actually, into the warm embrace of her tribe of Coaches.  They taught me how to heal myself and to help others.   I discovered that I no longer wanted to be IN the business world but wanted to be AROUND it to help others THROUGH it.  I love to help companies to attract, retain and develop great talent.  I love to show employed individuals how to fall in LOVE with their present job or to Leave it, and find the work they were meant to do.

How I achieved my big goal:

I was once asked a very simple question.  My coach asked me what I considered my greatest accomplishment.  My answer came pretty quickly.  She then asked me how I accomplished it.  THAT answer came rapidly as well.  You see I had been asked that question many times in the past by those who sought to have what I had.  There were THREE THINGS that got me from where I was to where I wanted to go.  THREE THINGS.   

Intrigued and a little skeptical,  I began looking at  other things that I had achieved in my life, things that I was particularly proud that I had tackled…and there they were…the same THREE THINGS.  

I would like to share those things with you by telling you a story.  

THE desire

When I was  five years old, my father, a first generation American born to Irish Immigrants, wanted to learn Spanish.  I never asked him why, but I suspect it had something to do with a Puerto Rican secretary named “Lupe” who called him names in Spanish. My dad brought home the recordings and played them in the living room each night, I sat on his lap as we  repeated the salutations. “Buenos Dias” “Como está Usted?” Bien Gracias.  I learned those basic salutations, the numbers from one to ten and due to my age, captured the pronunciation beautifully. 

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER

No matter where we were, my dad would poke me with his elbow and say “talk to him in Spanish Mike” (his pet name for me). Being the compliant child that I was, I did! over and over again, receiving applause and accolades from native Spanish speakers everywhere we went. Several years later, I made friends with a neighbor girl, Luly and her family. They were recent Cuban immigrants who had just moved up from Miami. Luly’s grandmother had been a teacher in Havana. Her main goal was that her granddaughters learn to read and write Spanish even though they were immersed in the English language.

That summer, I sat on the couch between Luly and Maité Rojas and learned to read and write Spanish right along with them. The family marveled at my pronunciation and taught me many useful words that I added to my ever growing  vocabulary.  With a healthy list of salutations, numbers and swear words, I trudged on, practicing with any potential Spanish speaker I came into contact with  This continued throughout my life.

When I was a Junior in high school, I began working part time in the dietary department of a hospital after school.   90% of the full time staff were native Spanish speakers. I learned a good deal of vocabulary there and got to try out my previous list of expressions, shocking people with an occasional curse word. The more I used the language, the more I learned and the more I learned the accolades and positive attention increased.  I learned that when you look like me and you sound like Juan Valdez (Un buen cafe) you’re gonna turn a few heads!

THE daily action

So I continued to practice. I  watched variety shows and soap operas on Spanish language TV and listened to Spanish music on the radio. I could not have a full blown conversation yet but I remember, like it was yesterday, watching my friend Kathy, a native English speaker who had learned Spanish, talking to Esteban in the kitchen of the hospital.  In that moment I said to myself: I want that.  I am going to have full reciprocal conversations  like that in Spanish some day. Well I did.  I had more opportunities to learn and practice as the years went by and I eventually reached my goal. 

By the time I got into college I was able to have conversations like Kathy and Esteban were having and I was asked to give a speech in Spanish at a beloved teachers retirement party.  My first official full-time job was at a Spanish language radio station scheduling commercials and I was even asked to do voice over work from time to time.  A day did not pass when someone did not ask me how and why I spoke Spanish as well as I did.  My answer was always the same: 

“Con mucha practica y el deseo de hacerlo” A lot of practice and a strong desire to do it.  

So when Jessica, my coach, asked me years later what my biggest accomplishment was, I was quick to answer: learning to speak Spanish to a level of native fluency. You see research shows that only 1-2% of Americans who were not raised in bilingual households or raised abroad ever achieve fluency of a second language.

THE three d’s that helped me reach my goal

Why did I reach that goal? Because I had a hot burning desire to reach it. How did I do it? With daily practice. So what’s the third piece? The Third D? It is a person. What my son calls “the Difference Maker” A person in your life who is as invested as you are in your achieving your goal. For me it was my father. He never did learn but he lived vicariously through me, watching people’s faces light up as they saw the little “gringa” speak to them in perfect Spanish. Later my Difference maker changed…but the Desire and the Daily action never did. I continue to raise eye brows now, mostly when someone is talking about me in Spanish, thinking that I don’t understand them. I let them know in no uncertain terms that they are understood. It’s entertaining at the very least to see their surprise.

I’d love to work with you to help you reach your big goal! Whether your goal is a new relationship, a promotion at work, a sense of purpose, or anything else, I can help you achieve it.