When a waiter at a fine dining restaurant told us we were the most delightful family he has ever served I knew I had really begun walking the talk as a parenting coach!

BASIC STUFF:
Coaching Education-
My education includes a B.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from St. Mary's College Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and a M.A. in Psychology with a focus on Couples and Family from Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I have received over 15 years of coaching training from the Wright Institute in Chicago, IL. In addition to my couples and family expertise, I am certified in Dynamic Breathwork, Lifestyle Coaching, and Primary Relationship Training.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFOMATION:
So what's my story?
My story starts in St. Clair, MI which is a small town on the St. Clair River. The great thing about small towns is that everyone says hello to each other (even in the unlikely event that you didn't know the person!) We were blessed to live right on the river and I think my affinity for water grew out of spending countless hours playing in it.

I left our little town of five thousand people and ventured to London, Ontario for my last two years of high school. It was a boarding school one hour from my home and I went there mainly because I knew my home town high school was not preparing me for college. It was an awesome experience where I made wonderful friendships with girls from Canada, Asia and the Caribbean.

From there I went to St. Mary's college, an all women's college in Notre Dame, IN. I knew it had solid academics and was rated the number one women's college for its size. But, what drew me there were the people. It was the only campus I visited where everyone was friendly and welcoming. I guess I felt at home there!

After a wild and crazy summer living with my college roommate and 5 of my brother's maritime friends in Newport, RI, I returned to
Chicago to begin my life as a "grown up." I worked for Peterson & Co., a litigation consulting firm. This was like an extension of college where work was an excuse to meet lots of great young people. I am most grateful for this place because it is where I met, Rich, my now husband of 17 years!

In what I now consider a miraculous course of events I met Stan Smith while my roommate and I were apartment hunting. It turns out that he was just beginning his own litigation consulting firm and was looking for an economic analyst. He made me one of those offers I couldn't refuse so I left Peterson and joined Corporate Financial Group.

Meeting Stan changed the course of my life and I am forever grateful. After a few months of working for him I announced my engagement to Rich. The first words out of his mouth were, “Get pre-marital coaching!” I was a little put-off that there wasn’t even a congratulations, but following his advice and meeting with Bob Wright as a newly engaged couple launched us into our awakening as human beings.

From here I could fill pages on how rich and full my life is after making the decision to wakeup, become conscious, choose life as an adventure, and do the incredibly challenging work of getting to know myself. Bob’s main advice as a new couple was to “do our own work.” After he helped us create a vision for our wedding and begin the real work of being married, he was clear that the most important thing you can do to build a fulfilling marriage is to engage in our own deep internal work.

While I had just landed an awesome, intelligent, good-looking and wealthy husband (what many would consider the “All American Dream”) I was living an empty and superficial existence. My journey has been one of building substance and really becoming a woman who values herself fully as a woman, knows what she wants, and does the work to get it.

In our work as a couple, Rich and I consciously chose to break damaging family patterns and we declared that, “Addictions stop here!” We saw the damage that both hard and soft addictions had brought to our families and we have been continuously cutting them out and replacing them with nourishing and fulfilling activities. If we had not followed this path I don’t think we would be married today. We do not have a TV in our home, we have been alcohol-free for fifteen years, we exercise regularly (and together whenever we can), we eat healthy and nourishing foods, we have no secrets with each other, we both lead and belong to our own couples groups, we get regular coaching from Bob and Judith Wright and we are pretty consistently challenging each other to reach our highest potential.

When all is said and done, I think what is most important, to us is that we are on a spiritual journey together as well. Each year we set aside ten days to two weeks and go on pilgrimage to sacred sites all over the world with Judith Wright. We are developing our own vision and mission as spiritual leaders in our family and community. We have come a million miles from our parent’s marriage and we know there is so much more possible for us!

Of course I can’t end without talking about our two amazing children, Morgan (11) and Hannah (8). The advantage of getting married young (we were 24) was that we chose to spend six years “getting married” before we had children. This really allowed us to create a solid foundation from which we invited children into our lives. We were blessed to have them both at home where I felt so empowered as a woman and came to value the importance and necessity of feeling pain. Our journey as parents is consistently humbling as we seem them as mirrors for us in our lives. We are all learning and growing together.

GIVE & ASK:
I can assist with...
Creating goals and visions for all areas of your life.
Helping you get the most satisfaction and fulfillment from your marriage and parenting.
Making all of your spaces beautiful and sacred.
Challenging and empowering you to make all your dreams come true.

I would like assistance with...
Financial budgeting planning.
Discipline in making sales calls and building our couples and parentning programs.
Stopping procrastinating and doing things at the last minute.

INSPIRATION
Heroes-
Mother Theresa; Ghandi; St. Teresa of Avila; Buckminster Fuller; Joan of Arc; Elanor Roosevelt; the Impressionist painters; Corrie ten Boom; Albert Einstein; Dr. Martin Luther King; Steve Martin

Favorite books -
And There Was Light; Mister God, This is Anna; Charlotte's Web; To Kill a Mockingbird; Woman on the Edge of Time; Solitaire Mystery; Nine Faces of Christ; all George MacDonald books; Mists of Avalon; Autobiography of a Yogi

Favorite quotes -
"It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."
- Oriah Mountain Dreamer

“God gave us tears so we could water our feelings and grow as people." -Noah BenShea

"If I were to wish for anything, I would not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what might be, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never, and what wine is so sparkling, what so fraught, what so intoxicating as possibility!"
-Soren Kierkegaard

Anyone can become angry that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way that is not easy.
[ Aristotle ]

LIFE:
My vision for each area of my life:
Body/Well-being
My body is strong, flexible and a source of pleasure. I am a vessel for spirit to flow through and I keep my body in excellent shape so I can be a clear channel. I dance and move with ease. I enjoy being in my body and I use it fully.

Work/Play
My work is my play and each supports the other. I surrender to my highher self and become the creative, caring, loving women who is “selling” what she believes in. I pinch myself daily that I get to do so many cool things and all things I love.

Family
All of us feel a deeper and stronger connection with each other. We sense more than ever that we not only have individual missions but a very important mission as a family. We support each other to stretch and really show who we are. We are more real.

Self
I have come out of my cocoon and spread my wings. The coming out is a struggle, but that struggle is the most important part right now cause it will make me strong.

Relationship/Friend
I reach out to friends in a meaningful way. I take risks and shared myself and my journey in a way that inspired and invited them to play. Rich and I are fostering relationships with couples and co-voyaging. We are mentoring some of the younger ones.

Spirituality
I make my relationship with spirit more real. I open myself and allow myself to be guided by God’s will and not my own. I live by the teaching of Jesus that "this and more is yours."

Principles/Society
I am out in the world. I am a contribution to society – my neighborhood, school community and
Chicago. I am a net giver.

PRACTICES
I realize that to live a very full life I have to have solid self-care practices. Here are some of them:
Exercise 3-5 days per week in a variety of ways - running, weight training, biking, swimming (want to add yoga)
Meditate 20 minutes twice a day.
Eat a clean, organic diet (no wheat, sugar or dairy)
Pray
Have inspiring music on in all my spaces.
Surround myself with beautiful and inspiring things.
Read inspiring books.
Go on pilgrimage each year to sacred sites around the world.
Have weekly dates with my husband.
Keep my spaces clean and clear.
Express my feelings fully.
Tell the truth.
Treat others as I would like to be treated.

ASPIRATIONS:
To grow our couples and parenting program to $2 million revenue per year which means I am serving lots of couples and parents!
To bring masculine and feminine values back in balance.
To change our education system from a factory approach to a holistic approach where each child is valued and developed in all areas of his/her life.
For all families to tell the truth to each other and share their feelings.