As a life coach, I help people make major life transitions with ease, grace, and humor.
When we work together during our coaching relationship, I help you replace anxiety with enthusiasm, fear with laughter, and stuck-ness with lots and lots of action.
During our coaching relationship, I help you move through challenges you aren’t able to move through on your own. I guide you through significant transitions by 1) helping you figure out where you’d rather be and 2) providing accountability until you get there. We identify your destination, then chart a path to get you there.
We chart this path week to week and month to month.
Why? Because we're paving the street as we walk it, setting stones on the path as we design it.
Each coaching session is filled with new insights which lead to creative actions to take, and the week (or weeks) between sessions involve you taking action to move toward that goal.
As an online life coach, I can help you virtually through Zoom or phone calls.
I’ve been a career coach and life coach for 15 years. I’ve helped thousands of clients:
- Find the right job (identify and pursue it)
- Rethink middle age (40s, 50s)
- Pivot in middle age
- Prepare for retirement (and ensure that you and your partner are on the same page)
- Rebuild a better life post-divorce
- Find a partner / start a family
- Navigate a dual-career family with young children
- Move to a different state or country
- Complete and total life reset
- Navigate major illnesses (like cancer) as a patient or caregiver
Coaching Intro Session
As Your Personal Life Coach, I Provide Partnership and Accountability
When it comes to personal life coaching, we’re not in a “see you at the next session” relationship; we’re in an “Email me several times a week, check in with me—let’s connect between sessions” relationship.
When we work together, we work together for the entirety of our engagement, not just during each coaching session. Don’t save your questions (or challenges) for the in-office visits, let’s work together while you’re taking action between sessions.
I’ll review cover letters, celebrate fantastic meetings you have had, and ease your nerves before the big interview. I. AM. HERE. That's what I do.
How does a sports coach motivate her athletes? She sees the best in them. She knows their potential—often potential they don’t realize they have. They see that you’re an incredible sprinter, but your ball skills are lacking, so they boost your weaknesses while playing to your strengths.
As your coach, it's also my job to see, and boost your weaknesses, while playing to your strengths.
During personal life coaching sessions, I get to know my clients really well. And more importantly, I’ll help you get to know yourself better. I see the patterns you’re repeating and the stories you're telling yourself. I'll share with you what I see as we develop the right life coaching services for your situation.
Just like your track coach will show you your running times and give you the tools to do better, I’ll show you the thought patterns you may or may not be aware of and give you the tools to shift them.
There is plenty (plenty!) of homework between sessions, so have insights and take action, which all lead to new insights...actions. Insight...action. That’s the steady drumbeat of my coaching practice and the drumbeat of change.
And remember, this isn't just about you and me after all. Your life has lots of other people in it who are impacted from the choices you make! Your parents, partner, friends, kids, colleagues —I work with you as part of your team to help you be your best. We have one cohesive plan so that you will have the support you need to achieve your objective.
So yes, that means if you just graduated college and are in your mid-20s and your parents aren’t sure how to support you, we can have a session with them.
Or, if your partner is nervous about money since you’re the primary breadwinner and have been out of work for three months, we'll connect with them with your blessing.
We are one team supporting you as you pursue your specific goal.
Why Has Life Coaching Become So Popular?
Any 4 year old can tell you what they want, but for 40 year olds, well it can become elusive! I help clients honor their needs, needs that they may have ignored for some time.
My coaching programs are finite. We develop incremental goals and move you toward them. We aren’t just talking – you’re taking action.
That’s what makes coaching powerful, and popular – it works! People make significant changes in a short period of time in partnership with a good coach.
A life coach like me makes a great asset to your life when you are changing jobs or navigating any other life transition. When it comes to growth, you may also be surprised to know that life coaching is the second fastest growing industry in the United States, falling right behind IT.
What Are Life Coach Qualifications?
None. Isn’t that crazy!? You don’t need any qualifications to be a life coach. All you need to do is say that you’re a life coach, print out a business card, and voila!
Life coaching is not a regulated industry like therapy or psychiatry in the United States. Life coaches do not need to pass tests; they’re not covered by insurance.
That said, there are lots of life coach training programs, but you don’t *have* to take any of them to be a life coach.
I hold myself to a different standard. I received a certificate in personal coaching and career coaching from New York University in 2005 and trained with one of the best coach trainers in the world, David Rock—founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute.
I am also a member of the International Coaching Federation, the leading global coaching organization. I attend their bi-annual coaching conferences and have earned a PCC level credential. The highest coaching credential in the world is the MCC; fewer than 1000 coaches hold this credential globally. I intend to be one of them by 2023.
I continue to improve, grow and hone my skills through continuing education. In the last five years, I’ve completed the Happiness Course with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at UMass, and coursework at the Viktor Frankl Institute for Logotherapy.
I’ve completed several career transitions myself, from dot-com executive to cooking teacher, culinary host and cookbook author to career and life coach. I married late in life and have four children (including a stepdaughter).
I have personal experience with my own significant life and career transitions, as well as extensive coach training, continuing education, and 15 years of experience working with thousands of coaching clients.
Am I The Right Coach For You?
Are you ready to get to work with an impactful life coach? My clients experience change because they work for it. During our regular personal life coaching sessions, we set strategies, reframe old ways of thinking, and shift stress to eustress.
However, the meat of our work happens between sessions. Your time between sessions is where our ideas beome reality, where that dream job becomes an offer, and the very reason I am in touch with you (a lot) between sessions.
Outside of our coaching sessions, you can expect 5-15 hours of additional work per week. Reading, watching videos, connecting with old friends and colleagues (aka ‘networking’), and researching. There’s work to do. Change isn’t going to happen while you sit on my couch.
Don’t start coaching because your parents or spouse want you to be coached. Come because you want to. I’ll help you realize what you need to do -- and it’s on you to do it. I’ll provide the support and accountability, but you’re going to send the emails, set up the meetings, fly to Florida for those auditions and put the pieces together to change your life.
I can’t do it for you, but I can (and will) support you as you do it.
Coaching Intro Session
So, How Is A Life Coach Different From A Therapist?
Lots of people ask that question. The truth is that there’s significant overlap between the two professions, as I often say “coaching isn’t therapy but it is therapeutic”. That said, there are definitely a few notable differences between what I do as a life coach and what others do as therapists.
During our sessions together, we look closely at your present, and that is where our focus lies. Therapists, on the other hand, look at the past to help you manage your future and improve your mental health. Therapy is more based on insight, while life coaching is more action oriented.
The coaching process with me will also feel different than an appointment with a board certified therapist. I ask questions, we develop goals, and I give homework to help you accomplish those goals.
In some types of therapy, the session is guided by how you are feeling, and the therapist applies insight from previous sessions to help determine what triggers specific feelings; they don’t necessarily focus on anything related to goal attainment. (And of course, there are exceptions to this.)
Personal life coaches don’t offer any kind of diagnosis. For this, you would need to see a licensed therapist with the proper training and clocked clinical hours required for this. However, this doesn’t in any way diminish what I have to offer as a life coach.
While there is no real standard of care for a professional life coach and no regulations to follow, I invest my time in ongoing professional development. I do this so that I can show up in the best possible way for my clients, to help you realize your potential and help you succeed in your specific goal.
Let’s go into more detail about this.
Do I Need a Life Coach or a Therapist?
To answer that, first let’s look at this: who is the ideal candidate for life coaching?
I recently had a client come into my office for an introductory session and tell me how reluctant he was to be there. I was happy that within the first 10 minutes of our session, he was able to be that direct.
He felt uncomfortable with the whole “life coach” thing. It seemed hokey and weird, ethereal and…” what are your qualifications, anyway? He had a friend who was all jazzed about her life coach, who had her creating gargoyle images for her fears.
(I’ve not yet supported clients to create gargoyles, but hey – if that image is speaking to you, let’s give it a whirl!)
I had the same hesitation when I became a life coach. I was concerned the field would be filled with people who wanted to be therapists but would not invest in the schooling required in that field. It felt like hack therapy to me, and I didn’t like the ideas of being in a hack industry. That’s not how I roll.
And yet, the more I learned about life coaching, the more I realized that coaching filled an unmet need.
A therapist helps you when you’re “below baseline.” When you’re not feeling like yourself, something is off, and you want to get back to stasis, and when you’ve experienced trauma and developed maladaptive coping mechanisms that negatively impact areas of your life.
Or, a therapist can help you if you’re a couple seeking tools to restructure the way you interact.
As a coach, I can help you when you’re at baseline, and you want more. I also work with people in therapy, receiving that support and looking to grow in a new way. There is, of course, some overlap, and some of the magic is in your relationship with the practitioner you choose.
Where do new parents go when struggling to balance kids and work? Is this a therapy question or a coaching question? Where can you go when something isn’t right about your job or relationship, but you’re not sure what that is?
You feel stuck, experiencing all kinds of cognitive dissonance, and you want something different and aren’t sure how to achieve it.
Where can you go when you want to think clearly and take action? Where do you go when:
- Change is needed, and you don’t know where to start
- You’ve tapped out your friends and family and want to talk with an impartial third party who can help you bounce ideas around and think things through
- You want an accountability partner to support you as you make a big change
- You want to level up your game
- You and your partner are making big changes, and you are too busy (or, let's be honest, not properly trained) to support one another; you need an impartial third party to support you each independently and support your couple-ness as well
These are needs, real needs. And this is where a life coach fits in.
As your personal life coach, I ask you the right questions so that you can come to your own solutions. I’m not a consultant. I’m not going to analyze you and tell you what you need to do (despite clients asking me to do this!). I’m going to help you figure it out for yourself.
And when you figure it out for yourself and own the thought process, you are more likely to take action. Insight, action, change. That’s my process. I help you have insight by asking the right questions.
Based on your insight, you are more likely to take action, which leads to more insights—which leads to more action. This insight/action cycle leads to the change you seek.
I'll ask questions, and you’ll do the thinking. I capture your insights on this whiteboard wall.
A Look At The Key Benefits Of Personal Life Coaching
Still not convinced that life coaching can lead to an improvement in your life? Let’s go over a few more benefits you can experience when taking a step toward my coaching services.
- Gain Some Clarity and Come Into the light: With my help, we can define clear and focused objectives that will change your life.
- Become a Leader: With coaching services, you can gain new tools and confidence to help you break through any limitations you may face, as well as help you empower yourself and others around you as you work to attain personal growth.
- Achieve Goals: What are your goals? A life coach pushes their clients to reach their goals.
Are You The Right Coaching Client For Me?
I don’t have a specific coaching niche like “new moms” or “middle managers.” I coach people through transition. That can be someone graduating from college, having a baby at 42, or preparing to retire at 50.
The one thing my clients all have in common is that they zag when others zig. They do not take the well-trodden path. My clients want more out of their life; they don’t accept comments like, “Well, that’s why it’s called work; you’re not supposed to like it!”
My clients want to turn off the highway of expectations and onto the back country roads of their own design.
My clients are intentional about the life choices they make. And to make those big pivots with ease, grace and humor, they choose a partner who can support them down that zaggy path.
Maybe you want to leave your corporate job and teach. Maybe you want to leave teaching and be a bartender! Maybe you want to design submarines for the military; maybe you want to stop being a surgeon and work in sustainable horticulture.
Maybe you want to leave college, fly to New Zealand, and learn how to run ropes courses. Maybe you want to stop being a corporate lawyer and run NJ 11th for Change. Maybe you want to travel around the world as a sought-after writer, living in a new country every month. (I’m not making this up; these are actual examples!)
This is career coach, transition coach, personal coach, and life coach country. This is the work I can partner with you to do. Let’s figure out how to get you where you want to go.
My clients live lives of their own design. And I help them create the vision and execute the plan.
Coaching Intro Session
So, How Do You Find The Right Coach?
Do my coaching services sound like exactly what you need at this juncture in your life? Then great! Let’s get started! If not, maybe I can help you by laying out what you should consider when finding the right life coach.
Always find a coach with the background and skills matching your goals. Some coaches have specializations, so find those that align with your specific goals to have the best fit.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to play the field a bit. Talk to a few coaches before deciding who is the best for your situation. You should feel comfortable and at ease with your life coach.
And remember: your coach is holding space for YOU to have new ideas and thoughts. It’s not about the coach telling you what to do, it’s about the coach holding space so that you can figure it out.
Remember, I offer so much more than just coaching services. I offer my experience, my time, and my knowledge. I ask the right questions and lead you where you want to go.
How Much Does a Coaching Program Cost?
Here’s how much my coaching programs cost.
I charge a premium price for my coaching program because I limit my practice to 20 clients at a time. When the slots are filled, I have a waitlist. I limit my practice to give my current clients the highest levels of support while having some availability to work with coaching alumni (who often come back for a single session “tune-up” from time to time).
In fact, after I recognized that the expense of coaching made my coaching prohibitive for some clients, I wrote my best-selling DIY coaching guide, Personal (R)evolution.
Plenty of coaches will give away free introductory sessions to a client and offer lower-priced coaching than I do. If you are looking for less expensive coaching, you can absolutely find it! I recommend noomii.com as a resource to find a coach who better meets your needs.
I have been offering life coaching services for almost twenty years. I’ve helped thousands of people do things they’ve always wanted to do. But don’t take it from me; read my Google reviews.
When you do the math and figure out how much I charge each client per hour, it does seem a little bonkers, doesn’t it? Because we use the therapist or lawyer pay-by-the-hour model, it appears that I’m at the highest end of luxury services.
Believe it or not, coaches charge anywhere from $100 - $1000 per hour for each life coaching session. I have some colleagues who charge an annual retainer of $1 million. Truth!
For the purposes of my coaching practice, consider a different model from pay-by-the-hour. You’re not paying for my time; you’re investing in a partner that will help you change your life and enjoy the change process. (I am good at that.)
How much would you pay for the change and personal development you'd like to have? The time back in your life? Assurance that X will happen by Y time?
Look at your specific goal and consider the investment in that light. Is it worth spending $2700 to get the right job, for the right salary, knowing that you're working with a great team and a successful coach?
I've helped clients negotiate signing bonuses that are twenty times what they pay me. Really.
Is it worth $4800 to have a partner to help shift your life in 6 months? After you've been complaining about it for five years?
Consider how much you’ve invested in your education, your vacations, your wardrobe and your home, and consider this investment using the same metrics. You’re investing in a personal life coach to work with you for a finite period of time to change the way you think, inspire you to take action, and make change happen.
You’re hiring me to support you as you change your life so you can get on with living. We’re not doing this for ten years; we’re not even doing this for one year. It’s a surgical strike, baby; let’s get this done.
And unlike other by-the-hour practitioners, I don't rush you out the door at the 45-minute mark while another client walks right in.
Before our session, you can send me an update and an agenda, and I’ll have read it so that we start our session in motion. There’s no 20-minute ramp-up while you update me about your week; I’ve already been updated, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work. And of course, we’re in touch between sessions so this goes way beyond the count-the-minute model.
Don’t count my hours. Look at your life: How much is this change worth to you? How much would you pay to do this in three to six months? And do you want to invest in a real partner to help you with it?
What A Life Coach Is NOT
Life coaches are not therapists. We focus on the present and how you can create the future you want. Life coaches are also not consultants. I work with individuals who are at the baseline and are working on creating a pathway to reach the goals they have set for themselves.
I also work with clients who are seeing a therapist concurrently, and I connect with that therapist as needed to ensure that we’re working to support you as a team, in the best way we can.
Life coaching works whether it is personal, work, or family. As a life coach, I am an unbiased partner in your life, and I will hold you accountable in each of our coaching sessions.
Life Coaching: A Final Word
You don’t need a coach. Let’s face it; coaching is a luxury. That said, you might be in a situation where you’ve been stagnant, and coaching no longer feels like a luxury; it’s a necessity. Like when a vacation feels like a necessity—you don't want to recharge. You need to recharge. Coaching is an investment in you, your life today, and your future.
I am not going to light incense and talk about manifesting your reality. I am going to help you clarify what you want and pursue it. There are a lot of mental blocks we’ll get through—some you’re aware of and some you’re not. I’ll help you address them.
You’re hiring me for a finite period of time to help you move from here to there. You’ll achieve your goal, develop new skills and have a good time doing it during that time. I’m a transition expert; the more significant and meaningful, the better.
You’d hire a guide to help you climb an actual mountain. I’ll help you climb (or blast through) this mental mountain.
Let’s do this. I look forward to supporting you through this important change.