WHAT IS A LIFE COACH?

Let’s start with the obvious metaphor: a sports coach. A sports coach is someone who sees the potential in a person, and helps them maximize their abilities to be the best player they can be. The best coaches are the ones who help athletes find something deep within them that they didn't know they had.

As a life coach, my goal is to help you efficiently get to a place you want to go, and ideally, help you go farther than you originally envisioned. A coach is a partner who is completely focused on you, your goals and dreams, and helps you make them a reality.

Unlike therapy, coaching is not open-ended. We start with a clear goal and a finite timeframe to get to it. This acts as a ‘forcing function’ to get you to where you want to be in life, professionally and personally.

Have you ever had the feeling that something isn't right? Your mind keeps going in circles and you aren't addressing the issue the way you know you could? As a coach, I help you navigate through that "stuck" point. The solution will become clear and you will move toward it quickly.

A coach is like the scaffolding of a building. You are that building, with layers and complexities. The scaffolding is the support that allows the building grow taller, or restructure a couple floors in the middle. When the building is strong and complete (for the moment), the scaffolding is removed.

In the past, I've worked with professionals in their 30’s and 40’s who were looking for two things: significant career shifts and satisfying romantic relationships. I've served as the scaffolding for my clients as they dated strategically, chose partners and had children (not always in that order). Most of my clients have rethought their work priorities and left their jobs, often to start their own successful businesses. One of my clients believed he was underpaid; after our first session he renegotiated his salary and paid for our 12-week coaching engagement three times over!

People often seek a coach when they’re on the cusp of a major transition in their life, whether they know it or not. Some of the “transitions” I help people with include:

Career change
Birth of a child: Pre-baby planning and post partum support
Returning to work after an absence
Fertility, Step parenting, Divorce
Preparing for retirement, from 2-10 years away

HOW WE WORK TOGETHER / FEE STRUCTURE:

If you are interested in working with me, please call to schedule an intro session. This will give us both a sense of what it will be like to work together. After this session, we can decide how best to move forward.

I find it's best to work together for a finite period of time. My clients have had their greatest successes when we create clear, specific goals and work together for a limited engagement, typically 10 1-hour sessions over a period of three months or 12 1-hour sessions over 6 months.

A smaller, 5-session 2 month engagement is also available. Some clients prefer to check in periodically, and will retain me for a session at a time as the need arises.

One of the benefits of coaching is the amount of progress clients have between sessions. I am available via email between sessions, and you'll have assignments before and after our sessions. The coaching itself is not limited to the time we spend in the office.

My office is in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, convenient to bus and train. I look forward to working with local clients in person, and more geographically distributed clients via Skype, Facetime or on the phone.

ABOUT ME:

I have been a life coach for 10 years, primarily working with clients who are looking to make significant career and personal changes. I work with clients in transition: career transition (and retirement), divorce transitions, financial and family transitions.

I attended Cornell University, where I earned a Bachelors of Science in Human Development and Family Studies. I earned a Masters Degree in Food Studies from New York University, a culinary degree from the Institute of Culinary Education, and a personal coaching certificate from NYU. In addition to coaching, I’m also a cookbook author and on-camera host. My books include You Can Trust a Skinny Cook and Lighten Up America. I was the host of TLC’s Home Made Simple, Yahoo’s Blue Ribbon Hunter.

I am stepmother of a teenager, and mother to twin pre-school boys and a girl. My husband and I live in Montclair with our brood.