Coaching Philosophy

​Whether we are working together in the context of life or leadership coaching, I coach from the inside out. Here’s what that means.

Leadership begins with self-leadership.

By self-leadership, I mean that you learn the skills that help you to be an active leader in your own life, your business, and your relationships.

There is a difference between actively creating your life and just going along for the ride passively.

The goal of our work will be to make you the author of your life. This begins with becoming stronger and grounded within yourself. The story you want to tell yourself about your life — and work — will unfold from there.

Joy is not the reward for hard work. It’s the revealing path. 

In the US we are taught to suffer now and enjoy later, to earn pleasure through endless productivity, and to have fun when you’re retired or at some later date after you checked all the big things off your to-do list.

My coaching philosophy is oriented around the opposite idea.

Together we will discover the ROI (return on investment) of you enjoying your life now, no matter what the focus of the coaching is. When you orient toward what genuinely energizes you now, the path forward becomes clearer. 

Taking time for yourself is not optional.

The idea of taking time for yourself to journal, meditate, exercise, or even anything for yourself beyond taking the dog for a walk is generally seen by my clients as indulgent. 

These assumptions we will question and challenge. Time for yourself alone is not a luxury. It’s the most meaningful commitment you can make even when you have a million texts coming in and constant fires to pull out. Our work together will establish these habits in you that will pay dividends for the rest of your life.

A vital life requires honesty. 

Our work will be valuable to the extent that you are honest with yourself, and me. We lie to ourselves all the time, and our culture does not encourage truthfulness or authenticity.

The truth sometimes takes a while to come out, but the truth still sets us free.

“Why” can only take you so far. Real change comes from learning new skills and trying new things.

Understanding your patterns is useful, and so is understanding how your family of origin shaped you. This is the work of therapy. However, asking why you repeat unwanted patterns can become its own kind of avoidance.

In my coaching practice, I start from the assumption that you are capable of change. And that real insight comes from experience.

We will talk about your past. But we will then pivot to what you want, learning the skills and tools that will help you create a different experience or result.

The body knows things the mind hasn’t articulated.

There is only so much that we can access through language. This is one among many reasons that my work has a somatic twist. I teach you life-changing tools that are cognitive, creative, emotional, and body-based. Incorporating the body into coaching simply makes our work much more effective.

My focus on the body in coaching is rooted in my own deep immersion in the dance of tango, and noticing how much the way we show up in our bodies affects our confidence and how others perceive us. This work also comes from the pioneering work of Body Intelligence developed by Katie and Gay Hendricks. When you anchor a new understanding in your body, it becomes part of you in a different way.

Questioning cultural assumptions you didn’t know you had is valuable.

I call myself 20% Porteña (a Buenos Aires resident) because I spent six years living in Buenos Aires. The experience of living among Argentines who are used to navigating chaos with joy changed me.

Spending years outside the United States, especially in Argentina, but also in Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, France, and Canada, changed the assumptions I take for granted. The pace you’re supposed to work at, the timeline you’re supposed to follow, how ambition should look, even how a woman should dress when she is 60. 

Part of our work together is sorting out what’s truly yours from what was handed to you by the dominant culture… so you can decide what you really want and how you want to operate. 

My work weaves together the personal and the professional. Nothing is left out, including relationships, dating, and sexuality, because it’s all a part of you. How you talk to someone you are in a relationship with and how you talk with someone you are negotiating with at work.

The best way to know if we’re a fit is to talk. Schedule a call and we’ll find out together.