FORWARD TO SUCCESS

WHY I COACH

As someone who grew up as always having defined myself solely by my mind, academic achievement, integrity, and intellect, EXCELLENCE was a value hard-wired.

I was offered a scholarship to go to Manhattan School of Music as a prep student on Saturdays while I was still in high school.

I attended Northwestern University, an institution demanding both academically and musically, on a full scholarship, and so incredibly grateful that I did. There I found myself surrounded by a group of highly intelligent and talented peers, and a world-class professional music faculty. I excelled there and began singing professionally around the country as a respected concert singer with major symphony orchestras and world-renowned conductors while still in school.

After receiving both my Bachelors and Masters degrees from Northwestern University, I enjoyed a successful national and international career as an opera and concert singer, and voice and master class teacher. I performed and recorded with the likes of orchestras and conductors including but not limited to: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Zurich Opera, Mainz City Opera, James Levine, Georg Solti, Neville Mariner, Carlo Maria Giulini, and David Zinman, among others.

 

After returning to the states, I became a bodybuilder and personal trainer, having completely transformed my body losing over 70 lbs., as well as a health, weight-loss, natural pain management, and anti-aging consultant.

 

I survived two devastating traumatic brain injuries 23 and 18 years ago and a devastating car accident 17 years ago that cut short my rewarding career and drastically altered my life. I lost language for 6 weeks and it was many months before I was able to even use and get around on a walker. I was lost. My entire sense of identity had centered on excellence: my mind, and my voice, both of which were hard-wired to a pursuit of perfection and an aversion to mediocrity. I had to relearn unassisted how to brush my teeth, shower, use the phone, etc. It was years before I was able to read, concentrate or engage in any discussion with anyone, for language felt like constant translation. Disability caused me to live a very small and isolated life. I’ve had several reconstructive facial surgeries performed in the ER and lost my career, identity, self-esteem and purpose in life. I was lost due to brain injury, multiple spinal injuries and post-concussion syndrome. Unaware of the devastating disability and toll that brain injury incurs on both the body and mind, I was filled with misplaced guilt and shame over where I found myself, and also continued to blame myself for the crippling effects of the strong AEDs (anti-epileptic drugs) I was first prescribed for years, until we found some which allow me to function normally.

 

As a result of all of this, I eventually discovered several things:

 

• my own inner resource of enormous personal strength and vulnerable resiliency,
• the gift of enormous compassion,
• that there is great opportunity in challenge, and
• that I’m very good at picking myself up and hurling myself forward.

 

After a long recovery, I studied, among other things, psychology, NVC, and Kabbalah and yearned to study more.

 

I have always loved to teach and nurture students: as a child, I taught ballet classes in my backyard to neighborhood children and put on ballet recitals for their parents; as an elementary and high school student, I tutored other students in math and science; and in college and beyond, I taught voice lessons, coached musicians, and eventually taught master classes all over the world. So, with my background and the fact that I love to help others, it seemed natural to find my way to coaching. So I chose the top coaching institution in the world: iPEC . I’m an iPEC Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, a Certified COR.E Performance, Leadership, and Wellbeing Dynamics Specialist, and an ICF accredited ACC coach.

 

Although I spent many years lost and scared, through my experiences I also discovered the inestimable gift of strength, grace and resilience as a result of surrendering to adversity with authenticity and vulnerability. Not easy but, oh, what a journey. You never know what gifts you’ll discover. I even discovered an art talent I had never had prior to the TBIs.

 

With my company, Forward to Success, I’m dedicated to helping professionals, creatives, and performing artists, especially opera singers, achieve optimal success, realization of their potential, life and career transitions, and passion, purpose, balance, and wellbeing in EVERY aspect of their lives by helping them integrate their personal and professional lives and find the great opportunity in every challenge presented without sacrificing clarity of vision and 100% presence in the moment. If anyone would like to reach out to me, I can be contacted at [email protected].

 

Stumbling forward and falling on your face is always preferable to staying stuck. Dig into your life with full appetite! Like a pearl in an oyster, you never know what you’ll find inside. And the journey is so worth the ride.

• Would you like more confidence, self-esteem, self-love and acceptance?
• Would you like to show up as the best version of yourself all the time?
• Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious?
• Would you like to feel happier?
• Do you suffer from imposter syndrome?
• Are you afraid of taking risks?
• Are you feeling lost because everything in your life has changed?
• Would you like more motivation?
• Are your auditions not representative of your potential?
• Do you self-sabotage with self-doubt and fear?
• Are you tired of feeling like a failure because you can’t seem to get control over your weight or over food?
• Do you crave inner peace?
• Do you use food as a drug?
• Do you ever wonder if it’s going to be possible to have fun without feeling guilty?
• Do you have difficulty feeling entitled to true happiness?
• Do you ever find yourself lost in layers of guilt and shame ruminating over mistakes that you cannot forgive yourself for?
• Do you ever wonder why you constantly doubt yourself?
• Do you wish you could feel comfortable and confident in your own body?
• Do you question why you just can’t seem to get beyond a certain point no matter how hard you try?
• Have you lost your passion for what you do?
• Are you searching for clarity for your vision of where you want to be?
• Have you lost all faith in your inner voice and/or intuition?

 

I work with smart professionals, creatives, and performing artists who want to get unstuck so that they can move forward, reach their potential and create the career, business and life they desire. My coaching helps with the clarity, confidence and courage needed to achieve what you desire in your personal and professional life. In addition, my unique background has empowered me to inspire and guide clients through all sorts of life passages and transitions (both minor and devastating) into profound growth and transformation. Another specialty of mine is creating happiness as a default state of being. Together we work on:

 

• Getting crystal clear on your end goal that’s in line with who you are at your core and what’s important to you.
• Creating a success strategy to help you get there
• Overcoming any blocks, obstacles and challenges
• Mastering your psychology
• Maximizing your skills, strengths, environment, and time
• Support, motivation and encouragement to keep you on track
• Accountability
• Celebration

 

MY UNIQUE COACHING APPROACH IS:

 

Is Coaching right for you?

Are you frustrated because:

• Despite hard work, you’re not closer to the raise or promotion you deserve?
• Your auditions are never representative of the work you are capable of?
• No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to get control over or manage your weight?
• You feel invisible, watching others climb the ladder quickly and easily?
• Relationships, either professional or personal, are either holding you back or not working?
• You want to make a real impact but are not sure how to do it?
• You’re overwhelmed and don’t have the time you need to make a change?

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What is Coaching?

Coaching is a partnership designed to help clients achieve their potential and create sustainable lasting change – permanent transformation. Coaches know that in order to achieve extraordinary and sustainable change, clients need to connect their outer goals with their inner values and purpose – Who they are, What they want to do, and How they want to do it. Coaches help clients make that connection through the use of open-ended questions and tools specific to the client and the situation that help them gain the clarity and commitment that is only possible through their own direction and exploration. This often involves a process of “peeling the layers” to open up possibilities and release blocks that the client may not even be aware of. Coaches move clients from functional to optimal.

 

Coaching is not therapy. Therapy tends to focus on fixing problems and analyzing the past. Coaches don’t dwell on issues or the past; rather, they focus on moving clients forward to opportunities and solutions. Therapy focuses on moving the patient from dysfunctional to functional. Coaching moves clients from functional to optimal.

 

Coaching is not consulting. Consultants are often paid for their expertise to tell the client the best course of action. A coach’s expertise is the coaching process. Coaches don’t tell their clients what to do because they view their client as the expert.

 

Coaching is not mentoring. Mentors are often people we admire who have “been there, done that.” They are great as leaders who can “show us the ropes,” but tend to use their own model of success as a guide based on what worked for them. Coaches use the coaching process to help clients define their own model of success.