I’m so excited to be launching a new area of services as a Martha Beck Certified Life Coach!

Most people know me as either a PR consultant or as a writer. I’m still both! I’m an active public relations and communications consultant, with clients in Sarasota, Phoenix, Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City. And, I’m still writing every chance I get. Those things won’t change.

By branching into life coaching, I’m simply broadening and deepening the ways I can help people get the results they’re seeking in life, business, and relationships.

I was attracted to becoming a certified life coach and to coaching others, because I’ve experienced first-hand the transformative effect of working with a professional life coach in my own life. About 10 years ago, right after my divorce, I hired a life coach to help me pursue my life-long dream of earning a living as a writer. We worked together for six months, and within a year and a half, I had quit my life in the corporate world, launched my own business as a communications consultant, and been hired as a weekly newspaper columnist.

The trajectory of my life completely changed after working with a life coach — leading to awards, speaking events, and television appearances — but most importantly, to waking up every day and spending time doing things I loved doing.

I connected with a second life coach about two years ago when I wanted to really examine my public relations business and develop strategies to take it to a higher level. After working with this coach, my business grew, my skills and services for clients expanded, my income increased by 40%, but most importantly, it all emanated from a deepened confidence in myself. My work days have become less stressful and my work-life balance has been significantly enhanced.

What I learned from both of my experiences being coached was simple but profound: the roadblock to experiencing the life I desperately desired wasn’t living in an area where wages are lower than the national average; it wasn’t a boss, a boyfriend, an ill-timed thundershower, or even my unwavering penchant for chocolate. The only thing getting in my own way was me. Through coaching, I learned how to challenge my closest-held assumptions and limiting beliefs about myself, how to take responsibility for change, and how to take one small step every day to creating the life, work, and relationships I wanted to have.

My experiences with life coaching proved so liberating, so life-changing, and yes, so fun, that I knew that this was an experience I wanted to be able to give others. I decided to study, train, and become a certified life coach myself.

Over the past 16 months, I’ve completed a 10-month, in-depth training program with Martha Beck, Inc., which required the completion of 75 hours of real-world coaching, and culminated in a thorough written and oral review process. (Beck is the author of several best-selling books, has a monthly column in Oprah magazine, holds three degrees from Harvard, coaches top executives from companies like G.E.*, and is generally considered one of the preeminent life coaches in the world.)

I also completed a second coaching certification program — a small-group, nine-month “intensive” program led by former attorney and highly-regarded certified master life coach Terry DeMeo, based in Coconut Grove, Florida.

Now that I’m a Certified Life Coach, I’m thrilled to be able to help others experience the benefits of being coached.