Who am I?
How many of you would like to be able to easily answer this question?
I have often found that this question, for me, has no simple answer. I can easily discuss who I am in terms of my titles. Relationship titles like Mother, Friend, Sister, and Daughter roll right off the tongue. Professional titles such as Organizational Consultant, Organizational Psychologist, Human Resources Professional, Scout Leader, Board Member can say something about me but I think that’s what I do not who I am. But my personal sense of who I am actually – that can often elude me.
With the intention of helping you get to know me, as a person, I will resist the temptation to drift off into some philosophical conundrum for a minute.
So let’s just get down to brass tacks.
Saying I am seasoned professional, makes me sound a bit like a duck or a chicken, but what I mean by that is, I have a lot of experience. But the truth is I have a lot of experience with change, personal and professional.
I have more than 25 years working as an organizational development and human performance consultant. I have worked for organizations ranging in size from large Fortune 100 companies to small start-up consulting firms. The bulk of my professional experiences has been focused on human performance, group and team development, leadership excellence, organizational strategy and large scale change implementation.
I earned a Masters’ of Science Degree in Industrial / Organizational Psychology in 1986. I am a certified by the Human Resources Certification Institute as Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). I obtained my initial SPHR certification in 2006 and I am currently certified through 2017. I am also a Certificate Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation.
My first college classes from the local Community College were taken over the television. Being a one income family meant waiting until my youngest child was eligible for the Student Day Care center before I could take on campus classes. With the gracious support of my family, especially my husband, I was able to complete my Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
I’ve had a variety of jobs volunteer and paid. My current resume does not reflect the curved path before my “professional life” where I have been the last 25. My early work history is a cornucopia of varied jobs ranging from Candy Striper, Receptionist, Dishwasher, Electric Meter Reader, Call Center Customer Service Representative, Research Assistant, to ticket seller at Disneyland. I once drove the bus for a dance school so my oldest daughter could get ballet and tap lessons for free.
My life has not been a fairytale. My parents were imperfect, struggled with alcohol, did their best with what they had but left some needs unmet, some indentations in the lives of their children. They divorced when I was a little more than 2 years old. I am the fourth of five children who came from a working class family. In retrospect, with some adult lenses, we had it pretty good compared to some. I grew up in California near the beach. We had family meals at the table, something that’s rare in my life today. We got new school clothes and Easter outfits every year. Our dinner table was a lively place with many political and social debates. My two brothers, the odd couple if ever there was one. One a class clown, one a class president, both extremely intelligent and funny as hell. The lived to see me laugh so hard that milk spewed out my mouth and nose. They were good at that, still are. My older sister was the Drama Queen, typical middle child. She was tall, by my standards, blonde and blue eyed. She was everything I wanted to be and wasn’t. I was a short, cubby, red-head with green eyes. She was popular with the boys. I was not. I often found boys my age rather dumb. They weren’t, it’s just that I kind of could see where they just didn’t know stuff yet. I would watch other girls my age go up to the popular boys and just start talking to them. That kind of thing amazed me. How did they do that? Crushes, of course I had crushes. Dreams. I caught myself just the other day remembering my first real crush. Bradly Cunningham, sixth grade. Oh how my heart throbbed if he sat at the same lunch table as me. I find that amazing. So many important moments of my life have slipped my memory, my consciousness but Bradly Cunningham, 49 year later, is still right there, just below the surface. Isn’t life funny?
I was married twice, divorced twice. Relationships have come and gone. I have three amazing children who love and accept me. They don’t always send me a birthday card but they do call. I feel they know me, warts and all. They know I love them. I know we love each other. Our family has evolved through diseases, deaths, births, marriages, divorces, career changes, schools, failures and unfathomable successes. They are all amazing and have taught me more about living a full life than I can ever say. They have faced and walked through fears that would have crushed me. They have all shown me to be quite the cowardly lion. Their lives, living in possibility, throw down a challenge to me to be brave, really brave. They deserve my very best. Unfortunately, I have often come up short for my lack of energy and attention. But that’s my real life. I want to improve and while I still have time, I intend to give it my all. I have work yet to do, more to accomplish, evolving into my full life. I want to make the most of the time I have now, to really serve and step out on the edge. To put myself out there as a person, a coach, a guide.
I love to learn and challenge myself to grow.
The most critical thing you can know about me is this. To me INTENTION is everything. My intention is to make a difference in this world. To find, develop, and use my talents and build my skills to make a difference in my life, in other’s lives, in my community and in the world. My personal mission is this:
A WORLD THAT WORKS WITH NO ONE AND NO THING LEFT OUT.
Getting clear and being true to my intention is at the core of what I do. It is my North Star. Any declarations and outcomes not aligned with my intention causes me grief and suffering, sooner or later. I believe our language, our self-talk and talking out loud, how we spend our time and energy, who we associate with all these things shapes our reality and are reflective of our conscious and sometimes subconscious choices. Everything is a choice. Decisions matter. Sometimes you have to choose and choose and choose to be true to yourself, your purpose, your own life.
I value possibility and expect to live into my highest potential. I am a careful listener and will challenge speech as a path to shape and reshape reality.
For as much as I have challenged myself to stretch my thinking, my actions, into possibilities, I often wrestle with my own expectations, and I fall short. I have bouts of complacency. There have been times in my life when I have traded security and predictability for those things I have only dreamt of doing in my life that require REAL courage.
I have a strong sense of integration and connectedness. I believe our mind, body, and spirit are intrinsically intertwined. I also believe that each of us are on a path of learning, making mistakes, and getting better. Gratitude, patience, compassion and forgiveness are necessary nutrients in an imperfect, evolving life. All the information we need, that can guide us on our life path, is available to us from within ourselves and beyond. Others, physical and spiritual, can help reveal truth and light the way. The path we inherently know but may be obscured or forgotten. I believe that each of us has a genuine, meaningful purpose to fulfill in life AND I believe we know, deep inside of ourselves, we sense if what, how, and who we are being is not on our authentic path. I believe that everything in the universe has impact, is connected to some result, all heavenly bodies on earth and elsewhere, have power and influence. I believe possibility is infinite and the Universe always says, “Yes!” Which is why our thoughts, our actions, and living into our dreams is so very, VERY important. You are the only you who will be here in this time. Who are you BEING?
I believe the real joy in life is the BEING. Are you being who you want to be today? Is what you are experiencing your best you? What to would you like to explore? What is that magical, amazing thing, person, experience you would give ANYTHING FOR to have in your life? Who are you BEING?