I was born in September 1957 in Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby. Dad was then a telephone installer for Southern Bell, and mom was a homemaker. My father’s job required the family to travel, and we made my first of several moves when I was but a few weeks old.  By the time I was 7, when we moved to Marietta, Georgia, we had moved a total of 13 times, but Georgia was to become our home.

 

I had a relatively normal childhood, enjoying water sports of all kinds and swimming competitively when I was 10-12, singing in the chorus and playing clarinet in the band at school. This interest in music continued throughout high school and into my adult life as well. Upon graduation from high school, as my parents had decided to leave the country (to live and work in Iran of all places), and as they wanted me to remain close to my younger sister while they were gone, I decided to attend a local university and received my BA in Psychology from Georgia State University in 1979.

 

Not surprisingly, my first real job after receiving my BA was with the telephone company, working as a service order typist there for about three years.  Over the next several years I was to travel quite a bit, spending time particularly in Florida and California, all the while performing a wide variety of jobs including retail, food service, medical transcription, and a variety of administrative support positions both in government and the private sector, including Tax Examiner for the IRS for three tax seasons.

 

Unfortunately, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had several friends who became infected with and later died from AIDS.  Because I wanted to help, and also because of my service-oriented personality, I took every opportunity to take any kind of training that was available on caring for those infected with and affected by this deadly disease. During this time I did quite a bit of volunteering for such great service organizations as Aid Atlana where I gained invaluable experience in caring for and counseling individuals with HIV/AIDS.

 

Fast forward several years to 2009 and Houston, Texas. I lost my job that year, which caused me to seriously re-evaluate my future and what it was I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I made the decision to return to school and earn my MA in Psychology from University of The Rockies, specializating in Organizational Leadership, with the intention of establishing my own NPO for the support of long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS, especially those over 50 years of age.

 

It was only a year or two after earning my MA, still not gainfully employed in my field of expertise, but with great plans and ideas, that I heard about the booming trend of life coaching.  After some amount of research, which has always been one of my fortes, I came to the conclusion that this was what I was meant to do.  Solution focused, brief, and not concerned with the why's or how's of mental illness, this type of intervention really seemed to make sense for the vast majority of  the public out there, people who just want to live more happy, healthy and effective lives.

 

Brief fast forward, following quite a bit of reading on my own and continued research, I chose the Life Coach Institute of Orange County from which to obtain my formal training and certification. While continuing to see clients, I am working towards my certification as an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation.