You (may) have come to the right place.
If you are looking to make changes in your life or work, and know you can do it alone, but value partnership and expertise beyond your own, a coaching relationship may be right for you.
And, if you’re willing to show up ready to work and get real with yourself and me, we may be right for each other.
Clients who work with me are transforming their lives in ways they couldn’t have imagined (me either).
If you’re curious about coaching, let’s talk.
It’s your life; how do you take it?
-
You know who you are. It may not be in your job description, but you are a creative maker, thinker, or problem-solver. Maybe there’s a career opportunity that will let you claim more of your creativity or maybe you have an idea or project you would like to pursue?
However you want to claim or re-claim your creativity, coaching can help. I’ve been there. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients to support their dreams in creative arenas including music, entertainment, sports, food, publishing, marketing, tech, and other folks doing cool, creative things.
We’ll get at it through a series of one-to-one confidential calls to deepen your personal insight, assess motivation, and create accountability. As your coach, I am your champion with no other agenda than to help you identify what you want and how you get there.
-
If you’re looking to significantly up level your coaching skills and confidence, a mentor coach is the way to go. If you’re looking to do all that and build a successful, sustainable coaching practice, for sure, you’ve come to the right place.
As a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and faculty member for the Co-Active Training Institute, I coach coaches through certification and beyond.
Every one of my clients, without exception, has passed their exam and earned their CPCC. You will too.
If you’ve made it this far, I know you’re passionate about doing this work. Me too. Now, let’s make sure your coaching practice is as successful as it is satisfying.
-
You’ve heard the cliché “it’s lonely at the top”? Well, it can be lonely in the middle too. If you’re a mid- or C-level executive, I’ve got your back.
As your coach, I’m a champion for you with no other agenda than to help you identify what you want and how to get it. It’s likely you already know what you want; it’s my job to help you get there.
As a former business owner and Master Certified Coach, I bring experience and expertise from working with executives at all levels in nearly every industry, including inside some of the biggest and best-known brands in the world: Google, LinkedIn, Zurich, Ogilvy, Edelman.
We’ll get at it through a series of confidential, one-on-one conversations addressing personal insight, motivation and accountability related to the topic(s) you bring.
“Thank you for your amazing support through this co-active coaching journey. You're a GEM and I'm so grateful you came into my life.”
Amy Koop | Executive Coach/Meditation & Mindfulness Instructor Mindset Pilots Coaching
“What an awesome feeling and it never, NEVER would have happened without you. You saw something in me I didn't see in myself and for that I'm very grateful.”
Michael Joesten |Executive Coach & Peer Group Leader Michael Joesten Human Capital Consulting
“After transitioning from corporate sales to follow my passion to write, Julie was the obvious choice to help me realign the way the right and left sides of my brain coexist. Her sound, practical advice has kept me on task and her encouragement has been beyond my belief. Julie’s coaching has been absolutely awesome in helping me approach the creative and business aspects of my career.”
“Julie continually teaches me about my true value—how to recognize it, understand it, fight for it, earn it. As a direct result of her insights, I enjoy an increasingly rewarding career and life. And I sleep like a baby.”
C. Erskine Brown |Author, Screenwriter
Shachar Meron |Senior Lecturer, Advertising and Brand Strategy, UIUCPartner & Creative Strategist Bluegreen Branding
“Coaching with Julie has been a game-changer for my professional (and personal) life. She is someone I trust to give thoughtful feedback on all things professional and, since life isn't just about work, Julie has been a beacon of support for personal decisions as well. She is the all-in-one coach!”
Kimberly Brown |Director of Marketing Miller Sports & Entertainment
CAFÉ DIEM
200 words before your coffee gets cold
-
AI-generated social media content is like plastic surgery:
if it’s done well,
you don’t know it has been done at all.
When done poorly, it’s all too obvious
and can leave you even less attractive
as a brand than if you did nothing at all.
I’ve read, watched & attended
articles, videos & workshops
on the value of using AI-generated social media content.
Nearly everyone will admit to an AI first draft
(aka a little Botox, a little nip/tuck),
but then everyone swears they do the
“heavy lifting”
(aka the workouts, rest, nutrition)
themselves.
I see little evidence of this.
Most AI-generated content sounds like
exactly what it is.
Flat, robotic, factually correct
(sort of) but lacking the
heart, soul and, most importantly,
the voice and tone of the brand.
Most people don’t know the difference.
They read an AI-generated draft and think
‘Yeah, I would say that.’
But would you? And would you say it
like that?
It’s not wrong, like plastic surgery
(to beat an analogy absolutely. to. death.)
isn’t wrong.
It just doesn’t look like you.
And, for the people to whom you
and your brand matter most,
the difference can be obvious
(and just a little bit scary). -
Change can be hard.
If my clients’ lives and careers
are any indication,
the longer you’ve been at a job
or a relationship or holding onto
any self-limiting belief,
the harder it is to shake.
It’s said the opposite of love isn’t hate
but indifference.
This pandemic has given everyone
the opportunity to challenge indifference.
Indifference that results in
days that turn into months
by decisions made or not made
from indifference and
fear of the unknown.
If I could just know for sure,
my clients say
(To be fair, I’ve breathed
the same desperate words to my coach).
Another gift of the pandemic:
if you thought you knew how this year was going,
surprise!
The first step isn’t knowing what’s next;
it’s knowing not this.
Not this job.
Not this relationship.
Not this fear.
It’s knowing not this
and then getting curious about the possibilities.
“What’s next” is a mystery to be solved again and again,
each time with
new learnings, new data and new dreams.
Years ago, a man I was dating exclaimed:
“You’re never satisfied!”
Thank you, I said,
only later realizing it wasn’t meant as a compliment,
while whispering to myself not this
and moving on. -
In 1989 one of the first Starbucks*
opened in Chicago.
I had been to Starbucks in Seattle,
had tasted the future,
and was ready when they opened
their Chicago doors.
My drink was a
“Grande Skim Misto…with a straw”.
Twice a day. Every day.
I believe my kids still shout this in their sleep
from time to time
because it was mostly them
who ran in on our way to school.
(This sounds like really bad parenting but, hey, they got a
cookie, so I don’t think they minded)
After a decade of that,
Starbucks lost its appeal
and I moved on to local shops
where I settled for the last decade or so.
“Small Skim Latte”.
Twice a day. Every day.
Until last Saturday.
At a coffee shop near my house,
a triple shot latte
(That’s right: triple shot.
That’s how it goes with addiction.)
is $6.40 with tip.
SIX – FORTY!
I haven’t bought a coffee since.
Oh, I still drink coffee.
I’m not dead.
I make it myself in this adorable
coffee maker my daughter bought me.
People talk about how hard it is to change.
It can be.
Or, it can be as easy as choosing.
* This was not the first Starbucks in Chicago, but it was the first in my then neighborhood near Oak & Rush Street. Starbucks opened its first Chicago shop at 111 W. Jackson Blvd. in the Loop on Oct. 19, 1987.
-
It surprises me to say this,
and I probably wouldn’t have 30, 20, 10
or even five years ago:
for me variety is mostly over-rated.
As I stare down what’s left of my “second half”,
I have fallen in love
with routines and rituals.
My grandmother, who lived with us
when she was the age I am now,
had her cuppa Sanka and buttered toast
every. morning.
She watched her “stories” – soap operas of the day –
with religious conviction
every. afternoon.
These days, I go to bed unashamedly at 8:30ish
looking forward to my every day breakfast
of oatmeal and a preciously crafted (by me) latte.
I walk my dog.
I read.
I write a little.
I don’t need to know about the world of culinary options available at my doorstep.
When I go out, I’ll nearly always choose the burger and a martini.
Old(er) people aren’t boring as I one assumed; we’re discerning.
We’ve been there, done that and now we get to choose.
What I wish I knew then is, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz,
we had the power all along
to live our lives exactly as we choose.
For some, it just took this long to claim it.