CALLING
ALL PARENTS!
Meet Michelle
Certified Professional Coach · Presenter · Writer/Editor · Mom/Wife/Daughter · Community Builder
For those of you visiting this corner of the internet for the first time, let me introduce myself. I’m Michelle and my most prominent roles at the moment are:
-
Coach to clients who constantly blow me away
-
Daughter to two of the most generous people I know
-
Wife to a man whose heart touches mine, and
-
Mom to two equally sweet, amazing kids, each with a unique set of gifts.
I once put my career on hold to deal with the special challenges my family faced after the birth of my first child. Now I’m bringing what I’ve learned to those who face transitions and challenges of their own. I know, without a doubt, that I can give more to others when I give generously to myself. I encourage the individuals and families I work with to discover that, too.
Professional
background
I’ve been a certified coach in Washington, DC, since 2003, specializing in ADHD since 2013. What seems like a lifetime ago, I used to be an editor at a prominent news service. The funny thing I’ve discovered is, being a coach and an editor isn’t as different as it might seem.
As a news editor, my job was to take someone else’s story and help the reporter improve meaning and impact.
As a coach, my job is to take someone else’s story and help my clients improve meaning and impact.
As a news editor, I made sure the most important information was at the top of the story, not buried.
As a coach, I help clients set priorities so that they put the most important things – like self-care – at the top of their to-do lists.
As a news editor, I kept an eye out for inconsistencies and then worked with the writer to clarify the copy.
As a coach, I help clients get clear on their values so they can live in a way that is consistent with their core beliefs.
As a news editor, I corrected grammar, spelling and style mistakes.
As a coach, I happily couldn’t care less about that stuff. (Unless I’m helping a client polish a resume or a college paper.)
Qualifications
I’ve earned the second-highest coaching designation, Professional Certified Coach (PCC), from the largest coach accrediting body, the International Coach Federation. I’m also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) through a pioneer coaching school, The Coaches Training Institute, and a graduate of Georgetown University’s Organization Development program.
I got my ADHD coach training from one of the first and one of the best, Jodi Sleeper-Triplett. I’m a certified grief coach through the Grief Coach Academy and once blogged about recognizing and honoring all kinds of transitions and losses while shifting, learning and growing in their wake.
As a soon-to-be qualified practitioner of Somatic Experiencing, I have witnessed how this process can make a profound difference in the levels of chronic stress many of my clients carry. And I never stop learning ... Clear Beliefs Coaching, Internal Family Systems, the neuroscience of coaching are just a few of the most recent trainings I have taken.
Before my career transition into coaching, I spent a decade as a news editor and manager. At the news service that brought me to Washington, I was lucky to lead an award-winning staff and earn company recognition for managing change. I earned my degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Community
involvement
My professional affiliations include the International Coach Federation and the ADHD Coaches Organization. In 2006, before being asked to serve on the board of directors of the 800-member ICF Metro DC Chapter, I was honored with the chapter’s President’s Award in recognition of my community-building efforts.
I was honored again for community building in 2016, this time at DC’s Adas Israel Congregation, where I served as the member-engagement vice president and on more committees than I can count (including one to create the Jewish Mindfulness Center of Washington). And as a mom to two kids, including one with special needs, I have spent many hours volunteering and coordinating projects.
Professional Affiliations
