Personal, Professional Development

You can see it in my eyes and most times, my face as well. My resume speaks volumes about my work, yet it is my personal development that sustains my work life balance and enables my success.

Just out of the University of Tennessee with a degree in Market Research, while at Life Care Centers of America, I created strategy for their marketing and business development and human resource departments. I spent the next 4 years researching, summarizing and training on employee, resident and customer satisfaction. My next 15 years were in service to nonprofit leaders and community development. The United Way of America system taught me the business of logic models and outcome measurements. We built programs and teams, studied human behaviors, and I read all I could to create better practices and improve birth outcomes, GED success and workplace opportunities. For a decade, I represented Hamilton County as Chattanooga's Adult Education Supervisor and trained peers across the state on Bridges Out of Poverty and Social Entrepreneurship for the Tennessee Dept of Labor, Workforce and Economic Development. 

When I returned to corporate to start a socially-responsible foundation, I succeeded. Four years in, I found my values questioned with the question "Why do you care?" and I was stunted by the statement "You care too much." The privilege of my career was giving voice to the customers living with expectations not being met and others surviving without an education, employable skills or a sense of self-worth; Yet my values were questioned because I cared. 

That year changed my life. I sought the tools to validate my values, my behaviors and my strengths. I founded Work Life Practitioners via Longevity Coaching on October 27, 2018 to use behavioral assessments and self-validating workshops to improve individual and workplace wellbeing. 

Signature workshops build on simple assessments, creative icebreakers, strategic agendas, specialized time-outs, and out-of-the-box (and office) individual and team retreats. Recently, 300 Rotarians and I were told "85% of businesses do NOT value people's values, impacting their personal character." Now is the time for this practice to change.  

My practice is based on practicality, educated advice and easy solutions. Believe it or not, there are ways to approach work smarter so as to not make life harder. As a career business woman and a certified neuromuscular wellness coach, I bring evidence- based, holistic approaches to the workplace. 

Wellbeing takes into account how we practice our values in action, leave our bad habits at home, focus our individual roles inside a team and have a very healthy understanding of our personal and professional strengths and stressors {those things that burn us out!} When stress and grief {even that good grief "Eustress"} finds us searching, it's perfectly {and practically} ok to be diligent in creating new patterns for your wellbeing. 

Making work "work" isn't easy without rapport. And, truthfully, we are better together. Get to know yourself, see your teammates as humans and create a community of next level people.