Personal:

Happy Childhood Days in Suburban Boston:

Born in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, I grew up as an only child blessed with two loving Irish Catholic parents, fun friends my age in the neighborhood, and an eccentric Siamese cat I got for my 8th birthday. Life consisted of sledding in the winter in the Berkshires of Massachusetts with my cousin Tom, riding bikes in the spring aiming for the puddles, running through the sprinkler in the summer and playing kick the can, dodge ball, softball and eating orange popsicles with the neighborhood kids. I loved the woods behind our house, the two foot high plastic swimming pool in my backyard, sitting in the hollow of an oak tree on the hill in the yard pretending I was a queen, and going to the local lake in my parents' motorboat with tunafish sandwiches made with Wonderbread in the summer. Halloween was my favorite holiday (anything for chocolate!) and still is. I loved listening to The Sound of Music, Carpenters and Partridge Family albums, drawing and writing. I could easily amuse myself. I loved it when my parents went out for the evening and I got to eat a Swanson's frozen fried chicken dinner sitting in front of the black and white TV in my room watching The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family or Twilight Zone. At 10 years old I couldn't sleep across the street at a friend's house without becoming homesick and coming home.

Teenage years ~ Ugh!:

OOOhhh, scary! I was never in a click but had friends from different clicks. I loved all types - the brains, nerds, potheads and jocks. I liked the kids noone else liked. I did well in school, though never had a boyfriend in high school. I was looking forward to college. In the summer I hung out with some wilder girls on Cape Cod where my parents had a cottage. I vacillated between wanting to play Euchre with my parents and go out with my beach bum friends who always dated older guys that kind of scared me. I started journaling at age 15. I was a "good girl" with a rebellious streak.

College ~ so-so; Switzerland ~ YES!!!:

I did great academically from the get go, but hated myself and boys until I went to Switzerland for a semester abroad program through Providence College in 1982. My world changed 180 degrees as my confidence and feeling of connection to myself and others grew through meeting kind strangers, cute men, hitchhiking, and navigating trains in foreign countries. After this I loved life, and oh, the travel bug had its hold on me. My bike-commuting, kahlua-making computer professor told me if I wanted to continue traveling and get paid for it, I should go to grad school for International Business. Thus entered "Thunderbird" - no, not the bad wine, but a top grad school for International Business located outside Phoenix, AZ that I attended just after college.

Southern California ~ Let's party!:

The eight or so years after grad school went by in a blur. I didn't know how to get that great jet-setting job with Procter & Gamble or Frito-Lay, so instead I sold copiers. I thought if I could sell copiers I could sell anything. After that I moved on to air freight services and Southern California. Hedonism was my middle name as I lived two blocks from the beach and partied a lot. I loved my job because I could drive around Orange County, California in superb weather, KROQ (rock and roll) blaring with a Big Gulp in the holder. It was the 80s and I was having a blast!

Japan ~ WOW!:

A desire to travel in Malaysia and Thailand led to a job teaching English in Japan. It was better than I'd imagined with fun co-workers and a sweet Japanese boyfriend. I also got to see much more of Asia than I'd expected, including Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, Hong Kong and New Zealand. I worked 25 hours a week with 5 weeks vacation a year, rode a bike, took trains and taxis to classes and never used a credit card. Life was simple. You may wonder why I left.

AT&T in Boston ~ Who am I???:

Back to Boston for another try at the corporate world and "settling down" in my hometown area. I interviewed with AT&T for a sales job because I knew they were located everywhere. The day I got the job my parents rejoiced and my stomach sank. I was not yet in tune with listening to my inner voice. I thought there was something wrong with me because at 32 the thought of "settling down" and having kids didn't call to me as it did to my friends living here. In 1995 while vacationing in Porto Fino, Italy, I passed up an opportunity to stay there and "translate a book" for an older Italian man who lived in one of the mansions in town. I sometimes wonder...I won sales awards but the biggest reward was when a customer from the Domincan Republic called me on a Friday evening to thank me for straightening out her business account and reducing her expenses. Something was missing and I was about to learn what.

San Francisco and Entrepreneurialism:

After reading the book "Do What You Are" by Paul and Barbara Tieger, I had a big "aha" moment. What was missing for me in sales was knowing I was making a difference in peoples' lives. Having socked away the sales commissions from AT&T I took a six week trip which included a drive up the California Coast, a trip to Malaysia and Bali, and an Amtrak trip from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon. Having had nightly dreams of the west coast, I checked out all the major cities there then decided to moved to San Francisco. Serendipitously I found a boarding house for "women in transition" since the vacancy rate for apartments was less than 1%. This place housed 80 women aged 18 to 75 from all walks of life, and I lived there for a year before getting a great apartment in Japantown. A fascinating woman hired me to sell her communication skills training program, which I did on the condition I'd become one of her trainers, as her training empowered people and was just what I was looking for. After a three years I was ready to do something on my own...

Asheville and Coaching:

After a brief stint back in Massachusetts - yes, I was a boomerang kid - I moved to Asheville, NC. The beach and stellar weather no longer being of primary concern, I zoned in on a locale with a strong, open-minded community and temperate weather. Here I've found "my tribe" and created a real feeling of home. I coach, write, facilitate intercultural trainings throughout the southeast, and enjoy hanging out with friends and my two cats, Zach and Xena. I take workshops every month or so, sometimes more, and usually have 3-5 books going at the same time. For fun I run, cook, eat at any ethnic restaurant, hang out at Jack of the Wood, and relax with friends. I love music of all kinds, especially Bossa Nova and jazz, abstract art, cooking for others and going out to play.

You should also know:

My top values include: deeply connecting with others, creative self expression, spiritual growth, learning and freedom. I'm a BIG FOODIE and love travel, adventure, good food, wine and laughing. I believe life is to be enjoyed, and eaten up! I believe in focusing on the process along with the outcome. I'll take the longer route between points A & B if it's a prettier drive. I'm a work in progress and always will be. I'm curious about life and people and love asking questions. I'm open and transparent, or try to be. I'm a 7 on the Enneagram, and an ENFP on Myers-Briggs. I'm a high "I" on the DiSC assessment. If these letters and numbers mean nothing to you, not to worry. I can teach you if you want, if we choose to "work" together.

Professional:

I call myself an Intercultural Trainer & Transition Coach. With more than twenty years of experience that combine sales, training and coaching, I've worked in industries that include air freight, telecommunications, and communication skills training. I've spent over two years in Europe and Asia, studying and working in Switzerland and Japan, respectively.

As an Intercultural Trainer, I've facilitated training programs for Berlitz Cross Cultural, CARTUS Intercultural Services and Prudential Intercultural. As a certified communication skills trainer, I've trained and coached clients in communication skills, which include influencing with integrity, selling, negotiating, diversity, presenting, goal-setting and attaining win/win solutions for U.S. and Multinational Fortune 50 companies, in the banking, computer, pharmaceutical and retail industries, and for non-profit organizations. I've received excellent feedback from my trainings. Additional work experience includes an adjunct professorship in International Business, Business Management & Leadership and Business Communication with a major online university, and coaching Asian business professionals in business communication skills.

Since 2001 I've been coaching individuals and groups on transition issues in life and work. Areas of focus include relationships, career transitions, relocation, and international transitions, with expatriation and repatriation.

I have an M.I.M. degree (Master of International Management) from the Garvin Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Glendale, AZ, and a B.A. in Humanities from Providence College in Providence, R.I. where I graduated Magna Cum Laude. I'm a member of Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research (SIETAR), am a Certified DISC Behavioral Analyst and Certified Toastmaster with Toastmasters International. I have also served as President of Business Networking International (BNI) in Asheville, NC.

I'm the author of “Make the Right Move Now: Your Personal Relocation Guide”, and have been writing a bimonthly coaching e-newsletter Living Big since 2003 (which is on hold now but will start up again soon!) and am a Coach on the “Coaches Corner” of my graduate school alumni website where I wrote articles on communication and career. I'm proficient in French, and have a basic knowledge of Japanese.