An ADDiva lurked inside for years

“Never a dull moment.” That’s what they’ll write on my tombstone, when I leave this plane and transition to the next. Why be bored? Or boring? Makes no sense to me when life is so full of interesting, exotic and exhilarating experiences. Over the years, I’ve:

• written an award-winning book (2012)
• been scuba diving
• flown an airplane
• eaten way too much frozen custard on occasion
• reveled in the smell of newly mown grass
• lost a beloved pet
• sweated on the elliptical
• listened to my own coaching sessions without cringing
• went through labor a second time
• learned to say “I love you” to my dad
• visited the ruins of ancient Rome and Greece
• lightly brushed treetops in a hot air balloon
• loved and lost and loved again
• was on-camera for a story about honey bees that overturned en route to Florida
• taken the GMAT and LSAT and GRE but never went to grad school
• been thin then chubby then moderate
• looked high and low for the Real Me and finally found her right here all the time.

Although I was diagnosed with ADHD in 1995  or so (who can remember?), I alternated between Denial and Relief and Sorrow for years. Until I hit menopause. Or maybe it hit me. I RAN to the doctor for some ADHD meds. I truly knew what it felt like to have NO BRAIN.

Eventually, I regained a sense of myself and today I can honestly say that I like me. Love me, actually. It took a lot of support from my wonderful and amazing husband, Victor (that’s him below–handsome, too!). And I conquered my low self esteem and stopped over compensating for my ADHD.

The Amazing Victor

Finally I realized that taking care of myself is the deepest form of honoring the sacred intention that is part of being alive: to BE a human being. I discovered that being exactly who I am, remembering that I am a spiritual being having that proverbial human experience, is the way I live a life full of grace. And that’s all that matters.

Sure, I have diplomas on the wall, a bunch of awards. For years, I filled up my life with marketing and advertising and reporting and TV and radio and newspaper and development. I owned my own advertising firm for more than a decade. And there were marriage(s), children, pets, civic commitments, meetings, meetings and more meetings.

Yet it’s only been in the last few years, when I retrained as a retreat facilitator through the Conversations with God Foundation, as a spiritual life coach with Coach for LIfe and as a facilitator of Speaking Circles, that I fully came into myself. Now I love helping people move into that same space of vitality and energy. Everyone finds it at a different level, like a tuning fork seeking its true resonance. And it happens for ADHD folks just like it does for “regular” folks.

What did I do with all my time before I became a coach & retreat facilitator?

Ah, let me list the careers:

• Radio copywriter, Jacksonville, IL
• TV reporter and anchor, Louisville, KY
• Radio reporter, radio account executive, Canton, OH
• Newspaper reporter, film critic, Durham, NC
• Grants & Partnership Director, public schools, Durham, NC
• Ad agency founder and president, Durham, NC
• Author, Durham, Doorway to Discovery

What am I famous for?

GardenSpirit Guesthouse, my women’s retreat house, floppy hats, a big organic veggie garden; sour cream peach pie; buying a hot air balloon without knowing how to fly it (and with a serious fear of heights!); attracting lots of hummingbird families to my yard; homemade dog food for my Shelties; Sacred Laughter during coaching; writing wonderful essays; enthusiasm; hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs! And a couple more hugs! And of course, passion and possibility!

• Professional Certified Life Coach (PCC)
• Coach for Life graduate and certification
• Certified facilitator, Speaking Circles, Int’l.
• Graduate, FasTrak Leadership Program, Conversations with God Foundation
• ADHD coaching training, Linda Anderson, CHADD, ADDA, Nancy Ratey, Jodi Sleeper-Tripplett
• Co-founder, Unitarian Universalist Coaching Network (now disbanded, unfortunately)

Professional Affiliations

• Int’l Coach Federation (ICF), professional member
• CHADD (Children & Adults with ADD)
• ADDA (Adults with ADD) – Vice president, board of directors (2011-2015); chair, Program Committee including webinar series, 2008-2015; speaker at ADDA national conference, 2008-2015
• ACO Charter Member (ADD Coaches Organization); speaker at 2010, 2011, 2012 international conferences
• Institute for the Advancement of ADD Coaches (IAAC) – founding member
• CwG Coaching Cooperative
• NCGI-ADD (National Center for Gender Issues for ADD)
• Speaking Circles Facilitators Association
• North American Menopause Society
• International Positive Psychology Association

Oh, I forgot to mention: I give a LOT of hugs.   Ask anyone.