Image: Hiking Larch Valley, Canada, Sept 2022

Education & Training

M.B.A., St. Mary's College, Moraga, California
B.Sc., San Francisco State University
NBC-HWC, National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach

Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach Coaching - 12 month program, Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (in collaboration with The Institute for Functional Medicine).

Certified Life Coach - 8 month program, Martha Beck International

Certified Myers-Briggs Practitioner - certification program taught by CPP, Inc.

Tiny Habits Certified Coach - 8 week behavior change coaching program created BJ Fogg, Stanford Behavior Scientist, and Linda Fogg-Phillips.

Some of My Additional Training/Coursework

Professional & Advanced Training Programs in Mind Body Medicine - The Center for Mind Body Medicine

Journey of Intrinsic Health - 8 week course with Zach Bush, M.D.

Cultivating Compassion Training - 8 week Stanford University program taught at Spirit Rock Meditation Center

…plus countless meditation retreats and day-longs.

Member, Institute of Coaching, Professional Association - MacLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School Affiliate.  (The Institute of Coaching was established in 2009 with the mandate to cultivate the scientific foundation and best practices in coaching.)

And if you want to know a little of my story…

I’m a seeker, a critical thinker, and quasi-tech geek. I deeply value my time with friends and family. I love to travel. Being outdoors, especially hiking with our dog, feeds my soul. I LOVE to learn. I have a voracious appetite for all things related to spirituality, personal growth, health, and well-being.

I'm (usually) a happy, kind, and empathetic soul with a very curious mind. Like everyone in this dance called life, I've been showered with both blessings and challenges.
 
I've been blessed with two sons, a stepson, two daughters-in-law, and four beautiful grandchildren. I’ve been happily married to the love of my life for 36 years. My biggest life lessons, personal growth, and greatest gifts have been from motherhood.  

Being a mother has cracked me wide open, and on more than one occasion, my delicate insides have been exposed for all to see. But as Brene Brown, Ph.D., says, "Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness."  

Being cracked wide open created space for me to grow...stronger, more compassionate, and (I hope) a little wiser.

Before getting coached myself, I believed that when people I loved had to deal with difficult issues, it was my job to rush in and fix it—or them. Today, I have a lot more clarity around how to best support my loved ones and my clients. My role is to love, get curious, and ask good questions so others can find their own truths. I listen generously and do my best to provide guidance only when requested. (Am I perfect at this? Nope. I am a work in progress!)

I also learned that much of the internal pain and anguish that showed up for me around my family's struggles had to do with my own limiting beliefs and unresolved pain around my childhood. My parents were divorced— unheard of in my circle of friends— and it made me feel “different.” I also struggled at times in school. Intelligent but a bit distractible, chatty, and prone to procrastination, I often heard the message that I wasn't working to my full potential. As the youngest in my class -- starting kindergarten at age 4 and college at 17 -- I often felt out of step. Candidly, sometimes I still get tripped up.

The upside is that all my struggles made me deeply empathetic, tenacious, creative, and resilient. I held down jobs through high school and college and earned a B.Sc. in Business and an M.B.A. During the first half of my career, I worked in healthcare.

As part of the executive management team of an acute care hospital, I served as the liaison between the medical staff and the CEO, creating and directing various programs. Helping people connect through education— retreats, one-on-one meetings, and seminars— brought me the greatest joy. I left the healthcare profession when my eldest son was born. Several years later, my husband and I established a commercial construction company, which continues to thrive and at it’s peak employed nearly 50 remarkable people across the country. I learned (and continue to learn) many valuable life lessons through running a national business. My biggest (ongoing) lesson? To let go and trust—in myself and in others.

I’ve also come to believe that self-compassion provides the foundation for change. We must first love and accept ourselves exactly as we are in this moment before change is possible. And research around behavior change supports this.

I think we’re all expressions of God, dancing on this Earth in these strange & beautiful human bodies, expanding consciousness with our experiences. 

As a health and well-being coach, my intention is to hold sacred space for my clients as they learn to relax into the dance, no matter what tune is playing.

In Joy,

Suzanne