Are you a coach?
So … are you a coach? Or are you a consultant? What happens if I could benefit from therapy, or need additional coaching support?
(*assume the voice of a potential client)
I can share unequivocally first, that I am not a therapist. During sessions with clients, that is a clear boundary that will be discussed before we start our work together, during our work together, and along the way at any necessary moment. Mental health is very important to me, and it’s critical that you take the opportunity to seek licensed therapist support, based on what is available to you.
We all have ego, but mine isn’t big enough to claim or model the title of guru. While I do offer professional consulting services in some aspects of my work, namely affordable housing projects and homelessness system response, my role in Leaving Well work is not that of consultant.
I’m also not a coach. Now, I have personally benefited from coaching in my own life, across different phases of my personal and professional development. In instances where I’ve been working towards something specific, or needed to bring in knowledge on a certain topic, my experience with coaching (with the right person chosen for the job) has been really powerful. Again, in the Leaving Well work, my role is also not about coaching.
So if I’m none of those things, what is it that I am?
I am a quintessential weaver and bridge-builder.
I see through-lines of connectivity and impact between
people, places, organizations, ideas, and movements.
Whether I am prescribing methodologies, providing management tools, or leadership strategies, I innately know and understand transition: my own moves around the world, serving in a myriad of high-impact leadership roles, founding a large online community, and running several successful businesses, and now guiding Leaving Well work in the workplace, and with individuals.
I share, teach, and advise, using my skills to strengthen networks and systems.
Sometimes those networks and systems are at a large-scale: government entities, movements of social justice, or nonprofits that impact system change. Other times, those networks and systems are internal and personal, ones that oscillate around a kitchen table, or inside of a cohort of change makers and frontline staff.
People know me as someone who brings gentle accountability, structure, and thoughtfully designed community-based solutions. I am often described as steady yet innovative, and I am at my best when helping sort solutions, bringing people together, and am invited to shake things up a bit!
So please call me a guide, a thought partner, a support system,
or simply Naomi (neigh-oh-me).
On the topic of what I am not, my recommended resources for those areas include the following. Please note that I can in no way guarantee their services, your outcomes, or your satisfaction with any of these recommendations.
The below recommendations all offer synergy / alignment with the Leaving Well framework, and have intersections with all things transition!
Therapists:
Julie McCarter - DC/VA/MD/NC/SC
Corinne Arlès - LPC Texas and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT New York)
Nonprofit Interim Director Support:
Ingrid Kirst [Nebraska]
Interim Executive Academy [nationwide]
Career Development, Career Support, Workplace Consultants:
E.B. Sanders [career coaching]
Melissa Kopplin [leadership and professional development]
Career Valet [resume and job search support]
Desiree Adaway & The Adaway Group [DEI and organizational health trainings and workshops]
Kindred Leaders [organizational support and executive director coaching]
Karyn Paige [human design]
Destination Legal [legal templates]
Briona, The Everyday Lawyer [custom legal templates and legal support]
*The individuals and organizations listed on this page may also change from time-to-time depending on circumstance and alignment.