Back to School with Susan Morgan

I first met Sue when I moved to New York many years ago. Over the years our careers took different directions with Sue leaving New York to follow her interest in Thai art and culture. Although Sue recently spent time in New York, her home is now in Chiang Mai where she lives with her husband and son. In Thailand Sue taught art, created a widely shown documentary on the use of hemp fibers in life cycle rituals healing practices of the Hmong hill tribe people, conducted preschool workshops with Burmese refuge women, and started her own pre-school.

In 2002 during an extended visit with her mother, she attended Brookdale Community College in New Jersey to begin working on a degree in pre-school education. However, needing to divide her time between Thailand and the US she researched online universities. In 2005 she enrolled in Empire State’s distance learning program and will complete her coursework in December 2009. Her degree will be in art and cultural studies.

This interview was taped on July 31,2009 and reviewed by Susan. Please send your comments to us by clicking on the message icon at the end of the interview.

What prompted you to go back to school?

The reason I went back to school was to learn more about early childhood education because that was where I was working. I took two courses at Brookdale and those courses gave me a wonderful insight into what I didn’t know. I then went back to Thailand and when I decided to come back to the States a second time for my son’s health I was given an opportunity to finally receive a college education. With my husband’s support, the time seemed right for me to get my college degree. In addition, I was encouraged by my cousin who was impressed by my work in early childhood education and with refuge women in Thailand. Online education is very expensive so her support was essential. I had really enjoyed the courses at Brookdale so this was something that I thought I would like to do.

Could you elaborate a bit more about the online experience – what was it like?

For the online schools you really have to do your research because it is easy to be hooked into something that is not good. Initially, I had been accepted into an online college in the storm path of Katrina. They were going to give me 78 credits right up front. Then I found out they were not a reliable or accredited university. In my research I learned that a lot of the online schools will give you a degree but there is a controversy about the accreditation process. You have to be very, very careful before you spend your money that you are getting a degree from a recognized institution.

You mentioned taking initial courses at Brookdale and now you have almost completed your degree online, what has been most rewarding about your decision to return to school?

I think learning things that I should have learned years and years ago. It’s like doors opening – making new connections to my experience. Being self-educated in the art field I can now see certain relationships that I would not have uncovered had it not been the opportunity to further my education. Also, having new experiences is rewarding. I really like the fact that I can bring what I know to all my courses whether it’s science or mythology or art. I have a lot of history behind me that I can actually bring to the course. So that is quite rewarding to know that I know I can do these things.

I think family support is rewarding. My son who appreciates how hard I am working gives me a high five every time I get an “A.” Having peer relationships within the courses and professors who say you are on the mark and doing really great work, that’s all fuel for the fire for staying in the course and helps me keep going. The mentors that I have met are really helpful. The biggest surprise is that I’m holding a 4.0 average.

Can you elaborate a bit more on the role of mentors at Empire State?

You are given a mentor before you even start your courses. The mentors guide you through the process of obtaining life credits. There is a lot of reading and writing that you need to do to prove that you actually learned what was in those subject areas. To request life credit, referred to as Credit by Evaluation, you need to demonstrate that you have the equivalent knowledge even though you did not take a formal course.

There are two courses that you have to take prior to starting your general requirement courses. They are prep courses and every class that you want to get credit for you have to be evaluated and interviewed. The mentor who is in your area of interest for the degree program, helps you through this process and assists in the designing of your course work or Degree Plan. The mentor also prepares you for the interviews and other requirements. My mentor is not as involved now as she was in the beginning but I let her know the types of things that I am working on. She responds with encouragement, accolades and helps on any changes that need to be addressed over the requirements of the degree program.

What have been some of the obstacles in going back to school?

Every new course that I start at first seems challenging. The amount of work is a bit frightening and things have changed a lot since I started the degree program. The college is starting to add more work within each of their module courses. Every time you open up a new course you see a ton of work that has to be done every week. Because you are not in the classroom you have to write a lot more and do more work online than if you were in the classroom. That’s a little bit scary and sometimes nerve wracking.

There have been some disappointments with students because you don’t meet them in person as in a traditional classroom. You can start to tell which ones are motivated to get their degree and which ones are not. So discussions can sometimes be disappointing. Within the online courseware you can communicate in a discussion area with other students and sometimes the exchanges can be really good and other times they can be totally boring. So that has been frustrating.

You started the program while you were in the US and then continued when you went back to Thailand. How is this working between two very different places?

You can be anywhere in the world to take classes on the Internet. You can get all your resources online. The problem where I live there is not a big library where I can go and do research. I have to relay more on the Internet for my research and there is an expense of shipping books overseas. Those are the drawbacks. As long as I can stay connected I can do all the work from anywhere in the world. Empire actually has students from Europe as well as professors from other countries including India. They also have military students as well as people from all over the world.

How do you stay motivated?

The courses motivate me because they are interesting. I know that there is a goal at the end that I have not had before. There is encouragement from professors and other peers. Within the group that you are working with you are encouraged to get your degree and there is interest in what you are doing.

I don’t think you get as much from your family members. I think that will come later. I think my son is more encouraging. I also think that husbands have a hard dealing with it. They think because you have decided to go back to school that you will still be able to deal with family life and work life. When you moan that you have to do another paper, they kind of look at you and say you chose this. I hear similar comments from a lot of other women who are in my classes. I don’t know if the male students get this message from their spouses. It’s because you are taking yourself away from the family unit to do something personal that seems to upset the apple cart. They may be proud of you for working on your degree but then they are less sympathetic when you complain about having to do another paper.

Has the experience prompted a change in how you see yourself?

Yes, a big change. I think that I can actually do certain things that I thought I would never be able to do. Like writing. I don’t have a writing background and getting high grades for writing essays is amazing. So the experience has allowed me to think about new possibilities in my life. I could write articles or catalogs for people. It has made a change in how I think about myself.

Every time I take another class I get totally involved in it. I am reading all this material on the environment for a science class and I think I should drop all this stuff in art and save the environment. You become totally absorbed in the material and you get different points of view on things you didn’t know before.

This leads to my last question about your next steps.

I should finish my coursework in December and then officially graduate in June 2010. Since I am living overseas, I really can’t put my finger on what my next steps will be. I don’t know what doors will open. Could I get hired at a university in women’s studies or cultural studies or do something in the art world there? These possibilities will have to unfold.

Sometimes I think I can take the cultural and art studies and turn it into something else. I do live near a border where there are refuges and other issues that are growing in the region. Can I find ways to assist women who are refuges? My degree is going to be in art and culture so I am looking for ways to merge those two interests. I don’t know what’s going to happen next and I don’t want to commit at this time. I like the idea of not being fixed so that I can look at all the possibilities that may come my way.

Susan is currently preparing an article for the interdisciplinary journal, Femspec, Skydancers: Thai Women Artists Who Dance Across Cultural Borders. The essay explores the works of Thai women artists over a period of 50 years with a concentration for are as women, mothers and artists in a male dominated society. It offers a brief history of the struggle that Thai women artists have had to over come and how western society has influenced their work. It presents how Thai women artists turned to their inner self to explore new ideas for expressing Thai culture, feminist views or spiritual beliefs. If you would like to learn more about Susan’s cultural work, please contact her at: mssusanhouse@hotmail.com.


For information on Susan’s video, please visit: www.der.org/films/threads-of-life.html.


Blog photo: Spinning, a mixed media relief, by Susan Morgan

Stanley Back - Thriving on the Big Wave

Stanley Back-Thriving on the Big Wave
July 1, 2009

Professional holiday parties are great for meeting people but they do not always lead to really getting to know someone. Fortunately, the HR Alliance holiday party in December 2008 was just the beginning of getting to know Stanley Back. What impressed me in conversations at the many networking events over the past six months was Stanley’s ability to zero in on the heart of an issue. At the May HR Alliance meeting Stanley was one of the panelists who talked about his transition from working as an internal HR executive to being a consultant. I appreciated his down to earth view about his consulting practice, Intentional HR, and invited him to an interview.

You are encouraged to add comments to this blog entry or reach out directly to Stanley at: sdback@IntentionalHR.com

What are you currently working on?

I’m an independent career coach in private practice and work with people who have been laid off, those who want to return to the workforce after a voluntary absence and those who get up in the middle of the night sweating and say, “I gotta get outa here!”. I have a human resources background and am just winding down an assignment with an outplacement firm. I currently co-chair a career transition group for senior HR professionals and am a Mentor at Baruch College in their graduate MBA program. I’ve also been a guest teacher at the NYC HS of Economics and Finance in their world of work program.

That sounds like a hectic workweek.

Yes, my life has turned into 24/7, which is the entrepreneur’s lament.

Thinking about change, when it did occur to you that something was different, that you were on a different path?

I realized that change for me has come from two different directions – change that I prepared for and change that surprised me. For example, I’m a career coach probably because I’ve been laid off three times and know what is needed. The initial three layoffs were total surprises, but the strategy that I developed to get to where I am now, was planned, almost.

Sometimes I do better with less thought, so the surprise type of change like a layoff can have sweeter outcomes than a planned change – for me.

Do you think that there was a more pivotal moment in the three lay-offs or other life events that stand out for you?

All three layoffs were different and I don’t believe that things happen for a reason. Things just happen. It’s what you do with them that counts.

My last layoff was from a financial services company in an economy impacted by 9/11 and the subsequent economic depression. My similarly situated HR colleagues and me could not give ourselves away and even volunteering was tough.

In the years that followed and still with no job, I went though several serious health issues as did a member of my family. The landscape immediately changed and other decisions were called for. Working took the number three-post position and flexibility and energy to ‘deal’ were primary. Frankly, had I found a full-time job I don’t think I would have survived nearly as well as I have, from the health side. I know that I would have survived even if I had a job, but it would have been different. In hindsight, there was nothing good to be said for it, except that I made it out the other end.

Talking about that time, was that a gradual realization or a quick realization that things were going to change for you?

Back to my job situation, I think it was gradual. I consider myself a consultant today. That definition probably took about five years to develop and sink into my consciousness; my entire career was working for large mega-companies. One of my recent assignments as an independent consultant was as interim HR Director for a physician-owned medical practice. It was a long run and I was told with no warning, that they were making changes and that my services would no longer be needed. I left the building and remember asking myself if I were just laid off (because that’s what it felt like) and then I realized I wasn’t. My project had simply ended and that’s when I realized I was a consultant. Change is an event; it’s neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’ – ‘positive’ nor ‘negative’, it’s simply an event. Everything else that follows is a process. It’s how you manage the process that really matters.

Under stress I am good at being able to focus and differentiate the process from the event and I continually try to remember that it’s not the event but the process that I have to work with. It hasn’t always been this way.

Like taking a deep breath?

My analogy is like swimming in the ocean and suddenly getting hit by a large wave and knocked under. The wave is the event and I’ve had no control over it. I manage what I can control and will completely relax my body because I don’t know where I am. I don’t know which direction I am facing. If I can relax, I can get my balance back and float the right way. I am describing a physical reaction as well as a story.

Other people I know fight when they are hit by the same wave. That’s not my style, but if both of us deal with the process and not the wave (event) we both have a chance to succeed equally well. There is no one-way. Change hits us all the time. And after I scream, yell and curse I try to remember what I want and that I am in charge. In some ways it’s a skill, a learned behavior to develop the ability to deal with change.

What has been most challenging about dealing with change?

The most challenging part for me about change is not losing my definition of myself in the process. It’s probably why I connected to the name for my company, which is “Intentional HR.” My tag line is “when focus matters.” If I lose my focus or don’t know where I want to go, or what my brand is, then it is very difficult to take the first step and survive the change.

It is so much easier now to answer questions about what I do because of the focus. That brand took three to four years and dozens of different business cards, and at least 20 different 30-second commercials to develop. Physically, it all came together when I was going up an escalator. The ‘overnight’ sensation took four years! Had I stopped at the event – being laid off, I never would have created the focus, which has made my life much less complicated.

It sounds like you have really found a metaphor for dealing with change when you talked about being hit by a wave. Is there anything else you would like to add?

I learned that I could survive. You will come out of it. Nobody has a magic bullet. You have to have faith that it will happen and surround yourself with people. Change, and I mean the process, is not a solo activity. It’s not a straight line. It’s a roller coaster. When you are at the bottom of the curve you need to have people that you can borrow energy and balance from. And when you are at the top of the curve, you need to be willing to share that with someone else. That’s what networking really is. I learned that I needed help dealing with the process and that I needed to bring people into it by sharing what I was going through with many more people. One note here: This ain’t a one-way street. You have to give before you can get. Sharing works both ways.

At the beginning of our interview you mentioned two types of changes, those you planned and those that were surprises. Was there something unexpected that happened along the way in either of those situations?

Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees when it is happening. My career started as a counselor working with recovering heroin addicts in a hospital setting. Along the way I got my masters in social work. After being laid off from the hospital, my next layoff was from a major insurance giant and the third time it was from a securities firm. You couldn’t have convinced me after my first layoff at the hospital that I would be fully entrenched in the corporate, for-profit world. No one ever knows what their next step will be. That’s why I call it transition instead of a job search because when you search and you find, you stop searching. Transition is a broader concept and you are more on the continuum. Searching is not that critical – it’s the transition.

It sounds like all this was the result of serious planning but I’m not sure that I can tell you exactly how I got here. I did not have a master plan. The following third-person image illustrates how I think I did it. “You might want to get across the street as your initial focus. You take the first step and you find that you want to go left instead of right. Next you go right, and then you say, I am going to stop for awhile. You have to be willing to say that getting across the street has to change because that focus is being influenced by where I am right now.” It was not a straight line from working with addicts and becoming a senior HR executive and eventually a career transition coach.

But, here you are.

What I could have used throughout the process was a coach or a mentor. Most of the people I know get where they are by trial and error. In my life, I lacked the coach, the mentor who could have helped me focus. Would my life have been better or worse for that help, or only different? I think it would have been better and it might have been different, but in any case, that’s probably why I am coaching people right now.

How do you stay motivated? What inspires you?

I have to go back to the realization that focus is so important to me. As soon as I figured that out it become easier to maintain my motivation because of the focus. I know what I want, I know I direct it, and, for the moment, I am comfortable. I never, ever want to work for someone else again because I think I have adopted the fact that I am the CEO of my company and I am in total control. It’s easier to feel that way when you are working for yourself.

I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to do this. Someone might look at my career transitions and say to me that my worries weren’t as severe as theirs were. I don’t think it matters though because it’s my life and my worries. You can’t compare yourself to others which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. It was from Anais Nin who said: “We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.”

As a coach and mentor I have obligated myself to help tell my client’s story, as you are. Can you believe that all this is the result of a layoff and a couple of life threatening illnesses? I can’t.

This interview was taped on July 1, 2009 with additional edits and final review from Stanley.

My blog is actually an interactive experience in talking to friends and colleagues about change. The topic of change can be intergalactic. However, the three people who have agreed to share their thoughts about change, Karen Hirsch, Jennie Wong and P.J. Ferrin, found ways to talk about their experience providing insight and inspiration. (All interviews are in the archives.) I am particularly grateful for their contributions because blogging and tackling the topic of change are new endeavors for me. I do not have a predetermined agenda or plan in mind on how the blog will evolve but truly appreciate their willingness to share their stories.

In thinking about the richness of their interviews I was reminded of a book that had a profound influence on my work many years ago. Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson is based on a series of interviews with women who creatively improvised their careers to juggle personal and professional goals. The interviews with Jennie and P.J. share some of this need to reinvent themselves when external circumstances prompted a new life path solution. While change may have been started by an external circumstance the richness of their solutions comes from an awareness of what they learned in the process. Karen’s thoughts about change grew over time as a result of a strong need to focus her coaching skills to support people engaged in social initiatives.

Composing a Life, which was written in 1989, has a feminist slant. One of the observations Bateson offers about the women profiled in her book is their creativity in dealing with obstacles and setbacks particularly because not as many avenues were open to women as they are now. Although these women did not have linear career progressions, they were successful in finding the next iteration through their ability to reinvent themselves.

How times have changed! Now men and women can equally expect to have non-linear careers. With a few exceptions, it is probably more likely that men will also be composing their careers in unexpected ways. Some men may find themselves in the role of primary caretakers while their spouses work, others may find that they need to take pay cuts in order to move into new fields. The men who took on the primary caretaker roles will experience the biases and challenges that many stay-at-home moms faced when they attempted to reenter the work force. I am not predicting that all gender bias will disappear but rather suggesting that more men will likely have interrupted career paths both by choice and as a result of business instability.

The process of personal change and reinvention is a life skill that we may all need to develop further. This is very much on my mind as I am currently in transition (a fancy way of saying out of work). In my last career transition from retail to training and development, I decided to go back to school to complete my masters in adult education. That proved to be a good decision and I had support from my mother and husband to make the change. Although there were some economic consequences, I did not have a mortgage and was buoyed by the prospect that I could land a career that was better suited to my talents.

Perhaps overly reacting to the pervasive mood of fear that is fueling the tremendous number of layoffs over the last six months, my driving concern was to find another position as quickly as possible. Now that I have more hindsight, I am beginning to understand that I am ready for another change. That has prompted my inquiry into what it is that propels us to move in new directions.

I hope that you will find this blog helpful as you reflect on changes in your life. Also, if you are interested in being interviewed for a blog post, please let me know. The interviews have been a combination of phone calls and e-mails. The approach is collaborative with the interviewee having the right to edit before any material is posted. You are also welcome to add comments to the posts.

Interview with P.J. Ferrin: A Welcomed Contact from a Childhood Friend

The 2008 Christmas holiday will be a time in my life that I would rather not remember except for one notable moment. I was entering a new decade of my life unemployed. While I made concerted efforts to enjoy meeting up with friends and distracting myself with holiday events, I was feeling very anxious. One day late December I received a LinkedIn message from P.J. Ferrin (http://quailgirlspeaks.blogspot.com/). In a very polite note, P.J. inquired if I was the same Holly that had grown up in Duluth, Minnesota. The message was from my best friend from those formative years. As we entered high school P.J.'s family moved to California and despite our correspondence via snail mail, our lives eventually took different directions.

I was delighted to be reconnected with P.J. and value our renewed friendship. Although our vocations have been different, we have found many shared interests and values. The latest is encouraging each other to explore developing our blogs. I feel extremely fortunate that P.J. not only reached out to me at a pivotal moment but also has agreed to generously share her thoughts on change. The following comments were written in response to my questions via e-mail.

What are you doing now and what major change are you dealing with?

I retired two years ago, at age 58, and I am just beginning to feel like I’ve hit the stride I’d envisioned for myself in retirement. I’m currently volunteering at the non-profit nursing home in my community, and juggling several personal projects that I had put off until I retired. I’m also alert to business opportunities in case the economy forces me to resurrect my consulting business.

I have a difficult time thinking about change as if it’s a discrete entity. To me, change is life, like breathing. As I think about recent changes in my life, two categories emerge, change that I drive, or at least have some control over how it plays out; and change that is externally forced on me, where I may, or may not, have any control over how it plays out. The latter is the kind of change we tend to fear, bemoan and resist. My career changes during the last eight years were driven by an external force I couldn’t control—the declining health of my parents due to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. But thanks to extensive research into these diseases (knowledge is indeed power!), and my business experience, I was able to proactively craft a career move that supported my parents needs and my own.

How did you experience the change, i.e., a lightening bolt, a gradual change, other?

The change was gradual in the sense that I could see it coming and take some time figuring out the most logical and practical course of action. But there was a painful, lightning bolt moment when I realized I was not superwoman, and could no longer maintain a 70 hour per week, fast track career while managing parents with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

What was most challenging about the change, and what did you learn from the experience?

The most challenging aspect was exchanging high-paying executive work for low-paying administrative work in a non-profit nursing home. I’ve always lived a fairly modest and frugal lifestyle, so this wasn’t about not being able to buy the “stuff” I wanted. Even though I knew better intellectually, somewhere down deep I was equating wages with self-respect and it took me a while to figure this out and get past it.

Was there something unexpected that happened along the way?

Working in an institution that cares for infirm elderly people with dementia is not generally perceived as a desirable job. I believe most people think of it as depressing, menial work, and in many institutions this is unfortunately true. When I was searching for a nursing home for my parents, after each tour of a new facility I would sit in my car in the parking lot and cry. They were so depressing, even the ones with the fancy décor and perky staff. Then an acquaintance recommended a 112 year old Lutheran nursing home that ended up becoming a major part of my life. Scoping out the facility, I found an environment that exuded the joy, love, and self-worth of it’s residents, and the staff who cared for them. And this wasn’t some rah-rah show that was trotted out for potential customers—it was present every day. Being a part of, and a friend to this organization became one of the high points of my career. I never expected this outcome.

How did you stay motivated?

I stayed motivated by identifying the people at work who inspired and energized me, then arranging my work and commitments so that I had as much contact with them as possible.

Interview with Jennie Wong

Jennie Wong, April 24, 2009
Via phone and e-mail

I met Jennie through a former colleague and terrific networking guru, Scott Wigley. Scott thought that Jennie and I might enjoy knowing each other because of our interests in coaching and finding creative career paths. Jennie is a certified executive coach and previously was a managing consultant in Organization Development. Although we have not met face-to-face, our virtual contacts have always been rewarding from my perspective. The following interview has been edited and compressed from our phone interview on April 24, 2009. Jennie has reviewed and approved her comments.

What are you doing now?

At the moment I am focusing on the family business, Limelight Solutions, a web site, development and hosting company. We help business owners grow their businesses by enhancing the look and function of their websites and increasing their search-ability.

(Here is how you can reach Jennie if you would like to learn more about her business: jwong@limelightsolutions.com)

Have you had time to think about the many changes that occurred in your life over the past few years?

I have been through a tidal wave of changes over the last few years. I was downsized from AIG in November 2007. Then shortly after I started working for my husband in December 2007, I discovered that I was pregnant. My daughter was born in September 2008 and then we decided to move from LA to Charlotte, North Carolina in March of 2009.

How are you managing all of these changes?

My immediate focus is still on the move and being a mom. And when you have a infant, you are talking about constant change! I also had to adjust to working for myself, then not working, and now getting back into selling web sites. Before the baby I used to juggle both my coaching practice and my work at Limelight Solutions. But we made the decision that I would work only 20 hours a week, so I decided I needed to focus growing the family business. I am still accepting coaching clients but I have very little time to market my practice.

How did all of these changes come about? Were they sudden, gradual?

Some of these changes have a lot to do with the economy. Had we been able to sell our houses in LA or Charlotte at 2006 or 2007 prices, we might be somewhere else right now.

My blog entry for February 18, 2009 goes into some detail about our decision to leave LA and move to Charlotte. (http://charlottewongkrause.blogspot.com)

What was most challenging about the change?

Moving away from LA because I’ve lived there since I was two years old. That’s where my family and friends are. Leaving behind my support system and needing to build a new social network are big challenges.

What did you learn from it?

Well, I would say that the transition so far is very much like I imagined. When I started thinking about moving across the country, I had a realistic vision. I knew that I was going to get lonely for my friends. But I also knew that I could afford to fly back to LA a couple of times a year. I already have my first flight back booked for June – something positive to focus on. It would be much harder if there suddenly was radio silence – no communication. But instead, I just make more of an effort to upload photos and total sent if stay in touch.

Did something unexpected happen along the way?

I did underestimate what the experience was going to be like for my husband. I thought that he would adapt more quickly than me, but it took him a little time. I guess I’m a fairly good judge of myself but not always other people.

What inspires you?

That’s an easy one. Being a good example for my daughter.

How did you stay motivated?

I’m not looking to just get by, emotionally speaking. I’m looking to build a life that I will love just as much as the one I had in LA. I try not to waste time wishing the economy was different, I know that our decision to move made good financial sense, so now I’m just focused on making wonderful friends here, just like I had back home.

As coach I ask my clients to decide on a specific goal and then commit to that goal with weekly actions. It’s important for me to walk the talk, so I’m doing things every week to make this adventure an awesome, fabulous experience.

Here’s just a little example of the “choose your focus” principle. I decided that I was going to absolutely love living in North Carolina, and this was an immediate test because the first two weeks we were here it rained constantly. But instead of focusing on the lack of sun and blue skies, I concentrated on the gorgeous dogwood trees and blooming azaleas all around me, which the rain makes possible. So, when I was missing the sunshine of home, I would just notice all the pinks and fuchsias of the flowers.

Do you have any other thoughts about dealing with change?

I think how people deal with change is how they deal with fear. They are almost the same thing, really. These are kind of like mental habits that get revealed when change happens. you control. I would encourage others to be bold, commit to audacious goals, and find the upside of their situations. Finding the upside of moving to North Carolina was my choice.

Interview with Karen Hirsch

Interview with Karen Hirsch
April 18, 2009 via phone

I first met Karen in 2007 in a coaching group facilitated by Zuno Kristal. Since then, we have also expanded our friendship. I am honored that Karen agreed to jump in on the ground floor of my blog for my first interview. The following comments were culled from a longer discussion and have been reviewed and approved by Karen.

Karen is currently working on building a professional and informal coaching practice for people in the arts and/or involved in social change work. To learn more about her practice please visit her website: http://www.karenhirschcoach.com.

Here is what was on Karen’s mind about a change process that she is currently experiencing:

I would say that a deeply profound change that I am in the midst of working on is attaining a more intense awareness of myself so that I can be fully in touch with others and all that I am grateful for.

Quality of connections is what I want in all my interactions. People really open up to me. They find it easy to talk to me and I can become quickly engaged.

What prompted your decision to focus on increasing your self-awareness?

After a very in-depth conversation with someone whose work I respected, I felt a renewed conviction to continue to explore my own self-awareness so that my coaching experience could more effectively contribute to his work. In a way the conversation was a catalyst to make me reexamine my own growth.

Was this a quick change or a gradual realization?

The interest in self-awareness is not new. What is new about my experience this time is to be more focused since I see how having greater self-awareness can really improve how I coach others in their important social work that I so respect.

I am crystal clear now what gives me the greatest joy in life -- to give help and support people I trust. By that I mean people who have integrity, capacity for learning and self-reflection. I want to leverage what I bring to a relationship with a person like that. More and more people are already doing so many wonderful things and I want to help them to maximize their potential.

How do you stay motivated?

I want to be a good coach for amazing human beings. A loop of positive reinforcement lets me know when I am present and clear. Magical things can happen between people. People actually go beyond what they have known when I am acting as a positive catalyst.

What inspires you?

I want to share a quote I saw on a downtown #1 train overhead. This is my guide for the next decade.

“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Sir Isaac Newton

Now that I am in transition, I thought I would jump into the blogging sphere. Initially, I was fueled by the idea that I should address the issue of age discrimination in the job market and my experiences. For advice on my rights, I researched a few web sites. What I found was abundant information about camouflaging your age so you would not seem like a person stuck in the 20th century and less about legal rights.

While I don't accept the notion that older people must look younger than their years to find a job, I realize that this economy has been uniformly unkind to talented people of all ages. Taking a closer look at my own motivation, I also realized that I wanted something very different for my next career and that was going to take time.

As I shifted my axis towards more positive thoughts, I realized that many of my colleagues had subtly influenced my change. Over the last several months, I have heard many wonderful stories about the new beginnings they were creating for themselves. Not all stories were about making more money or finding a better job. Many were about waking up one day and realizing that they were happier than they had been in a long time.

Not only have these stories of self-discovery stayed with me, they inspired me to finally start blogging. Over the next few months I will be inviting my friends and colleagues for a blog interview so they can share their stories.