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Every-so-often I bring you an interview
and giveaway with one of Clean's sponsors. It's a great opportunity to
discover a new small businesses and also a friendly reminder that there
are alternatives to the mass-produced products, big-box stores, and the
status-quo.
Each sponsor is carefully hand-picked and their interviews never cease to inspire me. Enjoy!
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I'm happy to introduce you to Mary of Positive Path Coaching today. Read on for some wonderful insights and your chance a free two-hour parenting coaching session. Mary is also offering an incredibly generous 50% off of your first coaching session.
What is your company and how long have you been in business?
I
am the proud principal at
Positive Path Coaching (
how's that for
alliteration?) which I started in 2012. As a Parent Coach I support
parents in creating the family life they desire. In today's world, with
industry-generated culture so pervasive, but support from extended
family and good parenting role models not readily available, parents are
hungry for affirmation and support to stay on track with what they
truly - in their hearts - want for their family.
What inspired you to go into this line of work?
.
After
many years of working with children in all sorts of settings - child
care centers, home child care, Waldorf nursery school, progressive
elementary school, Waldorf high school - I decided that to see the
change I dreamed of in children's lives, working with parents and
communities was the way to go.
.
So, as the single mom of three daughters
(now 9, 12, and 19), I went back to school and did a year-long
graduate-level course through
The Parent Coaching Institute to become a certified Parent Coach.
It
was the best decision I ever made! My work with parents is very
rewarding. My formal background in Early Childhood, time as an at-home
mama, homeschooling mama, single mama, working mama, and mama of three
quirky kids, has prepared me well to be an empathic and understanding
listener of what is going on in parents' lives.
The beautiful dreams
that parents have for themselves and their children frequently bring
me to tears. I help them get from the craziness of everyday life to
those gorgeous dreams by using questions to open up thinking, suggesting
tools to try, helping to shift perspective, and always, ALWAYS,
focusing on the positive and what is working right now.
To see them walk
out feeling excited to get to it is inspires me.
How do you believe you and your business are bringing good into the world?
Parents tell me about amazing
changes in their family life during coaching: experiencing less
fighting, yelling, and resentment, building a stronger bond with their
child/ren, enjoying life more, finding time for self-care, feeling clear
about their family values and actually living them.
It is exciting to
work with a parent or couple to guide them through the process. First,
we look at the current situation, both what is hard and what is good,
strengths of parents and children, and what supports are already in
place. Then together we identify their dream. I ask, If you woke up
tomorrow and life was just the way you want it in your family, what
would that look like? What would it feel like?
.
Once we
have a picture of this ideal life we start with baby steps in working
toward that dream. It seems like a pie-in-the-sky thing that is
unattainable at first, but with little steps, information on
development, new attitudes, new tools, appreciating what you love about
your life, taking care of yourself, all these little steps start to work
together synergistically to shift things and suddenly - and this is my
favorite part - it's like magic occurs and there you are living your
dream!
Parents
have said, "My 12-year-old son told me he loved me and asked if we could
do something together!", "My 5-year-old played at her violin recital
without any crying or complaining", "Our family had the most wonderful
time last night. We had a fire and read out loud and just enjoyed each
other. No one ever asked to turn the tv on!", "My toddler is no longer
hitting", "I feel like I'm not running on fumes anymore". In each case
these outcomes would have been unthinkable a couple months before.
.
One of
the greatest things is that each family I have the honor to work with
becomes part of a ripple in the pond. If their lives improve and they
share the ideas with another family and it helps with their
relationships, and those kids grow up to be kind and caring parents who
share some insights with another...the ripples just keep moving out and
making the world a better place, one family at a time.
.
What else should we know?
.
Parent
coaching is just as effective via phone or video chat as it is
face-to-face so location is not an issue. This model has been used with a
very wide variety of families and is very successful. Rather than
trying to fit everyone into the same mold, each coaching series is
tailored to your specific family dynamics, values, and schedule.
.
For
people in my neck of the woods (Northfield, MN) I also do public
speaking gigs and parent support groups. Please feel free to contact me
for more info about either private or group coaching.
Today Mary is giving away a generous gift of two hours of coaching to one lucky reader! Just leave a comment below for your chance.
Comments are now closed. We'll choose a winner by Monday.
And for all Clean readers, contact Positive Path Coaching before July 30 for 50% off your first session! Just mention that you found Mary through Clean.
Thank you Mary!
