Why are some people successful and happy – and others not?
It’s a question that’s fascinated me all my life.
It’s a question that followed me up the corporate ladder at companies such as the international CPA firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers, California Federal Bank, Freddie Mac, and others.
In jobs spanning accounting, finance, marketing strategy, and management, I continued to wonder – because while the work was intellectually interesting and I was good at it, it wasn’t my passion. As the years passed, I found myself increasingly stressed, unhappy, and stuck – and frustrated that I couldn’t seem to get unstuck.
In 1993, galvanized by a conversation with my best friend at the end of his life, I discovered the heart of the answer. In that conversation, I began to understand the power of choice – or more accurately, the power of awareness of choice. Through that realization, I made my personal choice to become unstuck. I left my corporate job in 1994 to take a sabbatical, with the intention of discovering how to best use my skills and strengths to be successful and happy.
Somewhat to my surprise, my path didn’t lead back into the corporate world. Instead, I became self-employed, focusing on corporate consulting. That was a step in the right direction, but I knew there was more to discover.
The question what makes people successful and happy was no longer following me around. Now it was leading me onward.
I began to see how the power of awareness, choice, and perspective is applicable to everything. It’s not just for big life transitions – it’s in the small everyday steps. After all, there’s always room for more happiness – and even the happiest and most successful people sometimes find themselves struggling with a sense of being stuck.
In 2001, I earned my coaching certification, and learned tools that helped me help others make more powerfully authentic choices. I shifted my focus from consulting into coaching, and that was satisfying … but there was still more to discover.
Enter yoga and positive psychology
A long-time yoga practitioner, I began noticing how the underlying principles of yoga actively support a life of flow – a life lived unstuck. In 2009, I completed a 9-month training program to earn my yoga teacher certification. I also began studying positive psychology, drawn by its research-based approach to happiness, stress reduction, and goal achievement. As I studied, I was fascinated by the commonalities between the academic, research-based findings of positive psychology and the ancient spiritual philosophies of yoga. I found myself naturally incorporating these principles and concepts into my work with individuals, groups, and within organizations.
The power of choice and awareness
Day-to-day choices are often made out of habit, without much thought. Yet accomplishing what’s most important – which leads to both success and happiness – begins with awareness of choice. Attitude, perspective, how you spend your time and who you spend it with, what you do and how you do it – they’re choices we all make over and over again during the course of a day, a week … a lifetime.
Collectively, these choices determine whether you’re successful and happy – or not. They impact your ability to live in flow, and they impact your ability to find your way back to flow when something tilts you off balance. And your choices are unique to who you are; there’s no prescription, no “one size fits all” option. The right small steps can lead to transformation.
In short, when who you are aligns with what you do and how you do it, that’s when you joyfully, authentically live your fullest potential. You achieve goals that excite and energize you. And most importantly, you develop your capacity for leadership of self – a core strength that’s a key part of the ability to have a significant positive impact on the world.
Within organizations (through workshops and longer-term programs), I see how the answers to my life-long question – what makes people successful and happy – also help create an energized, engaged workforce. It’s no surprise to me – though very rewarding – that the organizational dynamic is similar to the individual dynamic.
When you show up happy and authentically successful, that energy and attitude affects everything around you. Your family and friends benefit; your employers and employees and clients benefit; and your community benefits.
What does Flow Dynamix mean?
Flow is the opposite of stuck, and both yoga and positive psychology are grounded in the principles of living in flow. Flow represents the intuitive side of what I do, and flow is the outcome of my work.
Dynamix is a word I coined to indicate action and change. It symbolizes the dynamic mixture of tools, approaches, and modalities I use. It also references that mix of who you are as an individual, what you want, and how you do the things that create happiness and success for you.
Education, Training and Certification
I earned my BS in Business Administration from California State Polytechnic University, received my coaching education from the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) with advanced training from New Ventures West, and I am credentialed through the International Coaching Federation (ICF) as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
Having completed a 285-hour yoga teacher training program, I’m also a registered yoga teacher (R-YT). I continue studying yoga with various teachers across the United States.
And as long as I’m tossing letters around, I also hold a CPA license (inactive status) in California.
On a personal note…
I’m a transplanted Southern Californian living in Raleigh, North Carolina with my husband Warren, two dogs, and a cat who keeps the dogs in line.
Being aware of my choices has made it clear that sustainable living is key for my own happiness and success. So I’m personally passionate about being connected to where my food comes from – local and sustainable – and to actively participating within my community to foster community-wide sustainability and flow. For me, it’s about helping my community stay unstuck as well as myself and my individual and organizational clients!
With that in mind, I volunteer for a variety of local organizations, serving as Past President of the Raleigh Professional Women’s Forum, and on the Advisory Boards for the Visual Art Exchange and SAFE Haven for Cats. And I enjoy learning, reading, going running with the dogs (but not the cat), and stimulating conversations with good friends.