My display name is Phoenix. There is a story behind that. She's not only one of my favorite fictional characters, but I've had my own experience rising from the ashes.
I'm a 41 year-old single mom to a sensitive and beautiful young woman. Evelyn. Evey. Evil
I am fur-mom to the sweetest most adorable chihuahua on the planet. Jupiter Beatrix. Bebe.
They make my heart happy.
I am an aspiring strengths coach. (more about that later)
I am amassing an indoor jungle, and I love growing flowers. There WILL be #flower posts from me.
I am a fitness enthusiast. I fell in love with fitness by way of a freakish injury (see above reference in re. rising from the ashes... plenty more about that later too) I'm nowhere near where I want to be someday, but I am enjoying the journey.
I'm most excited about sharing my experiences as I work to transition my career. I am a CPA and an HR professional currently working for a very dynamic and growing independent insurance agency as their Senior Director of Finance and Human Resources. It has been a wonderful career, and I love my work family.
This past February, I was scheduled to have a career development conversation with our agency president. To prepare for the meeting I researched the differences between my current role and CFO, and I mapped out what I thought it would take to get me there.
As we sat down to have our meeting, I checked my ladyballs, and decided to be completely honest with my boss. I took out a sheet of paper and drew him a diagram and explained the Japanese concept of Ikigai:
I told him Accounting was my first love, and it has been a great profession. I'm good at it. I can get paid for it... but helping other people discover their strengths is what puts stars in my eyes.
One of my professional responsibilities is talent development. Throughout my career, I have used different personality assessments to select incredible people to add to our team, and help them become the best versions of themselves. My face lights up when I get the chance to talk about it. THIS is what I want to make my life's work. While it may have taken him a bit by surprise, I think he quickly understood.
My boss said, "Well... that was not at ALL what I expected. But I get it. I enthusiastically support you."
So I'm taking the next two years to transition out of my current role and create a talent development consulting role for myself. I can't wait to share my research and experiences. It's truly fascinating stuff!
Life is good. And it only gets better from here!
I definitely want to connect with as many people as possible. In a later post, I will discuss #strengthsfinder. But for now, I will say one of my top 5 strengths is Individualization. Essentially, it means I love learning new people and understanding how each person is different and unique. My favorite thing is helping people identify their strengths so they can unlock their own limitless potential.
It's going to be an exciting ride!