What I know for certain is that life is a mystery and that it dishes up both good things and disasters and both kinds of events provide opportunities.

My work and my passion are about using my professional expertise and my practical life experience to benefit others in this quest for a more meaningful life, in particular, when stressful circumstances have created ambiguity and confusion.

I have 15 years of experience as a consultant, facilitator and coach, designing and participating in meaningful conversations within Fortune 100-500 companies around the world, complimented by certification by Dr. Martha Beck, the nation’s leading life coach, best-selling author, and monthly columnist for O: Oprah’s Magazine. 
I chose this certification program, because in my opinion, Dr. Beck’s research and the North Star methodology (www.marthabeck.com) get to the crux of the human condition and resonate strongly with my own personal philosophy.

My Philosophy
The following description is a combination of North Star methodology, Dr. Martha Beck’s thinking as expressed in her books, and my own approach.

Principle 1. We are most comfortable, joyful and productive when our essential self and our social self are in alignment with each other.

• Essential self – our inner knowing/internal compass
• Social self – the set of beliefs that guide our actions and the set of skills we’ve developed to achieve our goals.

Principle 2. The vast majority of us unconsciously put other people in charge of charting our course through life, ignoring the essential self.

Principle 3.  The essential self will not be ignored.  This part of you will let you know when you are off-course through a variety of means that may include: stress, sadness, discontent, poor physical health, addiction, and self-defeating behavior, to name a few.

Principle 4. If we are off course it means the we’ve allowed the communication between our social and essential selves to breakdown – with that connection re-established, a renewed familiarity with the language of essential self, and a little bit of practice, we have a method for checking our internal compass and making wise choices along the way to a life on purpose.

Principle 5.  If the intuitive sense that living a life on purpose isn’t strong enough, there is a compelling economic case for changing your way of being in the world. The current shifts happening around the world require the traits of the essential self more than ever, traits like:

• flexibility that comes from confidence in your own knowing and results in a non-defensive stance
  
• the ability to give free reign to your imagination on purpose
  
• tolerance for ambiguous external circumstances as your core is calm and clear
  
• knowing how to read your intuition
  
• the will to make decisions consistent with what you know to be true for you

Principle 6: Even when you "get" Principles 1-5 you can still get knocked off-course - that's life.

Source:  Finding Your Own North Star, by Dr. Martha Beck

“…As I have begun to listen to myself and act accordingly, my relationships are more real and have more connection, self doubt is much more rare and I feel stronger, happier and somehow, a whole lot lighter. The coaching sessions with Gretchen have left me empowered, enlightened and living an amazing life. Thank you.”
Libby*
Expat, Wife, Mother, Grad Student, retired high-tech executive