Image by Calvina Photography

Let me guess.

There’s the school leadership experience you WANT vs. the REALITY you’re dealing with…

You envision yourself as the instructional leader of your school and dream of spending your day in classrooms, holding impactful conversations around teaching and learning. However, the reality of your workday is full of emergencies and urgencies.

You scurry from meeting to meeting, deal with misbehaviors and upset parents, and research the most recent best practice with little faith that you’ll have the time to implement. You come work each day wondering what impact you’re creating

I totally get it. I’ve been in your shoes and I learned how to find some balance in it all.

I’m a certified life and leadership coach for school leaders who feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the demands of the job.  I help you prioritize your values and schedule so you can create exceptional results and enjoy the school leadership experience.

My Background

I landed my first school leadership position in 2010 as the principal of a brand-new elementary school within my school district. While I was honored that my boss believed I was capable of this incredible feat, I was not sure how to be a principal, let alone how to create an entire series of new systems for a new school site. I had very little confidence in my competency as a leader. I had no formal training on how to lead a team of 40 adults. I was inexperienced at budgets and meeting facilitation. I knew how to implement my classroom vision but managing a vision for an entire school seemed daunting.

Nothing prepared me for the barrage of negativity I experienced as a principal. I felt overwhelmed, disillusioned, and deflated.

I could not keep up with all I was expected to do and questioned how I got myself into this situation. I was absolutely miserable, yet years of conditioning led me to believe that I should keep quiet and do the job I was hired to do.  I was being pummeled with complaints, concerns, and criticism.

Finally, a wave of relief.

I came across life coaching. At the time, I didn’t know what life coaching was, but I was pretty sure I needed it. My life and career felt totally out of my control.

I completed Dr. Martha Beck’s life coach training program in 2012. It became so clear to me why I had been struggling. I was approaching my job in a constant state of fear. I was afraid of being disliked by my staff and the parent community. I was worried I was not making the best instructional choices for the students. I believed I was not capable of being decisive and bold.

As I strengthened the habit of managing my thoughts, I began to plan my day from a place of abundance instead of scarcity. I started to see that when I chose to believe I was capable of handling any situation that arose during the day, no matter what, that life as a principal became so much more tolerable.

It became clear that the mental and emotional wellness of school leaders was not a topic of discussion. It was assumed that we were capable of handling our emotions. When principals expressed emotional distress during district leadership team meetings, it was said that as leaders we should be able to problem solve on our own.

There was no time built into our work week for tending to our emotional needs as humans. We were too busy being busy.

Something told me that neglecting our emotions as educators was a significant contributor to the industry’s high levels of attrition and low percentages of student achievement. I became a certified life coach through The Life Coach School under Brooke Castillo in 2015 and began sharing a variety of mind management tools with students, teachers, and parents, such as the STEAR cycle. Parents were so impressed with the STEAR cycle that they scheduled one on one appointments with me to dive deeper into understanding its process and how they might use it with their children at home. Teachers found it helpful when supporting students through social conflicts and gleaned some insight into their own emotional reactions to work and personal situations. I enjoyed being able to support my constituents and see how STEAR helped them supervise their thoughts and emotions.

In 2017, after working as a district administrator and seeing a more global need for school leadership coaching, I resigned from my district of 22 years and started The Empowered Principal Life and Leadership Coaching Program.

I’ve worked with hundreds of school leaders across the world, empowering them to become the best versions of themselves personally and professionally so they can leave an impactful legacy and live exceptional lives.

And I can help you too.