As I told one (awesome) client...

I'm here to help each client achieve her goals, her passion...not mine! I'm an obsessive, salivating, former-child-actor (#redundant) with a larger-than-life ego...and that's my curse/blessing to bear, but at the end of the day, like my parents always tell me: if you're happy, I'm fucking thrilled. (Well, they always say they're "happy," but I'm always thrilled for people who know what they want and are ready to chase it...#grrrr!)

They grow up so fast!

Last week, I had the wonderful problem of a client "leaving" me for a great job. I had talked her down from the ledge when her self-confidence took a nose-five, right before she nailed a great job interview...and now she's golden. At the least, she has better health insurance than I do and no cats in her work station. (...jealous...)
A friend who heard this story asked me: "But, I mean: isn't she still your client?" Well, I am going to buy her a drink later this week to celebrate, so yes, the door is always open. She can always come back...but unlike some coaches, I don't believe that my job is to hold your hand till the end of time. My job is to help you help yourself, to give you the skills, and most importantly, the confidence to change your own life...something about teaching a man to fish?
Because at the end of the day, guess what: it's your life. I can help you rewrite your resume, I can give you some great ideas to network or suggest some creative strategies to achieve your goals...but you are the person who has to do the hard work. (Ain't that a b*tch, right?)

Life a funny thing...

One of the many reasons I started this business--besides the fact that the cats still refuse to work--is my fascination in figuring people out. It must be the voracious reader in me, but I'm always brooding about people's motivation. And not just in the, "Kim Kardashian really thought that marriage was going to work? Seriously?," sort of way, because, come on, people: she's an entertainer. She's a celebrity: that 'marriage' was theater and it did exactly what it was scripted to do. It made her and the soon-to-be-ex-hubby even more money, and even more (in)famous. What is, in my opinion, far more disturbing, is all the chatter on the Interwebs by apparently very credulous and under-employed people who take her "life" seriously and are deeply engrossed in her sprayed-on drama. These are the same people, one assumes, who don't have much of a sense of humor and who carefully read "Cosmo" articles for the insight. (Difficult to even type the words "insight" and "Cosmo" in the same sentence.) Ugh. So, I'm not losing sleep over Kim, but if she wants to hire me, I do have some availability.

No, I'm more interested in the motivation of real, actual thinking human beings. And I guess when I say 'motivation,' I mean interior life. The fact that people do, to quote Mr. Whitman, 'contain multitudes.' Some people assume that I get hired only by people in decline and crisis. People who need to be talked down off the ledge. Actually, I get hired by people whom on paper, or at least on Facebook, live enviable lives...but inside, they know that something's missing and they're searching for the courage and guidance to improve their situations.

It reminds me of one of my last jobs in TV, when I was working overnight for oh, a certain network, producing news segments for three shows. My shift was midnight to 9am. It was a wee bit stressful, in the sense that, for example, I was promoted from associate producer to operations producer, when my immediate superior had a heart attack in his chair during a show. And, as the EMT team worked to get breathing, my executive producer screamed at me to take over since we still had two other shows to get on the air. TV news, like Moscow, does not believe in tears. So I was 30, I was managing teams of editors and producers for three national news shows...as a friend said, I was "living like a rock star." Who'd ever want to leave this fabulous life?

Hmm, and yet here I am, engaged in the decidedly un-sexy daily grind of building a business that truly helps people...and I've never been happier or more fulfilled.
 

Just had a client email me this: "Carlota, I just want to express to you how lucky I feel to have you in my corner. It really makes me feel good to have this support and feeling of direction. Even though this road is just beginning, I am feeling positive about it."


Honestly, when I read this, I did get a little weepy about the appreciation, but I was much more excited to see this client feeling excited about his future and his opportunities. That really made my day. 


And considering the day I'm having, what with advertising campaigns, and networking, and meetings, this made me want to do a little dance. It also made me think of Cartman saying, "I reached those keeds!" But that's another matter entirely...