coachjoelle.com

Hi gang! 

Summer has been an adventure and i have been doing much more living than I have been writing.  To make up for it, this, my very special end of month free week (every 5th week in the month is a week just for creating with no schedule and no obligations) will be used to make a writing plan for the next few months and get some blog posts all ready to go.  I have written about 20 posts but they all are sitting in my journal and need to make it here to the page so, coming very soon!

Tomorrow is the very last day of the Make Your Life Program and it is hard to believe that two months have passed already.  What an amazing group of people I have been working with.  They seriously leave me inspired every time we come to the call and I cannot wait to hear what they bring to the table to celebrate as we go out with a bang!

I wrote the blog below a couple of weeks ago as part of my personal Life-Making process.  Creativity, friends, health, and happiness have abounded.  It is my pleasure to share.

With Love,

Joelle

As I am in the process of consciously making my life I am constantly on the lookout for something to add depth and new experiences to my world.  Who knew that this latest adventure would be just outside my door?

Roses.  We have lots of them.  Normally they bloom and add color to the yard and then they die and we cut them off and new little buds start the cycle over.  It is funny to think that in 2.5 years I have never thought of bringing a little of the outdoors indoors. 

Well, that is exactly what I did.  It was a sunny Sunday and I found myself feeling creative and desirous of a Martha Stewart moment.  So I picked up the kitchen sheers and headed out to the yard.  There I found two types of roses and great big white peonies ready for pruning, so I cut the best and brought them up for a flower arranging workshop. 

After a trip back out for some greens I pulled together, by florist standards, 100’s of dollars worth of bouquets and all for the price of a sunny afternoon.

I was quite pleased with my creations and I learned a few things on the way. 

For instance….

Peonies are home to many of our smaller creepier woodland companions.  After 3 large catch and release spider operations, followed by the recognition that those little red dots all over the flowers were moving! I decided that peonies belong on bushes and on the patio and not on my dining room table.

I then found out that peonies belong on bushes period as the petals became a white blanket on my floor as a final act of revenge for taking them from their place in the wild.

I also found out that cats like to eat roses.  Who wudda thunk!
  
 

 And that you are always better to throw out the flowers before they start decomposing in the vase.

Live and learn. Live and learn.

I liked my flower project and will likely do it again. Perhaps for a special occasion or perhaps just because.

Stopping to smell the roses.

Joelle
 

Wanna, know what I think about the youth of America?

Personally, I think they rock.

And no, not like the guitar-wailing, classic rock of their parents’ generation. I mean, they R.O.C. K. (They are Refreshingly Organized Conscientious Kids!(Ok, technically they are “young adults” but then it would spell ROCYA – which kinda works too )

It all started several months ago when I got clear on something, and that was that I was tired of trying to be a one-woman show—a coach, marketing expert,  graphic designer,  editor, and web designer. I had big dreams and a big vision but I was worn-out from wearing all the hats. I wanted to just be me and bring my own skills, talents and passions to the table while surrounding myself with energetic people, each working in their own area of excellence.  Basically, I just wanted to coach and not be bogged down with all the technical details.

Now this all sounded great in theory, but I was not in a financial position to hire $250,000 worth of skilled professionals. Then, much to my delight, a friend shared with me a little website called ClevelandIntern.net, a website created for the purpose of matching employers with local college students.  I said to myself, “What the heck, Joelle?” and I signed up.  I began thinking about who I would want supporting me, if I could have anyone on my team, what skills would they bring?  So I wrote out my wish list of the characteristics and abilities I wanted my team to possess.

Within days, much to my delight, the resumes started pouring in.

Less than two months later, my business is thriving thanks to the incredible support of five amazing student interns.

May I Introduce…:

• Megan and Jessica – both graphic design interns who are currently making PowerPoint presentations for various speaking events and designing logos for programs I’m developing.

• LaShawn and Theresa – both digital video interns who advised me on equipment needed to produce in-house videos and created opportunity and motivation for me to get both a brand new computer and a video camera. We are currently in production on the “Things That I’ve Learned from My Cats” coaching video (watch for it!)

• Monica – my writer/editor intern supporting the ever long-winded, spelling challenged Coach Joelle, cleaning up my writing and paying close attention to detail. She will be assisting me in writing my first book this summer and with a little direction, wrote the article you are reading right now ( so cool! .)

READ MORE: Article continued - hear more about my fabulous intern experience!