A Lifelong Evolution

​I feel I've experienced a lot of life in my short time on this planet. 

 

My parents discovered early that I had a gift for music.  I began playing classical piano before I started kindergarten.  By high school, I was playing oboe with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra as well as with other professional ensembles in concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall in New York.

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After college, I decided to follow in my dad's footsteps and began working in the financial industry in Chicago - first at The Northern Trust Company and then at TransUnion, LLC.  I began my career in Client Services and quickly evolved into a Business Process Analyst.  Turns out I had a knack for recognizing patterns and thinking about how to make things more effective and efficient.  All I learned prepared me well for the "big move".

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At 30, I decided I wanted to live on the West Coast and moved to Seattle.  I started a career as a Real Estate Agent with a regional company called John L. Scott Real Estate.  I quickly built a successful business and was recruited into their Leadership Development program.  I attribute much of my success to the experiences & lessons in this chapter.  Beyond the sales aspect of Real Estate, I was involved in many areas of the company.  I held a variety of positions including Programs Director of Career Development, (where I created and rolled out an enterprise-wide Mentoring program for new agents), a State Licensed Instructor, (where I developed and delivered curriculum for new and experienced agents), and a Branch Manager of their flagship Seattle Center office.  As a Branch Manager, I deepened my training and coaching skills and eventually decided to retire Real Estate to focus on Executive, Leadership, Business and Career/Transition Coaching while earning my Master's Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Seattle Pacific University.

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Through it all, I was caregiver for both of my parents, (who have since transitioned), as well as a wife, a bonus mom, and a dog mom. 

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But perhaps the most relevant part of who I am now came about by Divine intervention when I unexpectedly found myself in Kentucky.  In a place and time without a lot of the "things" that had previously "defined" me.  Without parents, friends and clients.  Without a business. 

 

Without a plan - for once in my life. 

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I felt something inside of me begging me to take a pause.  To resist the urge to build something new.  To take some time.  To take a good look at myself and my life.  And while it took some coaxing for me to step into it, it turned out to be some of the most impactful time I've spent to date.  

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In the years since I landed in Kentucky, I have taken the opportunity to go back and pick up the pieces of myself that got lost at different times in my life for different reasons.  To reclaim myself.  To heal wounds - emotional, spiritual, physical.  To grieve losses I'd been too busy and too afraid to feel. To learn how to forgive. 

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And, to come out of it feeling a new, beautiful, authentic sense of myself.  ​

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The modalities I picked up along the way - Reiki, The Akashic Records, Yoga, Meditation and Plant Medicine - have all helped me expand beyond the previous limits of my mind to move into a more whole version of myself - finding balance with my heart, body and Spirit.  They support me with courage, wisdom and unwavering, unconditional love.  They have taught me a new and more sustainable, holistic, loving way of being and living. 

 

I am eternally grateful as I move into these later, deeply meaningful, chapters of my life.  My mission, now, is to share the wisdom I've gained from my many personal and professional experiences.  With love, patience, listening and compassion.

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I am someone who is continually peeling back layers, unpacking bags and discovering more of my truth.  And I love doing it.  I believe we are designed to grow and evolve and it is a very natural process if we can embrace and engage it.​​

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Peace, love, and gratitude,

Martha

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Certified Akashic Records Consultant, ARCI, LLC

Usui Reiki Master/Teacher

MA, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Seattle Pacific University

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