2009 DCF Member of the Year

  Karen Van Cleve

We are pleased to honor Karen Van Cleve as DCF’s Member of the Year. She has been an active participant of the DCF for several years (including being a SIG leader), a great example to new coaches of the importance of training and certification, and an inspiration to seasoned coaches of the power of continued growth.

Karen was not always a coach. She earned both her B.S. and MBA from the University of Colorado and worked in the business world for almost 30 years (hard to believe since she’s got such a youthful appearance), including international projects in Germany, Hong Kong, and Sweden.

When Karen made the switch to coaching, she jumped in completely. She graduated from CoachU, one of the premier coach training organizations and then attended training through Coachville, another coaching industry leader. In 2002, Karen created Live Well Coaching, to teach business professionals how to be the masters of their own lives. She uses coaching, speaking and writing to inspire personal greatness. She continued her personal growth and in 2005 she not only became a certifying coach through the International Association of Coaches (IAC), but she also became a Results Coach for Robbins Research International. And, she is an active member of the Colorado Chapter of the National Speakers Association.

As you would guess from all the training she accomplished, Karen is able to bring a variety of tools and approaches to her coaching. She is qualified to administer the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and MAPP (Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential) assessments. She also received advanced training in PSYCH-K, and uses EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and CORE technique to shift negative emotional patterns. And, she has authored a book, 66 Simple Secrets to Save Your Sanity.

In April 2009, we were thrilled to have Karen as the speaker for our monthly membership meeting. Her topic, Do It Yourself Brain Surgery™ is also one of her unique coaching programs that combine the science of how the brain works with coaching techniques to produce powerful results.

Karen publishes a monthly newsletter called ‘The Spark’, which is designed to help her readers ignite passion in their lives, overcome obstacles, and live more joyfully. I couldn’t help but notice how this newsletter name so epitomizes who she is; she is a ‘spark’ in our coaching community. She is genuine and could not be more passionate about the benefits of coaching and her desire to share it with her community and the world.

You may learn more about Karen and her coaching services by visiting her website: www.karenvancleve.com or by contacting her directly: coachkaren@comcast.net or 303-987-5957.

By Levya Braman
DCF Marketing Director

October 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Greg Thiel

Greg Thiel, CFLE, Relationship Coach, author and our DCF October Member of the Quarter, will tell you that "If you want a loving partner, be a loving partner’" Greg walks his talk; he has used this philosophy not only with his clients, but also in his personal marriage of 18+ years to his best friend and wife, Jerilyn.

Greg’s heart, and lots of training, brought him to begin and successfully sustain his coaching business, Connection Coaching, LLC. As a Certified Family Life Educator (National Council on Family Relations), with PREP/CPREP Instructor Level 3 Training (PREP, Inc.), Active Relationships Mastery Training (Active Relationships Center), Couples Communication and Collaborative Marriages/THRIVE (Interpersonal Communication Programs, Inc.), and Professional Mediation and Advanced Divorce Mediation Training Greg provides both individual and couples relationship coaching.

In 2007, Greg and Jerilyn co-authored the book, Preventative Maintenance for Your Marriage: The Owner’s Manual for a Couples Group, with their couples group of over 12 years. This one of a kind book assists couples who want to learn and practice affordable and effective relationships skills that will support their loving relationships for a life time. Local singles have also benefitted from this book through the support of like-minded friends who are consciously preparing for their next long-term relationship.

His areas of expertise include: preparing individuals for their next long-term relationship, being a consultant to couples support groups, and one-stop coaching services ranging from premarital enhancement, to marital enrichment, to controlled separation and high conflict mediation.

You will find this coach to be very active in his community. He frequently offers classes at Arapahoe Community College, Colorado Free University and facilitates seminars/workshops/teleclasses for the National MS Society Relationship Matters Program, Front Range MOPS/MOPS and POPS, Lockheed Martin/Aerospace Data Facility Wellness Center, and the Mile Hi Couples Retreat.

Not only does Greg work with his clients to explore realistic options, establish a plan of action for moving the relationship forward and help them work through any barriers, but he also is there to acknowledge their successes, encouraging them to ‘be the best person they can be in their relationships’ while also reaching their full individual potential. His coaching focus is on the present and future of their relationships rather than on past hurts, frustrations or broken promises they experienced.

DCF has had the pleasure of knowing Greg since February 2007. Over the past year and half, Greg has jumped in and offered his help to our membership, most recently in the role of Marketing Team Member. We are honored to have Greg in our membership.

You may learn more about Greg and his coaching services by visiting his website at: www.RelationshipCoach.us or by contacting him directly at: GregRThiel@comcast.net or by phone: 303-798-2456, x3.

By Levya Braman
DCF Marketing Director

July 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Cathy and Gary Hawk

We are proud to present Cathy and Gary Hawk as our first DCF Members of the Quarter. You may have met Cathy and Gary when they host the Executive and Business Coaches SIG, or enjoyed their program, “Energize Your Clients and Light Up Your Coaching Practice” during our March meeting. As active members since 2007, DCF has provided them with a group of new friends and continues to feed their desire to learn and grow professionally and personally.

Cathy and Gary are partners in life and in Clarity International®, a coaching and training firm that guides clients to see, sense and use energy to manifest a passion driven life and create engaged, enlightened workplaces. And, they have shared their passion and vast knowledge with us as co-authors of Creating the Rest of Your Life, An Atlas for Manifesting Success and Excellence in Life and Work and have completed their second book, Lights-On Leadership©, Guiding People to Love Their Work Through Shared Vision and Purpose.

Cathy has been a pioneer in energy coaching for over 15 years. She participated in the Peak Performance coaching program; studied Energy Anatomy and Medical Intuition; and did a coaching mentorship with Mackenzie International Consulting. She innovated a unique client feedback and coaching process called Lights-On Learning Method© that allows her clients to see themselves with such clarity that they are rapidly connected to their passion and quickly go into intentional action. Prior to starting her coaching business, Cathy graduated from Temple University with a RDH degree in Dental Hygiene, spending 28 years running her own dental hygiene practice and managing dental offices in Washington State.

Gary has a PCC Certification with International Coach Federation. He has a CPCC coaching certification from Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and is certified in CTI’s Co-Active Leadership. Gary has been an executive coach to executives in both small and large companies, and has been an Adjunct Executive Coach for Right Management since 2000 in San Diego and Denver. Prior to starting his coaching business, Gary received a B.S. in Business and a Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska.

“Living a passionate, vision-led life that is open to the field of all possibilities is the result of following the embodied energy that shows up in the human system,” is the coaching philosophy they both live by. “Without passion and energy driving actions, it is merely trying to follow an empty idea. Using energy as a guidance system, good ideas are connected to passion and drive meaningful action. Coaching’s value to the world is that it is the purest method on the planet to get people to excel through their own passion, natural gifts and talents. Coaching shifts their focus from their past stories to the visionary field of possibility.”

Cathy and Gary can be reached at:
Clarity International
www.getclarity.com
cathyhawk@getclarity.com
garyhawk@getclarity.com
303-333-4757

By Greg Thiel
DCF Marketing Committee

May 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Lauren Still

When speaking with Lauren Still, our May DCF Member of the Month, it is apparent that Lauren truly embodies the joy and empowerment felt when making choices to shift life, career and attitude to reflect who you really are and what you want from life, and she loves guiding her clients to do the same. As a certified personal life and career coach, Lauren continuously models what she helps her clients achieve: balance, passion, energy, creating a life that works, connection with self-identity, and the courage to step out into life.

What better way to express Lauren’s passionate belief in having an attitude that demonstrates what you want from life than through her favorite quote by Maya Angelou, "Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told 'I'm with you, kid. Let's go.'"

Lauren partners with clients to create strategies that are uniquely suited to them, and she has a passion for working with professionals and executives who are in a transitional phase in their lives and are motivated to create balance between career, family, and self-care. She specializes in helping her clients proactively manage their careers to live their own definition of success, balance and freedom - three key areas that provide clients the opportunity to fully explore every part of their life and career. Her experience covers many aspects of the career spectrum; have been a jobseeker, hiring manager and executive, she understands her clients wherever they are in their careers. Her years in a global HR consulting firm in the compensation and benefits information services area provide her with in-depth understanding of how employees are hired, evaluated and paid. Lauren is a CTA Certified Coach and has her MBA.

Lauren has been a member of DCF since 2006 and has volunteered her time to the organization by serving as the DCF Membership Director from 2007-2008, the DCF Secretary from 2008-2009 and as co-chair of the DCF Membership Committee. She shared that in addition to being part of a supportive, vibrant community of coaches, DCF has provided her with monthly opportunities to learn, grow, and upgrade her coaching and business-building skills. Lauren feels that DCF has been an essential part of the early years of her coaching practice and that the organization continues to nurture her as an established coach.

You may learn more about Lauren by visiting www.buoyantlife.com or email her at lauren@buoyantlife.com or call 303-325-5765.

By Kelly Johnson
DCF Marketing Committee

April 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Sandi Ruther

We are proud to present Sandi Ruther as the April Coach of the Month for DCF. She has been a member of the Denver Coach Federation since 2007. She has been instrumental in creating a mutually beneficial partnership between the Denver Coach Federation and the Rocky Mountain Chapter of ASTD. Sandi is looking forward to becoming more involved with DCF and serving on the Board in the next couple of years.

As the founder and principal of ProGold Consulting, LLC, a successful documentation, training, and consulting firm, Sandi's mission is to help businesses improve efficiency and profitability by aligning people, processes, and systems. As part of her consulting practice, Sandi coaches executives and entrepreneurs. Sandi holds a degree in Psychology and is currently working on her coaching certification.

Her coaching clients typically come through her consulting work with businesses. While helping clients eliminate organizational roadblocks and implement cost-effective solutions, there are usually "people issues" that surface. As part of her consulting practice, she offers coaching services to executives.

With a degree in Psychology and business experience working with Fortune 500 companies, mid-size corporations, foreign multi-national corporations, and start-up companies, she can easily help a client bridge the gaps between people, processes, and systems.

Sandi's philosophy of coaching (and life) is "Polished, Not Perfect!"TM She states that "Each of us already has what it takes to be successful." "A 'diamond-in-the-rough', so to speak. Sometimes, we just need someone to help us see our gem and figure out how to polish it." Her job as a coach is to help her clients define what success is for them and then support them as they achieve their vision.

Sandi's value of coaching is: It only takes a moment to change a life. Coaching can provide the structure and the safety to acknowledge and embrace that moment.

Her comments on the value of DCF are: "What struck me the first time I attended a DCF meeting was the warmth and spirit of the members. I continue to be impressed by the caliber of coaches that I meet at DCF. In addition, the programs that DCF offers have had a tremendous impact on me personally and in my business. Learning new coaching tools, ideas, insights, and methodologies has made me a better coach and better equipped to help my clients. And I have really enjoyed meeting some of the coaching "greats" like Judy Sabah, Patrick Williams, and Janet Bray Atwood."

We are very happy to have Sandi as such an outstanding member of DCF and wish her the best in getting her coaching certificate and continuing to grow her business.

You may learn more about Sandi by visiting www.progoldconsulting.com or at www.polishednotperfect.com or call her at 303-875-1373.

By Carol Hewett
DCF Marketing Committee

March 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Will Matthews

"My goal as a coach and the driving force behind all that we do at SecondWind Performance is to reconnect our clients to the brilliant genius that resides just under the surface and to support them as they gain the confidence to realign to the vision that they are here on the planet to build. Then people are ready to: Rock the planet, share from your core, live your truth, NEVER SETTLE, PERIOD!" This is the powerful coaching philosophy of Will Matthews, our DCF Member of the Month for March. Will completed his coach training through the Coach Training Alliance (CTA) Certified Coach Program and went on to serve as a mentor coach, trainer and faculty member for CTA, in addition to being trained as an Anthony Robbins Results Coach.

As the founder of SecondWind Performance, Will’s coaching with clients focuses on the premise that people can have, be and do anything that they believe they can. His niche area is working with financial service professionals, including financial planners, stock brokers, insurance agents and real estate brokers, to align their professional life with their passion and exceed their financial and lifestyle goals through a five step process that brings the best of who they are to the surface everyday.

The SecondWind Performance coaching process is based upon helping clients get crystal clear about what they really want, identifying and shattering limiting beliefs that have been holding clients back, building up new and empowering beliefs that are based upon the client’s core values, creating and implementing an action plan for each area of the client’s life and creating massive personal leverage to assure the client’s desired outcomes become tomorrow’s realities.

Prior to establishing SecondWind Performance, Will developed his expertise in personal and professional performance during his twenty year corporate career which includes sales and marketing management & leadership positions in organizational and cultural change management for Fortune 500 companies and mid-sized companies.

Since joining DCF in December 2003, Will has been an active member and has served DCF through a variety of positions: President (2007-2008); Education Director (2005-2006); served on the Education Committee under the leadership of Karen Van Cleve (2004-2005); participant in the Executive Coaching SIG and Advanced Coaching Techniques SIGs. It is through the involvement and numerous hours of volunteer time from members that make DCF such a strong organization; Will said he is constantly amazed at the quality of the people in the DCF organization and appreciates those who have stepped up and chosen to hold board positions, serve as SIG leaders and those that serve on the various committees that make the magic happen!

Will shared that his membership with the DCF has accelerated his professional growth and added significantly to his coaching expertise. In addition to the value that his membership has meant to his growth as a professional, Will said he has also benefited greatly from tools and methodologies that he has learned and put into effect in building his coaching business. He deliberately sought out leadership positions within DCF primarily to give back to the organization and to develop leadership skills. Will believes one of the most valuable benefits of membership in the DCF has been the friendships and support he has received from several people he has met through his affiliation with the DCF; Will feels it has made a major impact on his development as a professional coach and on the growth of his coaching and training business.

When asked about the value of coaching, Will stated, "Those at the top of their field, in business just like in sports, count on their coach to help them attain and sustain peak performance so that they can reap the rewards that come with expecting more from and more for yourself. Top results require a commitment to MASTERY! Think about it, coaches need to have a coach. Who is your coach?"

You may learn more about Will by visiting http://www.secondwindperformance.com or contact him at will@secondwindperformance.com / 720-300-6310.

By Kelly Johnson
DCF Marketing Committee

February 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Cindy Rold

We are proud to present Cindy Rold who has been not only a member of DCF since 2002, but successfully served as our President from 2004 – 2005 and won the Chapter of the Year from the International Coach Federation for the excellence in building our great organization during her term. As a great leader, Cindy helped our DCF achieve numerous accomplishments while she was President. She also participated as Co-chair of the Coaching Pool, a program which offered free coaching to non-profit organizations in the Denver metro area. She was instrumental in helping to plan and implement a DCF Business Coaching Conference.

Coaches Training Institute (CTI) was where she received her coaching training along with continuing courses and training through the Anthony Robbins Advanced Coach Training program. She is currently a Master Elite and Platinum Partner Coach with the Anthony Robbins Company.

She is well known for being a co-founder of The Networking Gurus and publishes a monthly networking newsletter showing all the networking events in the Denver metro area, as well as monthly networking tips….how to make introductions and gain valuable information from your contacts. She is also a relationship development coach with Maraia & Associates.

Cindy is the founder of Maverick Coaching & Speaking and loves to reach out to a variety of people through speaking engagements and coaching to help them achieve their purpose and goals in life. She works with C-level executives from multi-national corporations, small business owners, and independent entrepreneurs. Her topics include Risk-Taking, Thriving in the Face of Change, and Networking. She has published two books; "99 Networking Nuggets," (Fall '08) and "The Real Life Guide to Graduate and Professional School." As an added note, she also coaches attorneys to be better rainmakers, which is quite an accomplishment.

Cindy feels that coaching is an amazing journey between coach and client that delivers inner wisdom, knowledge, resources and self confidence to be able to work with external circumstances. She has worked with clients from over 20 countries and realizes that everyone has similar needs and desires even though different languages are spoken.

She believes it is important to belong to and support DCF’s professional association and has enjoyed being connected to other people who engage in the same daily activities and understand the joys and pressures of being a coach. She has learned many new skills from speakers and has established some great relationships and looks forward to supporting the association and meeting more coaches in the future.

You may reach Cindy at the following addresses and phone number:
Maverick Coaching & Speaking
www.thenetworkinggurus.com
www.sendoutcards.com/15646
Cindy@cindyrold.com
or call 303-734-9776.

By Carol Hewett
DCF Marketing Committee

January 2009

DCF Member Spotlight:  Bill Grout

Which of the following are true about Bill Grout?

a) A former Buddhist monk
b) An improvisational performer
c) The next President of the Denver Coach

All of the above are correct! If I hadn't seen a picture of his young shaven head, I wouldn't have believed it myself; Bill was a monk long before Monk was a TV hit. Improvisational guy? That too is a little out there. So, I'm guessing that signing up for the Presidency of the DCF wasn't much of a stretch for the Fearless Living Institute graduate.

It's easy to understand why Bill's contribution to DCF is spotlighted. He's pulling double duty as Program Director and President Elect. A rare feat that's being accomplished with aplomb. As Program Director for the last two years, Bill has improved the metrics by which we measure success, and then raised the bar on the quality of speakers, month after month. In addition, he's added several Friday-morning workshops as well as tele-seminars to our list of program offerings.

"Since I joined DCF, I've learned so much about our profession. The monthly program speakers have enriched my coaching practice through their vision, advice, and expertise. I've received immeasurable support from other members. And it's fun."

Bill has been a member of DCF since February 2007, and he started coaching full-time in 2004. His clientele is split evenly between business and executive clients and life-coaching clients. His business clients have ranged from Microsoft to banks and credit unions to engineering firms to owners of small family-run businesses. Bill has coached people in R&D, sales, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and HR.

Bill is a Certified Fearless Living Coach Level III and Workshop Facilitator. He has an Executive Coaching Certificate from Institute for Life Coach Training, and he is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach.

Bill's expertise includes communication skills, coaching skills for managers, time management, performance appraisal, and conflict resolution. He helps people master their fear of failure, rejection, embarrassment, or responsibility. Bill support them to lower stress, increase wealth, find self-acceptance and create better relationships at work and at home. One of his specialties is coaching people who are looking for a change and don't yet know what it is--what used to be called a "mid-life crisis."

"In my coaching. I am committed to creating loving relationships, career success and vigorous health. Coaching has the power to change the world." -- Bill Grout

To learn more about Bill, you may email him at billgrout@fearlessliving.org or call 303-772-3493.

By Michael Cushman
President, DCF