About

Unfold-Yourself is a personal and professional development company that helps individuals and organizations create stronger connections within and with the people around them by:

1) Developing their social emotional and leadership skills through training and development in coach-like practices, and

2) Raising awareness of, developing and harnessing the power of their energy through coaching.

We help individuals and organizations gain clarity on how they “show up” so they can better know themselves, acknowledge and move through internal and external barriers to live freely and purposefully, and use their strengths and passions to make positive change and impactful connections with the world around them.

Vision

Bringing flow and peace to the connection we have within ourselves, and with each other.

Mission

Empowering people to create stronger connections within themselves and with the people around them by developing their social emotional and leadership skills through training and development in coach-like practices, and raising awareness of, developing and harnessing the power of their energy through coaching and energy leadership.

Values

Inclusion and belonging…

Coaches can support meaningful growth and change, but doing this responsibly asks that we have awareness of our own positioning, privilege, and biases. I recognize that I can never truly know another person’s lived experience. My role is to listen, stay curious, and continue to learn. I believe people are better able to explore, grow, and make meaningful change when they feel respected, heard, and that they belong.

Coaching from the inside out...

Over the years, I began to realize that how I felt about myself wasn’t going to change by focusing on what was happening around me, or on who I thought I needed to be for others. The more I looked outward for answers and validation, the less attention I paid to what was happening within. There is real value in turning inward – to become aware of how we show up, what matters to us, where our strengths lie, and how we can talk this awareness forward to support others and inspire change. Our hopes and dreams live inside us too, and they deserve the space to be noticed, explored, and unfolded.

Service to others…

For much of my life, I kept many of my opinions and feelings hidden. I was a rule follower, a perfectionist, and a conflict avoider. Coaching gave me something I hadn’t realized I needed: space to explore my thoughts, feelings, and dreams without having everything figured out. With the support of my coaches, I began to more openly express and trust myself, and become more comfortable with the messiness and imperfection that are part of growth. That experience shapes how I coach today. I want the people I work with to feel free to be themselves – to think out loud, explore what matters to them, get a little messy, and discover their own needs, values, and possibilities for what comes next.

The Value of Connection

One of my favorite quotes is by a Canadian author, inspirational speaker, and entrepreneur, named Danielle LaPorte, who said:

"Do you remember who you were before the world told you who to be?"

Many of us may spend the majority of our lives trying to figure out who we really area – and our “purpose” in life. Often when we read about the last words of people who are dying, they share advice on how life is about building experiences and collecting memories, pursuing our dreams, investing in relationships, and being ourselves.

At the center of this advice is the idea of CONNECTION – with ourselves and those around us. After all, if we want to collect memories, those memories will normally involve other people. If we want to be ourselves, we will want to feel comfortable in our own skin and to feel safe and connected with those who are around us. If we want to pursue our dreams, we need to know what’s important to us.

Our level of connection is tied deeply to shared experiences that are relatable, vulnerable and enable us to freely reveal who we are. The more we can experience these things, the more deeply we are connected. And the more two people can do this together, the more connected they will be.

While connection is considered a basic human need and hard wired in all of us, building true connection becomes harder once the world takes hold of us. Whether it is pursuing an education, working in a particular job, joining a club, or even engaging in a conversation, each of these situations has an intricate system that is at play – processes, structures and norms that sometimes, unknowingly to us, dictate the way we act and respond to the world.

As we do this, over and over again, we move further away from who we really are. We act in ways that are expected of us rather than in ways that are in alignment with our values or bring happiness. Added to this system are beliefs, often passed down to us from others, that create stories around our experiences and can limit us. For example: I’m not smart enough to do that job. I don’t deserve to take time for myself. I could never do “that.”

The more we move away from who we really are and want, the less connected we feel to ourselves, and the less satisfying and less impactful our connections. We are chameleons, changing with our external environment, but never quite feeling like ourselves on the inside. What would it feel like to not change for others or the external environment? Whatever you felt in that moment through that question is what coaching can help you explore.

The connection we have with ourselves impacts the connection we have with others.

But how do we maximize our connection and the “oneness” that comes from relating, vulnerability and being ourselves?

Through coaching, personal development and energy leadership!

"I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship."

- Brené Brown