I know these days there are so many “business coaches” in your inbox, and on your social media page, all trying to sell you their latest course or coaching package. 

But if you’re willing, I would appreciate the opportunity today to share my story with you because I think it will give you a different perspective and at the very least, re-inspire you on your mission and journey as a business owner and leader.

And I want to thank in advance those of you who will take the short time to read this today. I know how precious our time and energy are these days, so I promise, I’ll make it worth your while.

I started “coaching” people when I was seven years old. I’d go to sleepovers at my cousin’s house and my friends would share their big dreams with me and then express doubt about how it could happen. I would literally get up in front of them and deliver motivational speeches to them telling them they could do anything!

Oprah was my hero and I watched her show religiously (mostly reruns because growing up in Panama we got American TV shows wayyy after they originally aired.) I didn’t know that coaching could be a career at the time, but I knew I was drawn to how she helped people.

I had three, LIFE-DEFINING moments that led me to what I do today:

1. Living through a full-on government coup and dictatorship
2. My parents “adopting” two impoverished boys from the Panamanian ghetto
3. A conversation with a family member that made me so angry it lit a forever fire.

Surviving the dictatorship

Growing up in the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega, I experienced having a family member kidnapped, being tear-gassed, military police pointing guns at me on my way to school, and seeing dead bodies in the street – all before the age of 10. 

My grandfather’s beach house happened to be right next door to the dictator’s house. So, on weekends, I’d see Noriega on his back porch having a leisurely breakfast with his wife. At 9 years old, my little body would shake with rage at how he sat there in luxury, completely uncaring about the way the people of his country were suffering and dying. 

Seeing corrupt and bad leadership in my country at such a young age made me deeply passionate as an adult about helping GOOD leaders advance in the world.

The two boys I’ll never forget

Around the same time, my mother, on her way to work as a teacher, struck up a conversation with a little 8-year-old boy who was begging on the street. She discovered he lived in a cardboard shack with his three other siblings– one of whom was dying of AIDS and another who was pregnant at only 15 years old. Their parents had been murdered in gang-related events.

My parents didn’t have a lot of money at that time, but they used whatever little extra they had to buy them food every week and paid for their school books and clothes. They became an important part of our family. 

But the story ends in tragedy. Despite my parent’s attempts, they could not overcome the influence of their environment. One of them succumbed to AIDS and died. The other is in jail now for shooting a police officer. I’ll never get over this. Even as I’m writing this, I feel a huge lump of devastation in my throat. It deeply impacted me to be someone who helps build people from the inside out, so they CAN overcome their environments.

The enraging argument

The last piece of the puzzle came at fifteen, after an argument with two family members in a car. They kept saying “Listen, you’re either born with it or not. There are just some people who are more talented than others. You either got it or you don’t.” 

I VEHEMENTLY disagreed. It went against every cell in my body to believe that the Universe or God had created this world where some people would get everything they wanted just by randomly being “born with it”, while others were “doomed” to pre-determined lives of suffering.

I told them I believed ANYONE could do ANYTHING they set their mind to. They just needed the right support. We weren’t doomed to “what we were born with”. They arrogantly disagreed and laughed at me. 

I stayed quiet, but with rageful tears in my eyes, I silently vowed to devote my life to proving we are NEVER permanently doomed by the circumstances around us. With the right guidance and support, we can overcome and create more than we ever dreamed of. I NEVER wanted to be the people smirking at those who “just weren’t born with it.” I wanted to be the person cheering people on and telling them I believed in them, even when they didn’t believe in themselves.

I personally KNOW the impact of the people who had believed in ME, even during times when it felt like most people didn’t. I know how important it is to be that light for someone with a kind word or a motivating nudge.

This all came flooding back into my heart yesterday, as I was speaking with a very talented social media director who asked me why I do what I do and how I got here. I almost cried as I told him I see so many people who aren’t “old, white men of privilege” achieving great things, and getting into rooms with the “old guard”, suddenly doubting themselves. 

You ask yourself  “Do I belong here? Am I as good as these people who are in these big rooms I fought to be in? Do I have the right to be THIS BIG AND POWERFUL? Do I have what it takes to create this much wealth, visibility, and impact?” 

And I want to shout from the rooftops and shake every single one of you and say YES YOU ARE. WE NEED YOU IN THOSE ROOMS! YOU BELONG BECAUSE YOU SAY YOU BELONG DAMNIT! 

When I see my client, a woman who overcame so much to start one of the most successfully WOC-owned commercial construction businesses on the West Coast… wondering if she belongs in rooms with primarily old, white men…I am SO HAPPY she signed up to work with me so I can help her see how absolutely effing incredible she is and how badly those spaces and the world needs her perspective.

When I see my friend Mike, who was already a trailblazer as the first Black leprechaun mascot for football at my college, Notre Dame… and he tells me just reading my content inspired him to write several motivational children’s books that have been very successful, I feel HONORED and humbled to have been a tiny part of that journey.

When I see my client Shaneh, who was stuck at $200,000 in revenue for 7 years due to burning out after her first 7-figure attempt in her business years ago…go from that to over $400,000 in revenue just a few months later…I am INSPIRED and thrilled to be her coach.

When I see those of you who I’ve worked with 1:1 or in our group programs (Visibility Operating System™ or Visibility Vortex™ mastermind), tell me you’re finally seeing MORE MOVEMENT, more clients, and more money coming in…and you aren’t burned out while doing it…

When I get messages from you like this…

And I see how EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. YOU who I’ve worked with or will work with CARES about leaving this world a better place than you found it…

I am reminded YOU are why I do what I do. 

We NEED you in those big rooms with the “old guards” of the industry.

We need your fresh ideas.

We need your varied perspectives.

We need you wealthy and visible, living the life you always dreamed of, in a business or career you LOVE (and that energizes you vs. burns you out.)

I know when I can support you to do that through any of our coaching programs, I am leaving my legacy in the world. The legacy that little girl dreamed of while looking at the stars at age 10, vowing to help people be their most high-potential selves. And to show them they are loved, they matter and they BELONG. No matter what anyone or any life circumstance may want to tell you– it is your birthright to be whoever you want to be. Period.

If you’ve gotten to this point, thanks again for reading.

And if you’re ready to step into your next level of visibility and impact with a coach who has worked with and helped so many of the GREATS, and who understands your unique, advanced-level needs as a business owner…

Simply hit reply to this message. I’d love to see how I can support you in the New Year to make 2024 your best year yet. 

Now is the time of year when we begin to fill all of our programs and coaching spots for the following year and it would be my honor to support you. Just hit reply to this message and I can help you find a program that will fit your specific needs for 2024.