Trish Perry
1. What brought you to coaching?
I was the consummate “corporate employee” for 20+ years and that is what I intended to do until retirement. Corporate included being a buyer at Limited Express, roles in leadership at Target for almost 20 years and a 3 year stint in leadership at a technology company.
And then life happened; I was laid off from Target with 1499 others. I landed a new job and 2 years later was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within 9 months I had a double mastectomy, my 91-year-old father had brain surgery and my sister died of malignant melanoma. I took 2 years “off” to care for my family. When I decided to go back to corporate, I thought, “I can’t go back without having “done anything” for 2 years. With the guidance from Judy Zimmer, I attended Learning Journeys to get my coaching certification. It was there that I also got my Mastery certification and realized that coaching was my calling! My corporate life gave me lots of experience to fulfill my next role as a coach and I am grateful for that.
2. Tell us about your coaching practice. (Niche, ideal client, etc.)
I call myself a productivity coach. Most of my coaching is with people who have had some type of adversity in their lives and they want more productive and joy-filled lives! I have 3 driving tenets; 1) you are not your adversity, 2) joy and grief can and should live together. Joy helps us get through the grief in any adversity and 3) everyone, no matter the situation is worthy of joy and leading a productive life.
I have a 4-legged stool in my coaching business. The first and largest is my work with the University of Minnesota employees. 2nd and 3rd, I work with firms for coaching and my 4th leg is coaching my private clients.
Prior to coaching, I was a Sr. Buyer and had responsibility for 4 very profitable multimillion-dollar businesses. I also was part of the key leadership team that built Target.com to a $1B profitable business. My final stint of corporate was creating a PMO (Program Management Office) and creating a Quality Processes Office. Because of these experience, I am able to coach managers and executives that want more joy and productivity in their jobs and in life.
3. What do you love about your coaching work?
That ah-ha moment when a client realizes they can do more than what they had only dreamed of. I love it when clients say “I can’t believe the change”. My favorite testimonial is from a client who said “Before coaching with Trish, I was surviving. After coaching with Trish, I am thriving”. This testimonial is why I love my coaching work!
4. Tell us about the coaching tools, books, podcasts, etc. that you follow that helps you to stay informed.
- ICF website- it is filled with research, survey information, resources and connections. https://coachfederation.org/
- WBECS pre-summit: over 50 free webinars May-June https://www.wbecs.com/programs/
- GTCI- Team Coaching (through WBECS)
- Harvard Business Review
- Learning Journeys Saturdays at the Center
- Brene Brown https://brenebrown.com/unlockingus/
- The Power of Purpose- Richard Leider
- The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
- The Body Keeps Score Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma- Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
- In an Unspoken Voice- Peter A Levine, PhD
- Leadership and Team Coaching- Peter Hawkins
- Think and Grow Rich- Napoleon Hill (1937)
5. How has ICF-MN helped you as a coach?
I graduated from Learning Journeys in August 2016 and in September, Sara Krisher asked me to join the 2017 board as treasurer. I was president elect in 2018, president in 2019 and am currently the past president in 2020. This was one of the best decisions I have every made in my coaching career. Being a part of ICF has allowed me to:
- Connect with my world-wide coaching community, sharing with, learning from and mentoring to others.
- Be coached by one of the best coaches in our industry- Elaine Gaston.
- Submerse myself into coaching with ICF which has allowed me to grow my own business while fulfilling a leadership role in ICF. My mentor, Dave Wondra, told me not to “just dip my toe in the water of coaching” and I have followed that advise.
- Help ICF MN meet our vision of being the premier organization for advancing the coaching profession.
- Create a diversity and inclusion team on the ICF MN board that it working to meet our mission of cultivating a multi-cultural community of coaches…
- Use ICF research and tools to support and advance my Harmonize Coaching business.
6. How can folks connect with you?
LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishperry/ and email at trish.perry@harmonizeu.com
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