embodiedliving

Women Lawyers Thriving in Their Own Firms: Alisa Brodkowitz

Some stories stay with you. Let me start with the story of Alisa and Harry.

Now a brilliant aviation attorney with her own practice in Seattle, Alisa Brodkowitz grew up on a sheep farm in northern Vermont, near the Canadian border. Instead of dolls, Alisa had baby sheep in her wood-heated home, overflowing from baskets, covered with blankets, and nursing from eyedroppers and baby bottles. One was Harry, born a blind grey lamb who could not find his mother’s teat to nurse.

Alisa stepped in to nurture Harry, feeding him from a baby bottle and pushing him around in a baby carriage (she says she was always Little Bo Peep in the town parades). Although all the lambs on the farm, including Harry, were killed, and Alisa was never told about Harry’s death, my sense is that Harry touched her deeply and helped to shape her gentle presence and tenacity.

I asked Alisa about the lessons she learned from growing up on a farm. “I learned the importance of hard work and chores,” Alisa said, “but more importantly, I understood the cycle of life and death.” And when she could help, she stepped in and did everything she could, whether that meant mothering Harry or learning to fix a tractor engine (as a kid she loved all things mechanical). Laughing, she adds that she also learned to talk fast and articulately as she competed with her two brothers for air time.

Alisa brings her childhood qualities of gentle presence, tenacity and intelligence to her successful practice. Judge Faith Ireland has also observed this: “I am someone who keeps an eye out for great talent in the law business. As such I have observed Alisa to be fearless, hungry for the courtroom and highly respectful of the talent of opposing counsel. Those attributes lead her to work hard and prepare ferociously.”

Alisa’s story shows us the magical way that synchronicity can lead us on our journey. In her childhood, she had an unorthodox education in a tiny school held in the home of a local doctor. The students studied Latin, Greek and French in the second grade, and learned about biology when the dogs dragged in a deer head they could dissect. Sleep away summer camp in the Adirondacks for two months every year, beginning at a very young age strengthened Alisa’s independence, self-respect and confidence as she mastered sailing, canoeing and horseback riding.

Her high school years were spent at the White Mountain Boarding School, where in the winter months, the kids skied for a portion of each day. French was a favorite subject. Her senior project on impressionism (Van Gogh) in France led her through many adventures in Paris (including a mugging), and she fell deeply in love with the city and its treasures. She returned to France during a gap period in college to work with an artist. Never happy at the University of Vermont, she eventually landed at Concordia University in Montreal where she studied French.

Montreal became Alisa’s “favorite city on earth, more than Paris.” Why? It is “a tossed salad of people who love life, music, art, food, and festivals.” Alisa embodies this love of life. When you are with her, you feel more alive yourself.

When Alisa decided to return to the states from Montreal to go to law school, she enrolled at Seattle University, when it was still in Tacoma, only to be overwhelmed by the contrast with her cherished Montreal. Determined to return to Montreal, she focused on international law. On her way to graduating cum laude, she took a transnational litigation course that so inspired her that she “ran to class, read ahead and did international research.” Her adjunct professor had worked on the TWA Flight 800 case—the plane that crashed off of Long Island in 1996 as it was bound for France.

    Her professor used the crash as an example in teaching the class about international treaties and conflicts of law. Along the way Alisa got her first taste of aviation law and was transfixed. This was a practice area that combined her love for international law, all things mechanical, an intellectual challenge and an opportunity to make the world a safer place. It was then that Alisa decided to become an aviation law attorney.

    So she sought out an opportunity to learn more aviation law.  There are only two places in the world where you can get an LLM in Air and Space Law, Montreal Quebec and Leiden, The Netherlands.  After sending 100 letters to firms and NGOs overseas (that tenacity once again), Alisa was offered an internship at the Hague in her senior year (2000–01) to work on the Hague Conference on Private International Law. For one semester, she attended the Leiden School of Law in the Netherlands where she studied aviation law.  Leiden's aviation law program is taught by preeminent aviation scholars. The experience was invaluable. While studying and working in The Netherlands Alisa wrote a 60 page law review article, and also helped write a book on the Hague Convention—the Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Service Convention, the practitioners' guide on international service of process.

Because her European credits did not transfer equivalently, when Alisa returned to the States, she was asked to do an internship with a local aviation attorney, Bob Hedrick. Her internship introduced her to the King County Aviation Bar Seminar, where she met lawyers from Krutch, Lindell, Bingham, Jones & Petrie, which became her first employer out of law school. For three years, she honed her skills and knowledge while working on plane crash and other personal injury cases.

In 2006, Alisa joined Paul Whelan at Stritmatter, Kessler, Whelan &  Coluccio. Together they worked on the Magana v. Hyundai case, involving a seat-back failure and a paralyzed client. When Alisa moved for production of other seat back failure cases, Hyundai withheld evidence on most (more than 40), resulting in a default judgment for $8 million. (Although Division II reversed the ruling, the Supreme Court recently heard oral argument, in the winter of 2008.) As Alisa talked about her client, she spoke and gestured with sadness and compassion about his loss. From my past experience in representing injured plaintiffs in product’s cases, I understood the depth of her feelings.

Alisa, with husband Matt Geise, gave birth in 2007 to a daughter, Ana Rose. Wanting to practice part-time, she started her own office just three months later. Her husband and her father, both owners of their own businesses, said to her, “It is your time, so do it!”

When Alisa sent a letter to all her clients, offering them a choice between following her or staying with her old law firm, every one chose to follow. Within a few months she went to trial, earning a $400,000.00 verdict in a back injury case. After her daughter's first birthday she extended her work schedule considerably to accommodate her caseload.

Alisa leases a Fremont building with friend and colleague Beth Terrell. Her office sparkles with sleek, custom-designed maple desk and shelves designed by award-winning architect Carolyn Geise.  For the first time in her career she is able to concentrate nearly all of her time on her passion, aviation law. She is clearly not only happy but deeply fulfilled by her work, which is “flourishing.”

Ninety percent of Alisa’s cases now are aviation, her first love. If she can discover why a plane went down or malfunctioned and provide some peace of mind to surviving family members, while making it safer for others to travel, that’s satisfaction. She is currently counsel to the plaintiff in a case against Boeing for toxic fumes released in the cabin on commercial aircraft. According to Alisa, the problem is that the air drawn in to pressurize the airline cabin sometimes becomes contaminated with jet engine oil. An additive to this oil is Tricresyl Phosphate, a known neurotoxin. This air is unfiltered and undetected as it circulates around the cabin throughout a flight, injuring an untold number of travelers and crew members every year.

Alisa is driven by her belief that we must leave the world a better place than we found it, and that it is important to follow our passions and take risks, even through our fear.

Though she has come a long way since her days with Harry, her understanding of matters of life and death, and empowering of those who have suffered loss of life or health have been threads of truth that have prevailed for Alisa and her clients.

Women Lawyers Thriving in Their Own Firms: Joleen Hughes

Joleen Hughes greeted me with a big smile at the door of the Celtic Swell, a charming Irish pub in West Seattle. When I sat down with her for a lunch of Irish stew and cornbread, I discovered a woman who makes things happen. She loves music. She loves travel. And she loves to make things happen against the odds, in a big way.

Though her father is a lawyer, Joleen started out determined to make her way in the world without going to graduate school. How did she end up co-owner, with her husband, of the Celtic Swell, and owner of the Hughes Media Law Group as well?

Remember, Joleen loves music. A loyal and fervent Beatle’s fan, she began putting on rock concerts from her dorm at the UW, where she was an RA. While there, she met some of the movers and shakers in the Seattle music industry and after graduating from UW with an advertising degree she jumped in with both feet, soon working in the management office of bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam (before and after they got big record deals). Soon she was also the booking manager at the premier rock club in Seattle during the "grunge years", RKCNDY, all while representing up to eight bands, for whom she negotiated various music contracts. By age 24, she’d left RKCNDY to teach Concert Production, History of Rock and Roll, and Artist Management at the Art Institute of Seattle.

At the Art Institute, her friend Kevin Davis of Garvey, Shubert and Barer (and Sir Mix-A-Lot’s lawyer), was a guest speaker in her Artist Management Class, and he suggested she become an entertainment lawyer.  While studying for the LSAT, she took a break from music and  worked in the Dean's office at Bastyr University, where she prepared for, applied and was admitted to Seattle University School of Law with a scholarship, before she told her family or friends. (Her dad beamed with pride when he found out.)

Joleen’s love of travel was boosted by a summer studying law in Florence, Italy (why didn’t I think of that?) and then travelling throughout Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and England. More about travel later. Back in Seattle, she was offered a legal internship at the start-up company RealNetworks (the company that invented audio/video streaming technology). Her boss and mentor was Kelly Jo MacArthur, who had come from international business law firm Sidley Austin in Chicago (where the Obamas met each other).

As one of the first employees at RealNetworks, after graduating Cum Laude from law school, Joleen's internship turned into an in-house position where she moved up the ranks to Senior Counsel.  While at Real, she had a full client base, often responsible for 60 to 100 deals at a time. She supported Real's consumer products teams in the music, sports, games and media fields as well as marketing and events.

And she loved her work, using her “street smarts” from her music days in negotiating some of Real's most prolific deals  with music companies (major labels, publishers, manufacturers, artists) sports leagues (like NFL, NASCAR, PGA Tour, NBA), media companies (like AOL, BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC/Universal) and technology providers.  She was part of the team that put together the first legal music initiative (MusicNet) and put together the first VOD subscription model in the movie industry, after spending two years helping major movie studios get comfortable with the model.

While at Real, Joleen says her boss “Kelly Jo was an unconditionally supportive mentor who empowered us all, based on her belief that by surrounding yourself with the best, you become the best.” And she found her co-workers at RealNetworks to be, without question, among the best lawyers she has ever worked with.  "My colleagues at Real have the highest integrity, but are also extraordinarily intelligent, talented, funny and supportive."

In 2000 and 2001, Joleen went traveling again, this time repeated visits to Ireland, Scotland and England for several weeks with her best friend, touring the country and falling in love with the people and the creative energy. Two years later in Seattle, on St. Patrick’s Day, Joleen met Gareth Hughes, who had arrived from Armagh in Northern Ireland many years before.  A late night of talking led to their first date at Mt. Rainier, and they have not been apart since!  After marrying a year later at sunset on the beach in Wailea, Maui, they decided to build an Irish Pub. Why? Remember: music, travel, and making things happen against the odds.  "It was Gareth's lifelong dream to own his own pub, and I fully support him in this effort." 

They found their spot close to their home on Alki Beach while walking their Siberian Huskies, Finnegan and Foley, and they proudly opened the Celtic Swell in July 2004. 
With Gareth fully in charge of running the day to day operation of the pub, Joleen left RealNetworks to take a break and to help Gareth with the pub as needed. But, within a few weeks she was not only being recruited at a couple of large law firms in Seattle but for several in-house positions at other Seattle companies.  Additionally, she was also asked to do a legal project for a former executive at Real.  Faced with a dilemma, she decided to take the project, test the odds and open her own solo practice.  A year later, she was introduced to another attorney who had just started a new practice and they merged their firms together.  When they parted ways, Joleen and the associates of the firm became Hughes Media Law Group or "HMLG" (www.hughesmedialawgroup.com). 

Coming from Real, Joleen's most important objective in setting up a private practice was to put together a team of talented lawyers with in-house experience and an extra helping of integrity.  "While at Real, I worked with amazing attorneys and it taught me a lot about how to conduct yourself.  We didn't "fight" over work or take credit for other people's work - it was a real collaborative team effort to just concentrate on doing great work for our clients.  It was an amazing place to develop my legal chops.  When I left, I was shocked to learn that colleagues outside of Real had different experiences at law firms."

So, for Joleen the challenge was to create a firm that provided the same level of attention to clients that in-house lawyers provide while helping them manage their legal budgets and keep costs reasonable and predictable.  "I am absolutely inspired by my clients, it doesn't matter if they are just starting out or have established businesses - I am in awe of entrepreneurs and feel a kinship with them.  Lawyers are service providers - and I think it is important to always remember that.  It is what drives me every day."  Unlike many lawyers, Joleen knows what it is like to take her life savings and invest it in her own business and how scary yet exhilarating that can be. 

In other words, Joleen doesn't take the fact that a client is choosing to spend their hard-earned money on legal services lightly.  She insists that both she and her associates think of themselves as "executives" on her clients’ teams. First, it is imperative that they meet with a client (at no charge) to get an understanding about everything in that clients’ business, from “the toilet paper they buy to their biggest deals".  Next, she and her team work closely with their clients to develop an overall legal strategy for the business.  This could be initially helping negotiate a deal, developing a template, setting up a company, conducting an audit of their intellectual property - or for many - becoming their de-facto  "virtual in-house counsel" team.  This approach allows Joleen and her team to form deep and lasting relationships with their clients and help set legal budgets to facilitate their business goals. Her clients at HMLG are located in Seattle, Los Angeles, and the Bay area and include content production studios, music technology , web, and content, and game developers, advertising agencies and platforms, children's product developers, artists, health care platforms, product distributors, and social networking sites.

It is important to note, that starting and running new businesses is not easy, and Joleen has certainly learned a lot over the past few years.  "In starting a restaurant and law practice (both within the same year!), I have certainly encountered a few speed bumps along the way, as anyone must expect when they decide to open their own business.  But it is absolutely worth it.  I have learned an incredible amount, not just from the good experiences, but mostly from the experiences that have tested my character."  Philosophically and practically, Joleen believes that every one of her experiences in life and in running her businesses has made her a better person, and a more compassionate attorney. 

Looking back to her own roots, Joleen recalls that when she was 12 years old, she went camping with her friend's family on May 18, 1980  on the Toutle River near Mount Saint Helens when the mountain blew.  She will never forget the ash, the grey covered “death” floating in the river after the eruption, and the feeling of coming so close to losing her own life.   “I think that experience was a defining moment for me, because it imprinted in the very fiber of my being that that you can never let anything or anybody stop you from achieving your goals with honesty and integrity. You are the creator of your own universe and each day is a gift.”

Joleen’s story not only inspires me to do what I love--it reminds me that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Women Lawyers Thriving in Their Own Firms: Tahmina Watson

 
Tahmina Watson (on left) and Jane Faulkner

I first met Tahmina Watson through King County Washington Women Lawyers (KCWWL).  Her email signature caught my eye because it said Pinky's Shoe Bags, a product that Tahmina had designed for sale because of her own love for shoes. My curiosity was peaked.

When I finally met her in person, she not only had gorgeous shoes, but her inner beauty matched her outer looks.  As I discovered through her leadership on KCWWL (she is president-elect) and my interview with her, Tahmina is someone who brings her own integrity, sparkle, brilliance, determination and big heart to everything she does. 

She just opened her own immigration practice, Watson Immigration Law, in Seattle this January (2009).   This is the story of her journey and her inspiration.

Tahmina dreamt of becoming a barrister from the time she was 5 or 6 years of age. Though she was born in London, her family was from Bangladesh.  Her father was a barrister and her mother- her true inspiration, was a housewife.  When she was young, her grandmother sent her a jute bag that she filled with books for her trips to the prestigious British Courts with her father (an immigration lawyer).  Dressed in robes and white wigs, the barristers held a magical appeal for Tahmina.  When she was 8 years old, her family moved back to Bangladesh because of her father's wish to be of help to the country. She made her way through the schools there, eventually mastering Bengali as they moved from the capitol of Dhaka to a smaller town, Bagerhat. She recalls with fondness the cultural practices that were so strong there—singing, dancing, performing and the traditional music.

Ten years later, Tahmina moved back to London where she eventually attended Brunel University.  Even though her Muslim family had been quite liberal, Tahmina blossomed in the college setting.

She graduated with an undergraduate law degree from a program that had required her to spend a year of her education working in the field of law.  She worked at a small High Street firm in general practice including immigration and family law and at the London Regional Transport Authority, but was still not clear what area of the law she liked best.

A year later, she had graduated from the Inns of Court School of Law. She was then faced with finding an apprenticeship (known as 'pupillage') to become a barrister--quite a competitive process, there were a thousand applications for every one position!  

Undaunted, Tahmina found pro bono work including a position at the Disability Law Service, stemming from her passion for disability issues gained when she had helping disabled children just after college.

Tahmina took a very challenging client and her case to an agency hearing to win her disabled child some accommodations. Tahmina’s confidence was buoyed not only by her ability to calm the client mother but also because she convinced the agency to give the client’s child some help. 

Because of her outstanding work, Tahmina was recommended to another job with the Independent Panel of Special Education Association (IPSEA), where she drafted documents to help parents of disabled children get assessments and proposed solutions for their children.  She found the work to be very rewarding and shortly after this, she was given an apprenticeship position with Bridewell Chambers, in London.

Tahmina worked very hard during this time, shadowing and assisting a barrister supervisor ('pupil master') for six months, then handling her own cases during the second six months, including an occasional felony. (Yes, she wore a white wig and a robe.) 

During her second six-month period of apprenticeship, Tahmina decided to move to the US.  She came to visit a relative in the Seattle area after completing law school and met Tom Watson, her husband, on a blind date.  They managed a long distance relationship as Tahmina completed her pupilage in London, commuting to Seattle regularly. 

She then moved to Seattle in July 2005 and started another series of pro bono jobs as she studied for the New York Bar Exam (the only one that she could take without a US law degree and that had reciprocity with Washington).   Through a chance meeting on a plane with a woman board member of the NW Women’s Law Center (now Legal Voice), Tahmina got a internship there.  She felt great support as she learned about legal issues such as Title 9 and reproductive rights that were not issues in England.  She also clerked for Judge Ricardo Martinez where she found the federal system to be more like the English courts.

Starting in July 2006, Tahmina began working for her immigration lawyer who had just started her own firm. She did not intend to become an immigration lawyer at that time, but to her surprise, she discovered that she was really well suited to the practice and she formed a partnership.  (Her father, also an immigration barrister was quite proud of her choice.) 

Tahmina is multi-lingual, has her own immigration experience and enjoys the complexity of the law and the personal nature of the factual aspects of each case. She loves the way in which immigration cases are like a puzzle, where it is important to fit in every factual, procedural, and statutory piece.  As you can tell from her history, she also has a natural capacity to stand for those who are in disempowered positions.

This January (2009), Tahmina left her partnership and started her own immigration practice.  She never envisioned herself as a solo practitioner and was nervous at the thought, but she liked the freedom of being her own boss and had faith that things would come together.  With the encouragement of her husband, she took the plunge and her first week in her new practice, she had 15 calls.  She is making a profit now and has hired a paralegal.

Her advice to others?  If you had told her she was going to have her own firm a year ago, Tahmina would have said you were crazy.  She is so glad now that she took the risk.  She has learned that where there is a will and the desire, there is a way. And, if you ask, support will be there for you.  If fear of failure is all that is holding you back, “Go for it,” says Tahmina with a sparkle in her eyes.

In addition to the KCWWL, Tahmina is active with WWL, the Asian Bar Association and the South Asian Bar Association.  In Tahmina’s ongoing dedication to giving back, she is an active volunteer for CHAYA, a nonprofit organization serving South Asian women in times of crisis and need, and to raise awareness of domestic violence issues.

Women Lawyers Thriving in Their Own Firms: Pam Cowan

Pam’s office feels like another world—one infused with the serene and beautiful Asian art she loves. Warm and full of life, Pam walked me down the hall introducing me to various paintings and photographs. Each came with a story about the artist—former clients, friends or people who have taken a stand for their beliefs through their art. Pam is like that—filled with stories about her family, her travels, and her choice of “right livelihood” through her immigration practice, Buddhism, and art. When I left, I felt as though she had woven a fascinating tapestry from the strands of her life and work.

I met with Pam to discover how she had come to start her own immigration law practice 25 years ago. Known today as Cowan, Miller & Lederman, her firm is considered one of the premier immigration law firms in the Pacific Northwest. Her partners are Steve Miller (her husband) and Kevin Lederman.

Why does Pam love immigration law? The strong relationships she forms with her clients, the international contact, and the “right livelihood” aspect. Pam helps people come to the United States—people who have a deep desire to change their own lives, reconnect families, and contribute to the U.S. economy.

How did Pam land here? After graduating from college at Stanford, Pam and Steve went to Asia as volunteers. They taught English in Taiwan and Indonesia then meandered around Asia, finally ending up in  Katmandu, Nepal, where Pam found her love—Tibetan Buddhism. She considered becoming a Buddhist nun, yet a Tibetan lama told her that she would go back to the United States and that she would have three children. (Yes, both true.)

While in Katmandu, Pam, in a wave of emotion, wrote to Harvard and UW law schools where she had been accepted for admission and withdrew her applications, convinced the legal profession was not for her. Returning to Seattle (where she had grown up), she considered getting a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies but was daunted by the language requirements. A Master's in psychology? That required a year of statistics. The default? Law school, of course. The week before law school was to start she met with Dean Hunt, who remembered her missive from Asia vividly. He told her that if she paid the $50 admission fee, he would take a gamble and admit her as an “interesting” addition to the class.
Pam never looked back. Graduating at the top of her class in 1977, she went from a federal clerkship back to Asia (with a two month old son), where she and Steve were the first couple allowed to “split” a Fulbright fellowship - they taught criminal law at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. They then stayed for a second year, while Pam worked for a private law firm  in Indonesia, before she returned to Seattle as Perkins Coie’s fifth woman associate.

When Pam had her second son, she knew she wanted to spend more time with her children. She designed a part-time policy which Perkins Coie agreed to try out. When she returned after a nine-month leave however, she worked on an immigration matter that she enjoyed more than her large corporate law cases. It felt exhilarating, she said, to meet with individual people and get them a benefit that was truly meaningful - a chance in many cases for them to raise their families in a true democracy and a chance for the United States to benefit from their significant skills.

That was the moment she took the plunge. She knew that immigration law stimulated and satisfied her as a lawyer and a person. She felt it was a practice that she could excel at on her own "terms" - a boutique area of law where she could be the "best" in the city without the traditional backing of a large law firm.  She started her practice above "Magic Mouse Toys" at First and Yesler, with a partner, a typewriter and a telephone. From the beginning, she decided that she would work three days a week, and she has kept that commitment to this day. Her initial partner left shortly after they started, and Pam was officially the owner of her own practice.

Several months after opening her doors, she had her third child, a daughter, and because of her commitment to a three-day workweek, she was able to balance care for her children and for her new practice.

Because most of the large firms did not have immigration lawyers, they were glad to send Pam business in these early days. She hired another lawyer to be there the two days she was not, and finally she hired a second paralegal. And Pam’s firm kept growing, first moving to the Seafirst Building on Fourth Avenue and eventually to her current space at 1000 Second Avenue.  Pam now has 17 people at the firm, including five lawyers. She honors others’ work choices the same way that she honors her own, and many of her employees work on a part time basis as they raise their families.  Few employees leave - her first paralegal has now been with the firm almost twenty years!  Her mother, now 85, still does some of Pam’s bookkeeping.

Clear about her priorities and what was important to her, Pam took five trips of around three-months each with her family, taking the children out of school in their younger days to travel to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia; Turkey, Egypt and Israel; Tanzania and Kenya; France and Italy; and to the national parks in the western United States. Pam continues to make travel a very HIGH priority and takes significant time off (sometimes with grown children) to explore Asia and South America.  Still engaged in her Buddhist practice, she recently took a month-long pilgrimage back to the Tibetan Buddhist Center she had visited in 1973.  Since she continues to work three days a week, she now watches her granddaughter one day a week which balances work with the very best aspects of family life!

Pam is humble about how well her livelihood suits her personality. She enjoys the complexity of immigration law, the people, the high stakes for the immigrants and their families, and the management side of running a small business. She works with large companies to help them fashion immigration strategy and meets interesting people from all over the world. Pam’s smile and easy presence reflects a livelihood that integrate her mind, heart and spirit.

Failure and Imagination: Bookends for Success

Flickr

Many of us will be attending graduation ceremonies this spring.  I love to listen to inspiring commencement speeches and found this one by JK Rowling (Part 1) from 2008 at Harvard.  She focuses on failure and imagination, her own formula for success at finally writing the novels that she dreamed of doing when she graduated from college.

One of the best lines in her speech, is "There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction." (This is my gift to my mom for Mother's Day!) So you have a choice when you feel like you have "failed."  You can blame, regret, and go to a place of shame, or you can look "failure" in the eye and thank it.  "You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships until both have been tested by adversity.  Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won and it has been worth more than any qualification I have won." (Part 2)   Facing your own fear of failure or feeling that you have failed will lead you into the lion's den, where you will discover your courage, imagination and deepest values.

 Rowling goes to the heart of the matter when she tells us that imagination is not only the source of all invention, but that it enables us to empathize with others whose experiences we have never shared.
Quoting Plutarch, she offers, "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.  We do not need magic to transform our world.  We carry all the power we need inside ourselves...  We have the power to imagine better."  (Part 3)

She urges all of us to move from "failure" through imagination into compassion for others, and to use our voices for others, especially those who have no voice, who are powerless, and who have less than we have.  So when you feel as if you have failed, look inside yourself for your owl, your broomstick and your wand. Then pull them out and pass your gifts on.

Susan Boyle-Giving Voice to Our Dreams

Photo of Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle is now a cultural phenomenon in the trend of online sharing of inspiration and humor. I recommend that you watch her performance on You Tube (Britain's Got Talent show) at least several times as a personal growth tool.  When I first viewed the clip, I felt deeply moved by Susan's clear passion, her childlike openness,  and her deep gratitude at creating such an impact on the audience and the judges.

What can we learn from Susan about giving a voice to our own dreams?  She tells us that at age 47 she is pursuing a dream of becoming a professional singer that she had since age 12. She does not let her dream die.  Her passion is fiery ("cheeky") and true. If you watch Susan through the clip, you can see that although she is nervous, all parts of her are aligned and committed.  She does not hold back. Her courage simply shines.  The song flows through her as if she is a clear vessel.

What was your passion at age 12?  How often do we create goals without the fuel of passion, wondering why it is so hard to achieve them? We forget that the "how" and "when" are not up to us.  If we trust the intelligence of the field, the timing will be perfect.

Her vulnerability is powerful.  She shares her nervousness before the performance, and at the same time claims her intention, "I'm gonna make that audience rock!"  When she forgets her words on stage, she is not flustered--she just nods and moves on.  When the audience laughs at her age, she wiggles her hips as her way of joining the joke.  She does not take the scorn of the audience personally and when they cheer her, she smiles at them and blows kisses at the end of her song.  She is  present with the judges, never racing ahead but simply greeting each Yes with excited gestures and a glowing smile.  As she wins, she thrusts her fist in the air and blows another kiss, giving us the gestures that we are all feeling inside.  Backstage, she is moved to deep emotion and gratitude.  To the point of tears, as we cry with her.

Her humor and childlike qualities of openness capture our hearts and take the wind out of any criticism or defense.  As Amanda Holden, one of the judges told her, "We were all being very cynical.  I think that's the biggest wake-up call ever. I just want to tell say it was a complete privilege listening to you." That says it all.  When someone finds their passion-fueled voice and expresses it with grace and courage, it is a privilege to witness.

True Meaning of a Valentine

The women in the King County Washington Women Lawyers  have continually inspired me. Why?  Because of the ways in which they have supported pro bono work and have given back to the community, from programs like YWCA Girls First program , the Women’s Jubilee Center, to the Domestic Abuse Women’s Network (DAWN) .  KCWWL  always invites its members to bring new causes to the organization for support.  I have gotten involved in a number of the projects because I felt moved by what I saw and heard from the members.  As Tahmina Watson and Theresa Torgesen said in one of the KCWWL newsletters devoted to public service, “We feel privileged to have both the knowledge and skills that are powerful tools when used to help those who are often unable to help them-selves.  It is more than just a sense of responsibility that motivates us to give back to the community.  There is a feeling of immense satisfaction that comes with helping some-one who truly needs you.  We cannot think of a better way to contribute to the goodness of society….  Find your own path and encourage your colleagues to either join you or blaze a trail of their own."

In thinking about their commitment to service, I was reminded of a video about Jayesh Patel that I saw on my favorite video site, Karma Tube.  To me, giving back in your own community, from the heart, should be the theme of Valentine’s Day!!

  "This work is just a drop in the ocean," Jayesh observes."But a teardrop of compassion changes everything." So says the founder of an organization catering expressly to the 4500 residents of a slum community in Ahmedabad, India. In a remarkable walking interview with a man who had never before agreed to appear on-camera, Patel shares a simple philosophy: give everything to whatever comes up in a moment. "No ambition--mission!" he advises with a smile. "Don't stretch, never stretch. Wherever you are is the best time for you, whoever you're around are the best people for you. That's living in the present."

Patel speaks to Ghandi’s statement that the biggest problem after the Independence would be heartless intellectuals.  He notes that the only way to make a difference is to connect head, heart and hand in harmony.  As he walks through the huge slum, he poses an acronym for WALK: Witness nature and all that you see as you walk, Accept circumstance, whatever comes your way, Love your life and Know yourself--as you do the first three, you come to know who you are and why you are here.  Instead of being a leader, he suggests that we become ladders, encouraging others to develop themselves. My wish for you on Valentine's Day is that you find the intersection of your passion and your heart in helping others.

Living and Growing in the Place of Unknowing

Transition and change are gifts, if we are open to receiving them as such. The bright side of fear of transition is a childlike curiosity about the unknown. Once we know our fear, we can choose to respond to the unknown from the curious and open parts of us. It is in the place of “not knowing,” that new ideas and possibilities are born, that imagination, creativity and life intersect. And with a spirit of inquiry, rather than fear or control, we can discover our own wisdom and creative wellspring.

How often do we shrink or contract in the face of change or transition? How often do we avoid risks, refrain from coloring outside the lines because we are afraid of the “consequences,” go to that place of fear inside, rather than the place of curiosity about the unknown?

When we are in fear, we are living in a state of stress. What happens then? Neurochemicals in our system cause our heart to race, our breathing to become shallow, our mouth to dry, and the thinking and reasoning part of our brain to shut down. Our perspective shrinks, and our muscles tighten—we can see only what is right in front of us. We may want to fight back, run away, or, overwhelmed, freeze.

We each have an internal panel of triggers connected to childhood experiences when we did not feel safe. For some, the big trigger is financial worry, for others, fear of loss of relationship or connection. Fundamentally all triggers are about safety, security, or feeling seen, accepted, and loved—our core needs. As we get to know our own “trigger panel,” we can anticipate when we will get triggered and begin to notice what happens in that moment. As with a two-year-old child, the biggest gift we can give ourselves in those moments is a time-out. Even a “bathroom break” may bring space into that moment for you to begin to observe your own reactions.

I use centering when I need to take a break. I love Wendy Palmer’s approach to centering, which I’ve included in the Practices part of this page so you can try it yourself.

What does centering do for me? It brings me home to my Self. The voices in my head are, for the most part, very young children. The fight/flight part of my brain is basic instinct. When I connect to my Self, I connect to the observing part of me, who experiences the world in sensation and curiosity, not the feelings or emotions that color the sensations.

Recently, I was triggered when I felt that I was not being heard in a relationship. When I centered, I could see that I reacted to what I perceived as resistance by resisting back. I actually experienced the sensation of resistance in my belly. As I stayed in center, I realized that I was reacting to my own perception, not some objective reality. And, it did not matter whether I felt heard by that person or not, as long as I knew in myself what I wanted and what my boundaries were (what I was willing to compromise). I could meet my own need to be heard, by listening to and standing for myself, not against another. I remind myself, if I bring my attention to resistance, I will create more resistance. If I bring my attention to what I want and desire, I will create more of myself. My energy always follows my attention, so choose wisely.

Once you begin the practice of creating that space between your Self and your reactions, you make space for new possibilities.

Let’s imagine that you are sitting across the table from the unknown future after having lost your job. Your first reaction was fear, and now you are centered and curious. You may still feel the fear, but you are in touch with the part of you that is connected to a loving source, where there is no fear. At this point, you can enter into a dialogue with the unknown. Wendy Palmer calls this the Spirit of Inquiry.

A conversation ensues. Self asks the unknown, “I wonder what it would be like if I trusted that you held something wonderful for me?” Self notices what it feels like to let go of the battle for control and rest in this place. When Self listens carefully, deep inside, there is a voice that answers, “Relax and trust me.”

M.C. Richards, one of my heroes, communicates this artfully. She was a leader in the community of avant garde thinkers and artists who started the Black Mountain College of Arts in the late 1940s. She tells a story about leaving Black Mountain and moving to a new community house in upstate New York. In a dream, she entered the garden of the house where she saw a strange-looking three-eyed figure on the compost heap. She asked it, “What happens now, what next, why am I here?” She heard the figure reply, “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you.” M.C. laughs when she mimics the figure: “It’s cookin’ on the back burner. You just hang in.” And sure enough, things fell into place.

M.C. tells us, “All that matters is being able to experience life and to be guided by the things that please us deeply. The soul is fed by what pleases us deeply.”

This is what the unknown offers us. A place to let go of “how” and embrace what brings us life. Bring the fear with you. Give it a cup of tea and laugh together. For there is only this moment, where anything is possible.

References:
Richard Kane and Melody Lewis-Kane, M.C. Richards: The Fire Within, DVD (Sedgwick, ME: Kane Lewis Productions, 2003)

Wendy Palmer, The Intuitive Body: Aikido as a Clairsentient Practice (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1999)

International Coaching Week--PSCA regional conference a great success!

The Puget Sound Coaches Association just held it's first regional coaching conference near Seattle, WA to coincide with the International Coaching Week. The conference theme was Coaching:Creating Conscious Choice & Change/ Learning and community-building for individuals and organizations.  There was a great turnout and the presenters and keynotes were inspiring and thought provoking.

There was never a dull moment.  Sandra Anne Taylor, best selling author of Quantum Success,  opened the day with her talk on how our consciousness creates our reality. Tip: laughter is the only activity that sparks all four quadrants of our brain, so laugh to shift what you create!!  Vikki Brock closed the day with a dynamite exercise so that we could discover our core values and look at our legacies.  At lunch, Pat Williams inspired us with stories about his new project, Coaching the Global Village. 

One of my favorite presenters was Gail Larsen. She showed us the power of reconnecting with our own experiences as we share them with the audience.  Using the Four-Fold Way, by Angeles Arrien as the basis for her approach, we were invited to identify our medicine and our message as the foundation for our work in the world. Just being in Gail's presence was transforming!

Let Your Light Shine in Service to Others

Martin Luther King defines greatness as the willingness to serve.  "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's "Theory of Relativity" to serve. You don't have to know the Second Theory of Thermal Dynamics in Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant."

This message resonates deeply in these times when all of our hands and hearts are needed to heal the world.  I have a dear friend, Loma Smith who embodies this message.  An award winning photographer, she is also a mentor to everyone she meets. Because of her inspiration, my son is now pursuing his own photography.  www.anglesontheworld.blogspot.com

Loma’s approach to her work and the world is to “love em up.”  When you are around Loma, you feel great about yourself-the possibilities seem limitless.  She serves in the truest sense of the word by giving unconditional love to everyone she meets.  Her clients shine as they reflect her light back into her camera.

Enjoy her images today-let them inspire you to find ways to serve from your heart and passion.