SWIHA Blog

Deena Gregory has always been a “seeker”—a woman with a self-described “natural curiosity about self and spirit” who in quiet moments often found herself gazing upward at the night sky with a deep sense of awe. Yet, after years of looking to institutions—from organized religion to the halls of academia—for the answers that could only be found within, Deena got caught in a spiritual drought, convinced that there was nothing else bigger “out there” than the humdrum of everyday human life.

“With a new reliance on my own thinking came what the Buddha referred to as ‘Dukkha,’ or suffering,” she explains. “I have always been hailed as a ‘critical thinker.’ Now I laugh and say, ‘Yes, as soon as I start thinking, things get critical!’”

For those who have had the pleasure of seeking support from Will Zecco, it will come as no surprise that he has the business savvy to back up his coaching!

Will has served as an entrepreneur and business owner for over 40 years, starting with the creation of his very first business in 1982, which he opened up with a $10,000 personal loan secured with the help of his parents. He was able to pay that loan off within two years, secure a second loan, and continue to expand the business— testament to his larger vision and gift for growth.

Yet, the road to entrepreneurship wasn’t always easy. “It was a learning curve all along the way,” Will reflects. “When I look back on it now, I wish that I had someone who knew about running a business to go to for support. I was not that fortunate and made mistakes along the way.” Will eventually ended up closing the business, and for the longest time, he felt that his venture had been a failure. With the passage of time, however, Will was able to see the whole endeavor as a series of lessons. “Expensive lessons,” he laughs, “Yet, lessons nonetheless!”

What do Holistic Nutrition and Life Coaching have in common? According to Janet Lee, the answer is almost everything! “Holistic Nutrition is looking at the whole person,” she explains. “Life Coaching does the same.”

Janet Lee’s unique style of coaching is deeply personal to her. Her own challenges, experience in therapy, and, ultimately, finding her own wellness led her to pursue her passion for healing. Janet’s philosophy is that mental and physical health are profoundly interconnected. From how we interact within our relationships to what we choose to eat, it all affects us in a much bigger sense than we may initially realize. “I firmly believe in the power of a decision, she shares. “One small decision can transform a person’s life. It has in my own life many times!”

You may have learned to lift weights, run sprints, and do lunges under the guidance of a personal trainer at your local gym… yet where do you go if it is your mind that needs to get in shape? Perhaps to SWIHA Life Coaching Graduate James Patrick, who is serving as a Lifestyle Trainer with a focus on what he calls “personal training—both inside and out.”

Five years ago, Christine Iring’s life was falling apart. She had hit rock bottom and was unsure what was around the corner; she knew only, with the guidance of a therapist, that she had a responsibility to “do her work.”

And do her work she did! Over the course of three years, Christine steadfastly examined herself, even as the world continued to swirl and change around her. This period of transformation culminated in Christine moving to the Phoenix area and enrolling at SWIHA. “As soon as I walked in the building, I knew I found my new home,” she confides. “My first class was Life Coaching Foundations. Between the vibe, the instructors, the people that understood ‘my language,’ and learning the protocol for transforming lives, I knew this was part of my calling. I was on my way to being a life coach.”

Everyone’s heard the phrase, “The stars simply aligned.” For Life Coach and Astrologer Daune Thompson, that phrase is not just a beautiful metaphor— it’s part of her life coaching philosophy! Daune’s favorite tools to use with her clients are intuition and, of course, the stars.

Daune specializes in two very different yet interconnected kinds of coaching—relationship coaching and corporate coaching—both which require strong skills in learning how to connect with others while not losing authenticity. From business mergers to executive growth, from finding a life partner to starting a family, Daune relishes watching her clients achieve their greatest dreams.

For Sharon Rose, 2017 was the year of identity crisis. She had finished school and launched her business, yet was still suffering from a sense of disconnection. Nothing was resonating. After so after working up the courage to leave a truly toxic relationship, to deconstruct her old life coaching website, and to overhaul her personal image, she was out on her own again... and suddenly faced with the opportunity to become her most authentic self. 

I went from a focus on 'becoming the goddess' to 'I AM the goddess,'" Sharon explains, "and it all started unfolding out of awareness. 

Sue Shapiro of Spirit Knows Life Coaching doesn’t have a “one size fits all” client, so it stands to reason that she would not have one tool for every coaching circumstance. Her client base is varied and includes individuals who have left abusive environments, who have gone through near-death experiences, or who are seeking spiritual deepening. 

Like many coaches, Sue was led to pursue coaching in these three niches because of related events in her own life. Sue left an abusive environment many years ago, which created a unique set of challenges. "Over time, your capacity to hold onto some semblance of self-love and self-compassion erodes and you feel very broken," she explains. "The right life coaching tools have the ability to allow someone to see the opportunity to re-gift themselves with that love and compassion while accepting that they were always whole and complete instead of broken. It's like a re-birth of sorts." 

We pass hundreds—even thousands—of people on the street every day, usually without a second look. Yet, that’s not quite the case for Ann Marie Rubertone, who possesses the gift of “seeing” energy. "I can see and feel the frequences that others radiate, so I understand 'energetically' what they are thinking," she explains. 

This powerful form of seeing and empathizing perhaps evolved from Ann Marie's difficult and diverse background, which includes overcoming domestic violence, abuse, infertility, multiple sclerosis, and drug addiction. Although Ann Marie once felt that she was never good enough and that she would never fit in, her journey of recovery has been inspiring.

For Tammy Coin, wellness is not a destination; it’s a magical adventure through a hall of mirrors hidden behind locked doors. Tammy also believes that the key to unlocking those doors and understanding the confusing reflections in that hall lies in developing a conscious awareness of our own life stories.

Tammy's story begins with a history of childhood trauma and abuse and complex PTSD, factors which created a strong sense of separation from other people within her... something which other survivors of trauma can certainly relate to and understand. "We often have feelings of not being enough, being empty, unseen, unheard, invisible and like nobody gets us,” Tammy articulates. “Naturally, I attract clients with similar histories. There is no greater gift than to feel seen and heard... to feel that somebody ‘gets it.’”