Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a training for ranch foreman and supervisors at Driscoll’s in Santa Maria. This training was not only for Driscoll’s employees, but for the employees from area berry ranches and growers. The entire training was in Spanish, which I don’t speak or understand. Despite my lack of Spanish literacy, I was able to follow along while human resource rules, conflict resolution strategies and other management issues were discussed. Driscoll’s, a family owned distributor of berries, is a leader in the industry when it comes to improving the lives and families of farm workers through…

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Last year I heard some upsetting news through the grapevine. I had written a grant for a small non-profit (annual budget of less than $100k). The grant review committee was comprised of local business leaders. I was shocked when I heard through the grapevine that one of the businessmen on the committee stated he didn’t want the group to fund the application because our overhead was too high! This was especially shocking because the organization serves 500 people per year with 1.5 staff, donated office space, donated utilities and internet, and $136,000 annually in services provided by volunteers. I’m not…

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I caught the last few minutes of a talk the other day and can’t even accurately identify the speaker. But what grabbed me was this message “By the time you come up with an idea or a concept, the universe (nature, God, the Creator, et al) is already conspiring with you to manifest it” . The big question that made my head spin is So what comes first? That destiny, fate, God (et al) already has the plan in place and created the ability or opening in me to form a thought around it? Or did I create come up…

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My dear friend, colleague and one of the most skilled consultants/facilitators I’ve ever met has officially launched his website. Mr. Bart Crawford. I am honored to be working with him. The methodology, Collaborative Coaching, is an opportunity for individuals, teams, leaders, communities and organizations to share leadership and build upon the strengths of individuals for the good of the whole. His company, Crawford Collaborative Consulting has been in his heart for several years. It has been created over the past two years. I’m so thankful to be working right along with him. As Bart always says, “We are better when…

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My dear friend Polly Laughlin Craig began her website, Horse Connection Center because she loves horses and she loves horse people. But more than either of those, she loves creating connections and hearing peoples’ stories. Her website began as a labor of love. Literally. She refused to take a dime for anyone and did it all simply because she can and she wanted a way to connect. After several years of building her site and welcoming everyone to participate, she is beginning to realize the value of her work. She got a phone call from actor/producer Ricky Schroder’s people to…

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I happy to announce that I am officially transitioning from full-time Executive Director at Central Coast Literacy Council to a consulting position. I made this recommendation to our forward thinking board of directors after a year of hard work, innovation, fundraising, partnership building and grant writing. Like any 30 year old non-profit, when I came to CCLC the organization was at the point where it had to take a long hard look at their mission (was it still meaningful and relevant?), evaluate the sustainability of long-term funders (not too many foundations funding core work these days), create a donor strategy…

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I’ve been really pondering and becoming aware of the power of our thoughts. Or more specifically the energy of our thoughts and the case for putting positive energy into the universe instead of negative energy…and understanding the role of thought in that process. I used to be someone who worried. When an idea was presented or when I saw a situation, I would come up with all the reasons why it was important to be fearful. My favorite is a child, running joyfully, playing freely and some adult (used to be me) says, “Don’t do that! You’ll stub your toe.”…

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My dream was to own a home whose energy created a nurturing place where friends and family felt so comfortable they were in no hurry to leave. And when people look around they say “This place is you Beth.” Having my first two guests here for 5 nights, I got some great feedback that provides evidence that my dream is reality. And my reality is all I dreamt. Leslie and Susan showed up in my life through Koelle Simpson Equus Coaches program. From Texas and Pennsylvania respectively, we never met or spoke prior to their arrival. I took a risk…

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Remember you ARE nature. This comment was shared at a lunchtime discussion from one of the many amazing participants at Koelle Simpson’s Equus Coaching workshop. We were talking about the work of Sage Fire Institute. June, a city gal, said that her key learning from this work was that she doesn’t have to go to the wilderness to seek nature because as Michael told her “June, you are nature”. I just loved that message.

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Today was the first day of my Equus Coaching Course with Koelle Simpson. We learned a lot about horse psychology, horse emotions, herd behavior and more. One thing that jumped out for me and felt so similar to how effect teams operate effectively was… “The heard is always assessing who is most suited in a given moment to lead the herd. They do not follow someone they are afraid of. Nor do they follow someone who is worried or in a fretful state. Rather they choose to follow the member of the herd who is most aware and clear, the…

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