Our podcast guest, Maureen Breeze talks about her creative process that lends itself to coaching. She shares the importance of building partnerships when launching a business, and how she has learned to trust her insights and be true to herself. In addition, she talks about helping her clients find their North Star. She shares some of her North Star inspirational teachers who have influenced her. One of her inspirations is Hubert Joly’s book, The Heart of Business.

Learn about the leap of faith she took and the synchronicities that took place. Plus, tune in to hear what Maureen means by a knock at the door.

Maureen Breeze is a certified executive coach through the International Coaching Federation. She is the author of three books, and has presented on the topics of coaching, leadership, innovation, and emotional/social agility at conferences in Germany, Mexico, Spain, and Switzerland. Her contact information is: https://cultivage.com/contact/

Podcast Transcript:

Joline: I would love to introduce you all to my guest at a View Beyond the Ordinary podcast today, and we have Maureen Breeze here. I had the opportunity to meet Maureen through Brooks and Nelson, and I’m so delighted you’re here Maureen. Thank you for being a guest.

Maureen: Thank you for having me.

Joline: I’d love to start, if you don’t mind, Maureen, just to share with the audience a bit about yourself. If you could just give us a background, that would be helpful.

Maureen: Sure. You know, I was somebody that always loved numbers. I loved the black-and-white world. I studied math and economics in college and was ready to sign on with either McKinsey or Bain and Company and do consulting work. And at the 11th hour, I took a sharp right turn and moved to New York City to be a professional dancer – because I’d love to dance at the same time.

And I had come into this place in my life and late in college where I found that I had experiences that I could not put words to, yet I wanted to make meaning of. And the only way I found I could really do that was through a creative process. So my intention was to go dance for a few years and then come back and move into the corporate arena again.

Well, the two years went on a much longer time. And I continued to dance for years in New York, LA, and Seattle. Had a company in Denver. And then at this point I had started a family and running a professional dance company. Was a lot like having a third child between all the grant writing and the fundraising and trying to pay everyone.

So I decided at that point it was time to wrap that chapter up in my life. And I moved into education consulting. That’s where I got into the coaching field. And we would work with universities both nationally and internationally putting coaching programs into place. But I still kept that love for the arts on the side and would continue to create here and there.

And so it’s something that’s still very much part of my life. However, I left the education consulting arena about five or six years ago and launched my business that is more based on leadership coaching across industries.

Joline: Okay, great, Marie. And did you move to Denver? Are you from Denver originally?

Maureen: You know, I am from Denver originally. I went to college in California and then went to New York City and back to LA for a while, Seattle, and then came back to Denver. So I’ve been back in Denver for quite a while now.

Joline: Okay, great. So for all of you out there, I’m from Denver originally. It’s great to hear Maureen that you were based in Denver as well. What a career change and some pivots you’ve made. You only launched your business five to six years ago?

Maureen: Yes. 2017 is when I launched it.

Joline: And it is growing by leaps and bounds, isn’t it? I mean, it’s been an incredible opportunity, I’m sure, for you to watch the growth of it.

Maureen: It’s been great , and I’ve learned so much in the process, Jolene. You know, the main thing I’ve learned is the value of partnerships, and to work with people. So I’ve taken that tact in building my business of developing deep alliances with institutions, with people, with other people in the industry, and partnering.

And it’s been a great way to bring the business to life without having to do some of that hardcore marketing work that I don’t feel like I’m as aligned with or as, you know, it’s not the way I like to work as much. So it’s been a nice way to build the business.

Joline: Well, to build those types of relationships, and I know you’ve done that with Brooks and Nelson, is definitely a great way to get out there, have support in helping launch yourself.

So in terms of some of the hurdles and challenges that you have overcome, is there one main one that you would advise to business owners that have launched a business? Anything in particular, Maureen, that you feel like, “Oh my gosh, this was such an incredible learning opportunity. I want to share it!”

Maureen: That is a great question, and my response might be very specific to my situation. For me, the challenge was dealing with the credibility issue. You go in and you, you know, in my position, I coach CEOs, I coach CFOs, I coach people in Fortune 500, Fortune 50 companies. I’ve had a very different career route. And so to be able to demonstrate the credibility of what I bring to the table and the value I bring to the table at first was pretty intimidating for me.

And yet I’ve learned to trust my experiences, trust my insights, and know that I can cross those bridges with people, and it’s getting easier and easier. In fact, I just had an interview with a global CFO opportunity. And they said they picked me because of my dance background. And I laughed. I thought, “Oh my gosh, I never thought that would be my ace in the hole ever!”

So it’s kind of fun to see life, you know, come full circle that way.

Joline: It sounds like what I’m hearing you say is be true to yourself, trust yourself, and really trust the experience that has guided you here thus far. This leads me to my next question, Maureen, in terms of your background, because what an amazing background to come from the dancing arena into the coaching field as well.

How do you bring your creativity and arts, how does that help inspire your coaching? And you gave a great example of this company selecting you because of that background. How do you feel it has added to your coaching?

Maureen: Well, fundamentally coaching is about working in partnership with someone to grow, to evolve, to move into their next step. And that journey is a creative journey.

So you might be taking a top leader of an organization that has been highly successful because they’re very ambitious and they know how to drive results. And let’s say they drive results so intensely that they start alienating people on their team. So they come to coaching to say, “Hey, I want to learn how to be a people leader while I’m also being a business results leader.”

They’re having to step into the unknown. They’re having to show up at meetings differently. They’re having to engage with stakeholders differently. They’re having to kind of align their North Star, so to speak, for how they conduct themselves in business. And it’s a leap into the unknown, and it does take a bit of creativity for them to envision themselves differently, to build new plans of action, to rely on different instincts.

And I fall back to my experience with the creative process to give language to that, to give support to that. So even though it’s not artistic creativity, it is a similar journey. And I feel that my background in that world has given me an awareness of that arc of experience and the language to help people move through it with more comfort and more ease and more trust.

Joline: Beautiful. What a great explanation. Thank you, Maureen. And in terms of your North Star, you just mentioned helping them find their North Star, has there been one specific individual or book or teacher that helped you find your North Star?

Maureen: Wow, so many. So many. So a book that I am leaning on heavily right now in terms of my business world coaching is a book by Hubert Joly.

It’s called The Heart of Leadership. He was the CEO of Best Buy, and did the turnaround for Best Buy in around 2012, 2013, and brought a very new sensibility to his work. He talked about harnessing the human potential instead of just relying on the business acumen.

He took a very different approach. And it has been super informative for me and a great resource for me to share with clients.

In terms of books that are North Stars for me, I’m very interested in some of the ancient sacred literature, the work of Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Joseph Campbell that talk about the interior journey. And it doesn’t matter if they’ve been writing from the other side of the world from centuries before or current day. It seems to be a similar process. And so that work has always been a North Star for me.

Joline: For all of you listeners out there, I will make sure I look up the book that you just shared, the first book that you mentioned, and share the title with all of you in the show notes as well, because that sounds like an amazing read.

For me, Julia Cameron – I don’t know if you’re familiar with The Artist’s Way book – was just an incredibly great guide to help see myself, even though I didn’t think of myself as a creative individual. I think you just commented that you bring creative areas into leadership, which we do. And I started to see creativity differently. So what a great lens on creativity and your sacred literature. Thank you for sharing all that information.

So cool.

Maureen: And Julia Cameron’s work, uh, very pivotal for me early in my career. Yeah.

Joline: Okay. So you’re familiar with her as well?

Maureen: Oh yeah. Have done that so many times and have found it so valuable.

Joline: So incredibly helpful. I agree. So what is next for you, Maureen, on the horizon?

Maureen: Well, you know, I’m at an interesting crossroads now, Jolene, where I’m looking at where I want to take my business and how I want to take it.

Do I want to scale it in terms of bringing in many other coaches, formalizing some of the intellectual property I have, and taking it out there on a larger scale? Or do I want to continue being at the front of delivering the work and, you know, being the face of it.

So I’m kind of at a crossroads of where I want to see the next steps.

I have a book idea in mind that in the next six months I want to play with and continue to germinate those ideas. So those would be the two things that I’m looking at for next steps.

Joline: Incredible. I’m excited to see where you take this. So I am sure one of the things you do to help in this process is just take some time and reflect before you decide to jump.

Is that one of your recommendations for others in terms of when you’re making a big pivotal decision like this, what process do you typically do?

Maureen: That’s a great question. I work to really stay aware of what is coming up for me. So I spend time every morning, just some quiet time, and usually my inspirations come from inside.

I’ll get little ideas and I take note of them. I don’t get too excited. I don’t jump on him. I just take note. And then I see.

Does that idea continue to come up? Is it a fleeting idea? Cause I have fleeting ideas. Or is it one that continues to quietly knock at the door? And if it does continually knock at the door, I look for signs of other ideas building on that.

Like this idea of this book I’ve been playing with came from one line out of the Hubert Joly book I mentioned. And he tells a story in it. And there was one line in it that I said, “Oh, that’s really interesting.” So, you know, I hold onto that and then I look for signs kind of from the universe.

Am I getting more messages that align with this idea? If so, then I know something is gestating that I will work on and maybe kind of give birth to, in terms of a creative idea. And if not, then I let it pass. So it’s not getting too over-eager with ideas, but it’s being in tune with them and watching as they come up.

Joline: What a beautiful word, “in tune.” Sounds like you’re in tune with a higher wisdom of, and you had mentioned that earlier, um, Maureen, in terms of really listening to yourself, but also going with the flow. You are going with the flow of what is coming to you and what a beautiful way to live when we live that way.

So on that note, if you could impart one message to the listeners, especially since my theme right now, Maureen, is on the topic of courage. What main message would you impart?

Maureen: So one idea is listening to your instincts, paying attention, seeing what comes up, but then opening your eyes so you’re balancing what you’re hearing and feeling internally and what’s coming to you in the external world too. And you know, kind of being tuned into both of those signals.

Then I would say once you’re getting that message pretty loud and clear inside, this is a direction to go. Taking the leap and saying, “I’m gonna just do this.” And then I’ll see what happens.

And people talk about this a lot, but it has absolutely been my experience that when I have held my breath and taken that leap and something shows up.

You know, when I was early in my career and I had been dancing, but I had never produced my own shows, and finally one day I was like, “I need to do it.” But I had never done it. I didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t know the first thing about it.

But I called a theater and I booked it and I went in and signed the contract. And then I was like, “What have I just done?” And I walked downstairs from the administrative offices into where the theater was. And it was quiet. No one was in there. It was the middle of the day.

And I walked onto the stage and I was looking around and this gentleman came out of the wings and introduced himself. And I said, “Oh, I just booked the theater. I’ll be doing a show here in six months.”

And he said, “Oh, well, do you have a lighting designer?” And I thought, no. And I didn’t really even think about meeting one, you know? He said, “I’d love to work with you.” So I said okay.

Well, he became my core collaborator. We, just two weeks ago, closed on a show. Um, together we’ve been collaborating for 25 years. And he has been my technical director, lighting designer. I would never do a show without him. But it was such a clear example of you take the leap and then the support shows up.

Joline: I love that. I just did my recent podcast about this message that Joseph Campbell, and again I’m gonna paraphrase him here, but he basically says that “where there were walls, now there are doors that open.” And when we step into following our heart, I believe, or following that calling that you just described, it’s amazing the synchronicities and support that we received that you’ve mentioned in this podcast appear magically in ways that are just incredible.

You can’t even make this stuff up. So I’m so happy to hear that you also experienced those types of magical forces coming to your aid to support you.

Maureen: Yeah. It’s, it’s almost like the design is there, but you have to step into the design.

Joline: Right. And don’t you believe too, that when we do use courage as a way to propel us forward, we almost are given the opportunity to expand the best version of ourselves.

Maureen: Yeah, absolutely. Even when it’s hard. You know, it is hard.

Joline: Right? It is not easy. Well, Maureen, I have to say for any of you out there, I would highly encourage you to investigate her leadership, her leadership webinars, her website.

You’re such an incredible motivator and teacher and instructor, and I am so grateful that you took this opportunity to join me today. Thank you for being here.

Maureen: Thank you, Joline. It was a treat. Yeah. Thank you so much.

Joline: Well, thank you. All right everybody. Thanks for tuning in.