Since winning the Miss Junior America competition in college, I’ve been speaking, coaching and training at the intersections of career and leadership development, public speaking, women’s empowerment, the generations and social change. I earned my BA in women’s studies and minor in theatre from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and my MA at New York University’s Gallatin School in interdisciplinary studies—focusing on gender, leadership, social change and theatre. After a three-pronged career leading professional development programming for a nonprofit, creating original theatre and teaching public speaking, women’s studies and theatre for multiple universities, I decided I wasn’t fully embracing my purpose and making a big enough impact. So I went to Coach U, got certified by the International Coach Federation (ICF) and decided to serve the world Alexia-style—living and dishing my holistic recipe for changing the world through service to self and others and launched my company, Catalyst for Action.
I’ve had the honor of lighting it up with groups ranging from the National Association of REALTORS® and New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) to the Step Up Women’s Network and StartingBloc Institute for Social Innovation. I’ve gotten my gab on with CNN, NBC, Diversity Executive, the Wall Street Journal and Mint.com. I’m the author of the book, Awaken Your CAREERpreneur: A Holistic Road Map to Climb from Your Calling to Your Career and I’ll be busting out my second book next spring through ASTD Press, 90 Days, 90 Ways: Onboard Young Professionals to Peak Performance. I’m proud and privileged to serve my local Las Vegas community as President of the Nevada Professional Coaches Association, President-Elect of ASTD-Las Vegas and as an Advisory Council Member for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce’s Vegas Young Professionals. And perhaps my greatest source of pride is serving on the Board of Directors of Family and Child Treatment (FACT) of Southern Nevada, a nonprofit organization that helps Las Vegas families heal from the cycle of sexual and physical abuse.
Rest assured, while I have engineered a life I am very proud of, my professional and personal life hasn’t always been rainbows and cupcakes. I’ve overcome a tongue thrust, sexual abuse and depression so debilitating I thought surely it would swallow me whole. I’ve broken my left arm three times and my tailbone twice. I’ve worn headgear. Accidentally peed on stage. Post graduate school I owed more in student loan money than I made in the course of a year. And for much of the first quarter of my life, I was just plain ole angry and cranky.
As I have bulldozed through the good, the bad and a whole lot of ugly, I have learned that fear is the source of most unhappiness and under performance—at work and in life. The good news is that it is a habit and can be reshaped. While you can’t ever let go of it once and for all, you can keep it at bay through moment-to-moment choices to think, feel and act with courage and integrity. When you give yourself love and forgiveness during the hiccups to confident and inspired living and performance, you create a richer life and serve the world at a higher level. I love the life I have designed for myself, and I want others to live their purpose and share their light.
I know through the deepest recesses of my intestines to my innermost gray matter I was put on this equal parts wonky and wonderful earth to help people play a bigger game in their lives and in their companies. By shifting hard work for smart work, making gratitude their attitude and reframing every obstacle into an opportunity to learn, grow and forgive, my clients and audiences make beaucoup bucks without forgoing beaucoup positive lasting impact. They learn how to walk into any room feeling confident and competent. And most importantly, they know that their legacy is not what they create but what they leave behind.
Whether I’m working one-on-one with an emerging or evolving leader, speaking my speech on stage or under studio lights or facilitating a corporate training or retreat, I challenge people to uphold the highest vision of success for themselves and create a powerful story of who they are – and are in the process of becoming – so that they can align their values, strengths, resources and enthusiasms to create lasting positive impact in their corner of the world.
If you have greatness you and your colleagues, community or campus have yet to tap, or are ready to stretch to the next level of success, I invite you to subscribe to my Obstacles Into Opportunities. Start taking action today with my FREE The 7 Biggest Obstacles to Success and the Sinfully Simple Formula to Shift Them Into Opportunities. Explore the current ways I inspire people to learn and grow. And connect with me online.
