Have you ever had one of those moments when you suddenly realize something exciting is true, so you start telling other people about it only to have them congratulate you on finally catching up? No? Just me? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time. Want to hear about it? Drumroll please…
Where I started
In 2005, I left my position as the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization in Cleveland that I’d helped to build. We engaged in community organizing to help everyday people have a voice in decisions being made in their communities. We were part of a national network of organizations, and I was well-known for my training and facilitation style. It was powerful work that I loved, but it was time to leave. I had a young child and wanted to move closer to my family back in Michigan.
My phone started ringing shortly after I left. Requests to come back as a guest facilitator, to coach organizations around staff and Board development, and to do strategic planning started coming in. Pretty soon, I realized I was in business for myself.
Since then, the business has taken different paths and turns. My specialties have varied but have always been focused on people development. In 2016, Dani helped me create workshops where we used horses to give teams an unconventional experience of professional development, and LeadQuine was born. She joined me full time in the business in 2018, and we were off and running.
Talk about a pivot…
The pandemic years made those workshops impossible to do. They were never the main work we did anyway. Dani was forced back to corporate life as I struggled to hold onto the business. When we sold our farm in 2021, we rehomed most of our herd, hanging onto just our original horse, Duke. He lives with family and a couple of mares, happy as can be. The rest of our herd does great work at Equine Escape, an organization that works with people suffering from PTSD.
In 2022, I realized it was time to rebrand. I struggled with what that would look like. I got great input and ideas from lots of people, but I had to be the one to see it. At a retreat for Women Entrepreneurs hosted by the great Molly Grisham and Lauren V. Davis, I finally saw it.
Drumroll please…
I’m the brand.
When I announced this revelation to my fantastic virtual assistants, Karen McBride and Beth McGillivary of BKM Virtual Support Services, their reaction was something along the lines of, “Ya think?” The sarcasm was heavy, but so was the love. That reaction was echoed by many others to whom it had been obvious all along.
Patnaude Coaching, the new brand, will officially launch on Friday, September 1, 2023. We’ll be pulling the proverbial trigger that day, and all the new links will be shared next week once we are sure they all work!
So, if you have a revelation, don’t be shy about sharing it with others. Even if they could see it before you could, your people will be happy to welcome you to the party. We’re all just trying to thrive wherever we land.
