Monthly Archives: November 2012

Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look

Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse group of trainers, facilitators, coaches and consultants.  Each member has a profile featured on our website and I thought for upcoming blogs I would share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.

Julie Ruben-Rodney

A lot of my alliance members came to me via personal referrals and that is how I came to know Julie.  Dorothy Lazovik had connected with Julie at a networking function and told Julie about my alliance and recommended we connect.    Julie is a veteran trainer/facilitator.  She holds many certifications including Myers Briggs, HBDI, DiSC, McQuaig and De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats to name a few.

Like Dorothy, Julie and I met for breakfast and I knew right from the beginning she was exactly the level of professional I wanted in my alliance and after checking her references it confirmed I was right.

I was able to connect Julie very quickly to one of my customers who was launching an internal college for their managers.  It was a new initiative for this company and Julie was able to support her in creating and delivering the leadership curriculum to start the program going.  That was in 2006 and I am delighted to say that relationship has continued and Julie has consistently been able to address the ongoing and changing needs of this client.

Julie is also an amazing instructional designer and was able to help a client with their internal program that was not delivering the results they wanted.  Julie worked with their internal team to redesign the program, did a train the trainer so this client was able to achieve the outcomes intended for this program.  Julie has also delivered many effective communication programs for our clients.

A few years after joining the Athena Alliance Julie’s husband Jordan also joined our alliance.  His background as lawyer and HR professional has served our clients well in many situations.  Jordan has worked with senior teams and has done one-on-one coaching.  Having both Julie and Jordan on our team has enabled me to support our clients with the level of expertise and professionalism required to deliver the most powerful  leadership programs possible.  They are a team that delivers above and beyond expectations delivering sustainable results.

Julie’s Profile:

http://webmarketingnorth.net/athena/alliance-partners/julie-ruben-rodney

Jordan’s Profile:

http://webmarketingnorth.net/athena/alliance-partners/jordan-rodney

Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look

Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse group of trainers, facilitators, coaches and consultants.  Each member has a profile featured on our website and I thought for upcoming blogs I would share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.

Dorothy Lazovik

I was first introduced in 2005 to Dorothy via Vicky Wilson (a former alliance member who has passed).  I followed my usual intake process and had a chat on the phone with Dorothy to determine fit.  Our conversation flowed beautifully and she piqued my interest as I never actually spoken with anyone about personal branding.  I knew organizations spent millions on their brand recognition, but I had never thought about the importance of congruency in how you present yourself.

We scheduled a breakfast meeting for a few weeks later.  I was very impressed when I met Dorothy and could more clearly understand what she was talking about when she said how your dress, speak and interact with others communicates a message.  Part of my intake process is that I need to experience each of my alliance partners providing their service and Dorothy was no different.

I was going through her process so I could understand first-hand what she did and the impact it can have.  The first step was an online assessment, followed by a one-on-one session to review the results of the assessment, create a personal brand for myself, look at my current wardrobe and make up.

There were no surprises in the Prevue assessment as I had done many like it before and it substantiated for me that it was a good assessment tool.  The next step is what surprised me.  Dorothy explained to me that when she spoke with me on the phone I was very warm, friendly and professional and yet when she met me she was surprised because how I was dressed did not communicate the same message as the person on the phone.  I came to our meeting in a black pinstriped suit with a white blouse and too much make up.  My hair was short and red at the time.  She felt there was a disconnect in who I was and how I was dressing. 

After that we explored what image I wanted to portrait.  I said I wanted to be known as a fun professional, which for me seemed impossible before meeting Dorothy.  I thought you could be one or the other, not both at the same time.  I was wrong.  We proceeded to have my makeup done; my hairstyle and colour changed and went to shop so she could show me the types of clothes the best fit my body type and my new image.  This was somewhat confronting to me because it meant changing everything including not wearing black!

Over the next few months I slowly transformed my wardrobe and my hair colour was returned to its natural colour and was growing.  About six months after I had gone through Dorothy’s process I met a former colleague for lunch and the first thing she said was “It’s not like it is a new you, it is more that it is the real you.”  For the first time in years I felt totally comfortable with who I am.

Dorothy has continued to work with leaders and employees to help them get in touch with their authentic selves.

Here is Dorothy’s profile: 

http://webmarketingnorth.net/athena/alliance-partners/dorothy-lazovik

Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look

Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse c, facilitators, coaches and consultants.  Each member has a profile featured on our website and I thought for upcoming blogs I would share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.

Tammy Sturge

In March 2006 a former alliance member was conducting a test pilot of a new program he had designed and invited me to attend.  The event was held in this state of the art training facility in Vaughan.  I was honoured to participate and arrived my usual fifteen minutes early.  I was seated next to a tall attractive lady, who I would soon learn was Tammy Sturge.  I recognized the name but not the face.  During our first break we started to chat and it was obvious to both of us we needed to talk more about her offerings and my alliance in a separate meeting.  We decided we would meet for a coffee at the end of the pilot.  I can see now looking back how much we both are “let’s do it now” people.

After we had been talking for a few minutes I realized why her name was so familiar, she was a seminar leader at one of the organizations where I had participated in some personal development programs.  I knew then Tammy was a master facilitator. We both left at the end of our meeting, knowing there were good things ahead.

It was less than a week from when Tammy first joined the alliance when I made my first introduction.  The customer was delighted and told me that she was one of the strongest facilitators he had ever experienced.  This company still calls her or one of her team members to work with them on various projects.  When I have a client that has really tough situations to address, I call Tammy first and she always has a relevant solutions.  A few of the programs I have had Tammy and her team help clients with include: creating and implementing strategic plans, creating powerful leadership teams, pay equity, off-site planning sessions, organizational development projects, managing change and many more.

Here is a link to Tammy’s profile:

 http://webmarketingnorth.net/athena/alliance-partners/tammy-sturge