It’s hard to imagine that Verve Leadership is five years old! The inception story is close to my heart, because it coincides so closely with the birth of my daughter. I remember being 9 months pregnant, on the phone with the Department of State of Pennsylvania, near tears because my application to register my business name had been rejected. I was hosting my first workshop in a formal company setting and I needed to have a formal business name to go along with the engagement — and DIVA Inc Coaching, the working title for my private practice, wasn’t it! I was under a lot of pressure to get everything squared away before the baby came, and I was in no mood to think of a new business name on the fly. It had to be something personal, something that invoked action and excitement, something that represented the flair and passion that I believe is lacking in leadership today. An image flashed in my mind of an old record label that was emblazoned on the back of several CD cases in my father’s collection. Billie Holiday. Stan Getz. Astrud Gilberto. Ella Fitzgerald. Music that soothed my soul and made me feel worldly and sophisticated and connected to something so much bigger than myself. “Verve!” I shouted. “Is Verve Leadership available?” It was, and so I became.
A lot has changed with Verve in the last five years. I’ve conducted workshops, launched group coaching, worked with private clients, participated in trainings, pursued certifications, achieved professional coach accreditation, continued work with my own coach. Verve has grown with me, as I have grown into myself.
One of the most notable changes as been my commitment to bring creativity into my coaching and into my own life. It has grounded me and stretched me and allowed me to express myself in ways that were at once uncomfortable and freeing. Committing to my passion for art and creativity has been one of the greatest gifts of my life, and I aspire to share that with my clients — not so much by enticing them to do art, but rather to inspire them to create whatever their hearts desire and to commit to doing that thing that brings them joy, no matter what form it takes.
What is uncanny is that years later, I looked up the actual definition of “verve”, and this is what I found:
verve noun \ ˈvərv \
1a: the spirit and enthusiasm animating artistic composition or performance : VIVACITY; b: ENERGY, VITALITY
2 archaic : special ability or talent
Chills. I didn’t know that my inclination towards creativity and art and leadership would be so well captured within a word that had lived within my heart for so many years. It was meant to be.
One of the most notable changes as been my commitment to bring creativity into my coaching and into my own life. It has grounded me and stretched me and allowed me to express myself in ways that were at once uncomfortable and freeing. Committing to my passion for art and creativity has been one of the greatest gifts of my life, and I aspire to share that with my clients — not so much by enticing them to do art, but rather to inspire them to create whatever their hearts desire and to commit to doing that thing that brings them joy, no matter what form it takes.
Verve Leadership 