Empowerment in France
Treigny, France
This was definitely my most difficult assignment of the trip. I spent from Apr 13 – Apr 22 in Burgundy, France; helping Jane Morley, a British photographer with some projects. Neither of us were sure what Jane needed before I arrived. But, after helping her convert an outdoor store on her property to a summer photography studio, Jane asked me to help her with some women’s empowerment counseling. I don’t usually do one to one counseling, but I thought I would give it a shot.
Here we are taking a break at an art opening.
Jane explained that she wanted to become more impactful in both her personal and professional life. So, we talked in depth about what was blocking her progress. She worked really hard and made great progress in our time together. We worked on getting her focused on new income streams and even created a timeline for her important projects.
We did some of our best strategic planning work while walking along this lake.
We went on a walk to a local castle called Chateau Ratilly. Inside, there was an exhibition of artisan paper. My favorite part was the pigeon house. Only one pigeon was home at the time of my visit, but I liked to imagine the place filled with cooing pigeons.
This was part of the artisan paper exhibit… I think.
Pigeon House
Where are all of the pigeons?
Pottery is famous in Treigny, France. These are some that the castle sells.
All in all, the project was successful. I was worried throughout that I wasn’t trained for that kind of training. But, Jane was pleased with what we accomplished. She emerged a stronger, clearer professional and woman. I found the process to be quite interesting, but draining. I’m not sure whether this kind of coaching will be in my future. But, I’m glad to know I can do it.
Some Random Pics of France…
<!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --> <link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style> <div id="mc_embed_signup"> <form action="//gevasalerno.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=73183e1ecd188e86a82186801&id=ed1fdb1f29" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate> <div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"> <h2>Subscribe to get my Blog posts by Email!</h2> <div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div> <div class="mc-field-group"> <label for="mce-FNAME">First Name </label> <input type="text" value="" name="FNAME" class="" id="mce-FNAME"> </div> <div class="mc-field-group"> <label for="mce-LNAME">Last Name </label> <input type="text" value="" name="LNAME" class="" id="mce-LNAME"> </div> <div class="mc-field-group"> <label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span> </label> <input type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL"> </div> <div class="mc-field-group input-group"> <strong>I'm interested in: </strong> <ul><li><input type="checkbox" value="1" name="group[5653][1]" id="mce-group[5653]-5653-0"><label for="mce-group[5653]-5653-0">Loving Yourself: 7 Concrete Steps Series</label></li> <li><input type="checkbox" value="2" name="group[5653][2]" id="mce-group[5653]-5653-1"><label for="mce-group[5653]-5653-1">Personal Growth</label></li> <li><input type="checkbox" value="4" name="group[5653][4]" id="mce-group[5653]-5653-2"><label for="mce-group[5653]-5653-2">Women's Retreats</label></li> <li><input type="checkbox" value="8" name="group[5653][8]" id="mce-group[5653]-5653-3"><label for="mce-group[5653]-5653-3">Chasing Freedom</label></li> </ul> </div> <div id="mce-responses" class="clear"> <div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display:none"></div> <div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display:none"></div> </div> <!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <div style="position: absolute; left: -5000px;" aria-hidden="true"><input type="text" name="b_73183e1ecd188e86a82186801_ed1fdb1f29" tabindex="-1" value=""></div> <div class="clear"><input type="submit" value="Subscribe" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="button"></div> </div> </form> </div> <script type='text/javascript' src='//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js'></script><script type='text/javascript'>(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script> <!--End mc_embed_signup-->
That’s great, Geva. Sometimes it’s good to be challenged to find out what you’re made of. That task seemed to be up your alley too even if you didn’t have specific experience.
When I was living in Italy, I got a job in Trieste teaching Business ESL to 138 students – beginners to advanced learners. I had a few books and no curriculum. I designed each class from scratch and I had never taught a single thing in my life and didn’t have a clue about ESL but somehow I made it for 6 months and did pretty well. But like you, I wouldn’t do it again. EXHAUSTING!
Love following your adventures. If I didn’t have cats and contracts, I would do something similar for a while. Keep on travelin’ !
Thanks, Cynthia! There’s nothing like trial by fire, huh?! Thanks for following the posts!