Welcome to #JoyReads

One of my true loves in life comes in the form of printed and bound sheets of paper containing the inked words poured from the minds and experiences of the author. As a former English teacher, reading and discussing books has become a must in my life, so book clubs become very important!

I am starting one here – for us. We will build and develop it along the way, but I cannot contain my love for books and their incredible content any longer. Please join me as I share with you this part of my soul.

The Book of Joy will start us off! Follow along to learn why this text has the gravitas to kick off this community. No – it’s not just that the title has the word JOY in it OR that it’s written by the curious combination of a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Jew OR that it tells the tales of two epic humans OR that I finally understood what joy truly is – or can be! Perhaps it is all of that, but it is certainly more than just that.

This text is not based on happiness – though much of the narrative is told through laughter and humor. It is not about suffering – though their tales are riddled with tragedy. It is truly about the joy they find and the joy they share along the way despite life’s encounters.

In this text, we read the revealed humor, insight, and faith held by his Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They share their experience with suffering through exile and persecution, yet you can truly hear the laughter they create in their 7-day meeting to discuss joy.  What we find is that suffering is indeed inevitable, but our response to the suffering is up to us. We also see that the antidote to suffering is built on compassion and generosity.

I have now listened to this text and read it – both hold great value in the experience. Through this book, we are invited to a sacred space – not one that is held for the highest of esteem but one that exists for all of us. Joy is not a result of external or extenuating circumstances like happiness often does, but it is, as they call it, our birthright.

This book has become one of my top gifted books, and today I invite you to check it out!

Much Love, 

~M

Step Into Coaching: You are Worth it!

I remember the first time I heard about a life coach. I actually won a gift certificate at a fundraiser, and I think I gave it away. I am rather certain I spat some of my coffee out when I looked it up. I thought it was interesting but highly unnecessary – I had friends to vent to, colleagues to banter with, and my brain to brainstorm life’s encounters. I also had a career in Social Work, Education, Event Planning, and Business which made me feel as though I had it all figured out – I knew people and strategy which means I knew myself.

(Any chance this sounds familiar?)

Well. That didn’t last long. Nearly a year later I was working with a coach through my career in manufacturing (my funky resume is below if you are curious…It’s been a journey for sure). I was skeptical, but I was also rather relieved to find a safe space – a conversion – I could hold sacred for who I was and where I wanted to go. I was quickly and utterly hooked. 

Now. It was not always pleasantries and the kumbaya stuff one might think of this new agey career (although I would be remiss to say I don’t do anything without a little pleasantry and kumbaya stuff), but the work was meaningful because the risk to remain the the same – to remain stagnant – was more unbearable than my fear of change.

The work was fascinating to me. I was able to express my wants and frustrations, but instead of dwelling on those glitches and building a strong, negative narrative, I was encouraged to construct a plan that I was then held accountable to. I found myself in places of great success and places of great frustration, but I found out that I could both seek what I want and manage where I am. I also found out that the best service one can offer is to themself – not in a self-ish way – but in a way that allows our lights to shine brighter so that others may, too.

I am a teacher and a healer at my core. As an educator, my mission was to empower my students to explore and embrace their best selves. As a coach✨, my mission remains the same. I don’t claim to have the answers for you individually, but I bring you real questions and insights because you already have the answers waiting to be explored without judgment. 

My job as your coach is to assist in finding new perspectives, share hard core accountability coupled with compassion, and empower your authenticity to glow✨. I feel you. I see you. I got you.

People I work with find more of themselves through an authentic light, become grounded while building momentum, build a willingness for vulnerability in our sessions that transcends into their personal and professional lives, and celebrate with a sense of humor and humility. We will explore what you are tolerating, and what you are willing and able to do to incorporate more joy into your life. We will laugh and cry and challenge and celebrate this crazy, beautiful life!

There’s no secret sauce to how we make change – There’s only the journey. Here is a snapshot of what we will do: 

  • We start where you are and celebrate your strength for showing up for growth.
  • Establish a clear vision aligned with your authentic values.
  • Identify available and motivating opportunities
  • Face obstacles head on to get ahead of it roadblocks and excuses
  • Build an actionable and engaging plan
  • Evaluate and celebrate glows and glitches. 

You are officially invited to JOY✨! Give yourself permission to glow✨!

Please like my pages across social @MyJoyCoach, follow along, share it with a friend, and make some room to turn up your spirit volume with Joy, Inc!

Much Love,

~M

Racing, Yoga, & Parenting (Repost)

This originally was written in for the Grace UCC Newsletter for the Parenting Column. It was written in 2015, but the message rings true today. Please enjoy a trip down memory lane with me as we are reminded that life’s journey is all about the experience along the way – the learning, the bumps and bruises, the glitches and the glows, the experience of life.

Just recently I drove a race car.  Like a real – NASCAR – racecar!  It was a bucket list item added years ago – long before I was married – long before I was a mom.  When I was young and adventurous and confident, I decided that I wanted to drive a racecar.   I was totally intimidated, but I went in to it knowing that I would push myself as far as I believed I could, and then I would push a little further.  I didn’t drive quite as intensely as the others, but you would never know it from my joy.

That night when I opened up my journal to insert the proud check mark, I looked through the list and started to laugh when I read, “Learn Yoga”, in my definitive, declarative handwriting.  I was going to “learn yoga”.  I laughed because with my perspective today, I know how ridiculous it is to think one can “learn yoga”.  It is a practice – a thing you do every day.  A thing you learn again every day.  It is a practice coupled with confidence and mistakes and insecurities and growth.   It is a joy.

For me, it was separating the idea of learning a task (aka – mastery) and practicing a task (aka – effort) that suddenly made me great at yoga.  I didn’t need to master the pose, the style, and the depth because the essence of yoga – perhaps life – is to keep pushing, keep strengthening, and keep breathing.   I began to understand that the wobbles and the frustration were a practice that may never be perfect but the effort is always redeemable. 

You see – parenting is so very much like yoga.  Not only do I often parent while wearing my yoga pants, but the concepts are so very similar.   We have to practice.  We are always practicing.  There’s no Superbowl or World Series of parenting or yoga.  We simply continue to grow and develop – to be our truest selves and hope it is enough. 

I struggle though to extend that mindset of acceptance of who I am to other aspects of life.  I hear the call to wake up each day and with acceptance for yesterday and dedication to do better today, yet somehow my expectations are so unforgiving.   I have always been hard on myself, but when I suddenly had two precious lives under my watch, I wanted nothing more than to be the very best.   I make myself crazy trying to meet the unfortunate (self-imposed) demand to be perfect, flawless, and balanced.  To be fair, I am so very proud of the job Chris and I are doing in bringing up our two amazing children, and I am so thankful that he can balance me out!

I put so much pressure on myself to get it right all the time – the first time – every time.  How have I neglected myself the opportunity to learn as I go?  How naïve to think that I didn’t need to practice being a great mom – every day.   I find I don’t want to accept in myself my shortcomings as a parent and am unbelievably hard on myself.  We are hard on ourselves as parents.  We expect ourselves to get it right all the time. 

I am silly. 

We are silly.

As a kid, one of the household understandings was very simple, “as long as you are doing your best, I will be proud.”  As I try to pass this wisdom on to my kids, I question the authenticity of my position.   I want them to know that working hard and challenging themselves is what creates us and moves us; however, it is not always easy, nor will it guarantee success.   Practicing is often dirty and frustrating.   

Each day I want to be a better parent and refrain from outbursts, wash fewer dishes, answer the first time they call me, put down the phone, and actually be with them.  Under one perspective I see this person – this mom – scrutinizing each personal foul and kicking the dirt at each bump, and then I see my two children (Brayden-4 and Eden-1.5) and know that I am modeling the actions my children will one day recreate.  Yet I am trying to teach them to work hard and accept themselves for who they are.  The contradiction is alarming. 

Titus 2:7 tells us to “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity and dignity.”  It so clearly calls us to practice in a way that demonstrates goodness and grace.  We have to remind ourselves that there’s true beauty – true grace – in the bumps in the road: They bring with them growth and an opportunity for grace.   As in yoga, we stretch and stumble and breathe and accept it and then stretch more: We must do so with parenting. 

The hard truth is that parenting is painful – it is hard.  Yes.  BUT – The pain is a sign that we becoming something more.  I see it during each stage where I finally understand them and the next moment they throw a curve ball – they change.  They are unpredictable, and the frustration is a reminder that our children are growing and developing and becoming more.  Their development is the most amazing thing I have been blessed to bear witness to.  It has been the greatest blessing and the greatest challenge of my life.  And it is my responsibility to teach my children that they have immeasurable value and can find and give grace everywhere. 

We will do this by accepting within ourselves our flaws, forgiving ourselves of these flaws, and embracing where we are in our journey.   We will show them with our actions, our beliefs, and our words.  Grace UCC’s precious motto reads, “No matter who you are and where you are on life’s journey, you are fully welcome here.”  Each time I read this I am warmed inside with a tremendous amount of acceptance and grace, for the words are truth without question.  It is this same feeling and these same words I want my kids to embrace, so I need to begin embracing them for myself.   

So parenting is a whole lot like yoga.  It requires me to take the time, take the breath, and take a chill pill.   We will not get it right all of the time, but when we expect ourselves to learn parenting or learn yoga, we are denying ourselves the growth within the journey.  When we look at the bumps in the road, we miss the changing of the seasons and beauty in change.   I am learning to get back in the racecar (metaphorically…for now) and push myself as far as I can, and then to push a little further.   Find the patience for it demonstrates grace.  Be forgiving as it opens a door for growth.  Laugh a lot for joy feels good on everyone.  And show up tomorrow with integrity and hope!

I tell you all of this for one simple reason – I have chosen to write this column.  It is a stretch for me in the balance of life, but this column is going to be a display of my practice as a parent.  Some will be rather insightful and others will likely make you scratch your head in wonder, but I am going to embrace this practice in parenting, life, and writing.   My only qualifications for writing this are that I love my children immensely, and I am willing to try new things.  To some I may be spot on, and to others I may be way off, but the truth is mine, and that makes it the very best truth I know. 

A favorite sermon of mine is one where Pastor Dan calls us to “Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude”. It is an attitude I need to be reminded of frequently, so each month I will end with an “attitude” in case I miss the mark above. So mine for this month is this: I will work to be grateful for the growing pains of parenting for they are signs that we are all becoming more. I will allow myself to practice parenting and release manifested demands. I will forgive myself and simply do my best each day with integrity and grace. I will laugh.

What will yours be? And as your Life Coach, how can I help you practice in a way that allows your best self to shine? How can we welcome more grace into your space?

Much Love,

~M

Day #1 – Hidden Treasures

Today is Day #1. Philosophically, everyday we awaken is Day #1 – a chance to renew hope and back it with action – everyday offers us the gift of a new start. But today is a special Day #1 for me. Today I let my hidden treasure fully out of the box – today I fully commit to helping you find yours.

I resigned from my full-time position as VP of Marketing of Fimbel ADS to devote all of my energy to fulfilling my life’s purpose: empowering others to shine their best light, for this is the only way I know to change the world. I have been practicing my craft for the last two years while balancing my ‘day job’, and the balance has shifted in favor of Joy, Inc. – in favor of you! I knowingly watched my light fade in a hampster wheel attempt to serve others, and while the days were sometime hard and overwhelming, the growth and the opportunity to learn were tremendous.

We so easily get buried in the doing of the day to day that we forget what we are doing it for. We lose perspective and purpose. We lose our desire for the hidden treasure. And when we lose this, the world loses with us. 

In her book, Big Magic, Liz Gilbert (@Elizabeth_Gilbert_Writer) shares her insights into the topic of exploring what’s inside us all. At one point in the book she says, “I happen to believe we are all walking depositories of buried treasure.” This quote hits home her thesis quite nicely: Fulfilling the life you’ve dreamed of requires the magic inside of you to be released.

I will add to that: Doing so is the way we bring enough light to outlast the darkness of today’s world.

It is ambitious, but it isn’t impossible. In Michael Franti’s song, Gloria, he sings to us, “When many little people in many little places do many little things then the whole world changes.” This doesn’t happen playing it small inside the rules of others, it only happens when our big light shines.

This is the ripple effect at play, and I can only imagine the work that can be done if more people felt wholeheartedly themselves. Consider the conflicts and monotony that would be reduced – consider filling the world with your light.

In this coaching practice, the goal is to bring your hidden treasure to the surface – it is to find joy and to give joy. You and I will build a relationship based on trust, accountability, and collaboration, and then we will build a rolling plan. We do this by identifying values and desires – we start where you are. This will include an exploration of what you are tolerating and what you are willing and able to do to step beyond the obstacle. Together we will put behaviors behind the hope, and together we will evaluate, celebrate, and navigate your next best step.

Here are the hard facts, however…

  1. There is no magic pill or process to finding your authentic self as it is yours uniquely. No one ever before on this great planet has ever walked your journey. No one could ever tell you how it should be done. 
  2. I do not have the answers for you. I certainly can offer my advice! But that wouldn’t be authentic to you, and that would get you nowhere. What I do instead is offer you questions, accountability, and support that will require your truth to lead the way.
  3. Growth takes time. Ask an oak tree. Growth takes time. It also takes commitment and nourishment. But more importantly – it takes initiative. I spent 39 of my precious years thinking I had to be perfect and sacrificial only to find I was withering away. Through this practice, I continue to regrow the mindset and the behaviors and the joy that serves me and others. But growth takes time.
  4. You are going to have to feel your feelings. This is a hard fact for many as we spend much of our life trying to ignore our feelings – move through them. But, my friend, your feelings are signals, and we need to listen. We do not need to act on all of them, but we have to be aware they exist. Then…hang on to your hats…you will need to dig up some vulnerability and address those that are holding you back. But do not fret…I will be with you the entire way. 
  5. This one may be the most uncomfortable one for you as it deviates from the narrative we tend to hold, but it is the single most important thing I can share with you: YOU ARE WORTH IT. You are so worthy of loving yourself. You are so worthy of finding your joy. You are so worthy.
  6. It is on you to take the first step. Go back to #1. No one on this planet can tell you when it is time for YOU to shine, for that blessing and burden fall on your shoulders. Reaching out to ask for help might seem unheard of, so consider it like this: If it isn’t initially for your sake, who in your life might benefit from a happier, healthier, more confident and creative version of yourself? Do it for them, but don’t be surprised when it becomes about you!

If you are feeling the pull to explore what’s hidden inside of you and ahead of you, let’s talk. I gladly offer a complimentary consultation to share more about the work we will do, how I got here, and where you would like to see this collaboration take you.

Today I took the next step toward my most authentic self (thanks in great part to wonderful coaches I had along the way), and I would love to take you along my journey by formally inviting you to Joy, Inc on Day #1. 

I am only a message away, and your hidden treasure is not out of reach!

Much Love,

~M

The Myth about Balance

Growing up I believed in all the things: Santa was the maker of Christmas joy, the tooth fairy was practically a stealthy Tinkerbell, if I swallowed chewing gum it would remain in my belly for 7 years, and shots weren’t going to really hurt…it was just a prick. I believed fervently in the reality of these beliefs – these truths were truer than true. I was a kid.

As time passed on, I realized (with fervor) the error of my belief system: Each of these truths turned out to be merely a myth. My parents, our church, and our community were the true makers of Christmas joy, and my parents also picked up the role of tooth fairy (which I have learned isn’t the easiest of roles to fulfill) and diminished my hope that a glitter dripping, floating fairy was hanging out every so often and cleaning up my unneeded teeth. I learned that gum does not in fact reside in the comfort of my belly for 7 years, and I learned that chewing gum was actually really bad for you and overly frequent use would inspire a visit from the aforementioned tooth fairy. And finally, I learned that shots at the doctor do indeed hurt, they are not merely a prick, and a dessert treat at the end just isn’t enough for the torture.  

My myths were busted. I recall learning the truth about Santa – something I am desperate to protect from my own children (10 and 7). I remember the disappointment and idea that the whole world had lied to me – that my parents had lied to me. All of this was as true and as real as the myth I once held about Santa’s devotion to my life, my behaviors, and my happiness. My let down was real. But something else was too – the joy and the happiness and the generosity all came from somewhere and were VERY real. But it came from a lot of work and devotion and effort. My parents and their devotion to my life, my behaviors, and my happiness was the real truth.

But then I began to question the validity of other beliefs I continued to hold as an adult. One that springs up again and again is the myth about balance. Have you heard it? The one where we encourage one another to maintain balance and to keep life and its abundant expectations in a form of stasis? We are told we should be able to maintain calm and perspective and carry the many burdens that can throw us off our balance game. We are told that success comes from keeping equitable the responsibilities of our health, our family, our jobs, our communities, and our world – all while keeping the bills paid, the house cleaned, and the Pinterest inspired cupcakes impeccably decorated – all without complaint.  We are told a lot about balance. 

Much of this is simply a myth.  Yes – it all sounds so aspirational and lovely, but without understanding what balance really is, we will find ourselves in our own form of stasis when we were given the gift to be uniquely dynamic, powerful, and ever changing.

I am a huge fan of the ocean. There is so much power and authority in the ocean, and maintaining balance in Posiedon’s domain is a super important aspect of our geological demands. Each day, just as the earth turns, the ocean manages its tidal balance by ebbing and flowing and adjusting and looking rather rough and looking rather placid – this is what balance looks like for the ocean. One thing it never, ever, ever is, is static. It maintains its balance by changing, shifting, growing – by enduring discomfort in the lows and celebrating determination in the highs. The ocean shows us with unexpected unknowns what balance is. 

Webster defines it as “a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions”, and I cannot disagree with this. It isn’t the dictionary that got us all mythed up with respect to balance: It is us, our culture, our expectations. These are the culprits of our balance myth. We are not meant to hold it all in one place. We are not meant to remain still as we keep all of our plates from spinning out of control. We are meant to be in motion – to be under, around, within the motion.

During my black belt training, the mantra for our dojo was “Find the Right Balance”, and this has stuck with me since then. In martial arts, nothing stays static – we are always in motion. Shift from this leg to that leg OR this part of the leg to that part of the leg (think weight on the toes versus weight in the hip to push forward). We shift to deflect attacks with our arms and our bodies as we dodge and move the inflicting energy away from us. We maintain our strength by never standing fixed in one place unchanged but instead to keep the energy moving in anticipation of what is coming our way. We maintain balance because we have momentum moving forward – despite our precarious steps or our missed kicks or the hits we undoubtedly took. We keep our balance only from adjusting with the weight. In each moment we were required to find our balance knowing that the next moment would require a new place of balance.

In this time, balance was the most striking thing for me. I was teaching and coaching and getting married and socially active and all the things. I was busy. I was learning. And I was overwhelmed in so many ways. I wanted to be a great teacher, wife, daughter, neighbor, friend, and individual, but I struggled to stand there and hold it all balanced.

This permission to ‘find the right balance’ was so critical and it replaced the previous mantra of “maintain balance”. I understood that balance was not a place you go with a cute bubble on a GPS map, it was, in fact, the journey. Finding balance IS the journey.

When we replace the myth that we must hold it all without wavering with the belief (that can then bore behaviors) that to find balance we must expose and endure the imbalances of our situation and thinking. We must be ready to change.

For me this looks like releasing the need to be (or at least appear to be) perfect. This looks like releasing judgement when I stumble (literally and figuratively) and eliminating self-criticism as I manage my spinning plates. These are not easy releases – especially at the holidays – but easy doesn’t cut it when it comes to being authentically me. When I think of taking it the easy way, I think of my daughter’s Easy Bake Oven. It’s packaged well and appears to have it all; however, the result is always crap. Tiny little, tasteless results, but they were easy, and they look so cute.  

I have learned that hard isn’t always fun, but it is usually worth it. There certainly are times to take the easy way when it comes to navigating traffic and ordering groceries online, but these I would label as smart conveniences – not managing the magnitude of life’s bullets. Doing the harder things may create some current inconveniences but will allow for longterm, repeatable satisfaction. 

The work I do in my coaching practice is grounded in identifying our core values, establishing targets for our journey, and building practices to guide us there. The work I do with my Light Seekers (a little moniker I use for the bright souls I work with), allows us to identify the myths we hold true and then bust through them even when they bring some disappointment and change. The difference is, that we do not have to do it alone. We do not have to bust up Santa’s game leaving the afflicted to mourn alone. We can shift the perspective from, ‘someone took my Santa’ to ‘I was given a new source of hope and purpose’. This shift is the key to finding joy. This shift allows us to see not what we believe but what truly is and truly can be. 

As we enter the holiday season and the joyful chaos that accompanies it, let us find the right balance. Let us not find comfort in our disjointed stasis. Let us reach within to find our light so that we may shine it out for the world to be illuminated.

Balance is not a place to be or a way of being or a fixed location – Balance is the resilience to adhere to our authenticity and wellness despite the factors influencing us. Balance is always there waiting for it knows that chaos is, too. But finding the right balance is a reminder to remain in motion and to remain in hope that we can do these big (and little) things, and we can always find joy within them.

Much Love,

~M

An Invitation to Joy✨

Are you ready to turn up your spirit volume? Perhaps you have a friend who needs help shining! Please join me in my mission to cultivate JOY in our world. You are formally invited! 

I am a teacher and a healer at my core. As an educator, my mission was to empower my students to explore and embrace their best selves. As a coach, my mission remains the same. I don’t claim to have the answers for you individually, but I bring you real questions and insights because you already have the answers waiting to be explored without judgement. My job as your coach is to assist in finding new perspectives, share hard core accountability coupled with compassion, and empower your authenticity to glow. I feel you. I see you.

The only way I know to change the world is to shine my light on others so they may in turn enhance their light while brightening the whole world.

Click the image below to listen in to get to know me on the I’m my Sista’s Keeper Podcast

People I work with find more of themselves through an authentic light, become grounded while building momentum, share a willingness for vulnerability in our sessions and in their personal and professional lives, celebrate with a sense of humor and humility. We will explore what you are tolerating, and what you are willing and able to do to incorporate joy into life.

“Joy is resilient, enduring happiness despite dark times.” ~The Dalai Lama

I lost this resilience when the story of the moment took dominance over the story of my life. Despite my love of learning and words, I lost power over the words I allowed to be truth in my experience. It was my work with coaches that helped shift the narrative and align my behaviors with what truly matters to me.

Happiness is not joy. Happiness relies upon external and uncontrollable circumstances. Joy becomes accessible when we apply the right perspective, acceptance, and compassion for ourselves and our encounters regardless of the external forces.

There’s no secret sauce to how we make change – There’s only the journey.

  • We start where you are and celebrate your strength for showing up for growth.
  • Establish a clear vision aligned with your authentic values.
  • Identify available and motivating opportunities
  • Face obstacles head on to get ahead of it roadblocks and excuses
  • Build an actionable and engaging plan
  • Evaluate and celebrate glows and glitches. 

One of my favorite reminders comes from Dr. Jean Oursler, The Results Queen and reminds us all of the power of experience and perspective: “We failed all the time as kids, but we called it learning.” Change isn’t about getting it right the first time. It is about cultivating the desire and determination to try again, and I have your back with celebration, bandaids, pom-poms, and JOY!

Let’s get your 2021 Vibes aligned and turn up your spirit volume by emailing me, Michaela, at bringjoytolife.mb@gmail.com.

Much Love, M✨

Joy, Inc. – Intro and Background to Michaela Birdyshaw

I set out to create a space to find joy and give joy – To fill that space with trust, collaboration, and personal ownership. Utilizing my background in Social work, English Education, business, & a beautifully messy life, I am eager to walk with you through the challenges and celebrations of your journey.

My mission is to find joy and to give joy WHILE navigating this bumpy road we individually and collectively travel. Solutions don’t always mean earning the golden ticket or moving through life without obstacles, but solutions allow us to move forward regardless.

I know there is a solution for everything, even if we stumble over it, through it, or around it. There is indeed a solution – a way to move through. I invite you to join me in this. Join the belief that your glow is already alight inside of you. Join me in believing there is a solution for everything and then putting it into play! 

Joy is not the absence of suffering, nor is it merely the experience of happiness: Joy is the journey we create in between. To give you an idea of my journey, here is a rather peculiar resume I recently created. 

We are so much more than just one thing. We are so much bigger than a characteristic or a job or a gender or a race. We are all of these things and so much more to be discovered. So I write this list to show you that I know change. I know it looks and feels uncomfortable, but I also know it brings us the greatest joy when we allow it.

Resume: 

  • Glow Coach: Joy, Inc. 
  • High School English Teacher – 7 years, Wilmington & South Port, NC
  • Social Worker: Resident Care Facility , Methodist Home for Children
  • VP Marketing @ Fimbel ADS; 4th generation Garage Door manufacturing
  • Black Belt: Okinawa Kenpo Karate
  • Wedding Officiant, “Do it for the love of it”
  • Epic Events: Event Planning, Owner, Professional Celebrator
  • Wife to Chris and Mom to Brayden and Eden who spin my head and fill my heart
  • Daughter to Tim & Marianne and Ed and Judy damn grateful for it
  • Sandwich Artist, Mixologist, and one hell of a dumpster dinner maker
  • Assistant Food & Beverage Director at The Blockade Runner, Wrightsville Beach
  • And my husband says I have “Geekswagger” which in my world is cool and noteworthy:).
  • But the best thing I have ever accomplished is realizing my authenticity and sharing it with the world. In this service to others, I get to be my best self which in turn can change the world for my family, my community, and our collective future

Not entirely sure what working with a coach looks like? Curious (and maybe a little anxious) about reaching out?

Listen in to this podcast to squash the fear.

In my candid conversation with Carla of the I’m My Sista’s Keeper podcast where we dive into what Joy is and answer listener questions in the same, easy way I approach my client sessions. 

In any given moment, Joy is waiting. The choice is yours.

Don’t be afraid to ask for it.

Much Love, 

~M✨

Instagram: @myjoycoach

Facebook: @myjoycoach

Email: michaela@myjoycoach.com