WonderPlay Coaching

Content Advisory: This is (another) pole dance heavy post, centered around my personal journey. I am approaching the final competition in my season (Pole Theatre USA in Atlanta!) , and upon reflection, I was struck by the fact that the delicious lessons I've learned from my eagle are majorly applicable to coaching. Hence, blog post. To clarify, when I say "Eagle," I'm not talking about the feathery one. It's this one, where the Instagram hashtag is #pdeagle. (“pd” is for “pole dancing” for the uninitiated.) This is my very first one, and my teacher (taking this photo in the background) had to sort of shove my foot into my hands. I had unconsciously applied this formula in a few previous competition seasons with great success, and I am inspired to share what I've taken away from that. Finally, someone who would not only agree to teach me #pdeagle, but also said, "Oh, that's easy!" before we had even warmed up, just from hearing that I was be...

I’d like to introduce you to a tiny video clip from a final dress rehearsal . This is from my 2018 pole competition piece. Turn the sound up to hear my reaction to breaking a piece of a prop: “Sh*t. There goes that!” Unexpected result: it was one hell of a dress rehearsal run - arguably even better than the actual performance, when the props all stayed in one piece. What is possible when our best-laid plans go awry? BluesSHOUT! 2016, featuring myself and partner Curtis Ellis when we heard an unexpected lyric during our [blues dance] competition final. Who KNOWS what happened next. PC Mélanie Bert I know that I can create a Win-Win situation  out of seemingly impossible dichotomies.  And so I ask: How can life be Perfect when it seems Messy? Where am I willing to generate Perfection within Chaos? How could I see Chaos AS Perfection? I’ve collected many thoughts on this in the last few years. I was in a coaching group led by Megan T...

I'm writing about entrepreneurship (in my case, solopreneurship) today, in all of its gory glory. I find that I've hesitated to share these thoughts publicly, because my story seems unfinished to me. I suppose that's a good thing, because my story will continue after this! But it's more than that. I'm not the poster child of a “successful entrepreneur” - at least not yet. “Struggling entrepreneur” or “surviving entrepreneur” seems to be a better fit right now. I don't see myself as having “that success story of a six-figure work-from-anywhere winner” that will inspire people to quit their 9-to-5s. I do get to live an ignited life full of passion for what I do every day - and I’ll be the first to point out that that alone does not generate income. Why share NOW, then, when my career change isn’t neatly wrapped up with a pretty bow? One of my friends said it well - when we share (ok, sometimes more like admit) our challenges to each other, we humanize...

I went to a concert on Friday. I was excited to have a night out with a friend (being social! Not working!), and I was interested to see how this experience would go: this was a band I had barely heard of, but came with the most glowing praise from a friend. I hadn't planned on working, but I found myself inspired to write on my experience. The band ( Gogo Penguin ) was great. Better than great, they were incredible. They were a delicious meal for my musician brain - a stunning flow of energy with incredible creativity and precision. Their individual skill was staggering, and their partnership was seamless. Their exploration of their art and craft was gorgeous and intriguing. But this is not an essay about a great concert. It is a reflection about all concerts, great and otherwise, and inclusive of other powerful public shares: recitals, plays, speeches, shows, circuses, spectacles, protests, and everything at the huge end of the spectrum - and then on the small end, even ...