Phyllis M. Levinson

Executive & Life Coach

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About Me

There are three ways of getting to know me—through my credentials, how I live my own life, and by reading my blog, www.insightsandoutcomes.typepad.com.

My credentials:

I am certified as a Life Coach through New Ventures West, a coaching school whose certification is recognized by the International Coach Federation (ICF). I have been coaching since 2001 and am an ICF member.

My clients work in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors throughout the United States, and are typically well established in their careers. I have a great interest in and experience coaching women and minorities. Half of my clients are lawyers in private law firms.

Some career highlights are:

Since 2003 I have been the exclusive coach to the women lawyers selected for the Rising Star program at Holland + Knight, LLP. This competitive leadership program selects senior associates and partners nationwide who have a proven track record, and the drive and ability to reach leadership positions in the firm. Catalyst, Inc. has bestowed the Rising Star program with its prestigious "best practice" designation.

I launched the Baker Botts, LLP Global Women's Forum nationally. I gave speeches to the women attorneys in five of their offices in five days.

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP hired me to conduct the key workshop at their National Minority Retreat

I am an invited speaker and interviewee on coaching through various media, including a segment on National Public Radio (NPR).

Prior to coaching, I consulted with parents and schools on teaching values and ethics to children, a field known as character education. In the 1980's I was the Assistant Vice President for Project Development for a Washington, D.C. real estate development company. From 1979-1983 I was a Research Associate at the National Council for Urban Economic Development and The Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. I have co-authored numerous studies on economic development and federal policy.

Along with my coaching certification, I have a Master's degree in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in History, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Connecticut.

Who I am:

I live how I coach. I take risks and challenge myself personally and professionally, so I know firsthand that my clients have many options in moving forward.

I bring to coaching a varied career background and an array of perspectives. I've been in both the business and non-profit worlds. My careers have brought me to meetings with top corporate executives as well as with community activists. Over the years I have dealt with national policy issues as well as focused on the construction of a single building. One of my strengths is that I work on details while never losing sight of the bigger picture. I always see my clients' issues in the context of their whole lives.

I am an entrepreneur and have launched a company called "cropstix.™" cropstix™ are very short, high quality, designer makeup brushes manufactured in the USA for nearsighted women who must be close to the mirror when applying makeup. (They also make great travel brushes!) You can read more at www.cropstix.com.

I have been married for 29 years (to the same man!) and have two terrific children, ages 22 and 19. I have always been politically and socially active. Among other undertakings, I am currently the CARE Action Network Chair in my Congressional District.

My curiosity about people led my husband and me to take a yearlong trip around the world before we had children. We flew to London and, a year later, we flew home from Tokyo. We returned to the U.S. penniless, but with experiences and memories that have shaped our lives.

When we announced our impending trip to our friends and families, it was our parents' generation and older who cheered us most. Our peers were happy for us, but puzzled about why we would quit our good jobs only three years out of graduate school, during an economic recession no less. Having lived a lot of life, those older people knew the value of embracing opportunities and living a life with meaning.

I am now one of those older, wiser people.