I'm Wendy Billie, an Affiliated Coach with Feroce Coaching. I have significant experience as a career and life coach , working with people who are either seeking advice on career transitions or ways to grow their current career. In addition to coaching for Feroce, I currently coach executives in-house at a Fortune 50 company. I have also provided advice and career counseling to MBA and undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota.
I have a master's degree in Human Resources, which provides me with a great background from which to provide you with resume advice, negotiating skills, and interviewing advice. Like you are about to do, I took steps to reinvent myself because I was stuck in my career and needed a career change. I left a high-paying salary as a traveling occupational therapist, but didn't discard the psychological training of my first educational degree. I sought out a coach, read books, took career tests and discovered who I was as it relates to career.
I used my skills and life learning in my reinvention process. I am now in a successful career that fits me and pays even better than the one I left. I enjoy working with people in the process of discovering who they really are, including through sophisticated career-personality assessments, from my career coaching office in Washington, D.C . It's been a true passion of mine and a way to continuously challenge others and reinvent myself in the process.
Selected List of Career Coach Training
Emotional Intelligence (May, 2005)
DISC Profiling (June 2004)
Situational Leadership (May 2004)
Coaching to Capabilities Meets Performance Management (March 2004)
Building Effective Relationships: Marshall Goldsmith (June 2003)
Transition Coaching (April 2003)
Get Fit for Coaching (March 2003)
Executive Coaching Conference/Conference Board NYC (January 2003)
Management II: Leadership Practice in Action; University of Michigan Executive Business School (September 2002)
Immigration Conference/Employment Law Group (May 2002)
Orientation to Management (February 2002)
Civil Treatment for Managers (October 2001)
Targeted Selection Recruitment Training (June 2000)
Why Am I a Coach?
I can't remember exactly when it started but I do remember hearing a statement similar to this on more than occasion: "I don't know why I am telling you all of this. I am usually a very private person." These were words I have heard from a strangers' mouths, at a bar while watching the Packers beat the Vikings, or during a 1:1 candid informal and/or business conversation discussion in my office at work. I suspected then and know now that I have an ability to not only listen but truly hear.
I have also been aware that I am a highly intuitive person and over the past 10 years this has become more apparent as I understand more clearly how to use my intuition. The realization came to me after a lot of introspection, thought-provoking conversations, and extreme mind and body activity. Part of my introspection included taking a three-month sabbatical in the woods, solo but for my dog, to find the solitude I needed when my life began to spin out of control, yet this approach is not always necessary or recommended for everyone. I also tapped into the expertise of coaches for my own personal development and continue to do so.
It seems that I have been a relationship and/or career counselor to my friends and family forever, but I never really thought about why they sought out my advice. I came to realize that my gift in this life time is to take my intuition, listening skills, and other learning and to aid others in finding their true bliss. Ultimately, that is why I am a coach.
My Interests, Hobbies, and Personal Passions:
Fitness -- ranging from pursuit of my own health and wellness and serving as a catalyst for others. Thus, I have taught yoga, kickboxing, and aerobics. I enjoy running (with my furry dog companion; Java), motorcycling, and spending significant time in the outdoors. I like spending time conversing with positive people or listening to people who may be struggling in life and who could use help finding awareness so they can discover bliss. I have no problems telling others what I see and engaging in open discussion and debate.
Reading -- anything from sappy romance novels to thought-provoking autobiographies to self-improvement books, which is a good thing since that is what I am committed to assisting others with as a coach.
Traveling -- but that usually includes moving since I've moved 15 times over the past 10 years. Some call me a gypsy but I prefer to refer to myself as a free spirit with focus. Of course the focus shifts, but that is another way in which I find satisfaction in my life; continually reinventing me. I can't forget my love of music, journaling, and finding serenity in the midst of chaos.
I have acted as a career coach in Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Montana, Ohio (Cleveland), Upstate NY, Florida, California (Monterey and San Diego area), Texas (Dallas), and Wisconsin. |
