COACHING WORKS
"Love is the basis of our existence. If we're not doing what we love and loving what we do, we're following the path of least existence"
Did you have some big dreams as a kid? I sure did. And as big as my dreams were, life has had something bigger in store. Not in the way that you and I might typically define big. Rather, big in a way that forced me to step outside my narrow viewpoint of what big meant and what life was about. Along the way from there to here, there’ve been plenty of ups and downs, successes and failures, emotional highs and lows, and everything in between.
My first love as a child was weather, my biggest fear as an adolescent was public speaking, my first degree as a young adult was a B.S. in meteorology from Penn State in ‘78, and my first career as an adult was as a TV meteorologist. There’s nothing like doing what you love the most to overcome what you fear the most.
My work in television took me to Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dallas, Texas, Austin, Texas, and Portland, Maine – all fantastic cities to live in, each with challenges unique to themselves. At the mid-point of a 20-year career as a TV meteorologist, personal, relational, and career challenges gave me an opportunity to do some serious soul-searching. Counseling was an integral part of this process, so much so that I decided to go back to grad school to obtain an MS in counseling.
They say that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. It seems that for most of my adult life, I’ve been the proverbial student, and life has been the teacher. And the more willing I’m open to what life has to offer, the more meaningful the lessons become. Being able to pay these lessons forward through my business is just icing on the cake. I feel blessed - and absolutely love what I do.
Everyone has a story. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Each person's story is every bit as interesting as the next person's. Some folks say that the devil is in the details, and others say that you’ll find God there instead.
In reflecting on how my story has unfolded through the years, one thing has become abundantly clear. Life works in mysterious ways. If we’re willing to remain open to the mystery, life will most definitely show us the way. Here's to your success!
Bob DeMers
President, Coaching Works
Right off the bat, two things happened. First, I absolutely loved being coached. I had never experienced anything quite like it – it was almost like finding the Holy Grail, truly transformational, in every sense of the word. Second, I had to have more of it, and decided to go back to school to the University of Southern Maine to get certified as a professional coach
My work with Barbara led to the decision to fold up shop with my psychotherapy practice, create a completely new business, and in 2006, move with my family to the Charlotte, North Carolina area.
My business plan was ambitious, encompassing a broad range of services ranging from life coaching to business coaching to leadership training and development. Along the way, I became a Certified WorkPlace BIgFive ProFile® Consultant, Certified ChangeWorks® Certifier (CCC), Certified ChangeWorks® Analyst (CCA), and Certified MasterStream® Practitioner (CMSP) to help augment my business development.
I’m happy to say that everything I’d envisioned from the start has become a reality. It’s not to say that this has been easy, because it hasn’t. Rather, it’s been a labor of love, which at times has been much more labor than love. The flip side is that the fruits of my labor have been absolutely delicious.
After graduating from the University of Southern Maine in ’95, I became licensed as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC), became a certified mediator, and alongside my work in television, opened up a private psychotherapy practice in Portland Maine.
My practice included working with individuals, couples, families, and employee assistance programs (EAP), and focused on career and life transition, depression, anxiety, addictions and substance abuse, interpersonal communication, mediation, spirituality, and personal growth and wellness. This was alongside my work in television, and for the next several years, I continued working in television “weather” and building a business in emotional “weather”. In '98, once my counseling practice became full-time, I left the world of TV broadcasting for good.
Making a full-time commitment to my counseling practice was one of the best things I've ever done. I very much loved the work, the people I worked with, and everything that I was learning along the way. As part of my journey, I became quite involved with the Maine Clinical Counselors Association (MCCA), and served a number of positions in the organization, including President, Vice-President, and Legislative Chair.
About 10 years into my business, I sensed something was missing, and needed help to figure this out. I decided to hire a business coach, Barbara Wilson, in 2005. She was (is) a most amazing person and coach, and then some.
