Hello! I’m SB Rawz.
I’m glad you are here! I’d love to tell you a little bit about myself.
Hi there, friend!
We humans are forever crafting the stories of ourselves; what stories we tell and how we tell them define how we understand ourselves. Our stories act as our invitation to others to see beyond our fleshy bits and into our wheels and cogs.
Consider this my invitation to you, told in three stories:
The Broken Tooth
No photographic evidence is on the next page, I promise – only a story of how a broken tooth that had to be extracted gave me a painfully visceral perspective on how incredibly impactful this work that we do in the coaching collaboration can be – this work of acceptance and presence and self-compassion. Read on and you’ll see it’s also a story of the importance of having someone who isn’t sedated read the aftercare instructions. Oops.
The Longest 30 Seconds of My Life: My TEDx Talk
No, the talk wasn’t 30 seconds. These excruciatingly long moments came smack in the middle of a ten minute talk, 30 seconds in which all of the air was sucked out of the room and my life changed in ways I never could have anticipated while I waited for the adrenaline, and shame, to abate. Read on and don’t be surprised if you find yourself holding your breath around four minutes and 30 seconds into the video.
One Timeline, Two Ways
While, yes, we only live life in one direction, with time moving forward, the human tendency to keep reviewing the tape can be like a time machine where we can change even fundamental parts of our history just by telling the story differently. Confusing? Read this story to see what I mean.
Should we talk?
Talk is cheap, and this time it’s free! We know a lot of people offer free consultations that are just long, painful sales presentations. That’s not what this is. Let’s just talk and test the fit, no strings attached.
Here’s what I offer…
- An innate ability to create safe spaces for challenging internal work – work that I have done and continue to do myself – and a talent for showing people more of their own wholeness, potential, and wisdom.
- The experience to facilitate even bigger professional and life change than you might be ready to imagine.
- More than enough perspective and openness to meet you exactly where you are, however uncomfortable or messy you might be feeling these days.
- A great big, boisterous, easily-loosed laugh. And laughter? Laughter fits in everywhere.
Who have I coached?
- Founders, freelancers, and determined professionals
- Coaches, counselors, and social workers
- People across the range of sexual, gender, ability, and ethnic identities
- World changers
What do I love?
- That moment when people recognize their own wisdom, courage, and capability.
- The perpetual cycle of learning and sharing that is coaching.
- Locally-raised, thoughtfully-prepared food – including cooking. It can’t all be coaching!
10 Years!!
August 2023 marks 10 years since my first session with a real-deal coaching client!
Oh, the exhilaration of stepping into a role that fits me as perfectly as a hammock fits between two strapping trees… and then to witness as that very first client stepped more fully into her life in ways that brought forth her creative expression, confidence, and shinier contribution to the world around her. Swoon!
What’s gone into this decade of goodness?
Well…
- Over 6,000 coaching hours (as of August 2023 – that clicker turns almost every day!)
- Hundreds of hours of continuing ed on everything from Motivational Interviewing and Somatic coaching to working with impostor syndrome, mindfulness practices, and culturally-attuned approaches to support.
- A bachelors in psychology from UNC-Greensboro and certification from the Coach Training Alliance
- TONS of being coached by my talented colleagues. (After all, all of us humans can use an outside perspective… and would you trust a cook who wouldn’t eat her own cooking?)
Want to read more about my view from ten years into my dream profession? Read 10 Years & Ever-Evolving for more!
Community
We’ve created a community – your community – that is filled with people who value connection, are eager to grow, and who share a belief that a rising tide raises all ships. Join us for regular, free events that have become a source of inspiration!
Here’s the latest from the blog.
The Creative Transformation (A coaching group for humans)
You, my friend, are creative, whether you think of yourself that way or not. In this 6-month coaching group, we’ll transform your relationship with creativity so that you can let your unique shine brighten up the world!
All Up in It with Rachel Winstead, finding the learnings in teaching
I remember the first time I met Rachel Winstead (she/they) in person. I was sitting in this wonderful (though now-defunct, sadly) coffee shop inside an even more wonderful art museum in Roanoke (truly, for a city our size, it’s quite a gift of an art space). The...
White Lady Safe Words: Creating more responsible connections
This was my first contribution to the online magazine, BIZCATALYST 360. Read the original post here. Safe words are a tool used by people who enjoy play-acting danger. In such scenarios, words like no, stop, or help might just be a part of the scene as the naughty...
All Up in It with Kathryn Bennett, MPH
So often, people tell me they find networking to be an icky and unsettling prospect. There's something about equating it with insincerity and treating other humans as a means to an end. Kathryn Bennett is a perfect example to blow that out of the water. We were...