This is not your father's leadership coaching
This is where you learn the language of your nervous system, lead from your inner truth and... leave people feeling better than when you found them.
Welcome to Embodied Leadership Coaching!
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It's time to do hard leadership conversations differently:
The #1 challenge in leadership, especially for women and further marginalized folks in leadership is speaking up and having hard conversations, so if that's you, you're not alone. Embodied Leadership Coaching helps you to:
Have hard conversations and set boundaries with dignity and without causing harm to your self or others. This is where "speak up safety" begins!
Give and receive feedback like a BOSS
Inspire a relational communication dynamic that encourages true accountability, a felt sense of safety AND sustainable results in the work you're creating.
... and so much more!
Finding your voice in leadership isn't as hard as you think:
With radical support and soul-led strategy from a seasoned master coach, you can embody the empowered, easeful communication you desire.
The ability to speak up is inside of you, it merely needs a love light shone on it, and it will emerge. (I got you!)
Those signals you receive from your body and brain during moments of stress are actually the way through to strong dignity centred leadership. (I know they feel icky and with practice, your capacity to hold that ick will expand!).
You are an entrepreneur leading a team or business person who has a deep desire to create cultures of connection, belonging and clear communication. You're ready for Embodied Leadership Coaching.
WELCOME TO EMBODIED LEADER COACHING
TRUST YOUR INNER TRUTH!
From a body based (somatic) and emotional perspective, our 3 most inherent human needs are: safety, dignity, and belonging. By centring your leadership around these needs, you will create and cultivate cultures of safety that will encourage you and others to speak up and leave each conversation: dignity intact.
The challenges we face with having hard conversations are rooted in systemic and cultural narratives that keep our nervous systems "on alert" or "shut down".
These nervous system responses are WISE.
Our bodies adapt to the pressures of these narratives and tapping into that adaptive response is our first step towards honouring our dignity so we can speak up with more ease and grace.
When it's time to speak up, this allows you to :
✓ stop people pleasing so you can own your time and energy and show up with capacity to lead with your truth.
✓ heal imposter syndrome so you can show up unapologetically.
✓ create conditions for ALL parts of your body to communicate with each other, no more feeling like you can't "find your voice".
✓ walk away from each and every conversation or public speaking experience feeling good, dignified and like you've honoured the integrity of yourself and others.
Radical support for your hard conversations!
Each Embodied Leadership Coaching Package includes:
Pssst.. My 1:1 clients call our work together "a weekly pitstop for soulful leadership strategy, but it's really mostly for my soul."
What this means is: from each session, you can expect transformational somatic coaching and consulting that will take your leadership to the next level.
What IS that level? This is radical support for your embodied truth speaking that allows you to say the thing you really want to say without all of that other nonsense stealing from your experience!
There aren't any hacks or tips and tricks, or ways to "outsmart" our body cues and the challenges we have with speaking up (eek, I KNOW... it would be SO much easier if there were, right?), this is long game strategy BUT...
In the 20+ years I've been doing this work, I've never had a client NOT feel fully resourced and ready to take on their business or personal conversations with bold, dignified communication during and after our coaching!
4 or 6 month package of private coaching via ZOOM or in person at my studio if you are local to Halifax, NS.
3 additional hours of in between session support per month via voice memo (Voxer), email or video messenger (Marco Polo.)
Recorded guided meditations and somatic exercises for your own embodiment practice. (Where the juicy stuff happens!)
Customized Personal Dialogue Scripts, for your leadership style, so you're not left scrambling to remember what someone else told you when you need to speak up.
Personalized Somatic Wisdom exercises so you can map and track your own body responses and access your truth with more ease.
A deep understanding of the Dignity Centred Communication Framework and in depth leadership communication practice so you can feel deeply supported in your conversations.
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here are some really nice things some of my clients have said
"Before our first session together, I was struggling to access the wisdom within my body that tells me my truth, which I felt was a barrier to speaking my truth. The magical part of the session was where we anchored back to experiences that I already have in my day where I feel a sense of peace and safety. We paused and spent some time noticing and memorizing what that feels like. After our time together, what I notice is that for me to access my truth, and be equipped to speak my truth, I first need to ensure that I’m experiencing a sense of peace and safety within my body."
Tegan Smith ~ Owner, Channel Consulting
HERE ARE SOME REALLY NICE THINGS SOME OF MY CLIENTS HAVE SAID
“From the beginning I felt the depth of intention in how Elise works, I was being coached in a way that I had not experienced before. She challenged me to listen to myself…REALLY listen to myself for what felt like the first time in my life. Elise helped me to open up another door in my life's journey that allowed me to lean into my purpose with new fervour.
Knowing that you have something special inside of you that needs to be brought out into the world requires a great deal of tenacity. Elise nurtures this tenacity through patience and compassion, even when you may not have enough of it for yourself. If more of us are attuned to our purpose in our work, we can innovate in ways that help heal our societal ills. If that all sounds rather lofty to you, you just need to work with Elise to experience it. Elise is a gentle maverick in the coaching industry!”
Michele Thomas, Singer/Songwriter, Educator and Entrepreneur
HERE ARE SOME REALLY NICE THINGS SOME OF MY CLIENTS HAVE SAID
"I’ve been in a leadership role for a year now and have been struggling with delivering honest feedback to team members that felt like a win for both sides, and without it feeling threatening or overly critical. I was struggling with what being a great leader meant in a practical way.
Elise offered real tools I could use immediately in real situations, I grew and developed my leadership skills from every session. I feel much more confident entering into potentially uncomfortable conversations, knowing that I can hold space not just for myself but for those in my charge as well!
These are real, practical skills that will pay dividends if you invest in them! Sign up with Elise and watch your leadership skills GROW!"
Kaeli Sweigard ~ Online Marketing and Membership Lead for Elise Darma
Here's what other clients have experienced:
Safe to speak up!
A felt sense of safety and greater ease in finding their voice in the middle of all hard conversations. This shows up in their work as women in the business place, entrepreneurial work AND BONUS: in their personal relationships!
Confidence and resilience!
Increased confidence in their leadership in general: having hard conversations, speaking authentically, public speaking, and sharing about their work online. There's also an embodied belief in self promotion and ability to be visible and vocal!
Healing blocks!
Healing the deepest physical and mental blocks that kept them from showing up and leading the way they really want. Healing of imposter syndrome, inner critic, and disempowering beliefs, a felt sense of "readiness" and affirmation of how they want to show up in their life and work.
BOOK A CALL TO CHAT!
Frequently Asked Questions
YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS, I’VE GOT ANSWERS
What is your qualification to do this coaching work?
I'm so glad you asked! I'm trained as a Transformational Life Coach, A Voice Body Connection Leader (candidate for certification), Certified in Somatic Voice Work, and currently becoming certified in Neuro Somatic Intelligence Coaching. I've also studied Non-Violent Communication, PolyVagal Theory with Deb Dana AND have 20+ years experience as a Voice and Stage Performance Coach.
You mentioned this coaching can help with my personal life ~ can you say more?
Yes! Women are leaders in business, yes, and also have the added experience (whether it be societal or personal) of leading families and personal relationships. All of the tools learned in this work directly transfer over to personal conversations and many of my clients say their relationships have improved greatly since working with me!
How is the coaching delivered? Do I have to come to you?
Coaching and VIP Days are delivered online worldwide via ZOOM OR in person at my Halifax NS studio. Want to fly me to you for a 1:1 intensive in your home town*? Let's chat and work the details out!
* travel, and accommodation fees are in addition to coaching/consulting fees.
Can you help me gain confidence to speak in public? I have a TED Talk in me, I think!
YES! And you're gonna ROCK that TED Talk! One of the nick names some of my clients gave me years ago was The Stage Fright Whisperer , so rest assured this work targets all of the concerns that keep us from feeling comfortable in front of crowds or on camera too! CHECK IT OUT HERE!
Is this therapy?
This work is trauma aware somatic coaching and consulting. Although my clients find the work "therapeutic", it should not be used as a replacement for therapy, if that feels like what you need. I started studying Somatic Experiencing and nervous system science because my clients inevitably come to me with trauma. While I am well equipped and trained to support what comes up in sessions, it is recommended that if you have unprocessed deep trauma, this work is best done in tandem with a mental health professional.
Do you work with folks who don't identify as women?
I'm so glad you asked this question. My coaching and consulting is approached from an intersectional point of view and I absolutely welcome non-binary folks into this work. I frame my work from the perspective and experience as a white cis gender woman with privilege AND I have also purposely created this work to celebrate diversity with intention, to create an affirming culture of bravery and belonging, where every client can be their fullest selves and speak their authentic truth.
Learning to trust your body enough to speak your truth is a long game practice. This 1:1 coaching is a deep-dive into the root of what's keeping your truth stuck behind your teeth.
This where your nervous system heals and meets your limiting beliefs, your inner critic, that damned imposter syndrome, those hard conversations and finally unleashes your truth into the world.
To be heard, to be seen, to be acknowledged in your dignity is the best gift you can give yourself and your leadership.
Let's do this thing, Dear One!
If you're here...
You're ready to fully express yourself and lead with your truth!
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I embody and believe that clear , compassionate communication and advocacy of self and others is the key to building thriving, equitable businesses and creative endeavours. Leaning into this work together means we can inspire each other to create the much needed change this world is craving.
Working with me affirms that YOU ALSO believe in and prioritize that Indigenous lives matter. Black Lives Matter. People of Colour's Lives Matter. You support 2SLGBTQQIA+ rights and you advocate for body justice for ALL bodies. You are actively working to dismantle White Supremacy and colonized practices in your life and business.
I am a white, cis gender fat woman with financial privilege and I frame my coaching from that point of view. I have also purposely created this work to celebrate diversity with intention and to create an affirming culture of bravery and belonging, where every participant can be their fullest selves and speak their authentic truth.
I live and work on the sacred land of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, and I acknowledge them as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land.