There’s a big article on The Reinvention Institute in the April 2008 issue of MORE magazine! They’ve highlighted three of our client success stories including Helene Seligman, a former U.N. staffer turned natural foods chef. Here’s Helene’s story:

I worked for the United Nations for 12 years. But I left because I wanted to work in something that I was passionate about. I wasn’t looking to go straight into something else. I wanted a bit of time off. I bid and won some counseling sessions with Pamela at a silent auction. I put them away, didn’t use them right away. But after a few months off I started working with her.

It was frustrating for the first couple of months because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. She would constantly ask me, what do you like to do? What are your passions? It kept boiling down to photography and nutrition/food. I actually took some time off from the UN on one occasion to do photography. It’s a bit of a hobby, but I’ve been published as well. But I figured out with Pamela that I didn’t want to do photography as a business because I don’t like the whole business side of it. I wanted to keep it as a hobby.

Pamela would ask questions like, what didn’t you like about your previous job? I didn’t like the fact that it was very regimented, the routine of it all. She asked, in an ideal world, what would your hours be? I said I wanted flexible hours. I realized that I really wanted to work from home rather than go into an office, and be able to take time off if I wanted to travel, although we had a lot of vacation time at the UN and I traveled for work. I wanted to be on my own. She said, this is possible, which I didn’t really believe before.

She would suggest books to read. She asked, what do you think you would like to do? Do you know anyone who is doing that? If I said no, she said ask around, find someone who knows somebody and go and talk to that person. I’m sure someone will have a few minutes to tell you what it’s actually like.

At the same time, I was helping a chef by doing all of his photography. In exchange, I got free cooking classes. After I worked with Pamela, I actually registered for a natural foods chef training program. It was very, very intense – 4½ months of cooking, theory and nutrition, and I absolutely loved it. I was thrilled to be learning, to be in an environment doing something I was passionate about. I finished in March 2007. Soon afterwards, I spent time helping a Belgian chef on two one-week boat trips around the south of Turkey for people who wanted to detox their bodies and eat healthy foods. Afterwards, I went to the south of France to help that chef again for the same sort of thing, just not on a boat.

This past fall, I started a holistic nutrition course. It’s only for graduates of the chef training program or nutrition counselors. Although it’s only one weekend a month for nine months, I have a lot of reading to do. It ends in June.

My internship after cooking school was in a top restaurant. I knew I didn’t want to be a chef, but I did it for the experience. What I’d like to do, am working toward, is to work with people who want to change the way they eat, to counsel them, shop and cook with them, clear out their cupboards and get more healthy ingredients.

I really believe in the effect of food on your health, the energy you get from food. People can feel a lot better by making small changes.

I continue to do food photography and might do a cookbook in the future. But I’m very passionate about wanting to work with people as a holistic nutrition counselor.

Congratulations, Helene, on your success!

(Success Story written by Jeanne Fox-Alston)

When teaching a class, I always invite the attendees to keep me posted on their progress– I love to hear how they’re using the reinvention strategies. One of my most important recommendations is to set up a ‘Board of Directors’ to serve as an advisory team, brainstorming group and support network (this is what we do, in a deeper fashion, in our Reinvention Team Action Group).  We find that having a dedicated team significantly increases the chances of a successful reinvention.

I recently got an update from Dina D’Alessandro, who attended a public seminar I taught at MediaBistro two years ago.  Dina took that advice to heart, and immediately set up her own Board.  Here’s what she had to say back in 2005, three weeks after the seminar:

I’m thrilled to say my Board of Directors is well under way. I had my first “meeting” with my friend on Saturday and was quite surprised at all of the skills and talents (as well as the weaknesses) she listed about me. Needless to say, my next plan is to work on all of these and incorporate this information going forward.

Here’s the note I received from Dina several weeks ago:

Hi Pamela… It’s been ages since I’ve seen or written you, but you are in my life daily whether you know it or not. My “Board Meetings” are still going strong, over 2 years later…and it’s all because of having attended the Reinvention seminar you conducted for MediaBistro.com back in August 2005.  Since then, my co-attendee that evening, Y.C. has gone off to teach ESL in Tokyo, one of my board members has started her own event planning business and is moving to Arizona next year to set up shop, and another board member expanded her HR consulting firm and was recently interviewed for BusinessWeek online–all because we have surrounded ourselves with a new group of women who support and encourage our life goals! [NOTE: Dina herself landed a new gig back in 2005, shortly after starting her Board].

Dina’s story is a great example of how the power of a group can create more success for all its members.  If you want quicker progress towards your reinvention goals, set up your own personal Board of Directors or join our next Reinvention Team Action Group. (NOTE: Applications are now being accepted here.  There are only twelve spots, so avoid the wait list and sign up ASAP!)

(Thanks, Dina, for sharing your story!)

As part of our ongoing reinvention success series, we asked client Kendra Cunnigham to share her story.  Kendra attended our Reinvention BootCamp intensive earlier this year and then joined a Reinvention Team Action Group.  Here’s what she had to say about her journey:

What was going on in your life before you came to The Reinvention Institute?

Before I attended The Reinvention Institute, I was working at a hedge fund full-time at a job that was unfulfilling and rewarding in only a financial nature. I was performing stand up comedy occasionally and attending graduate school for Forensic Psychology part-time. I had been trying to write a spec script but could never seem to get started.

How did BootCamp and the Reinvention Team Coaching Group help you?

The BootCamp Intensive helped me to realize that goal setting and achievement was really up to me and within my reach. It also helped me to see that the roadbumps and procrastination issues I was dealing with were more universal and far less of a personality problem than I had viewed them.

The support and accountability involved in the [Reinvention Team] weekly coaching group forced me to get out of my head and into the real world. Within the duration of the group [three months], I completed a 37 page spec script for Entourage and clarified and prioritized my goals. I found a great script doctor who referred me to a terrific writing group. Besides that, I met some incredibly creative and inspirational people.

What was the most difficult and challenging part of your reinvention process?

The most difficult and challenging part of the reinvention process was letting myself verbalize the things I wanted to accomplish. Prior to the group, in some way, I felt like I was not entitled to want all the things I secretly wanted to accomplish. Through hearing other people’s dreams and milestones, I came to realize that I can ask for whatever I want from life. Not only was I allowed to verbalize what I wanted but suddenly I had to take action and report back to the group about it. Although taking those first steps was challenging and frightening, it was also a confidence booster.

What’s going on in your life now?

My life now is completely different than my life “before Reinvention BootCamp”. I perform and write comedy on a consistent basis. I just completed and performed the first rendition of a one woman show with an amazing group of women. ( the script doctor referred me to this group and I would have never contacted the script doctor had I not finished the script and I would not have finished the script had I not taken the Reinvention [Coaching] Group). I quit my job and am bartending so that I can pursue auditions and complete my externship in order to complete my Graduate school program. I FINALLY signed up for MySpace so that everybody can see my stand-up comedy schedule as it changes on a daily basis. I have an audition for a comedy manager coming up. And I got new headshots!

What are the top three benefits you got from participating in the group?

I feel I benefited so much from The Reinvention Institute it is difficult to narrow it down to just three, but here goes:

1. I learned how to simplify and prioritize my goals.

3. Most importantly, I became proud of my dreams and goals for the future instead of scared and embarrassed to name what I wanted.

Check out Kendra’s MySpace page here to learn more about her and find a schedule of her upcoming appearances.  And if you want to join the ranks of successful reinventors, the next Reinvention Team Action Group is starting on Wednesday, January 30th– just in time for your New Year’s resolution!  More details coming next week….