Believe in the transformative power of telling your truth.

Mentoring

In my decades of experience working with individuals and groups, such as high school, college, and graduate students, and adult professionals from all backgrounds, I’ve learned that good mentors are few and far between. I was blessed to have several excellent mentors, who were always there to nudge and encourage me to become a better version of myself. My mentors also taught me how to be a good mentor, because not all people who call themselves a mentor are very good at it.

Mentoring is not coaching, though there are a few similarities between the two. A GTW mentoring session can be held by phone or by video conference (like Zoom) or in public places, like a local bookstore or coffee shop. A mentoring session is an informal arrangement between mentor and mentee.

A mentoring session can happen in many ways. For example, if you’re interested in career mentoring, as a former vice president and dean who’s supervised career services offices at colleges and universities, I have a wealth of knowledge about helping you sort through your career options and guiding you toward the career you are seeking.

If you are looking for someone with vast experience reading and editing college or graduate school essays, then you may want to work with me as your mentor. Not only will I read and edit your college or graduate school admission essay, but I will help you prepare for your college, graduate school, medical, or law school interview.

If you are left-brain dominant (a logical, analytical, and linear thinker) and you are looking for someone to help you think about ways to bring out your creative side, then you may want to have me as your mentor.

Working with a mentor can last for one or multiple sessions. For more information about what is possible in a GTW mentoring session and the costs associated with a 60 minute session or a multiple session package deal, please contact me.

Life Coaching

Life coaches, similar to a mentor, are there to work with you, to help you grow and to develop as a person. Unlike a mentor, who might give you advice based on their life or work experience, a life coach will not give you advice and is not there to fix your problems for you. They are there as a partner to you, to empower and to help you dig deeper into the root of your struggles. Life coaches guide and challenge you to discover the solutions that are causing you to struggle, so you can take back control of your life.

I successfully completed Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training Program in 2018, and like me, many folks in my training cohort were there to make changes in our lives or to learn new tools for helping others and ourselves find our true purpose.

If you are seeking a life change and being in control of your life, you might benefit by having a life coach. By using my own Getting to Wisdom Roadmap to Finding your Truth, or Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Change Cycle Methodology, or other helpful tools that I’ve learned, both as a life coach and social worker, and educator, I am here to help you.

Working with a life coach can last for one or multiple sessions, however, if you are new to having a life coach, I recommend that you spend at least three sessions with a coach.

Coaching sessions take place either via Zoom or by telephone, in the comfort and privacy of your own home, or at a place where you can relax and speak freely without any distractions.

For more information about what is possible in a GTW life coaching session and the costs associated with a 60 minute single session or a multiple session package deal, please contact me.

Motivational Speaking

My friend, François Clemmons, better known as Officer Clemmons from Emmy Award-winning Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood fame once said to me, “Marichal, I’ve observed you several times speaking in front of an audience. You have a unique way of connecting with any group soon after you say your first few sentences.”

I couldn’t have received a kinder acknowledgement. François is a wise man who has listened to many speakers in his illustrious lifetime and rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s most important and fascinating people. I couldn’t allow myself to let his words fall on deaf ears.

In the past, my nature was to avoid speaking in front of people. My friends’ encouraging words motivated me to start saying yes, rather than no when presented with an opportunity to address or inspire an audience about important topics.

Now that I have confidence and a message to share, I’ve spoken at many venues in the United States, and I’ve also been fortunate to speak at the International Congress of Education forum in Mexico City. There, “I delivered an address about the moral compass of young people. I made remarks to educators as Yale University’s spokesperson for The Richard U. Light Fellowship in Japan, China, and Korea. I was honored to deliver the welcome address to several hundred aspiring leaders from the United States Student Achievers Program.

If you believe you or your organization might benefit from a Getting to Wisdom-inspired motivational talk to young student leaders, young professionals just starting out, or adults who are thinking about making a life change, please contact me.