About Rayna
Facilitate is the word that best describes what Rayna does for her clients as a life and leadership coach, trainer, and speaker. Facilitate is defined as “making progress easier” and she has been doing it her whole life. Born to deaf parents, Rayna acted as interpreter and link to the hearing world making things easier for them. As a volunteer high school coach, she developed a coaching style that tapped into the creativity and leadership of each individual and taught the values of teamwork and believing in yourself.
Rayna brings over fifteen years of hands-on experience with diverse organizations to her coaching and consulting work. As CEO, Chief Encouragement Officer, of Joy of Life Coaching, Rayna coaches individuals and teams to increase personal and professional satisfaction. Rayna’s approach is a total focus on the client – on what they want and what will help them achieve it. She helps clients clarify their goals and provides tools for learning and action so individuals can get the results they want. Rayna’s coaching philosophy is to help her clients to go after whatever has meaning for them to live a life they love. Clients working with Rayna describe an increase in focus and productivity, more energy, and learn a great deal about themselves, including not letting fear control their actions.
As a former management consultant with IBM for ten years, Rayna provided consulting and training on managing change, management effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and culture change. She uses that expertise in her training and speaking engagements and has designed and delivered thousands of hours of training to both staff and senior executives. Early in her career, Rayna was a Federal employee with the Department of Energy so she understands first-hand the complexities and unique challenges of working in the Federal arena. Rayna also has extensive government client experience and holds TS security clearances from multiple intelligence agencies.
Rayna earned a B.S. in Business from the University of Maryland and is a Certified Professional Coach A.C.C. through the Academy for Coach Training in Bellevue, Washington. She is qualified to administer multiple feedback and personality instruments including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). She has co-authored several publications on Servant-Leadership, a concept that a leader’s first duty is to serve those they lead. Rayna is happily married to Gary, a self-employed accountant, and lives Northwest of Baltimore in Eldersburg, Maryland.
My Story – How I Became a Coach
Growing up. Facilitate is defined as “making progress easier for others” and I have been doing it my whole life. I grew up in a house where talking with your mouth full was not only commonplace, it was down right expected. It was considered rude if I didn’t talk with my mouth full. I talked with my mouth full because growing up at my dinner table, we talked with our hands - I was born hearing to deaf parents. By the time I was old enough to talk, I already knew sign language. Growing up the oldest of two, I acted as interpreter for my deaf parents - in stores, restaurants, on the telephone, and once I learned that the TV had sound, I would tell my parents the storyline or joke from a TV program. That was before the days of closed captioning. Working with my parents was how I first learned about “making progress easier for others.”
High School Team Coach. During my college years, I coached my former High School’s Pom and Dance Team. For seven years, I coached several evenings a week and on weekends. It was then that I learned first-hand what coaching was – and what it was not. Sadly, the first few years of my coaching were based on role-models who yelled, criticized, and kept tight control of their athletes. The coach is in charge, the coach makes all the decisions, and the coach runs a tight ship. But coaching in that way didn’t inspire, didn’t get good results, and didn’t feel right. Then I found another way to coach. I found a coaching model that treated individuals like adults, not children; a model that tapped into the creativity and leadership of young adults; a model that taught the value of teamwork, believing in yourself, and growing not just as athletes, but as people. That new coaching model made everything easier – coaching, teamwork, fun, leadership and results. I discovered I was already working with capable, resourceful young women and I simply found a way to help and guide each of them to fulfill their potential.
Taking stock after 9/11. Like many people after 9/11, I took stock of my life and what I wanted to do. I wanted my work to be fulfilling; to make a positive difference in people’s lives. At that time I was a management consultant for a Fortune 500 company. While the work was thought-provoking and challenging, it wasn’t fulfilling. That was when I first thought about becoming a Professional Life/Leadership Coach. Coaching focused on helping people realize their goals, solve problems, and create fulfilling lives for themselves – and the coach’s role was about “making progress easier for others.” I thought, “That’s what I want to do - help people go after whatever has meaning for them so they can be fulfilled, inspired, and happy.” Unfortunately the high of being clear on what I wanted was soon replaced by fear and a lack of self-confidence. It took me four long years before I realized my dream.
Work became life-numbing. I had to drag myself out of bed to go to work. I was exhausted, but really wasn’t working that hard. Few things excited or inspired me even though my personal life was going really well. I felt like #3132 of the money making corporate machine and that a piece of my soul was dying every day. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues felt the same way. They told me things like “That’s just how it is,” “Make the best of it” and “I only have 11 years, 8 months to go until I can retire.” I couldn’t imagine a worse fate then continuing down the path I was on until retirement. I wasn’t even 40 yet! I kept thinking about Life/Leadership Coaching. I kept envisioning my life as I wanted it to be. I kept thinking about the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I couldn’t keep doing the same thing and get different results. I had to do something different if I wanted a different life.
Become a Professional Life/Leadership Coach. In 2005, I decided it was time to become a Professional Life/Leadership Coach. I was both scared and thrilled at the prospect of leaving the corporate world to start my own business. Yet, secure with the knowledge that Professional Life/Leadership Coaching was what I was meant to do, I started my own business and became a Certified Professional Life/Leadership Coach. I have never been happier, more fulfilled and excited in my entire career. I finally have a name for what I have been doing all my life in “making progress easier” – a life/leadership coach. As a Certified Professional Life/Leadership Coach, I can help you live a life you love by getting clear on what you want, giving you tools to deal with fear and a lack of self-confidence, exchanging life-numbing motions for life-affirming actions, and helping you design fulfilling work and a fulfilling life. What are you tired of tolerating? Are you ready to go after what you want?