michelle ward press kit

Press Kit

Michelle Ward Creative Career Coach

Founder of When I Grow Up

The Short Story

Helping Creatives

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Discover their Unique Talents

Overcome fears to pursue their passions

Leave jobs they hate to find a career or business that fulfills their creative talents

Stop procrastinating and meet their goals

Michelle Ward, aka The When I Grow Up Coach, works with creative people to devise the career they think they can't have -‐ or discover it to begin with! A certified life coach by the International Coach Academy & a musical theater actress with her BFA from NYU/Tisch, Michelle uses a dose of empathy, a shot of butt-‐kickin', a wagon full of enthusiasm, & a crapload of inspiration to help solve the puzzle & turn her client's grown-‐up skills & values into a passionate (& possibly out-‐of-‐the-‐box) career. She's been interviewed for Newsweek, Metro News and amNY; is a co-‐host on Spring: Inspiration in Bloom; and is encouraging everyone to claim their uniquity via The Declaration of You, an e-‐course with Jessica Swift. She could be found coachin', bloggin' & givin' away free stuff at whenigrowupcoach.com.

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Devise the career they think they can't have -‐ or discover it to begin with!

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The Long Story As Told by Michelle Ward Herself

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Since I was a little girl of 6 years old, I always wanted to be an actress. Being on stage is where I belonged, and it took me places. It took me to New York City, where I majored in musical theater at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. It took me on a cruise ship around North America where I sang my heart out for a year. It took me to Studio 8A in Rockefeller Plaza, where I got to be on "Saturday Night Live". It even took me to The-‐Closest-‐Movie-‐ Theater-‐Is-‐An-‐Hour-‐Away, PA and The-‐Town-‐With-‐A-‐Gas-‐Station,-‐a-‐ Consignment-‐Shop,-‐a-‐Pizzeria,-‐and-‐a-‐Gun-‐Store, New Hampshire.

And all of a sudden, the life I was pursuing for 20 years wasn't what I wanted anymore. I didn't want to leave my home in New York City, where I built an incredible life for myself. I didn't want to spend my "days off" sitting at auditions to sing 8 bars of a song and wonder where the day went. I didn't want to get a job and have to pick up my life with one day's (or one week's) notice. I didn't want to be a 35 year old

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waitress/ hostess/ temp/office manager. I wanted my days to mean something, to be valuable, to matter.

So I got a real job. And another one. And another. I went through seven jobs in four years, constantly trying to find "the perfect fit". I'd get restless easily and fairly despondent, thinking that there was nothing else out there for me that I could devote myself to passionately and enthusiastically. One day I declared, "Enough! I refuse to accept that there is nothing else out there that I'm going to love doing!" I decided to put some chutzpah into my search. I was going to find My Perfect Career.

I enrolled in a Career Change Workshop at NYU, and through a series of personality tests, exercises, and conversations with my classmates, I realized that I wanted to help others find their own path, especially "creative types" that thought they wanted one thing their whole life and now have to rewrite their plans. I wanted to help them figure out what they wanted to be When They Grow Up.

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But I didn't want to limit myself to Career Coaching. I wanted to help people along with all their life challenges, but not in a Hippy-‐Dippy or a Tell-‐Me-‐What-‐Your-‐Parents-‐Did-‐When-‐You-‐Were-‐Five way. I wanted to be their springboard, their partner, their confidante, their cheerleader.

I WANTED TO BE THEIR LIFE COACH!

I went full throttle into taking classes at the International Coach Academy, where I got certified as a professional life coach. It took almost two years -‐ with getting engaged, getting married, & having a full-‐time day job in between -‐but I graduated in June of 2009 with high marks for my 60 coaching hours, 120 classroom hours, & term paper!

I've been training my whole life to be a coach. My communication skills, my enthusiasm and sense of humor, my desire to help people find their passion, and my people-‐loving-‐personality makes this the role that I was born to play.

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Michelle Ward has been featured or published in the following:

• “Tap the Twitterverse” in amNew York

• Featured interview in recurring segment “Inspirational Women” on Alternative Lovely

• Featured Interview on Pursuing Our Passion

• Spotlight Interview on Right Brain Business Plan

• “Put Me In, Life Coach” video interview on Newsweek

• “Women, the 5g Network” presented by Pepsi and Momversations

• “Why Not You, Why Not Now” Psychology Today

• Red Dress Conversations “When You Grow Up” on Red Dress Studios

• “How to Design Your Creative Career with Michelle Ward” in The Examiner New York

• Featured Panelist at Blog Out Loud

You can also find more interviews, articles, videos, and podcasts of Michelle Ward on the When I Grow Up Coach Press Page!

In The News Michelle frequently shares her insights and expertise by writing articles and serving as a guest both in print and on camera. Whether it’s helping creative people find happiness at work, rekindle an old passion, or starting a business Michelle always offers friendly,

encouraging, and to the point advice.

Some of Michelle’s Recent Article Topics “5 Reasons I Got Off My Ass & Discovered a New Passion”

“5 Ways to Accomplish Your Goals Sans Fairy Godmother”

“Come Out, Come Out Whoever You Are!”

“I Quit My Day Job. Are You Next?”

“Safe Is A Four Letter Word”

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Jessica Gonacha Swift, Georgia

I hired Michelle as my life coach because I loved her positive energy, and I was feeling really stuck in a spiral of negative energy. I needed someone to help get me unstuck, and she seemed like the perfect person!

Getting to talk to someone that really understood what I was feeling was so wonderful. Plus, Michelle's hilarious, and it was just so much fun to TALK to her. She's a great listener and could really quickly get to the heart of what I was trying to say, and often pulled things out of what I'd said that I didn't even know were there.

It was great when she could help me connect something that just wasn't happening on my own. I could feel that she was very present and that she genuinely wanted to help me. It was really inspiring that Michelle was able to think of really wacky yet practical things that I had never considered-‐-‐ she was great at opening my eyes to different ways I could perceive a situation or how I was thinking about something. She gave me permission to do whatever the heck I want to do, and that is HUGE!

I gained a new sense of being my own boss, in business and in my life. I am learning to let go of the "shoulds" in my life more now, and just living instead. It feels really good. I think the permission to be whoever I want to be, work however I want, and trust that I know what is best for me is the biggest thing I gained. It's invaluable."

Alexandra Franzen, Minneapolis-‐St. Paul

Michelle is relentlessly positive without handing out "empty praise." She has a knack for keeping the conversation action-‐oriented when I veer off into long, rambling brain-‐dump monologues. She gets what it means to be an entrepreneur -‐-‐ and a creative entrepreneur, at that.

Michelle helped me connect -‐-‐ both directly and indirectly -‐-‐ with brilliant, fabulous role models, collaborators and clients. She expanded my vocabulary, giving me the gift of the word "amazeballs." In working with Michelle, I gained a ferocious sense of who I am, what I can do, and how much to charge ... tons of creative, non-‐icky self-‐promotion tactics ... and a fresh network of virtual and real-‐life career comrades. Thanks Baby Jesus for Michelle Ward."

Read more testimonials by clicking here!

Hear What Michelle’s Clients Have To Say!

Mark, Canada

Michelle will cheer you on, make you accountable, and ask the right questions that will steer you to where you're

supposed to be. But above all, she genuinely cares about your

success. Her energy, enthusiasm and great sense of humor make her one of a kind."

Sophie, Australia

"Michelle has an amazing gift for "just knowing what to say", for reading what I need, for pointing out my strengths and creative skills, and for guiding me to best manage my time with my personality.”

Book Michelle for a guest interview, as an expert, or as a

contributing author! Contact Michelle’s Publicist at:

Shennandoah Diaz

Brass Knuckles Media

[email protected]

512-‐551-‐4023

P.O. Box 341821

Austin, TX 78734

Images Available Upon Request

Learn more about Michelle at http://whenigrowupcoach.com! Contact her at [email protected] or at 917-‐678-‐7461