Huzza and welcome! I am so thrilled to be unveiling the new, remodeled, The Creative Giraffe. It has been a journey! In the last 3 months I have learned a million little things (and giant things) to bring to you a revitalized internet experience. This entire process has felt very seasonal to me. I went to ground in winter to dream and create. For days and weeks on end I didn’t come up for air. Now, on the cusp of Spring, the world is seeing the first results of my labor. It’s exhilarating. The time has come to combine my two websites, Girafa Coaching and The Creative Giraffe. When I started my coaching business in 2010, I worked with a talented friend to design a simple, beautiful website. Unfortunately, it couldn’t support a blog feature. Thus The Creative Giraffe was … Continue reading →

In Latin America, they have a love-themed holiday called the day of love and friendship. I adore that.  It is so much more inclusive and reminds you to buy your friends goofy balloons not cling to your so-so relationship until Feb 15th so you don’t have to spend the 14th alone.  The horror!  While yes, incorporating friendship perhaps makes it even more of a commercial holiday (shock me shock me) it feels like a sweeter holiday. You are given an opportunity to go out of your way to appreciate your friends and family, not just your relationship-if-you-happen-to-have-one.  It encourages a look around your community, and a genuine celebration of these people.  Yes it get schmaltzy, but so goes. I LOVE sending Valentines.  When I was in school I used to make fairly complicated ones for my friends.  I love taking … Continue reading →

The operative word of that quote for me is go. Move, take action, start something.  You can always adapt as you go, but you must go. It’s the week after New Years, and you have a dream.  Resolutions fresh in your mind, you’re ready.  Let’s face it, anything that’s made it onto your New Years Resolution list is something that you’ve been thinking about, dreaming after, for a while now.  It’s big, and it’s important to you.  New Years was just the excuse you were looking for to give yourself permission to call it into reality. Here’s the thing about dreams, plans, goals, resolutions – you have to move to achieve them.  You need to start walking towards them, physically and mentally, and if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you’ll get there. I’ve heard, over … Continue reading →

I love this image.  It’s of a Sankofa, a bird that is looking back as it’s flying forward.  Remembering the lessons of the past as she flies into the future.  Carrying those lessons with her, honoring them. I really believe that you’ve got to spend some time looking behind you to decide where you want to go. If you’re not paying attention to where you’ve been, how can you know where you want to go? What better time than New Years for some retrospection and intention setting for your next year? A year is such a nice, ripe amount of time, easily bundled to reflect on.   I’ve facilitated 2 workshops around this theme in December, both have been amazingly impactful. (I’ve got an intention setting one coming up in January.)  What I’ve been the most inspired by is the willingness … Continue reading →

Offa.  Is it bad to admit I’m glad Christmas is over?  I am.  That’s not surprising to me.  Every year I’m pretty glad when the mele is over, ready for the downturn in social activities that January tends to usher in.  What I am surprised to admit, is that I had a really nice Christmas. I’m noticing when asking friends about their holiday, the constant thread is ‘it was really different than it used to be, and I’m ok with that.’ – yep.  Christmas was different when you were a kid than it is now.  I feel like the big learning of this year was how to be ok with that.  Settling into our roles as adults, and accepting our families for adults too. In my world, Christmas looks really different than it did when I was a kid.  This … Continue reading →

As a business owner, I am working on my ‘brand’.  Basically, I’m creating tools and fun ways for people who don’t know me yet, to immediately fall in love with me.  It’s super fun and interesting.  Some really great ‘ahh-haa DUH’ realizations are happening over here.  It’s fascinating. I was going to share these tools with my fellow business builders, and then I thought “and with job seekers! They need to be able to articulate themselves too!” Then I realized that this is powerful work for everyone to do – regardless of if you are your own business or not.  Spending time on what makes you unique and special has value! You are already doing what no one else can do, in your own unique way, so claim it!  Going through this process really made me see what uniquitude (yep, … Continue reading →