The Coach’s Journey

If you’ve ever wondered whether transformation is truly possible in a world seemingly filled with limitations, The Coach’s Journey introduces you in a unique way to the stories of people who have dealt courageously with life’s struggles from a wide variety of perspectives. Not only did they transform their lives, they’ve taken others wrestling with unfulfilled potential further down their own paths toward richer, more rewarding lives–for themselves, their families and their communities. This book provides an opportunity to be present to their wisdom, and to decide for yourself that positive transformation is not just possible, it’s the difference between mere survival and the life you were meant to live.

Who are these authors? That panorama is both broad and richly detailed. Of the twenty people who collaborated on this book, thirteen are women and seven men. While the most common national and cultural roots are those of the mainland U.S., authors in this collection have either immigrated from, or spent substantial amounts of time in: Africa, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Korea, India, Iran, Israel and New Zealand. Globalization and the geopolitical turbulence of our times are apparent in the stories. Samita Loomba (p. 101) came to the U.S. from an established, loving Indian family and stayed. Now, most of that family lives here. Joe Amanfu (p. 17), born to the Ewe tribe in Ghana, West Africa, says he still often thinks in his native language and translates into English. Judi Rhee Alloway (p. 9) is one of three hundred thousand orphans adopted by U.S. citizens in the course of the Korean War. Ronit Hakimi s (p. 81) family was forced out of Iran when the Shah fell, and once again out of Israel after the Palestinian Intifada uprisings. Authors in this collection have held positions in such major companies as Hewlett-Packard, Bloomingdale s, Disney, NASA, and GlaxoSmithKline. The different industries and professions represented here range from healthcare, high tech, engineering, and education, to law, therapy, the performing arts, and financial management. Since this kind of background information was not requested, but only inserted when authors felt it relevant, the range here is probably even wider. And, of course, the stories also speak of that most essential human occupation of all the nurturing of families and children. Stephanie Davis (p. 51), Ronit Hakimi (p. 81), and Kari Lowrey (p. 111) all relate experiences of this kind. Most of the authors are healthy, but some were faced with serious challenges in this area.