Twenty-five years as an Engineer in the same company. Laid off. In shock. 58 years old. Not enough money to retire on, just yet. He's thinking, "Now what?". He's really anxious. How can he support his family? As he was hearing me speak to a group about how I could 'rah rah' help them through this layoff aftermath, I saw him smirking with a look that seemed to say, "Yeah, sure, prove it". He had a sense of resignation about him and was very depressed. "Who was going to hire me?" he was thinking. With this attitude, he looked and acted like a cantankerous, stoop shouldered old man. (more...)

Have you ever met someone who could do everything well? Had so many skills that it was hard to pin point a specific talent? She was so talented it was hard for her to focus on any one 'thing.' She was good with people, she knew about office politics and played it to the hilt, she really knew her way around computers, she had an 'in' with the General Manager, she was efficient, had great business acumen and had a wonderful positive outlook. Everyone admired her - there was nothing she couldn't do. (more...)

They labeled her 'mentally challenged'. I didn’t know what to expect when she first came to see me. I really don't like labels, but I guess most people can't get away from that. It seems if we can't label someone, we don't know how to figure out how to deal with him or her. When I met her, her face was bright, and smiling. She seemed curious and excited about learning more about herself and her skills. I got a kick out of watching her talk; she used her hands in an animated way and it always looked as if she was leading an orchestra. She showed interest in everything around her. She seemed to sop up information wherever she went. When she attended the seminars and workshops, she asked a lot of questions, almost to the point of 'enough already'! I enjoyed her curiosity and was really impressed with her awareness of people and business realities. During the job search classes, she was not shy about giving other clients advice on the right ways to look for a job, at least to her understanding. (more...)

Before she walked in the office, I saw her eye peeking through a crack in the door. She looked terrified and I was reminded of a wounded little bird. When I asked her to come in, she sat down in the chair, shifted to the right and slumped down as if her wings were broken. I noticed that her eyes appeared to be huge and too big for her face and I was reminded of a terrified deer, wanting to run, but feeling frozen staring at the light. (more...)