Empowering Women
Tag Archives: women
The Rewards When You Show Up at the SO NOW Awards
One of the highlights of the SO NOW PROFESSIONAL NETWORK OF WOMEN year is the evening in October when we celebrate the women of SO NOW.
From the generous heart of our founder, Jennifer Wenzke and the women of SO NOW, Continue reading The Rewards When You Show Up at the SO NOW Awards
Story to Share: Patron’s Last Words
This is Part 4 of 4 in a series of posts I have been writing called "story to share". It is the last of this series, but not the end of the story. In most ways it is a new beginning for me. But I'm getting ahead of myself. If you would like to read the other posts in the series, start here.
Though this is my story, the main character of the Story to Share posts is a woman named Jenn Wenzke; coach, mentor, founder of the So Now Professional Network of Women, and overall, champion of women.
Truly, she championed the woman!
Over and over I have heard women say, Jenn…
saw me
listened to me,
challenged me for more
In his book, Real Artists Don’t Starve, author Jeff Goins calls this kind of person a “patron’. Often we think of the purpose of a patron is the money they might give to help an artist get started. But this goes way beyond the financial support.
All creative workers need:
- influencers that will vouch for the artist to an audience who doesn’t know them yet.
- advocates who see the artist’s potential, believe in their work and give them a chance.
- The right person/or people to connect the artist to the right people.
We need a patron to not only help us decide what good art is, but also help us succeed. Goins. Click To Tweet
I knew immediately as I read Jeff’s description that Jenn Wenzke was my influencer/ advocate/ chance giver/ connector.
She believed in me, challenged me, and supported me. She was a cheerleader, an encourager, exhorting me on more than one occasion to quit making excuses and step up to the mic. She asked me questions others might be afraid to ask and listened deeply as I searched inward for my answers. She wasn’t afraid to tell me when she thought I was off track. Jenn was my coach to the core.
She helped me decide what ‘good art’ in my work looks like and then championed me in the doing of it.
Jenn was my patron!
On June 7, 2017 my friend and mentor, Jenn Wenzke, died after battling the terrible ALS disease that threatened her body the entire time I knew her.
Our last conversation was at her home several weeks before her death. She was so fragile, but still had much to say. We spoke of her health, her family, and of course the So Now Network.. She knew the legacy of that group was in good hands and felt confident it would continue strong. Her one big regret was that her SO NOW COACHING practice would not.
I asked her how I could help. She said, “You need to be coaching leaders. “ I don’t know why I hadn’t specifically identified that before, but it suddenly seemed exactly right.
We continued talking for a while, this time about my business and thoughts I had for my future. I spoke of wanting to create interviews with other women in leadership who could bring value to the women in the GHC community.
Before I got the words out of my mouth, she was shaking her head—actually her whole little body in her great big chair.
“NO!” She insisted. “Your voice. Your message. NOW!”
My breath caught .
I knew this was not just any moment. This was THE moment. The moment that summed up all Jenn had been speaking into me since the first Tuesday SO NOW meeting when we met two and a half years earlier.
Be YOU! Do what you do best! Do it Now! Click To TweetHer situation with ALS made it apparent that life was short. Don’t waste a moment!
Her role as my patron had changed. She boldly launched me out to BE ME in the world!
It is time…
To know my value!
To own my voice!
To embrace my story and the message in it!
To get up on my platforms of influence (all different kinds of stages)!
To make my difference!
NOW!
Over and over, I’ve pondered Jenn’s last words. This is not just a message for me. This is what she has been telling women in many seasons of life. It is Jenn’s challenge to each one of us even now!
This is for all of us who want our lives to count.
Be YOU! Be In-spired! Make Your Dif'rence NOW! Click To Tweet
I want to be like Jenn- not be Jenn, but like her. I want to be authentic, a patron of women who grows a movement that empowers women to be their authentic selves and champions others to do the same.
This is a lasting legacy that I want to be part of in every way possible.
Join me! Be INSPIRED! Be YOU!
Kathy
As a grateful tribute to Jenn Wenzke and all she has done to encourage women in her lifetime, this fall GHC is offering an 8 week ONLINE group called
BE INSPIRED to Make Your Authentic Difference
Use your voice, your message, and your influence NOW!
Registration is open, but space is limited. Sign up today!
What kind of a patron do you need; influencer/ advocate/ chance giver/ connector? May I come alongside you in your journey?
In what ways can you be a champion in the lives of others?
Join me as together we get intentional about
- hearing and using our own voice
- embracing our story and sharing our own message
- stepping up to our opportunities to influence
- now! Before life gets away from us!
Go to the BE INSPIRED page! Sign up today!
Let’s make our difference NOW!
Believe Your Dream to Real
Have you ever had a dream of doing something significant?
Have you ever made a plan for doing that significant something, but it just lays on the pages of your notebook or in the files on your computer?
Me too! I’ve had a lot of ideas that have never come to fruition. I’ve had notebooks filled with plans and dreams that are still great ideas, but I haven’t yet followed through on them.
But not this time!
WOMAN: the difference you make
Hi! This is Kathy Burrus from Green Hope Coaching!
I, like many of you, have been pondering the images of the past weekend of the inauguration and the women’s marches. Now I’m not here to use my platform to make a statement one way or the other. There may be a time I do that, but this is not that time.
I’m here today because I was struck by one thing: WOMAN. Not one particular woman, but woman like you and me.
Click here for a complete transcript of this video.
EmPOWERful Series:
Five week phone sessions over lunch designed to help you accomplish the ONE THING that will make the greatest difference this month. Click here to register.
Group sessions hosted virtually designed to help women look at their own story and glean from it the significant, defining moments that influence how they live and behave.
Embrace the wonderful story of you and live MAD-ly! (Make-A-Difference)
More details will be coming out soon. Click this link to sign up to receive upcoming emails regarding these groups. Whether you live nearby or far away, you can be part of this interactive session.
GREEN GRIEF GATHERING:
Green Grief is designed to help us find the slivers of green – the Lovely Traces of Hope in our losses. As we begin to see the hope in our story, many times we are able to take our next step toward the difference we want to make through it.
Again, click this link to get updates on this event- which for the time being will be local. If you are interested in a virtual group- send me an email and we will find a way to make that happen.
Here’s to you making the difference you were meant to make.
Kathy
Green Hope Coaching
A Conversation about YOU: Woman!
What started with simple greetings and an order of coffee, became a conversation about YOU. Not you personally, but you WOMAN, family member, friend, professional.
WOMAN who wants to make a difference in the world but feels enveloped by so many important things; spouse, kids, parents, job and friends. These are surely the people we want to serve and influence for good. But sometimes there are so many ‘good’ things going on that we forget we ARE making a difference.
WOMAN who wonders if we truly know what we want to be true of our lives. We find ourselves in a new place; an empty nest, a season of life, a change in job or relationships, and we puzzle over what we have accomplished in the past or whether we are on track to do all we want to have done at the end of our life.
Are we doing what is most important? Or are we just reacting to the urgent that comes up in any given day. Continue reading A Conversation about YOU: Woman!
So yesterday my book came!
So yesterday I celebrated when I received the first copy of my first
book (not sure if it is first or only yet). I was filled with raw emotions: happy, sad, celebration and grief all mixed together. But I was in awe that this had actually come to be.
That same day two other books came out:
Present over Perfect by Shauna Niequist, #presentoverperfect
and Uninvited by Lysa Terkuerst, #uninvited
Both books are already best sellers on Amazon.
I chuckled to myself that all these books came out the same day. Continue reading So yesterday my book came!
Coaching on Stuck
I had a delightful Saturday morning with an inspiring group of women at the Grace Church, Perrysburg, OH for their REFRESH & RENEW Conference recently. Wanted to share with you some of what we talked about at that event.
We spent our time together refreshing our viewpoints about ourselves, our story and our view of God. We renewed our vision about the kind of difference we wanted to make in our lifetime. But we started with some honest talk about the ‘real’ of life.
As a life coach and former pastor’s wife, I’ve talked with a lot of women over the years. There have been two reoccurring themes that continue to come out in those conversations.
- I want to make a difference with my life.
- I’m stuck.
Does that sound familiar to your story? You want to make a difference. You want to influence your world for good through your life in your lifetime.
But you are stuck! Or you have been! If you aren’t stuck, or haven’t been, you will be so we might as well talk about it. You know what stuck feels like. Stuck has kept you from making the difference you long to make. So before we talk about the kind of difference we want to make let’s talk about the obstacles to it. Continue reading Coaching on Stuck
SO NOW Awards Kathy Burrus, Green Hope Coaching
On October 14th, twenty-eight SO NOW Professional Women were recognized for their application to the SO NOW Award program. Women from the 4 chapters in the Toledo area, Perrysburg, Bowling Green, Findlay and Lima were to brought together for a delicious buffet and great conversation. 
As part of the award ceremony, 2 college scholarships were presented to young women who exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit and strive to embrace their professional journey.
In addition 2015 Business Awards
• So Now Women in Business Award (up to) $2500
• So Now Women in Business Runner Up Award (up to) $1500
I was thrilled to be awarded the SO NOW Women in Business Award of $2500. 
I applied because it is a tremendous opportunity. I have truly appreciated So Now Network because “So Now offers an opportunity for you to give, to receive and to grow in a powerful way.” I also desire to give generously, receive graciously and grow abundantly.
Jenn Wenzke and SO NOW have been a breath of life to me – and to my business. I had been looking for a networking opportunity to help grow my business that fit me. I am so grateful SO NOW has inspired me to connect as a woman and as a business owner.
From the first SO NOW meeting I attended, I felt life infused into the event. I immediately found my place to serve on the welcome team and over the last few months have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new friends, not just business prospects. I am building relationships that are encouraging, inspiring, and life-giving.
As a business, I have been challenged in my presentation of what I do as I search for ways that I can help others do what they do. It has been a win-win so often.
I will use the award money to complete a book project due to be out by April of 2016. This will help greatly as I work to self-publish a story that was started for me by my then 15 year old daughter shortly before she died called Lovely Traces of Hope. It is my desire to share how hope showed up in the messy places of our life and invite the reader to intentionally design traces of hope in their own story.
I also would not tell the whole truth if I didn’t identify that while I have not known Coach, Author, Speaker, and SO NOW Founder Jennifer Wenzke very long, but Jenn’s story has spoken to me of courage, strength, influence and hope. I see it on her face and in her words when she is able to join us for meetings at SO NOW LIMA. I view it on her Facebook page, podcasts and website. I read about it from others in news articles and testimonials.
Jennifer has not quit because life has gotten hard. Every time I have spoken with her personally, she has reminded me of my value, my worth as a coach, and business owner, but also as a woman.
What Jenn has started continues to influence all of us with life- giving, energizing hope! I want to be part of that business for the rest of my life- whether through SO NOW, Green Hope Coaching or just being Kathy.
Thank you Jenn for daring to dream! For bringing others with you! And reminding us all of the transformation that is possible when we embrace the process.
Special thanks to Debby Peters, Nina Corder and their team for creating a delightful evening!
Does God want me to be Sensuous?
So what do you think? Does the Bible teach us to be sensuous women? Some of you are thinking Kathy’s talking about sex again. Maybe! But maybe not!
I have had some interesting dialog with women who desire to be all that God has created them to be. But they are not sure what to do with issues of sexuality/ sensuality when they are single and longing to honor the Lord.
I have heard one woman after another share that much of the pain in their life has to do with wrestling with issues related to sexual or sensual issues. There is God’s view to reckon with which has been confusing to women on so many levels. There is the world’s view which seems to indicate to just ‘be free’ sexually. However much of the ache these women now feel is because those behaviors don’t feel free like it does in the movies.
So can we be single and sexual? What does God want from us if he created us to be sexual beings, whether we are married or single, while the Bible teaches that sex is reserved for marriage.
Dr. Juli Slattery of AuthenticIntimacy.com hits the mark as she addresses this topic in her 2 minute Thought called Can I Be Single and Sexual? Juli reminds us that our sexuality is not compartmentalized waiting for marriage, it is integrated into all the aspects of who you are; intellectual, relational and spiritual.
We are geared to immediately associate sexuality with sexual pleasure. But it actually serves a much greater purpose. Juli goes on to say that sexuality is about intimacy and relationship. The core aspect of our sexuality is the yearning to be known and share intimately with another person, which is expressed fully in marriage. My sexuality as a woman deeply impacts how I relate to others- outside the bedroom.
(Be sure you listen in to hear the rest of Juli’s comments. There is a wealth of information for married or single women at authenticintimacy.com.)
As I pondered how we might experience intimacy that was not sexual, especially for the single woman, I dug a little further with a word study on the word SENSUOUS which is defined as “anything that is pleasing to the senses”. In other words, anything that we touch, taste, see, smell and hear. There are many ways we can experience intimacy in
- a furry kitten resting calmly in our hands
- a delicious meal shared with friends
- a beautiful sunset filling our sight
- a pie baking in the oven smelling so good, tasting even better
- an incredible symphony
These are examples of sensuous things make our senses happy, but they also nurture us and allow us to know a deep joy and possibly meaningful intimacy with relationships of family and friends.
I understand that many times the effects of past encounters, or abuse related to sexual activity can taint the purity of a sensation. Certain senses can become triggers for memories or behaviors that you are desperately trying to avoid.
So often, rather than risk something “unpleasant” (though it might be much more damaging than that word denotes), we end up closing ourselves off to everything that might stir our senses.
But remember, God is a redeeming God. He created you to be sexual. He gave you your senses to live fully alive. Yes, there is pain! Yes, there is pain that needs healing, and your senses maybe part of that.
But each of our senses are faithful, loving reminders that God is breaking into our world everyday to speak his words of love to us.
What is it that God is inviting you into as you consider how to live sensuously as a sexual being? Maybe you have some questions about what that would look like. I know some women who are making it work. Let’s have that discussion together.
In the mean time, Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8