ROBIN HESSELGESSER

The average age of a life coach is between 20-30 years old.

I was born in 1963. I have some wonderful memories of my childhood. My mom loved me unconditionally. My grandparents were everything. However, I did experience neglect, abuse, loss, pain and I was forced into growing up much too quickly. I was painfully shy and couldn’t wait to get older in hopes of fitting in. I felt more comfortable with adults than my peers.

I grew up in an entrepreneurial environment, three generations of dealership owners when the car business was something special. However, I didn’t follow suit. I was a girl. It wasn’t an option.

I put myself through school and worked several jobs in the hospitality industry…mostly restaurants. I learned the direct correlation in how much you earned equals work ethic and the way you treat people. However, I was too shy, too guarded and wounded to know what I was meant to do.

I married, had an amazing daughter, divorced and found myself in the corporate world. Being the only female in the boardroom, I quickly learned to separate my personal life from my professional one, and became an expert in feeling guilty when I couldn’t be in two places at once.

I was eventually betrayed in the worst way by another female executive and it was then that I realized it was no longer in my best interest to give everything I had to an entity that didn’t care about me as an individual.

So I left to start my own business. It eventually failed and when it wilted away so did my confidence and self-worth. I had failed and it was devastating. I lost everything, had to file bankruptcy, and I just wanted to slink away and disappear.

After more than an acceptable time in the fetal position, I picked myself up, armed with all of the lessons I had learned and started over.

Since then, I have two highly successful businesses, one being a nationally recognized artist, and the other being a strategy coach that helps people reach their highest potential personally and professionally. I have had my own talk show, I have been interviewed countless times, I am an author, I have spoken on stages in front of hundreds of people, and I have worked with individuals and small businesses of many types.

From a miscellaneous standpoint, I am sarcastic. I think I’m funny. I don’t take myself too seriously but what I do I take very seriously. I know how to listen. I am extremely intuitive. I am contemporary not modern. I have a deep appreciation for automobiles. You cannot eat or drink in my car. Breathing is okay. I have never smoked and I don’t do drugs. It upsets me when people are rude to servers. It upsets me when servers don’t care about serving. Being on time is important. I will tell you what I think. I care about your feelings, but I will tell you because it will be necessary to your success. I feel very strongly about racial equality, sexual orientation equality, religious equality, and equality, period. I would have loved to had lunch with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or Barack Obama. With him, it isn’t too late. I always keep my nails done but my boyfriend calls me “Butch.” I own and know how to use power tools. I love movies, but no talking during them. I love music, the arts, great food and people that are brave and willing to share their stories. My daughter gave me the best compliment I have ever had. She said, “Mom, your greatest strength is you know people. You have the ability to tell them what they need to know when they need to hear it.” Yep.