Rachel Bulatovich, Author at Womens Post

Pauline Fleming is truly unique. A professional life, business and leadership master certified coach who is also a certified speaking professional, Pauline is one of only three people in the world who hold these accreditations. Coaching clients through both personal and professional matters gives both Pauline and her clients a comprehensive coaching experience. “I’m not strictly a life coach… I cover all three: life, leadership and business coaching. Where those [aspects] intersect on a venn diagram is the sweet spot for the individual’s success. Those successes or learning opportunities are transferable,” Pauline explains, “We… go deeper, and [clients are] able to leverage what’s already in them.” By focusing on all aspects of her client’s lives, Pauline can pinpoint what’s missing and help them apply a solution to both their professional and personal lives.

Pauline first began coaching after moving across the country from British Columbia to Ottawa in 2001, finding herself in a new city shocked, and with no family nearby. Looking for guidance, Pauline hired a coach for herself to help with the effects of moving thousands of kilometres. Through being coached, she realized that coaching would be a great fit for her professionally. “I realized through the coaching that that’s what I had been doing as a teacher that I loved,” she says. Eager to begin coaching and helping others, Pauline organized a Ladies’ Retreat for the Heart and Soul at her home. “I knew about 50 women so I invited them over for [the Retreat]. It turned into a retreat for women on a quarterly basis. The first was in August of 2002 and 20 of the women couldn’t make it… but the other 30 showed up and asked ‘when’s the next one?’” Pauline reminisces.

The retreats eventually turned into pro-bono coaching for stay-at-home moms, but quickly evolved into a larger scale operation, with Pauline coaching Fortune 500 business leaders and business owners looking to improve and expand their company.

“I found a groove in working with service providers, people who care so much [it’s] to their own detriment… they’re people pleasers. They’re leaders who care, and I love working with people who put people first,” Pauline says. “Now I focus on both of those sizes, whether it’s a small business with a leader that has no employees but knows they need them or [a larger company.]”

Enthusiasm, Pauline says, is one of the most important aspects of coaching. While she is passionate about coaching and helping her clients, Pauline’s goal is to impassion her clients and help them realize their potential. “They’re not just there for a pay cheque; it’s not meaningful, it’s not giving them purpose. Whether they have a salary job or they’re running a business and they’re not sure if they’ll be able to pay their mortgage. Whatever it is, they all want to make a difference,” she says. “I’m an optimist, I’m not a Pollyanna. I’m a realist. I choose to look at the positive and strengths [in my clients].”

The passion and enthusiasm that Pauline exudes in both her personal and professional life are one of her strengths, but the qualities have tragic origins. “My dad passed away from heart disease at the age of 42. I was only 18,” she says. “So I learned at a young age that you shouldn’t wait until retirement to have a trip of a lifetime, or to do the things that we love. We have to do that sooner and stop wasting our lives.” Pauline’s unique philosophy combines Carpe Diem with analogies of chocolate. “We have a lot of things in our day that we have to do, but the things we love to do are our ‘chocolate’ for the day. In your life, what’s your ‘chocolate?’ What do you love to do?”

A self-proclaimed “recovering over-achiever,” Pauline Fleming has overcome personal difficulties and combined her unique set of skills to become a successful coach whose goal is, simply, to help and inspire. Working with clients from different businesses all over the world, she works to help everyone and anyone find the “chocolate” in their professional and personal lives.

For Mindy Berkson, a fertility expert, life and work have collided. Hailing from the Chicago area, Mindy was initially destined for a life in venture capital, attending the University of Michigan for Economics and later working for a venture capital company. “My first job out of college was writing business plans for start-up companies in the 1980s,” she says.

While she was content in the industry, she found herself going in a new direction after the birth of her first daughter, initially intending to be a stay-at-home-mom. “The day my daughter was born, I said, ‘thank God I never have to write another business plan,’” she chuckles. Upon attempting to expand their family, Mindy discovered she was infertile. She was plunged into the world of fertility treatment. “I spent three and a half years as a patient in the industry [which] stymied me. It was so difficult to navigate. I didn’t know what questions to ask, I didn’t know how to locate the right resources.”

The frustration of the industry ignited something in Berkson; she had found her passion. After her twins were born, she returned to the industry, this time as a professional. She worked in a fertility centre for eight years, recruiting egg donors and surrogates on a national scale. Her previous experiences as a patient gave Mindy a unique edge in the industry, helping women, men and couples finally conceive and accomplish their dreams of becoming parents. Her goal is to help intended parents explore their options for biological families and serve as a guide through the often-stressful financial, physical and emotional demands of the infertility process.

“It was at this point of my life when I took my venture background and married it with my experience [in with the fertility industry] and wrote a business plan for Lotus Blossom,” Mindy explains. Lotus Blossom Consulting was born in 2005 and has helped myriad people with a range of fertility issues.

Though the company has grown exponentially in the last eight years, Mindy still personally meets with her clients, regardless of their location. “My approach is very individualized; there is no cookie cutter consultation. Each client comes to be with very different needs and I always work one-on-one with my clients,” she explains. Berkson and her team of multi-discipline professionals work with clients to fulfill financial, emotional and physical needs, which vary with each client.

Although her consultancy is located in Chicago, IL, Mindy works with clients all over the globe. She’s worked with couples and individuals from Canada, Europe, Australia and Latin America to make their dreams of parenthood a reality. While many clients travel to the U.S. to personally meet with Mindy and her team, she travels the world to meet with doctors, lawyers, immigration officials and translators to ensure her clients have the best possible experience. In addition to the in-person consultation, Mindy meets with international clients via Skype for continued support.

Although her professional and family lives are demanding, Mindy still devotes much of her time and energy to charity. She founded the Jude Andrew Adams Fund in 2007 in honour of her stillborn nephew of the same name. “The grief [of his family] expressed reminded me of… my clients suffering from infertility. The grieving process really meshed for me,” Berkson says. The fund helps financially needy couples overcome their infertility issues, typically helping 2-3 individuals or couples per year. “10% of profits from Lotus Blossom go towards the fund.” Mindy is also a newly elected board member of Fertile Action, an organization that raises awareness for fertility preservation for cancer patients, often taking measures to help cancer stricken women preserve their eggs before they begin treatment. “Another goal of the organization is to [educate women] about options after their cancer is in remission, such as egg donation and surrogacy.”

Mindy credits her own experiences in finding her passion for the fertility industry, saying, “my three and a half years as a patient [helped me] find my passion for the industry.” Now a happy mother, Mindy helps others overcome what she did 16 years ago. She hopes that, in the changing landscape, anyone dreaming of becoming a parent can achieve their goal. “There are so many different families out there today. Thank God we have all this advanced technology to help these people achieve their aspirations of parenthood,” she smiles.

For more information, please visit the Lotus Blossom website or contact Mindy directly for a complimentary consultation at 1-847-881-2685.

Rachel Bulatovich

Women of the week: Pauline Fleming

Women of the Week: Mindy Berkson