Kristen Walsh being coached by me.

An unusual kind of bonding went on last night during my Remarkable Women’s Network event. As each woman business owner introduced herself, she also mentioned her own particular brand of gremlin voice.

Heads nodded as one woman talked about having to be perfect, another mentioned the fear of claiming to be an artist (how dare she!), while others talked about feeling like an impostor or being too young or too old for her industry. Instead of the more typical self-intro’s you hear at networking events, I asked participants to lead with something that made them each vulnerable.

And you know what? I’ve never had a more successful or intimate session than this one. Attendees stayed well past the 7:30pm end time and were still exchanging information, leads and referrals as they walked out the door.

In addition to our usual round robin of self-introductions, I also coached five of the participants through a specific gremlin issue using a different ‘combat’ technique with each woman. Pictured here is Kristen Walsh, an ARTIST, who does fiber sculptures, wearable pieces and teaches too. During our demo coaching session she described what an ideal scenario would be for an exhibit of her work. She was totally confident, knowledgeable and compelling as she described the setting. The point I was making, and she so clearly demonstrated, is that when you’re in action mode (i.e. actively talking about your vision or pursuing it), gremlins run for cover.

Kristen had mentioned during that night’s coaching time together how much she also enjoys teaching. I do not consider it a coincidence that I received an email message from Kristen later that night saying this: