Voice Notes is an occasional special feature. We take you inside the online brand presence of a business owner we think you should know — through a dozen evocative sentence-starters.

Abby (Chief Voice Bureau Officer) says:

Amy Kessel is one of those people you feel more relaxed for being around — and I’m only talking about my experience of her over video chat and the phone. (I can only imagine what she’s like in person.) With Ivy League scholarship, a dance career, project management, grassroots community development, and non-profit experience in her background, she’s that rare mix of big brains, a bigger heart, and two feet firmly planted on the earth that adds up to unmistakable presence. I love that she confesses on her About page: “I never learned how to do cocktail party conversation.” The primary metaphor for her brand as a certified life coach is unfurling — you know, as tender plant shoots do. Now she shares with The Voice Bureau‘s readership a bit of the inside story on what gives her life and work shape and movement — at the same time as her Unfurling, her virtual, small group coaching program for women, is open for registration.

Amy Kessel, Transformative Life Coach

→   Find Amy on: Twitter; Facebook; Pinterest

MY TOP 3-5 VOICE VALUES ARE:

Intimacy, Clarity, Depth, Helpfulness, Love

(Note: Discover your own Voice Values when you subscribe to The Voice Bureau’s Insider Stuff e-letter. Look for the sign-up box in the upper righthand corner of the site.)

Personality typing? Why, yes! I’m an:

INFJ, also known as “The Protector” or “The Foreseer Developer” (yes another one, Abby!) and a Type 4 on the Enneagram (the Individualist). And I’m a Leo. (Abby’s Note: Seriously? We are not lacking for INFJs around here.).

I do the work I do because:

It’s who I am. I feel most at home deep in life-defining conversation — the ones where you squirm, maybe you cry, and you definitely feel heard. I live there most of the time, and created a business around it.

My brand is all about:

Quieting down the background noise so we can hear the whispers of our hearts. Staying open to cues and clues that take us where we truly want to go. And standing in our authentic, ripe power as we unfurl.

One thing I know for sure about my Right People is:

They’re intuitive, self-aware, and insightful. They are committed to claiming or reclaiming what’s really truly true for them, and living it. And it sure looks good on them.

The next big business challenge for me is:

Bringing my 1:1 and small group coaching expertise into organizations so I can help women leaders develop authentic leadership skills. I’m obsessed with integrating the feminine and masculine aspects of power in our work and in our lives, and am super excited about joining forces with organizations who agree this is key. (Plus, I’m lonely after 6 years of working at home in my pajamas!)

If my clients only hold onto one piece of advice from me, I hope it’s:

Allow yourself to stop pretending not to know. You know.

If I couldn’t do the work I’m doing now, I’d be a:

Documentary filmmaker.

I can never get enough:

I love yous from my kids.

My favorite question to ask people is:

Who are you becoming?

The best moment in my work week so far has been:

Reading the testimonials written by the women in my last Unfurling group program. (Note to self: keep testimonials in a file on the desktop for those meh days . . .)

The song/track/album that feels the most like my brand is:

India Arie’s Strength, Courage, and Wisdom.

If I could invite 3 people to dinner to give me their take on my work in the world, I’d invite:

Brene Brown, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Joseph Campbell

The best compliment I’ve ever received from a client is:

You just blew the air back into my lungs.

Three other online voices who really inspire me are:

Tara Sophia Mohr. Colleen Wainwright. TED (Not exactly an online voice, but inspiration for sure!)

One color I wish was in my visual brand but isn’t (yet) is:

Dusty purple.

The one ‘essential’ I could totally live without is:

A GPS. I prefer old school directions, written on paper, to hearing that annoying digital voice telling me where to turn.

My lifestyle, in 3 words:

Pared-down. Spacious. Committed.

In the comments, we’d love for you to:

To borrow another one of Amy’s favorite questions — what’s unfurling in YOU these days? Feel free to share, as Amy and I would love to say hello in the Comments.