As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Pamela Larde Dr. Larde is an associate professor of qualitative research and higher education at Mercer University, a fellow and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion council member for Harvard’s Institute of Coaching, and the founder/president of the Academy of Creative Coaching. Her research focuses on interpersonal relationships, self-motivation, inspiration, resilience, and post-traumatic growth. Additionally, she has written three books, has contributed chapters to scholarly publications, and presents her research extensively for national and international audiences.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

It’s interesting because I have always had a whole lot of different things I wanted to “be”, even as a young adult. I never doubted that I could do them all, but what I did not count on were the things I would become that were outside of the plan — like the founder of an international coach training school and a publishing company. I was going to be a CNN reporter, a sports reporter, a magazine editor, an author, a college professor, a researcher — but never a business owner, and especially never a college professor. As I look at my journey, I realize that I didn’t choose my path. They chose me. What I have realized about myself that because I recognized my purpose early on in life (which is to help people find their voice and their purpose), I have become really in tune with following opportunities that fall in line with my purpose — and this has resulted in a very interesting career path. I started out in public relations, then moved to student affairs developing leadership and intercultural programs and events. After beginning my Ph.D., I realized that I had a strength in speaking, teaching, and conducting research, so I became a college professor. And after I became a college professor, the entrepreneurial bug bit me and I started creating businesses to solve problems as they were presented to me. Today, I am a college professor, researcher, author, and founder of two organizations — the Academy of Creative Coaching, a school that trains and certifies professional coaches, and Tandem Light Press, a publishing company.

 

Read more at: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/1862453/