Today we’d like to introduce you to Barb Nangle
Hi Barb, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
You could say that I got started as a boundaries coach the day that I hit a codependent bottom in the spring of 2015. This came as a result of inviting a homeless friend named Dan to stay at my home during a snowstorm. I met Dan as a fellow parishioner at my church and we became pretty friendly. I now know that it’s not normal to invite a homeless person to stay at your home!
Dan stayed that night, and then another and another. Within a few weeks, he was practically living with me. I soon felt trapped in my own home. He was an admitted alcoholic and drug addict. I now think he might also have had some kind of a personality disorder. Dan messed with my head in a way that I had never experienced!!
My main pattern of codependency was in my romantic relationships, but I soon learned that I had codependency permeating every single relationship of my life. I found my way into 12-step recovery for codependence, and then ultimately for childhood trauma and compulsive overeating. I learned how to build healthy boundaries in the context of 12 step recovery and it changed everything!! I think that boundaries were so powerful for me because they’re essentially the antidote to codependence.
I got laid off from my 19 year position at Yale University in the summer of 2017. Through a series of serendipitous events I started my own business as a coach. It took me a while to find my niche, but I finally realized that being a boundaries coach was the thing for me. I coach other professional women (like former me) who say yes when they really want to say no, and who neglect themselves because they’re so focused on others.
I was astonished at the ripple effect of me building healthy boundaries on my team and on my project when I worked at Yale. I want that for other women too.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not smooth at all! Discovering I was codependent was a shocker, esp after a lifetime of therapy (37 years!) and tons of other forms of personal development. I then learned I had relational trauma as a result of intergenerational family dysfunction. When I was doing the 12 steps, I hit another bottom – this time with sugar. I found out I was a compulsive overeater, which I didn’t even know was a thing! Luckily for me there’s a 12 step recovery program for that too!
I’ve always been a very positive, optimistic person. It was yet another shock to learn that I’d been ruminating and catastrophizing my whole life. That explained a lot of the crap that was going on around me. I also learned I had victim mentality, which was – by far – the biggest mindset shift of my recovery process.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m a coach, podcaster and speaker. I coach and speak on boundaries, especially for professional women since I was a professional woman myself when I got into recovery and learned how to build healthy boundaries.
My podcast is called “Fragmented to Whole: Life Lessons from 12-Step Recovery.” I started it to get the word out to the world about the incredible wisdom in 12 step recovery. I had been engaged in personal development for decades and all of that stuff sort of scratched the surface of the iceberg of my life and recovery melted the iceberg of my life.
I was just astonished at how much I found out about myself and all the tools and tricks and mindset shifts I learned in recovery. I started the podcast to get that stuff out there, never thinking it would have anything to do with my business. It’s now the number one way that I get clients. At this moment, I have almost 40 episodes of my podcast specifically about boundaries, though there are many other topics as well
What sets me apart from others is that I am the perfect blend of the sacred and the profane. I am a deeply spiritual woman who makes conscious contact with my higher power many, many times a day. I live a God-centered life. At the same time, I swear like a trooper!
What I’m most proud of brand-wise is that I am an example of being both a professional woman who is also grounded and authentic at the same time.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
My growth orientation. I cannot NOT grow. It’s just who I am.
That means I fall down 7 times and get up 8. I seek to grow which puts me out of my comfort zone. I strive to live a life of purpose and meaning, and the only way (for me) to do that is to continually grow.
Pricing:
- $3800 12 week private boundaries coaching
- $1900 8-week group course on boundaries
- $300 for a 1:1 coaching session on any topic
- $850 for 3x 1:1 coaching sessions
Contact Info:
- Website: https://higherpowercc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/higherpowercoaching/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HigherPowerCoaching
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@higherpowercoaching
- Other: podcast: fragmentedtowhole.com
Image Credits
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