Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Pascale Bourne. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Pascale, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I am a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. I had been working in management for 12 years when I took the biggest risk of my life to date. I was working for the largest health care organization in my home state. I was leading a team that felt more like a family. A great salary, pension, benefits, 401K, paid time off…all the stability I could ever want and yet I knew I was not as happy as I could be. Beyond the bureaucracy and red tape that often led to much desired and needed projects for our department falling through after years of planning and advocating, I felt a sense of unfulfillment. This extended beyond being discontent. The desire to do more, went from a longing to an aching, to literally feeling like I was being suffocated. With tears in my eyes, a panicked look on my face and a hoarse voice that scared my husband, I uttered the words, “I have to leave now!”. That was in October 2019. Within the year I made plans for my exodus which included going from a full time salaried position to a per diem (as needed) clinician position in a hospital, doubling my previously comfy commute. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I needed space to figure it out. So in the middle of the pandemic I started working in bedside care with the people that no one wanted to see-patients with Covid-19, having difficulty breathing and swallowing. The following October I landed a job that I couldn’t have dreamt of as a Communication coach at an established consultation firm in the city. I knew nothing at the time about how to be a coach, how to facilitate transformation, but I believed that no one but God could have provided such a unique experience. It became very clear to me that my time at the firm was meant to be a learning ground on how to use my coaching skills to help heal people in a new and meaningful way. So with shakiness in my voice, but certainty in my spirit, the following October I decided to go off on my own and take my coaching skills to an audience that needed to bridge the gap between the skills and the soul of communication to create true healing. I am happily the founder and owner of Bourne Transformation Group, LLC. I know that every experience had led me to each new experience. Each one required courage and the willingness to trust in the voice in my spirit that says it’s time. I continue to write my goals down each October and push myself with God’s guidance to the next big leap!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a Haitian American, first generation born in the US. A child of parents from the islands, my career options were limited to being a doctor, nurse, engineer or lawyer. After considering an acting career (not well supported by my family) I decided to be a pediatrician. However after almost failing Chemistry and bruising my ego, I switched majors to Elementary education. My goal was to use my background in education to work as a speech language pathologist. My mom, who is a retired RN, educated me on the option to work with kids in a medical setting as an SLP. I was intrigued enough about this possibility that I made a very deliberate plan to work as an elementary school teacher just long enough to study for the GRE (which I had to take 2 times) before I was able to apply to grad school programs in Communication Science and Disorders. I quickly fell in love with the normal and disordered anatomy and physiology of speaking, singing and swallowing. I focused my career experiences on working with head and neck cancer, voice and dysphagia therapy. Growing up in a household where I heard up to four languages being spoken (French, Haitian Creole, Spanish and English) allowed me to be even more marketable and helpful to patients and families for whom English was not their native language.

My desire to have greater impact and apply my analytical skills, led me to seek out leadership roles and eventually manage a medical practice and a rehabilitation team. Unbeknownst to me, I was learning in each of these roles how to “coach” my patients, their family members, colleagues and my direct reports on how to achieve their desired goals. I currently use communication as a portal to healing. I am able to help individuals determine what is getting in the way of using their most powerful and authentic voices. While one may want to work with me to become a better public speaker, what they will experience is how to be the best versions of themselves.

I am most proud of how I have been able to work with integrity, keeping my faith at the center of all I do to help and nurture others. I created Bourne Transformation Group with the desire to have individuals go from being a caterpillar to the bold and beautiful butterflies our Creator made them to be!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The most recent impact to date on my personal and professional mindset comes from the mentorship and philosophy of co-founder of Evok Life, Dr. Roni Ellington and author of Being is the New Doing, Radiah Rhodes. Dr. Ellington and Radiah co-created the Intention Scale which is a tool used to gauge who you are being at any given moment. It is a mirror that reflects the energy you are projecting into the world. Their philosophy has taught me that who you are being impacts what you do which impacts what you have. While it may seem simplistic in nature, it has had a profound impact in my ability to be real with myself. For the first time I understood that I have the power to impact my circumstances by who I chose to be moment to moment. I carry these perspectives now into each coaching and facilitation environment. I try to apply these concepts to who I am being as a wife, a mother, a family member and a friend. I certainly have not reached some level of perfectionism but I know who I want to be and I give myself grace when she doesn’t always show up.

I must also give an enormous amount of credit to my soul sister, Kailei Carr, CEO of The Asbury Group and Curator of the Beyonding Community. Kailei has created an oasis for like minded women to pour into an eco-system of unique gifts and talents that uplift and support us through life. Kailei introduced me to practices and resources that have shaped me as person. I now meditate, journal, listen to podcasts and lean on the fellowship of women. I am a better person because of her spirit filled leadership, genuine friendship, love and guidance.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have had to and am still working on unlearning the concept of humility and having a story worthy to share. I consider myself a VERY blessed person. Being raised Catholic, it has been ingrained in me and has been a part of my personality to be as humble as possible. I have never wanted to “brag” about what a great life I have lived. I have literally prayed prayers of thanksgiving and then said, if it all goes away now, I don’t need another thing. My dear friend and accountability partner, shared with me a definition of being humble that has changed my perspective. “having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance.” I don’t have a low estimate of my importance because I know as a child of God, I am very important. I also now realize that by me not sharing my blessings with others, I am limiting other people’s perception of what God can do in one’s life.
This relationship with humility and not sharing my story had impacted my comfort with really showing up in social media. I dabble here and there, but have not really shared the brilliance that God has given me with the world. This is definitely on my big leap movements for October this year!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: p_bourne
• Facebook: Pascale Bourne
• Linkedin: Pascale Bourne
• Other: email: [email protected]