Who we are
Teresa Bitner
Teresa is passionate about partnering with those who have been knocked down by live and what to build resiliency and move forward to a bold life. She specializes in resiliency, change and loss. A change in health, career, job or life. Loss of a loved one, job, relationship, pet, or divorce.
Teresa has a unique set of talents and experiences that gives her the ability to coach individuals and businesses to achieve their goals. She has been coaching people in many different areas for over 20 years. Teresa has 16 years IT industry experience where she was a team lead, manager, mentor, and project manager of both small and large world-wide diverse leading teams to success. Teresa chose to leave high-tech and spend more time with her two sons while they were in school. She then started her education career and has 9 years experience in education working in special education and as a middle school classroom teacher. In education, she worked as a department head, team lead and mentor, working with parents, students and other educators and administration for what was best for students success.
Teresa regained the joy of life and living fully after the significant loss of her spouse in 2009. The journey from loss to bliss and her own life coaching experiences led her to leave the classroom to help others find their passion and live their true unique lives. Teresa brings to the coaching relationship many unique and challenging life experiences including career transition, personal loss, grief, and recovery. She has been at the highest of highs in life and brought to the lowest of lows and is very blessed to be living an amazing BOLD Fulfilled life.
Teresa partners with those who have been knocked down by life and want to build resiliency and move forward to a bold life.
See more at: http://www.boldfulfilledlifecoach.com
Jeni McIntosh-Elkins
Mentoring others has always been a passion of mine and working with and on behalf of youth is where I have focused most of my life’s efforts. I became a widow in 2007 when my husband suddenly passed from a heart attack. It is my hope to use my life story to inspire others to assist them in their trials, identify their passion in life and find happiness. Education: MBA focused in Marketing, BA in Organizational Communications and Spanish. Experience: Includes IT management and management in mentoring and youth programming. I’ve worked in corporate, higher education and nonprofit settings and enjoy working to help others find their direction. I was the founder of a mentoring organization that worked to inspire girls to work in STEM careers. Family: widowed, 6 children (3 adopted and 3 acquired [I’m their second mom]), 11 grandchildren. Hobbies: writing, cake decorating, playing with grandchildren.
How we came together
In Jeni’s words:
Teresa and I met through a website coaching community, Women for Change (women4changecc.org). Here, women with limited resources can hire a life coach to assist them with their goals for a low cost. I had already had one coach and had signed up for a second round and I was assigned Teresa as my new coach. Teresa worked with me to create boundaries that I needed in my daily life and the courage that was needed to move away from an unhealthy career choice and to begin seeking a much happier path in my life. During our time as coach and client, we discovered our mutual experience as young widows and talked about the frustration we both had in finding adequate resources to assist us in dealing with our grief and the life issues that went along with that part of life’s journey.
In Teresa’s words:
Jeni was brought to me through Women for Coaching Change Community. I joined W4C3 to be of service to women who may be in need of coaching but cannot afford coaching at this time. I wanted to give back to coaching and especially to women. I never expected to meet someone through this giveback that would end up being someone I wanted to form a joint venture with. Our initial meeting and the first few emails where we shared our journeys through life were perfect synchronicity. What was the likelihood that two women who both experienced sudden death of a husband would be partnered together? We knew that our relationship was unique and God had a hand in bringing us together. We decided to go with the flow and see what could become of our relationship. Jeni broke through the hardship and challenges of her circumstances and became a new and improved Jeni as we worked together as coach and client. At the end of our coaching journey Jeni approached me on a joint venture to provide young widows resources and give back our experiences and knowledge. The idea of giving back and providing more resources for young widows appealed to me. Here we are on our journey together to give back and be of service.
Why we are doing this
In our own widow journeys, we found that there is a lack of resources for widows who lose their partners early in life. It is our hope to provide as many resources as we can locate to provide solace, comfort and assistance as you make your journey in this part of life.