About

Yota Schneider

Greece

I was born and raised in Athens, Greece. My life evolved in a culture based on old beliefs and customs. As a child, I remember hot summer evenings playing in the yard while the adults gathered under the grape arbor. The air was hot, filled with the smell of jasmine and the song of locusts. The women kept busy with their knitting or embroidery while talking about all sorts of things. The children hung around, playing our imaginary games, listening, observing. I suppose that’s when my curiosity about people’s personal stories was born.

I believe everyone has a story that’s worth listening to. We are all the result of our upbringing: the stories we heard as children, the messages we absorbed, the obstacles we faced, whatever we experienced on our way to present time. Somewhere along the way we are asked to find our voice, to decide who we want to be and what we want our contribution to be.

Leaving

I am now a long way from those hot summer evenings under the grape arbor in my childhood home. Life unraveled and took me thousands of miles away. In my early twenties, I came to the United States to do my field work experience as an occupational therapist. Here, I met my husband to be, we fell in love and got married.  There was a new culture, a new language, my role as a wife, the New England weather, and a whole new set of relationships to contend with.

It was at this time that I met my meditation teacher and embarked on my spiritual journey. Life became deeper, richer, more rewarding and meaningful. Transition wasn’t easy but time passed and I started growing into my new life.

Going corporate

Settling into a career was another matter altogether. I decided not to pursue recertification as an occupational therapist. Eventually, I became an account executive for Clinique (a division of the Estee Lauder Corporation). I found myself working with a multi-million dollar budget and coordinating a sales force of 120 sales consultants. It was fun, exhilarating, and eye opening.

I was competitive and driven. I didn’t mind the long hours and endless crises. the countless voice mails and emails a day, the deadline rush, the feeling that my job was never finished. I had even convinced myself that, fending off the unrealistic expectations all kinds of people had of me, was normal. This was corporate after all. The fast track. I lived on adrenaline.

I expected my husband and my friends to understand. I worked through the weekend and picked up messages during vacation. Along the way, there were people who shared their wisdom. I will forever be grateful to my marketing director. She said: “Remember, this is your job, not your life. Take good care of your life–we don’t get too many second chances.”

And then it happened!

After a number of years of being married, my husband and I decided to have children. And we did! Twin girls! Why have one when you can have two adorable human beings to completely change your life?

Here I was, wearing many hats and juggling many roles. Finding balance is tricky. What works one day may not work the next. Living in balance and harmony with who we are feels like a dance. One step forward, two steps backwards. It took me two years, after my daughters’ birth, to realize I had to leave corporate. I left and never looked back.

The alchemy of professional life coaching

One thing led to the next and, eventually, I enrolled and completed The Coach Training Program at Coach U.

Soon afterwards, I came upon The Seasons of Change® transition model developed by Carol McClelland, PhD. This model incorporates the wisdom of nature to help the individual grow and develop through life’s inevitable ups and downs. As I’ve always found the healing power of nature to be at the center of my life, I was deeply attracted to this model.

I became a Seasons of Change certified Master Coach and decided to make this model the foundation of my coaching practice.

For the past eleven years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many amazing people and support them as they tried to make sense of the transition they found themselves navigating.

For now, it has all come together. I feel fortunate and grateful. My life experience and life lessons, my journey through major transitions, my education, corporate experience, and of course, my spiritual practice, are all working together. I am doing work that I love while being present for my family, enjoying my friends, caring for my garden, making my contribution and letting life unfold.