This is Part II, a continuation to my last blog entry in which I explained how I left my consulting company to go out on my own (again). Here's why I became a life coach, and how I pursued my path as an organizational development consultant.

How My Obsession With The Heroine's Journey Began

Let me tell you about how my obsession with the Heroine’s Journey began and see if you can recognize the Call part! (This is excerpted and adapted from my book, You Are a Heroine: A Retelling of The Hero’s Journey).

Meanwhile, one of the many assignments for the coaching program at The Hudson Institute was to write a final paper and present it to the class by the end of the year. We had to choose our topic and vet it with our school-assigned coach by midyear. It was August and so far, I had no topic.

Of course, it had to be about coaching, and the particular perspective we would bring to the field. Some of my ambitious, way more organized classmates had already written their papers and presented them in our July session.

Always the procrastinator, I couldn’t seem to get motivated to start the paper. To make matters worse, I couldn’t even figure out what I wanted to write about.

But Then It Came To Me...

Out of the blue— how many times do we use that phrase when serendipitous forces are at play? — a friend called to tell me that the next day a woman was going to speak about The Wizard of Oz in a town up the coast from me.

“Susanna,” my friend said, “this speaker shows how the story The Wizard of Oz fits into the pattern of the Hero’s Journey as Joseph Campbell wrote about it. She’s good. I know how much you like The Wizard of Oz. You should come.”

I didn’t want to. The weather was unbearably hot and the presentation was an hour away. But the idea stayed with me. It wouldn’t go away even after I tried to reason it away, what with the heat, the distance... oh, yeah, and the awful tourist traffic!

True, I loved The Wizard of Oz. (After all, I had named my women’s workshop and retreat company “Ruby Slippers.”) But I had worked all day and I knew next to nothing about Joseph Campbell. Couldn’t I just sit at home?

This Was Part Of My Call

Apparently, I couldn’t. I drove up the coast—heat, traffic and all. Listening to the speaker, Sally Landsburg, talk about Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey was life-changing for me. This was the first time I had seen the Hero’s Journey laid out and relayed in detail.

Sally explained the milestones of Dorothy’s Journey:

•The tornado? It brings Dorothy into Oz. She’s Crossing the Threshold and entering on her Journey into the unknown.

•Toto? That’s Dorothy’s intuition. He guides her, always leading her to the next step.

Sally’s use of The Wizard of Oz as her example of a Hero’s Journey couldn’t have been more meaningful to me, especially since it was the story that I used with my workshop attendees to talk about our own lives.

I learned that the Hero(ine)’s Journey is the underlying theme in the books and movies that I like the most: those in which the main characters transform. And Campbell laid out the path of transformation! It connected the dots for me... my love of literature, transformation, and the yellow brick road of growth that we all have within us. I felt a little awestruck as I watched different parts of my life connecting together!

Why I Became A Life Coach: My A-ha Moment!

It was an a-ha moment for me. And here I was, studying to be a coach to help others have those same a-ha moments that would transform their lives! “Serendipitous” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

I also knew I had found the topic for my final paper: how can we, as coaches, help clients see their Hero(ine)’s Journey? For me, the model of the Heroine’s Journey had become the basic tool in the transformative process of coaching. I was inspired!

And then came yet another moment of great serendipity. I was required, as part of the coaching certification program, to find a Hudson Institute coach who would coach me for the rest of the program. I approached the Hudson president, sharing with her my newfound passion for the Heroine’s Journey and my decision to make it the topic for my final paper.

She immediately recommended Dr. Pat Adson, a psychologist and author who was equally passionate about the Hero’s Journey, to be my coach. Then and there, I was matched with the perfect person to guide me down this new path that was unfolding under my feet in a very yellow brick road–like way.

Why I Became A Life Coach: The End Of The Program

At the end of the program, the reviewers at Hudson gave me high marks for my paper and accompanying presentation, which, of course, I called “Finding My Own Ruby Slippers.” Looking back with the wisdom of hindsight, I recognize that that paper planted the seed for this book.

With the program behind me, I put all that I had learned into action as I continued to grow my consulting and executive coaching business (Liller Consulting, LLC) and my women’s workshops and retreats business (Ruby Slippers, LLC). I saw clearly that my life and the lives of all those people around me were also examples of individuals living the Heroine’s (and Hero’s) Journey. We were all living this inspiring and transformational pattern!

In my coaching, I knew that I could talk about life challenges and never mention the Heroine’s Journey, but I came to realize that there is power in knowing, and seeing oneself in, the Heroine archetype. Why did those ancient storytellers continue to tell this tale of an ordinary person who leaves the village to go on an adventure and who returns with something that benefits all, if it wasn’t to illustrate important life principles?

I wanted women to recognize this and see the Heroine’s Journey as:

•a meaningful guide to use as they follow their intuition and try what they haven’t before (even if it’s small).

•a lens to view life’s challenges as necessary because those challenges develop the individual. It’s about finding the lessons and seeing the gifts in every situation.

•an invitation to eventually discover or uncover their unique gifts, reaping the rewards if they take the Journey.

The Heroine archetype so deeply resonated with me that, frankly, I just had to share it with other women. I couldn’t stop talking about it (and obviously haven’t stopped talking about it!) There had been so many times in my own life that I had left the comfort of the known and leaped into the unknown.

I was still doing it! I saw how the risks I had taken made me a much more confident woman. I wanted other women to experience that same awareness. I was determined that every woman would know about the Heroine’s Journey! And that, my friends, was the Journey that led to writing this book.

I wrote my book over a period of five years. I was still business consulting, working with groups in conflict, facilitating meetings large and small. I would find times to write, then put it aside for sometimes months, then pick it up again. I was compelled to get it down and share what I had learned. So many times during that period I doubted what I was doing. It was a constant refrain in my head - sometimes in the forefront and then more quietly playing in the background - but certainly ever-present. But I kept at it. Frankly, I couldn’t stop.

Why I Became A Life Coach (& Some Lessons)

So, here in 2021, three years later, I am grateful for whatever/whoever it was that initiated the planting of the message into me and assisted me in getting it out. I know I’m still being guided. As I keep saying, I’m not done yet!

Pat Adson, my wonderful Hudson coach, author of Depth Coaching, Discovering Archetypes for Empowerment, Growth, and Balance, - one of my many mentors who had a profound effect on me and my journey, passed away this year. I miss her.

I want to end this blog post with a quote from her book:

“The myth of the hero’s journey provides a map that shows the integration of various developmental theories and enables us to consider all of these elements as a coherent whole. The myth applies to every adult and tells the universal story of human development - the natural history of our species. Each person recapitulates the journey many times - longitudinally (across the life span) and cyclically (within phases of our lives). Every time we leave the familiar behind, we begin a new journey. Every life transition is a potential journey.”

My Inspiration

Can you see why she inspired me? The hero/heroine myth is still with us for a reason. It has a huge message for each of us - answer your call. Go on your journey. You will develop and grow!

I love “getting a Call” stories and I invite you to share yours with me. In my podcast, The Podcast for Real-Life Heroines, I’m always interested in starting at “the Call point”...”What got you to this place? What was your Call?”

Oh, and just so you know - we get many in our lifetime. I’m thinking if you’ve somehow found your way to what I’m writing to you today - you might be getting one now!