This interview first appeared in VoyageATL, April 30th, 2020.
Chloe, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m generally an optimistic, energetic, fun person who sees the best in most people. I’m creative and inquisitive and genuinely enjoy laughing out loud. I’ve been told I’m an “inspiring” and “encouraging” woman. I like that because I believe these qualities fit right in with my purpose, work, and my big life game.
I’m shaped by my Mississippi roots and the women who loved me; three indomitable great-grandmothers, an endearing grandmother, a determined mommy, and a “sheroic” aunt. Some of my innate qualities, like encouraging others, loving the spirit of play, creativity, and my birth order (I’m the third of eight children with three younger sisters), have also shaped me and this is where mentoring and the seeds of the Girl-Swag curriculum began to germinate. After studying fashion merchandising and design at Mississippi State University, I traveled to San Francisco, completed my college internship as an assistant manager of a small retail boutique and within months, started my first dream job and career as a model. Two years later, I was on my way to Milan, Italy to become a “real” international model.
Providing real-life, real-time transformational processes and life direction for younger women; those in college, post-high school graduates and middle-school tweens through the Girl-Swag curriculum, projects, and after school programs have always been one of my favorite things.
Today, as an author, a personal excellence facilitator, executive life coach and mentor, I’ve incorporated many of my professional skills, knowledge, innate abilities and talents, international life experiences, and my eye for image, style and fashion into working with and coaching high-level corporate executives and their teams, entrepreneurs, and professional women to be more authentic, aware, intentional and successful. My books include three self-help books and a new evocative memoir. I Can Laugh Again: From the Valley of Grief to a Glimpse of Heaven. In addition, I wrote and created Girl-Swag: A Global Girl’s Curriculum for Personal Development & Lifestyle Enhancement.
I wear several hats when it comes to personal growth, self-mastery and transformation and believes, “It all starts with our thoughts, our energy and our excellence,” which I call PEP! In fact, I co-created the phenomenal #LIFEUP System and the Personal Excellence Profile – The PEP assessment, my signature profiling tool used to measure personal excellence levels and to provide clients, teams and organizations with a comprehensive 360 survey, assessment, and a debrief that elevates self-awareness and personal performance. Clients also receive a personal step-by-step blueprint to help them follow-through for measurable and sustainable growth, success and expansion.
This dynamic personal development training and first-class one-on-one coaching get clients “out of their head and into their life” within record speed, adding tremendous energy and power to the whole person or the whole team.
My team of certified PEP Coach Practitioners and I engage managers, executives and leaders from Fortune 50 to 500 corporations. We’ve also worked with international organizations such as The Home Depot, The AVON Corporation, Hewlett Packard, G.E. Money, PriceWaterhouse Coopers and others. Likewise, we expertly guide and support small business owners and their team(s), and those in transition with individualized one-on-one and/or small group coaching that helps clients tap into their own authentic potential to “power-up” their daily life, career, and their business by creating and following through on a personally developed blueprint that if followed, leads to higher levels of excellence and growth.
My keynotes and presentations are inspiring, encouraging, empowering, relatable and most importantly, applicable. They make listeners and participants want to “do something” to better themselves, their team, family or community. My keynotes can be crafted for small and large groups alike.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Years ago, I experienced a paradigm crash. Everything in my life and within my world shattered into more than a million little pieces—following the death of Justin, my youngest child at the time. Almost every decision my husband and I made then seemed wrong because we were operating from such a low level in every aspect of our lives, physically, mentally, emotionally and most of all spiritually.
After months and years of grief and spiritual counseling, more years of personal development, coaching and transformational work, a circle of wonderful friends and loving family members who stuck with me, I still had faith there was just a little bit more I could become and offer. I began to slowly feel well enough to reevaluate my life and my values. This was not easy and took a while, and it certainly seemed to restore me just a little more each day. In order for me to move forward, I knew I had to determine a new ideal for my life, and no matter how much pain I was in, it seemed the process had to start right where I was—with me.
“Who am I,” I asked myself, “Where do I go from here, who do I want to become, what can I do and share with other people from my own life experiences that matter?” I had to determine a new ideal for myself and my life.
A determined ideal is much bigger than a goal, although goals are vital in accomplishing your ideal. A determined ideal is a clear, multidimensional, holographic picture we hold in our mind’s eye of who we are, how we want to live our life combined with a step-by-step plan to help us make it happen. My husband and I both had our own individual plans before our paradigm crash, we created them in college and in turn, we created the life of our dreams together. Now, after the crash, I was drifting and started to lose most of my energy and power. My energy became fragmented and dispersed into nothing or insignificant meaningless tasks. Moreover, my life at the time was synonymous with a whole lot of busy-ness adding up to nothing.
During the darkest time of my life, what I missed most was laughter; and the lack of it was destroying me and my family. My most memorable, authentic prayer at the time was, “Please God! Just let me laugh again.” I loved my own laughter and I knew it filled our home with a certain assurance. Once I allowed myself to actually laugh out loud and not feel a sense of guilt, and even giggle, I started getting my life-energy back. The laughter actually started to increase my energy and bring some of my power back to me. I was finally able to “be present” again. I started getting out of my head and back into my heart, which led me back to my life. I began taking chances on myself again and hired a transformational life coach to help me because I knew I could do better, and I was ready to do the work.
Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about you and your career so far?
Life Up With Chloé is a global self-mastery, integrative life coaching, executive coaching, training and leadership development company. I inspire, encourager, listen and see excellence in others. In addition, I have the knowledge, skills, tools and capacity to coach, champion and create individualized and team strategies that educe and draw out excellence from those I work with. I am an expert educer of excellence.
I specialize in authenticity, personal excellence and professional presence. I work with professionals, individuals in transition – personally and professionally, groups and teams, organizations and Fortune 50 to 500 corporations – from managers to c-suite executives. My services include one-on-one coaching, team building and training. I train and certify others to be PEP Life Coach Practitioners, I speak on panels and sometimes appear on podcasts, radio and TV shows.
I am known for educing and drawing out the best in people and helping them to get ready to be ready for bigger opportunities and their big life games. I am inspired and most proud to be co-creator of the phenomenal PEP, the Personal Excellence Profile self-awareness and personal excellence assessment tool. What sets me apart is my ability to see the best in others, connect with them and draw out their best in a fun, productive way that helps them accomplish their goals and get what they want.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck. I believe in knowing what you want and getting ready to be ready for the opportunities that will come your way by being intentional and excited about who you and what you want.