It was July 2004 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, when a turning point occurred in my life. Bill and I were on a road trip to see one of our favorite bands, Fleetwood Mac. I’ll never forget how sweltering hot it was driving through the Iowa cornfields to get there—the kind of heat where you can see the psychedelic-looking steam radiate off the scorching hood of the car while you’re cruising down the two-lane highway. And to add to the mid-summer drama, the cicadas (you know, those insects that sound like a major power line buzzing) were engaged in a full-out blast.

If you don’t already know this about me, I’m a huge concert enthusiast. I LOVE classic rock and paying tribute to the legends that helped shape the world of music in the late 60’s and on through the 70’s. I’ve been going to shows since I was a kid and thoroughly enjoying it all along. When I met Bill, I was so happy that he was a rocker just like me (my mom always did say that he was the “male version” of me and vice versa). :)

On that hot summer day, we were so excited to see the band live once again. But this time it was different. This time we had front row seats.

Of course the show was phenomenal and it was a thrill to be so close. I had never experienced anything like it! And what I realized on this night is that being up front represented something for me; something big. In the front, I was no longer a “spectator” on the sidelines, watching the show. Instead, from this place, I felt powerful. I felt as though I was an actual “participant” in the show. (Well, actually I was. I did get to play front-man Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar during “Go Your Own Way” as he knelt down from the stage and held his guitar out to a few of us lucky ones. It was a fun story to brag about when we got home!).

The front row experience that night impacted me so greatly that I began writing down ideas as soon as we got back to our hotel room (but of course not until after we made our traditional late-night/post-concert run to a nearby Taco Bell drive-through).

I pondered re-naming our coaching business “Front Row Coaching.” And the tagline: “Because life is not a spectator sport.” I felt called to help others live their lives boldly! In the front row, I was in the game; the game of my life. And it wasn’t until that moment that I realized I had spent much of my life on the sidelines as that “spectator.” I felt ready to step up with a primal desire to take charge of my life, to live out loud, to be my best…following my joy. And, to be in the front row of the most important show of all for me: My life!

I never did re-name my coaching business (but that’s okay because the focus of my coaching is still the same—I work with my clients to live their absolute best lives). So instead, and more importantly, I re-worked my life with this new perspective.

You’ll hear a lot more from me on my front row experiences, as I believe they’re very symbolic in my life journey.* The front row is one of the many, many places I feel alive…not only because I’m shouting along and dancing to music performed right in front of me by amazing rockers, but because I’m following my joy.

In the movie The Secret,one of my favorite inspirational teachers, Jack Canfield, said, “My primary aim is to feel and experience joy…and then I constantly put myself in that state.” Right on, Jack! And so this blog is dedicated to the magic that happens in your life when you make the conscious decision to be following your joy. Thanks for riding along on the journey with me.