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I discovered a new purpose for my life at 61.

One straight forward way

Another way possible (the one I took and have no regrets)

I discovered a new purpose for my life at 61.

One straight forward way

Another way possible (the one I took and have no regrets)

"Vera, why don't you look for something related to coaching? "

That’s what I heard from a friend at a key moment in my life.

From this provocation, I realized that throughout my career I practiced many typical things of the coaching process without even knowing it.

I was a doctor, a mentor for the residents at the Breast Unit, founded a nonprofit to help breast cancer patients, an English teacher, and an executive at two non-profit foundations.

In all these roles numerous people sought me out to hear what I had to say, and I was able to help many of them make better decisions in their life and career.

My personal experiences were courageous. I’ve had three successful professions, I’ve lived in three different countries, I’ve moved homes many times and I consider myself someone who’s passionate about life and people.

I believe the coaching process is all about courage.

The right question at the right time was the push I needed.

It was time to make another turn in my career and devote myself full-time to the emotional well-being of other people.

The first mentor

In 1983 I was a doctor, with no idea which specialty to follow.

That’s when a professor who was a breast cancer surgeon, saw a talent in me, that I myself was not seeing. He invited me to work as his assistant.

He was the first of many lifelong mentors who helped me make important decisions. At the time there was no coaching profession, but I would say he was a mentor and coach to me.

Having a good Coach is like having a compass.

It was because of this invitation from my teacher that I decided to start a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and then specialize in breast disease and breast cancer.

The rest is history!

Physical and emotional health

My consultations always started with:

I said, "What's going on?"

I saw my patients as complete human beings, although my specialty was breast disease. I wanted to treat them beyond the illness.

This spoke so loudly to me that I started a support group for breast cancer patients with a psychologist friend of mine.

In 1999, I was invited to participate in a television show to talk about women’s health.

At first, people asked me only about medicine. “How to treat, how to prevent…”.

As they got to know me better, they began to ask me about relationships and life circumstances. And so, I was there for four years.

Saúde física e emocional

Minhas consultas sempre começavam com:

“O que está acontecendo?”

Eu enxergava minhas pacientes como seres humanos completos, embora a minha especialidade fosse a mastologia. Eu queria tratá-las para além das mamas.

Isso falou tão alto que formei um grupo de apoio para pacientes com câncer de mama com uma psicóloga amiga minha.

Em 1999, fui convidada para participar de um programa de televisão para falar sobre saúde da mulher.

No começo, as pessoas me perguntavam só sobre medicina. “Como tratar, como prevenir…”.

Conforme foram me conhecendo melhor, elas passaram a me perguntar sobre relacionamentos e circunstâncias da vida. E assim foi por quatro anos.

"But... quit medicine?"

Everything was going well in my medical career, but my path took me somewhere else. Literally, because I moved to another country.

I’m Brazilian and met my husband at a Rotary International conference. When I decided to move to the U.S. to live this relationship, I had to decide about being a doctor.

After all, for me to practice medicine in the USA, it would be necessary to revalidate my diploma, redo residency, and a lot of bureaucratic procedures.

Despite having had a successful career, I needed to take one more turn.

From doctor to executive

Arriving in the U.S. I worked as a financial consultant for two years. I developed no passion for this industry, so I had to move on.

That’s when a friend who is a financial consultant and was on the board of directors for a nonprofit organization for breast cancer patients suggested my name to the board. I stayed there for 10 years as the Executive Director.

Then I migrated to another larger organization, also linked to cancer patients, and worked another 4 years.

It was a career that gave me many life lessons. I learned to manage people well and encourage them by valuing their talents. I helped the staff, the board, and the volunteers. I was very dedicated and organized and I was able to get the two organizations to grow financially, structurally and they assisted more people.

It turns out that the 60s are a decisive age, and when I reached that milestone in 2020, the world was hit by a pandemic. Putting the family first, I moved to another state within the U.S., needed reroute my journey once again.

De médica a executiva

Leaving problem solver behind

I was investigating my options when my friend made that tease and coaching came in as a purpose.

It’s been a very interesting challenge.

As an executive, people came to me to solve problems: “Vera, how do I do this?”, “Vera, I take path A or B?…”.

As a doctor, they were looking for me to give a diagnosis and define the next steps.

As a Coach my role is to listen with my soul and make people see the path they want to take.

It is not my role to give lessons, advice, or solutions, but to use my experience and technical knowledge to assist my clients to find the solutions within them.

Every human being is naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. Life is what keeps us from our essence. As a Coach, I help my clients rediscover their essence and live a fuller and more conscious life.

And that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.

It's okay to reinvent myself again

In the Mastery Certification Program that I participated in with coaches from all over the world, I could see how each one brought a different background to add to people’s lives.

There were project managers, engineers, IT staff, nurses, doctors, and several other types of professionals who were looking for a new way to help people.

I am always intrigued and curious to help people discover what fulfills them and what can make their lives better and lighter.

I help my clients live a lifestyle without regrets, with conscious choices. Definitely no one starts from scratch, and I bring my life experience on this new journey.

On your way, you may have to go through some curves and obstacles, but in life everything aggregates together to show the beauty of each human’s journey, unique and special.

It is precisely your baggage that makes you a unique person and professional.

Looking at my trajectory, I realized that I intuitively put into practice coaching techniques with several people around me and could truly help them find their own way.

Today I exercise my new profession with the clarity that it is aligned with my life purpose.

“We just connect the dots looking back.”

Steve Jobs