I began my career as a high school teacher in Ohio.

I absolutely loved working with teenagers as they questioned the “establishment,” and I encouraged them to find their voice, and speak it, write about it and connect with that part of themselves that wanted something different than what they saw their lives to be.

There were many expectations placed upon them and I saw it as “grist for the mill,” and if each could find her/his inner voice and help them be heard in a way that would begin the process of empowerment and validation. Although the school in which I taught was on the cutting edge, I could see that the environment was missing for what was needed for true authentic learning.

I left and said I would be back! My intuition told me business was a stakeholder in what education could be. Luckily, I found that good mentors along the way as I climbed the corporate ladder in business development, marketing and product development in various industries from construction, real estate, healthcare, software, and financial services. I have built amazing relationships along the way~and many are living someone else’s life.

I have often been quoted as saying that if we learned the real essence of who we are through our 14,000 hours of education then coaching would never have emerged as a career. Ancient wisdom is a vital link to us remembering what it means to be human on our planet Earth.

Nurturing my own inner voice,

I have discovered that I could integrate what I learned about learning and business into becoming an entrepreneur where I have owned my own businesses in public relations and advertising, executive coaching, consulting, and executive search, and in education and wellness coaching and consulting. And what I learned about owning a business came from doing it-emergent learning. I found mentors and coaches along the way that assisted me with what was next for me to learn. I was an engaged learner because I knew what I wanted and needed to learn.

So my intention with Living the Potential Network is to put self-directed learning on the map! Bridge the divide that exists between schooling and learning and its connection to conscious entrepreneurship to connect and to be of service to others to make a positive difference. In today’s world, the universe is the classroom and what really matters most is the process of learning. This is relevant for people of all ages. Just-in-time learning. It applies to business as well as education. And it must have a well-being component.

Imagine conscious businesses working with education to create products and programs that will facilitate solutions for creating a better world!

In my experience, I have worked with an innovative learning community where the learners (ages 9-11) developed an energy conservation software program that offered kids a pathway to be energy managers in their households.

They were paid $75,000 up front by a major utility to design the program and it was distributed throughout the province to all of the 7th and 8th-grade science classes. Later, I marketed the idea to other utilities who could take the turnkey concept and hire the youth, who had their own software development company, to make the regional changes for the program to be integrated into different geographical regions.

I see the connection that PROCESS has to be integrated as part of LEARNING, no matter what level of education or business.

Well being is essential for these domains to integrate! Without a commitment to integrate the mind, body and emotional healing as a part of the process people and systems will experience burn-out and breakdown. We must bring all of who we are to what we do and how we learn. We, the BIG BEING must be integrated into the DOING process. I learned this the hard way. It took time, and support, for I had to regenerate with an “inside-out” process that unfolded a renewal wellness perspective. It saved my life! Now, over the past 14 years, I continue to share empowerment learning strategies as part of the Wellness Cafes-choosing to help others experience their own renewal process.

Today, I am the chair of the SelfDesign Foundation (www.selfdesignfoundation.org) which is a Masters Degree Program in post-modern education. It is called the SelfDesign Graduate Institute (www.selfdesigninstitute.org). It is centered on the understanding that we as human beings have the capacity to author our own lives from a place of resourcefulness, creativity, and possibility. So, I am keeping my promise that I would be BACK to help be a voice for change in Education. And in my work with Living the Potential Network, I am bridging the gap between education and business through entrepreneurship and living systems thinking.

It really comes down to LIVING SYSTEMS THINKING and COLLABORATION, breaking down the silos of separation. That’s why ENTREPRENEURSHIP is a viable link. I look forward to sharing stories, and new possibilities for collaboration. With this in mind, I am a cohost on Pathways, a KBOO community sponsored radio program-where I interview people whose message is about personal and cultural transformation. MENTORS are invaluable and you will meet many here who are living their lives on PURPOSE and their STRATEGIES will be revealed for others to learn and grow, This network will be grounded in CORE VAUES, for it must be the foundation for positive social change.

About Renee Beth Poindexter

I began my career as a high school teacher in Ohio.

I absolutely loved working with teenagers as they questioned the “establishment,” and I encouraged them to find their voice, and speak it, write about it and connect with that part of themselves that wanted something different than what they saw their lives to be.

Nurturing my own inner voice,

Imagine conscious businesses working with education to create products and programs that will facilitate solutions for creating a better world!

In my experience, I have worked with an innovative learning community where the learners (ages 9-11) developed an energy conservation software program that offered kids a pathway to be energy managers in their households.