Meet Jeanine Cerundolo of THRIVE Coaching in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeanine Cerundolo.

Jeanine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
A few years after graduating from college, I moved cross-country to Colorado for my second Americorps position. When that fellowship completed, and I was getting ready to launch into the next phase of my career, I asked myself three questions on stickie notes on my computer: “Who am I? What do I want? and: How do I get there?” After much soul-searching, I decided to move back to the East Coast- this time to New York City, to spend a year or two answering those questions and building my next steps with the opportunities that the city had to offer.

Fast forward, and those ones to two years became seven! In those years, I taught my first yoga classes, offered workshops on personal growth, launched a life coaching business, facilitated ongoing programs for professional development, and led retreats around the country for change-makers and visionaries gung-ho about turning their dreams into reality. I also completed a Masters in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, through the Spirituality Mind Body Institute. It was a fully packed and rich seven years, and the pace of NYC wouldn’t have it any other way!

People often ask me how I decided to go into life coaching. And I always tell this story: When I was starting out, I asked a friend of mine, “why did you choose to become a therapist?” And she replied: “Well, I always find myself listening to others deeply and asking them how they feel – so it felt like a natural segue to do that for a living!” In my own life, I was always asking people: “What lights you up? Are you doing what you love? Are you being who you love to be?” – so, for me, given my inclination towards helping others thrive holistically, coaching made a lot of sense. In addition, it was something that felt very organic and aligned – a role that always pulled out my best self.

I’ve now been coaching since 2012, and am still enjoying every minute of it. I blend traditional coaching tools and techniques with mindfulness practices and guided visualization so that people feel supported by both their internal and external aspirations. It’s highly rewarding to witness people transform their lives – moving from internal struggle to greater ease and harmony, in a matter of a few months. I feel grateful to work with each of my clients. I truly connect deeply with each of them – feeling their sorrows, and celebrating their triumphs. One of my approaches is “what’s important to you, is important to me.” In this way, I really become part of the team that helps them succeed. I know they really appreciate having someone in their corner — as one of my favorite quotes (a Swedish Proverb) goes: “Joy shared is doubled, and grief shared is halved.”

Has it been a smooth road?
The road of building your own business is full of ups and downs. Of course, I’ve had my share of challenges along the way (especially living in a busy and high-energy city like New York for so long).

A few challenges I faced and learned from were:

1. Feeling spread too thin – I started my coaching career doing several different additional gigs to help pay the NYC rent (starting even with a short stint in waitressing, and a longer stint with after-school care for children I adored). While I enjoyed the variety, keeping one foot in every side job kept me from fully going for my dream all the way and taking the plunge. Eventually, I learned to focus, even deciding to stop teaching yoga and pause my facilitation work as I built my private coaching practice to its full potential.

2. Feeling nervous to begin and put me out there – Everyone has to start somewhere. As a new coach, I felt some pressure “to have it all together” and experienced what the industry calls “impostor syndrome.” As I started doing the work and witnessing the positive transformation that was happening with the clients I worked with, I gained confidence and traction as a coach.

3. Risking burn out – As someone with a service-oriented heart who loves to help people, it was easy to over-give at my own expense. Through time, I overcame the tendency to deplete myself and learned to receive and to honor and trust in the value I was giving to my clients.

Even with some of these challenges (that truly were just opportunities to grow!), giving up was never an option in my mind. Since as long as I can remember, I have been determined to align what-I-do with who-I-am and that alignment has been precious to me. It has made all the struggles, delays, and detours worth it.

I love to support my clients in doing the work they love and sticking to it as well. I tend to work with people who are ambitious “go-getters”, but also who are generous “go-givers.” When they do the work to grow and expand personally and professionally, they always ripple out and touches their loved ones and their communities. And that is so fulfilling!

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
My work:

As a holistic life coach, I support professionals in navigating big decisions in their lives- from shifting careers for more meaningful work, to finding love after a bad breakup, to taking the leap to move cross-country, and more! I am dedicated to helping each person I work with to see progress both internally and externally in their lives. They make strides in work, love, and play while also allowing themselves to enjoy the process more.

My clients tend to have aspirations to make the most of their unique gifts both in work and in life. They are caring, open-minded, and driven. They are usually hard on themselves because they have such high expectations of what is possible and strive to reach their potential daily. I help support them in the realms of self-acceptance, self-expression, and self-actualization.

I frequently offer complimentary discovery calls through my website for prospective clients to connect with me.

My Background:

I am trained in group facilitation and hold a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. I have co-created and led summits and retreats for entrepreneurs and change-makers all over the country, co-facilitated women’s 20-week coaching programs focused on passion and purpose work, facilitated 3-month programs for professionals seeking career shifts, and also led my own workshops in New York City. I am passionate about supporting others in their personal and professional growth and believe that much lasting change in our world begins from the inside out.
Yoga and meditation have been vital tools in shaping my approach to life as one filled with an abundant sense of purpose, grace, and ease. I now work to support others in living out their deeper callings in life and to experience a sense of harmony and connection in their relationship to themselves and others.

My Mission:

It is my philosophy that we are already whole and complete, but also always on a path of evolution and growth. My mission is to hold a container for your self-development and spark a conversation between you and your deepest aspirations- a conversation you might not already be having with yourself. I serve as a supportive force to ask the right questions, evoke your own inner knowing, and reflect back to you the wisdom you didn’t know you already knew. You will gain meaningful insights, helpful accountability, and inspired action steps through our work together.

During sessions, I utilize traditional coaching strategies as well as tools drawn from Positive Psychology. I also often employ a process of guided and co-creative visualization and meditation to draw you into a deep place of self-inquiry and exploration. I offer a variety of techniques while also always meeting you where you are so that our sessions are personalized and address your needs.

The sessions set up a container for you to comfortably explore aspects of yourself and connect to your core truth and internal resources. This is achieved by going beneath the mind’s usual chatter of “good/bad” “pros/cons” “right/wrong” and accessing the layers of latent inner wisdom underneath that are often underutilized.
Using a modality that externalizes the many different parts of yourself, my methods help you to observe the nature of your inner dialogue and reconstruct it to work beneficially for your highest good. The various parts within us (“inner critic”, “inner mentor”, “inner child,” for example) can often be in conflict with each other when left unattended, so this work helps to keep them from battling, and instead places them on the same team — your team.

Whether navigating an important transition or facing the challenges of everyday life, I am committed to being an empathetic guide to help you uncover dormant parts of yourself and live your gifts in the world with more presence, purpose, ease, and enthusiasm.

As one of my first clients put it: “As a longtime skeptic of people and plans that promise sweeping transformation, it surprises many (even me), that I opened myself to Jeanine’s Bliss Coaching. Timing is everything, though, and there are no coincidences. Jeanine proposed that I work with her on a day where I felt a palpable heaviness in my life, but also enough hope to respond “I’m in, let’s do it! Where do we start?” Over the past couple of months, Jeanine’s thoughtful weekly assignments have kept me honest about taking responsibility for my own happiness. She encourages me to knock down walls that hinder my growth and sense of possibility by showing me that they aren’t real; I have created and bolstered them with my own negative mindset. Since I started working with Jeanine, I have become kinder to myself and less critical of others. I am doing things that I had been avoiding. I am clearing space to change what is no longer working. I feel lighter. My “bliss” journey has not been without challenges, nor is it over, but Jeanine has been an invaluable guide every step of the way.” — Jessye Joyce, Health Professional, Boston, Massachusetts.

I find that through my coaching programs, my clients are able to connect with their deepest and highest aspirations, and then through our co-created plan of action, they get to experience the joy and fulfillment of expressing that in the world. There is nothing I’d rather do!

Do you feel like our city is a good place for businesses like yours? If someone was just starting out, would you recommend them starting out here? If not, what can our city do to improve?
I think this is a great place to continue growing my business, and when I moved here, I joined a chapter of a business networking group where I connect weekly with other local small business owners so we can support each other in our ventures.

It was actually when I was first living in Colorado, near Boulder- that I caught the coaching bug. I was surrounded by entrepreneurs focused on wellness and who believed it was possible to let your work and your doings be an expression of your being. I was inspired by this community and by their dedication to making their dreams come alive. In that way, Colorado was a great place to launch my career in coaching and group facilitation. I am grateful for the years I spent afterward in NYC, studying psychology, training in group facilitation, and meeting an incredible network of movers and shakers. I am equally grateful to have returned to Colorado where I now enjoy a greater sense of consistent community, deeper and more accessible connection to nature, and a slower pace of life where my online business can thrive.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jeaninecerundolo.com

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.