Our Story
It was the ending-of-life bedside conversations with Sherryl’s mother’s best friend, Inge, that revealed to her the Curse of the Competent Woman® was a legitimate thing, not just her personal experience or a figment of her imagination. In the 25+ years since that time, with conversations and input from hundreds of other women, it is clear that “the curse” is (still) real. And not just for a select group of white, middle-class women like Sherryl, but for many women, regardless of age, background, identity, or stage of life.
When Yvonne heard Sherryl’s story, the phrase resonated with her on a heart level. It spoke to her experience across three very different cultures; from her Kenyan upbringing (a mixture of westernized & traditional Maragoli tones), to life as a black immigrant woman navigating her identity in the United States.
This is now a rebirth. At a time when the world had pressed pause and millions were sheltered in place, the partnership between Yvonne and Sherryl took root and began to grow. A call to nurture connection while unfurling the Curse of the Competent Woman® (CCW) led to the question “What can community look like?” It became clear that CCW could be part of the answer to women who were hungry to grow, committed to contributing to a more healthy and just world, and wanted to do this in relationship with other like-minded women.
Our Foundation
Our biggest vision for this work is co-creating a brighter future by partnering with women who are living in to their full potential, catalyzing change to uplift millions of lives, and enabling the planet to flourish.
There are six pillars supporting that big vision. They are the foundational values and beliefs that motivate and guide what we do and how we do it. Although we are not perfect, we continue to live into them on a daily basis.
You may notice, that embedded in all of these values and beliefs is the existence of “both~and.” We continue to remind ourselves that life thrives in the tension and integration of the seemingly opposite.
We believe...
Transformation
...if we are not growing, we are shriveling. Consistent attention to becoming better, even through baby steps, enables transformation over time. It’s not always a mountaintop experience.
Equity
…it is the responsibility of all of us to speak up, stand up, and to act to change conversations and systems that marginalize, dismiss, and brutalize people. To enable everyone to have the resources they need to thrive.
Community
…as strong and capable as we are, our lives are better in community. With people we trust, respect, and who bring out our best selves. People with whom we can laugh and cry, struggle and celebrate.
Purpose
...everything we do is for a bigger purpose. As we become even more healthy and whole, we are better able to live into that purpose. With more passion, joy, and power. Changing the world for the better.
Nurture & Challenge
…growth happens best when we are fully seen, accepted, and loved for who we are. Then we are able to step into the discomfort of the next chapter of our journey.
Joy
…life is too precious and too short to not enjoy it. Side-by-side with the hard stuff is beauty and life. Seeing and embodying that beauty is what nourishes our souls and fuels us to deal with what is and what will be.
Our Foundation
1
Transformation
2
Equity
3
Community
4
Nurture
& Challenge
5
Purpose
6
Joy
Your Partners on the Journey
We are two women.
Two different backgrounds & cultures. Two different life stories.
We are two women who now share one path. A path whose purpose is informed by you. A path curated for women to live with more joy & lead with more influence as they embrace who they are and who they will choose to become.
We are two women, whose north star on this path is you.
Sherryl Christie
Sherryl began her career began as a therapist/counselor, then evolved into an impactful leadership trainer. Over time, these two aspects of her work seamlessly dovetailed to her emergence as an executive and team coach, a role she has lived for over 25 years. Along the way she's earned two master level coaching certifications, two team coaching certifications, designations in both Emotional/Relational and Conversational Intelligence, and has completed the coursework for a diploma in Coaching Supervision. True to her Philadelphia (PA) roots, she is known for her directness, as well as her compassion, and the down-to-earth warmth and humor she brings to gatherings.
Yvonne Adagala
Yvonne brings to the journey her years of experience in commercial real estate, hospitality, and non-profit participation and leadership. Blended with her generations-old gifts of extraordinary community wisdom, personal connection, and story-telling, she weaves an experience that invites and guides people of all ages, identities, and backgrounds into and through the cycles of transformation. She is currently in the process of obtaining certifications in coaching and in the Emotional/Relational Intelligence Profile (WE-Q Profile through Learning in Action). From Kenya to Washington DC to Washington state, her deep heart, wise perspective, creative spirit, and her easy, resonant laugh have both brightened and enlightened the spaces she occupies.
“Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world.” - Melinda Gates
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Build a more authentic and compassionate self
I know everyone is both enjoying and valuing the sessions. As hard as it has been emotionally for me in some ways - I deeply value this program. There is so much within me to examine and explore: my needs, emotions, expectations, fears, and insecurities. It is an extraordinary opportunity to acknowledge and analyze these responses before I quickly discard or sacrifice them for some expected externally driven agenda.
Calling back the expelled and excommunicated parts of myself to hold without judgment - only curiosity - may build a more authentic and compassionate self. CCW is reminding me that I have the skills for this work.
Karin, Nonprofit Board Member, Capital Campaign Chair
“I am continually moved to discover I have sisters. I am beginning, just beginning, to find out who I am.”
Sisterhood, an essay by Gloria Steinem