Meet Colleen Newvine | life/career coach, marketing consultant and author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Colleen Newvine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colleen, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I wish I could come up with a new term for work-life balance. Everyone knows what it means so I understand why you ask the question this way, but my objection is that it feels to me like work and life are in opposition to each other. As if your work is not part of your life, and your life isn’t part of your work.

With that caveat, I let my work define me earlier in my life. I worked long hours and when I wasn’t at work, I was thinking about work.

I’ve come to realize that I’m not only happier and healthier when I’m more in balance, I’m more effective. I have more energy and enthusiasm for my work. I get ideas and inspiration from activities outside of my work.

In my coaching work, I ask new clients to do a wheel of life exercise where they evaluate their satisfaction with several components of their life, including health, relationships and finances. I think it’s important to take this holistic view because every part of your life affects the others. It’s all interconnected.

So I don’t think of my hobbies or a good night’s sleep as being in opposition to work, but as supportive of me being my best for my work.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What I’m most proud and excited about of at the moment is my new book, “Your Mini Sabbatical.”

My husband and I went to live in New Orleans for two months in 2011, and since then, we’ve built a lifestyle of these temporary relocations. Just about every year, we go someplace else for a month or two.

I didn’t think of these travels as sabbaticals when we got started. I was just working from someplace besides our home in Brooklyn. But as I began incubating the idea of writing a book and started doing research, I found other people doing similar travels and realized we were part of a small but growing trend.

I think one thing that sets me apart is my combination of career experiences.

I’ve been a journalist my whole life. I was a reporter on my elementary school newspaper. I love to ask questions and love to share what I’ve learned.
Then I got my MBA and moved into marketing, building on my storytelling experience by learning new skills including data analysis and operations management.
After doing marketing consulting for several years, I got trained and certified as a life coach. I’d done marketing work for several small business leaders and solopreneurs, and I felt that coaching could help me support them better. Often their challenges weren’t simply “I need a social media strategy,” but something more personal like fear of failure.

So this combination of journalist + MBA + coach gives me a unique lens through which to see the world. I think that comes through in the way I approached writing about sabbaticals.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We’ve lived in New York City for almost two decades so we get these sorts of “What should we do?” questions all the time. I love playing tour guide! But I think the recommendations so depend on your priorities — is it your first time or your 10th in NYC, are you coming solo, with your mate or with your kids, do you love art, music, nature or shopping?

In general, I think it’s fun to take people to things they can’t experience back home and to surprise them with experiences they wouldn’t have expected in New York.

A few of our go tos include:
* Walk through Brooklyn Bridge Park — the landscaping is so well done and it’s a view of Manhattan that we love as much as visitors do.
* Sunset and pizza on the roof at Fornino in Brooklyn Bridge Park — the views are breathtaking, the pizzas are yummy and the staff are friendly and welcoming.
* OR if it’s cold weather, live jazz and pizza at Arturo’s — coal-oven pizza in the Village, sitting in the cozy bar room and maybe having a waitress who also sits in the with band feels so magical.
* Cocktails at Long Island Bar — we’re fortunate to have one of the best bars in the country right down the block from us. We love the drinks and we meet some of the most interesting people sitting at the bar.
* Hike through Green-Wood Cemetery — it’s so peaceful and beautiful, you just might forget you’re in New York.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve had a gratitude journal practice for many years, and lately the list of people I’m grateful for is extensive: friends, colleagues, clients and family who’ve helped me along the way.

If I have to name just one person, that would be my husband, John Tebeau. He is unfailingly encouraging of anything I’m passionate about, and he’s my biggest cheerleader. The biggest leaps I’ve taken have felt easier knowing I’ve got his support.

Website: newvinegrowing.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleennewvine/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleennewvine/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnewvine

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ColleenNewvineTebeau

Other: “Your Mini Sabbatical” landing page: https://newvinegrowing.com/minisabbatical