Polly Chandler: 0:00

If you don't run into that roadblock, you're probably aren't stretching yourself quite enough. Right? So sometimes people, they latch onto an idea quick. And one of the reasons in big transitions, particularly a career ending kind of transition where doors open or not, is that they get so much advice, right? You should do this, you should try that, you should do this, you should do that. And before you know it, their lens has gone from wide open to, okay, so I guess I should be this. But it maybe wasn't what they were called to do. Maybe it wasn't what they were longing to do. So helping people to think back around things that, like what did, when you were in your forties, what did you say? When I retire, I wanna be sure I do X. What was the seed of that? And for a lot of people, it's travel. Okay? So, all right, so you're gonna travel, but you're not gonna travel 365 days a year for the rest of your life, probably So. Let's think about what else, right? And I often find that if you can shift that to a purpose conversation around what brings you joy, what brings you hope, where have you felt stirred in your very soul? You can start changing people's lenses around what's possible.

Yasmin Nguyen: 1:27

Welcome back to The Real Retirement Show. My name is Yasmin. Here with my co-host Kathleen. Whether you're retired or thinking about retirement, we delve into the multifaceted world of retirement beyond the finances. This isn't your typical retirement discussion. It's a vibrant journey into what retirement truly means in today's world. We bring you real stories from real retirees and experts discussing real challenges, surprises, joys, heartaches, and the myriad of emotions that come with retirement. From addressing family dynamics to mental and physical health, to finding purpose, we tackle the issues that truly matter to retirees and those thinking about retirement. Today we have the privilege of welcoming someone whose work, wisdom and personal journey will inspire anyone navigating a major life transition. Whether you're stepping into retirement, reinventing your career, or simply searching for what's next, Polly Chandler is a leadership development and transition coach. The founder of Polly Chandler coaching her path to coaching emerged from an intentional, heartfelt decision to focus on what energized her most coaching, mentoring, and training. Prior to launching her own practice, Polly served as chair of the Department of Management and director of the MBA in sustainability at Antioch University, new England. Bringing together leadership, purpose and service to the planet in everything she did. Today, Polly coaches, individuals and teams across many sectors specializing in strengths-based leadership development, post-care reinvention, and helping people align their lives and work with what truly matters to them. But Polly's story isn't just about credentials, it's about courageous living. After stepping away from higher education, she and her husband embarked on a 10 month road trip in a camper traveling across the country in search for something deeper. Signs of hope I. That journey and the stories she created along the way in what became Her Hope Journal transformed her life and fueled a new purpose. One rooted in creativity service, and helping others navigate their own crossroads with clarity and confidence. Today, we'll explore Polly's. Reinvention journey, how strengths-based coaching can be a powerful guide through life's transition and the lessons she's learned about her hope, purpose, and creating a life of deeper meaning. Polly, it's such an honor to have you here. Welcome.

Polly Chandler: 4:10

It is an honor to be with all of you too. Thank you for asking me. This is really fun.

Kathleen Mundy: 4:15

If I wasn't intimidated before, I certainly am now. Polly, I'm so proud to meet you and share this time with you, thank you so much for being a guest.

Yasmin Nguyen: 4:25

Polly, you have such a powerful story of personal reinvention from leading an MBA program in higher education to becoming a leadership and transition coach. If you could take us back to that moment when you realized that it was time for a change, and what was stirring inside you.

Polly Chandler: 4:44

It's a great question. we were living in New Hampshire at the time, I think what was stirring in me was a longing. But I couldn't put my finger on it. was something longing inside of me. I loved my students. I loved the faculty. I loved the work that we were doing. I had become what they called the field trip Queen and I did a ton of service work with my students where I would identify an organization that needed help and then I would bring my students out to work on it as part of their master's projects. So it was really invigorating. I felt like I was making a difference, but I Felt like something was missing. and anybody who's been in academia knows that teaching is only usually about 40% of the time you spend, there's an awful lot of other that can fill up your time. and it was the other that was leaving me just kind of, Hmm. What else? What's missing about this? So, I actually began this journey with a log. And I kept a log of what was energizing me and what was draining me. And I wrote in that log just about every day, and I would get this list, and I did it for almost three months. And I was just curious what's gonna show up here? What's the pattern? boy did the pattern get clearer and clearer with each day. What I loved most of all. Was teaching and mentoring students and faculty, particularly in times of transition. And what was draining me was a lot of academia administration stuff. and so I just kept thinking about it and then I started looking for careers where I could do more coaching and mentoring and facilitation with people in transition. And I started doing information interviews with coaches. and people internally and external coaches, people who had their own businesses. And eventually I was like, I think that's what I wanna do. And so I took this giant leap of leaving a full-time job with benefits in a town that I loved with friends, and my husband and I, took the big leap and, we, we came to California.

Kathleen Mundy: 7:03

Wow, that reminds me of something that I read about you and it was, the question you asked children when they, what do they wanna be when they grow up? And it sounds like you had a wonderful opportunity to experiment along the way. We'd like to hear more about that.

Polly Chandler: 7:21

Yeah, so I've been an educator all my life and I've had the absolute joy of working with anything from preschoolers to graduate students. and I think it was all those students all along the way that I learned from around different ways of you can look at your life. And so I think I've even reinvented maybe 10, 12 times. I'm kind of like that. Generation, they say now where most people in this current generation are gonna reinvent 10 to 15 times. Well, I was an early bird. I was really reinventing multiple times along the way. And each time I felt like I got a little closer to what it was I was longing for. and each time I took one little step closer to what included more heart and connection with people rather than content. An element of spirituality, and a desire to be in a career where I could be energized and peaceful and calm at the same time. So this duality I was looking for. So that was really the journey from. Craziness of a preschool science classroom middle school science, to, teaching science teachers to teaching at the university at Antioch. teaching earth systems to business people. each step was a little bit closer to what actually became my graduate work, which was on servant leadership. How can I serve other people?

Yasmin Nguyen: 8:58

Wow. Polly, your journey just resonates so much with me. the courage, the inspiration, and I may have shared with our audience that I took a similar journey to explore and learn about joy, and I understand that your journey was, the intention was to look for signs of hope. And I was curious, what were you hoping, to find out on the road about yourself, about the world when you set off on this, this adventure with your husband?

Polly Chandler: 9:25

so it was a time when there wasn't a lot of hope in our country, and people were disillusioned and disengaged, and I just was wondering, well, brings people hope when they're in that place? how do we pivot? How do we turn? And so when we were heading off on this road trip, to tour the national and state parks of the country, I started by asking people in the campgrounds and things, and people would look at me with this blank stare. Like, what? I'm like, I was just curious what brings you hope in the world? I got very few responses and most of them were like, well, I don't have a lot of hope right now. And I was like, anything you've been doing today in this beautiful park that brought you hope? Oh, maybe a little bit. You know, it was, we had a really great day at the beach or something, but people couldn't articulate it. So then I had to shift my project. me, looking for hope, right? I wasn't gonna hear it from other people because they weren't ready to talk about it at this point. And so everywhere I went, you know, once you put your eyes on something, you start seeing it more. place I went, I started looking for quotes about hope. I filled this book with quotes about hope. All right? And I just have been continuing to fill it and to continue to add to it. And there's probably a book in here, but I haven't felt inspired to write a book yet. as Emily Dickinson wrote, hope is the things with feathers that's nested in your soul.

Kathleen Mundy: 11:11

Well, that inspires me to delve a little deeper in that. if you, found that it was a little difficult to describe or have people describe hope to you, how can you transition or help people transition with hope and creativity in stepping into their next chapter?

Polly Chandler: 11:29

That's a great story. I was coaching somebody just this week and he is on the precipice of deciding to retire and ale. His company and he's afraid. He's afraid of what's gonna be next, and he's almost frozen with. Anxiety about it. and he's had some, the younger generation told him to stop talking so much, stop telling

Yasmin Nguyen: 11:57

Yes.

Polly Chandler: 11:57

we don't wanna hear that stuff anymore. And he's brilliant. I mean, the man is brilliant. and so yesterday when we were talking, he was sharing some of his story and I played it back to him and said, this is an incredible story. you see all the ways that you have to open up in new ways for the future? And he was like, what? And so I walked through each of the steps for him and said, this was just an incredible pivot moment in your life. You've done transitions before, you can do it again. And he was just like, and all of a sudden, this very buttoned up guy, the tears start coming down his cheek. And he's like, he said, oh, I'm a bit of a crier. And I said, that's all right. My husband calls me the cry coach. I was like, don't worry about it. We can take it. I can hold it for you. And he said, this is the first time I've felt hopeful in the last three years. And I was like, just by helping him to see where he had the fortitude inside of him, knew how to do transition. He'd just forgotten that. I pointed it out to him way back to when he first started his business in the, when he was 20 some years old, he was just like, oh my God, I can do this. And that was just a great moment. So I think that's what this Hope Journal has taught me is sometimes we lose hope because we've lost track of where our greatest strength and wisdom is.

Kathleen Mundy: 13:38

Well, that story's gonna give hope to a lot of people.

Polly Chandler: 13:41

I hope so.

Yasmin Nguyen: 13:45

Well, Polly, you mentioned strengths. That's something that, we initially connected on learning more about the strengths finder and tools and really tapping into what energizes us. And I'm curious to learn a little bit more about, the strengths approach, but also for you what, you have discovered energizes you, in addition to teaching that, connects with strengths to help, uh, you navigate your reinvention?

Polly Chandler: 14:08

Yeah, so I am gonna start with what is StrengthsFinder? Because some people might not know what that tool is, and this is a tool that comes from a huge body of research around what are all the talents in the world and what would shift in the world if people had a tool to help them access and strategically leverage their greatest strengths. And so there's an assessment called Strengths Finder that was designed to answer that very question, and there's ongoing research about what shifts in people's lives, their homes, their communities, their faith groups, their workplaces, when they take a strengths based approach. just wired for a strengths-based approach. Everything I've done has been about. What are my strengths, Polly? What do you wanna do more of? Right? And so I have learned to use the tool. I was certified in it. I got my coaching certificate, and then I was looking for some tools that would really help give people hope quickly when they were in times of transition, because people can be a little down. And what I found was that by empowering them with reconnecting with their greatest talents. And learning how to activate them more strategically, they were better able to navigate the transitions that they were in. Whether that was, my kids are leaving home to, I need a new career to, I'm about to retire, but I don't even like the word and I don't know what I wanna do next. Any one of those places. But by people being able to name and claim and then strategically aim their strengths, it opened up all kinds of doors for them.

Yasmin Nguyen: 15:50

I remember Kathleen, we, you and I, when we got together sometime last year, we all printed up our strengths finder. You, me and Robert as well it was such a powerful experience for us to not only learn about ourselves, but each other too.

Kathleen Mundy: 16:03

Mm-hmm. you know, Yasmin, took my first strength finder test, if I can call it that, assessment, probably 15 years ago. And I was in business at the time, and, as I was reading the report, I thought, oh my gosh. This now makes so much sense to me and I know how I can put together a team that supports me and my business where I need it, it also gave me the confidence that I was on a track that was going to be fulfilling for me because that, that it showed as one of my strengths. So it was really empowering. It just exactly what you said, it really empowers you to see your future and I think kind of. It a little senses of where you're going, and are you gonna feel comfortable in that position. Yasmin, as he said, we all took it together again a year ago. And, it does change a little bit because as you evolve, your strengths I think do as well. So, I'm. supportive of the whole process because I think it's just one of those tools that everyone should, utilize to find out the talents they have, and how they can move forward in whatever their future holds.

Polly Chandler: 17:18

Yeah.

Yasmin Nguyen: 17:19

Poll. I love that this has been a tool that's been around for a long time and the applications of it has been in our careers, and I love how you are also taking the perspective of how do I help those navigating this transition into retirement where. They might be re-exploring what their purpose is or what they want to do and how to use this to help them with that transition. And I'm curious, in what ways have you really adapted this, approach and tool to helping navigate that specific type of transition?

Polly Chandler: 17:54

Sure. I think it's a really good point and, I think my story, I'll use me as an example. when I got my strengths results, I was like, this sure sounds like me. when I started thinking about it and how might I use it and incorporate it into my business, I was like, oh gosh, I just really don't like marketing and all the branding part of building a business. It's not my sweet spot. I then looked at my number one strength. Which is relator, which is people that like one-on-one conversations. And I was like, oh, I don't have to go do all that marketing branding stuff. I'm gonna go talk one-on-one to people, right? I'm gonna connect with people once we connect, I can build trust, I can build hope, I can build connection, that's where my sweet spot is, right? And that's how I've built my whole business. Is by smaller, more intimate conversations. The other thing is my second strength is a strength that is very much around connecting with purpose, a sense of purpose, and I was like, whoa. there's a strength to anchor a business, right? Helping other people to think about what is their sense of purpose. Now, purpose is like passion. It's a word that puts the brakes on people so fast. They're like, oh, I don't know what my purpose or passion is. Right? But if you wind it back and connect it to other strengths. It helps us to point around well, what is that purpose? What is that sense of purpose that's gonna give you the most energy, the most joy, the most resiliency in a fast changing world? I.

Yasmin Nguyen: 19:35

Is there a certain way that you help clients think about their strengths or, as some people say their strengths and their weakness, what is the frame or the context in which you help them really understand what's possible given the insights from a tool like this or approach like this?

Polly Chandler: 19:55

Yeah, so I think the way that I have found most helpful is storytelling. so I don't wanna just tell people what the strengths are. What the way I have found most helpful is I give people a little taste of this strength. Let's say their number one strength is, what's yours, Yasmin? What's your number one strength? Do you remember

Yasmin Nguyen: 20:15

Um, let's see, uh, let me think. I, I've got, I don't know if I have them in the right order. Oh, futurist, futuristic, individualist, individualization, strategic, I have to look it up, but those are the ones.

Polly Chandler: 20:30

start with futuristic. You and I share that one in our top 10, The way I would get stories going is futuristic is a strength of people who generally like to think strategically about three, five years out. What's gonna be different in three to five years. They're not people who like to hear all the backstory. They don't ask, how did that happen? What worked, what didn't? What got in the way? They're more like, where are we going? How are we gonna get there? So Yasmin, can you tell me a story? Of where you've used futuristic lately.

Kathleen Mundy: 21:06

Oh boy.

Yasmin Nguyen: 21:08

Kathleen's oh, how much time do we have here?

Kathleen Mundy: 21:11

have enough time. You really don't. I could

Yasmin Nguyen: 21:14

Well.

Kathleen Mundy: 21:14

exactly where he is used it because he uses it every day. And one of the things that Yasmin and I have in common is that's my, one of my strengths. So we're kind of. know, we're in a canoe. We're both paddling and sometimes he starts going in a direct, I can't keep up, I can't paddle fast enough to keep up to this guy. yes, there's quite a bit of age difference, but I'm gonna put that aside even still. When he sees something in the future, Yasmin, I hope it's okay if I speak on your

Yasmin Nguyen: 21:48

Oh yeah,

Kathleen Mundy: 21:48

Okay. When he has a vision, we're both visionaries as well. When he has a vision, he will work tirelessly in order to succeed in perfecting a methodology to enable that vision to its fruition. So he'll go through brick walls, he'll stay up all night working. He will do whatever it takes to get that vision applicable to the people that need it. Am I right?

Yasmin Nguyen: 22:21

Yeah, you're spot on. I found my top five. Okay. Number one is strategic. So I'm strategic about the futurist. Otherwise I'd be just be dreaming about it all the time. Then futuristic is two, ideation is three. So I'm constantly coming up with ideas that will drive towards that, and then it's the achiever in me that stays up all freaking night, all day long. And then individualization, which is then adapting it to the unique. appreciating the uniqueness of all different aspects then, is that, does that.

Polly Chandler: 22:51

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. But what, particularly in your question around like, how do I use it? See what's really easy to start talking about ourselves when we've got these anchors of our strengths. These great stories are what give me insights on how to coach people, right? So particularly during times of transition where they're like, well, I have absolutely no idea what I wanna do next. If they have futuristic, tell me about a time when you did, When you cast a vision, how did you get there? What did you do? How did you make it happen? And all of a sudden we start activating that strength again. That was kind of in gridlock and saying, I can't. And I was like, oh, I remember how to do this. Open up the strength, and then the energy flows right in.

Yasmin Nguyen: 23:38

Hmm. Speaking of energy, you could tell when once you land on that and you're aligned with it, there's so much energy and passion and clarity and that drives your purpose. Versus sometimes when you're the opposite, when you're not aligned or you're not clear,

Polly Chandler: 23:53

Yeah, and that's really what I like about the assessment. energy, like how much you like to do something, and two, your performance, how good are you at it. one lens and it's that dual lens that gives people the sense of empowerment of, I wanna do this, I wanna have more great days, I wanna have a sense of purpose. I wanna finish the day going, let's do it again.

Kathleen Mundy: 24:13

I think that far too often we put ourselves in a box because we're so unsure about what our best. Strength, Until we do a strength finder, we are not appreciating what our strengths might be and how others could benefit using them to the benefit of what they need. one of the things that I discovered was that it gave release, it gave you a way to really acknowledge. you have to offer and remove all that egotistical I'm wonderful kind of effect, but really get to the core of it and saying, okay, if this is one of my strengths, if this is what I've got to offer, if I can help someone, as you have, utilize that to rebuild it, their reinvention plan. I think that's an art in and of itself. then I think you deserve to have the accolades that comes along with being a good coach and helping people with that transition and the mentorship. I love the fact that once you know what your strengths are, you have the ability to pat yourself on the back and say, yes, I, I am good at that. I feel great in that space.

Polly Chandler: 25:27

Yeah, I think that's really true and I think, a strengths-based approach of coaching. Is it just, you know, when you hear it, it's like, oh. Oh, you know, it kind of, it perks you up a little bit because it is playing to your greatest talents. And the new thing about strengths is that they started forming when you were a teenager. somewhere back in the 12 to 15 were the seeds of these. And then over time and opportunity, exposure, experience, they got to be bigger and bigger muscles until they were your greatest talents. And so here you are at this point saying exactly, probably. The roots of all of what you just said are rooted in the talents that maybe go back to childhood. One of my favorite activities is to ask people when they read their strength, where's the first time you saw that? Where do you look back in your memory that was the first time you were doing that thing?

Kathleen Mundy: 26:23

Wow. That's a really good question. I have to think about that. so when you talk about your teen years, how do you help someone when they get to the point I. when they are going through a transition that they might think, well, it's too late to do something like this. I don't know how to reinvent, and maybe I'm, maybe I don't have what it takes, and I'm getting to the point where other people are saying, oh, don't do it. that might not work out. How do you help people who run into that kind of roadblock?

Polly Chandler: 26:59

Well, I kinda have a different take on that, which

Kathleen Mundy: 27:02

Perfect.

Polly Chandler: 27:03

If you don't run into that roadblock, you're probably aren't stretching yourself quite enough. Right? So sometimes people, they latch onto an idea quick. And one of the reasons in big transitions, particularly a career ending kind of transition where doors open or not, is that they get so much advice, right? You should do this, you should try that, you should do this, you should do that. And before you know it, their lens has gone from wide open to, okay, so I guess I should be this. But it maybe wasn't what they were called to do. Maybe it wasn't what they were longing to do. So helping people to think back around things that, like what did, when you were in your forties, what did you say? When I retire, I wanna be sure I do X. What was the seed of that? And for a lot of people, it's travel. Okay? So, all right, so you're gonna travel, but you're not gonna travel 365 days a year for the rest of your life, probably So. Let's think about what else, right? And I often find that if you can shift that to a purpose conversation around what brings you joy, what brings you hope, where have you felt stirred in your very soul? You can start changing people's lenses around what's possible.

Kathleen Mundy: 28:30

Hmm. I love that.

Yasmin Nguyen: 28:33

Yeah, Polly it sometimes when we're in a place where we don't know, we're unclear. I have noticed that sometimes we tend to look outwards and use the C word, which is compare. And I'm curious what your thoughts are the idea of comparison as it relates to strengths. Like, so-and-so's so good at this, but I'm not, how do you look at that? and be supportive in getting that clarity.

Polly Chandler: 28:59

Well, I think comparisons can be good. I'm a huge fan of doing information interviews during a time of transition, going out and talking to people who are doing what you wanna do and

Yasmin Nguyen: 29:11

I.

Polly Chandler: 29:11

Really wanna do that. Well, that's okay. Go talk to them. But be sure you ask them what they like about it, what they dislike about it. been their steepest learning curve? How much time do they work? What's their life work balance like? Ask, find out what it's really like, right? So that inquiry process is really important. The other thing is that sometimes one of our greatest strengths can get in the way, right? 60 to 70% of our weaknesses is when one of our greatest strengths is turned up too loud. It is taking up the room, right? And so what I spend a lot of time when people are doing comparison or stuck is figuring out which strength is really in what we call the basement. It's in that weakness side of the strength it's getting in the way. It's preventing them from move forward and figuring out which strengths helped me pivot, which one will help me get around that and come out with fresh eyes, a broader lens again. So I think navigating how to utilize your strengths to navigate spaces that might feel uncomfortable learning which ones are your energizers, which are the ones that's gonna pull you forward or point you in new directions. That kind of dialect I find fascinating. And when you get talking to people, it really happens when people start recognizing what I call their rescue strength. This is the strength I go to when I get stuck and I can find my way forward again.

Kathleen Mundy: 30:52

I, sorry, but I'm going to jump in here because.

Polly Chandler: 30:55

Because.

Kathleen Mundy: 30:56

I don't know how you do that alone, Polly. I don't know how you would do this alone. know, we talked a little bit about the fact that we've had our, results and we know what our strengths are, but when you put it as articulately as you have how you utilize one to promote or balance the other. I don't think you can do that without some guidance and some coaching. I really don't. As much as we've tried and I've tried to look deeply into those, the different attributes that each strength might provide in order for me to have a balanced outlook or anyone, it's someone like you that needs to help mentor them through it. So, bravo,

Polly Chandler: 31:43

Well, and I think we need each other, and I work for a small firm called Third Half Advisors, and we really believe in the value of. Creating communities to have those dialogues through workshops or online or retreats. And so those dialogues are really rich. And so we don't do it alone. We learn from each other. And reinvention is a learning journey. And learner is one of the top strengths in the world. And so if we can tap into that and learn from each other, I think that's a great way to keep navigating through whatever comes our way.

Yasmin Nguyen: 32:19

You mentioned

Polly Chandler: 32:20

I'm a little overly optimistic at times,

Kathleen Mundy: 32:24

Not at all.

Yasmin Nguyen: 32:25

No.

Polly Chandler: 32:26

but I was looking at this journal and I just wanna bring this. Quote in at this juncture, because I think this is kind of the, a stuck spot. I see people in transitions talking about optimism a little bit, Well, you know, I'm relatively optimistic and, David Orr, who was a professor, in the Midwest, wrote optimism, leans back, puts its feet up and wears a confident look. Knowing the deck is stacked. And then he writes. But hope a verb with its shirt sleeve pulled up. I love that. I

Kathleen Mundy: 33:09

love that.

Polly Chandler: 33:11

You know, and so this is an easy work, this to be reinventing and to go through big transitions. We could be optimistic, put our feet up. And hope that it happens, or we could activate that hope and make it a verb. Pull up our sleeves, activate our strengths, and work together to find ways forward.

Kathleen Mundy: 33:34

Well, I, again, Paula, you're providing so much information, so much depth, and it makes me question how people can move into transition and avoid taking a real strong look at themselves and where they've been, as you said, look in the past, which I think has great value, but don't live in it and don't study it to that extent, that it's gonna alter what you're doing in the future, but just to understand what it taught you and move forward. But I, I, I. I don't know what to say. I'm really, really, really impressed with our conversation today, and I know that he's gonna edit this, so that's really great. I wanna know, I wanna know Polly, how do you do an action plan for this process that you're going through? What's the first step that you do take?

Polly Chandler: 34:27

so I think we have to get people to a place where they're willing to change. So Bill McKibbon wrote, hope is a willingness to change, right? And I think that is a, it is a really good reminder. And so what I love about the work I do, whether I'm sitting next to someone or on Zoom, I have this like kind of inner. Insight about this all. Now, having done StrengthsFinder for over almost 12 years now, I get, I can start to see when the sparkle comes, right? And all of a sudden there's a little bit of, I used to tell my students, don't move forward until you feel the flutter factor and I can, all of a sudden you get it. I can sense that they've en entered into this flutter energy. Something's looking different in them when they show up the next week. And I was like, huh. Okay. I think we are ready to start moving into action, we have to do the exploration first. And it's that exploring your talents, a little bit and thinking about what's possible. And I think, back to that sabbatical where we took that big camping trip, that road trip, it allowed me to wonder and wander. And that was really what I needed to do in order to go back to life and say, what is it I wanna do? Most of all, what's calling you? Most of all, and I took, I mentioned this story to Yasmin. I was, we were standing on this bluff overlooking the desert. And, you know, there's these national park signage and things and there was a sign and I was like, oh, I wonder what that sign says. Always curious. I walked over to it and I was like, I looked at the sign and it said, used to be a view of this valley, and it was lush and it was, this is what this valley looked like. But now because of the smog coming from LA, you can no longer see the valley. Floor. I was just like, it blew me away. I was like, we've got a crisis on our hand. And so when we got back to New Hampshire, before we moved to California, I was like, going back to my original degree in environmental education. This planet needs help. I got called to a sense of purpose and it was just like a prick that hit me. And so I enrolled in Antioch University as a student, and I was like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna go back and make a difference. this climate thing is moving faster than I ever expected. and so I took my first classes and it was pretty familiar. I was like, oh, this is good. This is fun to be back in this space. And then I took a class. In Team Dynamics, and I was like, oh, I think I'm missing the point here. went down to the admissions office that day, this was my first week of classes, and I said, I think I'm in the wrong degree. And she was like, what do you mean? I said, if I really wanna change the conversation about the future of this planet. I don't need to be just talking to people at parks and in schools and things. I need to be talking to people who have positional ways to influence what's gonna happen. I need to get a leadership degree. And so my whole kind of focus switched to how do we support people thinking in leadership roles. Right. And that could be in a small nonprofit, it could be in a community government, it could be leaders in families, or it could be corporate. But I was like. We get to get these people talking about the planet and people and so how I evolved into, I'd say about 60% of my client base is people who have either worked in the fields of planet and people or are currently working in that field. It could be, I have clients with the national parks, I have clients with the state parks. Environmental nonprofits environment, social justice, nonprofits, and then corporations that are interested in finding balance of people and planet. that's become my sweet spot.

Yasmin Nguyen: 38:56

I could see how energizing it is for you to be in alignment with your passion and, your strengths

Polly Chandler: 39:02

And it took me a while to get there. So when I first started as coaching, I'd take anybody, I hate to say it, I was a friend of, a friend of mine, says I was the bottom feeder of coaches, right? I, so I would work with absolutely anybody and over time. And the transitions that I've been in over the last 10 to 12 years, myself, as I grow older, I'm realizing that I wanna spend more time as a coach with people who are advocating for people and justice and the planet. And

Yasmin Nguyen: 39:35

Mm.

Polly Chandler: 39:36

I kind of have landed as my sweet spot.

Kathleen Mundy: 39:39

You know, it made me think, Yasmin and I have gone through that same process, not that, and I don't think you're a bottom feeder at all. That's not the case. But I think that, whenever you're trying to find your tribe and the people that speak the same language, you have to meet a lot of people. And you really have to, look at.

Polly Chandler: 39:58

At

Kathleen Mundy: 39:59

What makes this a whole process, and I'm in this, so I need to find what works for me and for us, and we've definitely gone through that process, in the last two years. I think it's really important to be honest with yourself and give yourself permission to take that journey and find out who your tribe is, what your tribe is all about, and where they're going. Because I think that's really important to know what their future is, but in comparison to what you want yours to be.

Polly Chandler: 40:31

Yeah. And I think that's the courage. So many people in transitions right now are starting up their own businesses,

Kathleen Mundy: 40:38

Mm-hmm.

Polly Chandler: 40:38

and they're starting up businesses because they know they have a talent in something that they've been doing for a while and they wanna share it or do whatever. think the real courageous moment. Is that when you recognize that the talent that you have has transferability other people than who you've always been working with? When cracks open that new venue for

Kathleen Mundy: 41:04

Yeah.

Polly Chandler: 41:05

mean, one of the venues I discovered that I didn't even know was there was a whole venue of people in the spirituality field, And them thinking about their strengths, and I was like, huh. That's a little bit seed that's been waiting to grow and bloom inside of me. And so I think if we are open to just being okay, I need to start my business and then I need to find my people I will be able to serve people better if I'm with my people.

Yasmin Nguyen: 41:40

Wow. Polly, I feel like we could talk for another couple hours here. you have such rich wisdom experience and your presence is so enriching and so for those who are Interested in learning more about you, maybe connecting with you as well too. What's the best way to find you and to learn more about you and your work?

Polly Chandler: 41:59

Sure. So my website is Poly Chandler Coaching. On that website, there is a ways to contact me, and there's also a 30 minute complimentary coaching session. I'm all about letting people try it on, see if it's a fit. It might not be a fit today, but it might be in the future, but I like to give people an opportunity to say, huh, would that be like? I can't even imagine.

Yasmin Nguyen: 42:22

All the possibilities waiting. Yeah.

Kathleen Mundy: 42:24

Well,

Yasmin Nguyen: 42:25

Um,

Kathleen Mundy: 42:26

I can imagine.

Yasmin Nguyen: 42:27

any final thoughts as we wrap up our conversation today? I.

Polly Chandler: 42:31

I think I'll finish by just saying that when you're in a transition, be sure you have good anchors around you and things that ground you. And that might be. Good people, good friends, or it might be as I mentioned in, before we started, you know, images. So I have images in my office that anchor me. The two of these watercolors are by my mother when she was living in Nova Scotia. And then on the left is this, map of the boundary waters canoe area in northern Minnesota. One of my heart places, right? And then behind me is a little cluster of things that are, you know, icons from other people in my life. when I get stuck knowing that I've got these anchors of these great relationships in my life that are, feeding me, even though they may not be here, it just kind of me, do this, I can do this, and I totally believe other people can too.

Yasmin Nguyen: 43:37

Thank you so much, Polly, for being one of my anchors as well, to be able to share this experience with you and, enrich our audience with your experience and your wisdom.

Kathleen Mundy: 43:47

It is been so inspirational. as I said earlier, on the onset, I was impressed, incredibly so and humbled, but, and now I feel inspiration is the word I should use.

Polly Chandler: 44:00

Maybe a little hopeful.

Kathleen Mundy: 44:01

Oh, absolutely.

Polly Chandler: 44:03

I

Kathleen Mundy: 44:03

I.

Yasmin Nguyen: 44:04

Lots of help.

Polly Chandler: 44:06

thank you.

Yasmin Nguyen: 44:08

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