Bragging About Tecca

I have so much to say but the words won't come out.

Tecca Thompson is a former client, and friend, whose light has always been bright. 

How does a young girl who knows she is supposed to be on stage stare into the crowd, unable to speak, when sharing the announcements at Church?

How does an American All-Star only manage to say her name when presenting in front of colleagues doing work she loves?

It goes back to a state of being I know well; a gap that I know women are experiencing because they tell me every day.

I know this gap best in question form.

Do you ever feel like the YOU inside and the YOU outside don’t match?

That was Tecca’s story.

On the outside, you look great. On the inside you’re thinking, Is this it?

Tecca wanted to own her voice the day she arrived at our first Coaching Circle in January 2020. She was late, getting lost on the roads of Columbus, and instead of turning around and going home, she felt the pull to find her way to us. 

- I brag that Tecca showed up for herself and us when it would have been easy to turn back.

- I brag that Tecca felt peaceful walking into our live circle, lights dimmed, the program in flow, and owned her space.

- I brag that Tecca describes listening to someone as a value, as an embodied somatic experience, almost like a meditation.

- I brag that Tecca has had a great impact on my life.

Through our 3-month Coaching Circle, Tecca was able to put her voice into the circle and test it out. She found the process of being witnessed by other women to be affirming. She developed *even more* of a sense of confidence.

I coached Tecca over a huge barrier in our last circle. With retirement in sight, after a 30 year, rewarding career with Juvenile Offenders, yet still, only in her early 50s, Tecca was trying to figure out what came next.

Tecca told us, “I want to figure out my big thing so I can retire and be set.” This was a theme that had emerged many times in our three months together. I told Tecca, “Your job is to figure out what brings you life and fulfillment and the rest will fall into place.” On reflection, over a year later, Tecca reports, “I’m doing the same things I would have done but I’m doing them because they make me happy not solely for retirement purposes.”

When you let go of the need to figure it out you drop into a deeper spiritual plain where the real magic can happen. Your only business is doing the next right thing as it relates to your vision.

Upon leaving the Circle, Tecca had three goals:

1. Tell stories.
2. Start her own circles for women of color.
3. Work with Zora’s House.

I want to share Tecca’s brags about the road she has traveled since we met.

- I brag that I have told seven stories publicly. One was paid, two featured me as the lead storyteller. Check out Tecca’s 5-minute story. You will feel inspired.

- I brag that I wrote two magazine articles, one on the importance of rest.

- I brag that at the end of The Coaching Circle I had a different experience that helped to shape the way I lead women.

- I brag that I was asked to run a women’s writing circle at Zora’s house for a year and they will pay me.

- I brag that I started my own listening community for women of color, The Conversation Lounge.

- I brag that I was asked to co-facilitate a compassionate listening group in Oregon that will lead to a contract starting in the fall.

- I brag that I have become certified in two somatic practices.

- I brag that I am still learning, growing, and experimenting.

- I brag that I’m killing it out here.

Tecca has a lot to say and the words do come out.

Here’s to you, Tecca. Send a note of encouragement to Tecca at [email protected] 

With Love,

Sarah x