about claire burgess I have a degree in business and worked for 7 years as a paralegal in law firms in Melbourne. My first major career transition saw me move into co-ordinating large public and trade exhibitions including Interior Designex - Australasia's largest interior design exhibition, for 6 years. On the 9th of May 2000, I had a massive stroke at age 35 leaving me with a paralysed arm and ankle and a renewed passion for life. I chose to overcome all the challenges that go with surviving stroke. Out of that experience, I gave birth to my creativity and newfound resilience through two books and a thriving new business. I retrained as a personal, business, and executive coach in 2001 and started my own coaching practice in 2002. As I strive to realize my ambitions, I continue to be energized and inspired by working with others to realize their ambitions particularly in the areas of career and business. I work with clients in Melbourne, interstate and overseas. qualifications Bachelor of Business RMIT Career Counselling Practising Certificate Certificate IV in Small Business Management Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment Results Coaching Systems Intensive Coach Training Specialist Business Coaching Training with Results Coaching Systems Specialist Executive Coaching Training with Results Coaching Systems Level 2 Certified Coach with over 350 one on one coaching hours Certified User of Full Circle 360 degree feedback Lead Trainer with Results Coaching Systems delivering Intensive Coach Training to Coaches in the Asia Pacific region Senior Coaching Co-ordinator for coaches in Melbourne Professional Member of the Australian Association of Career Counsellors Claire’s two businesses Coaching for Success and The Wherewithal were featured in the Herald Sun on June 21, 2005. Read the article: "Coaching from Real Experience" by Claire Heaney Claire Burgess had her well-ordered life turned upside down almost five years ago. The Sydney opening of designEX commercial and residential interior design show she was co-ordinating was just days away when she fell to the ground as she stepped from her shower. Four hours later her parents went to her Melbourne apartment, having received a call from her workplace, concerned that her absence was out of character. "My mum had been a nurse. She knew straight away what had happened," she recalled of the events of May 9, 2000. Ms Burgess had no speech and was paralysed down her left side. "“I went hospital and they said that I’d had a stroke and that I would be in there for three months. I said ‘No, I have to be in Sydney tomorrow for the opening of the show I’ve been working on all year." As it turned out she was hospitalized for four months and had to learn to walk again. No cause was ever found for the stroke.  "Initially you freak out, after that you go through this massive grief stage," she said. But soon the resilient Ms Burgess, then 35, had her back up. She said fellow stroke victims were telling her that she would never work full time again. While Ms Burgess said some of her fellow stroke victims were resigned to spending the rest of their lives on a disability support pension, she was not. "I thought a pension is not going to pay for diddly squat and I thought nobody is going to tell me I can’t work," she said. "I read every inspirational book I could get my hands on and realized people with disabilities can do things." Ms Burgess, who has a business degree, had worked as a legal secretary at the big end of town for seven years before shifting to designEX where she worked for six years until her stroke. She said the stroke enabled her to give birth to a new passion and creativity. Fairly quickly she decided that life coaching was an area in which she could both make a contribution and earn an income. She completed a course with Results Coaching Systems and launched her home-based business, Coaching for Success. She was soon advising people from all walks of life. Some of them wanted more balance in their lives, wanted more passion for life and some were looking for new jobs or to start a business. She decided she could address that by branching out with a specialized business, The Wherewithal, which she has just launched.  She works Monday to Thursday, often during evenings and Saturdays if clients are not available on weekdays. "I revel in working from home. You can get fresh air in the middle of the day which you can’t get in the middle of the city," she said. Details: www.thewherewithal.com.au www.coachingforsuccess.com.au