I Never Wanted To Be Like Everyone Else
My name is Ginna Christensen, and I am a Coach, Consultant, & Creative Renegade. And while I can say this with great confidence and pride now, I spent the first 17 years of my career completely miserable. I was stuck in a place of listening to what others told what they thought I "should" do and how I "should" do it. I was living in the land of the status quo when at my core, I wanted nothing more than to do things differently, take creative risks, and stand out.
This internal battle I was waging, without knowing it at the time, made me feel like I was wearing someone else's skin, and like the real me, the part that wanted to shine, was slowly dying a little bit every day.
It was not until I started to take steps toward being able to trust myself, my vision, and my values that things started to shift. I began voraciously reading and asking myself questions like:
What do I want to stand for?
What matters most to me?
What impact do I want to have?
What change do I want to see?
The answers to these questions, along with the voices of my invisible mentors (the authors of the books I read), slowly began to give me the courage to follow them. And they took me to some fascinating places.
They guided me to develop a line of limited-edition art rugs with some of the world's most famous street artists. They inspired me to launch a mural program, a series of interactive events that centerd around window installations, and a support group for creative women living and working in Los Angeles. Finally, they delivered the opportunity to step into a role I had coveted for years - Chairperson of the West Hollywood Design District.
It is the vision, mission, and values that I uncovered then that have continued to guide my decisions as my career has pivoted and changed. They have allowed me to attract the BEST talent and the MOST inspiring clients, helped me to engage my strengths further, and shaped the kind of leader I have become.
All of these things are teachable. However, in doing this work as a consultant and coach, I can see things my clients can not see. I help them uncover their differentiating points and show them the possibilities open to them if they just lean into them. I see the problem behind the problem. I see the next step, help them bring order to chaos, and engage them in powerful co-creation. But this work is not for everyone. It can feel overwhelming to some and scary to others because it brings up issues and challenges that not everyone is ready to look at and change.
But if you are a person that longs to unleash your creativity and potential out into the world, if you are willing to take risks, and stretch yourself, then I want to talk to you. And if, after we speak, you feel like this work is not for you, that is okay. Because I do not want to work with people who are a maybe or I don't know. I want to work with people who are ready to rock and show the world what they are capable of.