Today we’d like to introduce you to Annalisa O’Toole.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2007, I went through a huge life transition, including divorce, becoming a single parent, buying my own home, and caring for my grandmother 3 days a week to relieve her full-time nurse – after she developed Alzheimer’s and suffered a stroke, which took her voice and her ability to function independently daily. I was at the bookstore one night and happened upon a book about Discovering Your Calling, which intrigued me. I was ready to find purpose, outside of family, outside of marriage, outside of parenting, and truly find where I felt called to serve others with needs they had, utilizing my own gifts and talents. But what were my gifts and talents? That was the big question. After reading the book, and evaluating my spiritual gifts, my personality type, my skills, my passions and favorite pass times, I discovered that my passionate purpose was to help individuals and couples live their best life; the life they needed to feel deserving of, and the life they desired, and I wanted to breathe believability into those who couldn’t imagine how to break free from the chains of their past trauma. I wanted to guide people on the best ways to work through conflict. I wanted to transform lives by teaching how to enrich relationships, heal hearts, and inspire dreams! Long before narcissism, self-care, and boundaries were buzzwords in the self-help movement, and life coaching just getting off the ground floor in 2007, I was determined to learn, grow, and indulge in a career to help others not only overcome the pain associated with hardships in life, but help others by sharing the tools to implement into their unique situations, so they could transform from hurting to healing, and transition from sadness to soaring in life! I completed certifications in professional life coaching, advanced emotional healing therapy, couples therapy, and family and marriage enrichment certifications, and began askannalisa.com in 2007! My first office was located in Loganville, GA, growing into three offices in the Atlanta and North Georgia areas by 2012. I am the author of three published books: “The Toxic 10”, “The Invisible Hoodie”, and “How Love Flows ~ a couples therapy workbook”. I host the radio program, “THE ASK ANNALISA SHOW” on wjrbradio.com, 95.1 FM The talk of the Mountains Radio in Young Harris, GA., and the podcast, “The Ask Annalisa Show”. To learn more about my products and services, my website is: howloveflows.com. If you are struggling in communication, family or with partnership conflict, lack of intimacy, or contemplating marriage or divorce, dating, or seeking help to navigate life’s difficult situations, I am actively accepting clients for online, virtual, phone, or in-person sessions. The booking link to see my availability calendar is: calendly.com/askannalisa
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In the beginning of growing my Life Coaching business in 2007, many people didn’t even know what a Life Coach was! Sometimes, I felt as though I had to educate before I could navigate -solutions and ideas for individuals and couples because they did not know that reconciliation was not just about moving forward with new perspectives, and knowledge alone, because new wisdom nuggets were not going to fix the problem; “implementation” of the ideas on a consistent basis was the magic formula for moving forward positively and seeing changes happen! I also felt very much like a referee rather than a coach in the beginning, and learned that while hearing clients’ viewpoints was important, I had to learn how to establish coach-to-client boundaries for our sessions to be effective, and help clients reach transformation with understanding and compromise more easily. Many partners come in believing I will most likely be on their side, and have hopes I will be responsible for changing their partner, and the other partner thinks I will be instrumental in changing the other! Now after 19 years of experience, I can quickly and lovingly guide couples toward softening hardened hearts, increasing compassion, and share with them how to positively show understanding and validation without compromising their own personal values and priorities so reconciliation and passion can return, and couples can experience a relationship reset, rekindled flames, and the victorious outcome: helping them in saving their relationship marriage, even after serious or hurtful setbacks.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Ask Annalisa is my business centered around Life Coaching, Relationship Coaching, and Inspirational Speaking. I specialize in helping individuals and couples create the life they desire and deserve! I coach clients on how to improve communication, strengthen friendship, resolve conflict, deepen intimacy, and learn to prioritize emotional connection, and how to emotionally connect. I guide clients on how to take their problem today, and move forward with ideas and new perspectives to implement on a consistent basis, with the goal to experience life in a more fulfilling way, and a more positive way. When our lives are not on an emotional roller coaster in one area, we can thrive in all the areas of life and experience more peace and happiness. I teach clients about how changing their mindset can change their world; so we explore together how to stay within their belief system, but venture into new insights that can make a positive difference for their specific dilemma. I am best known for helping people feel a very warm and comforting connection when meeting me, and have been told that I am exceptional at making people feel understood, validated, and comfortable sharing their issues, and helping them not feel criticized or judged. I feel my coaching practice is set apart from other’s because I am so passionate about helping, I do not limit clients to ‘only an hour’ and also allow clients to communicate between appointments to ask questions, seek more advice, and help them further, as they are on a journey toward progress, one appointment can’t be a ‘one and done’ fix-all solution; it’s more about being on a ‘path’ toward successful, positive results. I am most proud of THE ASK ANNALISA SHOW featured on WJRB Radio, The Talk of the Mountains, 95.1 FM, (wjrbradio.com) airing Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30 am or 1:30 pm! This opportunity extends my coaching advice and helps thousands of listeners across N. Georgia, and replays are produced as a podcast that can be found on itunes, spotify, iHeart Radio, and replays are on soundcloud and on my website: howloveflows.com If you or someone you know is struggling in life or in their relationship, please share my contact information so they can seek the help and coaching that could be a real life game changer, prompting their future toward feeling more fulfilled, balanced, and anxiety free! I see singles, clients dating, divorcees, engaged, premarital couples, married couples and individuals. To order “The Invisible Hoodie” it is available on amazon.com, to order the couples workbook, “How Love Flows”, go to: books.by/askannalisa, or click on the products and services page at howloveflows.com. To receive your FREE e-book copy of “The Toxic 10”, send your request to me, Coach Annalisa at: howloveflows@gmail.com!
What matters most to you? Why?
Something that matters most to me, personally and professionally, is how to help people choose “LOVE” over fear, choose patience, choose kindness, choose forebearance, choose thoughtfulness, humbleness, empathy, and compassion, versus offering constant ‘resistance’ about a matter. Our world is full of chaos where people have labels, they have vast differences, they have different sets of values, beliefs, and priorities; but there are ways to co-exist without fighting, without dismissing, without defensiveness, without denial, without blame and harsh criticism. There are ways to accept ‘people’, but this doesn’t mean we have to accept their beliefs. If we could learn as individuals, as couples, as a community, and as friends, co-workers and in family, we need more love, not more judgment. We need more people to adopt the ‘live and let live’ principle. Everyone has an invisible sign around their neck that says in invisible ink: “PLEASE, MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://howloveflows.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/askannalisa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsaskannalisa
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/askannalisa
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/@askannalisa
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@ask-annalisa
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/Ce45VCvqTUTjPuDXYA
- Other: https://facebook.com/groups/how-love-flows
