Author Archives

Chery Gegelman

President, Giana Consulting

Chery Gegelman is an adventurer that loves to learn. ...Deep conversations, books, travel, and daily living are all food for growth.

As a speaker, facilitator and workshop leader she creates energizing environments that reflect God's grace, tear down walls, help people to consider new perspectives, and inspire change.

Chery is the Founder of Giana Consulting and Conversation Safari's, listed as a Great Leadership Speaker by Inc., writes a recognized leadership blog and has co-authored two leadership books.

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Faced with a sink or swim situation ~ what do you do?

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Many of you are aware that my husband and I are preparing for our first overseas move.  In the past couple of weeks we’ve had to push hard to get all the information we need and reach out to people that are not official owners of the process for help.  (Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to offer help than to ask for it?  …Let alone push for it?)

Thankfully we are finding people who are willing to share their time and their stories and offer their advice.  The downside of that is receiving conflicting information and not being able to discern the truth.  And without the truth we are either webbed in place seeking more information or are forced to just jump in and see what happens!

At the same time, we are meeting others that did not have the information they needed when they landed and have had to overcome much larger obstacles than we have so far.  Imagine accepting a new job, being flown to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, then driven from the airport and dropped off outside of a compound in the middle of the night?  Not at the gate, not inside the gate, not at a hotel but just outside a compound wall, and expected to figure out what to do next on your own!

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Life Overseas: Turning Unwanted Change into an ADVENTURE!

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Life Overseas, Expat, Unwanted Change

New beginnings and fresh starts…

  • Can be exciting and fun!
  • Can also be pain-filled and very challenging because an ending has to occur before a fresh start happens.
  • Can be terrifying because they require you to leave what you’ve known and to change.

One of my life’s messages is encouraging others to make choices to leave their comfort zones, reminding them about all of the things they miss out on each time they choose not to take a risk and pointing out all of the growth that happens when they embrace change.

In the fall of 2012, just after sharing this message, my husband was asked to take a new position, across the world, in the only place we said we never wanted to live.

When I got past the shock, got a lot of basic questions answered, and spent quite a bit of time in prayer, I thought of a friend of mine…  

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Invitation 2013: Will you lead from who YOU are?

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Have you checked out our NEW POST on the Lead Change Group Blog?

Imagine: 

  • What it would be like to grow up in a family that is always behind on their bills.
  • To live in a home that could be featured on the television program HOARDERS.
  • To have your home burn to the ground and lose everything when you were in grade-school. 
  • Then live in a home without an indoor bathroom through high school. 
  • Being diagnosed with bi-polar, manic depressive disorder before you were 20. 
  • Getting hit one night by your boyfriend and leaving with your car and your clothes.  
  • Becoming a single mom and going through a bankruptcy. 

For Angie, all of this was a reality.  She was living a life of chaos with very few calm, safe, hopeful moments.  She describes herself as insecure, someone with a chip on her shoulder, and a bully.  She emphasizes never being taught to budget, being embarrassed to bring friends home, and trying to escape her reality by forming relationships that many times became the cause of more pain.   

When I first met Angie I did not know any of these stories.  I found her because she is a hairstylist with an online presence and great reviews.  (When you are new to a city, you look for both!)  In our first meeting I complimented her on her online presence and she quickly spoke of her “Marketing Director, Miss Connie. ” 

What follows is a quick look into the lives of two extraordinary women that have been transformed because they have chosen to do what they can, with what they have, right where they are. Read more here.