Who are your biggest influences and people you admire and why?
My biggest influences are Dr. Coker (more on him below) and Judy Suitor for being such an amazing woman in the field of consulting. Judy is a force to be reckoned with. I’m also grateful to Don Rheem for helping me become a better public speaker and a great partner.
Name a person who helped you along the way?
I’ve had the good fortune of working with my mentor and good friend, Dr. Charles Coker, an expert in psychometrics. He’s helped me in a number of ways, especially fairly recently when I was asked by a university to write curriculum. I was honored and excited to share my work, but it was a project that was totally new to me. When I reached out to my network for help, Dr. Coker, who has curriculum at Harvard University, University of Westminster in the UK, and University of Florida emailed me back the same day. He generously shared his own work for me to use as a framework. With his support, I was surprised at how quickly the project came together. He’s been wonderful to work with over the years.
What do you see as your greatest success in life, so far?
Raising my kids. Parenting is one of the hardest things to do. You second guess yourself all the time and there is so much at stake. They are these little beings that you would do anything for and desperately want them to turn out well. It’s been such a joy to see them grow up and now they’re teaching me. It’s really cool to see their accomplishments and how they’re navigating life so much better than I did at their age.
How can people contact you?
www.thinkaperio.com
What book would you recommend and why?
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. How we can learn to fulfill our potential in parenting, business, school and relationships by Dr. Carol Dweck
How do you deal with fear?
The first step is to try to recognize fear when it surfaces. Fear can be behind a lot of our emotions, and we don’t always recognize it as fear. (Fear is a shape shifter!) Then, I try to interrogate it. Why am I afraid and what am I afraid of? Is that fear grounded? Are there ways around it and/or how is it worth it to move forward?
What’s a personal self-talk, mantra, affirmation or self-belief that contributes to your success?
I will NOT let fear drive my decisions.
This reminder to myself always pushes me to move past the fear. I know people who have let fear drive them and it’s been debilitating. I am determined not to let that be the case with me.
