We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Goss recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michelle, thanks for sitting with us today to chat about topics that are relevant to so many. One of those topics is communication skills, because we live in an age where our ability to communicate effectively can be like a superpower. Can you share how you developed your ability to communicate well?
I feel I developed my ability to communicated effectively in several ways. The first way was when I was in high school and joined the High School Forensics team. Now this team was not about crime scenes and that, it was a team that competed in various categories to improve speaking skills in front of an audience. included oral interpretation of literature such as poetry and prose, debate, and limited preparation as knows as impromptu speaking. I spent hours upon hours working with my coach to help refine my speaking skills to move the audience with emotion. The time was limited and I was judged on different categories such as rate of speech, impact, story telling abilities, ability to create emotion and to capture and keep the audiences attention during my presentation. I was on the Lodi, Wisconsin high school team for 2 years and it was the best team I could have ever joined. I did not know at the time how impactful those 2 years would be in my professional life. I am truly grateful for those 2 years and all the speaking skills learned and still use today. I know I honed my communication skills that I learned during High School Forensics when I started teaching horse back riding lessons professionally. I was not even aware of the skills that I was utilizing from Forensics until many years later. I was speaking to different people daily as a riding instructor and found that I was able to communicate with them effectively which helped me refine and develop my communication skills even further.
Fast forward to today, where I am now an equine assisted learning coach and therapist (what I call a horse guided life coach) where I am speaking with people on daily basis about their emotions, their struggles in life, and their dreams and hopes for their life. I know that I am utilizing my communication skills from Forensics and as a horse back riding instructor for over 30 years now to help people reconnect with their true authentic selves on a daily basis. I know I communicate effectively with the people I work with every day due to my amazing experiences on my Lodi High School Forensics team. I will always be grateful for those who helped me learn the skills that have helped me become the person I am today.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am Michelle Goss, the founder and CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer) of Spirit Mountain Healing Services in Gilbert, Arizona. I have always had a passion for horses and helping people. I have over 35 years experience working with horses and people to help them through life issues. Here at Spirit Mountain Healing Services, I get to combine my extensive education in teaching, life coaching, and relationship development, to help humans of all ages find answers and new ways to live life better. I, myself, have personally experienced the amazing healing power of horses when dealing with issues of the heart, mind, emotions and the spirit. Whether life issues, relationship issues, grief/loss, or other issues, my horse guided therapy is life transforming. Horses have the innate instincts to help humans determine what they need in the presen during the horse guided therapy sessions. And, after all these years, I still find it astonishing and amazing to behold the powers my horses have to know what my clients need at the moment. You see, horses are not focused on the past or the future as humans tend to be. In the sessions, my horses help clients learn new ways to heal as both horses and humans are in the present moment when the healing process takes place. And because the present moment is where horses live, what better way to start learning how to be in the present moment than with my horses? Keep in mind, because the sessions are uniquely individualized for each client, I use a variety of activities in my life coaching and therapy sessions here at Spirit Mountain Healing Services. Some of those activities do not always include my horses. My job is to facilitate the life coaching and/or therapy process by asking questions about the client’s experience with the horse(s). It is the human, and my horses, who do the real work in the healing process. Because all activities are done from the ground, there is no prior horse experience needed to gain the amazing the benefits of horse guided life coaching and therapy. By working with the horses and myself in the present moment, the opportunities to learn, grow, and heal are limitless. The mission at Spirit Mountain Healing Services is to reconnect people with their true selves. Through my vision of service to individuals, organizations, and communities in creating sustainable connections with self, society, and the world, I seek as a purpose to empower growth and learning for a sustainable future through equine assisted learning. The mission is accomplished through both individualized and group interactive coaching/therapy activities with horses to help find relief and learn new ways to manage emotional and physical symptoms clients are experiencing in their daily life. This powerful healing takes place in a safe, comfortable, confidential, and professional environment. The new life perspective clients gain while working with my horses is what allows them to show up in their life in new and sustainable ways. Ways they never thought possible. This is the healing power of horse guided life coaching and therapy.
Spirit Mountain Healing Services. There is Hope. There is Help. There Are Horses.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The skill I know that was most impactful in my journey was learning how to publicly speak and to speak clearly, concisely and with purpose. Also, in learning to speak well, I learned how to manage my anxiety about speaking in front of strangers which helped me with my presentations about my business and my passions. I know I had to learn to get “comfortable in my own skin” first in order to feel confident enough to speak to strangers about my passion of helping people by working with horses. The area of knowledge that was most impactful in my journey was learning all I could about horses. Learning about horse behaviors, their reactions, how they view the world (they are prey animals and humans are predatory animals), and how they learn new behaviors. As I gained this knowledge, it has helped me help people to start their healing process by working with my horses. My extensive knowledge of horses, has helped me make a bigger impact on the people I work with by being able to explain in simple terms how the horses are reacting to the client. This knowledge helps me connect more people with their true, authentic selves in a more sustainable and impactful way.
The quality that was most impactful in my journey was my “tenaciousness” or what I call “my ‘stick-to-itness.” It was my determination to figure out what was working and more importantly what was not working in my life both professionally and personally so that I could focus my energy on what I wanted and needed to accomplish. Does that mean it was smooth sailing for me? Absolutely not. I hit huge setbacks, obstacles that I didn’t know were coming, and speed bumps that slowed me down. But the one thing I never did (even though I wanted to many times) was quit. I took breaks to clear my head and get things in perspective, but quitting was not an option for me. And that is what I call my tenaciousness. And I know that without my tenaciousness, I would not be where I am at in my professional and personal life and I absolutely love my life and my business.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
My biggest area of growth and improvement in the past 12 months has been developing my self confidence about my abilities to successfully run my business. I had several traumatizing events happen in my life prior to Covid. These events nearly destroyed my self confidence about running my business, even though I have successfully run several businesses in the past. I was starting to recovery my self confidence when Covid hit and basically wiped my business out. We all face huge challenges in our lives with Covid. I was not sure I would ever be able to get my business back up and running as the future of our world was in the balance. I struggled to maintain some sort of income by working at different mental health agencies, but I was unhappy working for someone else, as I have been self employed for nearly my whole life. Finally, the restrictions from Covid started to lift, and I decided to quit the current job I had and put my all into getting Spirit Mountain Healing Services back up and running again. And to make the business successful. It was a struggle as I was unsure of myself and the world around me. But slowly, step by step, day by day, I started to figure things out on how to get Spirit Mountain Healing Services running again in a post Covid world. I started developing my professional network of people who could help me with marketing and branding, professional contacts in the mental health services field, and a lot of social media posting to get the word out about amazing benefits of horse guided life coaching. There were many days, I just wanted to give up. I doubted myself and my abilities. Many days the daunting task of getting the business back up was overwhelming to say the least. And yet, I kept going. And slowly, my self confidence started to come back. Though this time, my self confidence was stronger and better than it had ever been. I started to realize that if I could “lose the business” to the Covid Pandemic and still make a come back, I could figure it out all the way and make Spirit Mountain Healing Services the best business I have ever created. I know today that some days my self confidence can take a beating, but I remind myself of just how far I have come in a little over 2 year post Pandemic. And reminder is what keeps me moving forward every day with Spirit Mountain Healing Services.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.spiritmountainhealing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritmountainhealing/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/spiritmountainhealing/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-goss-a20226209
Image Credits
Michelle Goss
