Marsha Egan’s positive energy is positively infectious. It is this, along with her irrepressible and spirited enthusiasm, bright outlook, “can do” attitude, and leadership skills, that contributes to her standing as an expert public speaker and professional coach. Every other Thursday through early October, right here on Nantucket, you can enjoy morning workshop sessions with Egan when she hosts her Coaching at the Corner upstairs at Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main Street.
During the hour between 8:30 and 9:30 am, participants discuss topics, led by Egan, that range from personal effectiveness to professional impact. Her next workshop is Thursday morning, August 22, and the topic is on a skill that is useful whether you’re dealing with demanding houseguests or demanding clients: “How to Say ‘No’ Nicely.”
Egan is a board certified Professional Coach who works primarily with entrepreneurs and business go-getters “who want to achieve even more success than they have.” A veteran of corporate and volunteer America, Egan is the author of four books and her services as a coach, a consultant, and a keynote speaker are in high demand across the country. Through her business, The Egan Group (www.marshaegan.com), she specializes in “workplace productivity and ‘navigating the peoplescape’ that enhances the attainment of goals.”
About half of her time is spent as a professional speaker, a role she loves, and she is one of fewer than 600 people in the world who has earned designation as a CPS: “Certified Speaking Professional.”
The other half she spends working one-on-one with clients across the country. Egan travels quite a bit, meeting with her clients two or three times a month, and does some of her sessions via Skype when an in-person meeting is not possible. “I enjoy the one-on-one because my clients end up doing awesome things… one of my clients worked in a large Boston law firm. Her goal was to become the youngest female partner in five years, and she did it in three!”
Egan thinks of coaching as being about moving forward—she helps clients define where they are now, where they want to be, and then helps them find a track to get them to their goals. “Coaching is not about me having the answers, it’s about me having the right questions to ask so that a client can reach the right answers… A coach is the expert in the method, but you are the expert in you.”
Two years ago, Marsha Egan attained one of her own goals: to move to Nantucket. Her husband, Bob Egan, was born and raised here in ‘Sconset, so the couple vacationed here for more than 20 years. When his uncle Bud Egan passed away, Bob took over the Egan Maritime Foundation (now the Egan Maritime Institute). “We were coming to Nantucket more and more… we liked it so much that we moved here and never looked back.”
Egan describes her personal mission as “to enhance the life of every person I touch,” and that is what has motivated her to offer her twice-a-month “Coaching at the Corner” workshops at Mitchell’s. Offering these groups was her way of giving back to the community. She describes the workshops as “chats”: “I don’t have an exact script: I facilitate the discussion.” The cost to attend one of these workshops is just $15, and season passes are only $45, available at coachingatthecorner.com.
Egan’s Coaching at the Corner workshops are described as “thoughtful,” “empowering,” and “practical.” Don’t miss the next session on Thursday, August 22. As Marsha says: “Yes, you can say “no” and have them like you for it.”