Norma Thatcher, Founder

Photo by DreamSpeed Photography

As I was ending a thirty-year career in the finance arena of corporate America, I took a transformational leadership class. A meaningful exercise had me identify, out of a hundred possible values, the 25 that were most important to me personally. From those 25, I needed to choose my top ten. The next step was to narrow it down to the three that identified my essence. And from those three core values, I was to create a “life title” for myself, using both an adjective and a noun.

The exercise wasn’t about what I do for a living. It was about what I do for a life. After long and thoughtful consideration, I chose healing teacher. That long-ago class was the catalyst for Lifted Up.

My real passions are teaching, speaking, and writing. Here are some related roles I’ve held:

• Speaker at national conventions and business events
• Christian education teacher for 30+ years
• Life Skills Instructor at a homeless shelter
• Trainer for a leadership class in the construction industry
• Coach for company leaders on presentation skills
• Community College instructor
• Guide and coach of leadership classes at the Boys and Girls Club
• Blogger for over six years (read my latest post or subscribe HERE)
• Children’s book author (learn more about my books HERE)

On a personal note, my husband Richard and I live just outside Warrenton, Virginia, and have been married 41 years. “How many children do you have?” is a bittersweet question for us. While we are blessed with two daughters, a son-in-law, two grandsons, and a granddaughter, we lost our 22-year-old son in 2008 to a drug overdose. We loved the child and hated the addiction. Always.

May your day be filled with many blessings. Be lifted up.