Hi there!
If you are on this page I’m guessing you want to know something about me. So let me start by saying, I’m glad you’re here.
As you know already, my name is Lisbeth McKinley. I also go by Lis (rhymes with Is or Tis). Feel free to call me either.
I started coaching professionally in 2021 but my journey to being a curious listener started much, much earlier.
About me
I grew up in Manhattan, the child of an advertising copywriter and an attorney.
My parents were cultural, though non-religious jews. My deeper roots extend to a family of immigrants who came to this country in the mid-19th century from Eastern Europe. I’ve always been fascinated by the stories of where people come from and what experiences - good or bad - may have shaped them.
My parents divorced when I was eight and both remarried so I soon gained an expanded family of step-parents, step-brothers and step-sisters. As the second “youngest” I spent a lot of time figuring out my place in this new configuration.
I was a goofy, curious kid but also sensitive to the needs of others. I was often in the center of my group of friends as the one they came to, to confide in, or get advice from. I was very independent from a young age with an “old soul” appreciation for the finiteness of life.
College in New York
I studied journalism as an undergraduate because I needed to know what was going on in the world. I thought briefly of being a photojournalist because I was attracted to the idea that a single image could convey powerful emotions. My early life in Manhattan exposed me to the riches of a diverse community and the joys of the arts, food and music. It was punctuated by the loss of my father at age 12 and my stepfather at age 17. My mother, a successful copywriter, producer and executive was my biggest inspiration. As a single parent she launched her own advertising production company in her 50s.
My path
The Family 2010
In my late 20s I realized I needed to find my own way, and while sad to leave my home in New York City, a much needed perspective change beckoned me to the San Francisco Bay Area.
In my early 30s I returned to school for a masters degree in psychology where I trained as a marriage and family therapist. After graduation, I moved to Philadelphia for a job in community mental health. Eventually, I moved back to the Bay Area to a lifestyle that better suited me and a ten year career in healthcare operations, project management, and consulting.
Re-discovering myself in Midlife
A new business owner at 50 and a coach at 65
At 40, I met my husband, an elementary school special education teacher. We got married and I gained a new step-daughter. We all live in Oakland, California.
Then at age 48. I lost my job. I felt a combination of shock, numbness, and fear. The only thing I knew for sure was that nothing was “for sure.” I took a little time to experiment with new roles - volunteering, writing, job hunting — until one day a friend asked for my help organizing her home office. I came home that night and told my husband it was the most fun I’d had in years.
I decided to launch my own business.
I called my company LET’S MAKE ROOM because I recognized how the act of partnering with my clients to make room in their physical spaces had a parallel impact on their mental and emotional wellbeing. Watch how I accidentally discovered the power of organizing while in my bathroom.
By creating this mental space, my clients had the potential to live how they wanted or even discover parts of themselves, not yet realized.
Eventually, I discovered that coaching created a new way for me to engage my client’s self-discovery. Together, through the process of our coaching relationship, they identify the real challenges or goals they want to accomplish and gain the clarity they seek to achieve their unique vision of their lives.