Meet Maggie Mistal | Life Purpose Career Consultant and Executive Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maggie Mistal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maggie, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I grew up in small town but was surrounded by a family of entrepreneurs. My grandfather had a construction business and restaurants. I saw how much flexibility he had and I wanted that kind of control over my time. My Mother also went to medical school when my sister was 5, I was 6 and my brother was 11. She had to move 2 hours away from us but it didn’t feel like she was leaving us. Rather, everyone was excited for her. My father and grandmother took care of us during the week. On weekends we got to go visit her in the big City and experience the museums, the concerts, the events that we didn’t have in our small town. It was an inspiration to me to see my Mom changing careers at 28 yrs old. I learned then that it is never too late to follow your dreams. It inspired me to change careers at 27 and start my own business as a career coach.

What should our readers know about your business?
I walk the talk. I don’t give career advice that I don’t take myself. I’ve had my own career challenges. 2 of my employers were indicted. The first was Arthur Andersen with the Enron debacle. It was a wake-up call to me that even a 99 yr old company can go away overnight. It was also a blessing-in-disguise in that I had been unhappy for a couple of years but wasn’t taking action. This event gave me the push I needed to figure out my life purpose. At that time, I saw an ad for the Life Purpose Institute in New Age magazine. I contacted them to go through their program. They told me that they don’t take people through their program, they train coaches in their program. But they said, I could be the “guinea pig” for the class and do the exercises while we were getting our certification. Becoming a coach wasn’t something I had planned but over the course of the classes, I realized career coaching was my life purpose. Now I had the tools to help all of my colleagues from Arthur Andersen as they navigated their next steps too. It was a win-win. I then took a job at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) while building my coaching practice on the side. It was amazing to work for such a stellar entrepreneur as Martha. Unfortunately she was indicted but served her sentence and the company survived. That was another blessing because it was a dream come true when I became the Career Coach for the Martha channel on SiriusXM hosting my own talk show. MSLO also bought New Age magazine and rebranded it Body &. Soul. I got to onboard this new team and it was truly a full circle moment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take my best friend on the local Florida Keys Food Tour.  The guide is five star and does a great job sharing the history and culture of the area as well as making it fun and entertaining.  I would also take my friends on a boat to the sand bar with beautiful blue water and an expansive view of the horizon.  I find a horizon view to be so inspiring.  In fact, my radio studio at SIRIUSXM had this kind of wide open view and I found it led to the most inspiring conversations on air. When we can see far into the distance, we’re better able to dream big and expand our minds about what’s possible wherever we are.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Ron Thomas – a mentor and former boss, Ron was instrumental in supporting my coaching work at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia which also led me to host my own career talk show on SiriusXM Radio.  Recently I was on Ron’s talk show focused on strategic HR and it was amazing how it all came full circle.

Website: https://www.maggiemistal.com/

Instagram: @maggie_mistal_

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiemistal/

Twitter: @MaggieMistal

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakingALivingWithMaggieMistal

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MaggieMistal