Client Testimonials

I’ve been a business owner for just over six years. I have dedicated all of my time and efforts into turning a formerly part time venture into a successful and growing full-time operation. For the most part, I have done just that. But, like many small businesses, I felt I got stuck in a rut. I hit the proverbial glass ceiling and I was burning out…FAST. I was tired, depressed, and stuck in my own head about what I was able to do. I was afraid to take on projects for fear of failure. I was afraid to establish boundaries and tell people no out of fear of losing customers. All in all… I was in a bad place. I knew I needed help to get over these hurdles and I started looking for someone to get me there. Then, I found Denise. I think of the transition as BC (Before Coaching) and AD (After Denise).

Denise has an uncanny ability help elevate your energy level and start to look at business and the world around you in a totally different light. Denise digs down deep to help uncover the roots of your roadblocks, helps you identify how they have been affecting your past as well as your present, and guides you past them with an incredibly delicate, and empathetic touch. It only took about three sessions before I started to see changes in my personal life as well as in my business. Now, having put in the time and work necessary with Denise as well as on my own, I feel I have broken free from the things which were holding me back. I have a new outlook and a different approach to business. And, best of all… I’m seeing the results EVERYWHERE. My stress levels are lower. My client list is growing. I am branching out and “TRUSTING THE FORCE” to guide me. I am leading a life of fearlessness and it feels great. Best of all, I know that Denise will always be a phone call away if I ever need her to guide me back onto the right path. This is by no means a one-time thing. This is an ongoing process of personal growth and awareness that will benefit you for the rest of your days!

Shawn Calkins
Owner, Universal Line Painting
Plymouth, PA


 

Before I got to know Denise, I had, for several years, been wanting to establish a forum that would bring together voices that were otherwise unheard, to contribute ideas about how to solve some of the seemingly intractable global challenges of our time. Despite the fact that I had successfully practiced law for 18 years and had even run my own law firm and despite the strongest intentions in the world, I found myself blocked and unable to move forward. And then I met Denise and began to work with her. It wasn’t long before the logjam broke. Denise has a wonderful ability to cut through all the chaff and identify the blocks — often emotional — that are holding us back in being our true selves, achieving our potential and fulfilling our life’s mission. She has a real gift! And, for those of you who, like me, are impatient and want quick results, there is an added bonus that it won’t be long before you find yourself well on your life’s path, living a life of meaning, contribution and full of energy and excitement.

Within several months of working with Denise, I was back to writing my second book “Building a World Federation: The Key to Resolving Our Global Crises” which was published shortly thereafter. Within a few months after that my organization, The Center for Peace and Global Governance was up and running. I have not stopped since. I am so deeply grateful to Denise for her gifted and loving coaching. I always feel she has my best interests at heart — a rare experience in today’s world. So… if you’re sitting on the fence, and wondering whether you should take the plunge, I urge you to do so. What have you got to lose? Give it at least four months and see what life has in store for you!

Sovaida Ma’ani
Founding Director, Center for Peace and Global Governance (CPGG)
Washington D.C.
cpgg.org


 

Years ago I learned that the very best in any industry or sport have coaches who help them get to the next level. So as a result I joined a group coaching program and have been a participant in that program for the last 18 years. In addition I have hired 5 to 6 different individual business and personal coaches over the last 10 years.

In every other coaching experience, the focus was on “what I’m doing”. It was about driving to do better, accomplish goals, and be more accountable. Those coaching programs were never about “who I am”. Over the last 18 months that I have been coached by Denise, I have learned more about who I am and what I am becoming. I operate at a different level today in my personal, physical, mental, and spiritual life than ever before. My level of energy is truly a brand new gift. And as a result, my business productivity is 50% greater than it has ever been in any one calendar year. This year, we will produce twice the results of last year!

I am very grateful for what I’ve accomplished and for the personal growth I’ve experienced these last 18 months, and cannot thank Denise enough.

Richard Farrar, CFP, ChFC, CLU, AEP
Sagemark Consulting


 

In our office, we now have an atmosphere of trust, excellence, and authenticity. I enjoy being here. We are on the same team working to the same ends. And the best thing about it is that I’m not consciously working on it. The coaching process allowed me to move to a place where I’m responding at higher levels. I’m able to be genuinely authentic in life and at the office.

When we started, there was a discrepancy between where we were and where I wanted to be. After Denise and our staff worked collectively, the dynamic in the office shifted back to the fun and easy place it used to be. We were able appreciate each other as individuals, and they shared things they weren’t able to express before. We had used a coach previously but Denise is different. She possesses innate, intuitive gifts that make her exceptional. I didn’t need to take notes, as the process became as natural as breathing! There are no mental filters anymore. I am able to be fully present; to be my authentic self. In both running my deliverables team and how I present to my clients, there is greater awareness without a shred of pretense.

For somebody who is doing well but knows they are running on a hamster wheel personally, always responding the same way… or if a team is stuck and there is a lack of unity, I would highly recommend working with Denise.

Peter
Financial Planner
Dover, DE


 

In my 43 years of owning a business, I´ve hired a lot of consultants and attended many programs, but nothing seemed to hit the mark until I met Denise. With her help, I´ve experienced significant positive change-both personally and within my team. The results have been tremendous! By helping each person uncover their strengths, deal with personal obstacles, and find their unique fit in the company, Denise has helped my team excel as a whole, delivering superior service with less management, and taking more enjoyment in the business and, even more importantly, in their own lives.

Leon Wintermyer
Owner, Leon E. Wintermyer, Inc.
Etters, PA


 

Denise is such an amazing coach! My company has had more business since I started working with her, and I’ve had more balance and less stress in my life. The BEST PART, I think, is the strong connection she shares with her clients — I feel like she really gets me and meets me where I am at, with NO judgment. Her poise and insight have allowed me to make bigger and deeper shifts than ANY OTHER program, class, or book in my entrepreneurial career. In short, hire her!

Jaime Willis
Chief Inspiration Officer, Velocity
Washington, DC


 

As a business owner, and a Jack-of-All-Trades I carry a lot of responsibility, and I can get mired down in all the details. You have high expectations as an entrepreneur! Denise has great empathy and can really relate, as she has a fundamental understanding of the financial industry and the challenges all entrepreneurs face. But the biggest benefit of working with her is that she is very perceptive. She has an uncanny ability to draw things out of me, to get right to the point—she actually changed my perspective on things. For example, I came to realize that when my mind was in a low energy state I had a victim mentality, taking it all on. Or I was perceiving a threat where there was none. Being conscious of this, and keeping things in perspective has brought happiness and openness to new ideas.

One realizes that if you want to stay where you are at, and not take the business to another level, simply keep doing what you are doing. But you can definitely function better by increasing awareness and realizing there is more than one way of doing things once you have a new perspective.

William
Financial Planner
Dover, DE


 

Denise is a marvel! In just 12 sessions she brilliantly guided me into a zone of much greater awareness of my values, my strengths and my goals and how each of these is inextricably linked to my well-being. She is incredibly bright, amazingly prescient, beautifully articulate and stands 100 percent behind her clients, plus she is a lot of fun! I would recommend her highly to anyone wishing to make their life what it has always had the potential to be.

Scott Sullivan
Life Coach
Washington, DC


 

After working my entire career for institutions or psychology practices owned by others, and nearing my 60th birthday, I wanted to use my success as a psychotherapist to open an independent practice. Having no business background, and going solo, I needed a special kind of support. This included having someone who could understand and encourage my dreams, bear my uncertainties and anxieties, and help me stay focused and realistic. I needed support to help me move forward, and to strategize the implementation of my goals. Simply said, Denise Marino Clelan was the perfect person for the job!

Now, several months into my new (and successful) business, Denise is helping me consider longer range vision, and to thoughtfully incorporate personal goals, values, and lifestyle questions into my business practice model. I experience her care and insistent attention to both my business/professional and personal goals, as an exceptional gift.

Denise was, and is, able to connect in a way which is absolutely caring, attentive, affirming, and encouraging. She listens meticulously, using both her mind and heart as she does so, and she is a safe and encouraging source of strength. Denise was exactly the “other” that I needed to help me get started, and continues to be, as I consider the next phase of my professional development.

I was also immensely grateful with those few times that something upsetting and difficult surprised me, and Denise saw to it that she was available, and was able to really take in my challenge, and to help me think it through to solution.

Having Denise in my life as I launched a new business was absolutely the right decision, and I would, knowing what I know now, make that same decision in a heartbeat!

Denise’s support, presence, and kind and clear guidance were, and continue to remain, very precious gifts.

JFS
Pennsylvania


 

…The core of what I valued in the office, what we had worked so hard to build, was slipping through our fingers. Denise’s reassurance that it wasn’t hopeless…was a big realization. The new focus on individual positive traits elevated the energy in the room, shifted energy in all of us and we could see with new eyes…compassion, caring and love for each other. It was a return to what was there before; refreshed, reenergized. That brought out a deep honesty between us…a kind honesty. We could clear the air. It was us taking personal responsibility for our own lives, in a very loving and positive way. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to businesses, professionals and individuals.

Judy
Financial Planner
Dover, DE


 

Dear Denise,

I just have to say WOW. I have worked with a variety of coaching type practitioners before, but what you have done for me has been just incredible. I am attacking life with new energy, interest and vigor.

I have always felt there was a certain trauma from being self employed (25 years worth). You have really helped me move beyond my own limitations, successes and failures. I am enjoying reconnecting with my God given talents and new understanding of my capabilities.

I look forward to our coaching calls each week.

Jesse Holland
President, Sunrise Management & Consulting
Albany, NY