Astrid Baumgardner

Astrid’s Designing Your Encore Life workshop at Pace University gave me both practical and psychological insights and helped me manage my transition in ways that were unexpected and highly positive. The possibilities of an Encore life were overwhelming to me and, despite my years of corporate employment law, I was now unfocused. Who was I? What had I done that …

As a former student and now as an administrator of the Pace University Encore Transitions Program, I saw…how Astrid’s questions and the sharing of her life experiences resonated with the students, how much joy they got out of watching her build stories for the students out of their answers to her questions and their listing of their life experiences — …

I was very fortunate to make the acquaintance of career coach Astrid Baumgardner in the June 2014 Encore Transition Program at Pace University.  All of us Encore students were exploring how we might create meaningful “second act careers for social good” for ourselves, and Astrid served as a wise, compassionate and enthusiastic counselor in the process.  She guided us through …

[At the Pace University Encore Transition Program], Astrid’s open and direct style challenged us all, made us less afraid of the unknowns, and affirmed our new uncharted directions.  We all gained a deeper self understanding and established life purpose statements and action plans through Astrid’s work.   I wholeheartedly recommend Astrid for her career coaching skills.  Her respect and love for …

I’ve spent countless hours in mediocre professional development settings, chocked full of “buzz-words,” that like a gourmet meal, leave you temporarily sated, but then hungry for substance. Astrid was the exception. The sessions spent with her have left me completely inspired and armed with relevant techniques on time management, conflict resolution, how to tap into my areas of passion and strength, …

Astrid has a great gift of seeing the beauty in each person and allowing their strengths to come through. — JC, New York, NY

Working in a field where big personalities often clash, I feel that Astrid’s seminar on conflict management was a fantastic boost to my own ability to skillfully manage conflicts.  I feel like I have a much better awareness of my own conflict management style, and most importantly I feel that I can more deftly identify the most appropriate path forward …

‘Astrid has an incredibly positive yet focused energy that she dedicates towards helping individuals and organizations discover their best selves.  I’ve been fortunate to work with her on several occasions and I cannot tell you how much I value her wisdom, guidance, and encouragement. — Paul M, New York, NY

Thank you so much for your engaging leadership development sessions at the OPERA America Leadership Intensive last week.  It was such a pleasure to meet you and participate in the program.  The entire week was wonderfully organized and packed with so many important facets of arts management, but the two days spent with you were particularly personal and useful (at …

Brava!  Thank you so much for sharing your gifts, experience, and depth of knowledge with us.  Your presentations truly anchored the program.  I really appreciate the time and thought you put into tailoring the information to the opera world and to their personal experiences.  That really made the difference.  I look forward to the rest of the week with this …