Today we’d like to introduce you to Daphna Levy.
Daphna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Israel, served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) from age 18 to 20 and backpacked through Europe on my own for seven months before arriving in Los Angeles for the first time. I also lived in Apartheid South Africa and having traveled the world, chose LA as the place where I wanted to build my life.
Here, I met my husband, a native Los Angeleno born in East LA, and on Dec 14 we’ll celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary.
I grew up poor, although at the time I didn’t fully realize it. My parents were divorced. I was raised by my mother, and my father provided very little help despite being a successful businessman. There was always food on the table (mom knew how to make a meal out of nothing, an art I have acquired from her), and we shared an old adobe house on my grandmother’s humble property. When I was very young we had an outhouse and a shower shed that drew its hot water from pipes exposed to the Middle Eastern sun. Later on, we built a shower and toilet inside the house, and that was luxury to us!
One cold winter night when I was nine or ten years old, I was snuggled in bed with my mom. The roof was leaking profusely. There were several buckets on the floor collecting water. My mom was embracing me while mourning her fate and praying to God. I, on the other hand, couldn’t have felt safer or happier. There was magic in the sound of the rain, the warm bed and mom’s unconditional love, and I was elated. Children cast their magic on their surroundings, and so did I.
I’ve always been drawn to people more than to science or money or “things.” Even as a young child I yearned to not only “make a difference” but to change lives.
During four years in high school, I volunteer-tutored two little girls from an underprivileged family (the family had migrated to Israel from Morocco and the father had died, leaving behind an illiterate wife to raise the girls on her own). While my school friends dropped out of the volunteer program and started going out or playing sports, I would spend my Saturdays visiting “my girls.” In the IDF, following boot camp, I volunteered for the Teachers’ Corps and spent my military service tutoring new immigrants and helping them integrate into the society they had entered.
In 1986, I found myself at a fork in the road with regards to my career. My husband told me, “Just follow your passion!” So I did and immediately started my practice as a Life Coach. From that point on I never looked back!
Relationships soon became my focus. Time and time again I saw the power relationships have to make or break even the most dynamic, talented individuals. I wanted to prevent such waste of talent and to empower people to not only avoid disaster but to build relationships that fuel their careers, charities and all the good they wish to bestow upon the world.
I had had my own experience with this. In my early twenties I met someone; we fell in love and got married. Our marriage started hopefully. We were a loving couple that friends looked up to as a model. But four years later, without forewarning, my husband announced that he had fallen in love with someone else. Shocked and heartbroken, I didn’t think I would ever recover. It is through adversity that one discovers one’s true strength: I overcame my grief, moved on and achieved the ultimate victory – meeting my husband and living our happily ever after to this day.
Today I have two offices: my headquarters in Pasadena, and a satellite office in Bakersfield, CA.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Entrepreneurship is never a smooth road! You have your vision, this summit you want to reach, while you are down here at the base of the foothills or the depth of the valley. I knew I could change lives if someone was in front of me, but how do I market myself to get people to come in and let me help them?
There were times when I wanted to quit and go get a “secure” job, but I realized that “job security” is an illusion. I’ve met people who got laid off after twenty, thirty years at a job because the company had been sold. Where was their security? At least I was following my dreams and that was making me feel alive, no matter the challenges.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Life Coaching Masters – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
People come to me for relationship help. Either they are single and looking, having picked the wrong partner again and again, or they are in a relationship and want help saving or improving it. Career is another area people come to me for. I have found that if one is unhappy in their career, it spills over to their relationships, and vise-versa. These two, relationships and career, are intimately connected.
At this time, I am the heart of my company. I have staff assisting me with supporting tasks, but I am the one with the intuition and insight that make the “magic” happen. One day I’ll have it figured out to where I can train others, but for the time being, I am it.
I take my work very personally. Each client to me is not just a client, but a potential friend, a brother or sister. And those clients who allow themselves to “be loved,” have indeed become a brother or sister.
Nothing matters to me more than results. I want to see a change and an improvement or I won’t take a client on or will refuse to sell him or her further coaching. The truth is, I’m obsessed with getting positive results.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Currently, I am the author of one book, PICKING RIGHT, the Single’s Guide to Finding the Right Match. But I have several more relationship books on my agenda, the next being a book for couples. I’ve been happily married for 31 years and I want to help others have happy, long-lasting relationships!
I also foresee many more speaking engagements in my future. I love talking to groups and I am good at it. When you like people and care about them, they can sense it and respond to it.
Pricing:
- 30-min introductory phone consultation – FREE
- In-person 1-hour introductory consultation = $100
- Monthly Coaching (1/wk for 4 weeks) = $650 (In person if local, by Skype if long distance)
- A 3-month coaching package (1/wk for 12 weeks) = $1500 (In person if local, by Skype if long distance)
Contact Info:
- Address: 424 N. Lake Ave. Suite 303, Pasadena, CA 91101
4200 Easton Dr. Suite 2, Bakersfield, CA 93309 - Website: www.TheSecretsOfHappilyEverAfter.com
- Phone: 626 888 7759 661-374-3790
- Email: daphna@lifecoachingmasters.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life_coach_daphna/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaphnaLifeCoach/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daphna_Levy
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/life-coaching-masters-pasadena
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
