Barbara A. Berger is the author of the new book Yes! No. Maybe?: Three Little Words That Change Everything. She is also a career and executive coach, and she lives in South Carolina.
Q: What inspired you to write Yes! No. Maybe?
A: A sentence dropped into my mind over 10 years ago. I didn’t know what it meant… until I did. That line, “If there is only one of me, would you be the other?” became the anchor line for the book.
Q: What do you think Brent Pettit’s illustrations add to the book?
A: Our ideas of how to represent light did not always match. Thankfully, Brent got me to see the value of showing light in relation to darkness. His illustrations are magically abstract and beg readers to pause and decipher what an image means to them. For an adult reading to a child, the illustrations offer the opportunity to ask questions to prompt deeper discussion.
This is a quote from Brent that says it all: “Drawing a giraffe is drawing a giraffe, but I don’t often get to create from a soul level and that’s magical.”
Q: How did your work as a career and executive coach factor into the writing of the book?
A: The book breaks coaching down to its foundational elements: 1) Claiming who you are. 2) Identifying what’s keeping you stuck. 3) Taking action.
For over 12 years, I worked with hundreds of clients to help them align who they are with what they do. This book is the simplest expression of that process.
This book brings coaching to younger and wider audiences by using words we already know to easily integrate into daily life. Imagine children growing up with this awareness… this language. Humans love to overcomplicate things. I prefer to make them simple.
Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: The process of writing the book took me through the entire Yes! No. Maybe? cycle of feelings.
Beginning with honoring the call from that “download” and leaning into the spiritual thread, to experiencing feelings of unworthiness to shepherd this message, to looking silly on social media, to trying a Maybe and doing it anyway, the impact to my personal growth is exponential. Specifically, owning my voice in a very public space.
My goal in writing this was to help others do that. Turns out, the process helped me, too.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Until now, I’ve kept my spiritual side and professional sides separate. This book blended the two and I’m continuing in that direction with more holistic training, Reiki certification, and possibly a new offering of services rooted in this blended approach.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I wrote this book while our soul dog of 16.5 years was in his final months on this earth. I spent hours on the couch with him and those sacred hours are when this book poured out. Choncho said “Yes” to our family, and we are all forever grateful for him.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with Barbara A. Berger. Readers who join us on this virtual book tour have the chance to win one of four signed hardcover copies of Yes! No. Maybe? Three Little Words That Change Everything by Barbara A. Berger, PCC. One lucky grand prize winner will also receive a virtual author visit!
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