Felicia Hailey, Cedar Hil1, TX
Iris taught me a lot about coaching and how important it is to ask the right questions. My goal was to do more with my coaching business and I achieved that by the time our 12 weeks of sessions were done. I will remember to focus more. I will build on the coaching skills I learned. Iris seems like a very experienced coach with years of experience. She has the ability to encourage and make you jump out of the box. I like that and I need that.
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Jamee Tenzer, PCC, Instructor, International Coach Academy
Overall assessment: Great job Iris! You have a warm and confident coaching presence. You are a natural enthuser and a deep listener. You are intuitive and you share insights in such a way that your clients gain awareness and clarity. You ask creative questions and give wonderful feedback. Most of all, your heartfelt commitment to your client’s agenda and your client’s success is always present in your coaching. Congratulations!
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Lisa LaSpina, CT
Having a sensitive and educated coach, if they could be an integral part of the agency process, would be very helpful to gay and lesbian parents. I know, because that is exactly what Iris did for us. I don’t think we have special needs as parents, but the adoption process does have several more twists and turns for us..
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Carol B., Walnut Creek, CA
Iris is an excellent listener, who reframed many things for me, so I could look at them differently. Iris would ask questions, which went right to the heart of things. It didn’t take her long to hone in on my UAC’s (Underlying Automatic Commitments or limiting beliefs). I was encouraged to stretch and avail myself of opportunities. Iris had a very good pace during our conversations – never rushed or too slow. I came away with sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I was able to focus in on my particular interest in coaching and where it will lead me. I revisited my coaching tools and actually putting them into action. I now have my first paying client, andI believe much of the thanks goes to Iris.
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Carol C. New Milford, CT
I think that Iris has an unusually heightened awareness and the ability to break thru “the forest” to see every single “tree”. I hope I’m not being too cute.
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Elliott C. San Diego, CA
IRIS WAS ALWAYS HELPING ME PUT A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON MY LIFE, MY GOALS, MY THOUGHTS. SHE DIDN’T BUY INTO MY NEGATIVE, MY “I DON’T CARE”, MY “IT IS WHAT IT IS AND I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT” ATTITUDE. SHE DIDN’T PUSH BEYOND BOUNDARIES THAT WE ESTABLISHED BUT ASKED ME QUESTIONS THAT REALLY MADE ME THINK AND VIEW THINGS IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COACHING PROCESS? THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE WAS A HIGHLIGHT. I CAME OUT OF EACH SESSION WITH QUESTIONS TO PONDER AND NEW PERSPECTIVES. THE ONE THING THAT STANDS OUT TO ME IS, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF IRIS THROUGH HER QUESTIONS, I DISCOVERED THAT I PUT UP A VERY BROAD FACADE IN MY LIFE. I’M STILL WORKING ON PUTTING SOME “WINDOWS” IN THE FACADE SO ThAT OTHERS WILL BE ABLE TO SEE IN AND I CAN SEE OUT. IRIS IS WONDERFUL. SHE LISTENED, SHE PUSHED ME IN A VERY GOOD WAY TO REFLECT ON MY PAST, THE PRESENT, AND RECONSIDER HOW I VIEW THE FUTURE.
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Anna L.-Colorado
Iris has a lot of experience and through this life experience she was able to connect my ideas to where I wanted to go next.
Iris is very encouraging and supportive. She is a great listener and provides feedback when necessary. I was able make connections to that and apply to my own life.
She helped me to meet these expectations by providing feedback, great reframes, through communication, support, and weekly accountability.
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Dena D. -Connecticut
Iris supported me and met my expectations completely. She helped me wrap my head around some very difficult decisions.
Iris is very patient and a wonderful listener. She asked me questions so that I could formulate my thoughts better than on my own.
Iris had me create a visualization that I can use and reuse to manage my stress. This was particularly helpful.
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L.D.-Connecticut
There are very few people that I trust and respect enough to share my deepest and darkest feelings with so sharing isn’t exactly the easiest thing for me. Iris, you happen to be someone that I truly trust and respect and enough so that I’m able to let my guard down and actually open up and talk (which is RARE for me). From the first time that I met you I knew that you were a special person…Someone who can be trusted. You have a unique quality about you that makes it easy for people to open up to you and let you see the rawest part of them…That’s a GIFT! I open up to you for many reasons. I trust your logic and perspective, you’re level headed, you understand and empathize with the struggles that I’m going through, you’re easy to talk to, I TRUST and VALUE your thoughts, comments, opinions and ability to help me examine my beliefs and actions. Most importantly, I know that no matter what you’ll be honest with me and you won’t necessarily tell me what I want to hear, but rather what I need to hear.
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Marc P. Guertin, Principal- Guertin and Guertin, LLC
Attorneys and Counselors at Law, New Haven, CT
Iris has the compassion and toughness (That’s right-at the same time) that will help you on your coaching journey and will assist you in reaching your personal goals. I am very confident in her abilities. As the Exec Dir of an adoption agency, she has worn many different hats, some simultaneously. . Iris is at one time warrior and saint- fighting for the world’s children and working hard to bring them to their forever families. She stays focused in a constantly changing environment, “keeps her head” when things get challenging, and will help you do that too, as your coach. Iris is good at many things- but her real strength lies in her solid communication skills. She has the ability to make difficult and complex situations easy to understand. She is a pro at helping people articulate and understands their feelings, which leads to better understanding for them and for better performance.
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Mary M. Art, Burlington, CT 06013
Email: mann4art@sbcglobal.net
It is a privilege for me to recommend Iris Arenson-Fuller to you as a Life Coach.
I have known Iris for about 20 years. My first experience with Iris was in her role of Executive Director of Thursday’s Child, when my husband and I chose to adopt our first child. Later, I came to know her as a friend, and then as an employer, when I served as an adoption counselor for her agency. My experience knowing and working with Iris is extremely positive. Over these years, Iris supported me with solid advice that offered multiple perspectives and the wisdom of her years of experience. From the start, Iris was exceptional. She is always willing to help, and her personal standards are extremely high. As an adoption agency director she has always worked to understand the needs of parents, children, and the various domestic and international agencies she works with. As a prospective adoptive parent, she had my total faith. As an adoption counselor, she had my total trust that she had carefully screened both prospective parents and the placing agency so that I could proceed with a homestudy believing that the end result would be positive. As a friend, she provides good listening skills, empathy, and, if asked, sound advice. Iris’ actions and words are consistently above and beyond my expectations.
When Iris told me of her plans to become a Life Coach, I thought first of all that this is the perfect role for her. My second thought is that her clients will be truly fortunate to have found someone so caring, discerning, intelligent, and wise.
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Sharon Liljedahl, North Canton, CT.
To Whom it may concern,
This letter is in regards to Iris Arenson- Fuller. I have known Iris for 18yrs now and I could not think of a better person to be a life coach. In so many ways she has been a wonderful coach for years. What better background than hers? Enough about her background, I’m sure you can figure that out from her other forms of reference and or background information.
I will tell about my husband’s and my situation with Iris. We very much wanted a family and due to our own set of issues medically, not a single adoption agency in Connecticut would even talk to us. They would not give us more than thirty seconds on the phone. There was only one agency we did not call. This was Thursday’s Child, Inc. for our own personal reasons. The reason we did not was because we had a very close relative and she had just adopted through Thursday’s Child, Inc. So being a very independent couple, we did not want to follow in another relative’s footsteps. As a last resort I did end up calling Thursday’s Child, Inc. For the first time in our search for an agency, the woman on the phone spoke so nicely and said, “I can’t make any promise to you, but I will tell you that the Director, Iris, will want to meet you and hear your situation.
Finally, I thought, there is a person who will at least let us in the door! Once in the door I felt that at least we would have the chance to represent ourselves and our desire to have a family. Someone would see that we were good people looking to love a child forever.
Well from that day till the day our first child was placed on our arms was only 9 months. That child was an infant at the time and in August will be 18yrs old. We were coached by Iris through the entire process even though we also were assigned our own social worker with the agency. Our case was more difficult than some others. We had been advised by Iris of a few extra steps to get cleared to adopt. She never wanted to get people all charged up and take their money if there was not a chance of an actual adoption. Even when we traveled to another country for our baby, Iris was right there over the phone and would do whatever needed to be done. She is so exact in her process and always checks all the paperwork. You could never be guided by anyone, anywhere better. We went on to do a second adoption and she was just as wonderful as the first. Just because you have done one adoption means nothing, because many times laws change, paperwork expires and each process must be done over each time, and she coached us perfectly again. This child was also an infant and this year turned 16.
You might think that because we had two successful adoptions, that I am saying all these great things about Iris. But it is not that simple. We had two other attempts. One was a referral of a baby that we accepted for our third adoption. But as the time passed, no travel plans came along. Iris guided us every step of the way. It was a very difficult situation and we needed a lot of special meetings with Iris, both in person and over the phone. After about 8 months from the time of referral, with Iris’s coaching and expertise, we moved on from the referral. We then had a referral of another baby. This also failed out of the country, due to some glitches at the other end of the process.. We were in a situation the agency had never experienced before. It was just as traumatic for the agency as it was for us. Iris did not hide or not call us, but instead stayed in very close contact with us and with as many officials a she could. So you can see that our family is complete now, but not without problems along the way. We could not have asked for a better agency, and that is only because of Iris. She has always been the type of person to put herself out for a cause. She is the best coach ever.
We did complete our family on our next attempt and we had another infant join our family. That child will turn 14 in August. Again, this was thanks to Iris’ coaching and long years of knowledge in the field. There are no guarantees in life, as we know. However, you need to make the most of any situation and to change your perspective. . Iris will coach you through any situation in life with the most positive approach. She is truly a very caring loving individual.
Hope this letter helps to clarify what a wonderful person Iris Arenson- Fuller is and that she is a great help to the people who are fortunate to have her help.
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Linda Pearson, Vernon, CT
I worked with Iris as a client. She was extremely supportive, non-alarmist, non-judgmental, and most important of all – I felt in her the ability to view her clients based on character and substance rather than on financial and other superficial circumstances. She was able to use her knowledge and intuition to see in people what was important and often beneath the surface. She demonstrated an incredible selfless desire to help me reach my goal, and to bring a needy little child to a needy, but capable parent(s). This resulted in many a miracle. It sure did for me. I am indebted to Iris forever and then some for helping me achieve my dream-my beautiful daughter!.
Forever grateful and forever on Iris’ side,
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Betsy Mussmann-Branford, CT
I know that Iris Arenson-Fuller’s coaching practice specializes in many areas other than adoption, I have no doubt that her wisdom, sincerity and ability to encourage and support clients are attributes that coaching clients need just as much as adoption clients.
I first met Iris at a conference about adoption held in 1986. I had been trying to adopt a child as a single parent for several years with no success and much frustration. Her concern not just for the children involved but also for waiting parents, was a wonderful change from what I had encountered previously. She was able to guide me to a children’s home in India and my son arrived home in March of 1987. She was interested in the whole family and has continued to follow the progress of our family through the years. I never hesitated to ask for support, direction or advice and always felt the same concern that drew me to Iris and Thursday’s Child Adoption Agency in the beginning. My son is now a senior in college and we are so grateful to Iris for her assistance in our coming together as a family and her continued interest and friendship.
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Mary I. Ingoldsby, LCSW, Torrington, CT
To Whom It May Concern:
It has been my honor and my pleasure to have been acquainted with Iris Arenson- Fuller for the past 23 years on a professional and personal level. On the professional level, I adopted four children with the assistance of the adoption agency which she founded and manages. On the personal level, we have become close friends because of our similar interests in many areas.
Over the years I have been very impressed by two talents that Iris has. One of these is her ability to work with people and the other is her ability to be persistent in problem solving. Regarding the first areas, Iris has worked with hundreds of families from all walks of life in their quest to adopt children, and in hers to find homes for parentless children. This has always been a stressful time for families because of the precarious nature of adoption. Iris has always worked with these families in a compassionate, and yet frank and honest manner. As for her problem solving skills, Iris has become a master at untangling the very complicated web of problems surrounding international adoption. It is because of her perseverance and diplomatic skills in working with foreign officials that these problems become resolved and there is a positive resolution to the situation.
I am sure that Iris Arenson-Fuller is proving to be an asset to her coaching clients, as she has been and continues to be to her clients from the adoption community, because of these and many other organizational and interpersonal skills.
Thank you.
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Irene A. Banks, Director, MassMutual Financial Group, Springfield, MA
Dear Iris,
I am happy to provide you with this testimonial to be used for your professional coaching career.
During the process to adopt our daughter, we experienced a dramatic change of course because of world events, including the 9/11 disaster. As Executive Director of the non-profit adoption agency that helped us, Iris remained a voice of reason throughout the long, frustrating ordeal and expertly guided us through the process with compassion and experience. We had our hearts set on adopting from a specific country. Iris not only encouraged us to re-think our plans, she also had a back-up plan that was reinforced by her establishment of strong ties in other countries. Once we decided on a different country, Iris acted swiftly, efficiently, and with great compassion. From that point on, our adoption proceeded smoothly and rapidly. Iris’s hard work, concern, and experience helped make our family what it is today.
I wish you the very best of luck in your new endeavor and I know you will be successful.
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Michael R. and Rose M. Mills –Crescent City, Florida
Quite simply, the key is in the name and in the person, whether we choose the flower, or scan Greek mythology. Golden opportunities such as this are beyond rare. Listen! Listen! And this time, when you hear the knock on the door, use the key to unlock the door, and simply LISTEN! We have for almost forty years of association with Iris. We’ve watched as she moved through and beyond so many of life’s obstacles. What a treasure, our dear friend (Iris Fuller).
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