About Me

I'm the Leadership Garden Coach committed to support and nurture your leadership greatness.

Hi! I’m Debra, a “metaphor mamma” and “acronym queen bee.” Okay, that is my quirky side. Metaphors help me learn and teach; acronyms help me remember the things I learn and teach.

My parents named me Debbie, meaning “bee,” so it should be not surprise that I aim to pollinate the heart, mind, and spirit of leaders worldwide to thrive using the Leadership Garden metaphor.

I began my career as a high school teacher after graduating from Oregon State University. I later returned to OSU to serve as the coordinator and then director of Oregon Student Safety On the Move (OSSOM) a youth leadership in prevention program for more than 20 years.

It was with OSSOM where my deep passion to see the greatness in people began to sprout. I saw the amazing power when an individual or group is given the skills and opportunities express their unique leader voices within. But all good journeys come to an end.

A new journey began in 2003 when I founded my first company Synergy in Motion; now Leadership Garden Services. I was in transition. Like Hugh - the lost sheep in my book, U.N.I.Q.U.E.: Growing the Leader Within stumbled across the Leadership Farm - I stumbled across a new view of life and leadership that led to my organic view. My goal was to bring my vision, creativity, and a sense of playfulness to the often serious subject of leadership.

Given the nature of my name and my somber side, I took an inside-out journey. Life growing up for me was a mixed blessing. There was chaos and calm, abuses and love that culminated in my mother’s death by suicide. I learned to cope with life by developing three abilities:

* to view both sides of situations
* to look for the hidden gifts in people
* to glean the lesson to learn in the circumstances surrounding me

But it took writing my book, to truly be free to express the more playful side of myself through metaphor and acronyms.

I formed Leader Garden Press in 2006 to advance this view with a goal to support and nurture 11 million Leadership Gardens by 11/11/2011. Now the organizational structure is complete, with Leadership Garden Enterprises LLC serving as the parent company.

I created this organic view using the experience I gained training, empowering, and serving more than 40,000 youth and adult leaders during my career
I coordinated youth-led statewide conferences, leadership camps, and national conferences and was a presenter at numerous national, statewide, and local conferences and seminars.

I found that each event, each person, and each experience had one thing in common. They all were unique. That led to the conclusion that traditional leadership training fails when only viewed as a job, position, or title or an innate set of skills and abilities.

While my professional expertise grounds my work, it is my personal experiences are the roots from which my passion grows. My hope is that what I authentically share about my life and this organic view of leadership will make a difference for you, so together we will all thrive.

I live in Albany, Oregon with the love of my life, my husband Terry, and dog Mooko. Together we have five amazing grown children and five adorable grandchildren and spend our time cultivating and growing our Leadership Garden.