LA BELLE VIE ACADEMY
Kathryn Sophia Belle, Ph.D.
Founder and Owner
NOTE: In 2017 changed my name to KATHRYN SOPHIA BELLE to honor my maternal grandmother (Kathryn Bell). I added the extra "e" (from Bell to Belle) for self-differentiation and for the meaning (beautiful, good). Often our names are patrilineal. We frequently (not always) carry names of fathers, then husbands. It is POWERFUL to me that my maternal grandmother named herself and it is an honor to connect to that power and legacy by choosing my version of a matrilineal name.
Citations: When citing scholarship published under my former name "Kathryn T. Gines" please add a footnote/endnote that I am now "Kathryn Sophia Belle." For example: Kathryn Sophia Belle [formerly Kathryn T. Gines], Hannah Arendt and the Negro Question (Indiana University Press, 2014).THANKS!
PODCAST APPEARANCE (Philosophy Casting Call: Philosophy, Counter-Narratives and Writing Books)
PODCAST APPEARANCE (Journeys of Belonging 2 Blackness: Philosophy, La Belle Vie Coaching)
MAGAZINE APPEARANCE (Happily UnMarried!)
Philosophical, Purposeful, and Practical Approaches to La Belle Vie ("The Good Life")!
As a professional coach who is also a tenured philosophy professor and registered yoga teacher, I offer individual coaching, small group coaching, workshops, and retreats. As a coach, writer, speaker, and "Happily Unmarried" mother of four children, I understand the myriad demands of work and home as well as the desire for an integrated and balanced life. I am committed to being an active listener, co-inquirer, gentle agitator, and accountability partner in your self-realization and self-actualization journey. I describe my method as “embodied existentialism” because I take seriously the mind-body connection, physical and metaphysical inquiry, the power of self-awareness, as well as the insights gained when we take time to contemplate life’s bigger and deeper questions. I have worked with faculty across ranks from a variety of colleges and universities including – Harvard University, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, St. John’s University, Smith College, The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, and The University of Pittsburgh – to name a few. I have also worked with other high achieving professionals (coaches, entrepreneurs, doctors, etc.).
La Belle Vie is French for "The Good Life" (common translation) or "The Beautiful Life" (literal translation). I have changed my name (and the name of my business) to reflect this. I have in mind not only living "the good life" and/or living "your best life" - as determined and defined by you, but also noticing and appreciating the physical and metaphysical beauty within and around us. My coaching, workshops, and retreats are all designed to help you embrace and create YOUR GOOD LIFE!
If you are interested in coaching, workshops, and/or retreats for yourself and/or your organization,I can be reached via email at kathryn@kathrynbelle.com.
La Belle Vie is French for "The Good Life" (common translation) or "The Beautiful Life" (literal translation). I have changed my name (and the name of my business) to reflect this. I have in mind not only living "the good life" and/or living "your best life" - as determined and defined by you, but also noticing and appreciating the physical and metaphysical beauty within and around us. My coaching, workshops, and retreats are all designed to help you embrace and create YOUR GOOD LIFE!
If you are interested in coaching, workshops, and/or retreats for yourself and/or your organization,I can be reached via email at kathryn@kathrynbelle.com.
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Guest appearance on Yndia Lorick-Wilmot' Journeys of Belonging 2 Blackness podcast. I trusted her completely and I am honored to be a part of this! Subscribe to her podcast. All of the episodes are outstanding - intelligent, insightful, beautiful! I share a lot of myself and lived experience in this episode! If you want to really "see" me and hear about my journeys to Philosophy and La Belle Vie Coaching (including #HighAchievers, #HappliyUnmarried, and #EroticEmpowerment) *and* if you are on your own journeys in these areas and want to feel seen and heard, then take a listen!
Preview of some themes from the episode:
*Living your truth, authenticity, having a full, multifaceted life
*Power of naming (matrilineal names, patrilineal names, professional implications of changing your name)
*Power of intention (being intentional about your energy, what you want to do and what you do not want to do)
*Powerful interventions of coaching
*Self-Awareness, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Love (Who am I, beyond labels like "mother", "wife", "professor"?)
*Happily Unmarried in 7 Stages (Doubt, Denial, Disaster, Deeper Work, Details, Divorce, Delight)
*Overcoming isolation, alienation, and shame
*Creating and connecting to support systems and empowerment spaces
*Failures as opportunities to learn, grow, and do something different
Preview of some themes from the episode:
*Living your truth, authenticity, having a full, multifaceted life
*Power of naming (matrilineal names, patrilineal names, professional implications of changing your name)
*Power of intention (being intentional about your energy, what you want to do and what you do not want to do)
*Powerful interventions of coaching
*Self-Awareness, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Love (Who am I, beyond labels like "mother", "wife", "professor"?)
*Happily Unmarried in 7 Stages (Doubt, Denial, Disaster, Deeper Work, Details, Divorce, Delight)
*Overcoming isolation, alienation, and shame
*Creating and connecting to support systems and empowerment spaces
*Failures as opportunities to learn, grow, and do something different
NB: I am an experienced professional coach with a doctorate in philosophy. I am not a licensed counselor/therapist, medical doctor, mediator, or attorney. In addition to coaching and programming with me, I encourage you to consider how simultaneous services from counselors/therapists, medical doctors, mediators, attorneys, etc. may also be beneficial members of your support team.