Who I Am
I am Elizabeth Rose and I have been a practicing mediator since 1999.
First I was an attorney. I chose to enroll in Law School right after having established a career in retail, followed by marriage and the birth of two of my three children. I enrolled in New England School of Law's special part-time program, designed specifically for students with young children to allow them to create an academic schedule that complimented and respected their responsibilities at home. It was a perfect fit for me. My third child was born at the end of my second year. I took a semester off to care for her yet still graduated - Cum Laude - 5-1/2 years after I began. I sat and passed the Massachusetts Bar that same year. My first job out of law school was with a wonderful attorney in Massachusetts. He had a general practice as a sole practitioner and, though I have great admiration for him, I learned very quickly two important things: I have a major issue with attorney fees and I feel that "adversarial lawyering" fails people. I left his practice soon after this self-discovery and gave my time through the Woman's Bar Foundation in Massachusetts, representing abused women through the divorce process. This work gave me my first taste of divorce work along with the importance of mediation as most of the husbands in my cases did not have legal representation of their own. Though I could not advise them, I did have the legal obligation to explain the process to them and this interaction, limited though it was, often became a mediation. I worked within these, often extremely volatile, relationships to achieve an outcome that protected my client emotionally, physically and financially while reaching a fair agreement with their spouse. At the same time, I was involved in the New England theater and independent film community, acting in local film and theatrical productions and commercials. As I integrated into this environment my peers began to seek me out to help them set up the legal structures for their creative endeavors. While the norm was for each person in a collaboration to retain their own counsel, I began to sit with the creative team as a whole and mediate a contract or structure an LLC that honored their artistic relationship rather than immediately putting them on opposing sides. My work with the Woman's Bar Foundation and with the film community confirmed for me that what helps people the most also fulfills me the most: bringing people together to create structures that will support them emotionally and legally. Soon, though I continued to renew my legal license in Massachusetts until 2014 (I am now considered retired from the practice of law), my focus became predominantly mediation as I helped hundreds of couples end their marriage with grace and kindness and fairness and value. Soon, my mediation practice grew to include Couples and Family mediation, as people I had helped through divorce began to refer me to others who wanted to stay together in their marriage yet needed help creating structure and communication that would support their commitment. And Executive and Leadership Coaching, as a natural transition which allowed me to utilize my own business experience along with the LLC and contract work I did for so many others. Grounded in the principles of Emotional Intelligence, I work predominantly with family business and help navigate the complicated dynamic between business partners who are also family members. My offering of Individual Coaching soon followed. I currently live in Ojai, California and offer all my coaching and mediation work in-person, if you are local, and virtually, over Zoom. I am able to work with people both in the US and Internationally (I have clients currently in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as in Canada and in the Continental US). I look forward to the opportunity to work with you and help you navigate the many paths of relationships—with others, and with yourself— —Within Divorce Mediation I am committed to helping you balance the emotional, financial and legal implications that exist during this critical time in your lives when you find yourself faced with difficult decisions that have long-lasting and far-reaching ramifications for yourselves and your family. My strength lies in being able to narrow the gap between opposing views. —When I work with couples and families, I am committed to fostering authentic dialog between your while helping you build sound communication structures and practices that will allow you to engage with each other while honoring your own emotions and experiences. —When I coach executives, my focus is on maintaining healthy dynamics while ensuring that your business thrives. —And my individual coaching work supports the challenges and opportunities in your life—your work, you family, your goals and aspirations. Your Self. And helps you to move forward in a way that offers deep understanding of who you are and deep fulfillment in your place in this world. Working with my clients allows me to reference my life as a mother, as a wife, as a lawyer, as I mediator, and as a coach. I identify with the complexities of people's lives. I am proud of my work. I believe I make a difference. Thank you Elizabeth Rose |