Author Annmarie Kelly is a professional speaker, workshop leader and victory strategist, who has firsthand knowledge of the transformative power which determination and motivation, the stuff of victory, can have in a person’s life.
Growing up in her Italian-Catholic home, Kelly wasn’t a natural go getter but rather a shy and introverted girl – a “good girl” who felt invisible and insignificant and powerless to deal with family problems including alcoholism, sibling abuse and mental illness.
In her early twenties, a broken engagement and her father’s reaction to it, caused Annmarie to look at her life and where she was going. After a couple “dark” years, she realized she had a purpose but that she was following a path that would only give her more of what she already had: disappointments, regrets and lost opportunities. Annmarie understood that she needed to make a change; she decided to start on a new track.
Through the rest of her twenties and thirties, step-by-step, she changed the way she thought about herself and her future, set major goals, and let go of many of the limitations that were holding her back, from kicking the undesired habits of smoking cigarettes and being a couch potato to getting honest about her own sabotaging behaviors. She also let go of people and environments that became obstacles to her efforts.
While leaving the comfort of the familiar for something better was what she wanted, it wasn’t easy. But in time the effort paid off. The decisions Annmarie made then have enabled her to BE more and DO more than she ever thought she could and HAVE more of the kind of life that, on her old path, would only have been a dream.
Not content to keep that kind of empowerment and success to herself, Annmarie Kelly has made it her life’s mission to help other women find the same confidence, inner power, and most importantly the “feminine victory” within. Whatever she does, whether she’s speaking, teaching, writing, blogging or coaching, she shows women just how much power they have over their own lives, encourages them to LIVE VICTORIOUSLY - out loud and in living color – and shows them the skills they need to do it!
Annmarie Kelly owns and manages SkillBuilder Systems, a training and development firm specializing in management development and communication skills. She is also the founder of The Victorious Woman Project which focuses on the information, resources and skill building which help women empower themselves so they can live their best life.
Annmarie is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), the Greater Philadelphia chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTDPhl), The Press Club PA and the National Association of Female Executives.
Her services include:
- Keynotes for Corporate Events and Association Conferences
- Training Workshops (SmartWoman@Work and New Beginnings)
- Retreats
- Seminars, Teleseminars, Webinars
- Individual coaching
- Group coaching (Victory Teams)
Annmarie Kelly is available for interviews in the Greater Philadelphia area, New York, Maryland, Delaware and Washington DC, and by phone anywhere.
Guest Post by the author:
Until high school, though I was an avid reader, writing wasn't even a thought in my head. In my teens, I only wrote papers for English classes and, though teachers weren't particularly impressed, I liked the feeling writing gave me.
In my twenties, my writing was in my personal journals. They were very difficult times - but also contributed to some of the most profound turning points of my life. My father's alcoholism progressed, an abusive brother became more mentally and emotionally abusive, and my sister was already showing signs that her "moodiness" (as my mother called it) was the beginnings of mental illness. I also fell in love and was engaged, only to realize the relationship wasn't going to work out in the long term; I ended the engagement but at the expense of my father's approval. When I moved into my own apartment, my parents (with their strong first-generation Italian values) didn't approve. Not only did they not help in any way, my father didn't talk to me for almost a year. I was teaching in a Catholic elementary school and making next to nothing - or, as I often joke, earning a couple holy cards a week. Writing was a way of sorting out my thoughts and feelings.
In my thirties I began writing articles for magazines. At first I wrote for esoteric publications and then, after starting my consulting business, I wrote business-related articles for a variety of publications. I started a publishing group within a professional association and became more and more inspired to write and submit my work to magazines. I was really, really proud of my first check for a freelance article! I was having the kind of positive feedback and recognition that gave me the confidence to write a book about my unusual marriage contract. Unfortunately, at that time, I couldn't find a publisher who would consider it. So, in 1998, I boxed the manuscript up and put it away.
Then, almost fifteen years ago, still lacking an undergraduate degree, I made the decision to go back to college. It was a curriculum designed for people like me who were way past “traditional” college age. It began with a required first course for research science. Each week I turned in the required paper on some topic I researched. While my grades were in the B+/A category, I somehow presumed that I was just keeping up with the rest of the class. After all, we weren't kids just starting out. But a conversation with the instructor turned things around. She told me that I was one of two students in her class whose writing was head and shoulders above the rest of the class. She also told me that I had a talent and should do something with it.
I graduated, magna cum laude, in 2001. The teacher, Gloria Williams, retired a few years later. We still keep in touch and have a breakfast together from time to time. If I hadn't returned to finish my college degree, I might never have never written a book that could actually get published. Who'da thunk it? Sometimes, as one of my mentors tells me frequently, it’s all about showing up!
Because I offer workshops, teleseminars, etc. around the subject matter of my first book, Victorious Woman!, I developed the Victorious Woman! Workbook, Victory by Design. At this time it’s being redesigned to accommodate an e-book format that will include links, podcasts, etc.
That book that I put in storage in 1998 came out the box last year and is in the process of being finished – finally! What I’ve noticed is that the market for my “different twist” on marriage is broader now. The Five Year Marriage is generating more interest and I think it will be better accepted by the public in 2013 than it would have been in 1998. To everything there is a season, eh?!
I can make my crazy when I write, wanting everything to say exactly what I mean and often finding that I'm not satisfied with it. I must have rewritten the first chapter of Victorious Woman! over fifty times before it went to the editor, who also had me rewriting it again...and again.
Still, if I'm not up against a deadline, there is something about writing that relaxes me. It's the time I can be alone with my own thoughts, think about what I want to say and express my feelings in a way that I might be able to do when speaking.
Annmarie Kelly's Web Site:
http://www.victoriouswoman.com/
Annmarie Kelly's Blog:
http://www.victoriouswoman.com/blog
Annmarie Kelly's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/victoriouswomanproject
Annmarie Kelly's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/AnnmarieKelly
Annmarie Kelly's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4228849.Annmarie_Kelly
Victorious Woman! Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8963174-victorious-woman
Paperback
Price: $16.95
Publisher: Optimal Living Press
ISBN: 9780974603704
Pages: 279
Release: September 2004
Amazon Buy Link ($16.95)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974603708?tag=tributebooks-20
Barnes & Noble Buy Link ($16.95)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/victorious-woman-annmarie-kelly/1006367460?ean=9780974603704
VictoriousWoman.com Buy Link ($16.95)
http://victoriouswoman.com/store/victory-products/
Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186
Victorious Woman! blog tour site: (follow the entire tour)http://victoriouswomanblogtour.blogspot.com/
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ReplyDeleteRuth, thanks for the lovely feature on Annmarie today. Appreciate it! :)
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