As a clinical counselor, leadership coach, management consultant and family enterprise advisor, Deena Chochinov has a deeper insight than most into what makes us tick. Working with executives, leadership teams, family businesses, and families to navigate a myriad of situations, she’s seen first-hand what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to finding happiness and success. We’re so excited to be working with Deena on her upcoming Winter 2021 release, HomeWork, in which she shares how leadership lessons from the boardroom can be applied to the home—and vice versa.

Read on to learn more about Deena and her unique insights into why our professional and home lives aren’t as separate as we may believe.

Which three words best describe you?
I polled my nearest and dearest and here’s what they came up with: generous, curious and engaged.

What is your book about?
It is about the not-so-hidden connections between leadership in the boardroom and leadership in the living room. I realized that so many of the qualities and actions my family and couples counselling clients practice at home (perhaps unwittingly) resemble those embraced at work by the executives, leadership teams, and family businesses that make up my coaching and consulting clientele. This realization challenged my old notions of a dichotomous split, or separation, between our work and home selves. I’ve replaced those ideas with a more nuanced understanding of the many overlaps and alignments we embody in our professional careers and family lives. Not only did I discover shared qualities of leadership in both settings, I also identified the common leadership lessons my clients have taught me from their parallel experiences in the home and the workplace. I want to share it all with readers!

Whom do you most admire?
My clients, past and present, for their courage and commitment to learn, reflect, and take action to make meaning in their lives at home and at work.

Coffee or tea?
Tea, definitely.

What is the last book you read?
Radical Acts of Love: How We Find Hope at the End of Life by Janie Brown. It is a book about death that was surprisingly life-affirming and comforting for me.

Who is your favorite author?
Jenny Offill. She is remarkable.

What is your daily indulgence?
One square of dark chocolate. But just one, really!

What is your personal motto?
“This is not a dress rehearsal, so be grateful for every minute.”

Where do you find inspiration?
In our kitchen, surrounded by the stained, oft-opened pages of my favourite cookbooks, beautiful ingredients overflowing the countertops, my pots and pans bubbling with fragrance and flavor as I prepare a meal for my beloveds. And then, sitting around the dinner table, being part of the always compelling conversations inspired by the food, the drink and each fabulous guest.