Archive: Business & Technology

Sometimes you hit an event in life that throws you for a loop.  Maybe you have lost a loved one, struggling through a divorce, undergone a major change in your life, or some kind of loss.  You may not be able to deal with these events, or even understand why they have brought you to a standstill in your life.  It goes beyond stress in that you don't know what to do to work through the issue.  That's where Margaret Snow comes in.  Snow is a Workplace Coach, Archetypal Consultant, and Reiki practitioner who specializes in giving clients the tools to handle these stressful situations.

"I see people who just have bumps in the road," Snow says.  "Life has thrown them a curve in one way or another.  They're just having trouble getting to the other side.  It's a way to learn to take care of themselves.  This is not long term therapy.  This is just another tool so people can learn to take care of themselves.  And Reike is something extra of great value that I can do for them."

While Snow works with individual clients, a big part of her business is speaking and conducting workshops for local businesses.  She is available for single sessions as well as series of sessions that may go for weeks.  She uses archetypes as a tool to understand how you operate, and how to better interact with others.

"I generally talk about archetypal consulting," she says.  "Other times I do Reike for the employees.  I am recently getting calls to do health care/wellness programs.  I do Reike and I bring in somebody who does breath work and someone else who gives chair massages.  It's a nice relaxing gift for their employees."

Snow explains that we are all born with a set of patterns.  She helps people to understand which are their archetypes and with with the nuances the archetypes involve, including what she calls the shadow side and the light side of those archetypes.

"For instance I have the Rebel archetype.  I enjoy it, that's who I am," she explains.  "I was born that way.  Before I explored archetypes I would go into a company and say, we need to change this and this and this and this and this.  The shadow side is I just like change.  The Rebel wants to do everything new.  Studying that archetype helps me to realize that behavior is perceived as telling them they are doing everything wrong.  So it helps me tone it down and understand my shadow side of just loving change for the sake of change,  understanding others' perspective, and accomplishing what I need to in a way that is a win-win."


An Ithaca native, Snow went to business school in Syracuse after graduating from Ithaca High School.  She worked at NYSEG for ten years, then had her first child.  About 15 years later she found a job at Cornell University.  She left after two years to work at a couple of small high tech computer security firm, ending up an IT manager.  She then became a real estate agent for ten years.  Finally she jumped into life coaching.

"It came at a time when I was initiated into giving Reike," she says.  "So much healing comes from being able to do that.  It was such a good feeling to help people find their 'inner home', as opposed to their 'outer home' in real estate.  Real Estate is a 24/7/365 business.  I am at the age where I want to have more control over my time.  I left at the top of my game.  This just developed naturally after I was initiated to do Reike.  I knew why they were coming to me.  Unfortunately sometimes people push themselves to the brink before they realize they need to slow down and get a massage, or take a day off work.  " was seeing people at that breaking point where they needed to try something."

Snow explains that Reike is energy work that meshes well with archetypal consulting.  She says it is often used at hospitals before patients go into surgery, because it is very relaxing.

"The recipient is fully clothed," she says.  "They can lie on a table, or sit in a chair -- any place that is comfortable for them.  It is light touch, not massage.  It's energy work.  We all have energy centers in our body.  We're made of energy, if Einstein was right.  he probably was.  So it's working with that energy field."

Life coaches are known for giving clients homework, behavioral things to work on between sessions.  But Snow says that while that is useful, it also has to fit into her client's lives and schedules.

"It is something I have to be careful about, because most of the people who come to me are busy professionals," she says.  "If I give them homework they never do it, even though it's valuable.  Then they have to spend their money doing it here with me. I'm happy to do that, and I don't want to rush anybody through a process, but at the very least I want people to meditate for five minutes a day."

She also makes a distinction between the work she does and therapy.  While therapy may last for years and provide a sounding board to help clients work through life challenges, Snow says that she works with clients for a finite amount of time, after which they have tools to work thorough the issues that brought them to her.  The length of time could be four to six weeks or three months -- it is tailored to the client's needs.  While private sessions are conducted in her downtown office, she also works with clients who don't live in the area via Skype, Facetime, or phone.

"My favorite thing is when they come back the next week with success," Snow says.  "Empowerment is a word that is so overused, especially in this city.  But every interaction with someone you're either giving away your power or you're empowering yourself.  When I speak with a client and they're getting some of their power back and they realize where they've been losing it, that gives me great pleasure."

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