Bios

Aly Pain

Aly Pain grew up in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley and completed her education in Biomedical Electronics Technology at the B.C. Institute of Technology. Inspired to empower people and always of the firm belief that knowledge is power, Aly produced a technical training program through the B.C. Ministry of Health for distance patients and nurses. She also built on her extensive range of interpersonal, problem-solving and communication skills, pursuing enriching travel experiences and training/facilitation, until she found her true home and passion as a Public Speaker and Team Performance Coach with step up.

With natural leadership abilities, a commitment to motivating people and a strong appreciation for learning by doing, Aly graduated from and was certified by the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) Co-active Coaching program (CPCC) and the Center for Right Relationship's Organization & Relationship Systems Coaching program (ORSC). One of the first 70 people globally to hold ORSC designation, she is also an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and a Director At Large on the Board of the Calgary Association of Professional Coaches (CAPC).

A full-time Coach with some 15 years' experience in facilitating and training and some 10 years' experience in personal development, Aly has both the expertise and experience to help clients discover and utilize their intrinsic and unlimited potential. She also coaches by example, living her passion for coaching daily and remaining available to her family. She even employs her own life coach! Aly's "whole life" perspective enhances her focus on her clients' needs and enables her to create unique and sustainable strategies for success and accountability in all aspects of her clients' lives and relationships.

Aly's particular interest as a Team Performance Coach and public speaker in the subject of elite performance through relationships owes much to her marriage to Jeff. However, Aly's appreciation for sport extends back to her childhood and youth. By the age of 13, she was performing at a high level in soccer, basketball and volleyball and showed outstanding abilities in track and field. Although her interest in sport became more recreational after high school, her early successes afforded her a depth of understanding of sports performance that she brings to her coaching practice and personal life.

Check out Aly's website at www.alypain.com

Jeff Pain

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Jeff Pain grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where he and Aly currently live with their two young sons. A natural athlete, Jeff's background and interests encompass sport and much more! After 1½ years of General Studies at the University of Calgary in 1990, Jeff moved to Vancouver, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia and established Pain Enterprises Landscape Design/Build (1992) followed by Designscapes (2002). In between being self-employed, Jeff worked for 6 years with Peter Holmes at Greater Gardens Inc. in Calgary.

Regarded as the most consistently successful athlete in the history of the world of Skeleton, Jeff has compiled a lengthy list of accomplishments throughout his 15-year amateur sport career. Among his most notable achievements are 18 World Cup Medals, two World Cup Overall titles, two time World Champion status, and an Olympic Silver Medal. Jeff's success comes in part from his excellent problem-solving skills and his creative thinking. If something can be done, Jeff will figure out a way to get it done better and faster by creating a vision of where he needs to get to, taking the decision to get there, and then making all the necessary small choices, day to day, to achieve his vision.

Jeff holds to the philosophy that what is important is not so much what arena we choose to play in but what we learn about ourselves along the way. Ever cognizant of the impact of his choices on the shape of his own life and on the lives of those around him, Jeff seeks the larger picture, striving to integrate new knowledge into his own ways of thinking and acknowledging as well as providing insightful suggestions. Along with self-discovery comes accountability and Jeff takes full responsibility for everything he does, owning all his failures and all his victories and working hard to develop and maintain the strength and focus needed to keep everything in alignment - sport, family and finances.

In their book, Jeff shares his insights on relationships, elite performance and life balance. Although he speaks chiefly from his own experiences as an elite athlete, Jeff's insights on how to balance the various and often conflicting aspects of one's life, how to achieve goals by focusing on performance rather than results, and how to turn failure into opportunity apply not only to sport but to numerous other fields as well. As Jeff appreciates, success in any walk of life requires self-knowledge, imagination and decisive determination. Most of all, Jeff demonstrates the vital connection between personal and professional success and a solid but evolving relationship with oneself and one's partner.

Check out Jeff's website at www.jeffpain.ca

A. Mary Murphy

A. Mary Murphy has plenty of experience as a writer and teacher. Her PhD specialization was life writing, so she's excited about The Business of Marriage and Medals and the opportunity to use her skills. Getting to know Jeff and Aly was a very pleasant bonus. In addition to writing lives, poetry, articles and reviews, Mary teaches film, literature, and writing classes and leads travel studies and writing retreats.

Check out Mary's website at www.writinglife.ca