Meet Grateful “Woman on Fire” Debbie Phillips

Debbie Phillips evokes a sense of calm, kindness and strength all at once. When asked about her interests and passions, Debbie immediately shares “I love helping people express their talent in the world and support them in growing into their potential.”

Debbie has been through numerous metamorphoses in her personal and professional life. One career path created an opening for the next.

Lessons learned growing up in a large family in Ohio

Debbie grew up in Ohio with her four siblings. Her father was an accountant by training and a salesman by trade. Although her mother wanted desperately to become a nurse, Debbie’s grandfather was unwilling to pay the bill. Instead Debbie’s mother became an extraordinary homemaker – emanating love, creativity and the capacity to be fully present with her children despite barely making ends meet.

“I truly don’t know how she did it with five little kids and so little support. When times got tough, she jumped in and went to work in factories. Plus, in the early years we moved often… By the time I was in the sixth grade, I had attended six schools. I was “the new girl” every single year from first to sixth grade. My mother made it seem like an adventure and told me I was lucky to get to be the new girl and meet so many new people all the time! ”

Debbie’s mother found the positive in whatever life dealt. She felt grateful for her beautiful, healthy family and somehow knew that everything else would fall into place. Debbie confided that growing up she often felt embarrassed by her meager surroundings and vowed that when she grew up, her family would never have to struggle financially.

Debbie, like her mother, embodies an infectious sense of optimism and gratitude. Leaving for college, Debbie felt poised to create the life she dreamed of. She attended Ohio State University and majored in journalism.

Her passion for the media began when she was fifteen, working for the local radio station. Two years later Debbie moved into the world of journalism and photography, working initially for the local newspaper and eventually becoming a reporter for the Columbus Citizen-Journal.

A journalism career turns into a political windfall

Her journalism career quickly evolved into working on the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator (former astronaut) John Glenn. After Senator Glenn dropped out of the race, Debbie became press secretary to Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste.

In that position, Debbie traveled the world meeting strategists, business and political leaders. “I worked extremely hard and consider that I earned a ‘PhD’ in life and work by the time I finished.” After spending time in politics and government, she attended the Kennedy School at Harvard University where she earned her masters degree in public administration.

Along the way Debbie met her first husband, Brad, and became deeply connected to the unconditional love of his parents. Debbie developed a very deep and loving bond with Brad’s mother, Libby. After the death of Brad’s parents, Debbie’s marriage broke down. After 14 years of marriage, Brad and Debbie sadly decided to divorce.

Debbie nevertheless continued to follow her dream. Not long after her painful divorce, she became a life and executive coach. The coaching profession was then in its infancy stages and few people even knew that such a career existed. Debbie said that she barely knew what it was all about, but something caught her attention. She learned quickly and blossomed in this field.

Coaching career ignites into Women on Fire movement

During her coaching career, Debbie created Vision Day, a strategic planning day for realizing one’s goals. She expanded the business and outreach of Vision Day after meeting her future husband and fellow executive coach, Rob Berkley.

Today Debbie is the mastermind of the “Women on Fire” organization, which is dedicated to connecting remarkable women to each other, to increase their options and possibilities for success. Now there are Women on Fire Tea Parties in several states. She still occasionally leads Vision Days but the bulk of her time is spent leading and expanding Women On Fire from her home-base of Martha’s Vineyard.

One of Debbie’s own dreams came true with the publication of the book “Women on Fire: 20 Inspiring Women Share Their Life Secrets (and Save You Years of Struggle!). Losing Brad’s mother is the subject of Debbie’s chapter in her book. As Debbie describes it, “real women telling their real-life stories and struggles and how they made it through their obstacles and challenges.”

Melissa McClain is one of Debbie’s “Women on Fire.” By day Melissa is a crisis management professional and has worked with organizations around the world to create industry leading survivor and family assistance programs and respond to mass casualty incidents.

While she finds her work rewarding, Melissa’s passion reveals itself through her extraordinary photography. After attending a group Vision Day and several Women on Fire tea parties, Melissa has created new goals and dreams for her photography and designs. She is now fully connected to her photography passion and recently had her first solo exhibit in Brooklyn, New York.

Debbie also worked with Jacqueline Pimentel, an art lover and real estate broker living on Martha’s Vineyard. Jacqueline achieved her long held dream of earning her bachelor’s degree in art history from Harvard University with Debbie’s inspiration. Jacqueline recently lost her battle with cancer and throughout that painful process Debbie was by her side encouraging her to live her last days fully.

The theme of gratitude resonated with Debbie. “I am grateful that in the formative stages of my life and career I had people who really cared and helped me along. I’m grateful for having close friends and a best friend for nearly 30 years. I’m grateful for a second chance at marriage and thank my incredible husband Rob Berkley for that.”

Today Debbie and Rob collaborate on creating their own visions for their lives and the lives of others. Debbie’s feeling of gratitude for the love and work in her life shines through even on the most challenging of days. Debbie truly represents the essence of a “Woman on Fire” and says “I have always been filled with such gratitude to do the work I love so very much!”

Additional Gratitude Statements by Debbie Phillips

• “I am grateful every single, solitary day – for the contrasts that have made me appreciate my life. I’ve been shaped by being poor and being wealthy and now I am somewhere in between!
• “I am grateful my parents were warm and loving to me. Grateful that they lived until I was a fully grown woman. (My mother is still living, 75 and running her own business still!)
• “Grateful my parents always talked about the possibilities and impressed how important education was and that I would go to college.
• “Grateful my parents story had a successful ending…they did what they wanted in eventually starting their own bulk-mailing company in Huntsville, AL and were successful after many years of struggle in their younger years.
• “I am grateful during my darkest times of grief and despair, I went to therapy and allowed myself to break open. From it my spiritual life emerged. My precious goddaughter Julia was born during this time and I call her “the tender shoot that arrived in my darkest winter.”
• “I am grateful to live in two of the most beautiful places in the United States – Martha’s Vineyard and Naples, FL and have a partner who supports my dreams.”