About Courtney Burton

Creativity As a Way of Life

As an only child until the age of 9, I had plenty of "alone time" to develop a rich imagination and love for all things music. While I did not know it as a young child, being completely in awe of the Lawrence Welk show and falling in love with my kindergarten teacher's singing voice would have a long-reaching impact on my life.

Fast Forward to College

Of all the changes and growth I had during college, two stand out as significant shifts in my relationships with myself.

First, I found my voice…literally. I was told in junior high school I did not have a "good" voice and believed it. The reality was my "alto frog” voice, as I called it, had developed into a deep, rich "contralto" voice. I was "discovered" while singing in the shower freshman year and began taking voice lessons. This was my introduction to the power of honoring my "muse."

Second, my lifelong "struggle with weight" came roaring forward – the freshman 15 was more like the freshman 50, beginning a 35-year long cycle of yo-yo dieting and the shame that comes with it.

Corporate Life: The Grass is Not Always Greener

When you come out of college in the middle of a recession, getting started takes resilience and resourcefulness. I started as a store manager, which became the catalyst to land a highly sought-after entry-level position, setting in motion a 30+ year corporate career.

I was thrilled to be on my way, working for a great company with a clear career path. The job came with tremendous benefits -travel, building business acumen, and a sense of security... and as with everything, there are tradeoffs. Corporate culture can feed the perfectionist’s drive. I lost sight of my true north and paid the price. Self-inflected stress from striving for perfection was the perfect formula for more weight gain.

Thus began an unhealthy cycle: Change jobs, be excited for the chance to "start over," enjoy a sense of relief of leaving the prior position and working towards getting healthy. 

About a year or two into the new job, discontentment would creep in, accompanied by gaining back the weight and then some.

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Answering the Call of the Muse

Along the way, the muse came knocking, and music came back into my life. Much to my surprise, after a 15-year hiatus from singing, I got the lead vocalist's role for a 19-piece big band. Honoring my muse again served me well, offering a much healthier option for relieving the stress than indulging in pizza and a martini on a Friday night after a long week at work.

Enter the Coach

At this point in my career, I was clear I had to own my growth and development and hired a leadership coach. The beauty of being coached is access to a different perspective. My coach said,

It hit me like a ton of bricks…..how to thrive vs. survive?

The beginning of my next life journey was the realization that my parents were getting to the age where family roles were shifting. This time was different. I was determined to no longer settle for surviving work but to thrive.

Never burn a bridge because you never know when or how someone may come back into your life. This was precisely the case when I jumped from corporate life to working for a company of 20. I reached out to a long-time friend and mentor, asking for referrals and contacts. His response to my request for help was a job offer. 

Determined to "get it right" this time and empowered by being clear on what I needed to thrive, we co-created a work-life "ecosystem" - meeting my needs and those of his company. I experienced an unforeseen yet significant mindset shift during the creation process – moving from dieting to well-living, ending years of yo-yo dieting.

After a few years in the position, I told a friend,

Being Coached to Become a Coach

After eleven years in sales, I sensed a significant life transition was on the horizon and hired a coach to explore my options, including retirement readiness. Once again, my coach offered an extraordinary insight. After reviewing all the assessments, the coach said,

I got the hint and got into action.

Courtney Burton Coaching and the Hx3 Approach

Three years after that fateful coaching session, I launched my coaching practice. The foundation for my coaching approach is a methodical yet heart-centered approach to my significant life transitions coupled with several years of coaching and mentoring training.

In addition to one-on-one coaching, I continue my well-living practice of honoring my muse and creative self-expression by using my voice to sing, speak, teach, and mentor.

I am available to share my creative take on life, with all its many lessons and blessings on topics including:

• The journey from a closet corporate creative to a jazz vocalist

• Creativity as a daily well-human practice

• Life lessons of Jazz