My Journey To Creating Grounded Living

SEPTEMBER 1995

Leaving for the Adventure of a Lifetime

At the age of 21, I embarked on an unplanned adventure to teach English in Sicily for 7 months. Not speaking the language, I dove in straight away and before I knew it, 7 months turned into 7 incredible years of intense living and beautiful discovery of the world's most intense and vibrant culture.

SEPTEMBER 1996

Starting An Intense Freelance Journey

Rather than settle for a day-to-day job, I decided to start my own freelance business teaching English to individuals, and at companies, state schools, and the university. I also became an expert on local culture and the history of the Island. All the while, I worked crazy intense hours and had few healthy outlets for stress relief - leading to bouts of depression, anxiety, and eventually an eating disorder.

APRIL 2009

A Wakeup Call From My Body

The years of intense living in my 20s took their toll, and my body decided to give me a strong wake-up call. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It was the last thing I expected and the news hit home hard. I was in shock and extremely worried about what the diagnosis would mean for me and my baby. As I soon discovered it meant a very stressful pregnancy with numerous check-ups, continual blood tests, a strict diet, and a daily blood sugar level diary. 

MAY 2009

Taking Control of My Body & Health

Determined to not let the diagnosis of my medical condition control my life and happiness, I started studying everything I could get my hands on about stress management, energy transformation, neuroscience, nutrition, optimal health and wellbeing, habit formation, and neurobiology. I created numerous changes to my lifestyle, diet, habits, coping mechanisms, and underlying beliefs.

SEPTEMBER 2013

My Own Personal Search for Meaning

As my marriage started to deteriorate, I began to do intense work on myself. As I started to do my own personal work, I realized my partner and I had already grown apart. I had two young children to look after. In addition to that, the company I was working for had lost their big contract to a rival firm, leaving my job as one of the positions almost certain to be axed. By the end of 2016, we mutually decided to end our marriage and chart our own paths in life, while cooperating fully in raising our children together.

FEBRUARY 2017

Neuroscience & Professional Coaching

In the midst of re-creating my life, I finally worked up the courage to pursue my long-held desire to retrain and start my career as a coach to serve others with the life lessons I learned working on myself. During this time, I landed an opportunity to teach at a well-known Business School in Italy. In this position, I was asked to write an internal training manual about Coaching & Neuroscience. Researching and writing this manual launched me into my coaching journey.

MARCH 2018

Launching Grounded Living Coaching

Based on my research for the Training Manual on NeuroScience & Coaching, I decided to launch my own coaching business, focusing on helping ambitious entrepreneurs, leaders, and high achievers fulfill their highest potential through helping them focus on becoming more grounded, present, and fulfilled. The method I developed turned into the Grounded Living to T.H.R.I.V.E. program and the Grounded Living online community.

FEBRUARY 2020

From COVID Crisis to Opportunity

The COVID Epidemic first struck outside of China in Italy, launching the country into a full-blown economic and existential crisis, which then spread across Europe and the world. During this period, I decided to turn the crisis into an opportunity to build and grow the Grounded Living Community. This ongoing process of creating an online community focused on grounded living is my life's work.

Tracy O'Leary

• Professional coach, Professional Coach Training Certificate, CIMBA Italy
• LIFE Leadership training, CIMBA Italy
• Coach Trainer, ICF Coach Training Program, CIMBA Italy
• Writing the coaching manual for the ICF professional Coach Training program, CIMBA Italy
• Mindfulness Practitioner, Mindfulness Educators, Milan, Italy
• Presence, Integration, and the Cultivation of Wellbeing, The Mindsight Institute
• Team Coaching, The Neuroscience School of Coaching, Milan, Italy
• Mindfulness Life Coach, Transformation Services
• Accredited NLP Practitioner and NLP Master Practitioner, The Priory Academy
• Accredited Law of Attraction coach; The Priory Academy; 
• EFT & TFT Tapping Practitioner Certification; The Priory Academy
• TEFL, RSA Cambridge
• Masters in Translating and Interpreting, University of Portsmouth
• BA (Hons) in English Literature, Royal Holloway, University of London

Worked and collaborated with training and coaching for:

• CIMBA Italy
• Forema and Punto Confindustria, Veneto, Italy
• Allnex Italy Ltd.
• The NEP group
• Fami Plc
• Baxi Plc.
• Vimar Plc.
• Pedon Plc.
• Manfrotto, Vitec Group
• Miriade Ltd.
• Ancora Collanti Ltd.
• Social Vision Ltd.