Nancy Oelklaus began her career as a high school English teacher in Marshall, Texas. She earned the B.A. in Communications from Oklahoma Baptist University, an M.A. in English from the University of North Texas and her Doctorate in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University, Commerce. For nine years she served as assistant superintendent for instructional services in Marshall, followed by nine years as executive director for the Texas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Since 2000 she has worked as an executive coach in Austin, serving entrepreneurial clients in education, social services, financial services, real estate, public relations, and city administration.
Dr. Oelklaus has received numerous awards and honors for civic leadership, including the Vision to Action Award from the Visions of a Better World Foundation in Boston. She was named Leader of Leaders by Sam Houston State University’s Department of Educational Leadership and Woman of Achievement by the Business and Professional Women of Marshall, Texas. In 2007 she received the Profile in Excellence Award from Oklahoma Baptist University. Her articles have appeared in publications including The American School Board Journal, The Austin Business Journal, The Systems Thinker, and AustinWoman. Her first book, entitled Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working Authentically, was published in March 2008 by Loving Healing Press of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Three coaching CD’s by Nancy are available through Amazon.
Q: Thank you for this interview, Nancy. Can we begin by having you tell us the main goal you had when writing your book. What message did you want to convey?
A: My goal is to help people have happier, more meaningful lives—to share what I have learned for those who are still feeling overworked and burdened, who feel they should be getting more out of life but they don’t know how. My message is that it is never too late to change. Everything you want is within you, and you have to dig deep to find it. That is where the journey is—within. This is a guide and a roadmap to help people live more easily and joyfully, more quickly.
