Testimonials

Saturday, July 25, 2009 / Blog

Few people are lucky enough to have a mother as caring, supportive, and motivated as mine. One of the most important lessons I have learned from my Mom is the lesson of perseverance. My Mom has always believed that there is a solution and action plan that can match every challenge in life; she believes that we all have amazing, inherent gifts, and that the choices we make in life either stifle our talents or allow our true personalities to shine. So, when she was stuck with a screaming, emotional, tantrum-ridden two year old, there was no way that she was going to believe that that was truly who I was meant to be as a child. This is how my story begins. It begins with a mother who, despite other people’s insistence that I was just a grumpy kid, discovered that the real reason for my behaviour was that I had food sensitivities to dairy, eggs, and paprika.
How did she cope with this daunting task? What I remember most was how she never let me feel left out. She brought me McDonald’s on hot dog days in elementary school, baked me my own slice of birthday cake to bring to friends’ birthday parties, and still makes me my own special pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. I know that she looks at me sometimes and wonders what that berserk two year old would look like now at the age of 28. It makes me sad to think that I would be such a different person today, and that my family would have lived through that stress alongside me. Mom, I am so blessed to have someone in my life who has always believed that I have amazing things to offer the world, and who has helped me learn and stay true to the values that enable me to be my authentic self today.

We met at the Temple Grandin workshop in January. I’m not sure if you remember me but I think of you often. You gave me your pizza crust recipe and I have it memorized by now. It is an awesome recipe and our son really likes it. The rest of our family enjoys it as well. Our son has been gluten-free for 2 months and the difference is amazing. He did not speak at all before we tried the diet and yesterday I had a 3-sentence conversation with him! My heart just soars.
I am so grateful I met you and had the opportunity to talk about diets. It is always such a gift when my higher power sends such a wonderful person such as yourself my way. Please keep in touch and remember the coffee pot is always on at our house.

Our son was a hyperactive, skinny, 4-year old who ran all day and couldn’t sit still. He said “No” to everything, had stomach aches all the time, and never slept through the night. As he got a little older, he developed severe asthma and was unable to participate in recess or PE at school. Marg listened to me and led me step by step through the process of identifying what foods were bothering him and how to substitute for them. I committed 150% to the process as I felt completely frustrated and hopeless.
Marg’s help was like the sun peaking between the clouds on a stormy winter day! We persevered with the elimination primarily of dairy and gluten and the results were nothing short of incredible. Within 6 months, our son was a happy, pleasant, cooperative boy without stomach aches. His asthma continued to improve and he was able to join in all the fun at school. I still remember the day he came home elated that, for the first time, he was able to play at recess.
Our son is now a healthy, happy, successful 20-year old. I can’t tell you what a difference Marg has made to our lives. There is no telling where our family would be today without her help.

I always know there is a safe place for me when coaching with Marg. She has amazing strength and resilience that I can draw from, which has made her my guardian angel as our family overcomes food sensitivity issues. Marg has amazing intuition for what I need and want, when I want and need it. She shares her wisdom and experience unselfishly and helps find hope and love no matter what circumstances are playing out in my life. I am always at peace, and at the same time inspired, each and every time I talk to Marg.

Margaret has been a valuable resource and coach to several nursing leaders in the First Nations and Inuit Health branch of Health Canada this year. Her knowledge of nursing practice and experience, coupled with her skill as a coach and compassion as a human being have served a very challenging team well.

Since I was little I have dealt with all kinds of stomach issues. When I would have an attack, we would always try and decide if this was the time to go to the hospital. Never really knowing what was wrong we tried to pass it off as anything we could. Lactose intolerant, irritable bowel, plain ol’ gas, but nothing really seemed to fit the bill, or help. As I got older there were more symptoms appearing but I never thought of them as symptoms but just part of growing up. I was exhausted all the time as an 18-year old. I was itchy and had nightmares. 14 trips to the bathroom a day was about average. I even became more foul-mouthed, which was something I really did not like!
My mom was a client of Marg’s and through a wonderful conversation, I feel like I was given a chance at a new life. Mom and I had our first phone call with Marg and both cried with joy. My sensitivity is dairy products, but it was making it hard to digest grains as well. For the first month I dropped all dairy and grains to give my body a fighting chance. Within 2 days, I already noticed significant changes. I even told my mom that I would love to hike a mountain! Marg gave me recipes to try and a book to read for more information specific to me. My husband, mom and dad helped support me immensely. I still am figuring out my exact diet, but I feel great. I have loads more energy and I don’t miss the rest! I feel like a person who is full of life and ready to take on the day.
Marg has been such a blessing to me. She has made me realize that my story is important and that I can live with freedom and joy. She is very knowledgeable and is able to really work with you and give you the full support that you need. She has also become a dear friend to us. Thank you so much Marg!

This workshop really stirred my soul. Marg used fun exercises and created the time and space to get in touch with my inner self. This was inspiring and motivating.
Jennifer Foster, workshop participant
Marg puts you at ease straight away and any apprehension you feel about divulging your personal feelings and emotions is immediately quieted. Marg’s thoughtful insight and ability to delve into any problems you be facing makes it harder for you to continue to ignore, yet makes it easier for you to tackle and try again tomorrow.
Monica, workshop participant
As my coach, Marg Evans has been a “mama bear” in her support of my dreams. She is unfailingly kind, caring, and insightful; she is passionate about helping me give my best to this world; and she can be tough on those inner voices that undermine me. Marg is a masterful coach and champion for anyone who is serious about living from their highest intentions.

As a Registered Nurse I thought I understood nutrition and its impact on the body. Not so! After listening to Marg Evans explain about food intolerances I learned a lot and realized that my son’s symptoms fit right into what she was saying. I had a much healthier and happier son when dairy products were removed from his diet. Thank you so much Marg for your help with my son’s diet and health and mine as well.

Coaching is life changing! And coaching with someone like Marg is one of those opportunities that rarely come along in life. I see this gift as from God and honor and respect it as such. Marg is a unique individual who has chosen to live BIG in her life and then draws from that as she challenges me to not settle for anything small in my own life! I am not the same person after having worked with Marg as my Coach. Don’t miss the opportunity!

I came to Marg looking to change my life. I had spent almost a decade of my life not living up to my true potential and I desperately wanted to make changes in my life with the help of a Life Coach.
Marg helped me open up my life and share things I never spoke about before; this was the first step in breaking through my personal barriers. From this step I learned so much about how and why I was living my life the way I was; because of my past and the disempowering beliefs I had.
Marg coached me each step of the way and helped me find my true self. I am very blessed and honored to have worked with an amazing Life Coach; you Marg were my angel of hope.

I highly recommend Marg both personally and professionally to anyone looking for a coach. Her kind, warm heart and diverse personal and professional experiences, when coupled with her stellar coaching skills translated into a wonderful coaching experience for me as her client.

I was diagnosed seven years ago with Systemic Lupus and have since been pursuing mainstream and alternative therapies to address the pain, fatigue, hormonal problems and mood disorders which seem to accompany most auto-immune diseases. Many sources I read suggested that identifying food sensitivities could be critical in managing or recovering from Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, hormonal imbalances, adrenal fatigue, and mood disorders so I came to Marg for help.
I found her to be experienced, intuitive, wise, resourceful and compassionate. Not only was she able to quickly pinpoint my food sensitivities (dairy!), I walked away with an arsenal of skills for how to successfully adapt my diet to help me stay off dairy and avoid creating new “rebound” food sensitivities.
It has been two months since I went “dairy-free” and my pain level is down, my energy and stamina are getting stronger and my mood is becoming more hopeful. These changes take time and I am deeply grateful for Marg’s twenty years of expertise in this area as I continue to find the diet that will best support a full return to health.

Margaret Evans has been a recipient of a “Community Partner Award” from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. Marg has given countless hours of her time to raise funds for blood cancer research and patient service programs and to raise awareness of the unique needs of young adults diagnosed with cancer. Marg is perceptive about client needs and is well acquainted with the resources in the community and how to access those services for the benefit of others.

One of the most significant changes I made in my life as a result of coaching with Marg was changing my family’s eating habits. Many symptoms and behaviours that had been problems for years with my children disappeared! After we were successful with the food sensitivities, I knew that the rest of my life was going to change—for the better!!
I can hardly imagine how alone in the world I felt, before meeting Margaret. I shared my soul with her and she showed me that I had wings in place to soar—And then I did!!

Working with Marg has been a gift sent from God at a time when I was ready for change. Marg used humour, intuition and powerful questions to guide me to a future full of hope, light and joy. She believed in me, championed me and even got fierce with me, but always recognized me as a strong person with the answers to my own life. It has been a pleasure to be on this journey with Marg as both friend and coach.

Marg, I want to thank you for taking the time to come to our University and working with our diverse group of staff.
Your workshop, “Balancing Your Busy Life – Proven Strategies to Have it Now” couldn’t have come at a better time! We have been trying to juggle our busy professional lives with all of the other ‘stuff’ of our personal lives and we really needed a sounding board and a fresh perspective.
You designed a workshop to suit all of us, part reflective, part interactive and wholly meaningful. Everyone who participated really benefitted from your warm personality, and your challenging yet respectful questions which really got us thinking. More importantly, I believe that all of us are able to act differently, based on some new perspectives around our lives and the choices we make.
Thank you and I look forward to your coming to our University again!