TESTIMONIALS FROM CLIENTS

Customer satisfaction provides inspiration to The Ariela Group to go to the next step to create and provide even better services. We support the positive growth of our individual and organizational clients, and often they write and share their gratitude.

The universal flow of giving and receiving is demonstrated in comments made by manufacturers, service providers, non-profit organizations, municipalities, among others included here. Full letters are also available upon request.

Success Coaching™ Clients

“WOW!  That is not even a powerful enough word to describe the way I feel after our session today.  I strongly feel that you somehow are a guardian angel sent to tell me what I needed to know at just the right point in my life to actually do something with what we shared.  Intuitively you were right on and I cannot even begin to describe the release that session gave me.  I laughed, I cried. Thank you for your beautiful gift. NAMASTE!”
-R.D./ Manufacturing Maintenance Manager/ Phoenix, AZ

“Thank you for an extraordinary coaching experience today. I was surprised when your coaching led me into new territory.  Feelings that I thought were work-related anxiety or ambition, that seemed to be creating a stressful results-focused drive to achieve, were really about something else entirely.   With your assistance I gained awareness of what that feeling was an indicator of and the stressful feelings began to dissipate.  I made self-discoveries that delighted and empowered me, and revealed an action plan that will transform my future.  Thank you for extraordinary coaching!”
-H.R./ Screen Writer, Artist/ Los Angeles, CA

“I LOVE your group coaching classes and will diligently put your advice I am learning there to use! I have already this week! I have loved your work and feel you are an AWESOME teacher and mentor. You are an inspiration to me! I wanted to thank you for sharing all your gifts and putting yourself out there and achieving your goals you set for yourself. I KNOW and can FEEL you make a difference in thousands of people's lives every day, as one person touches another and another. Also when we heal ourselves, everyone is blessed by the experience. Again thank you for your support. Much love and great appreciation for all your classes. They have meant a great deal to me! MORE than you know!”
-M.J./ Animal Therapist, Coach/ Mt. St. Helens, WA

"Anne, thank you again so much for your support, understanding, encouragement and guidance. You helped me rediscover my drive and what truly motivates me. You reminded me how important the way we feel and think is. Through the techniques you used during our coaching sessions you enabled me to control my thoughts and redirect my energies in a positive way. Because of this I was better equipped to navigate through a time of transition and I have achieved my major goals by applying your advice. I always felt your thorough dedication and the love you put into your work. I’m grateful for your warmth and genuine guidance. "  
-G.H./ Business Manager, Management Consultant/ Munich, Germany

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to consult with you today.  It has been enlightening. You hit the nail on the head… I have been too critical and hard on myself, being an extreme perfectionist. My expectations of myself and others are too high. I will definitely start implementing the ‘third entity’ in my relationship with others and am now confident that I will attract loving relationships into my life.  Thank you for your gifts.”
-A.L./ Professional Vision Therapist/ Singapore

“It is with pleasure that I write to you with an update on my life since you facilitated my coaching/healing session. In just one valuable, impressionable, healing session with you I was able to let go of much fear and anxiety about my pregnancy, birthing and the responsibilities of becoming a parent. Your professionalism came across to me as kind and caring.  I was able to trust you from the beginning.  First of all you helped me to identify the fears and anxieties that gave me a sense of being paralyzed and out of control with my life. Secondly, after identifying my issues, you gave me the insight, tools and suggestions to embrace and deal with the wall of uncertainty and fear that I had created. I am so thankful to you, Anne, for helping me through this new life adventure. I appreciate your experience, wisdom, and insight that coached me into trusting myself to let go of fear and anxiety. I have control of my life. I know that I can now face life experiences with confidence, open arms, and joy!! My coaching/healing session with you helped more than you know. I pray that others who need help will be led to you for healing, coaching and balance in their life.”
-H.D./ Certified Massage Therapist/ Columbia, SC
 

Strategic Meetings Facilitated

"Most of us do not have time for fluff and feel good training sessions that bear no fruit. The Open Space Technology process has demonstrated its value to us by changing how we change – and change we must. It is an effective use of time and has delivered positive results in behavioral change and in the function of support and remediation of problems. Dr. Anne Merkel is a very talented, experienced, professional, and competent facilitator. She has learned what has most successfully worked in effecting positive change in organizations. Dr. Anne Merkel and The Ariela Group are very highly recommended for your consideration."
-Cary McSwain, County Administrator, Richland County /Columbia, SC

"Campaigns for Kids recently engaged with Dr. Anne Merkel to help facilitate the merging of two non-profit organizations. Having experienced many facilitators, strategic planners, and organizational consultants during my thirty years of directing businesses and non-profit organizations, I can say that Anne is a master at her trade and the finest facilitator I have had the pleasure of working with. Her knowledge, skills, and vast experience merge gracefully with her passion, sense of humor, and deep respect for those with whom she is engaged. This is a powerful combination that leads to successful outcomes.
From my experience it is rare to meet a facilitator and organizational consultant whose mastery of skills equals a commitment to making a difference in the world. Anne is a powerful change agent who lives her mission."
-Diane Delafield, Founding Director, Campaigns for Kids, Inc.

"In a day’s time you took a group of highly skeptical senior managers and helped us reach a consensus about how we should develop our Civilian Professional Development efforts. You helped us identify and discuss important issues for further study. Resolution of these issues will positively affect the well being of our civilian employees for years to come. Your abilities as a facilitator and coordinator were instrumental in making our meeting a success, and have enhanced the Garrison’s accomplishment of its many missions."
-Col. Brent Johnson, U.S. Army Garrison Commander, Ft. Jackson Army Base

"You skillfully facilitated a full day meeting of Open Space Technology. At the beginning, team spirit was stressed and some people were not connecting in a team-like manner. During the meeting, several team-related breakout topics were suggested and discussed in meetings. I am most satisfied with the impact of the meeting you facilitated as well as the resulting actions that have taken place since then as a result of the break-out sessions. I think this was one of the best things we’ve done in the years I’ve been here. The results are already starting to pay off in the district (after just a few days). Thanks."
-Wayne Brazell, Assnt. Superintendent, Lexington School District One

"Anne Merkel provided a session for the Charlotte Chamber’s Leadership School program. We used the program as a wrap up for our sessions, and as an opportunity for our soon-to-be-graduates to determine the next steps they’d like to take in becoming future leaders. The session exceeded my expectations. The agenda of the morning was truly set by those who participated, as Open Space allowed them to talk about things they wanted to discuss. We not only received very positive feedback from the students who participated in the session, we also had lots of great ideas generated by our students. They are now taking a leadership role in implementing those ideas, in part because they felt that they had ownership in generating them.
Anne provided an extremely well-run session that generated lots of great ideas, and left everyone feeling that they had a stake in the program. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome."
-Stacey Corbin Ellis, VP Public Relations, Director of Leadership School, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce

Plenary and Keynote Presentations

"Your discussion was inspiring! Your professional delivery was exciting and well received. Thank you for a very memorable discussion. I would be more than happy to personally recommend you to any group of business professionals who need a little motivation and a little reminder about why they are who they are."
-Janet Lehman, North Lake Construction Co., Inc.

"We particularly admired and appreciated the good grasp of our needs and general methods of operation you displayed throughout your presentation. Particularly cited were the tools you shared with us which were both relevant and readily usable. Last year another presenter shared a work sheet on performing Departmental Task Analysis with essentially the same group of participants. One of our staff commented that he found your Process Model and Process Improvement charts much more useful and appropriate."
-Eldon Barkman, Executive Director, JAARS, Inc.

"Great Seminar! Excellent speaker! These are not just my opinions, but those of others as well. Working with you was a pleasure, from the first planning stages, through finalizing the details, to the end result… a great presentation. You knew your topic as well, or better, than any speaker I have heard, and I admire your calmness and ability to speak without notes!"
-Kathy Finch CPS, VP & Seminar Chair, Professional Secretaries International

"Thanks so much for your presentation to the staff here last week. I received many favorable comments and I hope we can work together again in the future."
-Sonny Fine, Director Civilian HR, CPAC, Fort Jackson Army Garrison

Organizational Development Services

"Many thanks for your excellent planning and facilitation of our Publishing Section retreat. As a result of the retreat you planned, facilitated, and your follow-up, they now have a team spirit and have published the first publication ahead of schedule and it now appears that the other two will be on or ahead of schedule. They also have significantly reduced the amount of overtime.
I strongly recommend your methodologies for addressing dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. While I was warned by a Dean of Business at a local university that it is almost impossible to transform this situation without personnel changes, your efforts with this group made it possible. You provided both a vision and practical objectives that empowered the section staff to enter into a team environment. I am very grateful for your efforts as is the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Church (USA)."
-Scott Schaefer, Director of Administration, Presbyterian Church (USA)

"I am writing to you about the professional capabilities of my former Director of Training and Development. Anne Merkel has very intelligence, associated with excellent powers of analytical and conceptual thinking. Her cognitive abilities place her among the highest I have known. She is industrious and willing to work hard, and places a high value on obtaining and keeping the respect and esteem of her peers through personal achievement. Indeed, she was respected by her colleagues and popular with them as well. Anne’s problem solving and decision making skills and accomplishment of goals is outstanding. She has been instrumental in team and total cycle time training. She has achieved many successes without sacrifice or compromise of the highest moral and ethical standards. Anne’s departure from our firm has left a gap which will be hard to fill. We will continue to use her on a consulting basis. "
-Jim Fleming, VP of Human Resources, Teledyne Allvac & Vasco Metals

"Thank you so much for the workshop you provided for ESO management staff. The group really enjoyed the exercises they practiced during the training, and have found many uses for the personality analysis information. One of the key techniques introduced, and continually used by staff, is the visualization exercise. Managers have incorporated this activity into in-service sessions and at weekly staff meetings."
-Lin Marelick, Associate Director, Economic & Social Opportunities, Inc.

"Your program for the EMA membership luncheon meeting was excellent! It gave our members an insightful view of employee retention from an approach we had not yet explored – focusing on why new hires join and why they stay, rather than why they leave. I believe everyone in attendance felt they left the meeting with new professional tools and new ways to add value to their organizations."
-Elizabeth Dickey, Manager Human Resources, KOSA

"Dr. Merkel has supplied us with first line and senior management quality training and orientation programs and collateral material. No matter what their level in our organization, she has communicated effectively with everyone on the staff and expressed a sincere interest in each of them. Were we beginning our TQM journey over again, we would invite Dr. Merkel to provide her services once again."
-Carroll Gray, President, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce

"The topic, “Rediscovering Passion & Creativity on the Job,” was very thought provoking. Those I spoke with following your presentation appeared to have a new outlook on their attitudes about their job and life in general. I’ve even had several people tell me that they love their job and are grateful for the benefits and the opportunity to work here. Thank you!"
-Donna Seigler, Director of Administration, Columbia Metropolitan Airport

"Your adaptation of business quality issues to those in the home was both informative and fun. I have had several calls and e-mails from members complimenting your talk and suggesting that we invite you back to give a presentation on continuous improvement, a major emphasis in ISO 9001:2000."
-Georgie Baker, Columbia Chapter of American Society for Quality

"Your topic of Employee Retention, Recruitment & Training Trends in the Midlands Region was so timely! I know that many of the 250 members that attended the breakfast gained a lot of useful knowledge from your presentation."
-Jennifer Claps, VP of Membership, Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

"The training not only covered many problem areas, but also offered alternatives and solutions for improvement. As reflected in the course evaluation sheets completed the day of the seminar, the feedback continues to be positive from people attending the course."
-Gwendolyn Roberts, Personnel Manager, Max Daetwyler Corporation

"I enjoyed gaining an insightful reminder into what my passions about my work are by taking the impromptu quiz you offered. I also enjoyed identifying the characteristics and strategies that keep us excited about the goals we put in front of ourselves, and how to turn those goals into action."
-Janet Lehman, Secretary/Treasurer, Lexington Network of Female Executives

Academic Courses

"I have the good fortune of reviewing every survey on all of our faculty and it’s always a pleasure to see students satisfied because of faculty commitment and performance. Please rest assured that the University of Phoenix truly appreciates your efforts and professionalism. On behalf of the University Administration, please accept our thanks again for a job well done!"
-Sage Scheer, University Director of Operations, The University of Phoenix

"Thanks again for the very educational course in Sales & Marketing. I enjoyed it immensely and felt I gained a wealth of knowledge."
-Steve Dunn, Quality Chrome Photo Lab

For more information about our organizational development services and specialized coaching packages or about clients and their feedback, please contact us: merakel@arielagroup.com.