I meet amazing women every day. I am drawn to women who are bold, courageous and smart. It helps if they are good dancers as well.

There was always something about Patti Foster that intrigued me.

I first met Patti in dance class, Dancefix. Dancefix is a high-energy dance class that draws people from all over Greater Cincinnati for what we affectionately call our dance buzz. It’s the great equalizer. People don’t care who you know, what your family stock is or what kind of house you own. When we dance together, it’s all about letting loose and giving 100%. Patti is fun to dance with and she always seemed confident.  I’d later learn how smart, capable and wickedly funny she is.

I got to know Patti (and her husband, Simon) better when we traveled to an all-inclusive resort with a larger group a few years ago. Here’s what I remember: We all went to the trapeze for an afternoon activity. I stood on the platform freaking out and barely made the leap (while fully harnessed) to grab the bar (which was spoon fed to me) and jump (with a secure net under me.)  Patti climbed the ladder, jumped for the bar and did a freaking back flip!  She went up a few notches in my book at that moment.

When the famous flip took place, I looked over at Simon and he said simply, “She’s amazing.”

Yes. Yes, she is.

Since that trip, I’ve had many occasions to hang out with Patti socially. On a warm February day, we sat down for coffee and really got to know each other. I wanted to know how she managed to make everything look so easy.

Turns out, Patti is just a really smart, cool lady that does whatever she sets her mind to – and does it well.

She likes to say that she became a lawyer at the age of 41 because she sucks at tennis. When she decided to enter law school, her social circle was playing tennis during the day while the kids were in school. Tennis was out, so the next best thing was law school. A natural choice, right?

The first thought of law school came to her when she met her neighbor, a woman in her 40s, who introduced herself by announcing, “I just finished law school.” Patti recalls thinking, “I didn’t know you could do that.” That brief encounter planted a seed. One that would bear fruit years later.

Patti met her husband, Simon, in the early 80’s in Ft. Lauderdale while they both worked for Intercontinental Hotels.  Meeting Simon changed her life. Two years later, they married, moved to Australia, and then to London where Patti was part of the team that helped open new hotels. From Spain, Dublin, Portugal and Istanbul, Patti roamed around as a confident young woman working to clear a path for profitable hotel chains.  She became a mom and continued to work in London as a consultant in the hotel business.

After 15 years of marriage and 3 kids, Patti and her family returned to Cincinnati. When her youngest was in kindergarten she began to think about what was next. Her hotel experience overseas did not translate easily to Ohio.  It was time for a new adventure.  

Patti had the good fortune of being raised in a strong, supportive home where they encouraged her. She’s always been decisive. She says she tends to not “think very hard about things.” She calls it, “under thinking things.” I call it resolute.

So she decided that law would be interesting. And off she went.

As expected, she’s really, really great at law; specifically, constitutional law. She graduated from UC College of Law and immediately landed a job at Frost, Brown, Todd, a prestigious law firm in Cincinnati.

She worked on a few landmark cases involving media with one of the regions premier media and First Amendment litigators, Dick Goehler. After 10 years of working as a lawyer and the untimely passing of her mentor, she stepped away from law to – once again – redefine her life.

With the same gusto, she launched a cookie party company. Cookies Uncorked is a cookie company that makes even the most fumbling cookie decorators feel like artists – think paint by numbers, only with wine and friends.  She is now working on creating a national platform to roll out her cookie decorating kits, called Fancy a Cookie, to aspiring cookie decorators across America. She understands that people want to feel successful and decorating cookies should make people feel that way too. Still in its inception, this business endeavor is yet another example of how Patti rolls. Her, “Just Do It. What’s the worst that can happen? Attitude” is contagious. <http://www.fancyacookie.com>

When I asked Patti what she thought were the keys to her success, she simply stated: “Did I feel unsure? Many times. But showing up was most important.  I feel lucky to have a foundation of security that lets me take risks.”

She is indeed a risk taker, a decisive risk taker – the best kind of them all.

She’ll admit that in her life, she’s mostly had tail winds to carry her. The support of her family, husband and children has been incredible.

She adds: Seeking out options is a skill you can develop. What is the worst-case scenario? Then make a decision based on what direction to turn.

Patti continues to exercise her legal mind as a key contributor and moderator with Beyond Civility, an organization that is changing the process of how we debate issues in a more civil way. (Learn more here: http://beyondcivility.org) They take on polarizing topics and create a platform for constructive discourse to take place. Patti is the soothing balm that makes everyone who participates feel welcome. Then she fires her double whammy questions at them and lets them squirm.

Patti sometimes looks at others and asks, what life would be like if she had stuck to one thing. But, in true Patti Foster style, those moments are brief. “It’s in my nature to start new things.  Some of that comes from being secure. You don’t start a new thing unless you know you have the freedom to do that.”

You can listen to Patti’s interview about Beyond Civility on WVXU: http://wvxu.org/term/beyond-civility#stream/0

All the best,

Alexia

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Alexia is a leadership coach who works with individuals and groups to help them discover their mission and experience a more meaningful life.  Contact her at alexia@alexiazigoris.com for more information or visit her website at https://alexiazigoris.com to learn more.