On a recent episode of Influencers Radio with Jack Mize, Mediator and CPA Dana Garnett discussed her strategies for helping businesses avoid the high cost of workplace conflict.
During the interview, Dana shared her personal crisis and how it fueled her passion for helping others shed new light and opportunity on even the deepest divides.
Dana early retired herself from a successful international career with The Coca-Cola Company to raise her children and became an “expat trailing spouse.” After twenty years of marriage and following her husband’s career to Morocco then Thailand, Dana was blindsided when over a Skype call he told her he wanted a divorce.
In a state of shock, Dana found herself in a bitter mediation process that left her family financially and emotionally devastated, explaining, “We went through an embroiled divorce that was just so full of anger and resentment. We blew through all of our daughters’ college savings. We spent close to $270,000 on legal fees and $30,000 in therapy. It was such a waste and so devastating for our daughters.”
Dana went on to describe how a casual conversation with her piano tuner led to a career decision that would not only change her life but the life of the clients she helps today. “My piano tuner knew I was going through mediation, and he asked how it went. I told him it was horrible, I felt bullied and vulnerable… that nobody should have to suffer this way, and how I wished I could do something to help. That’s when he casually suggested that I should become a mediator and do it better… I told him that I can’t, I’m not an attorney. He said that I didn’t have to be an attorney. I asked him how he knew this, he said, ‘Well, I tune pianos just for fun… I’m a mediator.’”
Within six weeks of that conversation and her divorce decree, Dana took her first mediation course at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas and never looked back, saying, “I was so fascinated with this one course called the Neuroscience of Conflict. I learned how we are wired physiologically a certain way, and we have choices around how we respond to things and how we can alter our situation ourselves if we just know how.”
Determined to help others not feel bullied by the mediation process and get resolution more quickly, Dana went on to earn her Master’s degree and became certified in different social-emotional intelligence modalities.
Today, Dana specializes in helping professional partnerships and small, family-owned businesses get to the heart of the conflict quickly so they can resolve differences, repair and restore relationships, and save their business for generations to come.
Listen to the full episode at https://influencersradio.com/dana-garnett
To learn more about Dana Garnett, visit: https://mindfulstrategy.com
