Testimonials for the Birkman and Catherine Olchowy's Work

Testimonials

The Birkman has helped me confirm what I knew about myself but had not verbalized: I have an artistic bent and as a retired lady feel I am following the right path as I persue those activities that make my life very ok. My daughter's Birkman has helped me understand her better and I am able to fit into her way of life in a more comfortable and happy way. Catherine was very informative as we went over the results of the Birkman test. I'm very satisfied with the test, the way it was given and processed.

Joan Southern

Retired Elementary School Teacher

The Birkman has helped me confirm what I knew about myself but had not verbalized: I have an artistic bent and as a retired lady feel Iam following the right path as I pursue those activities that make my life very ok. My daughter's Birkman has helped me understand her better and I am able to fit into her way of life in a more comfortable and happy way.

Catherine was very informative as we went over the results of the Birkman test. I'm very satisfied with the test, the way it was given and processed."

Catherine is amazing at helping staff communicate effectively through the use of the Birkman Method®. She improved communication techniques by highlighting certain aspects of staff's personality traits. I feel strongly that all organizations could benefit from the use of the Birkman Method®.

Matt Donnelly

IT Professional

Catherine is amazing at helping staff communicate effectively through the use of the Birkman Method®. She improved communication techniques by highlighting certain aspects of staff's personality traits.

I feel strongly that all organizations could benefit from the use of the Birkman Method®."

The Birkman has been extremely useful for my day to day life, on and off duty. I have been able to strengthen my shortcomings and adapt effectively to different environments. A better understanding of myself, and my natural habits, has reduced my stress while on deployments and allowed me to enjoy all aspects of sailing.

Brian Arnott

Marine Systems Engineering Tech, Cert 2A, Department of Defence, Canada

The Birkman has been extremely useful for my day to day life, on and off duty. I have been able to strengthen my shortcomings and adapt effectively to different environments. A better understanding of myself, and my natural habits, has reduced my stress while on deployments and allowed me to enjoy all aspects of sailing."

It is my immense pleasure to recommend Catherine Olchowy as a Birkman Consultant. I worked with Catherine at Seeker Solutions Inc. where she guided groups in team building exercises and career development (among other things) using the Birkman Method®. I would highly recommend using the Birkman personality questionnaire in the workplace as it helped our employees work through countless situations which led to better leadership, teamwork, careers, hiring and conflict management.

Laura Turner

HR Professional & Small Business Owner

It is my immense pleasure to recommend Catherine Olchowy as a Birkman Consultant. I worked with Catherine at Seeker Solutions Inc. where she guided groups in team building exercises and career development (among other things) using the Birkman Method®.

I would highly recommend using the Birkman personality questionnaire in the workplace as it helped our employees work through countless situations which led to better leadership, teamwork, careers, hiring and conflict management."

We used the Birkman Method® to better understand our people, their interactions and group dynamics. If I ever wanted insight into any of those areas, I would always turn to Catherine. If I hired someone new and they wanted to understand their own Birkman, I would always refer them to Catherine. She’ll be a great resource to her future clients and I certainly plan to use her services whenever the opportunity arises."

Richard Funnell

Senior Software Sales and Marketing Leader

We used the Birkman Method® to better understand our people, their interactions and group dynamics. If I ever wanted insight into any of those areas, I would always turn to Catherine. If I hired someone new and they wanted to understand their own Birkman, I would always refer them to Catherine.

She’ll be a great resource to her future clients and I certainly plan to use her services whenever the opportunity arises."

The Birkman has been very helpful in my relationship with my husband. I can better understand his point of view and how he behaves when he is stressed. At the same time, he is also better able to see my point of view and understand my less-than-rational stress behaviours. The biggest potential issue we discovered was that I am an indirect communicator and he is a direct communicator. Seeing on paper how different our communication styles are has helped us to communicate more effectively.

Laura Stockie

Owner: Lil Monkey Daycare

The Birkman has been very helpful in my relationship with my husband. I can better understand his point of view and how he behaves when he is stressed.

At the same time, he is also better able to see my point of view and understand my less-than-rational stress behaviours.

The biggest potential issue we discovered was that I am an indirect communicator and he is a direct communicator. Seeing on paper how different our communication styles are has helped us to communicate more effectively."

The Birkman has helped me to understand the needs of my wife. We can discuss any disagreement more calmly and with respect and understanding of where the other one is coming from. With understanding each other's strengths and needs, we've been better friends and parents for our children. It's been great to have our relationship continue to grow stronger with the work we we did with Catherine.

Ryan Stockie

Master Seamen Weapons Tech, Department of Defence, Canada

The Birkman has helped me to understand the needs of my wife. We can discuss any disagreement more calmly and with respect and understanding of where the other one is coming from. With understanding each other's strengths and needs, we've been better friends and parents for our children. It's been great to have our relationship continue to grow stronger with the work we we did with Catherine."

Catherine is a wonderfully skilled, witty and insightful Birkman Consultant. She has the invaluable experience of using this wonderful instrument deeply in an organization for everything from hiring and firing to forming, norming and storming. You will find her insights emerge from a deep pool of experience and are not just helpful but rather transformational."

Tammy Fowler

Experienced Administrator and Manager

I had the honour of working under Catherine for 3 years, and was always impressed with her positive and strategic thinking processes as she implemented the Birkman profile assessment method and Change Management into our day to day life at Seeker.

The Birkman method was used as a means to better understand ourselves and our peers, as well as interactions within our teams and the company as a whole. Catherine was truly the voice of Birkman at Seeker. When conflicts arose among any of my reports, Catherine was able to compare individual assessments to help me find areas where adjustments could be made to communication and/or working styles, so that we could work through situations. Catherine’s abilities in this area of coaching were invaluable to me as a team member and manager.

Catherine was also a strong promoter of Change Management within Seeker. Through corporate wide training, she encouraged and empowered the Seeker team to work through the many changes we faced as a company."

Catherine is a vibrant, talented and highly effective business consultant and change coach. She is full of great ideas with an infectious can-do attitude. In my work with Catherine, I have found her to be a great communicator with a deep sense of commitment to the people and companies she works with. While I've worked with many personality assessment tools, I've found Catherine's working knowledge and application of the Birkman Method to be transformational. I highly recommend Catherine to individuals and business leaders looking for continued improvement in their lives and businesses.

Michele Hansen

Systems Specialist

Catherine is a vibrant, talented and highly effective business consultant and change coach. She is full of great ideas with an infectious can-do attitude. In my work with Catherine, I have found her to be a great communicator with a deep sense of commitment to the people and companies she works with.

While I've worked with many personality assessment tools, I've found Catherine's working knowledge and application of the Birkman Method to be transformational.

I highly recommend Catherine to individuals and business leaders looking for continued improvement in their lives and businesses."

Tanysia Komers

Certified Financial Planner professional at Investors Group

Catherine is the ultimate HR resource for the small business owner. She has been invaluable in my people management. I love that I can call her whenever I need help. I highly recommend employing her services.

Dave Phillips

Executive Mentor and Owner, Dave Phillips Management

Catherine is a wonderfully skilled, witty and insightful Birkman Consultant. She has the invaluable experience of using this wonderful instrument deeply in an organization for everything from hiring and firing to forming, norming and storming. You will find her insights emerge from a deep pool of experience and are not just helpful but rather transformational.

The Birkman and Boldly Reach Your Goals Consulting helped me to better understand my relationship with my boyfriend.

Judy Prestwich

Office Manager, CRAFT Beer Market, Edmonton

Having my boyfriend cook me dinner was one of my favourite parts of our relationship. Cooking with my boyfriend, on the other hand, often ended in tears. He would try to change the way I was doing something or he would be doing something totally wrong and I would get frustrated trying to change it.

As it turns out, I am uncomfortable being in charge but if I sense shaky leadership I will bitterly take over. This was what would turn our romantic cooking evenings into shouting angry freeze-outs. If I felt like he was doing something wrong or if he was trying to get me to do something I didn't agree with, I would be driven to hostilely take the whole thing over.

Once I understood what was going on from a Birkman perspective, I was able to relax and explain to my boyfriend what causes me to get so uptight. We still had the odd issue while cooking but we were able to laugh about it. The best way to avoid conflict was for him to do the cooking and I would just chop the veggies without looking at what he was doing. After all, I did always enjoy the food."