Hello, I’m Raquel Ark.
A communicator, experiential speaker, podcast host, coach, mentor. I am dedicated to shining the light on listening as the superpower to help us work smarter and feel better. My work is devoted to helping you grow your communication and leadership capacities in both 1-1 and group contexts where listening becomes your gold.
“I also share ideas, tools and resources that will help you master the art of listening helping you to have more impact with your stakeholders while also being seen and heard.”
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, the waves were my first teachers around listening. They taught me presence as well as how to stay calm when the waves were crashing. Working and living in the US and Germany across many diverse cultures and industries showed me that everyone wants to be listened to, and when they are, they thrive.
With over 25 years’ experience ranging from managing, coaching, mentoring, facilitating and teaching in the communication field, I am a jack of all trades when it comes to communication. From interpersonal and organizational communication to corporate communications, issue management and public relations, I support leaders to consider the big picture around communication their diverse stakeholders and situations.
And listening is the key ingredient that makes a big difference, for you, others and the big picture.
My purpose is to inspire individuals to integrate listening into what they already do in order to take their work to another level. And when great listening happens, we can all work smarter and feel better.
“Listening is the doorway to understanding, the bridge to connections and the foundation of trust.” Raquel Ark
Areas of Expertise
- Interpersonal & Organizational Communication
- Listening
- Communication and Team Collaboration
- Leadership & Communication Coaching
- Challenging conversations & Feedback
- Women in Tech
- Transformational Leadership & Visioning
- Leadership Journeys & Storytelling
- Human Potential Assessment
- Theory U Mindset and Practice
- Presentation-Coaching
Education and Training
- Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication (Ohio University, USA)
- Certified Professional Coach (International Coach Academy/ICF)
- Transformational Presence Leadership Coaching TPLC (Alan Seale/ICF)
- Certified Human Potential Coach (Being at Full Potential)
- Theory U: Transforming Business, Society and Self (MIT)
- Leading & Coaching Across Cultures (Phillippe Rosinski)
- Medical Massage Therapist (LMT, Ohio Medical Board certified)
Background
- Communication training, coaching and mentoring across a variety of industries: tech, large multi-nationals and NGOs
- Leadership positions in the health & chemical industry with a focus on external and internal communication, communication coaching.
- University instructor in both Germany and USA teaching classes such as communication, leadership, public speaking, negotiation, decision making
- Virtual and face to face coach and facilitator
- Forever student, loves helping people discover their journeys, enjoys spending time in nature and traveling, is passionate about the importance of listening
Celebrating Women: “Redefining The Rules”
INCREDIBLE WOMEN ON HOW TO EMBRACE EQUITY
In celebration of the International Women’s Day 2023 and its theme “Embracing Equity”, I have co-written a book with 16 incredible women who are passionate about making a difference by redefining the rules for women empowerment. In this book, we share personal stories that have impacted how we are understanding embracing equity and give practical tips on how to redefine our understanding and approach.
My chapter talks about how embracing equity is only possible with intentional listening, which research is showing has huge impact on business outcomes. And I share stories about how listening impacted me, my reputation and our perception of reality. And what can be done if we find out how unintentionally NOT listening has had an impact on someone.
We hope our stories are an invitation for you to share stories and put in practice new ways with each other so that we can #embracequity together for a world that works for all of us. Let us hear from you!
Ready to be inspired?
