Meet Tricia Otto | Relational and Enneagram Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tricia Otto and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tricia, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
After coming alongside couples and supporting them through marriage coaching for close to 25 years, I added the enneagram to my toolbox. My own 5 children were getting to be teenagers and young adults and we had so much to discuss about how their enneagram number worked. As I worked on my Enneagram Certification, I would apply what I was learning to my children and husband. It was such a joy to see my children’s relationships with each other change for the better after they understood each other better with the understanding of the enneagram. We were able to laugh with each other’s behaviors instead of roll eyes. I also was able to coach them more effectively knowing their motivations and fears. The enneagram enabled me to direct them to live at a higher side of their number (better behavior) and ultimately have a unique sense of self awareness for their ages. Soon, my friends, as well as marriage clients started noticing and asked me to help them with their own children. I was asked to be a “Mentor Mom” for a school group in my community and learned that both the enneagram and the curriculum I had supported marriages with for a long time worked well together in helping families rebuild and maintain connection.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I get so excited when a client tells me about a relationship success, husbands with wives and parents with children. I think I’m most proud of the parents I work with when I see the lightbulbs go off when they realize why their child is acting a certain way. The Enneagram has helped countless people by making them self aware but many teachers have shied away from using this tool with their children due to not wanting to label the child or stick them in a “box”. This is what sets me a part. I’m able to type the child and the parent and then teach other relational principles that help apply the understanding. I am not afraid of typing a child since our personalities are mostly developed by the time we are 6 yrs old. My clients know to hold the number they think their child is lightly because as their awareness of the enneagram becomes deeper, their understanding of their child grows deeper. After studying the enneagram and using the vocabulary, some children realize they are a different personality than previously typed but the discussions that have happened to get parent and child to that point has usually been dynamic and helpful in regaining connection. We want our children to know, without hesitation, that we our their biggest fans. I have found a lot of success in that by sharing the grace given by understanding the enneagram.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Memphis has so much to offer. I just moved here a few years ago and have found so many wonderful restaurants, places of history, and exciting things to do. I have many friends from my home town in California that want to visit. I’d take them to see the Mississippi, probably from the top of the Bass Pro Shop. We’d go to eat some BBQ and of course the Civil Rights Museum and the Lorraine Hotel since Martin Luther King Jr is one of my heros. We’d spend a day at Shelby Park, maybe canoeing. I’d definitely spend a few evenings in our backyard watching fireflies. Since fireflies don’t live on the West Coast, I still gasp when they light up. I am filled with wonder!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband is a remarkable man, teaching couples how to live abundant marriages for over 20 years. He has practiced the tools with me over and over again as we worked ourselves out of being “Heavenly sandpaper”. I was the one with the heart to minister to couples and families and he’d continuously say yes when I had formed a new group to work with. Now, he cheers me on from the sidelines and helps with all the technical questions I may have.

The Great Commandment Network, David and Theresa Ferguson, taught us and certified us to help marriages. After adopting our fourth child, I became certified to help parents through Empowered To Connect. ETC helps parents who are raising children who come from hard places and teaches them to raise them in a connected way. I also wan to give credit to the Art of Growth, Joel Hubbard, who is my Enneagram teacher.

Website: https://triciaotto.com

Instagram: tricia_a_otto

Image Credits
MaggieAnn Otto