Testimonials

Meet some of the lovely and talented people I work with

Marc is the muse to the muse.  — Jennifer Greer, Recording Artist

I can’t say enough great things about Marc. He offers a seemingly impossible balance of brilliance and kindness, and this rare combination provided a platform in which I was able to rapidly burn through years of blocks and tight emotional corners. His attention, with its crucial and kind intensity, helped illuminate hidden assumptions that would otherwise be running the show. You don’t waste time working with Marc — he won’t let you, especially when he has the uncanny ability to address the essence of a problem with a single sentence. And his wisdom seems to reach into every area of artistic practice–aesthetic, practical, emotional, spiritual, tactical. Marc is a stellar human being, and working with him is a profound gift.  — Maggie Mailer, Visual Artist

Zegans’s intelligence and kindness seem to balance each other from the port to starboard side of an enormous catamaran. I knew I trusted him when he gave me props for taking the lead in one of our sessions. He doesn’t want to be the guide leading the blind. He wants to clear our sight lines. The more courage you bring, the more Zegans you get.  He has saved me a lot of money, time, and suffering. He has made me a more effective and more well loved business woman. Actually he’s made me more lovable period. I hold our time together as highly precious. The gaps between are my workshops on our past lessons, and create material for our future ones. It’s a good sign if you’ve come across him. Means you’re onto something.  — Chef, Mary Vyn, Co-founder sujata & meera

Get off the fence and talk to Marc…He is that good! Marc is absolutely brilliant, but brilliance alone isn’t what makes Marc effective; Marc is able to pull back the veils of self-deception we often hide behind, so that he can facilitate your growth and success. Marc understands the creative mind; he listens, understands and works with you to develop effective strategies to get you through your struggles. He also provides the tools you need to deal with life-changing situations. Case in point: Marc was instrumental in guiding my company through an extremely difficult transition, and through his work and coaching we are now more successful than ever—successful with increased sales, closer relationships, and enjoyment of the creative process. — Michael Astrachan, Owner, President, XVIVO Scientific Animation

Marc Zegans locks into your imagination and leads you back…and forwards…into your own innate creativity. He is an insightful, challenging, positive, and generous Spirit Guide. — Ellen Hemphill, Artistic Director Archipelago Theatre

Can you dig it? If you want to think of the creative process as a combustion engine, mine had seized. Marc was instrumental in getting that motor running again.  I’m currently working on my fourth record, and for the first time in 20 years I’m enjoying the process. I can’t recommend Marc enough. Aaron Shadwell, Recording Artist

I check in with Marc every few months on the phone. He counsels in career, business, art, and life transitions. This is incredibly unique. All at once, he is business-minded, insightful as a muse, loving, thoughtful, pragmatic, fiercely intelligent, and aware of the world and its limitations; but at the same time, he fully understands how unlimited one’s creative expression can be if harnessed and nurtured properly. When you are at a crossroads and you realize that there are only a certain number of years in your life to accomplish your dreams, it is important to find someone like Marc. I say “someone,” and yet there is nobody else like him. Sometimes he simply says two sentences, and everything that I thought was in my way suddenly clears; I can then proceed with my work in a joyous way, no matter how many exterior or interior demons might be pulling at me.
— Erin Cressida Wilson, Writer (Secretary, Fur, Chloe, Hurricane, Cross-Dressing in the Depression, The Erotica Project)

I had the pleasure last year for working with Marc Zegans as I embarked on a process of discernment about the next stage of my work and larger life, and how I wanted to devote my energies and time and thus be more purposeful about directing my life. It was not so simple as: what should my next job be, but rather more comprehensive, taking into account such things as my personal sense of mission, my skills, my needs for fulfillment, and my personal needs in terms of how much time I want to devote to a career, what a career means to me at my stage of accomplishment, my family, how, where, and with whom I want to spend my time.

We worked together via telephone for several months, a period that I found tremendously challenging and rewarding. Marc was able to help me to discern the underlying needs, motivations, and opportunities that had been obscured by the accumulated assumptions I had made based on my career and resume, which informed my internal narrative. It was always challenging and often brought to the surface painful and suppressed thoughts that had hindered me. Working with Marc, I was able to discern different possible life paths that were not dependent on my established internal narrative. I benefited by plumbing some very deep questions about who I am and what I am truly about, and how that needs to be expressed in my work, indeed, how I choose to define work. I could not have made this progress without his compassionate yet rigorous probing, accompanying me into areas of reflection which I found too daunting to enter alone, and helping me to find a way out that was my way out, and mine alone.

At a certain stage of life it can be hard to give oneself permission, consciously or unconsciously, to think freely about oneself. We have internalized so much that we often see in ourselves what others want to see in us, rather than our whole selves. Of course self-actualization is a life-long process, but I can say that working with Marc has allowed me to progress in ways I could never have done on my own. At the conclusion of our work I embarked on a new position, not necessarily one I would have predicted, but one that I believe will help carry me in the direction I have determined to be right for me.
—William J.H. Chapman, General Manager, Opera Lafayette

Marc Zegans has the instincts of a great shrink, the experience of a seasoned executive leader, and the soul of an artist. I did a short but intense program with Marc to address a major career decision for which I needed to prepare.  Marc was remarkable in his ability to absorb my story quickly and get to the heart of the issues shortly thereafter. He wastes no time in asking the hard questions and has a gift for creating a safe environment to explore issues with candor, empathy and deep understanding.  He didn’t pretend to have quick pat answers but instead, with sharp insight to my personality, he astutely identified the obstacles and opportunities that sat before me in a way that I found incredibly valuable.
—Founding Director, nonprofit arts presenter

What Marc Zegans does best is understand where the artist is coming from. No ego battle, flex or showpiece about this. He has good sense; he’s pragmatic, organized and believes in me. Marc only takes work he cares about; otherwise it would be useless to him, and to you. As he says, `anyone trying to help an artist for any reason other than seeing the work at its best is an asshole.’   He takes his time with a piece of work–what you would expect from a Benz mechanic working for the high-pay clients: steady, accurate, leaving your ride with high performance.  What astounds me is the way Marc takes a problem and whittles it down to small digestive pieces an author can use at will. Marc’s been through cancer, he’s a father, has a good heart, been there, got plenty of life experience—for me that’s all the requirements. He’s my ace in the hole—aims high, asks that I take the world by storm, sees that I do. Yeah, he’s good.  — Matthew D’Abate, Creative Director, Le Chat Noir Productions

When I was a young boy, my grandmother used to tell me about Ted Williams. Not only was he a tremendously gifted hitter.  He had 20/10 vision.  He was in a completely different place from the pack on a number of levels.   Marc Zegans is like this at what he does. Like Ted Williams, his vision is incredibly clear and keen, enabling him to focus in on and gain an overview of a situation in moments.  Marc’s level of insight is so much broader and deeper than others, because he is versed in so many disciplines and so many aspects of culture. This makes his understanding of business so much more far reaching. I have never met or heard of anyone having the insight or ability to hit on as many levels as Marc Zegans. To call Marc merely a consultant, would be like calling Ted Williams just another baseball player.  — Recording artist and record producer

About a year ago, I began to wrestle with the issues of aging, physical and emotional stamina and mortality, and how those issues might affect my career as a professional actor, a creative being, an artist. The fear and anxiety around these issues threw me into a rather dark depression, stifling my will to engage in any creative impulses and activities and in general making me more and more sad and dysfunctional as the months went by. …After seeing a couple of therapists, and discovering that therapy was not the answer this time, I had lunch with Marc.  We talked about the possibilities around working together to let the light shine again. Forecast was gloomy, gray, heavy. And now, after having worked together over the past three months, the sun has come out again for me….I feel alive, brimful of creative thoughts and ideas, newly engaged in the possibilities that life,  even at the ripe old age of 67, holds for me in relation to my family, my friends, my work….I am so grateful to Marc for sharing his very fertile imagination, his intelligence, his creative mind and his truly loving and generous spirit with me. In six sessions, we, together, with Marc in the lead, made clear choices about how I might move forward. Most importantly for me, Marc always presented a variety of creative ways to look at and attack problems, projects and difficult decisions.  His intuition about how to talk about anything always astonished. He is a very special man. Go, and be amazed at how quickly joy can come again.   — Bobbie Steinbach, Actor

Marc is, without question, a miracle worker! He somehow is able to make sense out of the most complex and discouraging of situations, breaking them down to bite-sized segments that become understandable and manageable. Suddenly, there comes a point when EVERYTHING seems totally doable. One can feel comfortable and safe revealing their inexperience or weaknesses to Marc, regarding issues they’d never want any of their colleagues to know about. Marc is able to work with one’s vulnerabilities in a nurturing and respectful way by reflecting back to the client ways these weaknesses can be strengthened….Marc is also a master at what I call “dream fulfillment.” He is able to hear all the different aspects of your business, personal and creative desires and help shape a Life that will actually make all of your desires achievable, providing tools for making the required shifts to achieve the goals, as well as tools to evaluate and monitor the success of your accomplishments….It is empowering and deeply enriching to work with Marc as he leads one through the difficult stuff, instilling a complete sense of calm, patience and assurance.  When we get to the other side, it feels like we’ve walked through a deep pool of purifying waters, ready and unafraid to take on the work we have to do.  – Gabrielle Senza, Visual Artist

Marc worked with the Actors’ Shakespeare Project as a consultant on a wide variety of projects, including defining company identity, retreat planning, personnel management, and as a professional coach. Marc makes a big difference, and you feel it fast. He provides relevant, specific, and respectful insight into the work of management and artists alike.  His honest, direct, human approach brings people together to build bridges, think broadly, and reinvest in their common cause. He is able to identify and distill issues quickly, work collaboratively on solutions, and to draw on his broad experience to provide models and language which move the group forward.  As mediator, facilitator, coach, or resource, Marc Zegans is worth his weight in gold.  We look forward to working with him again.   — Ben Evett, former Artistic Director, and Sara Stackhouse, Executive Producer, the Actors’ Shakespeare Project

I started a record label with many radical ideas, and in doing so spoke with scores of people about my business concept, including many of the most sought after players in the game.  All thought I was chasing windmills.  The conclusion I came to is, either this is nuts, or these people simply don’t grasp my vision. Marc Zegans was different. He immediately understood how powerful the ideas I presented to him were, and helped to streamline and refine them in every way.  More importantly he took the time not only to understand the assets that were in place, but, all of the subtlety of who I was; how that would impact the direction of what I was doing every day, and how the world would perceive it.  By considering all the nuance and specific passion I brought to the business, and by showing me how insight, hard work and vision could substitute for the economic resources commanded by major labels, Marc enabled me to establish my business and present it powerfully to the world. In short order the label was launched, MTV came to me for music, NPR did a story, as did major newspapers, radio and magazines in many countries   —Record label owner

Marc is the real deal. I’ve worked with him a few times. He’s one of the good guys out there—always up front with his opinions but never in a belittling way. There’s a current trend right now that rails against the idea that we’re all unique and special, that it’s hokey or some kind of dodge. Marc’s success is proof that the trend is a shortcut to thinking.   —Brendyn Schneider, Writer, Storyspinner

Marc Zegans has coached me, cajoled me, encouraged and empowered me over the past four years, and I have been lucky to have worked with him.  As a poet and performer himself, he understands the passion that drives my work, yet he has what so many creators need, the ability to think logically, strategically and extremely efficiently about time management, fundraising, correspondence models and organization. Without Marc’s steadfast and brilliant advice and caring, I can honestly say I would not be where I am today with my career. He is a treasure for anyone or any organization who wants to have the tools to succeed in their vision. Miranda Loud, Mezzo Soprano, Founder of NatureStage and the Elephant Project

Whether designing and facilitating all company retreats, helping us craft a vision for the future, meld vision with common sense strategy and mediate critical decisions within the leadership team, Marc brings a level of compassion, insight, business acumen, intelligence and good humor, to every project. He is an invaluable advisor to The Ariel Group. —Sean Kavanagh, CEO, The Ariel Group

After working with Marc for only a few sessions to help me identify and remove blocks and self-limiting beliefs that were holding me back in growing and developing my PR consultancy I noticed a huge change and improvement in the way I worked with both journalists and clients. Additionally, as a creative writer, working with Marc has helped me brave unchartered waters that I would never have had the courage or ability to do alone. My skills and tools in both my professional and creative life have increased immeasurably since working with Marc and I cannot recommend him highly enough.  He is the perfect creative advisor to anyone that knows that they have more in them but have no idea or confidence in how to get the best out of themselves.   —Caroline Ratner, Founder, Caroline Ratner Communications

Marc Zegans is an extraordinary and brilliant helper, counselor, guide, motivator, listener, coach and midwife. He helped me with an extremely challenging writing project – with his guidance I was able to finish a 470-page PhD dissertation in a language that’s not my mother tongue, under an extremely tight deadline. The least I can say is that I couldn’t have done it without him. I began with 30 finished pages and 10 months later had finished the whole thing, and I’m still trying to figure out how. Marc has a deep natural talent for the patient, generous, strong and detailed help needed to bring out the achievements that we are capable of, and that we may not even know that we’re capable of. He helped me understand what needed to be done in order to achieve the goal, and kept me to it, with strength, understanding and warmth. I was able to see the deeper issues and obstacles that had been preventing me from achieving the goal before I started working with him, and Marc created a safe environment that allowed me to work despite them—not necessarily to overcome these deeper issues entirely, which is a longer-term project, but to defuse them so to speak, in order to devote all my energy to achieving the goal. He was an extremely stabilizing presence during a period of intense anxiety, pressure, and challenge. His calm patience and steadfast confidence in my ability to achieve the project was catching, and he inspired me to go far, far beyond what I had done before. He has a deep understanding of the issues around creative and professional accomplishment, and the profound humanity and warmth that allows him to know how to help. Thanks forever, Marc.    — Recent doctoral program graduate

Marc, working with you has had a huge impact on me.  I expected that you would give me good business advice, but what you have done has far exceeded the expectations that I had (which were already very high)….I think the single most important and far-reaching factor that I was not expecting is the fact that your work is so holistic and addresses not only my business and professional needs, but also my personal, psychological, creative, and spiritual makeup—honoring and, in fact, encouraging and aiding the integrity of my whole being….Your knowledge of how to deal with the many variety of business, especially corporate, situations I have asked you for help with, including some very delicate interpersonal “staff” situations that were threatening the health of my business, has been enormously helpful, not only by advising me what to do, but also teaching me the principles behind it. So that when I am faced with similar or related situations in the future, I will know how to handle them myself without asking.  This puts you in the role of a teacher as well as a consultant and adviser….And in executing all of the above, you remained clear, nonjudgmental, and compassionate—a true “master” of the business and corporate arena. If you read in my book, Awakening the Mind, the list of the Qualities of Mastery, you can see why I believe that you are a gifted master in your chosen field, as you already embody these qualities.  —Founder, the Anna Wise Center; Author of The High Performance Mind, and The Awakened Mind