ABOUT US

Explore. Ignite. Transform.

Having experienced and continuing to travel our own personal development journeys, we’ve found a passion for helping others on their own pilgrimage. We’d love to lead you through an exploration of the tools, concepts, and techniques that will resource and sustain you, generate results, and create momentum as you develop a more intimate relationship with yourself and craft a life you love. We want to create community, facilitate connection, and serve as guides for sparking insight throughout your personal growth journey.

We want to help you discover your passion – the thing that ignites your soul and brings you ultimate joy. We will find that enthusiasm and cultivate it, leading you to transformation. We want you to be you – the real you, no holding back, no playing small, no self-judgment or fear. THAT is the transformation we want to see you achieve.

Keeping in mind that this is a journey and there is no end, know that we will always have a cycle of exploring, igniting, and transforming. You may be in all phases of the cycle at once. Or maybe you haven’t started exploring and have no idea what ignites your soul. That’s okay. No matter where you are on your journey, we’ve saved a seat for you here, friend. Through learning, discussion, and evaluation, we want to spark a cultural change to better the world. Settle in and join us. We’re about to embark on the journey of a lifetime…

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Ila Gartin

Hey, there! I’m Ila (EYE-luh). I’m a physical therapist by trade, but my passion lies in helping others reveal their shine, realize their worth, and find love...for themselves. 


There were a couple of years where negativity came at me from all directions. A few issues were major changes in my life (my living situation, loss of my best friend, marriage, loss of my job) and would have been overwhelming on their own. Some concerns were small, in hindsight, but they got stacked on top of everything else and I felt like I was drowning. 


I felt completely inadequate. I was a failure. I wasn’t a good enough wife. I wasn’t a good enough daughter. I clearly wasn’t a good enough friend. I wasn’t a good enough dog mom. I wasn’t good enough at housekeeping. I wasn’t good enough at my job. I wasn’t good enough at making dinner. I wasn’t good enough at my side hustle. I wasn’t good enough at doing laundry. I just wasn’t good enough. 


After contemplating therapy for about 2 years, I finally made the hardest phone call ever. I set up my first appointment...and I never looked back. That’s the best decision I’ve made for my life and I wouldn’t have found my true passion - the stuff that ignites my soul - without it. 


Since then, I’ve been on a life-changing journey. My cousin, Everette, and I have been talking weekly for two years, taking this personal growth journey together, and supporting each other along the way. In the process, I’ve read the books, taken online courses, and learned as fast as I can about personal growth and becoming a better me - FOR me. I’ve been finding my confidence, learning new life skills (almost EVERYTHING is a skill that can be learned!), and making changes to my daily routine to provide fuel for becoming the best me possible. 


Did you know that becoming the best you allows you to be your best for those you care about, also? I’d love to share my story and help to guide you in exploring yourself, igniting your soul, and experiencing a transformation to rival the butterfly’s.

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J. Everette Pierce

Who I Am...
Hi, I'm Everette. I live on a hobby farm in northeast Ohio with a cat named Fig. I'm a lover of horses, dogs, and solitude. I enjoy gardening, spending time in nature, cooking, and naps. I'm passionate about learning and personal development. I believe that a hot cup of tea, belly laughs, and a good book will make just about anything at least a little better.

What drives me...
I must have asked myself a million times(okay, maybe not a million, but definitely so many that it would be hard to keep an accurate count) is this ALL there is? 

See, the truth is that even with a good job and the relatively comfortable life it afforded my family I was miserable most of the time. Life had become a drudgery. It was boring, monotonous, tedious. I was emotionally absent, withdrawn, shutdown, and depressed. I had lost my joy and wonder with the world. I was truly miserable and I was angry about it. I worked hard, I earned good money and yet the life and relationships I truly wanted eluded me. Worst of all, I felt utterly alone with it because everyone I tried to talk to about this told me pretty much the same thing which amounted to “that’s how it is for everybody, suck it up and have another drink.” 

During that dark time of my life I read a statistic that, while wholly believable, seemed equally impossible. That statistic says that 98% of people never reach their full potential. They don’t even come close. That means that only 2% of people reach their potential. 2%! How is this possible? It struck me as being soul crushingly sad. And then something amazing happened. It inspired me.

Why? Why is this true? What are the systems of belief, the socio-economic and cultural norms that are keeping 98% of people from reaching their full potential? What aren’t we teaching, modeling, and learning in our collective human culture that is the key to unlocking our individual and collective potential? How can we begin to shift these socio-cultural elements so that more of us reach our potential? What would human society and culture look like if we flipped that statistic on its head? What would we achieve not only as individuals, but as a species? What would life on our planet look like? 

My curiosity was ignited. I wanted answers to these questions and many more. A quick google search and I was down the personal development rabbit hole. I was hooked! Not only were there answers here, but there was a common thread in every story of success, from the smallest victory to the greatest triumph. One theme ran through them all. That theme was deliberate personal growth. The act of deliberately becoming exactly who you need to be to achieve success. Recognizing this theme sparked for me a new line of inquiry: How? 

How does one actively choose who they will become? And how does that choosing help us to realize our potential? What are the skills, tools, mindsets, and beliefs that we need in order to achieve our highest level of performance and potential? How do we integrate these things into our very way of being and doing such that others are elevated by our example? There was only one way for me to acquire the knowledge that would begin to provide answers to these and many other questions. I had to dig in and do the work myself.

At that point I kind of just jumped in with both feet. I read and researched and listened to podcasts and attended workshops. I developed a solid journaling habit and a daily meditation practice. During this time I began to feel called to life coaching. It was not a career or calling that I had ever considered for myself and yet suddenly I was being inexorably pulled toward it. After a great deal of procrastination and resistance I decided to pursue my certification. The process of becoming a certified coach revealed for me, not only a passion for the work, but a deep sense of purpose and mission.  

For the last few years I’ve been on a quest to discover exactly what i need to learn, do and be in order to live my purpose and achieve my goals. I’ve had quite a bit of success and quite a few failures. More importantly, I learned new skills and created better habits, improved my self-discipline and my mindset. My life changed for the better with every step I took, the people around me noticed, my relationships improved, and I began receiving compliments that reflected the way I was showing up in the world. It was humbling, exciting, and awe inspiring. 

Why I do what I do...
I would like to help as many people as possible to get the life they want and to achieve their goals as quickly as possible through transformational coaching. My hope is that by joining the Insightful Spark community you will gain valuable insights, clarity, and knowledge that you can apply and the coaching support you need to achieve your own amazing results.

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