OT: Tony Woodroffe

[bcorkery]

I've been asked to look into a guy who's pitching a friend of mine. Tony Woodroffe (says he's a life coach and it looks like he's from the NYC area) says he can help her daughter "find her voice". He wants to move into the family's home and spend a few days to a week at a time in order to accomplish this.

If you've heard of this guy or know of him, please let me know your thoughts. Just looking out for a friend.

Thank you,
Bill

[CurtZHP]

Never heard of him, but the whole "life coach" thing always sounded fishy to me.

"Find her voice?" Sounds like she just needs a good vocal teacher. And the vocal teacher won't do creepy things like move in with her.

[Ian Alexander]

Disclaimer: I'd never heard of this guy until your post.

I'm with Curt. Life coaches seem to prey on people who are down. But forget for a moment that a guy moving in to help a daughter is creepy.

His twitter page is full of vague, apparently motivating things like:

"#pleasure (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23pleasure&src=hash), #passion (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23passion&src=hash), #power (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23power&src=hash): make a list of what gives you pleasure, what ignites your passion and the power will be there!"

"When you are spiraling down into #depression (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23depression&src=hash), you can change your #thoughts (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23thoughts&src=hash) to reverse that into an upward spiral into #selfempowerment (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23selfempowerment&src=hash)!"

"What's your #focus (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23focus&src=hash) today? Say it like a #declaration (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23declaration&src=hash) - that's so #powerful (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23powerful&src=hash)! "I am #creating (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23creating&src=hash) a new #job (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23job&src=hash)!" and then do it all day!"

I'm no psychologist, but I find this stuff silly. And the second one may actually be dangerous.

Now, remember that a guy moving in to help a daughter is creepy. My vote is stay away. Find a job, find a therapist, find some people with similar interests and hang out. Good luck to your friend's daughter.

[PhaseShifter]

This guy is also on twitter.com

http://twitter.com/twlifecoach

[bcorkery]

Yeah, he's on Twitter, Facebook, Linked in but has no home page ... maybe no home if he as to move into someone's home.

It sounds really strange and unprofessional, but the world is changing fast and I thought I'd bounce it off this brain trust.

[RBIngraham]

Like most things in life if it sounds like, smells like and looks like Bull ****.... it probably is.... :)

I can not speak to this particular individual, but the web and entertainment world in general is full of stories of people being ripped off by those that will claim to get people recognized or paying work, etc... but at a price of course. Almost all of them are scams.

Tell your friends to take their daughter to a near by conservatory or community center for the arts. Almost all of them will have programs for children and are a great place to start learning. And the good ones will know when they have developed the student past their abilities and will push those that are really ready onto the next step.

[studio-c]

Creepy.

Also, a life coach is not a vocal coach. The guy should pick one specialty.
And you mention "her daughter". Single mom and daughter? Moving in? Okay, super creepy.

I do a lot of work with self-help authors, etc. I remember one guy who worked with Deepak Chopra. The guy was a psychiatrist. He had women come over to his place for sessions, involving meditation, etc. To start the session he'd offer them a smoothie drink. Sounds pretty new age and healthy. Okay...

Some of the women remember going deep in trance, but feeling strange when coming out of their "hypnotic state."

Turns out the guy was ruffie-ing them.

They found out because one woman, a friend of a suspected victim, went into a session, got the smoothie, and ran out the door and had it lab tested. The guy's in jail now.

Lots of red flags on your story...


[edit]
Okay, weird. Found his website. He's from Jersey. But his cellphone is 619 prefix. San Diego.
http://www.tonywoodroffe.com/#!contact-

[bcorkery]

This is exactly why I wanted to check it out. Scott, this is a family of 4 ... husband, wife and 2 daughters.

Thanks for the input.

[cgrafx]

Just a point of clarification "Find Her Voice" is not a reference to teaching her how to sing, its about establishing a sense of self (who she is as an individual in the world).

That being said, I don't think I'd let this person into my home. There are plenty of other avenues for personal development. Clubs, Churches, Sports, Music, etc.

[Ian Alexander]

Just a point of clarification "Find Her Voice" is not a reference to teaching her how to sing, its about establishing a sense of self (who she is as an individual in the world).

That being said, I don't think I'd let this person into my home. There are plenty of other avenues for personal development. Clubs, Churches, Sports, Music, etc.

Good to know, but somehow that makes it even creepier. And your second point is right on, IMO.

[IraSeigel]

I was thinking of getting out of this whole sound hobby thing and getting into a real career with a real future. I was thinking of becoming a life coach.

But now, well, I just don't know. I guess they're not held in very high esteem - at least by the people here.

Maybe I'll try my hand at top-secret IT contractor for the government. I hear there's an opening in Hawaii.

:)

[dbarrow]

I have encountered people with that kind of pitch before. I avoid them like the plague. I have seen numerous people ripped off by all kind of scams like this. Why take a chance? There are all kinds of avenues for self discovery and enlightenment that don't cost a penny AND don't require someone moving into your house. I wouldn't even take the time to run a background check on someone with this line.

[Tim Miskimon]

I was thinking of getting out of this whole sound hobby thing and getting into a real career with a real future. I was thinking of becoming a life coach.

But now, well, I just don't know. I guess they're not held in very high esteem - at least by the people here.

Maybe I'll try my hand at top-secret IT contractor for the government. I hear there's an opening in Hawaii.

:)

I'd hold off until next year - I have a feeling there will be a whole lot of openings in the government pretty soon...:D

[bcorkery]

This brought up a red flag right away. There's no substitution for getting into the arena and doing it again and again.

Thanks again for all the input ... and the comic relief!