I’m Melissa Pazen, a native west-side Chicagoan transplanted to Mill Creek in Geneva.  We've lived here eight years and I've recently realized I don't want to move back to the city anymore.  My husband, Steve Hitchens, and I have three dogs.  My children are grown and happily living on their own.

“Inspired Coaching” is the name of my business.  I believe I’ve been coaching friends and family all my life.  I’m the person to whom they’ve turned to help sort out feelings, get encouraged about something on which they need to work, revise their resumes or get advice on issues they face.  That said, I’ve been coaching professionally since January, 2010.

I specialize in coaching soon-to-be/new parents as well as people who want to change careers/employers.

I hold a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  I have more than thirty years of experience working with young children and their families. I helped long-term mentally ill persons find jobs for more than ten years.  I've helped friends looking for jobs for thirty years.I'm a "Friend" of TriCity Family Services (the Friends raise funds with a series of events throughout each year), I'm a volunteer for Parenting 2.0 (the group believes non-academic 'life skills' are more important to future happiness and success than academics), a volunteer for the Illinois Save Abandoned Babies Foundation, and a member of the Congregational Church of Batavia.

My facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/1InspiredCoaching.