Michelle Bianco knows a thing or two about crushing self-doubt. As an accomplished life coach with a born-and-raised New York attitude, Bianco built her successful career by using her “seriously sassy attitude” to inspire women through her mindset programs and one-on-one coaching sessions.
Bianco’s coaching is not mainstream, because Bianco is not mainstream. In a world that promotes uniformity, Bianco honors her own intuition and trusts in her originality. And she believes everyone possesses the same ability to rise above mediocrity.
It all starts with helping a client quiet her insecurities by focusing on what makes her powerful. The work is founded on getting clients to identify, discover and embrace what makes them different.
"Many people think they can ignore the little voices we hear in our heads that beat us up all the time. We have learned to put up with those little demon voices. Some of us listen to those voices way too often and it becomes part of our inner-core thinking."
Michelle Bianco
Bianco’s coaching uniquely focuses on how women can advance their careers and goals by revolutionizing the way they see themselves. She works to create lasting change for women who crave greater authority over their lives but who lack self-assurance by using the wisdom gained from conquering her own fears to guide women through personal and professional breakthroughs.
“I help them harness that power and use it to their advantage,” Bianco says. “I believe all people possess the ability to create positive change in their lives and I am passionate about inspiring women to discover their voice.”
If it sounds easy, it’s only because Bianco spent many years on her own road to self-empowerment. She knows how difficult reshaping your attitude can be, so she takes her experiences in life and applies the lessons she’s learned to coach and motivate her clients. Bianco draws inspiration from her triumphs and letdowns, the setbacks and achievements and personally connects with her clients because she knows what it feels like to pick up the pieces after an epic struggle with life’s challenges.
Bianco’s path to coaching
Bianco’s path to coaching started with disappointment. After meeting Mr. Right, Bianco was ready to start a family. With life seemingly in order and new beginnings on the horizon, Bianco was everything but prepared for an infertility battle. What was supposed to be an exciting time in her life turned into a 10-year uphill climb to have children. Countless procedures, tests, injections and acupuncture left her feeling hopeless and completely alone. Her hopes for the perfect family started vanishing.
Constantly adhering to a demanding fertility schedule and feeling like a failure with the lack of progress, Bianco’s body took the physical hit of such high stress. She started getting insufferable, daily migraines and culminated in a basilar migraine that left her temporarily blinded with ambulance and trip to the hospital. Years of reproductive disappointment, feeling like she wasn’t enough and that she had no control over her own life, had finally plummeted her to her rock bottom.
But the experience in the back of the ambulance is what inspired the successful coach to rewrite her own life story. She decided that she would conquer the obstacles she faced and find it within herself to reignite the fire that burned deep inside of her. She left a successful 20 year corporate career as an Employee Relations Director for a major company and dove headfirst into her “renaissance period.”
"I refused to give up because that is my natural personality, I’m a pit bull at heart because I totally refuse to be told no"
Michelle Bianco
Feeling ready to take on the world, Bianco used her ferocious appetite for research and learning to lead her through a breakthrough. She was ready to start the next phase of her life, a more resilient phase. She used every self-development resource she could find to reshape her belief in her own destiny and began thinking about how she could use her story as an example for other women looking to rewrite their story.
“These were my sister warriors who needed support and I was absolutely determined to be the one who could be there for them in their time of need and desperation,” she explains.
“Learning how to feel more confident and comfortable in your skin requires a coach who has walked in those same shoes and beat it every day,” she says.
Having found a way into a more meaningful and personal career and wielding a positive attitude, Bianco enrolled in a variety of programs and schools that helped her decide on her coaching niche. She was fascinated with the ‘disconnect’ between, the life a client envisions for herself, and where she’s at in the process of realizing her dreams. She wanted to help her clients discover what makes them “tick” and how they could overcome negative feelings to become a more confident person.
As a Master Coach for Tony Robbins, Bianco has amassed thousands of hours of one-on-one personal coaching sessions. The sheer repetition of one on one coaching interactions is what distinguishes her from most all other coaches. She started her own private practice specializing in mindset change and found a passion for methods of unlocking and unleashing the forces inside a person. She uses this strategy and experience with her clients to help them dismantle limiting beliefs about themselves to create the quality of life they desire.
“I help my clients connect with their ultimate purpose and ignite their passion to achieve the ultimate vision of life, career, finances, health and relationships,” she says. “Coaching is an ever-changing and continuous journey to help my clients fill the gap between who they currently are and who they want to become.”
Bianco finds that gap is usually a result of self-doubt, a sense of inadequacy or a surrendering to pessimism. Therefore, she helps her clients refresh how they think about their life, always using empowerment and confidence building as tools to achieve greatness.
"‘’Being powerful woman means that you are the keeper of your own destiny,’’"
Michelle Bianco
And Bianco believes every woman holds the key and the internal power to unlock the door to the life she wants, which is why she promotes a partnership approach to her coaching. She is a part of the process but knows that the successful end game is a result of her client taking control.
As she’s collected several certifications and years of experience, Bianco’s coaching style has evolved into a dynamic practice that meets the various needs of her clients. Her résumé includes certifications as a life coach, master results coach, relationship coach, strategic intervention specialist and “mindset ass kicker.”
Her diverse perspective is therefore effective in getting women to declare themselves as their own boss, because she uses that high-standards, no-excuses approach. Clients can expect to walk away with greater success in their personal and professional lives, healthier relationships, the skills to handle stressful situations and knowledge on prioritizing life projects and timelines.
“Everybody has a thing, and this is my thing,” Bianco explains. “Coaching, changing lives, and working with my clients to over-achieve their goals is what I do.”
Bianco wants the women she works with to share in the power she’s experienced by reclaiming their power. She’s discovered her own voice and has built a career working with others to experience that same authority and has changed lives by encouraging women to swap a negative self-image with a strong body, mind and spirit.
The magic happens when you face your fears, get off the sidelines, and become the main character in your own life story. She knows it’s not easy, but promises it’s worth it.
“Change your mindset, change your life,” Bianco explains. “I now live my life by my own personal design, with explosive energy and laser-sharp focus.”
Learn more about Michelle Bianco’s Coachings: https://www.coachmichellebianco.com
![From Music to Perfume: How did your background as a music teacher influence your transition into perfumery, and how do you incorporate your musical sensibilities into creating fragrances? I’ve always thought in terms of metaphors, and music has many that can be related to perfumery! Beyond just thinking in terms of top, middle and base notes [soprano/alto/tenor in choir], I approach each fragrant idea as a composition. When documenting my ideas, song structures often come to mind. As the scent brief is visited, I meditate on what the fragrance should convey - do I want to create an accord or a “chord” of fragrance note combinations? Do I want an a capella soloist (a particular ingredient to stand out more than others?) Many of my thoughts regarding song composition transfers to my scent formulation process, with me treating each note as an intentional soliloquy at some point.
Brand Origin: What inspired you to start Pink MahogHany in 2005, and how has your vision for the brand evolved since its inception?
An avid lover of all things pleasantly scented (with slight modesty), looking back in retrospect, it’s no huge surprise that I’ve created an indie perfume house with just an idea to provide unique options for those who may be sensitive to unnecessary pungency. Initially, I just wanted to evaluate various blends to note their aroma profiles when “played” together…it wasn’t until I had friends and family asking if I knew of brands that catered to those who may be on the more olfactory sensitive side, that I really began to take my research more seriously. In the almost 20 years that Pink MahogHany has been in existence, our micro visions for the brand have evolved to larger territory. Where Pink MahogHany used to only be a personal brand, we are now also a bespoke formulation service provider to other indie brands seeking unique fragrance offerings for their products. These products range from (but are not limited to) perfumes, candles, body butters and lip balms. Ingredient Transparency: You emphasize transparency and the use of desirable ingredients in your products. How do you select your ingredients, and what challenges have you faced in maintaining this standard?
Being an indie brand often comes with a set of assumptions and misconceptions - one of them being more negative than positive as it relates to ingredients used. There is a lot of “fluff” in the industry with labeling falsification. Because fragrance formulas are a trade secret, not every molecular breakdown of a material has to be noted on the ingredient label (it would be incredibly long), but we at Pink MahogHany™️ adhere strongly to the IFRA [International Fragrance Regulatory Association] regulations that state for common and potential allergens to be listed on our ingredient label. We’ve taken this a step further to also include these ingredients listed on our website to promote further transparency, all while protecting our intellectual property. Unfortunately, we’ve had companies to unethically sell lesser expensive “dupes” of our artisan perfumes, so as a way to create a better authenticity stamp, we make it our duty to be honest about our claims. If our perfume says “Rose Bulgaria”, it is in fact just that and not a component of rose being passed off as the source material. Collaborations and Custom Scents: Can you share more about your work with private label clients? What excites you most about creating custom scent solutions for other indie brands? I could easily sum this up in one word and say “Funding.” True, there is money out there, but I’m always thinking outside the box. Having a program that has an “Each One Fund One” mentality doesn’t exist (that I’ve been made aware of). Bootstrapping can be quite the challenge, even when you’ve reached the 6-figure mark annually. Competition to be seen and set apart is extremely high, so having quality packaging and branding is a must. There are lots of factors to consider, though when desiring to make upgrades. If there were a unique, tier-geared funding operation available, it would help perfume brands offset packaging and bulk material costs in the beginning stages.
Industry Challenges: What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as an independent fragrance house, and how have you overcome them to grow your brand? As the brand continues on the path of organic growth, I would like to expand our reach into schools, offering perfumery as an arts elective for middle and high school. I’d love to partner with botanists, farmers and horticulturists directly to grow and source raw materials for the students to work with in the creation of tinctures. My passion is getting back to nature as best as possible, as nature was my first “scent experience” as a child. We would also love to witness our fragrance creations being used to scent model homes, our focus diffuser blends being used in automobile dealerships as well as partner with Air Bnb and boutique hotels that specialize in highlighting minority, indie brands. Personal Journey: How has your personal experience, particularly as a divorced mother and someone who has experienced the loss of a child, shaped your approach to life and your work in perfumery?
Because I homeschool my twin sons, we are together a lot more than most, so one thing we all do is have moments of sharing where a neutral “floor” is laid to converse about anything. Though they are quite communicative by nature, I realize that sometimes I can be in work mode so much that it spills over into what should be our quality time. My sons see the authentic me and learn how to communicate through seeing authenticity. I’ve learned not to feel as if I have to be the epitome of perfection but allow them to see my imperfections vulnerably but with discernment. Having had two traumatic experiences pretty close together has taught me how to truly slow down and enjoy the simplicities of life - igniting a spiritual aspect that I’ve always carried but never fully explored…until Kenji’s sudden passing (2018.) Grief has a way of catapulting us into a quest for more meaningfulness in both life and business. After Kenji’s passing and my processing through the initial stages of grief, I was able to incorporate our spiritual bond into Pink MahogHany by way of essential oil diffuser blends for both focus and sleep and most recently aromatic perfume elixirs. It’s been quite the process channeling the void of his physical presence, but I also have peace knowing he can be honored in a great way through scent. I noticed once I began to be more open and receptive to spiritual signs, synchs and “winks”, more ideas began to flow. It’s been this way since his transition. Emotional Expression: Fragrance is often tied to memories and emotions. How does your personal life influence the fragrances you create, and do you have a particular scent that holds special meaning to you? My creative process is much more alchemic now, and I include Kenji by talking out loud to him, believe it or not. I’m a firm believer that when our loved ones transition from the physical plane, they are still present - just in another form. I choose to keep his memory alive by not pretending he never existed (even if for a brief period of time). I am working (slowly) on a book and accompanying fragrance, but I know it will require me to revisit some memories I’m not quite ready for, so until then, his big brothers will launch their debut fragrance, The Peaceful Tiger (they chose the name.) I’ve learned that even in what we consider “small things”, our transitioned loved ones want to be recognized and acknowledged. When the twins and I designed their fragrance label (with a designer out of the country that didn’t know anything about me personally), we had issues with the graphic - so much so that the designer asked if they could rework the design. When they sent the proof for approval, the Tiger was not only younger but sleeping, with an uncanny, angelic resemblance to baby Kenji! Becoming more aware and being more sensitive to my intention for launching a fragrance has definitely made room for more divine situations like these to occur. Healing Through Scent: In what ways has creating fragrances been a form of healing or expression for you, especially after the loss of your son, Kenji Mwamba? I know my sons may not necessarily want to be perfumers, but they definitely have an entrepreneurial heart. My desire is that whatever they decide to pursue (acting, script-writing, music or architecture), they know that anything is possible with the right amount of determination, grit, belief and immersion. One reason I chose to homeschool is so they could enjoy learning without restraint and have ample time to devote to their own separate passions and it still be fun. They know Pink MahogHany is theirs if they want it (many, many years from now - lol), and we are already discussing business structures for whatever they choose their role to be once I retire. Work-Life Balance: How do you find balance between your professional responsibilities and personal well-being, and what self-care practices do you prioritize? I’m not just a perfumer; I’m also a consumer, and self-care is huge for me. I often take salt baths to reset my energy and clear my mind after being around large groups of people or free a long day. I’m a habitual perfume sampler, and I have so many to choose from to wear as my “nightcap.” Even if just for 10-15 minutes, I cherish each moment I’m able to have some “me-time.” When time and co-parenting schedules permit, I’m definitely on a flight somewhere to indulge in some delicious food and mouth-watering mocktails!](https://www.womenontopp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_3812-1200x720.jpeg)
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