Meet the Team
Hello from Ali & Valerie!
Happy summer, ESOA community! We, the Co-Directors of the Enneagram School of Awakening, are so thrilled to be introducing ourselves formally for those of you who don’t already know us. As you may be aware, our founder, Dr. Lissa Friedman, and her daughter, Tammy Hendrix, shifted ownership of the school to us earlier this year. We are so proud and honored to be stewarding the school and helping to bring the Embodiment Tradition to the Enneagram world.
Meet Ali
Hi! I’m Ali McGhee. I received my certification in the Embodiment Tradition in 2015 and joined the School as Core Faculty in 2019. I have a PhD in English from the University of Rochester, I’m the People Operations Manager at 6AM City, and I’m the Communications Manager for ArtsAVL. I also serve as the Vice-Chair of Asheville, NC’s Public Art and Cultural Commission and co-host a weekly radio show on Asheville FM (our local community radio station). I’m a writer and researcher through and through, and I also love teaching (I was an academic in my former life). The Enneagram is the perfect subject – there is no possibility of ever exhausting it!
What I’ve Been Thinking About Lately
In the Enneagram world, I’m exploring connections between the Enneagram and yoga. I’m currently planning a daylong workshop with my dear friend, Tara Eschenroader of Great Abiding Yoga, which will be held in person this fall at a location near Asheville (details coming soon!).
I’m also always thinking about how the Enneagram can transform creative practice. I recently wrapped up a 10-week course on the Enneagram for creative writers through the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC Asheville.
Other than the Enneagram, I’ve been working steadily on completing my novel, taking care of my garden, and playing with my spirited 2-year-old daughter.
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Meet Valerie
Hello! I’m Valerie Wanamaker, LCSW, and I am an enneagram type 6. I am a sex & relationship psychotherapist, enneagram teacher & coach, and researcher on the intersections of the enneagram & human sexuality. I am a solid Enneagram enthusiast with a deep appreciation for the wisdom it can provide on how we show up in love, work, and play. I began studying the enneagram in 2012 and am a certified teacher in the Embodiment Tradition and an IEA Accredited Professional. In addition to my work with the Enneagram School of Awakening, I also collaborate with enneagram professionals across the globe in an effort to bring more awareness, insight, and cohesion to some of the more taboo topics within the self-development community.
Outside of the enneagram and my work as a therapist, I am relishing in the joys (and sometimes downright chaos) of being a new parent with my type 9 husband to our 1.5 year old (enneagram type TBD, but she sure is feeling like an assertive type!)
What I’ve Been Thinking About Lately:
Instincts! Instincts! Instincts! If you’ve spent any time with me lately, then you know I have been obsessively looking at how our instinctual drives (self-preservation, sexual, and social) show up in all areas of life. Many great teachers have addressed this topic, each adding a new layer of understanding and often a new set of terms to further fine tune the nuances of the instinctual drives. The most recent publication by John Luckovich has held my attention for the past year or so, and I have really enjoyed reading and re-reading some of his conceptualizations which help better define what the instincts actually are and how they show up. If you’re interested in taking your knowledge on the instincts to a deeper level, I highly recommend this book: The Instinctual Drives & the Enneagram If you want to learn more about how our instinctual drives impact our relationships, stay tuned for a workshop that I will host in the fall where we focus on exactly that!