Alumna Supports Webster Vienna Students through Spark & Rose Coaching

Social Media Links

Rosemary Pontarelli

Although born in Iowa City, Iowa, in the U.S., Rosemary Pontarelli decided early to explore Europe. After a visit to Vienna, in the summer of 2003, she moved even further – she settled in this beautiful city, in the heart of Europe, as she remembers, it “felt like a place I could enjoy living.” She never wanted to lose touch with her homeland and hometown despite that. So she decided on an American liberal arts education at Webster Vienna Private University.

In 2011, she graduated from Webster Vienna with a MA in Human Resources. “I greatly enjoyed Strategic Human Resources with Norbert Wetzel, Organizational Behavior with Arno Haslberger, and my Master’s Thesis course with Maria Madlberger,” she revealed. These courses helped her learn about integrity, leadership, and courage from all three professors and colleagues from their experience with courageous conversations, curiosity to experiment, and understanding of human motivation.

Step into your leadership now. Explore your strengths and how they impact people."

Since graduation, Rosemary has worked in Talent Management and Leadership Development in the healthcare sector in three countries for over ten years. While on maternity leave with her second child, proactive as she is, she launched her coaching practice, Spark & Rose Coaching.

“It’s never too early to step into your leadership. I ran trainee and early leadership programs where we recruited and developed university students and first-time leaders,” she said. While running the programs and coaching participants, Rosemary is looking for external insights and talents with the courage to share them, curiosity to continuously grow themselves to adapt to an ever-changing environment, and the potential to take on more responsibility & leadership to help others thrive.

Choosing a career in coaching, leadership development, and talent management wasn’t hard for her. “I’ve always been passionate about bringing out the best in people. True magic happens when people tap into more potential than they imagined and rise to new challenges. Leaders become more self-aware and effective in creating more motivating work environments. It gives me a sense of joy and wonder,” she concluded.

She successfully navigated massive changes with the support of coaching – international moves, exponentially more responsibility, divorce, and remarriage, returning to work after children. Out of a sense of gratitude, she would love to enable this personal transformation experience for others.

Rosemary at raceToday, Rosemary is developing her coaching practice even further. Her goals are pretty straightforward – to build a sustainable coaching practice guiding early and mid-career professionals to successfully navigate the most significant transitions of their career and life – to experience more fulfillment, reach bold goals, and live their best life.

She expects to continue the coaching practice while working part-time in a Talent Management/Leadership Development capacity creating inspiring workplaces in a corporate environment, role modeling entrepreneurship, and a portfolio career.

True magic happens when people tap into more potential than they imagined and rise to new challenges."

As a Webster Vienna alumna, she advised our present and future students: “Step into your leadership now. Explore your strengths and how they impact people - your inner leader, values, what kind of work and working environments light you up and give you a sense of purpose. Have the courage to defy self-limiting beliefs to clear the way to share your vision and insights, reach your potential, and positively impact the people you work with,” she said and added, “Ask for help from a mentor and coach to do all this. It’s a best practice, a sign of perseverance, adaptability, and strength!”

Career and Leadership Coaching Scholarship

Through Spark & Rose Coaching, Rosemary is also sponsoring a Career and Leadership Coaching Scholarship for two Webster Vienna students covering Discovery Session: 'We establish our coaching relationship, get to know you, your values and goals, what motivates you and what is holding you back. In subsequent coaching calls: we identify an agenda, agree on goals for the session, concluding with a follow-up and keep track of these. We adapt the agenda to your current needs."

To apply, contact her at rosemary.pontarelli@gmail.com by Feb.10, 2022, for a 30-min sample coaching session. Please share your background including Academics, what you would like coaching on, and a link to your LinkedIn Profile in your email to Rosemary.

Social Media Links

Related News