Teacher, military spouse, principal, researcher, mother, coach, book lover, volunteer…Renée Bostick has many titles, and her varied experiences have now converged in a way that positions her to do something that draws on all of them: to nurture others toward a life of thriving. 

While Renée shies away from being the center of attention, she relishes being at the center of a community. She has lived and worked among numerous communities over the course of her life and career. Marrying Thomas Bostick, a young Army officer at the time, led to a life of service and movement; the couple and their son Josh have lived in twenty seven different locations over three continents during their nearly four decades together as a family. 

Inspired by her admiration of children, Renée became an educator, earning a Master’s degree as a K-12 Reading Specialist and paving a path for herself to teach through her family’s frequent moves. She worked in the network of Department of Defense Dependent Schools — each school being “a world in a zip code,” full of students and faculty of diverse origins and languages. She taught every grade and instructed children on subjects from shoes (how to tie them!) to Shakespeare. Renée capped her education career with sixteen years as a Principal, a role she loved for its opportunity and responsibility to help both students and teachers shine. 

One of Renée’s core beliefs is that from childhood to adulthood, a person’s need to be truly seen and heard does not diminish. She had become known as a trusted listener among the staff in her schools before her retirement as an administrator, and when a close friend suggested she consider a “second act” as a coach, it made sense! She earned her certificate in coaching — a career in which listening is centered and trust is paramount — and the profession has become a calling to Renée. Being invited into her clients’ lives is a privilege, and Renée treats it with profound respect. 

At every new home, Renée immersed herself in the local community of military families, befriending countless other military spouses when invited into their lives, and gaining perspectives on the varied challenges they face in this role. Always collecting observations and noticing patterns, she thought that — someday, when the demands of leading schools, parenting, migrating with the military, and earning her coaching credentials diminished — she might compile them formally. Eventually, when Thomas retired and Renée was established as a coach, her “someday” arrived and she embarked on earning a Doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, writing her thesis on “Military Spouses, Military Lifestyle, and the Concept of Thriving.” She shares the framework of her findings and her full dissertation here. 

Now, Renée calls upon all of these life experiences to inform her work with coaching clients. The things she has learned as an educator, a friend, a military spouse, a professional student, a mother, a reader, and an avid observer of life position her well to help others pursue their path to thriving.

Renée operates her coaching practice as part of Bostick Global Strategies, the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business she operates in partnership with her husband Thomas and son Joshua. Bostick Global Strategies empowers government agencies, corporate clients, and small businesses to thrive by providing expert guidance on engineering, product and project management, executive leadership, and emerging technology solutions (VR and AI). Visit the Bostick Global Strategies website to learn more.

“Renée opened my mind to other possibilities as well as ways to reduce stress.”

-Andrea Cohen, Executive Director, United Nations Association, Iowa