About Marcia

Marcia Bench is the CEO of the Institute for Purposeful Entrepreneurship and a professional speaker, author, coach and thought leader. Marcia realized in her teens that she had an important life's purpose to fulfill, and began a quest to discover it. Throughout her years in high school, college and law school she pursued personal and spiritual growth. It was finally when she became a part-time entrepreneur in 1986 that she knew she was honing in on her purpose.

Her first business was a consulting, speaking and consulting firm helping individuals with business start-up, marketing and business development. She also got involved with state entrepreneurial politics and was visible in the Portland, Oregon area entrepreneur community.

She then formed her own law firm and, after just 2 years, wrote her first book, When 9 to 5 Isn't Enough, later published by Hay House, and embarked on a national book/seminar tour. She sold her home, law practice and possessions to buy an RV and travel the country for 10 months, helping people do what they love for a living. She shared the stage with Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and other notable speakers.

Marcia discovered coaching in 2000 after a stint as an Executive Vice President in a career management firm. She absolutely loved the power of coaching to help clients uncover the answers they sought for themselves. Shortly after graduating from coaching school she founded Career Coach Institute and quickly grew it to a mid-6-figure earning, international coach training company in the new niche of career coaching.

She has been active throughout her 20-plus year career in supporting entrepreneurship through her writing, speaking, and volunteering. She was on the Oregon Governor's Committee for Minority and Women Business Participation, and was selected as a facilitator at the White House Conference on Small Business.

In 2008, Marcia once again felt the calling to step into her purpose in a bigger way, so in November 2008 she founded the Institute for Purposeful Entrepreneurship to help entrepreneurs - and would-be entrepreneurs - discover the freedom of expressing their life purpose through their own passionate, profitable business.

She has studied and coached with such mentors as Ali Brown, David Neagle, Baeth Davis, and other internet marketing and spiritual entrepreneur leaders. Marcia now coaches an elite number of individual entrepreneur clients, hosts periodic live events to help entrepreneurs apply her Purposeful Entrepreneur Blueprint™ and/or learn to coach Purposeful Entrepreneurs, and offers information products to support entrepreneurs in their business design, marketing, product creation and growth using her proven systems. She is a frequent guest on teleclasses, in the media, and at live events.

A former attorney, Marcia has authored 23 books and is a master at both creating her own products and mentoring others in creating theirs.  Her latest are Career Coaching: An Insider’s Guide (High Flight Press 2008) and Career Infopreneur’s Success Roadmap (High Flight Press 2007).  She is currently working on the forthcoming The Tao of Entrepreneurship and Purposeful Entrepreneur’s Blueprint, due out in 2009.

Marcia's education includes a Juris Doctorate from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Western Oregon University.  In addition, she is a Certified Career Management Practitioner through the International Board of Career Management Certification, a Certified Business Coach, a Certified Teleader and Master Certified Career Coach.

She speaks to entrepreneur groups, industry conferences,

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