Meet Annie Zirkel!

Meet Annie Zirkel!  I've only talked to her a few times online, but one thing about her that becomes glaringly apparent about Annie is that the views of others are important to her. With that, I don't mean that she measures herself by what others think, but rather that she is aware that there are multiple ways of handling many situations, and the ideas and methods of others are just as important to her as her own.

Annie Zirkel

Annie has expressed more excitement about the people she's met during this competition than whether or not she gets the position. She has a gift for appreciating the little things in life. Life doesn't just happen while she makes plans, she appreciates all of the nuances along the way.

She isn't a guru in the “know all, be all” sense, but in that she is willing and able to get the multiple options to any question. I think that if Annie had her way about it, there would be multiple advisers for the position of guru just so that viewers/readers are able to get various perspectives, to get all of the best possible answers.

Annie is a very warm, generous, energetic, and positive person. These attributes come through in everything she writes, and I for one hope that her prospects with Good Morning America are better than she thinks.

Click here if you would like to check out her website, and click here if you'd like to read and rate some of her answers for Good Morning America.

What would you consider some of the biggest challenges you've faced in your life? How do you think they've helped you become who you are today?

There are really two ways to answer this question. One is to see challenge as adventure. The other is to see it as adversity.

As for adventure, I have always been drawn to doing things differently. Doing things outside of other people's boxes. In fact, if someone suggested that something was not in my “box” - that was the very thing I then set out to prove wrong. I'm very defiant, in a good way, which has helped me make a very big box! It brought me to traveling, it brought me to new experiences, it brought me to the University of Hawaii, to writing some books, to going back to school at the age of 38. And it probably brought me to the GMA Guru Contest.

Now challenge as adversity is another story. My biggest two have been learning how to be a good wife and mother while remembering to value myself, AND learning how to be love, accept and care for my oldest son who is severely disabled. That last challenge has been the hardest and the most rewarding of all. One full of heartache and physical challenges - he is 125 lbs, totally dependent on us - and also full of great lessons, gratitude and wisdom - in fact, he is the happiest person you would ever meet and such a gift.

Tell me a little bit about your family.

My family of origin was this big chaotic Irish/German Catholic family with 9 kids growing up on Long Island. My current family includes my husband, a great guy and hard-working family business man, my 3 sons - Alex 19, Adam 17, Nick 14, and Faisal 15 - our foreign exchange student son from Saudi Arabia, and our dog Kiko. Including the dog, I am the only non-male in the bunch and sometimes this makes me want to scream for girlfriends! But we do have fun; there's lots of music, kidding around, and for all the griping my kids do, they are amazing young men. My younger sons take care of their brother with kindness and no complaints, and we are always seeking opportunities to bring some fun into the house.

What is a basic day in your life like? What do you do to unwind, or for a hobby?

Basic day is seeing clients, doing a few workshops a month, writing articles for my website, answering e-mails, and then changing hats and being mom for my sons (and mostly my special son). I hate to cook and do whatever I can to get out of it. I love to write and I love to catch up with friends and family. As for hobbies – I wish I did more but my favorite thing to do is search for shells, stones, and sea glass along the beach. I have a decent collection and I just love to look at them.

 

The recession has impacted nearly everybody in America, how has it impacted you and your family?

I grew up with 11 people and a dad with a middle class income. So I've always been able to do without. In fact, I actually wrote a book in the 90s called :Cheap Living in Ann Arbor”. I am a huge second hand shopper and have always seen part of my contribution to the family as saving money since I don't earn very much. My husband is also extremely good at looking at our finances and finding better interest rates, or cheaper monthly services. So, while we have been impacted with a pay cut and some increased debt, we are fortunate to be staying above water for now. Luckily, Michigan is starting to come back to life which is wonderful.

If I spoke to the people that know you best, what would I hear from most of them about you?

Very energetic and enthusiastic. Will help anyone if she can (because I would). Has an odd sense of humor, loves optimism and is really into that gratitude stuff. If it were my kids they would say - tough momma, very challenging but we know she loves us.

What caused you to want to submit an application for the GMA advice guru position? What got you started giving advice?

My parents actually mentioned it to me and I was just so grateful that they thought I would be good at this that I checked it out. I was such a pain in the butt growing up that for them to see that I had come that far was the nicest compliment. Then I just wanted to test myself to answer the questions in the 150 word limit. As for giving advice - I'm not sure that's what I think I do. I see myself more as giving perspective and insight and helping people become aware of what skills are needed and how to get them. I do have a column on my website called “Ask Annie” which arose as a way to offer my ideas to those who seemed interested but couldn't or didn't want to come to counseling.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers that you haven't had the opportunity to share yet?

When I first found out I was on this list, I was just glad to be there. Since then I have had some wonderful revelations about my faith in myself and my willingness to actually go for this. Realistically, I am not a front-runner, and I don't think my answers have been perfect, but out of all the people in this list, I am the only one that is so into this job that I already do it. And I'm doing it from my passion not because I get paid for it - since I don't. Not only that, I believe I am good enough to do it for GMA. Not that others aren't, because I think I am in some great company, but it took me a minute to see myself as also that good. In fact, learning this about myself has really been an even better surprise than getting that call in the first place.