After many years in the corporate (and uber-competitive) advertising and public relations industries, I started a consultancy, which led to leadership and executive coaching and corporate training. I’ve been an executive coach and trainer for 15 years, with clients at Sales Force, Uber, Google, Twitter and more. My early ad agency days were crazy and chaotic (a la Mad Men) and served me very well in establishing trust and credibility with clients, problem solving, creativity and getting things into action. I’ve always been in service industries, and coaching is no different.

Although by all accounts I’m an extrovert, it’s been a long process of learning of standing up for myself and navigating my own professional development. I was always very social in school and had lots of friends. When I was in the sixth grade, I was called into the principal’s office for wearing pants to school – ‘flower power’ bell bottoms. It was nerve-wracking for a 12-year-old. He lectured me on how it’s more appropriate for girls to wear skirts. I was ready with my prepared response. I said that since we didn’t have a dress code, I wasn’t breaking any rules. I don’t think he expected that from me, and it sort of stopped him in his tracks. He gave in, and I went back to class.

Later in my professional life, the stakes were a little higher. I was fairly new on the job, and one of my first presentations was for an important and intimidating client. No one told me what or how to prepare, so I ‘rehearsed’ on my own. The day of the BIG MEETING came, very formal, about 15 people were in the room. It was exciting and nerve wracking. When it was my turn, I started talking about our agency’s recommendation. Except that my voice was so shaky, I could hardly continue. The more I heard my voice shaking, the worse it got. I started losing my breath and gasping after each sentence. Thankfully, my boss jumped in and took over. I don’t remember a lot after that, but I knew that was never going to happen to me again.

Flubbing a big presentation might like sound like such a big deal in the overall scheme of things, but the competition was cutthroat, and people were fired for less. In those days, there wasn’t much in terms of professional development. So, I did it myself. I took courses, got videotaped, I read, I practiced and I got better.

There were many other instances in my personal and professional life, of learning to assert myself, whether that was fighting for more female representation, a promotion or pay raise. What I learned about myself was that I have a competitive streak. I enjoy a challenge and competing with myself. I applied for jobs or speaking at conferences that I never thought possible, eventually landing the job or the speaking gig.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and bucked a long family tradition of attending UC Berkeley to attend UCLA. I worked in L.A. until I met my future husband and moved to work in Indonesia and Singapore for 20+ years. It was an experience of a lifetime. I gained a global perspective that is inclusive and respectful of other cultures, experiences, and backgrounds.

It’s no wonder I’ve made it my life’s work helping people see new perspectives, try things on and achieve what they really want in life and at work. I have strong values of connection and contribution. These values show up in my coaching, creating trust and rapport quickly, and going above and beyond for every client. I’ve coached thousands of hours on soft skills, career path, career navigation and more. I help clients see new perspectives, move forward, and get ‘unstuck’.

In addition to my role as a coach practitioner, I’m also a trainer, teacher and mentor, harnessing different approaches for different learning styles. If you’re looking to elevate your skills and knowledge, exude executive presence that gets noticed, and feel great while doing it – you’re in the right place. My mission is to help you enter every room with confidence. Let’s talk.

I work with successful, smart, motivated people who want to be more inspiring, more influential and have more professional impact.

My approach to coaching is about:

I hope to inspire clients to stretch professionally moving beyond their comfort zone while enjoying the process of self-discovery. When clients partner with me, they benefit from my extensive international experience. Coming from a creative industry (advertising and p.r.), I love to brainstorm and co-create solutions with my clients, offer new ideas and perspectives. I have a strong value of fun, a good sense of humor, and that includes my coaching!

I specialize in coaching challenging situations such as delivering difficult messages, feedback, prioritization, conflict, communication mismatch, influence and many others.