I earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, then spent 20+ years in advertising, primarily with DDB Worldwide Communications in Chicago and Los Angeles. I was the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Managing Director and the highest-ranking woman in DDB’s Los Angeles office. At DDB, I experienced first hand the rewards of executive coaching. When I left to become a writer, I co-authored Dancing on the Glass Ceiling (McGraw-Hill, 2003), with my coach. The book was written to help women reach higher levels in their organizations by tapping into their own strengths and authenticity as women.

I have been coaching executives for the past 15 years and have also been an adjunct instructor and coach in Loyola Marymount University’s Executive MBA program, helping mid-career professionals learn how to better assess themselves and their career and leadership goals. I am also a founding member and former Chair of Council of 100, a national group of 100 women, selected because of their high level of career achievement, to serve as career mentors for Northwestern’s women students and alumnae.

My clients expect me to do much more as a coach than just ask good questions. They expect me to bring them new thinking, perspectives, insights and ideas – to give them a richer set of inputs to consider when making decisions and choices about how they want to lead.

I’m a bit of a nerd at heart, having earned degrees in electrical engineering and physics from MIT. I worked, for a time, as a Systems Engineer for an aerospace company, building communications satellites. As a kid, I was fascinated by outer space so traveling to Cape Canaveral to launch rockets was a real thrill. Soon though, I began to feel like a small cog in a big wheel. So, after earning an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, I joined a Silicon Valley startup as a marketing manager. This led to my becoming a General Partner of a venture capital firm and, later, an angel investor. I found this to be the perfect combination of my technical and business interests.

I have spent my career working with entrepreneurial leaders – as an investor, mentor, board member, and executive coach. I’ve helped launch and grow many successful companies. I’ve served on more than two dozen boards in both the for profit and nonprofit sectors. In all these instances I have witnessed countless times how effective leadership can transform an organization.

I bring a combination of coaching, business, leadership, and adventure to my clients. Leaders seek my help when they are at a crossroads in their career, an inflection point in their company, or their team is struggling to achieve peak performance. I work with them to clarify their vision and the obstacles preventing them from achieving it. Together, we work on strategies, mindsets, and practices to create and sustain lasting change.

OUR PASSIONS

We are committed to service and are especially passionate about education and social justice causes. In 2005, we helped to found Social Venture Partners LA, a group of professionals who contribute their time, money, and expertise to help nonprofits expand their capacity and impact. Today, we have nearly 100 Partners and help to coach and mentor nonprofit leaders every year.

We serve as advisors to or board members of multiple organizations – Candy to the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern Alumni Association, and as University Regent for Southern California, and Ken to Environmental Charter Schools, the Los Angeles Center of Photography, and the Rotary Club of Manhattan Beach.

We’ve hiked to Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail and to the basecamp of Annapurna in the Himalayas. We’ve bareboat sailed in Croatia and camped in the wild in Kenya. And, to instill this love of travel and adventure in our three sons, we moved the whole family to Barcelona for a year.

OUR CREDENTIALs

In addition to our various degrees and experiences, we hold the following coaching credentials and certifications: