Do you ever feel like your external success masks internal struggles? Meet Michelle Hernandez, a Regional People Partner at a global design agency. She appeared to have it all together, yet beneath the surface, Michelle faced a battle with confusion, frustration, and overwhelming emotions. Her story is a powerful testament to what transformative coaching can achieve.
#22 The Inspirational Leader Series: Tanarra Schneider
Own your voice
#21 The Inspirational Leader Series: Mary Piontkowski
#20 The Inspirational Leader Series: Natalie Kuhn
How my coaching client landed a dream job in less than 3 months
Success story from my coaching client who landed a great job in less than 3 months.
Like so many in the tech and design worlds as of late, Bart Renner lost his job. This triggered a reassessment:
• What did he want to do next?
• How did he want to grow?
• What kind of company would he thrive in?
• What was even feasible at a time when SO MANY others were looking?
He took a gamble and invested in coaching, figuring that it would help him hone his focus, work through the job-hunt jitters, and keep him accountable to his goals.
Your best year yet
7 neuroscience hacks to improve your life and leadership
#1: Your brain is a prediction machine. Based upon its understanding of the PAST you in PRIOR experiences, it predicts what needs to happen now and creates chemicals (dopamine! cortisol!), emotions, and more, to guide what you do next. Using the past as a blueprint helps the brain work efficiently, but it also can throw errors—because your current situation is not necessarily a replication of the past. And YOU, certainly, are not exactly who you were then. Knowing this, you can pause and assess if the way you are feeling and interpreting a situation is appropriate right here, right now. Your brain is no longer running the ship; YOU are.
Unlocking impactful leadership through personal values
Why's my grin this wide? I'm in a cave in Costa Rica, embracing my #1 value: ADVENTURE. When I'm leaning into adventure, I'm amplified and vibrant—you can see it on my face and feel it in my energy. This is true in my personal and professional life. So, I look for ways to keep my adventure meter at a 7+ out of 10 in work and play.
Here's how that relates to YOU:
In leadership, there's an unsung hero that can amplify 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 impact: your core values. ⭐️
Conquer your fears
This isn’t the bravest thing I’ve done.
Truth be told, I only did it because my 7 and 9-year-olds did it (I couldn’t let them outdo me! 😉). But, I don’t have a fear of heights, so on a scale of personal bravery, it was about a 6.
But, here’s what DID require enormous courage: Teaching a room full of senior leaders for the first time. And the second. And the third.
Accountability
How do you feel about accountability?
Challenged, empowered, brave?
Intimidated, scared, pressured?
It’s no wonder we have a mix of emotions, given the range of ways accountability is approached. In some contexts, accountability feels like finger-pointing. In others, it feels like a team sport. Effective accountability relationships focus on mutual respect, holding one another as capable, and a commitment to mutual growth. The result is more trust, connection, learning, progress, and greatly expanded potential.
Make space to think
“He has no time to be anything but a machine. How can he remember well his ignorance which his growth requires?”— Henry David Thoreau
Are you feeling the weight of working in “grind culture”?
Are you overwhelmed and drowning in meetings?
When was the last time you stopped to reflect on how you are doing?
Things I've Learned
#19 The Inspirational Leader Series: Vincent Brathwaite
#18 The Inspirational Leader Series: Emma Sherwood-Forbes
Meet Emma Sherwood-Forbest, Senior Design Manager at Climate, Health, and Well-being at Meta. She learned about cultivating healthy, empowered teams through a wide array of experiences: 5 years in the startup world, a decade of consulting and agency leadership, and her most recent roles working in-house on health, climate, and well-being.
#17 The Inspirational Leader Series: Judy Wert
Meet Judy Wert, Executive Recruiter and Co-Founder of one of the design community’s most trusted search firms, Wert&Co. She’s the kind of person you might quickly find yourself sharing much of who you are with—because she’s warm, a skilled listener, and can offer valuable perspective informed by over 27 years of working with the leadership of innovative companies.
#16 The Inspirational Leader Series: Élida Cruz
Meet Élida Cruz, Vice President, Head of Design, Capital One Software. She has over 25 years of experience leading teams in agencies and large corporations to drive innovation, create new ideas, and deliver exceptional work. She’s delightfully passionate, mission-driven, and has an interesting perspective on what it takes to be not just a good leader, but an inspirational one.
Be Brazen
Brazen (bray·zn): Bold and without shame, made of brass. This definition of my last name often has negative connotations. But, you could choose to be proudly Brazen, too. I do. For example:
What would an empowered, brazen life look like?
What’s an exciting, brazen approach to a specific challenge?
What would it look like to be positively brazen in this conversation?
#15 The Inspirational Leader Series: Ghazal Badiozamani
👋Meet Ghazal Badiozamani, founder of Clearhead Advisory. She helps companies define business and product strategies, develop high-performing teams, and build customer-centered products and services in healthcare, life sciences, education, and technology. She also has many years of experience in the corporate strategy and product management spaces. She’s an empathetic and decisive leader who thrives when problems are thorny and complex.
A love story
One of the highlights of my work as a leadership and executive coach is emails from past clients about significant developments in their lives that are due, in part, to the work we did together. These reconnections make my heart sing; they are like ripples in a pool of water long after the stone is thrown.