Team Coaching, Executive and Leadership Coaching
Nan’s Story
My career path has taken me across the US, Europe, and Asia, in work that has ranged from acting and directing, to teaching, to training/facilitating/consulting in the corporate world, and finally to formal coaching.
In a way, I have been coaching my whole adult life – long before the field officially existed. Whether in the theater, classroom, workshop space, or conference room, the heart of everything I’ve done has been about empowering people to realize their highest potential. Facilitating growth and creating exceptional results, both individually and in groups, is my passion.
My love of drawing excellence out of groups began in earnest in college at Princeton where I participated in every theater production I could. Facilitating the journey, both individual and collective, was profoundly rewarding and engaging for me. Without high-quality process, I learned, you cannot achieve high-quality results. And relationships are everything. These principles continue to guide me in all I do.
Without high-quality process, I learned, you cannot achieve high-quality results. And relationships are everything. These principles continue to guide me in all I do.
After college, I spent several years living in Japan teaching English and Acting. I also designed and provided inter-cultural training and consulting to executives and managers in 6 major corporations, including Nissan, Japan Airlines, and Shiseido. Through this work, I discovered I loved working with groups not just in theater, but in education and in the business world as well.
After 10 adventure-filled months backpacking through Asia – one of the highlights of my life – I taught high-school Acting and English in San Francisco. This led to working in a nonprofit with high-school and college students, parents, faculty, and teenagers in underserved communities. I led in-depth personal-growth workshops throughout the Bay Area focusing on leadership skills, communication skills, and accountability; much of the work included what we would now call coaching. Gradually transitioning to corporate work, I worked with organizations in San Francisco and New York, facilitating and training throughout the US and Europe on topics such as in facilitative leadership, effective team building, meeting mastery, leadership development, communication skills, creative problem-solving, and strategic planning.
I took a 13-year hiatus from professional work to be at home with our three children – they and my husband of now more than 25 years will always be my top priority; I count myself extraordinarily blessed that I was able to be home full time until our youngest was 8. During that time, I also founded an organic farmer-to-consumer cooperative that grew to more than a hundred members. Those are both love stories, indeed – and both are filled with lessons in leadership.
By the time I was ready to start working again in 2010, coaching had come into its own as a profession. I was thrilled to discover I could do the kind of work I'd always loved without disrupting my family with frequent business trips. I became a certified coach through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching and started this new chapter in my career, initially as a life coach, then quickly circled back to my love of leadership and teams. And here I have happily landed!
I believe that coaching is the best way to create sustainable change because it provides ongoing accountability to focus on what matters most.
I believe that coaching is the best way to create sustainable change because it provides ongoing accountability to focus on what matters most. Without that essential element, most people and groups slide back into old habits. Today I coach senior leaders and teams to get clear on what they want to create or achieve and then bring forth their best, over time, to make it happen. Playing that role gives me energy and meaning, and I am full of gratitude for that honor. Better leaders, better teams, and through them, a better world.
