I understand uniquely the challenges faced by technical folks trying to deploy a product in a messy client environment under unreasonable time pressure. I also understand what it takes for accomplished leaders to outgrow past success strategies so they can play bigger and have more fulfillment. My gift is seeing the genius in the person in front of me and drawing it out of them.

Over the last 20 years, I’ve worked as a strategy consultant, intellectual property litigator, software engineer, and talent leader. It is my life’s work to integrate these disparate experiences into my coaching practice.

My path

Growing up I had a habit of talking back to my parents. They said, since you like arguing so much, why don’t you go become a lawyer. So I did. But I was an unhappy lawyer. I turned to software engineering to learn how to build the future instead of analyze the past. I joined Grammarly as their second US engineering hire. I thought I was smart, but my teammates — mostly Ukrainian and Russian kids in their early 20s — were brilliant. I understood that I was a pretty good but not enlightened software engineer. I did, however, discover my gift of bridging worlds. What I uniquely brought to the team were my truth-seeking nature, care for the development of those around me, and ability to unify minds and translate ideas to action. Those were my areas of genius.

A few years into engineering, Bain called to hire me as an engineer for their digital product team (ADAPT). This team was pioneering the deployment of hybrid strategy and engineering teams. I interviewed but told them what they really needed was a people leader. Integrating technical talent with strategy consultants would be two worlds colliding: one focused on polish and answer-first presentations, the other on shipping and iterating. I wrote a job description for the people function I thought the team needed and they hired me.

This team eventually became what is now Bain’s AI Insights and Solutions Practice. I built its people engine from scratch. I hired and trained our first “innovation experts,” Bain’s version of an FDE lead. I wrote the skills matrices, defined what success looked like in a role that hadn’t existed before, and coached the team through ambiguity, strategic upheavals, tense client situations, and team conflict. I grew the team from 20 to over 300 people.

That first generation has gone on to lead at the frontier of AI. They are partners, product innovators, operators and deployment leads at companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, Opendoor, and BigPanda.

My coaching work
I know firsthand what it takes for a human to truly grow and transform. It’s not a willpower issue or something you can logic your way to. You need to access all centers of intelligence: brain, body, heart, even spirit. There is no sustained outer change without deep inner change. I am equally patient and fearless in my coaching. I see the genius in each person before me and help make that part come alive.

I’m trained in a number of modalities including Co-Active coaching, IFS, somatic experiencing, and positive intelligence. I earned my bachelor’s from Princeton and my law degree from Harvard. I’m based in the Bay Area, where I live with my husband and daughter.

I coach because it’s the most meaningful way I’ve found to use my natural gifts. I’m obsessed with the craft of coaching. Most of all, it’s fun.