Janet Ehl is an innovative and dedicated career services professional with an extensive background in higher education career work encompassing advising, coaching, and developing strategic relationships with students, alumni, and institutional stakeholders. Key areas of proven success: developing corporate partnerships; increasing alumni engagement; leading teams; and organization development. Janet enjoys working one on one to help others gain self-awareness and develop strategies to be engaged and energized in their professional and personal lives. Janet is a Designing Your Life Certified Coach and a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach.
Work Psychologist, Human Resources Expert, and a certified Design Your Work Life Coach who leads the Training, Empowerment, and Professional Development department at Piano C.
Education Program Coordinator. Working with students and guiding them in their education journeys.
Jetaun Davis helps young adults become intentional about the lives they create. She believes the starting point is within and guides others through a journey of self-awareness utilizing a variety of tools and frameworks. A life coach certified through the Life Purpose Institute and a Myers & Briggs Certified Practitioner, she assists teens and twenty-somethings in designing their own paths to careers that will allow them to have fun and live a life of adventure – whatever that looks like for them. She also hosts the bi-weekly career podcast Journey to Jupiter: Discover the Life You’ll Create. With a decade of experience in internet marketing and consulting, Jetaun now operates at the intersection of higher education administration and personal development coaching at Emory University. She attended the University of Notre Dame (B.A., Sociology and Gender Studies) and Northwestern University (M.S., Communication).
As the founder of Momentum Coaching and Consulting, my practice is focused on helping: • students navigate the challenges of college and early career, • individuals who are seeking career development and transition support, and • individuals who are confronted with challenging decisions or feeling just plain “stuck.” I am a human resources leader with over three decades of experience as a trusted coach, advisor, and business partner; successfully guiding countless individuals and teams through periods of change and growth. I bring a wealth of knowledge and practical, real-world approaches to helping clients cultivate a growth mindset, a bias for action, and personal resilience. My genuine interest in the unique story of each person and deep understanding of human behavior have been the driving forces behind my career. I consider it a privilege to help individuals clarify their strengths and values, “find their way,” and solve tough problems. My aim is to equip each client with tools and approaches they apply long beyond our coaching engagement, enabling them to achieve and maintain forward momentum toward designing lives that are fulfilling and joyful.
Prasun is a board certified internal medicine specialist physician. He has work experience in state and private sectors. His interests extend to research and supporting the teaching and examination preparation of undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Melanie is the Director of Career Communities and Coaching at Denison University. With a strong focus on design thinking and creativity, Melanie leads innovative approaches to empower today’s college students and meet the ever-changing expectations of employers. Her own journey as a first-generation college student has profoundly influenced her approach, inspiring her to guide fellow first-generation students in building and designing lives they might have never dreamed possible. Before working in Higher Education, Melanie worked in the non-profit sector, helping people build joy and meaning in their lives through engagement in high-impact volunteer experiences. In her spare time, she is a cookie artist, turning simple ingredients into delectable works of art, and a Girl Scout leader, shaping future leaders with every adventure.
I founded MKCareerChoices twelve years ago with the vision to create a high-touch, innovative, boutique firm that walks with clients throughout their career journey.
Brie is the Chief of Empowerment and Head of Positivity for Work Life Om, LLC. In her 13+ years of coaching, consulting, training, and teaching, Brie has worked with a vast range of career shifters, such as students just starting out in their college journeys, to working professionals in mid and encore careers looking to transition into their next role. As a previous Major and Career Exploration Coach in the Colorado University system, Brie has assisted thousands of college students find meaningful majors, set up and execute career milestone maps, and build the necessary skills to land jobs upon graduation. As a certified Career Readiness Coach, Brie helps an array of working professionals in the tech, humanities, social science, and business industries finetune their job seeking, interviewing, and resume writing skills. Finally, as a Life Design Coach, Brie specializes in thoughtfully working with mid and encore career seekers looking to transition into their next role in life. Based in Colorado, but a native to the island of Aruba, Brie works with clients in Colorado and the virtual Caribbean. She has a B.A. in Communication Studies, an M.A. in Training & Development, and an M.A. in Learning Design and Technology.
Melissa Soza Fees, Ph. D, is a clinical psychologist who combines the best of positive psychology with two powerful and proven frameworks that enable human flourishing including Design Your Life (DYL) & Gallup Strengths. It starts within each of our relationships such as family and friendships and within our organizations as managers and colleagues. StrengthsLearning provides a proven and flexible model that is customized to work with organizations of all types. Dr. Fees brings deep expertise and practical insights that enable individuals and organizations to benefit from both strengths-based and design first mindsets.
I support recent college graduates, people re-entering the work force, young professionals, and seasoned leaders to fully embrace purpose and meaning in their work and personal life. Coaching is all about seeing more clearly though the cloudiness of uncertainty – it’s the breakthrough moments that help us reframe and reimagine so we can see a path forward with greater clarity. Drawing from my experience in a broad range of roles in for profit and nonprofit organizations focused on social impact, I partner with individuals, groups and teams to facilitate breakthrough insights that lead to personal and organizational growth and create organizational cultures where people can thrive. I take a strength-based approach in all my work, using approaches that are sensitive to power dynamics and focus on personal and organizational assets. I am comfortable communicating across differences in culture and identity having lived and worked in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. I am an ICF certified coach with a PhD in Comparative International Education and MPH in International Maternal Child Health from UCLA.
There’s nothing better than discovering new ways to learn, grow, and connect with one another. Through the years I’ve been able to generate many ways to inspire those around me to expand their ideas of what is possible in life. I believe in the power of creativity and design thinking to ignite and unite people leading them to find solutions for the challenges we face in life. Personal application has served me navigating the many transitions in my own lives as student, athlete, professional educator, spouse, parent, business owner, grandmother, creative, and life/design coach. I’ve been designing my own life for years, and I joined the certified Designing Your Life Coach community to help others.
I grew up in a small town in northern Vietnam where the prevailing belief was that the path to a better life was through a university education. However, after graduating, I realized that universities do not provide us with the tools to create a fulfilling life; we must do something else. In my pursuit of transitioning into Data Analytics, I dedicated two years to self-study. I discovered that design thinking plays a vital role in data analytics, enabling us to tackle complex problems and craft outstanding solutions. Just as we design innovative products, we should also design our own lives to enhance them. Today, I proudly serve as the founder of UniGap, an organization with a mission to close the gap between university and the workplace. We offer personalized coaching programs to equip students with the right mindset and skills to secure a successful career in the tech industry. My goal is to empower individuals to achieve sustainable growth by applying a design-oriented approach to their lives. In my coaching practice, I prioritize empathy, authenticity, a growth mindset, the courage to take action, and creative problem-solving as key elements in helping people achieve their goals.
Hello from Australia! I’m Jane, an accredited Life Design Facilitator and devoted Career Practitioner. With a person centred approach, I’ve guided students in universities, supported young people in not-for-profits, and worked with private clients.
Aalia is a Communication and Connection Specialist and Coach. Through extensive knowledge in Communication and Coaching, she helps each of her clients unlock the power of their voice, find deep Connection with themselves, with others, and with their purpose. She is the Designing Your Life Coach and Parent Coach for the Crunchmoms group, a Senior Speech-Language Pathologist and Learning Development Specialist at The Developing Child Center, and leads the Parental Engagement group for the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board.
I’m an academic and career advisor at CCU, leading hundreds towards graduation and also determining major selection, changes, and what they want to do in life next. I guest teach on topics like Myers Briggs type indicator, strong interested inventory, pathway u, clifton strengthsfinder; and host workshops that help students take a closer look at their personality, interests, strengths and how these all play into potential future careers.
Hi, I’m Neha!
I’ve been supporting women in exploring and telling their career story for over 15 years in a variety of settings. My work is grounded in a deep love of people as complicated, curious, dynamic, messy beings. I work to meet people where they are and honor their unique lens, values, and strengths. Going through transitions and working through career choices with coherence can be a vulnerable process, and I feel honored to walk through these moments with my clients.
Since 2012, Gladness Goodluck Kulola has served as The Sasamani Foundation’s Education Director. Gladness earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the Institute of Social Work, Dar es Salaam, in 2010, and completed Women leading coaching training in 2019. She is determined to support and uplift vulnerable students and women leaders in East Africa and empower them to make a difference in their lives, families, and communities. Through her dedicated work managing Sasamani’s education program, providing individual and group coaching to all Sasamani students and Women Leading Change participants, Gladness continues to drive and expand the impact of Sasamani. Her motivational slogan of “YES I CAN” has helped her to see each day as a brand-new day, full of life.
Born and bred in the beautiful Mother City, Cape Town, South Africa, I find my roots deeply intertwined with the community in Rocklands, Mitchell’s Plain, situated within the Cape Flats region of Cape Town. Over the past four years, in collaboration with my wife, our mission has centered on empowering the youth within this underserved community. The primary focus has been on nurturing the latent wonderfulness within them and providing guidance as they embark on a transformative journey towards a life where they can truly flourish. I am convinced that they are the agents of change in their communities. I love working with people and witnessing their triumphant journeys. Leading with adaptability, ideation, vision-casting, positivity, and inclusivity, my professional background is in youth ministry and swim coaching. These strengths enable me to more effectively empower and uplift those I work with. In terms of academic qualifications, I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Northwest University, and I have also completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Systematic Theology from the University of Pretoria.
Steve is the Director of Denison University’s co-curricular center for entrepreneurship, innovation, and design thinking which we call the Red Frame Lab. He coaches students, helps student organizations improve, and designs and implements career-like experiences so they can prototype various futures. Steve is a 10-year education consultant designing in the US, Egypt, and other countries. His first career spanned 25 years in science & technology as a photonics engineer with the world’s largest independent R&D company. He is the father of an actor, a professional musician, and a music teacher, and he likes to play his own saxophones for fun. Steve has coached high schoolers, young professionals, and mid-lifers like himself.
Hello! I’m a learning designer by trade and I hold a master’s in education from Purdue University. I discovered Designing Your Life during a mid-career transition (from marketing to learning design). After reading the book and completing the exercises, I kept wishing that I knew about DYL earlier! I became a Designing Your Life coach in 2020 and I specialize in bringing DYL tools to high school and university students.
I’m a coach and career counselor who has helped thousands of people define their dreams and attain their goals over the last nearly 30 years. Are you ready to get started with the next thing? Sensing that there’s something better out there, but don’t know what? Needing a little more confidence to listen to yourself and tune out the noise? Whether you are a recent graduate or a seasoned professional, I’m here to help you gain deeper insights into yourself, see fresh perspectives, tap into your resourcefulness, and design a life and career you really, really want.
I run Volchemy.
As a design thinking expert trained at Johns Hopkins University and the Mayo Clinic, I specialize in improving health service models and sharing my insights through academic publications. Leading over seven Taiwanese universities in a major project endorsed by the Ministry of Education, I facilitated workshops for over 1000 participants, empowering educators and students with design thinking skills. My work, recognized by the Teaching Research Program, demonstrates my commitment to applying professional knowledge in practical settings to enhance life and work quality.
Kat Clements is eternally curious and a ‘student of life’, working at the intersection of social impact, career development and higher education. Kat’s coaching business, Sparkbright, focuses on supporting social impact and not-for-profit professionals. She works with clients to establish, transition into, and level up their purpose-driven careers, and take action in the world in alignment with their values. Her career design approach incorporates mindfulness, wellbeing and, importantly, the practice of joy-spotting.
What are you secretly wishing for yet feel that dream might be unreachable? What I love about what I do is I help people bring that dream into real life, exploring it, and building it, piece by piece. I support early career professionals in exploring their self-identity, designing their career and life paths that speak to who they are, and setting up the foundation for their long-term success. I also support people who are going through transitions, to craft their new life stories, creating more meaning and joy in their life as well as learning and growth. My approach is explorative, creative, and strategic, with a balance of exploration and actions, to support you in gaining clarity and moving forward with concrete action steps. As an enthusiastic learner and adventurer myself, warmth, curiosity, fun, and intelligence are some of the qualities I bring to what I do. I am a Master Certified Coach with over 2500 coaching hours, specializing in career coaching and leadership coaching. Leveraging 20 years of experience in business management and learning and development, I have supported many people in designing career and life paths that are more aligned with who they are and what they value. It was joyful to have witnessed my clients embark on richer, more colorful and fulfilling lives by using design thinking tools. Personally, I have spent years of studying, working, and living across Asia, Europe, and North America, and gone through a lot of personal and professional changes during my life which helped me gain valuable insights about transitions and navigating uncertainties and changes.
I’m Johanna, founder of ᴍɪɴᴅᴜᴘᴘᴇʀꜱ – 𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆, and researcher at the University of Applied Sciences Worms. Bridging the academic and practical world of New Work and Positive Psychology, I’m on a mission to create fulfilling workspaces and enrich traditional controlling with human-centric KPIs.
Lisa Thomson is a career development and career transition coach, with over a decade of experience coaching early and mid-career professionals as they seek to continue to grow and advance within their careers. With extensive experience as a coach at a top 15 graduate business school and a global edtech startup, Lisa offers individual and small group coaching on career clarity, balancing work and life, strategic job search planning, and navigating and managing your career. She utilizes the design thinking model to encourage people to seek congruence in their careers and their lives, supporting her philosophy of lifelong learning and iterating. In addition to her DYL certification, she holds a Doctorate in Education from North Carolina State University and is trained in Positive Intelligence.
John Giordano, Ph.D., M.F.A., founded Ramp Coaching in 2016. He is a Designing Your Life Coach and a certified Co-Active Coach (CPCC), as well as an International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and IECA Professional Member – the gold standards for professional coaching and educational consulting. John came to coaching and educational consulting after 30 years of college teaching in visual art & design, interdisciplinary humanities, and community engagement where he loved advising students one-to-one. He takes a creative approach to the coaching experience by seeing personal growth and human flourishing as a creative process that everyone can access, regardless of age or background. Ramp offers individual and group Life Design Coaching for adults and recent college graduates, the Semester for Change program for college-age students who are struggling with direction-finding or academic success, the Semester Success coaching and support process that takes place during the college semester, and College Coaching for high school juniors and seniors, which combines the college application process with self-awareness coaching and an authentic interest-finding process.
Adil is passionate about empowering young people to unlock their potential and thrive in both their careers and personal lives. Based in the UK and recognised by the UK government as a global talent in the Digital Technology sector, he draws on over 20 years of corporate experience to help guide young individuals in early-career development, entrepreneurship, and fostering a growth mindset. While his background is deeply rooted in the corporate world, he applies the insights and skills gained to support youth in exploring their strengths and envisioning their possible future selves, offering practical tools to build meaningful careers.
Julie is a Work Integrated Learning Innovator and Educator with 30 years’ experience in Canadian higher education. She leads workplace learning and career programs for 19,000+ students in the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She is Founding Director of the UBC Arts Co-operative Education Program and in Fall 2021 launched the Compass Arts Student Engagement Hub, a set of programs and resources inspired by DYL. She designed and leads the Career Design Studio as part of Compass programming, coaching Social Science, Humanities, and Creative and Performing Arts students to design meaningful paths through their degrees and out into the world at graduation.
🌟 Career Development Coach | 📚 Guiding Individuals to Success Welcome to the world of career development and coaching, where I’m dedicated to empowering individuals at all career stages to thrive both in their professional lives and on their educational journeys. 🎯 Career Development Expertise: With over a decade of experience in career development, I’ve guided individuals towards fulfilling and prosperous career paths. I bring an innovative, human-centered design approach to the table, tailored to each person’s unique aspirations and potential. I believe that everyone has a dream, and it’s my mission to help them chase it. 📚 Nurturing Tomorrow’s Leaders: My passion lies in nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. Whether you’re a high school student starting your educational journey, a university student working on your career goals, or a seasoned professional seeking to thrive at work, I’m here to support you. I help individuals make informed decisions, align their studies with their career goals, and find success at every stage of their professional journey. Let’s work together to explore your unique talents and passions and create a thriving professional future. Contact me, and let’s make your dreams a reality!
John Kelley believes that all people have the potential to live lives full of joy, purpose, and connection and that personal growth is the foundation for building strong communities and ethical leadership. By working deeply with individuals, he helps them develop the skills, habits, and mindset needed to create transformation in their lives.
Linette Heng has more than 29 years of experience in education, training & development, leadership development, talent management and organization development in both the public and private sectors.
Joanne Koo believes that every person’s life is an unwritten book. Each writes his/her own. Her professional passion lies in working with people to help them discover their natural talents, strengths and aspirations to lead a more meaningful professional career and write a richer life story. An ICF Professional Certified Coach, Joanne’s career included being in Executive Search Korn/Ferry, heading MBA Career Services on INSEAD’s Asia Campus, as well as working with various Institutions of Higher Learning, using positive psychology creative arts therapy, NLP and other tools to help professionals position their strengths in the workplace.
Claudia enables humans to design their professional future in a rapidly changing world of work. Fascinated by digital and agile transformation, she strongly believes that in times of constant change, seeking to create the perfect master plan for a successful career and a happy life is no longer the best choice. A more agile approach to career and life development are more promising. In her coaching practice she combines scientifically proven classical methods from career diagnostics and counseling with elements from design thinking, life design and positive psychology. She works for entrepreneurs, executives and professionals who are looking for a significant transformation in their careers and lives beyond. Prior to her “second career” in coaching and career counseling Claudia spent over 10 years in innovation and transformation consulting. This is where she learned from the scratch what it means to accompany humans through change processes and deal with uncertainty and ambiguity. Claudia holds a master’s degree from University of Zurich (Switzerland) and has completed various further education programs in the areas of career counseling, coaching, life design and design thinking.
Holly M. Justice (she/hers) has been helping people with their career challenges for over 20 years. Holly received her Master’s degree in Community Mental Health Counseling where she focused in career counseling and achieved the National Certified Counselor credential. She has worked in higher education as a Career Coach and has trained and supervised graduate assistants and staff in career development theory and fundamentals. In this role she also developed an expertise working with engineering, computer science and data science students at all levels including Bachelors, Masters and PhD.
As a guest on the lands of the Treaty 7 peoples of Southern Alberta and Métis Nation of Alberta, Districts 5 & 6, Gareth McVicar has had the great privilege over the last 16 years of working with students, faculty and staff to collaboratively create, grow and/or facilitate many of the University of Calgary’s leadership, orientation and student life programs.
Hola! I´m Gabriela a career, life, and Wayfinder coach for young and vibrant minds between the ages of 18 – 99, that have incredible dreams, longings, and soul callings but are underneath layers of dust (doubts) or don’t know how to make them a reality. I help to clarify their inner world and pursue a life path that aligns with their strengths, curiosities & values, in a journey towards authenticity.
Sebastián Guerra has more than 10 years of experience in senior leadership positions within several industries, including multinational retail and mass consumption companies. These positions include leadership roles in finance and management control. In his coaching practice, Sebastián focuses on leaders seeking support in their current positions, college students pursuing their first opening and professionals searching for a substantial improvement in their work life. Sebastián earned his executive coaching certification at Universidad Católica de Chile and holds an MBA in Business Management.
To empower everyone to become our best so that we live our lives to the fullest
Suzanne Kennard has 20 plus years’ experience in senior leadership positions within various industries, including financial services, business services, manufacturing, and the utility sector. These positions included leadership roles in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, Product Development, Corporate Development, and Client Management. In her coaching practice, Suzanne focuses on supporting individuals and teams including college students pursuing their first opportunity, leaders seeking support in their current roles and senior global leaders transitioning to new roles and/or broadening their scope of responsibility. Suzanne earned her leadership coaching certification from Georgetown University and is ICF PCC certified. Experienced in numerous assessment tools Suzanne holds an MS in Finance, an MBA in Marketing, a BA in Social Rehabilitation and has completed several executive education programs.
I bring over 25 years of diverse leadership, education and coaching expertise to individual and organizational clients. The Designing Your Life framework is embedded in my coaching foundation with individuals and groups. I’ve done extensive career and leadership development work in higher education, specifically focused on empowering women. Earlier in my career, I spent 18 years as an independent senior-level Human Resources leader working with small businesses, primarily in the areas of talent management, career/succession planning, employee engagement, team collaboration, training and strategic people planning to support business goals. I serve as a volunteer board member for a local credit union, chairing the CEO Evaluation Committee. My professional development includes memberships with the Society of Human Resource Management and the Association for Talent Development, and an MBA/Human Resources from Isenberg School of Management/UMass Amherst. I look forward to helping you reflect on who and where you are, envision who and where you want to be, and become an expert wayfinder as you design your unique path.
Anubha is a transformational Technology Leader, Ex-Professor, Motivational Speaker, and DEI Advocate with over 2 decades of global work experience. After 23+ years at Intel Technology serving as Engineering Director, she quit her job and is creating a new chapter in her life.
Linda is a Certified Professional Co-active Coach and a Professional Certified Coach with 15 years of experience teaching, mentoring, and coaching. Working primarily with creative young adults, she is passionate about helping her clients make the positive changes they wish to see in their lives. Her background in higher education and college counseling brings an understanding of both the academic field and the range of experiences individuals have at this stage of their lives. Her experience as a professional lighting designer adds an element of imagination and innovative thinking, allowing creative expression to be a valued aspect of career development. Her work guides the process of uncovering what is truly important to her clients as they learn to hone their own vision and values as young adults and facilitating choices that honor that. Working together, she helps clients build a future that reflects their values and dreams.
Madeline is a career coach with extensive experience focused on working with undergraduate and graduate students. She comes from a public affairs and liberal arts background, having served in AmeriCorps and worked in local government. She is passionate about helping students feel confident and excited about their next steps after graduation and how to curate helpful experiences during their education. She uses a student centered approach, with the voice of the student always centered and championed.
Anny is currently the Assistant Director of Experiential Education for Career Readiness at Rutgers University- New Brunswick. She holds a B.A. in History and Linguistics from Rutgers, and a M.S.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University Bloomington. Using a cyclical career journey model to work with students, Anny and her team guide students in one-on-one advising sessions to discover their own career journeys and build their own paths that come in different stages of career preparation. In addition, she uses skill-discovery and self-assessment tools such as Traitify to help students better understand their strengths and interests. Anny also works with students in small groups to intentionally reflect on their extracurricular activities and and jobs as well as the transferable skills they gain from those experiences. She takes a skill-based approach to help students think about the next steps of their career journey, connect their skill development with career competencies outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, and guide them on articulating these transferable skills on their resumes and in future interviews.
Professor and award-winning writing instructor, Heather N. Martin helps individuals harness the power of writing to live more intentional lives. Writing can be a tool of reflection, healing, growth, and planning. Heather has helped thousands from all over the world as a professor and coach. With warm guidance and decades of experience, she will help you write your way to a life you love.
My focus is to support individuals navigating change and challenge, especially during life transitions (for example, new school, new job, empty nest, retirement).
I help aspiring entrepreneurs and students design their business and personal growth strategies. I draw upon my own experience of 8 different career pathways – including my first with McKinsey Tokyo and Los Angeles – and starting 3 successful companies. I specialize in cross border business in the US and Japan. Fluent in Japanese.
Maureen’s focus is to help people discover what makes them come alive and then support them along their journey. She is a life design and career coach and loves to work with women in transition from college through the middle of their life. Maureen has her own coaching practice: Adventures From the Inside Out, which offers personal coaching, Designing Your Life Coaching, and Coaching through Adventure (supported group or solo international and backpacking trips) for women. As a life-long student of Non-Violent Communication, massage and bodywork practitioner, an international traveler, special education teacher and a student of somatic coaching, Maureen weaves all of this life experience into her coaching practice.
Barb Mackie has over twenty years working in career education in the university sector, most recently specialising in coaching MBA students. Each student has a compelling story. Barb guides students to reimagine and create their careers based on a design thinking approach. Using a strengths-based approach to career development, Barb coaches students to clarify their purpose, explore options, leverage from past experience and create a future. Barb has a track record in guiding students to articulate their personal profile and presence (in person and online) to develop and expand strategic networks and relationships to bring career goals to reality, gaining confidence and managing uncertainty. Barb is located in Newcastle, NSW Australia and is available to coach clients online. Contact Barb on barbara.mackie@me.com
What I love about career development/career transition coaching is the opportunity to assist people in recognizing their strengths, appreciating their experiences, and honoring their inner voice/intuition.
I have spent nearly 30 years working in impact-oriented roles with nonprofit organizations, for-profit social ventures, government agencies, and higher education. Throughout my career, I have moved between sectors in various management and consulting roles, titrating between work in the trenches of building social-impact companies and organizations and supporting students and professionals as they navigate the opportunities and challenges of building careers that prioritize people and the planet just as much as profits. I have coached, funded, educated, evaluated, and supported aspiring impact-oriented professionals as the Director of Social Entrepreneurship at the NYU Stern School of Business and now as a faculty member and coach at CU Boulder’s Masters of the Environment program, a two-year sustainably graduate program. I hold an MBA from Columbia Business School and an MA in Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
As an empathetic and intuitive coach, I would like to help you design your way, no matter where you are in your life journey. I have over 15 years of experience helping others to transition to new chapters in their lives. Whether you’re in high school or college and just starting your career, feeling overwhelmed or unsure of what you want to do next or what to do after retirement, I can help you figure it out. I will help you to identify your skills, interests, and values, explore different options and possibilities, and design a way to help you achieve your goals.
Dustin Liu is a first-generation Taiwanese American and a proud New Yorker. He currently lives in the Bay Area where he is a Lecturer at Stanford, guiding students as they develop their own answers to the tough questions in life, education, and vocation. Outside of Stanford, he is a guide and facilitator in learning communities where he designs learning experiences and curriculum. He also serves as a coach for senior leaders within organizations learning and evolving into generous and humane ways of operating through a developmental lens.
The thread in all my work is understanding people – in the past, present, and future – to make an impact. While I do not do individual coaching, my life design practice focuses on helping teams and people within organizations and institutions through train-the-trainer sessions, small group boot camp courses, and bespoke training focused on professional development leveraging interdisciplinary life design methods, including DYL.
Cristina, who is a life designer by nature has over 15 years of experience in motivating people to create more fitting lives for themselves. Her knowledge and innate designer mindset are enhanced by her studies and work in Furniture Design, Artistic Therapy, Creative Career Coaching, and DYL Facilitation. At the Municipality of The Hague, where she works as a development advisor, career coach and trainer, she designs and teaches several workshops and personal development programs on soft skills and on career and talent development. To further engage her passion to help others achieve their dreams, Cristina founded Luova Life Design, to coach young professionals and midlife career changers who are stuck and wish to redesign their jobs or career trajectories. Her expertise is in assisting her clients to increase problem solving abilities, to build resilience and self-confidence, to overcome limiting beliefs and to help them to reconnect with their natural talents and purpose. Her mission is to enable her clients to find and create their way forward in life and in their work with a spirit of empowered leadership. Reach out to Cristina for in person sessions and workshops in The Hague, and for online individual or couples coaching sessions worldwide in Dutch or English.
Megan spent the initial 25 years of her life excelling as an elite athlete on the international stage. She then shifted gears into a digital marketing career and focused on her family, guiding her children towards both academic and athletic success.
Amir is a strategist/marketer/banker and a professional life coach. He believes that coaching should be approached in multi-disciplinary ways, from philosophical, psychological, design thinking, storytelling, through personal business model, so that someone’s life potential can be unlocked wholistically. Amir is is a certified coach in STRONG Interest Inventory, Business Model (You) Innovation, and Designing Your Life. He has also earned accreditation from prestigious institutions such as Columbia Business School, Stanford Business School, Stanford D-School, Columbia Business School, Wharton Business School, UCLA Anderson x Cannes Lion-Marketer Academy, Omnicom x Singapore Management University-Spike Brand Manager Academy, and ACUCA Scholars. His career experience in the corporate world also enriches his coaching background; Amir has worked in various global banks. He received his first SVP posting when he was only 30 and has achieved about 50+ marketing awards up to date. He was featured as one of the 40 under 40 2020 Campaign Asia as top-tier talent transforming Asia-Pacific marketing.
Based in Northern Virginia, I am the Director of Equitable Opportunities for Vine & Fig Tree. In that position, I get to help youth and under-resourced and overlooked populations discover and develop their own paths to success. As a non-profit Executive Director and a board member for several small non-profits, I have a passion for investing in, and helping to further develop, advocates and leaders who want to make a difference in their communities, along with anyone feeling stuck in their life’s journey. Through an understanding of each individual’s unique strengths, I encourage a design path that focuses on using resources on hand and personal goals to overcome obstacles and navigate life and career transitions. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, I’m also a certified Adverse Childhood Experiences trainer, Mental Health First Aid certified, and am a Verified Coach in the Enneagram via Cloverleaf and ICF.
Allen Thayer is a veteran of the social impact sector who has transitioned his skills and experience to supporting students in identifying and pursuing careers with impact and meaning. With a background in international economic development, Allen spent the better part of a decade working in the equitable/fair trade field. Allen was Associate Director at the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where he facilitated student career growth into a wide variety of social impact avenues. Since 2017, he has worked at Portland State University’s School of Business coaching MBAs and designing and delivering career education programming. He also hosts a weekly two-hour Brazilian music radio show on Portland’s Jazz Radio KMHD 89.1 FM and DJs around town and writes about jazz, soul, funk and international music on the weeks he’s not co-parenting two neuro-divergent kids.
Isabelle is a business consultant and certified leadership coach merging eastern and western practices of conscious leading and living. Guiding individuals and teams to successfully design their inner and outer development journeys and to be in the driver seats of life, work and wellbeing is a passion for her. Isabelle is also a co-creator of capacity building programs for emerging adults on the topics of conscious leadership, transformation literacy and holistic wellness. With a 20-year career as an executive in high tech industries in Canada, Isabelle (MBA, Eng.) has extensive experience leading large scale system transformations, team performance and individual development. While living in southeast Asia for seven years, she deepened her leadership, personal mastery and transformation literacy while heading consulting endeavors for various startups and small businesses in East Timor and Bali. Now based in Portugal, Isabelle’s clientele spans across the globe and benefit from her diverse experience and deep desire for meaningful and authentic interactions. She also holds accredited certifications as an executive leadership coach, design your life coach, yoga teacher, small and medium consulting, neurolinguistic programming and is on progress of accreditation for holistic wellness coaching.
Communications and Transition Coach
Leslie Bailey Streissguth began her career journey at the University of Virginia, where she majored in Rhetoric and Communications. After working in the broadcast news industry, she felt her professional life could offer more, so she started taking to people. From there, she pivoted and earned a Master’s of Teaching from Towson University. Her career has continued to carve its path, each turn coming from being curious, talking to people, and trying new things. Designing Your Life was something she did before there was a name for it!
Kandis Rodgers is a Career and Life Design coach with almost 10 years experience providing career counseling to individuals from a broad array of industries (accounting, business, marketing, engineering, public health, etc.). Kandis incorporates art, storytelling, and self-reflection into her work with those seeking career advancement or balance between career and life, career pivoters, and people who wonder, “What’s next?”.
A Wisconsin native, Nick attended the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, as a first-generation college student. During his undergraduate experience, he found a passion for serving and helping others. This passion led Nick to continue his education at Mississippi State University, where he earned a Master of Science in Counselor Education with an emphasis in College Counseling. Nick has spent the last fifteen years of his professional career helping students navigate the landscape of higher education. He has worked for large land grant institutions, small state schools, and private faith-based institutions. His roles have included work in housing, counseling, career services, academic advising, summer bridge programs, first-year experience, orientation, academic support, and student success. As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, he helps individuals activate their natural talents, abilities, and ways of thinking into productive and purposeful ways of living. Nick currently works and lives in Nashville, TN, where he serves graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at Vanderbilt University.
A professional career coach and advisor with a passion for helping people find their own path and purpose. After taking a break from my own career, I discovered my joy for helping others was not being utilized to its fullest potential. With the help of a career coach, I was able to dig deep and explore what truly made me happy and fulfilled in my career. Drawing from my experience in sales and marketing, I developed a strategy to become a career coach, receiving my CPC through iPEC in 2022 and my ACC through the ICF in 2023. I have worked with individuals from all walks of life to help them navigate their career paths. While working with university students, I realized how much I was drawn to their passion and motivation to create positive change, leading me to became a Senior Career Advisor at Ivey Business School. Seeing the confidence and clarity develop within my clients is what motivates me to continue on this path. I am dedicated to helping others find their true potential and achieve their goals.
Laura is honored to serve as a career educator with three decades of experience in higher education, career counseling, professional speaking, and leadership. She holds an M.Ed. in Student Development in Higher Education from the University of Maine and a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Laura Francis is an ICF certified life coach, career coach and speaker. She brings over 30 years of diverse experience to her work. Featured in the New York Times and NPR radio, Laura is an expert on teen, young adult and midlife and the issues currently affecting those populations. She is an active member of the Forbes Coaches Council and a designing your life certified coach. Laura regularly speaks at Rancho la Puerta wellness center, The University of California and Lewis and Clark University. She is currently expanding into corporate wellness programs. Laura has an active individual and group coaching practice and brings curiosity, open mindedness, active listening and thoughtful analysis to her work. As a career coach, Laura is particularly interested in helping clients find work at the intersection of what they love, what they can be paid for, what they are good at, and what the world needs.
Sienna is a passionate life design coach and positive psychology educator. She is currently pursuing her second Master’s degree in Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship at Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to her studies at Harvard, she’s exploring the intersection of technology and mental health at MIT. Sienna is also working at Harvard as a Student Experience Team Coordinator at the Teaching and Learning Lab. As a former Master Trainer at UNESCO, she honed her skills in guiding and mentoring future leaders. Her commitment to social entrepreneurship is exemplified through her roles as a Ford Fund Fellow and a Yunus&Youth Fellow, where she harnesses the power of innovation to drive positive change. Sienna’s research focuses on using the Stanford Life Design model to motivate teenagers, and she’s presented her findings at the American Educational Research Association.
Stephanie is the CEO of VOOYA, an education company that empowers students, parents, and professionals to feel more confident in their educational and career choices. She believes in a multidisciplinary approach to have a better understanding of oneself. Thus, they are able to decide and achieve the kind of future they find fulfilling and meaningful. She is a certified ‘Designing Your Life’ and ‘Business Model Youth’ career coach, ‘Strong Investment Inventory’ practitioner, and ‘Business Model You’ Master Facilitator.
With a deep commitment to youth development and social innovation, Michael has played a pivotal role in founding two social enterprises. These organizations are dedicated to equipping young individuals with essential soft skills, entrepreneurship support, and personal coaching. His extensive experience includes advising and developing strategies for more than 200 social entrepreneurs and over 10 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), drawing on his broad network and in-depth knowledge across various sectors.
Kim Vierra is an award-winning educator and career coach known for guiding students towards fulfilling lives. Currently, she serves as the Student Engagement Program Manager and Instructor in the College of Business at Oregon State University-Cascades. In this role, Kim collaborates with business leaders and external partners to design and implement a comprehensive curriculum of professional development experiences. She also provides personalized guidance to students in all aspects of their career planning. Prior to joining Oregon State University-Cascades, Kim gained valuable experience at Mercer and Nike. Her roles at these organizations involved management development and learning, global mobility, compensation, and benefits. She has also co-founded impactful initiatives such as the OSU-Cascades Innovation Pitch Fest, Alumni Career Conversations, and the College of Business Reverse Career Fair. Kim holds a Master of International Management (MIM) from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Economics from Lewis & Clark College. Her approach is consultative, with a strong emphasis on a bias towards action. Through her dedication to learning and career development, Kim aims to make a lasting impact on her local community and individuals alike.
As a university Career Services Director, assistant professor, and story scholar, I coach students, encouraging them to dig into life work options and create their unique road maps. Through the exploration of personal narrative, and using co-active and transformational coaching tools, students uncover their strengths, clarify goals, and navigate career choices.
Shannon has worked in the career development space for 20+ years including both higher education and nonprofit and most recently Edtech. She spent the last 12+ years working in higher education career services, serving as a strategic partner in developing several large-scale career programs that focused on supporting individuals in their career journey. Additionally, she has managed a career center as well as supported graduates as part of the Job Corps Program, the largest nationwide job training program for young adults. She loves empowering individuals by providing them with the tools, resources and opportunities to succeed while helping them to define their “WHY”.