Leadership Coaching
For four years, I worked with mid-career and experienced professionals who were going through job transitions. Whether they were looking to grow in their current role or discern their next chapter (or both!), it was honor to walk with them along the way.
I have worked with professionals looking to...
Grow in their current role
You want to excel in your current role, whether that means getting promoted, being more strategic in your impact, or starting strong in a new role. You may also want to improve your communication skills and develop an executive presence that’s unique and authentic to you.
Discern their next chapter
You can sense something needs to shift, but you’re not sure what’s next. Maybe you’re looking to transition roles, companies, or industries. Or maybe you’re currently in the space between chapters and are figuring out what’s next.
“I feel a re-awakened confidence to navigate very difficult transitions and that my professional growth is re-accelerating.”
–Aaron S., Group Product Manager, Chime
“I wish I had worked with Bernadette as a coach even earlier in my career. Bernadette taught me the value of a strong coach as an ally in my corner. I’ve benefited greatly from her guidance, support, and presence.
I reached out to Bernadette after taking a new job as a senior Individual Contributor (IC). I was worried about the pace and direction of my career growth. I felt stuck.
Over the next three years, Bernadette effectively coached me through several professional breakthroughs, including three promotions and moving to the Manager track. What I didn’t expect was how our coaching work also supported massive transitions across several other dimensions of my life, including the COVID pandemic, loss of personal support, transitioning into parenthood, and changing habits given the greater demands on my time and focus.
When I look back, I’m really grateful for how easily and seamlessly Bernadette has taught me how to:
Take a holistic view. Our work together has helped me appreciate the dialogue between one’s personal and professional lives. I can now look for patterns across multiple spheres and find opportunities to upgrade my perspective, which led to breakthroughs across several areas of my life.
Feel safe to be curious, creative, and find my own solutions. Bernadette is a steadying rock. She shows up consistently and makes you feel heard, affirmed, and validated. I felt comfortable bringing to our sessions my early thoughts and ideas to workshop, which led to faster resolution.
Gain shifts in perspective for the long-term. In addition to working towards my career and personal growth goals, I now have more tools and frameworks in my toolkit that I can apply across all areas of my life. I can better balance the short-term and long-term with more equanimity. Working with Bernadette has led to full upgrades on my perspective, going beyond short-term tactics.
As a result, I feel a re-awakened confidence to navigate very difficult transitions and that my professional growth is re-accelerating. Bernadette is more than a coach–she’s an ally, a friend, a teacher, and a supporter.”
–Aaron S., Group Product Manager, Chime
“Our work together has helped me confidently navigate change and ambiguity on scales small and large.”
–Stefan L., Senior Software Engineer, Paxos
“Throughout the past year, I had felt my career growth plateau. A friend’s recommendation to try coaching intrigued me, but I was unsure it would be practical and worth the cost. I’m so grateful I took the leap: Bernadette has equipped me with many tools to freshen up my career and continue to grow in my role.
Our work together has helped me confidently navigate change and ambiguity on scales small and large. Her holistic teaching style acknowledges that one’s career is intimately connected to the other aspects of one’s life. Leading with this insight has resulted in positive impacts across several areas of my life, such as creating growth opportunities during my company’s organizational changes; having several successful high-stakes conversations at work and outside of work; and better listening to my needs across all facets of life and redirecting my energy accordingly.
In short, before working with Bernadette I felt stuck, and her coaching has given me confidence and momentum. Bernadette is truly skilled at the complex craft of career- and life-coaching, and she is a pleasure to work with.”
–Stefan L.
“I emerged on the other side as a more confident, mature leader.”
— Julia N., Product Lead for Creation Tools at YouTube Live
“I worked with Bernadette for almost a year now, and it is a life-changing experience.
What started with a question “Should I stay at my job or should I leave?” became a year-long growth journey with a lot of reflection. We worked together to identify what I truly want from my career and develop a strategy to approach my goals. In my day-to-day, coaching has helped me work more effectively with my team.
Bernadette guided me through many meaningful milestones, including: starting on a new team remotely, creating and delivering a 90-day plan, building relationships with my new team and leadership, getting promoted and growing the portfolio of products I manage, and speaking at Women in Product conference. She walked alongside me through my concerns and worries and helped emerge on the other side as a more confident, mature leader.
I would definitely recommend working with Bernadette. She has deep understanding of tech industry and how careers are built here. She can help you tailor you unique path, develop and execute on your personal growth strategy, and feel confident about it. She is an extremely supportive, mindful, and graceful person. I always feel recharged after our sessions.” –Julia
“Our discussions expanded my thinking on what's possible for me.”
—Geri Palast, Policymaker, Manager, Advocate, University Lecturer, and Former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor
"Working with Bernadette has been so valuable as I've navigated a period of significant change. After decades of leadership roles in government and nonprofit, I could sense it was time to make a shift. Our discussions expanded my thinking on what's possible for me. I am now on the boards of several organizations I care deeply about. I was also invited to speak at the Stanford Women's Network. Bernadette's unique blend of strategy and interdisciplinary thinking has helped me access my own inner wisdom and shape my own process. I'm grateful for Bernadette's support and thought partnership through this transition." –Geri
“We walked through navigating roles for a changing world and a changing me.”
—Jessica, Business Development Operations Analyst at Palantir
“Bernadette walked with me through *major* life and career changes in our 8 months of working together: deciding to leave a career I spent over a decade preparing; transitioning to a new industry during a pandemic; reclaiming my voice, standing up for myself, navigating roles for a changing world and a changing me; and managing my inner critic while nurturing my inner wisdom throughout the ups and downs of this exciting journey.
We worked together on strategic and practical career planning–from brainstorming roles that might be a good fit, to resume reviews, and workshopping skills specific to the tech industry. She also invited me to explore long-term career questions, bridging this current job transition to a longer-term career vision I could look back on and be proud of.
Through it all, Bernadette blended my mindfulness practice into our work together, which helped me stay grounded and present amidst so much change.
I highly recommend working with Bernadette. Our work together brought about core changes that I've noticed in my life: to listen to myself and to trust my gut, and to balance taking action with patiently letting things flow.” –Jessica
“I am in awe of the perspectives Bernadette has on life and transitions–the way that she thinks about things is refreshing in a way that is unlike anyone else I know.”
—Casey Dlott, Artist, Mother, Property Manager, and Former Digital Inclusion Advisor at USAID
“I am in awe of the perspectives Bernadette has on life and transitions–the way that she thinks about things is refreshing in a way that is unlike anyone else I know. I know that I will think back on our conversation frequently as I start to make some big life changes over the next few months. I feel very lucky that we met and I had the chance to speak with her. I cannot thank her enough.”
“I strongly recommend Bernadette to anyone looking to chart a more independent or creative path or find greater purpose and alignment in work.”
—Anya L., Director of Product, Dashboard.Earth
“I strongly recommend Bernadette to anyone looking to chart a more independent or creative path or find greater purpose and alignment in work. When I left my full-time role in tech to consult, look for more mission-aligned work and develop my own creative practice, Bernadette helped me listen to my truth, connect with grounded confidence, and find the next steps forward.
When I launched my consulting practice, she helped me keep moving forward with experiments that put me into contact with prospective clients. She has also helped me thoughtfully design habits, practices, and accountability structures that have helped me gradually find my voice, share my work more consistently, and cultivate a community of mutual support. When I look back at the last year since I launched my consulting practice, I feel awed and grateful — I was able to find work and financially support myself even earlier than I had imagined, and I’m settling into a cadence of sharing my creative work that feels exciting without being overwhelming.
In her coaching, she brings the best of the tech world — design thinking and agile process — while also honoring natural cycles and intuition. Working with Bernadette feels energizing, empowering, and encouraging, and I’m frequently amazed by how much we manage to cover (and with incredible depth!) in our sessions. If you’re looking for more purpose, alignment, and connection in your professional or creative life, Bernadette can help you find it.” –Anya
“I strengthened my leadership skills in the most authentic way possible.”
—Angie R. Founder
“Bernadette helped me transition into a leadership position, not by telling me what decisions I should be making, nor by telling me what a leader should say or do, but by helping me find my voice. She and I worked to understand my strengths and communication style and to identify what pre-conditioned patterns were holding me back from confidently voicing my insights. Through our work together, I strengthened my leadership skills in a male-dominated industry in the most authentic way possible–as myself, a Latina, immigrant woman with a unique perspective to share.” –Angie R., Founder