My philosophy is to elicit a positive change through goal-oriented coaching methods. As a former Marketing Executive in the music industry, I would boost and launch the careers of rock stars; now I make rock stars out of executives and aspiring professionals.
As a Certified Executive Coach & Founder of Smile Across The Finish Coaching, LLC, I specialize in coaching executives, creative professionals, and artists in areas of Leadership and Career development. I work with private clients from Music, Entertainment, Media, Finance, Technology, Small Businesses, Higher Education. My clients range from aspiring professionals to C-suite level; all with a common ground of being high-potentials, motivated to reach their next level of success.
In higher education, I manage career development, programs, services and strategy at Pace University. I am also an Executive Coach and Adjunct Professor at Montclair State University Business School to MBA/EMBA students. I also have experience as an associate with several HR Outplacement career coaching companies and train-the-trainer certification programs for aspiring counselors.
For over 20 years I worked as a Senior Executive in marketing/product management at major music companies (Universal Music, Capitol Records, EMI Music, Sony Music, Mercury Records) in NYC & Hollywood, boosting and launching the careers of rockstars around the world—Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, Celtic Woman, Ricky Martin, Anita Baker, Ringo Starr, Van Morrison, Sarah Brightman, Michael Franti & Spearhead—and artists signed to legendary jazz label Blue Note Records. Now, as a coach, I make rockstars out of executives and aspiring professionals.
I offer my clients well-rounded techniques of both transactional coaching (use of counseling to work through tactical steps) and transformational coaching (applying coaching skills to move the client forward). I am trained according to International Coaching Federation (ICF) competencies and code of ethics and allow the client to determine the agenda. I facilitate the conversation through powerful questions (not telling). I coach using the GROW model; a performance-based, goal-oriented method.
I believe that establishing trust in the coaching space is essential to having an impactful coaching relationship. After years of working with executives, artists, and clients of diverse statures and creative personalities, I am capable of swiftly establishing rapport. After experiencing innumerable organization restructuring in the paradigm-shifting music industry, I have a heightened sense of awareness towards effectively working through change and a keen understanding of leveraging an individual’s skills to transfer into other professions.
I hold great value in balancing family, kindness, and honesty with ambition, determination, and hard work. As a wife and mother of twin daughters, living in suburban New York, an avid marathon & ultra runner, I know firsthand the challenges of defining boundaries around work and personal life. My coaching philosophy stems from my personal and professional experiences.
WHY DID I BECOME A COACH?
As someone who feels like I’ve always been a coach in training, the question for me was how could I not become a coach? With a passion for listening and a desire to inspire and guide others to achieve their goals, coaching is a way for me to use my gifts as a service to others. I have been fine-tuning my ears to actively listen from a very early age. When I was a young professional jazz saxophonist, I learned the importance of listening for the notes that are not being played as attentively to what is being played. And throughout my 20-year career as a marketing executive in the music business, I have been trained not only to hear notes but to hear people in order to positively facilitate successful communication between artists and colleagues. As an avid marathoner, I listen to the rhythm of breath, the pitter-patter of sneakers, and the messages from the brain to the legs. It is this penchant for listening—to the stated and unstated—that helps me facilitate impactful discussions to clear the path towards a client’s goals.
EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS
- The 5 Cohesive Behaviors of a Team (Wiley Distributor)—Certified Facilitator
- Everything DiSC Workplace (Wiley Distributor) – Certified Facilitator
- Strong Interests Inventory Certified—from The Myers-Briggs Company
- ATD (Association for Talent Development): Train the Trainer Certification
- GetFive (formerly known as The Five O’Clock Club), Certified Career Coach
- New York University, Certificate in Executive & Personal Development Coaching
- New York University, MA Entertainment Business
- Sarah Lawrence College, BA Jazz Studies / Italian language
CURIOUS? LEARN MORE ABOUT MY COACHING SERVICES.
