10 years ago I burned out and got divorced.

As with most breakdowns, it was a major turning point in my life. In almost a decade of consulting my MO was to be smarter, work harder, and ideally look better than everybody else. It turns out, applying that strategy to my career had serious diminishing returns, and was even more disastrous when applied to my personal life. After leaving consulting, the question that consumed me was, "How do I make sure this never happens again?"

I devoured books, courses, coaches and therapists. I tried to pull together a map that made sense to me, and integrated my past experiences. At some point, having gone down enough rabbit holes I realized something; all of these traditions were pointing to some of the same basic truths. Everything I was trying to find was already known, hiding in plain sight.

In the 10 years I was at Google, I had the chance to develop business strategy, operate in a line role, and then take both of those experiences into the development of executive leadership programs, and supporting executive teams as they navigated some of the most complex business problems on the planet. Only once I had the chance to put theory into practice and see the problem from both sides of the equation did I get a true understanding of how things actually work. The answer was both far more simple and so much harder than I thought.

I'm committed to working with leaders who are trying to achieve something bigger than themselves and want support in service of that goal. My most rewarding moment, and the reason I love this work, is when we can look back and connect the dots, to see the journey from a different perspective and appreciate how far we've come.

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My areas of expertise include strategic and systems thinking, team and leadership effectiveness, high impact communications, and emotional and social intelligence.

I graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a BA in Philosophy. I am also part of the Career Coaches Network at Columbia University - a select group of coaches that support the university's community.

In my free time you might find me riding my bike or running through the hills near Silicon Valley, where I trained for the Wildflower Long course - a half-ironman distance triathlon. Or spending a lazy afternoon with my family.

Sheila brings over 30 years as a trusted advisor to senior leaders through experience in top tier and boutique management consulting firms, as a start-up co-founder and a mother, along with a Harvard MBA. She took the leap 12 years ago to follow her passion into executive coaching and leadership advisory, focusing on individual and collective leadership effectiveness.

Sheila has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA in Logistics and Operations from The George Washington University. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Sheila is certified in The Leadership Circle Profile, Leadership Assessment Questionairre, Bechmarks 360, Workplace Big 5, FIRO-B and Growth Edge Interviews.

When Sheila is not advising leaders, you can find her in an art museum, collaging, hanging out with her three teenage daughters, hiking or cooking. She also practices meditation and is deeply exploring energy work and somatics. Sheila lives in Austin, TX and dreams of living in a castle in the countryside of France.

As the "middle" child in a family of four - I was known as the diplomat and the peacemaker. From a young age I eschewed the spotlight but enjoyed being on the winning team. Often this meant playing a supporting role and leading from the side - as the goalie on the pitch, class project late night hero, or sacrificial player two that took the chances so player one (often my older brother) could survive and live to win the game.

At university I learned the art, craft, and precision it took to create compelling durable designs - but I recognized early in my career my true passion wasn't in being a brilliant specialist, but helping others realize their brilliance through my partnership.

My career has given me amazing opportunities to practice the skill and craft of forming, leading, and managing high performing teams to innovate, pivot, and consistently deliver - from working with the Department of State to reimagine travel.state.gov to be an intuitive global platform for US travel services, to concepting and bringing to life innovative mail and package delivery services for the United States Postal Service, to leading a company-wide culture change management program at Google shifting from a focus on near-term velocity to long-term value through utility, craft, and product excellence.

When not helping teams succeed in their ambitions, I spend my time practicing unconditional love with senior foster dogs from Muttville, hiking in the coastal redwoods in Mendocino, and attempting to make potable wine from Sonoma grapes.