Executive Coach, Baird Coaching
Years at Camp: 7 summers as a camper (1996- 2002)
SAIL program summer in the Outer Banks (1)
CILT summer (1)
Current Profession and Title/Years in role: Founder & Executive Coach, Baird Coaching since 2019
Can you provide a brief overview of your job responsibilities? I’m an Executive Coach in private practice, Baird Coaching, with clients around the world who hold various c-suite roles in companies big and small. I specialize in topics related to navigating career transitions and leadership development.This was a very logical move for me after spending years at Deloitte in Strategy Consulting and The Deloitte Greenhouse where I focused on designing and facilitating immersive workshops for business leaders at many Fortune 50 companies on topics ranging from op model transformation, to strategic planning, to team building.
The majority of my days are spent 1:1 in conversations with my clients, very often coaching recently appointed executives to make successful and efficient transitions into their new senior roles. At Baird Coaching my work is not only about optimizing their performance as business leaders, but also helping these professionals really own their career and achieve success on terms that matter most to them.
What pushed you to start out on your own and establish your own company? I was working for Deloitte, initially in their Federal Practice and was primarily serving Homeland Security clients. I was working with leaderships teams with diverse stakeholder groups holding various agendas and perspectives which was an exciting challenge to manage. From there, I facilitated workshops for the Deloitte Greenhouse, and my work with executives in transition in those led me to coaching school to sharpen my skills. I spent a few years really thinking through the details of my business model, the risks, and ideal client before completing my coaching certification and deciding to go out on my own.
Working so closely with leaders, what do you see as common challenges or stumbling blocks? A lot of leaders come into a position and think that because they have been successful doing things a certain way that they can continue to be just as successful operating in that same way. While that’s true to someextent, you still need to adapt to a new situation and pay attention to what the business context demands. It’s important to acclimate, learn and listen. There is a tendency to just show up and think you can hit the ground running, but what’s oftenoverlooked is the new context and culture.The same can be said of the Camp environment. Each cabin or team you have is going to be different and unique. You need to factor that in when you’re figuring out how to communicate, how you operate and what that means for your behaviors and actions.
What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments? Is there a goal toward which you are currently working? I am incredibly proud of what I have accomplished having set out on my own to run a business after years in a very different environment and scale like Deloitte which is a Fortune 50 company. It’s important to acknowledge that goal setting can also be about saying no, eliminating, doing less! This is an ongoing goal. I am ruthless about protecting time to recharge, enrich my mind, exercise, and most importantly invest in quality time with my husband and son.
How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life?
I’d describe myself as an independent, confident, curious, relationship-oriented woman thanks to Camp. Big picture, Camp becomes part of your DNA, it’s forever a part of you and I do think shapes each person uniquely. In retrospect, Camp informs how I invest in my friendships, how I think about coaching business leaders, and now what I strive to instill in my little boy. The Character Counts Award was started one of my early years as a camper. It was certainly formative to see the emphasis and regard shown to those who embodied trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you? Without hesitation, Gina Cherwin (Ormand) is a shining star who deserves recognition from me. She was my counselor in Cabin 17 first session 1999. It’s hard to articulate how we clicked, I think we just saw the potential in one another and there’s just been this mutual admiration and support from the outset. Gina nominated me for Honor Camper. On the last day of Camp as my parents waited in the car to start the drive back home to Connecticut with me, we had our teary-eyed goodbyes and she shared this nomination with me and her rationale for it. It is my earliest memory of someone outside my family whom I respected telling me very directly that they valued me as a person for my actions and my potential. It was equally inspiring and validating. We are still great friends and continue to support each other personally and professionally even though we live more than 1,500 miles apart. I count on her for a laugh, enthusiastic sponsorship of my career, and real-talk mother to mother.
What advice would you give your younger self? The advice my dad repeated to me so often growing up – and I still benefit from reminding myself of these words to this day…. “You can’t cross the bridge until you get to the river.” Dad’s guidance almost always came back to “sleep on it.”
Favorite Camp meal: Loaded Baked Potato Bar – this was the entree my parents ultimately took advantage of to get me to eat broccoli on a regular basis.
Memorable Camp Moment: My first summer away from home was the year Hurricane Bertha hit and we evacuated to Raleigh. I was jazzed! My parents all the way in Connecticut…less so!
All-time favorite skit memory: I can’t remember the content, but it was a rendition of Milli Vanilli “Girl You Know It’s True” complete with breakdancing moves a la the worm.
Favorite special event at Camp: Power Hour stands out, along with midnight parties the counselors would throw one night – junk food galore. I promise I am a very healthy eater despite some of these responses.
If you had to have an intro song every time you walked into a room what would it be? The Rembrandts “I’ll be there for you” (The “Friends” sitcom theme song for those not familiar). I admittedly had to ask for some input with this one and this really resonated.
What would you eat if you could only have one food for the rest of your life? Ice cream, Haagen Dasz coffee to be specific.
