If you’ve been curious about executive coaching but have hesitated because you’re not sure what it entails or whether it would help you, here's what former client SJ Crawford shared on LinkedIn about working with me 1:1. 

If you're technically excellent, hold yourself to a high standard, and feel a low hum of guilt about wanting more (because a bigger career might disappoint the people you're currently keeping happy) this one's for you.

When women leave toxic workplaces or step out of roles that chronically undervalue them, it's saying: I will hold the remote to my own career, and I will use it. You have that remote too. The question is, what do you want to do with it?

Navigating an exit isn't just a corporate transaction—it’s a declaration of your sovereignty. Whether you are planning a major career transition, looking to turn a toxic situation into an opportunity, or preparing to become your own boss, you deserve a space to strategize your exit safely and authentically.

Winning in an unequal system simply requires a different, more nuanced kind of effort. If you are a woman or a minority preparing for a pay negotiation, here are three strategic pivots to make.

My client Sarah-Neel’s results:

✅ Pivot 1: Successfully transitioned from Academia to Private Investigations with a 7% salary increase.

✅ Pivot 2: Leveraged her momentum into a 50% pay increase in Philanthropy.

🤨 How can POC leaders NOT gaslight ourselves navigating the predominantly white world? This was the question a client and I grappled with earlier today. She — a minority executive — told me about the hyper vigilance she feels at work. 

In the best of worlds, she could create abundance even without the billionaire. She could found a company, grow it, and guide it to a successful exit event that generates significant returns for herself and her shareholders.

So together, we crafted a negotiation script that anchored her starting salary above the stated range. We aimed for 4X her current pay.

The day I found out I was underpaid from reading an industry newsletter with salary benchmarks, it dawned on me like a gut punch: 

I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR MYSELF.

My mom — a South Korean immigrant with ironclad grit who wishes nothing less than abundance and success for her children — would probably get mad at me for saying this: I delight in making less money, by design.

It’s not a failure of strategy or a lack of hard work. Choosing to leave money on the proverbial table is a deliberate, values-based choice.

Feeling like a "fraud" is super normal, even for me. The more I coach subject matter experts and executive women, the more I see that imposter syndrome is never an indicator of actual competency but a hypnotic spell induced by a society steeped in bias against women and minorities. We can break the spell of this terribly boring hypnosis by co-opting its language. So there, I'm a "fraud." 

Too often, the approach women are taught is based on outdated models—confrontation, brinksmanship, and posturing.

Because the win isn’t just about getting a “yes.” It’s about learning to advocate for yourself in a way that feels grounded, genuine, and generative—even if the answer is “no.”

You're invited to two upcoming events. One is a virtual workshop on salary negotiation via Zoom (2/14/25) and the second an in-person live workshop on confidence in New York City (3/12/25). 

If getting better paid and promoted were simply based on being excellent at what you do, you'd have been a millionaire CXO years ago.

So why shouldn't you be paid at the top of the pay range? 

“I’m the worst at doing the ‘warm and fuzzy’ things. I’d much rather go straight to business,” my client said. As a forward-thinking VP leading a talented team of consultants, she’s determined to solidify her team’s reputation as essential to her firm’s success. With her first in-person team retreat on the horizon, we developed a four-step plan to help her achieve this…

If you struggle with premenstrual pain, if you’re autistic or ADHD, or if you’re highly sensitive to hormonal fluctuations (me, all of the above) — please read Shalene Gupta’s book The Cycle and implement these three best practices that work for high-achieving women with wombs.

You did something miraculous and wondrous with your body.

You created a new life, a new consciousness. You went on maternity leave, which is your right.

If you’re coming back and realizing you’ll have more work on your plate, this is what it means…

Now that things are slowing down and she has bandwidth… it feels very uncomfortable.

Like people don’t have confidence in her (otherwise, why would they withhold more work from her?).

Here’s how I coached my client.

“😥 Ugh, negotiating with Picky Pat (my boss) a couple years ago was so emotionally exhausting that I’d do anything to avoid confronting them again this year, even though I know I’m overdue for a market rate adjustment,” my client said. My client wants to feel confident going into future conversations about the promotion and raise she wants. 

😤 “She was dismissive of me in a meeting I led. She thinks she’s smarter than me,” a client vented today in a coaching session.

My client is a newly hired team lead, assigned a hiring budget and project mandate.

When I ask her why she needs the buy-in of the person who’d been dismissive, she says, “That’s how I’ll know I can do this.”