We asked a group of Seattle HR leaders what they needed to succeed in 2017; coaching topped the list. With that in mind, what better way to ring in the new year than to compile a list of local, Seattle coaches? I’ve featured five coaches below, each with a different approach, style, and area of focus. Whether you’re looking for an executive coach, career transition coaching, or a “walk and talk,” you’ll find it here. Here are our:
Recommendations for Seattle Coaches
Federico Vecchiarelli
www.exitaconsulting.com
Senior LD & OD Consultant, Executive Coach.
Areas: Leadership and Executive Coaching.
After many years of Talent and Leadership Development, in 2009 I found that my path had crossed into coaching. I discovered that I had been coaching for a long time without even knowing what coaching was. It took me another 4 years to eventually decide to get trained. Since then, coaching has become a huge part of my life, not just as a practice, but as a mindset.
I coach because I believe in the potential of people. Coaching is the way to nurture them, to make them effective, and to help them blossom. The connection with your client is essential and resembles a beautiful dance that brings both you and your client to new, unpredictable, and amazing realizations. This connection is not easy to establish. To be a successful coach, it does take time and effort to deeply understand your client’s concerns and objectives.
After spending some time coaching, I finally understand what really attracts me to coaching: the possibility to help someone find their own ways to progress and grow. I realized that coaching would have helped me in the past. This realization helps me a lot with my clients, because I am now able to put myself in their shoes and fully appreciate their challenges, while keeping a professional attitude and serving as a sounding board, or (as I like to say) a mindful mirror.
Sharmin Banu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharminbanu
Career and Leadership Coach.
Areas: Executive Coaching, work-life balance, career transition, career growth, interview.
My audience is mostly high-tech leaders and senior professionals. The reason I became a coach is that I saw firsthand how high-tech companies hire smart people but within a very short amount of time. Many of these smart hires become low/mediocre performers. This creates a very negative effect through the organization; morale becomes low, and productivity degrades. Through coaching, mid-level managers can start creating a growth culture from the ground up. I have coached people who were on the verge of leaving the company. After receiving coaching, they re-engaged and their career trajectories took off. One-on-one coaching not only helps in the workplace, it also address the person as a whole. As a result, their quality of life improves.
Coaching is still unfamiliar to many. There is a big gap around industry awareness and benefits of coaching. In many cases, coaching is seen as a way to “fix” the “problem” employees. Some understand coaching to be expert advice or mentoring. Coaching, when used right, helps uncover a better version of a person. It helps them become more self-aware (higher Emotional Intelligence) and more proactive, resulting in more growth and fulfillment. I am passionate about tapping into one’s intrinsic motivation, leading to deeper engagement that is essential for thriving in today’s world.
Prior to coaching, I worked as a software engineer and a manager for Microsoft. I am a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from International Coach Federation (ICF) and I hold a Masters in Computer Science. I was recognized as the 2014 Career Coach of the year by ICF WA. I was born and raised in Bangladesh, and I now call the Seattle area my home, having lived here for the past 16 years. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and hiking with my husband and our daughter.
Brit Poulson
Founder, Leadership Development Coach.
Areas: Leadership transformation, Emotional Intelligence, personal developmental breakthroughs, conflict management, navigating relationships strategically.
I have a deep conviction that leadership coaching has become a necessity in this unceasingly complex and competitive economy. Leadership coaching has been my passion for over 35 years and I continue to see the benefits today! Over time, I’ve worked with a wide variety of clients, from start-ups to fortune 500 companies. With “The Clarity Compass”, I assist clients in unlocking untapped potential and expanding their emotional intelligence skills. I find that there is a substantial benefit from one-on-one coaching as well as group coaching sessions. Working closely and consistently with an individual allows me to help them recognize what issues are holding them back, develop tools to overcome their challenges, draw out their gifts and talents, and create a competitive advantage.
Katie Chase
katie@katieczb.com | www.walkingkata.com
Areas: Mindfulness, appreciative inquiry, Emotional Intelligence, creativity, adaptability, somatic awareness and development, communication and messaging, business and strategy.
WalkingKata is executive leadership and process improvement coaching while walking. It’s the human form in motion (walking) and the Japanese art of improving, adapting, and innovating (kata) combined into one so leaders can embody and achieve seemingly unreasonable goals.
WalkingKata is led by Katie Chase. With one foot in tech, health and wellness, and the arts, she’s coached colleagues and clients in leadership and process development, mindfulness, movement, and somatic awareness so they can experience their own potential. She’s a classically trained vocalist, 15-year practitioner of holistic healthcare specializing in musicians’ injuries, and a community developer for the Seattle music tech scene. Katie is also a former startup founder and product team for Startup Weekend, Techstars, and 8Stem. In 2016, she walked 500 miles across Spain via the Camino de Santiago, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it catalyzed her belief that movement and learning go hand in hand. She’s still walking daily, now with leaders.
Anna S. Choi
annasunchoi.com | www.annasunchoi.com
Business Development Consultant
Anna Choi helps mission-driven entrepreneurs get more clients through strategic marketing and events consulting. Having built her first business from scratch by cold calling and asking for referrals, she tripled her net revenue in two years by age 23. Three years later, she sold her first financial planning business, InsideOut Investing, for double its value.
Two major challenges mission-driven entrepreneurs face are: 1) lack of strategy and systems in place for generating clients on demand, and 2) lack of accountability for focusing on revenue-generating activities. She’s personally invested thousands of dollars in hiring business coaches, and has cherry-picked the best of what works to help entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls; systemizing their lead generation to catalyze their own growth and success.
For fifteen years, Anna has been selling out events, often produced from scratch. As Founder and Curator of TEDxBellevue, she was trained by TED at a TEDxOrganizer Global Summit in Qatar. Since then, her clients include the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), Ignite Washington, Creativity Symposium, Women’s Funding Alliance, Lean In, and Impact Consultancy. Anna has also worked with corporate clients Google, White Pages, Best Buy, Synapse Product Development, and many more during her tenure as Program Manager at WTIA.
Anna has a unique perspective. Not only has she lived abroad in Italy and South Korea and visited Africa, Costa Rica, and Qatar, but she has also been formally trained as an artist, violinist, and Self-Expression and Leadership Program Leader, bringing over 5,500+ hours of professional training and development into communication and leadership development.
