I connected with Carmen at an emotional level and felt very comfortable with her. I could feel her passion/excitement in the tone of her voice. It really helped that she made me feel ‘human’ – that it was ok to feel/be the way I was – and that there wasn’t something wrong with me.

Carmen is a certified leadership and team performance coach who believes in bringing the authentic, vulnerable self to both professional and personal settings. 

Carmen began her own leadership career working in highly regulated laboratories.  The process-driven culture initially informed her leadership style.  She relied on processes, standards, and a black-and-white mentality to “lead” people.  She recalls, early in her leadership career, saying, “I don’t want to let them know too much about me because we can’t be friends.” 

However, she quickly realized that her true nature was to build relationships and, in order to be successful, she needed to bring that authenticity to her leadership practices.  Carmen was rewarded for bringing vulnerability and humility to her leadership style when she was selected to participate in an exclusive (top 1%), high-level leadership development program for a large non-profit organization.  The goal of the program was to create the next level of top executives over a three-year timespan. As a result of the program, Carmen was given the opportunity to lead groups in a variety of departments including Operations, Sales, and Project Management.

During this leadership program, Carmen found her true passion…developing other leaders (not necessarily continuing into an executive leadership role herself).  In her peers, she saw the divide between their work and personal selves and felt that divide was limiting them.  The divide seemed to be creating, in her opinion, the feeling of “being caught in the hamster wheel.”  Not only did it seem to affect the leaders, but it trickled down to all people within the organization.  Leaders were guarded, protective, and often in survival mode—and so, in turn, were their employees.  As soon as the leadership program ended, Carmen switched careers and moved into talent and organizational development roles.

Carmen then spent 5 years as the Talent Development Manager responsible for strategic talent development of the 10000+ employees as well as refreshing the leadership culture of said team.  In that role, she asked leaders to bring a sense of emotional safety to the workplace and coached them 1:1 to be their authentic selves as they led.  

Now she’s here – launching her own coaching firm! 

She finds purpose in helping leaders and teams gain confidence and effectiveness. She specializes in mining for the rich superpowers in all of us, especially those leaders who are experiencing self-doubt or imposter syndrome. Instead of relying solely on the academics of leadership, she helps genuine leaders get real with who they are (and who they are not) and create success using their unique skills and abilities. She also finds success facilitating teams through the work of visioning, trust building, and communication.  

Carmen holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from St. Mary’s University and is accredited with the International Coaches Federation (ACC).  She also is certified as a Gallup Strengths Coach and as a Team Performance Coach (TCI). Outside of coaching, Carmen is passionate about fitness, the outdoors, and enjoying her small family, her son, Lukas, and husband, Brian.