When entering college at the University of San Francisco, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to earn my business degree but needed to determine my focus. After learning about Entrepreneurship and Innovation, it was clear to me that it was exactly what I was looking for - an opportunity to blend business minded-entrepreneurial skills with cutting edge innovation. Not to mention, I was captivated by the emerging tech scene and the true entrepreneurial spirit of the Bay Area.

My biggest inspiration came from a Social Entrepreneurship class with Professor David Batstone. He’s the President & Co-Founder of Not For Sale, which is a non-profit focused on building a future without exploitation and forced labor, where healthy people and the planet can function together in harmony — in a world where no one is for sale. It wasn’t until about 5 years later that I finally had the opportunity to get involved with a social enterprise, but his course and business model opened my eyes to the idea that you can both do good for the planet and people while also running a successful business.

Before graduating, I was confident I wanted to start my career in San Francisco working for an early stage, fast growing, technology company. In the final interview process for my first full-time job, I was fortunate to beat out two competitive candidates that were older and more experienced than me and was given the opportunity to join my first startup in the Artificial Intelligence space. I was the first sales hire outside of the core leadership team and joined before the business broke six figures in profit.

I had the opportunity to wear a lot of different hats and work cross-functionally across Sales, Marketing, Strategic Partnerships, Business Development, Product Development & Corporate Culture. I dove headfirst into strategic partnerships and growth strategy, learning and innovating as we grew the business and team. During my time, we scaled the business to over $5M in revenue. This experience helped me develop effective communication skills, the ability to deliver strategic forward-thinking solutions, and in true San Francisco tech fashion - a scrappy mentality to get things done with limited to no resources.

Through mutual connections, I was introduced to the founder of a startup that launched out of Y Combinator and was focused on helping brands build an engaged community of their most loyal fans. I was given the opportunity to join their Partnerships team, focused on their Strategic Accounts. During my time, I helped develop the team’s SOP for partner presentations and was integral in building out the onboarding process for ramping up new sales hires. After a year on the team, the business was acquired. This experience really demonstrated to me the power of community and gave me framework for continuing to run and scale growing teams. It also gave me a first-hand experience behind the scenes of an acquisition and all the legwork that leads up to making it a successful transition.

In my time working with early-stage startups, I had a front-row seat to the myriad of challenges presented on a daily basis in business at these early stages. Many of these challenges were due to, or could be resolved through, leadership. This led me to look for the best leadership coaching methodology to build my competency in this area. Marshall Goldsmith was ranked the top leadership coach in the world for 10 years in a row by Thinkers50, the academy of awards in the field of business. He also is in the handful of thought leaders who has been inducted in their hall of fame. I completed my coaching certification in the Marshall Goldsmith’s Stakeholder Centered Coaching® process. This has provided me with the opportunity support leaders and executives to accelerate the growth of their business by simultaneously working to become more effective in their own leadership.

Ranked No. 1 in effectiveness in the world by Global Gurus, this approach to coaching requires leaders to choose stakeholders within their own organization who support and hold them accountable while they are working towards a goal with their coach. This is not the traditional one-on-one framework that happens behind closed doors. This framework helped me understand true growth happens when a leader is willing to be open to change that supports both personal and business growth. This coaching framework builds long-term, sustainable, adaptability aand resilience which I believe to be essential to long-term success.

The other area that has influenced my approach to helping leaders and companies growth stems from my early roots. Growing up in Santa Ynez Valley's ranching community over the mountains from Santa Barbara, California, I helped my father manage a small family cattle operation where I was introduced to the connection and responsibility we have to the land. This unique upbringing is what initially sparked my interest to deepen my understanding of that connection. My plan was to find a way to apply my experience and new skill sets to businesses and leaders who are purpose driven. It was time for a pivot.

I had the opportunity to sit on the board at White Buffalo Land Trust, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on using and promoting the practices and principles of regenerative agriculture. During this time, I was able to help build and launch the CPG brand Figure Ate, which is focused on introducing restorative foods that are sourced from farmers and ranchers using regenerative practices to the marketplace. This experience opened my eyes to the potential that regenerative agriculture principles have on positively impacting social, economic and ecological health. And it’s place in future business.

At the end of 2021, I received my Permaculture Design Certification through the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. This organization has been a massive driver for me to find ways to bring Permaculture’s ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share as a systems approach to change. And, these ethics have become integral to my consulting for businesses, coaching leaders or supporting the design process for more ecological restoration projects.

I believe there’s an opportunity to apply these ethics to how communities and businesses can operate. Rather than looking at our planet as an asset we can extract from, it is more effective to view it as the living breathing organism that sustains us all. We can all thrive when we live in a healthy relationship with the land. I’m on a mission to work with social enterprises who share this mentality to focus on the greater good and find the opportunity while doing it.

To summarize my background, I am a consultant and coach, blending my experiences across social entrepreneurship, growth strategy, commerce, brand building, leadership coaching, and community development, with a passion and commitment to making a positive impact against climate change, to inspire positive and outcome-oriented change for leaders and their organizations.