About Me
About Me
Visions of a Leadership & Career Coach — Why Me?
While this page reads “About Me,” it really isn’t.
The role of a coach, be it in the field of leadership, career development, or life in general, is all about the focus on YOU, the client. The coach-client partnership provides a safe, non-judgmental space to help you achieve the goals you envision for yourself and to reach your full potential in your professional and personal life.
So, technically, it isn’t about me, and yet, why me?
Pursuing a professional path as a Career and Leadership Coach, after twelve years in the international academic environment and over twenty in a multitude of roles in the biopharmaceutical industry, just seems right. Outwardly, nothing and nobody has pushed me towards this goal, inwardly it fills me with excitement and joy just thinking about it.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.“ — Pablo Picasso
I see the role of coaching as meeting another person where they are in their life or professional path, and helping them break through any barriers — perceived and real — to unfold to their fullest potential.
In the heart of the coaching relationship lies the space that allows the client to raise his or her self-awareness and to develop a conscious eye towards purposeful self-realization, without judgment or time pressure. We all wear masks and represent a persona in our job. While this reality exists and we must function in it, many people who seek and benefit from coaching feel a gap between how they like to show up in their life and work versus what they are currently experiencing.
This gap isn’t about to magically fill itself without paying attention, seeking help, and creating an action plan to address it. As a coach, I help you evaluate the current and desired future state and work with you to plot a stepwise path in the right direction.
Having a positive, transformational impact on another person’s life and career is serious business. It is an incredible opportunity and responsibility that I welcome with energy, enthusiasm, and full commitment to you.
The Best Part of My Career & Life
Leveraging My Past to Help Your Future
To help coach my clients, I will draw on stories and insights from all areas of my personal experience, life, relationships and career path, which has included:
- Growing up in Germany
- International education
- Bilingualism
- Fulbright scholarship
- My immigration path to the US
- Becoming a wife and mother
- Focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion (mentor at the International Center for Professional Development, ICPD), science, engineering
- Executive MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Disciplined entrepreneurship (trained and volunteered at MIT’s Trust Center for Entrepreneurship)
- Healthcare (including, but not limited to the biopharmaceutical industry, leading business strategy and operations for a group of over 1000 colleagues at Pfizer Inc during the Covid-19 pandemic, direct interactions with global Boards of Health, the World Health Organization, research & development, manufacturing, outsourcing partnerships, business development)
Leadership and career coaching are a matter of “Giving Back” in the second half of life and leveraging the totality of my life experiences, strengths and passions – everything that has shaped me as a professional, an academic, and as an individual to help others.
I believe that the discipline and personal accountability to my own path is foundational to showing up as a powerful coach to you. I am 100% committed to helping you “Sharpen Your Focus and Drive Your Success” on your own journey.
CREDENTIALS / EXPERIENCE
- Decades of experience in the Biopharmaceutical industry
- Most recently served as Executive Director, Business Strategy and Operations, Pfizer Inc
- Senior Fellow, National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), a member of Manufacturing USA®
- Certified Professional Coach (ICF accredited)
- Energy Leadership IndexTM Master Practitioner
- Executive Coach, MIT Sloan School of Management, Career Development Office
- Mentor at John Hopkins University, Biotech Network
- “Self-made“, first generation immigrant, US citizen since 2020, on the basis of educational and professional achievement
- Bilingual: English and German
- Fulbright Scholar: Passionate about international education, diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Memberships:
– Fulbright Association
– MIT Alum Career Advisor Hub
– American Institute of Chemical Engineers
– Associate Director at CASSS Sharing Science Solution
– Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching
– International Coaching Federation - Student at the Assisi Institute (The International Center for the Study of Archetypal Patterns), grounded in Jungian Analytical Psychology: Informs the “inner work“ needed for personal transformation through coaching.
- Board of Trustees at Pine Point School: Pine Point School (Preschool – Grade 9 – Stonington CT)
EDUCATION
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Executive MBA, Business Administration and Management, General 2017 – 2019
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Chemical Engineering
1994 – 1998
Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany
Master’s Degree, Biotechnology
1988 – 1994
PERSONAL INFORMATION
- Self-described as a life-long learner, creative, introspective, naturally curious, with willingness to take risk, and thrives on identifying and connecting levers of transformation
- Passion Profile: transformer, teacher, creator
- Clifton Strength domains: strategic thinking, executing, relationship building, influencing.
- Hobbies include: photography, creative endeavors, reading, orchids and gardening (growing plants from seed!), and sailing
- Interests: international education, the benefits of diversity, analytical psychology (C. G. Jung), consciousness, and self-development
If you’re looking for transformational change towards expressing your true self in career and life, let’s talk!
