My co-founder and I have worked with Laura since the inception of Studs. Laura is an invaluable resource to us and to our management team and company. As a former operator herself, having lived the trials and tribulations of a high growth startup, Laura can provide a range of expertise from thought partnership on strategic issues to employee management as well as operational expertise as to how to actually get work done in an intense and fast-moving environment.
She has a unique ability to empathize with me and with our employees given her experience in our collective shoes and can also provide highly practical guidance and direction which many coaches cannot.
We work with her in a myriad of ways (everything from coaching to designing and executing learning and development programs) which also is truly a testament to her flexibility and range.
I cannot recommend her highly enough - others would be lucky to work with her.
Anna
Co-Founder and CEO at Studs; formerly Bridgewater, JetBlack, New York, NY
Laura and I first started working together soon after I became a partner at an early stage venture capital firm. My role was evolving significantly - we were growing the team, expanding our strategy, and building the firm accordingly. Laura's prior experience in operating roles and within startups gave her a deep understanding of the day to day challenges I was facing. Further, she provided a safe space for me to explore my own leadership style; we evaluated how I was showing up with my partners and for my team, whether I was operating naturally and comfortably, and established tactical plans for me to develop an effective and authentic leadership style.
Laura's experience coaching working parents and individuals who want to be very intentional about how they spend their time was really helpful as I navigated the major life transitions of having my second and third child. Work was a huge part of my life and fulfillment, but not the only part. Laura helped me think through and ultimately advocate for what I needed to succeed in both aspects of life. My ability to share this part of my life with Laura, something that can be hard to do in a professional relationship, speaks volumes about her trustworthiness, professionalism, and credibility.
Finally, about 3 years into my work with Laura I was offered an opportunity to join a new firm in a new city. Faced with this big decision, with significant ramifications on both my professional journey and my family life, Laura was one of the key people I turned to. She provided a structured approach to thinking through the option set and asked the right questions to help surface the key issues surrounding the decision. Laura is not only a great listener, she also brings a bias-to-action that helps her clients drive to critical decisions and end goals.
I strongly recommend Laura as coach, particularly for individuals navigating professional and personal transitions and those seeking guidance as they take on leadership opportunities.
Lindsey
Partner at Pacific Lake Partners; formerly Partner at Two Sigma Ventures, Boston, MA
“I worked with Laura leading up to a period of intense personal (becoming a dad) and professional (becoming a CEO) transition. Laura helped turn chaos into order and disparate needs into singular priorities. Her help was invaluable to me.”
Working with Laura has been a game-changer for me. She’s coached me through several turning points in my career. She supported me not just as an incredibly engaged thought partner during our sessions, but also beyond our sessions with the tools and frameworks I needed to take action.
Laura’s background as a startup operator makes her more empathetic to my circumstances and enables her to give me more actionable, behavioral recommendations and advice.
She also approaches her clients as whole people which, as a working mom, I really appreciate. She understands work / life balance is a myth. It’s just life and work is a really big part of it that can’t be analyzed in a silo. She’s helped me to think more holistically about my motivations and passions and how to find more balance across my life.
She’s helped me become a more effective leader, a more confident decision maker, a stronger collaborator and happier and more fulfilled person in and outside of work.
Emery
VP at First Round Capital, New York, NY
In every career, it is almost inevitable that you find yourself stuck. Maybe it is in the same job you don’t like, figuring out what you want to do next or in an otherwise good job where you can’t push past a certain point. When this happens, Laura is the perfect coach.
She is not only remarkably adept at identifying the issues, but she does a great job of defining a series of near term steps that help you achieve your ideal outcome.
Steve
Founder + Attorney, Boston, MA
“She is the best problem solver I know, and incredible at crafting honest and compelling narratives.”
When I first met Laura, I felt dissatisfied with the trajectory I was on, which was — in no small part — due to my own misplaced priorities.
She challenged me to reflect on my values — what really matters to me — and where my near- and long-term goals align and conflict with those.
We worked together to better understand the gaps preventing me from becoming the person I want to be, both personally and professionally, and to develop an approach to close those gaps.
In the end, I decided to stay with my current company, but negotiated a package that upgraded my role that set me on the path to achieving my long-term goal.
“Her super power is running the process from start to finish and creating a coherent thread from brain dump all the way through to prescribing actions that are likely to lead to a meaningful outcome.”
Aaron, VP Strategy & Corporate Development, Nanostone, Austin, TX
Laura is the coach you want on your team! We started working together when my company doubled from 10 to 20 people.
She was right by my side as the company grew to over 100.
As a first-time founder of a fast growing company, Laura provided the guidance and challenge for me to level up my leadership capabilities from as strategic as business strategy to as open-ended as people relations to as tactical as calendar management.
She tailored frameworks and analogies to my situation and led me to unearth hidden motivations, fears, and insecurities -- then guiding me to process them and to work through them. Laura is not just a work / career coach; I have benefited from how she wants you to live your ideal life. This has been life changing for me and I cannot thank Laura enough.
Dennis, Co-founder of Series B tech start-up in the healthcare space, NC
We kicked off coaching by defining my near-term and long-term goals and broke them down into actionable items. Three months later, I can see that I've made progress/accomplished nearly all of them.
I'd highly recommend Laura for anyone looking to make changes in their personal or professional life, or merely looking to level up their work/home life.
Kat
VP of Network & Talent at VC, New York, NY
“She really understood my concerns and questions and was really down to earth. My interaction with her felt more like a trusted friend/advisor more than someone who was trying to take me through a pre-defined coaching program.”
My Co-Founder and I engaged Laura to help coach us through an intense period leading up to and through the pilot of our business. We were scattered all over the place.
We were able to rapidly operationalize a seamless pilot, all while focusing on our long-term goals, primarily because of Laura's support. Because of this pilot, we had such a strong foundation that when we officially launched the company we were able to sign clients immediately.
She has lived the life of an entrepreneur at companies at various stages. She understands the complexities and nuances - emotional and otherwise - involved in entrepreneurship.
I strongly recommend Laura as a coach, especially for people who are going through critical "make or break" moments in their business or career.
Allison
CEO & Co-Founder, Parentaly.com, Minneapolis, MN
“Laura enabled me to have control of, and a strategy for, my career and professional progression. I no longer feel I’m shooting in the dark or hoping for luck.
She helped me find a genuine and authentic approach to gain access to information, to senior leadership and to opportunities to add value.”
I felt like my career had reached a dead end and I didn't know how to move past it.
Laura provided the support and resources I needed to move forward and I found myself on a new path in a few short months. I'm in a much better place now and she was key in helping me get there.
Sarah
Product Manager, New York, NY
“Laura is AMAZING. She really helped me gather my thoughts, sanity-check my maternity plan, and create actionable plans.”
I have so much more confidence, clarity, and authenticity in my career development after working with Laura!
Her approach to coaching is sincere, intuitive and completely comprehensive. When I first started out in my career, the road ahead seemed extremely daunting and inauthentic. After sorting through my experiences, strengths, weaknesses, motivators, and de-motivators, Laura was able to help me connect the dots and create much more clarity around my personal story and where I want to grow and develop. She also gave me the interpersonal skills to more effectively network and achieve positive results with coworkers.
I cannot recommend Laura enough!
Elizabeth
Program Manager, Brand and Marketing, New York, NY
Working with Laura has been amazing! Nothing is too in the weeds or too high level for Laura - her questions and frameworks help solve so many different situations.
She has coached me through a negative work environment, helping me build the confidence and the skills to understand my strengths and values, and find an amazing new job. I can't imagine the last few years of my professional journey / growth without Laura's support.
— Director of Strategic Advancement, New York, NY
She’s amazing at identifying pain points around finding your way/purpose/next steps, and putting together inspirational, but reachable goals with super easy-to-follow, logical plans.
Eric
Founder, Beerspoke Travel, New York, NY
I knew I wanted to make a change, Laura helped me build the confidence and enthusiasm to do it. Before working with Laura I was stuck in a cycle of feeling unfulfilled, second guessing my desire for change, and justifying my current path.
Laura helped clarify the things that mattered most to me and my family, not just in work but in our lives as a whole.
She helped broaden my sense of what was possible and provided concrete advice as I took my first steps in a new direction.
Jan
Attorney, Indianapolis, IN
“I had my mid-year review with my manager yesterday and it went great! Don’t think it would have gone this well without your help and months of support leading up to it. Thank you, Laura!!”
Working with Laura has been an extremely rewarding and clarifying experience, both professionally and personally. She made me feel extremely comfortable and truly heard during each interaction, which allowed me to tap into previously unrealized internal motivations and priorities.
She was always supportive and unbiased, guiding the process forward rather than steering it in a particular direction. This allowed me to arrive at my own conclusions, rather than being prescribed a specific prefabricated “solution” that she had identified. I feel extremely lucky to have had her as a resource and support system throughout my recent career transition.
I will undoubtedly return to her in the future anytime I’m feeling lost in transition. I cannot recommend her highly enough!!
Sana
Director of Account Management, New York, NY
“Laura gave incredibly helpful advice, taking the time to ask probing questions and listening carefully before sharing her perspective. It has been about three months since our conversation, and I find myself revisiting the notes from our conversation time and again - surprised each time at how insightful she has been.”
Sometimes all you need is a fresh perspective ... I've known Laura for almost a decade and have witnessed first hand her incredible intellectual horsepower and ability to lead nascent, emerging businesses. Where she really shines however, is her ability to listen, deconstruct and synthesize during the course of a challenging coaching conversation.
Being in the business of executive coaching and leadership development myself, it is easy to believe that I have all the answers. Yet time and time again, Laura has been present to help me think through many difficult career transitions. She asks tough questions which get me to think more deeply and intentionally about the reality I want to create for myself.
When I'm stuck, she has a gentle yet effective way to get directive with me when it's truly needed.
Andrew
Managing Director, Blackstone, Chicago, IL
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what contributes to Laura's incredible skill.
She is a nonjudgmental listener who is consistently able to quickly hone in on the fundamental belief or assumption that needs to be dismantled to free your heart and mind.
She listens with 100% focus on you and asks a lot of questions so that the dismantling is truly a process of self-discovery. She helped me through one of my most difficult life experiences, connecting me with my inner voice, desires, and actions I needed to take to help myself. I found every conversation with her to be enlightening, empowering and energizing. She has a very special gift, and I am incredibly grateful to have her in my life.
Sachpreet
Management Consultant & Entrepreneur, New York, NY
“Laura’s great! She is super organized, relatable, and asks the right questions. She is very empathetic and her advice is measured/balanced/wise.”
I HIGHLY recommend speaking with Laura, if you need some guidance in regards to your career. She was incredibly helpful and gave me so much insight into my own strengths and skills. Even when it was hard for me to articulate my strengths and desires for a job, Laura asked specific questions that made me realize my skill sets and interests. She provides invaluable advice and gives you the tools you need to succeed.
Talking to her will definitely leave you feeling empowered and confident about what you have to bring to the table.
Tiffanie
Operations Coordinator, Irvine, CA
“This job search was wildly more successful, and dare I say fun and rewarding, than any search in the past. If you’re feeling stuck and trying to figure out what’s next in your career, I highly recommend working with Laura!”
Laura is an excellent coach. She gives total attention to even the smallest things and provides practical solutions to practice and improve.
Chandan
Project Manager & MBA Candidate, Paris, France
“Laura was great! She had extensive knowledge and also added real examples from other women she’s worked with that really helped connect the advice in a way that I felt was applicable to my situation.”
I was going through some pretty dark times in my life when Laura first took me on as a client. Laura took the time to meet with me and really get to know me. She guided me in figuring out what I wanted from a career perspective as well as from life in general. She guided my thought process and forced me to answer questions I’ve always kind of ignored which ultimately led me to figuring out what I wanted.
She was an amazing support channel for me when it came to interviews, prepping, salary negotiations, and thinking through offers. She always made sure that I stayed true to what I wanted.
I can honestly say I’m very happy how things have turned out with her help and I’m genuinely happy with my life. I am confident I will seek her help in future endeavors, when life decides to throw another curve ball.
Daryush
Senior Marketing Manager, New York, NY
Laura provided the clarity I needed to identify my goals and confidently choose the career path that was right for me. Before working with Laura, I was in between jobs and unsure of which direction I saw my career headed. Laura helped me organize my thoughts and develop a plan of action that got me where I wanted to be professionally.
Her support helped me prioritize my best interests during the job search, approach interviews as a confident advocate for myself, and accept a position with the right company for me.
Jodi
Interior Designer, Burlington, VT
Laura's coaching approach is a very special balance of being both super empathetic and action-oriented. I felt like she was sincerely invested in understanding me, my present situation, and my career goals. Laura asked me all the right questions, was incredibly intuitive and insightful, and laid out an immediate plan for me to knock down my barriers. Prior to working with Laura I felt like I had hit a wall and was struggling to determine changes I could make to move forward.
Laura gave me the tools, ideas, and support to empower me to take the next steps - I had a surge of productivity, gained confidence, and finally achieved my desired results!
Rebecca
Head of Operations, New York, NY
“It was great working with you! You have been so helpful and I feel much better about the direction I’m headed.”
Interested in working together? Let’s chat!
I start all conversations with a call to explore what’s on your mind and how coaching could support that. You can schedule your free 50-minute introductory call here. You can also learn more about the type of coaching I provide here.