Working with Simona was a turning point for me.

We explored the importance of setting boundaries and prioritizing my well-being, which has been essential in preventing burnout. Her support helped me reclaim my time and energy, empowering me to lead effectively without sacrificing my personal life. I wholeheartedly recommend working with Simona to any professional woman seeking balance in a demanding executive role. 

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-- Milja Hembruff, Vice President, Global Sales Development, SAP BTP

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Simona led an engaging team-building workshop as part of our strategic planning off-site with our organization. The focused training and interactive exercises led to meaningful discussions, learning about our key motivators, strengths, and communication styles to further enhance our positive team dynamics and culture. As a close-knit, growing team, we now better understand our diverse approaches and styles leading to clearer communication, project planning, and navigation of any misunderstandings or conflict. 

 

We could immediately apply our insights into how we're interacting with each other and our clients. We're getting better at recognizing working styles and habits with more open communication and confidence; we're leaning into conversations that we may have delayed or avoided before. We're more accepting of each others' differences and inviting more transparency and candor. Definitely, we're seeing an impact from Simona's valuable session.

 

-- Sherry O'Quinn, Managing Principal & Co-Founder, MORSE Consulting Inc

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Working with Simona over the past 6 years has made such an impact not only on our business and employees, but also helping me grow as a manager and leader with better direction and tools. Simona is a great coach and sounding board; she has a gift for asking the right questions in order to foster and encourage more meaningful conversations. Whenever I need assistance on navigating uncharted situations, I am able to lean on her expertise and experience to help me clarify, process, reframe, and plan for a clearer understanding and path forward.

 

-- Erin Adair, CEO, Computing Dynamics Inc

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Simona was an integral part of our senior leadership team and supported our organization as an HR leader and also as a trusted and effective coach and advisor during a period of significant growth and change. Her expertise and empathetic approach were invaluable in improving our team dynamics and interactions, communications,  more effective decision-making, and better navigating difficult scenarios, to list a few of her contributions. Simona's approach helped me to better understand not only my team but myself, which in turn prepared me to have more open and collaborative discussions, leveraging our collective strengths, talents, and experiences. 

 

Throughout our workshops and one-on-one sessions, I have applied tools that allow me to engage more meaningfully and reduce stress, helping me live a healthier work/life balance. Having Simona as a sounding board has deepened my understanding and appreciation for making time to slow down, think more deeply, and not only widen my perspective, but challenge it and try on different ones so that I'm empowered to be ready for whatever comes up at work or home.  I'm a caring and empathetic person and I've learned sometimes I can overdo this to my own detriment. By being more mindful of my values, strengths, motivators, and triggers, I'm getting better at navigating situations where my boundaries and values are tested. 

 

Thank you Simona for all your support and dedication! Any leadership team would benefit from partnering with Simona as their executive coach and advisor! I welcome the opportunity to work with her again.  

-- Ryan Hickey, Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, eleven-x Incorporated

 

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I am so excited to have been able to learn so much through Simona and the SDI assessment. This information has already helped me map out conversations with not only my direct reports, but my manager as well.

I lead a team of 16 and have found the insights I have been provided give so much clarity to handling not only conflict, but collaboration. I can now articulate how I work, and recognize more easily the strengths of others. This has been a very valuable experience and I wish I could have had this information 30 years ago! Thank you Simona!

-- Keri Mitchell, Founder, JeanGray Solutions

 

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Simona was my executive coach during a time of great change and growth in my career. Simona has been a valuable guide and sounding board to help me discover many insights into my leadership style and leverage my strengths to achieve my goals.

 

Over the past 1.5 years, I've been able to think, plan, and act in a more systematic and strategic manner about my role and my team's contributions to the overall success of the acquisitions and transformations I have been involved with. The way Simona challenges and supports me through probing questions, reflections, visioning, and scenario planning has deepened my understanding of team dynamics and organizational development. By working with Simona, I have learned so much more about myself; I am fired up to keep the momentum going in a pivotal year for our organization.  

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-- Adam Kropf, Head of Product Management, Texada Software

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Simona gave me the space to think differently, visualize, clarify my north star, create my action plan, and execute on leveraging my strengths, leadership style, and experience to launch me even further in my career trajectory. She helped me increase my self awareness and emotional intelligence (EQ). 
Just the right blend of exploration, challenge, strategic advisory, and mentoring to deliver the timely support and be the sounding board I needed to accelerate my development. When I was promoted to VP of HR, I was ready and better equipped to take on this opportunity and fully show up as the inspirational leader and coach I knew I could be for my growing team.​

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-- E.V., Vice President of Human Resources, Ontario
 

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​​​I hired Simona to work with my team on strengthening our leadership and teamwork skills. We learned how to better interpret and leverage each others' strengths, communication, and conflict styles to recognize triggers, assumptions, and blind spots. The trainings helped us prepare and navigate misunderstandings and difficult conversations, as well as improve our overall communication patterns and teamwork. 

 

I personally found Simona's approach combining her consulting lens and experience in Human Resources and people development most useful in helping me focus on the essentials of my team's dynamics for positive and effective interactions.  With Simona's insights and guidance, I could be more proactive when working with my people.  

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-- Aaron Brokenshire, Founder, Executive Director & Head Coach, Revolution Gymnastics & Sports Centre

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The best part about working with Simona is her open and empathetic approach. Simona was a great conscience for me offering insightful advice to problem solve workplace and personal barriers. Simona introduced me to a variety of concepts to help strategize my workload and offered some great suggestions that made a huge impact on my daily routine. I would absolutely recommend Simona to any leader looking for a coach to really help you understand not only the role, but yourself as a leader. Thank you Simona!

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-- Gianni Casagrande, Manager of Product Design, Encircle

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As a manager in a very fast-paced work environment, it was difficult to find time to stop and reflect on my leadership style and approach with others.  As new obstacles arose and various changes were coming our way, I found I was putting myself last and developing habits that were unsustainable.  

 

At first, I found my conversations with Simona to be cathartic. It was great to have someone I could easily open up to! Then with each coaching session, she listened closely and used her HR knowledge and coaching experience to put things in perspective and guide me to a more effective approach with my team. She drew on information I shared in past conversations to highlight common themes and help me to grow as a leader.  

With Simona's support, teachings, and guidance, I now feel more confident and approach each interaction with my team as an opportunity for my growth and theirs. 

 

-- Courtney Kulafi, Manager, Accounting Operations, Auvik Networks 

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I had the privilege of having Simona as my coach during the Strong Leaders course in 2020 (Communitech). From the first meeting where we went over my areas of focus, to the last session where we made a post-course action plan, Simona was well prepared. During our meetings, she would guide me from my problem statement to my own solutions rather than tell me what to do. She did this by diving deep into what the actual problem was and asking very pointed questions. When I had difficulties coming to any solutions, she would recommend a few options to see what would work best for me, ask me why that recommendation works for me, and recommend articles or books to further my understanding. This was a perfect path for me given my personality and how I learn. 

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She was very understanding and flexible with the changes in the course and the needs of those she coached given the pandemic, and took the time to check in while the course was paused. This was a show of the empathy and the care she has for people. 

During my time with Simona, my confidence as a leader and as a person has grown, my communication has improved, and I have more tools to utilize in helping grow others. I truly believe this is because of the time I had with her. Her ability to adapt, her genuine caring, her continued want to grow, and her commitment to those she works with make her a great coach, and I'd highly recommend her to anyone looking at leadership improvements.

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-- Kayleen Hamelin, Manager of Quality, Igloo Software

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Getting to work with Simona as a 1-to-1 professional coach was valuable for both my career and personal growth. She brings an empathetic listening style to her work that allows her to get to root problems very quickly. She lays out an action-oriented plan that has clear deliverables in between coaching sessions so that improvement milestones are very tangible. Her experience with her own career also allows her to bring other real-life case studies into discussion as comparison points. Hearing how other professionals have overcome similar hurdles is a helpful way to feel validated and confident that solutions are possible. All in all, I would highly recommend Simona to any professional who is looking to grow their career.

 

-- Jordan Fox, Director of Sales, Athena Software

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