“Leslie was really attuned to my struggles and achievements, had a lovely warmth and a great sense of humor (aka she laughed at all my jokes!) and really helped me focus towards my goals. We spoke a lot about the peculiarities of academia and my own emotional challenges, and I left our time together feeling shored up (and with an action plan for my next project)!”

“I worked with Leslie when I was at a crossroads in my professional academic career. She provided emotional support and scaffolding that helped me confront issues I hadn’t known I had. Leslie is open-minded, and no matter what I told her, I never felt judged or devalued. Career transitions can be mired with feelings of unworthiness, and Leslie also helped me work through career identity concerns. For those who aren’t sure what their career future holds, Leslie provides values-focused guidance and compassion.”

“I was drawn to work with Leslie based on an article she wrote about on what coaching can do for academics; I was drawn to the values-centred way she talked about building an academic career, as well as her explicit focus on resisting the workaholic cultures of academia. I chose a 3-month coaching program, with the hope of developing some more skills around setting boundaries, managing my time, and creating a sustainable career for myself in the lead-up to my application for tenure. The experience was even better than I had anticipated. In our firsts session, Leslie asked me how I would like to FEEL about my work, and this invitation into a deeper consideration of how I approach the work I do really set the tone for the conversations to come. Our sessions touched on a wide range of topics, from refusing to personalize structural and institutional failures to strategies for managing email more effectively. I developed lots of concrete and practical tools for scheduling, expectation-setting, and time management, but these tools were continuously recontextualized in light of my feminist values and larger career goals. I have come out of this 3-month program with a clearer sense of my own priorities as an academic as well as a renewed skillset to work towards those priorities.”

“I worked with Leslie for three months through the coaching program. I was feeling a little stuck post tenure and was looking for guidance in making career decisions. My conversations with Leslie helped me to understand how to frame my strengths in my current position, which would be useful when searching for a new position. It was helpful to be asked the question: How do I want to use my tenured position as a platform? My conversations with Leslie helped me to chart a path toward thinking about what I might desire in a new position. Leslie introduced me to various strategies, including what I wanted my everyday to look like as a basis to seek out new positions in the future. Overall, I benefited from having the space to talk through possibilities, to ground myself, and to acknowledge what was keeping me from moving. While I was not yet ready to leave my current position, I feel that the strategies and framing of my day to day helped me to consider possibilities for the future, to help me feel unstuck, and to make organized, strategic plans for next steps in my career.”

“Leslie has helped me immensely to get unstuck in my current situation. Through her assistance, I have been able to move forward in my career and achieve what I didn’t think I would be able to.”

“I worked with Leslie over about an 8 month period when I was in a major career transition. She provided both coaching and editing services in this time and was instrumental in helping me bridge this period gracefully and come out better off on the other side. She was extremely empathetic and yet always also action oriented. She provided me with new perspectives that emerged out of my own ides and values but shed new light on seemingly intractable problems. She also offered me new skills that I am still relying on a year later. It was a pleasure to work with Leslie and I would recommend it to anyone navigating aspects of life or work that seem overwhelming or difficult to address on your own.”

“I have worked with Leslie on a regular basis for the past eighteen months. When I reached out to Leslie, I was nearing the end of my doctoral program and struggling to communicate with the members of my advisory committee. Leslie helped me figure out what I wanted from meetings with my advisers, she gave me strategies for responding to feedback, and she helped me stand up for myself. Her coaching was been a vital source of much-needed support during a really challenging time in my studies. I would enthusiastically recommend her services to anyone.”

Note: All testimonials are anonymous in order to respect the confidentiality of the coaching relationship.