a yoga teacher walked into a private equity firm
A yoga teacher walked into a private equity firm…
Sounds like the opening line of a joke, right? It also describes the biggest turning point in my career (so far).
Raised by entrepreneurs and steeped in an artistic background, I started my career wanting nothing to do with the corporate world. Then when I attended a conference about social entrepreneurship, everything changed. The concept of purpose and social good in a world driven by profit was like a revelation to me. I had always understood that, whether I liked it or not, business was the most powerful force on earth. What I realized then was that business has the potential to be a tremendous force for good. I decided right then and there that I wanted to help steer business in the direction of connection, purpose and social impact. I was ready to infiltrate, or as Gandhi says, to “be the change I wished to see in the world.”
Drawn to the passion and energy of entrepreneurship, I started with the startup world. An entrepreneur myself, I offered yoga, mindfulness and community-building services to founders who were getting new ventures and teams off the ground. Over time I noticed two clear patterns:
We all long for connection - to ourselves, each other and a sense of purpose - and the workplace is the place we spend the most time but get it the least.
Leaders set the tone in every workplace, and often they themselves are operating from a stressed, reactive and /or disconnected place, which ripples out into the whole organization and its culture.
My heart ached for all the stressed out, disconnected leaders I worked with, and it ached even more for all the people who were living under their influence. These observations led me to develop a personal theory of change.
I believe that in order for business to serve humanity in a positive way that transcends profit, we must position it to be a platform for meaningful connection — connection to ourselves, to each other, and to a bigger picture.
My mission in the business world is to help leaders become catalysts for meaningful connection. Over the last decade, I have created my own roles inside various businesses and contexts - from startup to non-profit to finance - to bring this mission to life.
This is how a yogi ended up walking into a private equity firm.
I started working at Alpine Investors in early 2015.
My job was to connect CEOs and business leaders across a portfolio of small to mid-sized privately held companies to help them build community and share best practices. It was an exciting and humbling challenge to step inside the realm I had once judged the most - high finance. The epicenter of profit. And, as I would learn, a surprising zone for purpose.
Alpine had partnered for many years with a small but mighty consulting firm called CEO2, whose mission and vision completely aligned with my own; when Alpine decided to acquire CEO2’s intellectual property and bring their program in-house, they appointed me as its internal leader. Thus, the PeopleFirst Leadership Program was born. Over the next several years, I served as the Chief Culture Officer of Alpine, leading, adapting and implementing leadership and organizational development programming in the firm itself and across its ever-expanding portfolio of high-growth businesses.
In 2019, I branched off and started my own consulting practice.
I continue to work closely with both Alpine and CEO2. I have a deep appreciation for both entities and the amazing partnerships we’ve built. It brings me great joy and fulfillment to watch our shared visions and missions take root and impact the business world in a positive way.
Today, I continue bringing my mission to life as an executive coach, experience designer and facilitator.
I’ve now worked with 50+ organizations to help leaders and teams connect meaningfully to themselves, each other and to their individual and shared sense of purpose.
