Career coaches and advising 

Rachel believes that people are at their best, when they are motivated, engaged and excited about their endless possibilities. She helps clients get what they want, whatever it is.

Debby helps build competent, confident leaders.  Her clients are lawyers, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who want to develop and implement practical strategies for continued career success.  She works with clients on a variety of topics including career pathing, executive presence, communication skills, emotional intelligence, self-promotion and developing core management and leadership competencies.  Debby is the author of The Art of Self-Promotion: Tell Your Story, Transform Your Career, and she helps her clients speak confidently and authentically about who they are and what they do.

Heidi Scott Giusto, PhD, is a writer, editor, and communications consultant. She owns Career Path Writing Solutions, a consulting firm dedicated to helping people communicate when it matters most. Heidi delights in helping job seekers navigate career change and guiding business owners to present their value proposition persuasively. She holds certifications in resume writing, interview preparation, and empowerment coaching and previously sat on the Certification Committee of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. She collaborates with clients from diverse professional backgrounds and, for book editing, specializes in working on business, leadership, and self-help books. Heidi recently published her first co-authored book, The Third Paradigm: A Radical Shift to Greater Success (Entrepreneur Press). She lives in Apex, North Carolina with her husband and children.

HILLARY SCHUBACH (T’93) is the President of Shine/ MBA Admissions Consulting. Hillary received her BA in History from Duke and her MBA from Harvard in 2001. Her background includes over 20 years of marketing and brand management experience from top CPG firms such as Kraft Foods and Unilever, as well as the sports and music industries and she has been a successful MBA admissions consultant since 1999. SHINE is a full-service MBA admissions consulting firm, serving graduate school applicants around the world. As your advisor, Hillary will work with you 1x1 to develop your strongest possible applications by advising you through every step of the admissions process, from school selection to final interview.

Camille is an exceptional career coach who specializes in guiding professionals through significant career transitions, particularly those who are uncertain about their next steps. What sets her apart is her commitment to helping you find not just any job, but the right job that fits your goals and aspirations while also considering the broader impact on your family and lifestyle. Camille's approach is comprehensive, empathetic, and geared towards long-term success. Whether you're exploring a new field or regaining confidence after a setback, Camille provides practical advice, personalized coaching, and innovative resources to equip you for a fulfilling career shift. Camille's approach is holistic and focused on sustainable success. Camille will work to transform your career by aligning your abilities, ambitions, and values for long-term satisfaction and success.

I help conscious leaders stand tall. In an age where old systems are crumbling and each individual is called to empower themselves and discover their unique leadership style, I help creative problem solvers make their visions an undeniable reality. My clients include organizational leaders, visionary entrepreneurs, highly sensitive professionals, and activists. Through deep inner and outer work, I help you gracefully handle complex situations, expand what you can accomplish, and claim your place in the family of things. A certified Integral Coach® and faculty member in New Ventures West’s ICF-accredited professional coaching course, I have worked with leaders from the Big 4 and Fortune 100 and have been recognized by 4x NYT Bestselling Author Marianne Williamson for my insight on the human condition. Through our work, you’ll learn how to find your frequency and establish new patterns in the world.

Cassandra brings her years of experience as a global C-suite executive to coaching her ideal clients: talented, driven women who are looking to move into higher levels of leadership and make greater contributions to their organization, while still living an amazing life.

Laura partners with experienced entrepreneurs to get unstuck and move faster. Her clients lead fast-growing start-ups and small to mid-sized businesses. They value their health, family, and building sound businesses, but can sometimes feel bogged down. She works alongside them as a strategic thought partner and provides tactical support and advice when it's in her wheelhouse. Her background includes 20+ years in operations, working directly with and for entrepreneurs. She has been coaching since 2017 and has a mechanical engineering degree from Duke and an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern.

Ann Park, M.D. is a Board-certified psychiatrist, therapist, and coach who specializes in working with women.  Ann brings cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness approaches to managing stress, work-life integration, and relationship building. She is a certified Executive Coach with the Financial Times Top 10 ranked Center for Creative Leadership network, where she coaches C-suite and Senior women managers to navigate and lead in their organizations. Ann helps her clients thrive in their personal and professional lives.

Chris works with Executives and Leaders to create a fulfilling career and life. She is trained to help her clients discover their strengths, challenges and what truly lights them up so they can excel in their career. The industries that she most works with are non-profit, government, academia and financial. Her clients say that through their work with Chris they increase their confidence, productivity and life satisfaction.

Itir (Duke MBA, '09) is an Executive, Life, and Leadership Coach who specializes in coaching professionals who want to get more satisfaction out of life. Whether her clients are in the midst of a career transition, trying to enhance their performance at work without compromising on life, or wanting clarity on life decisions, she helps them bring their values, strengths, and actions into alignment so that they can be their most powerful selves. Itir uses her 15 years of corporate leadership experience in creating brands and driving growth at Accenture, Unilever, Samsung, and Burt's Bees to help her clients develop and live their personal brand.

Free 30-minute coaching session offered to Duke students, alumni, and staff.

Certifications: International Coach Federation PCC (Professional Certified Coach), ELI-MP (Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner)

Are you doing work that sets your heart on fire? As the founder of Welcome Passion, I can help you unearth your passions and discover your unique talents – so that you can build a life that you love.

With career coaching expertise built at Duke, Indiana University, and Thrive Scholars, in addition to Human Resources leadership experience at GE, The Home Depot, and JCPenney, I have 18+ years of coaching people across a variety of levels and contexts.

Let’s discover your passions and welcome them in! Join me in a judgment-free zone where you can dream big, and your passions can take flight.

In addition to passion, I can help you discover your unique talents through CliftonStrengths as well as provide tips to help you become an interviewing star.

Certifications: Co-active Coaching (CTI), Gallup CliftonStrengths, Myers Briggs (MBTI), DDI Facilitation

Education: MBA, Duke; JD, Vanderbilt; BA, DePauw.

Marsha is an International Coaching Federation board certified Professional Certified Coach (PCC). She specializes in working with entrepreneurs and mid to executive level organizational leaders to assist with goal attainment, leadership strategies and confidence building.  Marsha is hired by individuals and organizations to clarify goals and to define actions to work through obstacles and to accelerate personal growth.

Fielding is an integral coach. She looks at the whole person and their whole life in supporting her clients as they work through the challenges they bring to coaching.That includes all aspects of life - work, leadership capacity, family and friendships, health and fitness, spirituality, culture - believing these are all interrelated, and often the need for support in one area can show up as an issue in another. Fielding works with entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders to address the issues that they feel are keeping them from achieving their goals and dreams.

Specialties/certifications:
Training, Certificate etc.
New Ventures West, PCC

Susan specializes in clients that are looking for a change but not sure which direction to go, or don't know how to do the job search because they have no clarity surrounding the perfect job. She helps clients gain clarity, discover and define their personal brand, and network to that next job.

I am a life-long learner, omnivert and empath. I have been through many career and life transitions, but no matter my function, I have always been a coach and teacher first. An adopted North Carolinian, I have loved what this region has to offer, professionally and personally. I currently do leadership and executive coaching for emerging female leaders.

I teach job seekers today’s most-effective steps for finding career clarity, landing more interviews and offers, and navigating career transitions with authenticity, confidence, and joy. I spent my earlier career working at LinkedIn where I developed job seeker training programs for audiences across the globe, and I have a deep understanding of the tools and strategies required to succeed in today's job market. I am also intimately familiar with burnout, and the experience of recognizing that the path you are on is not the long-term path for you. I enjoy helping job seekers explore new potential career paths and navigate the 'pivoting' process. Whether you want to transition to a similar role in a new environment, or take a turn in a new direction, I'd love to help you advance your career in an authentic and inspired direction.

Whether you’re switching careers, trying to find greater balance in your current career, or not sure what you’d like to do next, I specialize in helping people move forward with clarity and confidence. Clients describe our sessions as effective, warm, and inspiring and our conversations often lead to immediate and meaningful change. 

I’ve been coaching since 2013 and hold certifications from the University of California Berkeley, and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. In addition to my private practice, I’m currently a Faculty Coach at UC Berkeley and a Career Coach at Parentaly. I also have a credential from the International Coaching Federation.

Prior to becoming a coach, I worked at Google and Duke Corporate Education. My knowledge of the corporate world helps me understand the nuances and rewards of building a career while juggling a personal and family life. 

On a personal note, I’m a mother of three, a lover of RV camping trips with my family, and a frequenter of coffee shops. I’ve called many places home including Chicago, Nothern California, and currently Cary, North Carolina. 

Karen coaches with compassion and authenticity. Through a combination of introspection and strategic goal-setting, she helps her clients visualize their ideal selves and generate realistic plans toward realizing their visions. Whether this means changing careers, waking up earlier in the morning, or joining a local running club — Karen supports her clients both professionally and personally, empowering them to set goals and navigate hurdles.

In addition to her personal practice, Karen runs Thriving Doctors, a specialized coaching service for medical professionals. Thriving Doctors helps medical professionals take care of themselves, so they can go on caring for so many others.

Karen is a certified coach and lawyer. She coaches primarily by phone.

An Executive, Life, and Leadership Coach, I work with bright, motivated people who want to live more powerful, less stressful lives. Whether you are embarking on your career, are at the pinnacle (so far) of your professional life, or are somewhere in between, you have ample opportunities for growth and increased fulfillment. 

Knowing who you are and what you really truly want is where it all begins. Early in our engagement, you'll be given the Energy Leadership Index™ (ELI) Assessment, which captures how you currently perceive and approach work and life. Through your personalized debrief, you'll learn practical strategies to fortify what's working and shift what's not.

Together we'll embark on a rich process of creating a life you love. Expect to be deeply listened to, heard, valued, challenged, and supported as I bring my full intuitive self and nearly 20 years of experience as a business consultant and coach. For the rest of your life, you can enjoy the benefits of our work. 

I offer a 15% discount for Duke students, alumni, and staff.

Certifications: Certified Professional Coach, Certified Leadership Coach, Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and Graduate of the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).

Morgan "Muunie" Beard is a creative life coach, artist and embodied healer. She got her BA in Visual and Media Studies from Duke in 2012, earned an MPS in Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts in 2017 and is a certified Reiki practitioner. In her 5+ years coaching, she's helped clients change careers, discover their passions, move to new cities, navigate depression and anxiety, dissolve creative blocks, be better leaders, and improve their relationships. She brings her personal and clinical experience, full-body presence, self-expression toolkit and radical insight into every session to create holistic transformation.

We offer the following professional services to Duke students and Duke alumni with a 15% discount on all packages:

Coaching (career transition, executive leadership, high performance*)  

Strategic Advisory services to early stage founders and their teams (biz plan, pitch deck)

We offer individual and group coaching, master classes, online courses, and a free-to-join community. 

Katy is an expert coach and consultant with 25 years of experience.  What makes our practice unique is that we work with talent at every career stage, whether talent starting out a career OR the C-Suite/ Sr. Exec. talent. Katy’s background with BCG as a global management consultant, as a director of strategy for a global biotech, and an entrepreneur provides a strong foundation for helping others navigate their careers.  Katy has helped over 500+ clients on three continents in multi-year relationships continuously achieve their evolving goals. Katy has served on many boards and consults with many F100 execs, but also works with a super diverse set of people including artists and creatives, authors, academics, and most importantly, the next generation of leaders and influencers.

*High performance program is Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Academy Coaching program for which Katy is a Certified High Performance Coach. 

David is a Partner at Antler Capital, a US$1B venture and growth equity capital firm with 27 offices across six continents. Previously, he looked after Partner executive recruitment at McKinsey & Company. Based in New York, David brings deep experience and expertise coaching executives on how to effectively navigate career transitions. David has served a broad range of prominent corporate clients around the world and has helped senior executives prepare for and secure aspirational job opportunities. He leverages the full breadth of his C-Suite and executive relationships across the US, Europe, and Asia, helping candidates - and Duke alumni - navigate their careers.

Anna Mann is the Senior Vice President of Talent and Culture at GovExec. Anna Is responsible for leading the company’s talent and employee engagement strategy. She has extensive experience in talent acquisition, talent management, benefit plan design, and compliance. Before joining GovExec, Anna served as the Director of Talent and Culture at Atlantic Media. Anna earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Duke University.

Ralph’s expertise is all aspects of human resources management. He is able to provide insights to the HR function that will assist in the job search process including networking, job interviews, and assessing cultural fit. Additional insights are provided to assist those with minimal HR skills in navigating careers after onboarding an organization. This includes employment branding and engagement; employee relations, diversity, and compliance; reward systems and strategies; leadership and succession planning; and the workplace impact of information technology.  Ralph volunteers his services and there is no charge to Duke Alumni.

Caitlin Thaeler is an experienced recruiter, having worked at Spencer Stuart, one of the nation's top executive search firms. Her more recent work experience includes strategy and project management at Walmart, the world's largest retailer. She loves helping companies find creative solutions to complex problems, whether that's a specific hire or streamlining processes.

Dana founded Hudson Gate Partners in 2010. Hudson Gate is a 100% female owned, New York based, boutique executive search firm with deep expertise in placing talent at leading private equity firms, hedge funds, VC firms, investment managers, fintechs and banks. Before founding Hudson Gate, Dana previously spent over ten years at Lehman Brothers, in both New York and London, where she served as a senior strategic business partner to both the Investment Management and Investment Banking divisions. Dana has an MBA from Stanford University and a BA from Duke University.

Alex Smith is head of Strategy and Execution HCM Public Sector at Oracle. Nationally Recognized Cross-Industry HR Innovator. 2019 TN SHRM  HR Management Excellence Award Recipient. Business leader with public and private sector HR experience, who has demonstrated the ability to transform the diversity composition of top senior leadership teams, develop strategies to hire 1000s of employees, drive HR transformation and culture change.

Gerard Raho leads the Duke NY Advanced Job Networking Group for mid-career and senior professionals in transition. He is also a finance professional with 20+ years of experience in financial markets. He is happy to speak with Duke alumni in or considering a career or life transition.

Rodrigo works with Fortune 200 clients in nearly every industry as well as non-profits in education, government, and the arts sectors. He helps our client transform bosses into leaders, groups into teams, cost centers into strategic assets, and slogans into living cultures.

I am currently an analyst in the Industrial Practice at Spencer Stuart, meaning I mainly serve clients in the Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Manufacturing, and Chemicals industries. I am passionate about finding the right executives to improve organizations as they address important issues like diversity and sustainability.

People professional with deep business partner experience. Career experience has spanned recruitment, generalist, and internal communications responsibilities within fashion, sports, and non-profit organizations. 

Andrea is the founder and CEO of Bigwin Talent, an executive recruiting firm focused on operator roles at PE, VC, Search fund and family office backed companies.  Bigwin focuses on middle marketing and lower middle marketing companies looking for either generalist "Swiss Army Knife" operators or functional leaders.  Prior to starting Bigwin, Andrea was an operating executive for several private equity backed portfolio companies backed by Alpine Investors and Pacific Lake Partners.  Andrea holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University, where she was a member of the Varsity Soccer team.  

Ashley works at Spencer Stuart in the CEO Practice across industries and is passionate about executive development and organizational culture. Prior to Spencer Stuart she received her MBA at NYU Stern and started her career and spent time working at Bridgewater Associates and TPG. Ashley was a 2x Captain of the Women's Soccer team while at Duke so also enjoys helping former athletes navigate the transition from their sport to new industries.

John’s expertise is recruiting and placing professionals across functional disciplines and industries.  He guides his clients through the job search process, prepares clients for job interviews and assists with networking and mentorships. John volunteers his services and there is no charge to Duke Alumni.

Greg Janicik founded Viest Consulting in 2020 to help leaders navigate the paradigm shifts in business (e.g., COVID19) that emerge in a constantly evolving environment. As an organizational consultant and leadership advisor with over twenty years of experience helping both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies manage change effectively, I currently work with CEOs, senior teams, and various business and non-profit executives to improve performance and achieve quantifiable outcomes.

Patricia Elias is Chief People and Places Officer at CSG Systems, responsible for all aspects of human resources and workplace management, attracting and retaining top talent, and building a safe, inclusive, and diverse work environment for CSG employees worldwide.  Prior to CSG, Patricia served as Chief People and Legal Officer for ServiceSource International, overseeing global human resources and all legal and compliance matters for the company.  She also served as corporate counsel for ViaWest and Flextronics, and as a full-time lecturer of law and public policy at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. Patricia began her career practicing corporate and securities law at the firms Hogan Lovells; Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison; and Holland & Hart. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Psychology from Duke University.  In her free time, she enjoys hiking and in-line skating, and supports the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. 

Jessica Efird (A.B. '05, Psychology and History double major, English minor) has over 10 years of experience as an HR Generalist and holds PHR, SHRM-CP, and PHR-CA certifications. Her career has included roles in HR, academic editing, and account management, so she has personal experience in making career transitions. Jessica is currently self-employed/an independent contractor in both HR and editing roles. 

I have held senior management positions in marketing, general management, and human resources. As Senior Vice President of Human Resources, I worked with two chief executive officers at Bristol-Myers Squibb to revitalize earnings growth, upgrade executive talent and establish a culture that fostered high performance with the highest integrity. I have also served as an Associate Professor of Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University.