For 17 years, I built and led high-performing creative teams at one of the country's most successful theaters. Now I help executives and teams do what great ensembles do: trust each other, challenge each other, and execute together.
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I spent 17 years at Marriott Theatre in Chicago — first as Associate Artistic Director, then as Artistic Director for 15 years. We grew the theater to more than $10 million in revenue and became the highest-subscribed theater in the country at the time.
Night after night, I watched the same pattern play out:
When an actor was self-protective — guarded, in their head, worried about looking good — the audience checked out. Their scene partners' performances suffered. It was performed, not experienced.
When an actor was vulnerable, authentic, trusting — the audience leaned in. They felt it. They went on the journey. They were moved.
And when the entire ensemble worked that way together? The show was transcendent.
"You can't fake it. The audience knows. Your scene partners know."
The same is true for leaders.
When you're self-protective — guarding yourself, worried about looking like you have all the answers — your team checks out. Your peers suffer. It's performed, not real.
When you're vulnerable, authentic, trusting — your team leans in. They believe you. They commit. They go all-in.
And when the entire leadership team works that way together? That's when strategy actually executes. That's when teams become transcendent.
That experience shaped everything about how I work with leaders today.
I never planned to do this work. At 20, I picked up a book that had been sitting on my shelf since high school graduation — The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. It changed my life. It created a hunger for personal growth that's been alive for 30 years.
That hunger eventually led me to hire a coach. I'd been in therapy for a decade and had grown a lot, but I found I grew exponentially more through this different approach. It was forward-looking, progress-focused, and action-oriented.
I started applying everything I was learning to how I led my team at the theater. People started reaching out — colleagues asking to "bend my ear," seeking advice on their own challenges. I began working with them the way I was being worked with. One thing led to another, and I had paying clients.
I loved the work. So I founded Scaling Minds.
Over time, as I worked with more and more teams, I started seeing the same patterns show up again and again — the same gaps that kept talented teams stuck. That's what became The Six Shifts™: the operating system I wish every team I worked with already had.
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pick the path that fits you best
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I work with executives and teams at small to mid-size privately held businesses and nonprofits — typically $5M-$1B in revenue, 20-1,000 employees.
Industries include healthcare, utilities, technology, and nonprofits. I have a particular sweet spot for nonprofits that serve kids — organizations where mission matters and the team's effectiveness directly impacts the people they serve.
Who I work best with:
Leaders who understand that leadership is behavior, not just operations and systems. Executives who have the self-awareness to know they — and their team — may need to change in order to make those systems work more effectively. Teams that are stuck not because they lack talent or strategy, but because trust, candor, and accountability are missing.
If that sounds like your team, let's talk.
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Whether you're looking to transform your leadership team or sharpen how you show up as an individual leader, let's talk.
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