About

Having begun her career as an oncology nurse, Chris witnessed first-hand the degree to which the willingness and ability to speak about “hard” things made a powerful difference in how people with cancer – and those that loved them – navigated the journey through cancer including, at times, the profound experience of dying. The lessons she learned as a young nurse had dramatic influence on shaping her and her life’s work.

“an emphasis on designing conversations for results”

While still working in healthcare, Chris completed her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology which included an internship at an employee assistance program offering short-term counseling services to employees from over 30 different companies. It became clear to her that, no matter where people worked, no matter what their position, the fear of having certain kinds of conversations with certain people was a universal stressor that often times left people feeling immobilized from taking the very action needed to remedy their presenting problems.

Inspired by her graduate work, Chris transitioned from healthcare to the corporate world to develop a management/leadership development program for a growing financial services company. During this time Chris also complemented her education and experience with formal training as a coach with an emphasis on designing conversations for results. The effectiveness with which she carried out her role eventually led to her promotion as Vice President of Leadership and Communication Coaching. During her 11 years as an internal coach and consultant, she was relied upon to contribute her leadership, communication and facilitation skills to a variety of enterprise-wide initiatives that necessitated difficult conversations in response to the company’s history with rapid growth, first downsizing experience, transition from private to publicly-held company and rebound from an industry wide scandal.

Now, as an independent coach, consultant and facilitator, Chris leverages her varied and unique professional background, her unwavering commitment to do what she can to make it easier for people to speak about hard things, and her many years of skill and dedication as a practitioner and facilitator of mindfulness to bring a depth of understanding and breadth of experience to her clients.

“unwavering commitment to make it easier for people to speak about hard things”

Chris currently resides near Portland, Oregon.