How coffee chats inspired my coaching system that helps women speak their value and actually grow their careers
If you’re a high-achieving career woman, you’ve probably struggled with this:
“How do I find the balance of showing my value without being seen as pushy or annoying?”
Maybe you’re used to being in environments where you’re well established and you’re not comfortable showcasing your work. Or maybe it feels too much like asking someone to validate your efforts and talents.
Either way, it can be intimidating to advocate for your work and its impact.
But the reality is, no one is going to advocate for you as hard as you will and you have to get comfortable owning your personal brand of magic.
And when you get comfortable understanding your strengths and explaining how your unique approach changes the game for your company, you unlock growth opportunities that pave the way to your dream career.
That’s exactly how Director-Level Communication came to be.
Picture it. Zoom, 2024.
How I realized the rabbit hole went a lot deeper than just public speaking training
I was working with some of my colleagues on improving their presentation skills, but I quickly discovered that we were dealing with a symptom of a bigger, underlying issue.
Many of the women I knew had a hard time owning their excellence in the rooms that mattered.
They would second guess themselves or take what they were given because they worried about how they’d be seen if they took up space and pushed for what they knew they deserved.
We’d talk through phrases to use or changes they could make to their speaking style to help them navigate tricky situations. But after the big meeting, they’d tell me things like “I was so nervous that I couldn’t stop asking ‘Does that make sense?’ after everything. Why did I say that?”
I realized that we were missing two major things:
A clear understanding of what each of that habit actually does in a conversation
The ability to settle into the idea that they deserved to heard and didn’t need to metaphorically apologize for having spoken up
We needed to look beyond communication skills to the beliefs they held around when and how they felt they could speak to begin with.
We went deep!
Digging into their career experiences, what they learned about communication as kids, we were in the weeds. But by getting into the details and shining a light on the foundation of their mindset, we were able to reshape outdated beliefs. We were able to get to the heart of the transformative work. And they were able to stand in their power as confident, powerful women.
Turning proven results into a killer coaching system
I began building Director-Level Communication with the talented, capable women I knew in mind. I knew that it couldn’t just address the communication and presentation skills that provided the framework for being able to articulate their value.
They needed a major mindset shift to be able to embody the confident, space-taking, badass version of them I knew, in the moments when it mattered.
Director-Level Communication doesn’t just put communication tools in your toolbox. It provides a deep understanding of how to use each of them. It reframes your understanding of how you can communicate and replaces outdated habits with strong speaking approaches that empower you to be your #1 advocate.
When you have a strong communication skill set behind you, owning and advocating for yourself becomes simple - even if it’s not always easy.
Real results as told by women just like you
✅ Result: Clarity that drives aligned decisions
“Mara’s strength in asking insightful and thought-provoking questions helped me to develop a better practice of self-reflection, define my value set, align my strengths with my future vision, and evaluate potential paths.”
🤔 So what?
It’s not enough to know where you’d like to go. You have to be able to fully embody it, to demonstrate that you’re able to expand before you’re given the chance to do it. Getting clear on your roadmap and figuring out how to pitch it to others builds the bridge between who you are and who you’re becoming.
✅ Result: Mindset shifts that lead to lifelong change
“Mara gave me practical tools I will use forever, not just quick tips. I feel more confident, more aware, and more authentic every time I speak.”
🤔 So what?
It’s not just learning where to put your hands or how to cut out filler words. It’s learning how to stop undermining yourself the second you open your mouth. It’s developing your personal communication style and using it to bring your dreams into reality.
It’s not just skills for this workplace - it’s for every workplace.
Raise your hand if you’ve personally been victimized by this brutal job market, ruthless layoffs, or AI making companies question whether humans are even needed anymore. 🙋🏾♀️
That’s most of us, right? Even if it hasn’t been you, you’ve seen the trend. It’s getting tense out there! And one of the few things we have to hold onto is our personal brand, the style and approach we’ve built through doing the work out in the field.
Being able to differentiate yourself in a saturated market is the only way to keep from getting lost in the noise. But to differentiate yourself, you have to:
Get clear on your style and perspective on the work you do
Be able to articulate that to someone who doesn’t know your work yet
Most high-achieving, ambitious women have a clear perspective on how the work should be done if you want it to be done well. They’re known for this among their peers and their leadership. But being able to explain it, especially in the face of scrutiny from overconfident, average men, is something else entirely.
And it’s not your fault. You’ve come by it honestly.
Many women, myself included, weren’t taught how to communicate effectively at work, nonetheless to advocate for ourselves in the workplace. We enter the corporate “man’s world” and have to figure out how to hold our own.
But when you figure out how to communicate in a way that resonates, you can chart a course to jobs and workplaces that see your unique talents, recognize their value, and position you to make a meaningful impact.
And that’s an ROI worth working for.
