Meet the team
Here are two things you should know about us:
- We understand the challenges of working remotely, as individuals and as part of a team. We've been working remotely for a combined 25+ years. We are a virtual team, with members in three countries, spanning 4 different time zones. Smooth collaboration and effective communication look different when working remotely. We know how to stay connected, work through conflict, and develop trust, without in-person meetings.
- We are passionate about humanity at work. Why? Because we’ve all been there, whether it’s as an EAP director, a communications guru for executives, a marketing manager, or an engineering geek. Now, in our second (and third!) careers as seasoned leadership coaches, we see the potential for using both heart and mind, for cultivating compassion and community, for developing whole human beings, in addition to promising leaders. We want more resilient and emotionally fit leaders. Having traveled the road (with lots of bumps!) to be resilient and emotionally fit ourselves, we know it’s a trip worth taking.
Carol Ross
Carol Ross is the founder of emotionallyfitleaders.com. She is a leadership coach, writer and speaker with a passion for bringing humanity into the workplace, through emotional fitness. As an engineer for nearly 20 years in the nuclear power (Exelon) and telecommunications (Lucent Bell Labs) industries, she suppressed and dismissed her emotions, unaware of the negative impact on her mind, body, and spirit. A coach since 2003, she knows that the heart is your best ally, professionally and personally.
Carol's advice has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, US News and World Report and Whole Living. She has been a presenter for the Northwestern University Alumni Association, dozens of times. She has addressed various gatherings around the US including the Net Impact Conference and the Texas Conference for Women. Carol hosts the podcast, Sacred Conversations on Work. Corporate clients have included Caterpillar, Wells Fargo, Accenture, Cable Labs, Avaya, and Nelnet. Her non-profit clients have included a nationally ranked K-12 charter school.
Carol holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University. She received her coaching credential from the Co-Active Institute and has done advanced coaching training with Newfield Network, Center for Right Relationship and Lucid Living. She is a trained Akashic Records practitioner.
After 30+ years in Colorado, Carol now lives in Iowa City, Iowa, with her husband and college sweetheart, Chip. Together, they delight in seeing their two millennial sons launched and thriving.
Irv Kooris
Irv Kooris is a leadership coach and therapist with 35 years’ experience in the field of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), counseling and behavioral healthcare. He has been a clinician, supervisor and senior manager positions in both the private and public sector of mental health.
Irv has assisted large corporations, including The Home Depot and Raytheon, during times of crisis and uncertainty as a key member of crisis management teams. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in the development and execution of crisis response programs. The nature of these crises ranged from natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina, Oklahoma tornadoes) to terrorism (9/11), large downsizings, and potential pandemics (H1N1, Ebola). In all these and many more, Irv, his team, and vendors provided emotional first aid and then helped employees, their families and communities heal and become more resilient. Recognizing and acknowledging emotions was a critical factor in the recovery of people and the organizations where they worked.
Irv is a certified coach through the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI). Ever the curious learner, he has completed advanced coaching training through Lucid Living. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences from Antioch College and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Boston University. He has completed doctoral level courses and internships in Counseling Psychology at Boston University. Additionally, Irv has advanced training in Internal Family Systems, Mindful Based Stress Reduction, Solution Focused Therapy, and Gestalt Therapy. As a lifelong learner, Irv continues to find opportunities to enhance his skills and knowledge.
Irv lives in Atlanta, Georgia and enjoys spending time with his amazing wife, Allyn, and playing with his grandsons. He delights in being on the water, paddling around in the kayak that he built, or taking a long bike ride on a country road.
Find out more about Irv at https://www.linkedin.com/in/irvkooris/
Angela Trainor
Angela is a leadership coach who believes compassion is the answer to every question. Compassion instills humanity in our work, community and family systems. She’s traveled a winding road to discover and claim this. Angela spent 20 years working hard to fit in, burned out multiple times, and grazed on a steady diet of suppressing her emotions and hiding her gifts. This took a toll on her mind, body and spirit. Coaching helped her to claim vulnerability, an open heart and intuition as the core of her power.
As a coach, she specializes in helping seekers and bright lights unburden themselves from limiting stories and patterns, feel a greater range of emotions, and claim their passion. Her greatest joy is serving clients to trust in the wisdom of their heart and instinct and partnering with them to shine as leaders in all areas of life.
Angela holds a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and received coach training from the Co-Active Institute (CTI), Center for Right Relationship and Lucid Living. She is a graduate of CTI’s 10-month long Leadership program. She spent 20 years elevating potential in people, teams, brands and products in organizations as a communicator, marketer, fundraiser and recruiter. Her organizational experience spans corporate, post-secondary education and non-profit, including Bell Aliant, Manulife Financial, CTV News Atlantic, Dalhousie University and Alzheimer Canada.
In her spare time, Angela trains new coaches as a Faculty Member at The Co-Active Institute. Find out more at www.linkedin.com/in/angelatrainor/
With her husband, Sanjay, and their puppy Monte, Angela splits her time between the beauty of her beloved, rural Nova Scotia and the excitement and high energy of her adopted home, Manhattan.
Justine Williams
Justine Williams is a leadership coach who specializes in building emotional resiliency. With more than 20 years of corporate communications practice in the U.S. and the U.K., experiencing challenges such as Hurricane Harvey in Texas, she understands what it feels like to lead people through crises.
Crises can be chaotic. Justine helps leaders become more familiar with their own saboteurs so they can remain present and responsive through discomfort and are able to stay in relationship with the teams who need them. She believes that leaders who develop a deeper self-awareness and know how to foster compassion among their people will create greater health and success for themselves and those they touch.
Justine has a strong track record in leading communication teams in the energy and telecommunications industries (Orange, Centrica, and Direct Energy), including ten years in oil and gas in Houston, Texas. She and her team have received industry awards including the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) Lean Team of the Year for achieving exceptional results; as well as an International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Silver Quill for excellence in communicating company vision and business strategy that is regularly featured as a best-practice case study.
Justine holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Communication Studies from Huddersfield University, U.K. She is a certified coach through the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) and has completed advanced coaching training with Lucid Living. She is a graduate of CTI’s 10-month long Leadership program and currently studies with Philip Shepherd, a recognized international authority on presence and embodiment.
Justine lives in the U.K. with her partner Paul, his two lovely boys, and their two dogs.
Find Justine on https://linkedin.com/in/justine-m-williams