Client Reflections
Clients have shared reflections about our work together. You'll find these reflections in two categories: first Leadership and then Collaboration & Culture.

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Leadership
I can’t say enough about working with Beata to uncover and seize opportunities for growth as a leader. Beata offers a compassionate, candid approach to discovering and navigating one’s style, strengths, and challenges. I appreciated the breadth of assessments she leveraged to reveal insights and reflect together. Through our sessions, I gained greater self-awareness, focus, and confidence to both listen deeply and empathize with others as well as trust my own instincts and creativity to lead in the face of adversity. I’ve also incorporated Beata’s incredible resources and wisdom to coach others on my team and in our organization with great appreciation and success. As a result of our work together, I feel more grounded and joyful as a leader, and incredibly energized about what is to come!
K. von Jan, Chief Strategy Officer - Office of Innovation - SalesForce
Beata is fantastic! She gets right to the heart of the matter, helps me clearly see and define the issues and identify a path forward. On multiple occasions, her insights into human motivation and behavior have been instrumental in communicating effectively and influencing several members of senior management.
M. O'Donovan, Senior Director, Regulatory - Biomarin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Beata engages you as a whole person - body, mind, soul, spirit - to help you discover your core strengths and reveal your highest aspirations. Her integrative style teaches you the techniques and the tools you need to be fully present in your career and in your life. Working with Beata is a path to unlocking your next level vision and then building a plan to realize it.
K. Mangia, VP, Customer & Market Insights - SalesForce
Beata Lewis is unique in her understanding of the next wave of the critical journey into what it means to bring a New Leadership into being, and translating the hidden voices of our genuine inner selves into actionable practices. Her coaching techniques are effective in laying the ground work to shatter the glass ceiling of our professional, personal and spiritual lives.
E. Brownell, PhD, Executive Vice President of Operations and Project Management - Amarantus BioScience
Beata is a passionate, inspirational teacher who has a talent for finding keys to unlock doors of opportunity. And where no doors exist, she knows where to find a chain saw.
Y. Thorstenson, Director of Product Development - Sirona Genomics
I have been working continuously with Beata for the over 8 years. My professional and personal life (and myself) have evolved tremendously during this time, sometimes in ways I did not anticipate. Whether the change has "happened to me" or has been created by me, Beata has been a terrific coaching partner throughout. Beata has a unique ability, polished through decades of practice and research, to sift through the body of information that I dump on her to identify the most effective and productive practice, or framework, or insight-generating conversation to further my long-term wellbeing and my professional objectives. I have trusted Beata with some of my most personal and meaningful life challenges and she has rewarded my trust with strong advice, unique insights and, ultimately, measurable results.
M. Fabiano, Founder & Partner - FireMatter LLC
Working with Beata has given me tools for better communication with my team and my board. Learning how to face challenges in the way that I want to--strategically and compassionately--has been a true gift. There isn't any one way to solve a problem, and working with Beata has helped me develop many more tools for navigating a complex leadership role.
J. Young, Executive Director - Women's International Study Center
Beata is an extraordinarily effective and very gifted coach. I so appreciate that she is a "Somatic Coach" and works with clients to center ourselves in the body (like with movement and sensation) as we grow in work and in life. I have worked with another coach who is also excellent, but found that I am able to really make great headway in working with Beata. She has helped me to identify and to work with different leadership challenges while remaining friendly to myself in the process. I so appreciate Beata's intelligence and obvious coaching experience and expertise. I just recently made the commitment to continue my work with Beata and am looking forward it!
K. Maltrud, Founder & CEO - ArtSpark
Beata is a great, personable coach with tremendous intuition, creativity and an orientation for results--but more importantly: an orientation for making sure the results are actually aligned with what her clients TRULY want (which sometimes isn't the same as they initially think they want). Beata coached me (and later also my business partner) during a period where my company grew from being a single contractor through becoming an international partnership to a corporation with 10 to 12 employees in 3 countries with sales of over $ 1.5 million. She not only coached me from a business perspective but held me as a complete person (which in my case included my spiritual aspirations and crises) and helped me to weather the storms of a "bad" economy as well as eventually selling my business (while it was having its best year yet) and transitioning to a new area of work with the financial security I received from the sale. Beata incorporates many different methods into her coaching practice, which highly increases the value of her sessions. I really enjoy working with Beata and recommend her to anyone who is dealing with the responsibility of running their own business or who is holding or aspiring to a leadership role in any area of life.
M. Bohunovsky, former CEO - Modula4, Inc.
I worked with Beata when I was a new, first-time CEO, in an extremely technical industry (lasers for manufacturing--you can count the female CEOs on one hand). While I had the pull of customers in Japan and a technical team in Silicon Valley, even some early angel investors, I also had a lot of doubts. Beata helped me develop an awareness of my unique leadership style, accept its validity, recognize its value to others, and get comfortable so that I could engage in crucial conversations with C-suite executives and investors. Developing this confidence was crucial to raising institutional financing in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse in January of 2009, and to engaging multi-billion dollar market-leaders in building multiple start-ups (two have now exited). Coaching with Beata was a self-defining and excellent choice, and I am reminded of it often as I now raise my son to be confident and true to his core values.
L. Smoliar, PhD; Serial Entrepreneur; CEO - Peppertree Engineering, Inc.; Founding Partner - Berkeley Catalyst Fund; Managing Director - Global Innovation Foundry, LLC
I've had the opportunity to work with Beata off and on over a period of six years. I came to her with the simple desire to advance one level at my company, and I have learned so much more! The somatic practices, grounding exercises, and always gentle questioning has allowed me to build much more powerful relationships, stronger connections, and set powerful intentions that I met/exceeded gracefully and with excellence. Beata's customized approach to coaching really helped me to grow quickly. I always felt challenged, yet cared for, pushed, yet protected. As a female business leader, social entrepreneur, and a creative soul choosing to lead ever more masterfully with embodied values and vision, I highly recommend Beata!
D. Rothschild, former Founder & CEO - NextSpace
What an incredible experience working with Beata Lewis while preparing for the most important funding pitch of my life. Beata came highly recommended and lived up to her recommendation. Beata's process was efficient and effective. Since I found her at the "11th hour", we were only able to meet twice and had much to accomplish. She was able to access my needs and get straight to work coaching me on my presentation skills. Our work involved breathing techniques, body movement, mental and emotional preparedness and voice intonation. She had a holistic methodology while coaching me which extended beyond our two morning sessions as I have been able to use many of the skills I learned from her in other situations. I would highly recommend Beata. Not only was it a pleasure getting to know and work with her, I nailed my funding pitch!
S. Oliver, Founder & CEO - sarah oliver handbags
I most highly recommend Beata as a professional and personal coach to everyone wanting to lead from a more centered, healthful manner. Beata has provided me with a superlative set of personalized exercises and practices that have allowed me to find my inner core and move through my challenges. I have made major strides in my abilities to communicate and collaborate with others both professionally and personally thanks to her continual encouragements and insightful conversations. She is a benefit to any organization or person putting her all into their growth so we may be more productive.
J. Eldering, BioAssay Development & Validation Consultant - BioPharma, Life Science R&D
At a critical time when I felt "stalled" in terms of inspiration and career vision, your coaching offered two important tools that worked well for me: First, the somatic exercises enabled me to become conscious of the doubt/fear/uncertainty that was acting as a block. I used it to help get a grip on that negativity and put it proper perspective. Second, you reminded me that "...there are no mistakes, there is only what I do." Very powerful. The attitude I came to adopt was - 'choose a path, commit to it and follow it.' To actualize and live that thought is a very different thing. You gave me the awareness and tools that allowed it to happen.
C.N., Attorney & Financial Advisor
I agreed to participate in our agency’s leadership initiative reluctantly given that I have worked with professional coaches in the past and been unimpressed as they tried to “mold” me into who they thought I should be instead of building on who I already was. I found Beata Lewis to be a welcome change as she took time to understand me and what was important to me as an individual and as a professional. Importantly, she did not try to distinguish between the two, rather, she worked with me to effectively draw on my personal and professional attributes to build one incredible being. Yes, I said it…I came out of this experience knowing that I am an incredible individual with a powerful voice and meaningful contributions to make. I appreciate Beata for assisting me on this journey of discovering the best parts of me. I look forward to continuing to grow into the person I am destined to be.
M. Grigsby, CFO - Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay
Collaboration & Culture
The partnering approach and deep insights Beata brought to our team were invaluable as we ventured though a combined strategic planning and leadership development effort over two-plus years. Recognizing the need for us to think and work differently, Beata was able to create "constructive tension" for individual members of our leadership team as well as for the larger team. She helped us discover how to work together much more effectively.
M. Tatro, former Director of Energy Security Programs - a U.S. National Laboratory; now CEO - Reineke Construction, Inc.
Beata was immensely helpful for our team as we moved more deeply into a co-leadership model. She was key to a fruitful collaborative reset!
A. Lappé, Founder and Strategic Advisor, Real Food Media
I engaged Beata Lewis to co-create and launch a grassroots effort to build a sustainable leadership initiative focused on women at a Nobel Prize-winning biomedical research institute. This was part of a larger ongoing change management initiative and thus needed to be strategically aligned and coordinated. She is a voracious problem solver who brings many interdisciplinary modalities to bear (psychology, neuroscience, systems thinking, technology, somatic and wisdom arts, etc.) when crafting potential solutions. Beata partnered effectively with me to design a multi-stage input-gathering process that not only defined the leadership needs of the group but also empowered them to take ownership of their own development. Further, she adroitly assisted me in crafting a compelling vision that catalyzed deep engagement from the President of the Institute. With Beata’s guidance, we were able to make history at our Institution by creating community among women leaders, engaging them in dialog to advance their professional and personal development, and ultimately launch the design of a sustainable leadership initiative.
M. L. Penn, Jr, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO - Inclusive Health Innovation
Beata is a gifted individual and team coach. Her deep knowledge across multiple fields allows her to approach business challenges in a holistic and inspiring way. Infusing humor, wisdom and positive energy into her practice, she supports me and my team to consider new, more sustainable ways of accomplishing our objectives. I always feel more relaxed and empowered after an individual or group meeting that she facilitates and we count on her as a key resource for our department.
A. Waterhouse, VP, Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance - BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
I engaged Beata Lewis to lead a project for improving personnel engagement in our organization. Beata’s professionalism and careful guidance helped us unveil core issues, move along topics that might have otherwise bogged down, and steered us to improve in ways we had not agreed upon before. The project she designed featured the use of an innovative technology – WindTunneling – which helped us appreciate more of the complex dynamics at play and address them effectively. With WindTunneling, ideas were generated and judged on their own merits, not on who authored them; what at first seemed peripheral topics later proved to reveal deeper veins of content. Process transparency promoted greater candor, trust and a higher level of participation. Engagement improved as a result of Beata’s work and I would recommend her to others who desire superior organizational interactions and dynamics.
M. Cassady, Senior Manager, TM&D - a U.S. National Laboratory
Good Earth’s top management engaged Beata Lewis as a coach and business mentor for just over two years and have gained tremendously from the relationship. She continually provoked positive insights about how to improve our communication and achieve Good Earth's shared goals. We will long be appreciative of her help in getting us to a higher level of performance and accountability as well as having more fun working with each other to get there.
M. Squire, Store Partner - Good Earth Natural Foods
My business partner and I were lucky to find and work with Beata at a time of fast growth and change at Good Earth Natural Foods. Business success was being achieved, but “how” we were growing internally/culturally wasn’t so easy for each of us to get a hold of. As a great fan and frequent customer of our store, Beata understood early on exactly where we were with our own growth as a business, what we were up against in growing our culture, and how we as partners could strengthen our partnership over time. We each quickly built a comfortableness with her and a great trust for helping us both through difficult but very important and relevant discussions and issues. It has been important to me personally for a number of years to push myself to be a better leader / employer. With Beata’s warm, respectful and honoring approach I’m in a much better place today than I would have been. With that I thank her greatly and highly recommend the professional services Beata provides for business, civic and community leaders.
A. Baylacq, Store Partner - Good Earth Natural Foods
Beata is an outstanding professional that has been a great resource throughout our strategic planning and engagement journey. She brings her extensive experience and understanding of organizational communications, complexity and diversity to help guide and influence leaders and stimulate dialog that enables and guides the process of defining and moving toward a desired future. As a leadership coach, her intelligence and personal style of working with me to challenge me to think “outside the box”, challenge barriers and to address my own encumbrances to achieve change is quite provoking, stimulating and delightful.
A. Nanco, Manager, Military and Energy Systems Analysis - a U.S. National Laboratory
Is there something preventing you or your organization from performing at your best? If so, Beata Lewis can help you get unstuck. She providers a fresh perspective to seemingly insoluble business and leadership challenges and uses her confident energy to support you in successfully implementing the right solution. She is an excellent strategic thought partner.
J. Montgomery, Founder & Principal - Lex Ultima
At a time when the Burning Man phenomenon was growing rapidly and diversifying globally, our organizational founding Board was experiencing disruption and strife. We hired Beata at this inflection point to guide us in clearing out divisive patterns of communication and interaction and in choosing ways of leading together more collaboratively, with mutual respect and reciprocity. Beata facilitated conflict transformation and change with our six-person Board that catalyzed healing of persistent trust breakdowns so that we could build forward on a more trustworthy and resilient foundation among ourselves. In addition, individual coaching with Beata supported each person in sorting through evolving aspirations, expectations, and leadership requirements that met us each where we needed to be met. While our work together lasted for only about three years, the impact of how we came together again to co-create forward continues to live on.
M. Goodell, Board Member & CEO - Black Rock City LLC
Beata stepped in and helped our organization at a critical time. Every time we met, I walked away from the session armed with tangible models, exercises and metaphors to put into immediate practice in my business. It was so easy to implement her recommendations clearly demonstrates her ability to position things in simple and practical ways. I deeply appreciated her creativity and action-oriented approach. She also has a special gift for not only looking after the problem/challenge, but also for looking after the people. Her consultative style is warm, adaptive, innovative and collaborative!
D. McIsaac, Global People Development - Hewlett Packard Consulting
Beata has a meticulous, elegant (and fun!) approach to problem-solving for delicate points of group communication.
D. Feinsmith, President - Solomon Foundation
Lead. Collaborate. Grow. ... to Thrive!