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Clarity

Alison Whitmire

Washington DC metro area

I have over 4,000 hours coaching business owners and 10 years facilitating peer groups. I have 3 coaching certifications and I've organized and curated 3 TEDx Conferences. The third most viewed TED talk of all time, Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" talk, came from my first conference.

I started out as a CPA for Ernst and Young, got my MBA from University of Chicago, worked as a strategic planning consultant and ran P&Ls in Fortune 500 companies - all before I started coaching business owners.

I've run 10 marathons, climbed Mt. Rainier with world-famous mountaineer, Ed Viesturs when I turned 50, did a half ironman at 51, did Tough Mudder at 52, got my 200 hr RYT yoga cert at 53, and I turned 54 this year and I'm doing Karate. (And yes, my photo is current.)

$8.33/min

7 Calls

10 Reviews

about 1 hour
Avg. call

Business Development Start-ups Strategy Executive Coaching Leadership Coaching Strategic Planning Business Strategy Leadership Development Training

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Leading Dynamic Peer Groups

I led peer groups for Vistage International for 9 years and for the last 2 years have advised 2 CEOs who run entrepreneur membership organizations. I advise on how to bring peer groups together and make them sticky.

Giving a Breakout TED or TEDx Talk

I've organized and curated 3 TEDx conferences and have coached dozens of speakers to give the talk of their lives.

Organizing and Curating a TEDx Conference

I've organized and curated 3 TEDx conferences, TEDxPugetSound (2009, 2011) and TEDxRockCreekPark. The conferences have launched careers, clarified messages and catapulted at least one speaker to stardom. My role was to create the vision, develop the inspiration theme, design the audience experience and coach the speakers.

Designing Purposeful Strategy

For 12 years, I've worked with business owners to clarify their strategy, which often ends up being more about what they don't do versus what they do. Too many businesses focus on how to be the best instead of on how to be unique, which is what real strategy is about. Strategy becomes easier and more authentic when it is aligned with purpose.

Partnership Coaching - Working With Co-Owners

For over 10 years, I've worked with partners in multi-owner businesses to start their partnership out right and/or knit together the partnership they have. Partnerships are essentially business marriages and the business is only as strong as the partnership. So it is in the interest of every business with multiple owners to spend focused time aligning the partnership with each other and the business

Answers 1
Reviews 10

Answers

Alison Whitmire answered

I'm in a partnership which has trust issues (from my partners side), he had a bad experience prior to our partnership and he isn't being transparent.

Your company is only as healthy as your partnership. Time spent working on your partnership is an investment in your company. That said, check out David Gage's book, The Partnership Charter. http://www.amazon.com/The-Partnership-Charter-Start-Business/dp/0738208981 It outlines a process for threading your partnership back together. (It's brilliant and one I've used several times)

BTW, paranoid is a fairly common personality type. It is how some people view the world. (Don't take it personally.) Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, is a famous paranoid and it has served him and Intel well.

Whether or not you should bail depends upon how passionate you are about the business and how willing you are to work on both yourself and the relationship. If you love the biz and are willing to do the work, investigate your partners willingness to do the same and get the book. Good luck.

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Partner Management

Reviews

Alison is a terrific thought-partner. She always seems to ask the right questions, at the right time, in the right way. Our call was exactly what I needed to get through a critical decision-making process with confidence.

Ben Sands Source: Clarity

Alison is amazing. It was well worth the money (I would say 5x more). She not only provided valuable advice but also put me in touch with people who can help to implement it. I would particularly recommend Alison to CEOs seeking advice on PR.

Suren Samarchyan Source: Clarity

Alison is a dynamic speaker who establishes rapport quickly, then takes the audience along for an enriching, stimulating journey. When she talks about the need in today's workforce for continuous growth and reflection, it's obvious that she is walking her talk. A wonderful blend of research, personal experience, audience involvement, resources and video clips keep her audience engaged from start to finish.

Scott Dempsey Source: LinkedIn

Her passion, dedication and drive for excellence is contagious and at the heart of the life changing impact she contributes to her clients, colleagues and partners. If you are ready to explore what is possible Alison is a great asset to bring on the journey.

Jacques Bazinet Source: LinkedIn

Alison somehow blends her tremendously positive approach with great insight and candor to help you figure out where you're having challenges and why, and to help you craft you own path to tackle them effectively. Her breadth of experience - having worked with so many senior leaders in so many different industries - means she has a lot to pull from when offering her perspective. If you can work with Alison, do it!

Brad Williamson Source: LinkedIn

Alison coached both me and our COO during a time of transition within our company. She provided an invaluable outside perspective on our company’s value proposition, encouraged us to take the difficult steps we needed to take, kept us focused on what needed to be accomplished, and held us accountable for action between our coaching sessions. Alison also helped us develop a customized hiring process that improved our ability to hire employees whose skills and personality are a close fit to our company’s culture and our clients’ needs. I have also had the pleasure of partnering with Alison to serve mutual clients. She is an organized, skillful facilitator who bring exceptional insight to her clients’ situations. She is also committed to and successful at connecting people who can work together to mutual benefit.

private private Source: LinkedIn

Alison has been providing executive coaching for me over several years. She is an expert at helping clients get to the root cause of issues, and doing so in a way which is objective and clear. Her very strong business and finance background enables her to provide ideas and recommendations that are germane, crisp and actionable. Time and again, she has helped me see situations from multiple perspectives, increasing my effectiveness. Best of all, though, is that she combines these skills compassion and care for her clients. I highly recommend her.

Sean Cunningham Source: LinkedIn

Alison is an outstanding leadership coach that I have had the pleasure of working with for many years in my business! She thinks outside the box, is highly organized, has a very positive outlook, manages groups well, and challenges each individual to become a better leader with great success! Her passion for her business and helping others shows deeply - while also having fun!

Dan Mundle Source: LinkedIn

Alison is one of the best CEO coaches out there: she's strategic, focused, and truth-telling. I learn from her in every interaction.

Lynn Parker Source: LinkedIn

Alison is one of my favorite people. She is intelligent and insightful. She is organized and can be counted on to follow through with her committments. She knows when to push and when to be caring. She is a super facilitator and an excellent communicator and will ask the tough questions we sometimes need to hear. I know a lot of people that coach executives and Alison is someone I turn to regularly when seeking personal guidence. I give Alison my highest personal recommendation.

John Kaminski Source: LinkedIn

Member since July 2014