I’m a management trainer, mom of three, and someone who’s spent the last two decades in the trenches, learning what it really takes to manage well.

I’ve led teams big and small, local and global. I’ve co-built training programs and certification paths, led a global train-the-trainer network, and helped organizations navigate change across industries, from startups to finance to aerospace and defense. I also hold a master’s in organizational leadership, change management, and strategic innovation… earned in search of what makes great leadership work.

What I discovered? The most essential skills, the human ones, weren’t in the textbooks and they weren’t in most corporate training either.

No one taught me how to have hard conversations. Or how to manage emotions, mine or my team’s. No one showed me that empathy and vulnerability could be leadership strengths. Or that the way I spoke to my people would go home with them. That I’d be the one they’d turn to after a loss, a birth, or during a mental health spiral and how I responded would shape their wellbeing and their work. No one taught me how to balance all of that with the needs of the business.

Manage(Meant) Excellence was born out of that gap — to give managers the tools and support I wish I’d had from the start.

Because managing people is deeply human work. It deserves training that honors that.

And here’s the truth: the so-called “soft” skills? They’re not just good for people, they’re good for business. Managers who lead with emotional intelligence, clarity, and care build stronger teams and get better results.

If you’re going to manage, mean it.