This is What
Success Looks Like
“When I first heard about executive coaching, I was somewhat skeptical. Without a lot of time, I couldn’t wrap my head around actually setting aside an hour every week to talk about my business or my challenges. But as my business and team grew, I started to feel really overwhelmed. I didn’t just need help handling the stress—I needed someone to help me work through really complicated problems and give me the confidence to step up as a leader in high-pressure moments.
Working with Jess has been a game-changer. I feel more confident, I make better, faster decisions, and I actually enjoy my job a lot more. She’s helped me navigate some of the toughest challenges of running a business in hyper-growth. Having someone outside of my friends or family to really talk things through with—who also totally gets operations and leadership—has been invaluable. I’ve also learned the value of forcing yourself to take that hour to talk through things. Sometimes slowing down can actually help you speed up and be much more in control along the way.”
Casey Sarai | Co-Founder, Cakes Body
“Jess came into my life as a co-founder and business owner at a critical time and has helped me clarify my goals and exactly how I am going to achieve them. I feel like I am so much more methodical as a business leader and intentional with how I spend my time since working with Jess—which has made me more effective and happier.”
Taylor Capuano | Co-Founder, Cakes Body
“Working with Jess has been absolutely transformational. The business is running a lot more efficiently, effectively and profitably after working with Jess. She helped us to significantly increase the quality of life across the board.
She helped us seamlessly navigate business growth while sustaining the culture that took so many years to build. Her combination of understanding people, how they work and all the emotions that go into the day-to-day, while also the ability to deeply analyze all business aspects is incredible.
Can't say enough about Jess as a business person, and more importantly as an awesome human!”
Ryan Wilson | Owner, The Wilson Group
“I found Jess through a mentor of mine and by no surprise, she came highly recommended. I was looking for a consultant who could see the vision I had for my firm, while also helping me navigate unfamiliar facets of my business and the difficult conversations that can sometimes come with it. As a mom and business owner, I knew Jess could speak to what works for busy moms trying to ‘have it all’. I needed someone to help me routinely slow down, reflect and make decisions in a growth mindset. Through working with Jess, she has become a trusted voice in my head, and I know she is just a phone call away. Jess has helped me not only identify what the best version of me is for my team at the office, but also how I can show up my best for my family. I recommend Jess to colleagues and clients on a regular basis, she is the secret weapon to uncovering your true potential.”
Heidi Walsh | Managing Director, Northwestern Mutual
“I have been working with Jess for over 3 years in a variety of capacities. I first hired Jess to help me assess my current executive team and our overall effectiveness. She helped me identify opportunities both at the team and individual level. From there, I worked with her 1:1 to help me think through challenging problems and work on continuously developing my overall executive presence and communication. I have also used Jess to run several workshops with the Executive Leadership Team, second-line leaders and emerging leaders within the organization. Jess is gifted at helping navigate challenging conversations, team dynamics, and getting to the truth. Her ability to the raise authenticity of our team and get the most out of each of them has been extremely impactful to both me and my firm. I have referred her to several of my closest colleagues and all have seen a similar impact on their own leadership skills and team dynamics.”
Aaron Miller | Managing Partner, Northwestern Mutual
“Have you ever been in a battle for your sanity? It’s like being in a boxing ring and needing that person who can stand in the corner, look at the opponent for you, then telling you ‘right hook, left jab’. That’s what Jess has been for me. Someone in the trenches helping me to get to the next line, while bombs are exploding everywhere. I can say she’s going to tell you like it is—I can say that I couldn’t do it without her—but the truth is that’s cliché. She’s the solider next to me—she’s the coach in the corner saying don’t fall for the rope-a-dope—she’s the one that adapts to what the situation calls for. Her style is clarity, her advice tactical and what she stands for remains a north star in a haze of noise.”
Christy Hamilton | Partner and COO, Carey & Co Nonprofit Leadership
Empowers others and bridges gaps
“Jess' strategies and tactics enabled me to focus on the big picture knowing the team would succeed and thrive independently from me. Her ability to empower others and bridge gaps within the organization, impacted every level of the business. She has a unique genius at bringing people together even around difficult conversations, creating accountability with ease. She knows how to build a team of top talent and how to promote from within, encouraging people to get out of their comfort zones to develop professionally and personally.”
Rich Piltch | Founder, ARS
“I began working 1:1 with Jess over a year ago, to become more assertive as a business owner and create accountability within my team. She quickly helped me strengthen my communication, identify the need to clarify roles within our business, and how to effectively hold people responsible for their results. Our engagement evolved and she is now working with our entire leadership team, focused on strategic planning and setting a clear vision for the future. Jess has truly brought our company to a new level.”
Tricia Banks | CEO, TRM Concrete
“The first time I met Jess was at a company Management meeting after our company had been acquired, and she was our newly appointed COO. At first, I was apprehensive, using the opportunity to learn how she worked with the team she was familiar with and to see how our team would incorporate into the fold. After initial introductions and plowing through a 2-day agenda I was very pleasantly surprised by how much at ease I felt. It was only a couple of weeks later when she came to visit our branch that I could clearly see her ability to cut through the noise, focus on the elephant in the room and develop a plan to deal with the root cause of some complex issues—all while making it seem simple to lean in and achieve our goals.
We had the ability to work together much more often than I thought we would. Jess was very giving of her time. With each visit, not only did we accomplish the goals set for that meeting, but she took us through exercises that were applicable to relevant matters, easily bringing forth more than one ah-ha moment through the years. She has such a keen ability to bridge gaps, developing trust at every level and in many cases finding the diamonds in the rough.
She and I quickly forged a strong relationship that I value so deeply and although we no longer work for the same company, Jess is my mentor, a trusted advisor, biggest advocate and friend.”
Rhonda Farrell | Vice President of Operations
“As the General Manager of a leading Restoration company in the Mid-Atlantic area, I owe a great deal of my success to Jess, who not only saw talents and traits in me but also assisted in harnessing them, propelling me to become who I am today.
She invested her time, her patience, her relentlessness, and her humility to assist us in creating processes and procedures around our strengths. This led to our team winning back-to-back Top Performer awards recognized by our clients.
I will finish with one last story that sums up the time she spent with our team. In one of our production meetings at our branch a question was asked to Jess when you retire and are sitting on the front porch drinking lemonade, what two words would you like to be remembered by? Her answer ‘That I listened, that I loved’.”
JaMar Plater | General Manager, Thomasville Restoration
“Jess is a deep listener and focuses on discovery with the individuals she is coaching, as well as their entire team. This approach is the foundation of what separates her tactics from any other consultant I have worked with in the past. She has a unique way of finding the breakdown in your business, working with leadership to create a clear plan to eliminate road blocks, and ultimately helping organizations reach their highest potential. To our surprise, she was able to do this by identifying the strengths right within our organization.”
Kori Medeiros | General Manager and Partner, Paul Davis Restoration
“If you are fortunate enough to meet and possibly work with Jess Riehl, you will immediately realize that she is an exceptionally talented business leader and coach. Jess is someone who installs a sense of curiosity and play, while inspiring whomever she is consulting, coaching, managing, or teaching to a core message: you will succeed, if you find that place in yourself that you can trust.”
Dr. Timothy Dukes | Leadership and Team Consultant
Making people feel validated while
guiding us to the best solution for the business
“Right before meeting Jess, we were having a lot of growing pains, morale issues and management issues. After meeting with Jess and talking to her, I immediately had a sense of relief. She was a breath of fresh air that the company needed. A light at the end of the tunnel.
We had never had the opportunity to have someone with so much experience in our field be able to help us and speak our language. She has helped with seeing full picture scope with a fresh set of eyes. She guided us to see issues and resolve issues while implementing solid systems and procedures in place. She has helped with coaching and managing all different personalities which tends to be challenging in our line of work.
Her ability to have such professionalism and be totally down to earth to all employees is impressive. Making people feel validated while guiding us to the best solution for the business is one of her strong suits. Jess helps with keeping each department organized and setting us up for success. I like to refer to her as the ripple effect. It takes one ripple, one change to start a chain of events and Jess has certainly done that for us. I welcome the changes that are in our future because I feel supported in my role, and I know the owner and my colleagues feel the same. Although we have just begun to set up the company for success, I am excited to see what else we have in store for our company with such great support for our management team.”
Kelli D. | President
