A Diverse Range of Fields

Executive Coaching

Using neuroscience to educate leaders on effective communication and a positive mindset, two elements crucial to sustained success.

Arjan is a gifted, intuitive and strategic executive coach, the kind of coach that is few and far between. She is a tremendous asset to IKEA and has supported many leaders in different areas of the organization. Arjan simultaneously challenges and deeply supports our leaders so they can achieve maximum growth. Her coaching is grounded in research, yet always practical and she uses her knowledge about neuroscience to educate our leaders on effective communication and a positive mindset, two elements crucial to sustained success. Drawing on her rich experience as an executive coach, she has a natural aptitude to combine both business and individual goals. Leaders tackle real-time problems with her, which she consistently ties back towards the greater journey they are on. Calm in crisis, she always stays focused on the bigger picture, understanding which levers to pull and how to empower her clients to advance. I can’t thank her enough for the impact she has created and can highly recommend her to any Chief HR Executive looking to grow their people and business results.
Simon Lowes – Chief Human Resources – USA, IKEA

Partnering with Companies and their Executives to Enhance Leadership Skills and Impact Business Results

Arjan has been a strong partner over many years. She combines her business and people skills into high level results for our company. She helps our leaders become more effective in their role and supports their personal development. Our executives very much appreciate working with her and consistently speak about her high business acumen and great understanding of leadership. They highlight her ability to build trust, listen effectively, educate and challenge them to create forward momentum towards their goals. They especially appreciate her integrity, confidentiality, and wisdom.
Richard Mellor, EVP Global Chief Human Resources, R/GA

Arjan brings professional rigor and emotional depth to each of our conversations. I’ve been coached by Arjan for about 2 years, through some very complex and challenging career events. She has an extraordinary ability to synthesize all important factors, bring clarity to opportunities and focus on how to approach them. Even though I’m a pretty lucid thinker, Arjan’s counsel always clears fog from the road ahead. Somehow, she retains (in shockingly vivid detail) each step in the long journey; but can zoom out at any time to see the shape of everything. It is refreshing to work with her, as she combines her strategic, results-oriented approach with a deep level of compassion and wonderful sense of humor. I continue to work with Arjan, and benefit immensely.
Nick Law – Chief Creative Officer Publicis Groupe, President Publicis Communications at Publicis Groupe

Enhancing Communication Style and Personal Brand

Arjan is an exceptional executive coach. She is effective, inspiring and deeply knowledgeable. Through her expert guidance, I evolved my leadership style and executive presence. She helped me identify my unique strengths and made me aware of areas of development to progress my career. Arjan masterfully combines a high measure of gravitas, a refreshing straightforward approach and a deep level of compassion with an acute business sense. She provides sharp insights, practical advice and honest feedback, which was pivotal to rethinking and improving my communication style. As a result, I’ve become more deliberately effective in both preparing content for and executing the proper delivery of key messaging during crucial conversations. She is brilliant, but humble; grounded, but visionary; logical, but intuitive. With her extensive experience as an international marketer, she confidently led me to uniquely define my personal brand. Arjan listens attentively, advises with genuine interest and provides an informed and confidential sounding board. She is genuinely committed to her client’s success and happiness. I recommend Arjan without qualification to any executive leader or management team seeking to fulfill their leadership potential.
Neil Hampshire – SVP and CIO, ModusLink

Leading in a Merger Situation

Rarely am I at a loss for words until I have to describe someone as brilliant as Arjan. She coached me through a complex merger that was fraught with challenges at every turn and level. Her ability to cut through the chaos, pinpoint the issues, and provide clarity, ensures that the best paths forward are always revealed. She delivers the unvarnished truth with equal parts empathy and compassion, providing actionable guidance at every step. And, at the most difficult moments, she remains in your corner with unrelenting encouragement, warmth and humor. For anyone seeking to grow as a leader, Arjan is your beacon.
Sherine Kazim, Chief Experience Officer, Wunderman Thompson

Becoming a Better Leader and Exceeding Business Goals

Arjan is a fantastic executive coach, a great supporter, and has been invaluable for my career. She has an admirable capacity to bring clarity to complicated business situations, interpersonal relationships, thoughts and emotions. She creates simplicity by discovering the underlying challenges and opportunities and by always providing a practical and solution-oriented approach. Through collaborating with Arjan, I have developed a greater level of clarity in my work by prioritizing my most important business and individual leadership goals. I have become a better leader; my confidence has increased, we have exceeded our business goals, I have established an effective leadership style, and I have a much broader toolkit available for my own development and the development of my teams. Arjan’s exercises are simple, direct, and very effective. I love working with her and look forward to learning from her business insights, international perspective and general wisdom in every meeting.
Paola Colombo, Google – Chief of Staff, SumUX

Leveraging strengths and advancing areas of development after a 360

I had the opportunity to work with Arjan, in my role as a creative leader at one of the world’s leading ad agencies. She performed a large 360 interview based feedback process, which afforded me the clearest picture of how others perceived me. Through this effort, Arjan gave me a huge gift. She helped me see blind-spots in my leadership style, of which I was unaware; both the good and the, well, not so good. It’s a gift because one never gets to hear the truth about one’s self. And Arjan delivered that truth with clarity and compassion, in a way that was constructive and frankly, life-altering. I learned about a whole slew of strengths I didn’t appreciate in myself before and how to leverage them to increase my effectiveness. Perhaps even more importantly, she helped me absorb the truth of what my weaknesses were, helped me not over-react to them, but to see them objectively and thus, through awareness, become able to tackle and minimize them. Arjan is a bloody amazing human being. A gifted coach, who went far above and beyond for me in more ways than I can say. I am eternally grateful to her for her warmth and confidence that emboldened me through some very tough times as well as her shining encouragement and excitement in the good ones. For the first time, in my long career, I feel more in control, more empowered, and more self-assured of my abilities and that matters tremendously, because now I can better support, and inspire my people in such a powerful and positive way, they too will realize and experience the greatness of their own potential.
Auge Reichenberg – Chief Creative Director, McCann HumanCare

Integration of a New Leader

When I took the role of President at Wunderman NYC, I was clear that I wanted to work with an experienced and highly regarded Executive Coach. I selected Arjan as she came strongly recommended by industry leaders. It was the right decision, as working with Arjan greatly accelerated my integration as a new leader. She interviewed stakeholders, wrote a comprehensive report on the organization which fast-tracked my understanding of the environment, culture, the challenges and opportunities. She helped me develop a vision for the organization, build a cohesive and effective team. Arjan is direct and calls a spade a spade, but it is her warmth, care and great understanding of people and business, that makes her an outstanding coach. Her energy, natural courage, and positive outlook are contagious and I walk away from each meeting with new insights that I can immediately apply. Arjan truly goes the extra mile for her clients. She is a phenomenal partner for anyone who is starting in a new leadership role.
Helder Santo, President Wunderman New York

From CFO to CFO/COO within a year of landing a position

I started working with Arjan during a time of transition. It was my first time since becoming a C-level Executive that I was doing a job search. I was dealing with a lot of different parties – recruiters, board members, industry contacts, etc.; Arjan was instrumental in helping me hone my message for each audience. She kept me focused and diligent as I explored several different opportunities. Ultimately, I ended up with an exciting role with lots of growth and higher compensation than my previous role. I continue to work with Arjan in my new position; she has been particularly invaluable in helping me partner effectively with our Board. Her guidance is direct, insightful and clear. She has a tremendous amount of experience and provides a lot of wisdom navigating complex strategic situations. I am excited that while I was originally hired as CFO, I was within a year promoted to also take on the COO position. I can’t imagine being where I am today in my career without her guidance.
Jennifer Solomon – COO & CFO, Arts Students League of New York

A trusted sounding board and successful frameworks to solve complex strategic challenges

Arjan is a phenomenal executive coach. She has profound expertise in leadership development, communication and emotional intelligence and consistently brings her broad experience to bear in our meetings. Arjan has helped me create successful frameworks for solving the most complex strategic and human resource challenges. She is insightful, articulate and has a deep commitment to excellence. I have become a better leader as a direct result of our work together and can highly recommend Arjan.
James Gomez – Division President, CalAtlantic Homes

Leading during a time of transformation and acquisition

Arjan combines great business knowledge with people insight. She displays profound positive intelligence, superb communication skills and a deep level of compassion. She is clear, challenging and direct, and applies a sense of humor in her coaching conversations. She walks the talk and lives by her principles. Arjan helped me evolve my thinking to successfully navigate the complex situations presented by a rapidly growing and transforming business, leadership changes and an acquisition by a much larger company. My team and I delivered superior results for our internal customers and shareholders and I thank Arjan for her guidance along the way.
Terry Stack – VP Treasurer, Harman International

Reaching Higher

Arjan is both a master executive coach as well as an inspiring speaker. She has an ability to build an instant rapport with her clients and audiences alike. Deeply knowledgeable about business, leadership, interpersonal relationships and communications, she stretched my thinking, encouraged me to play to my strengths and always empowered me to reach higher. Arjan has also worked with senior leaders on my team, who hold her in equally high esteem.

When I needed to engage an inspirational speaker for an industry event on the topic of confidence and women leadership, I immediately thought of Arjan. Arjan offers tremendous value to her audiences. With her unwavering positive demeanor and deep passion, she has an uncanny ability to inspire a room full of people. Her expertise, practical advice and goal-oriented focus ensure that every person leaves her presentations with clear tools and tips that they can immediately apply to enhance their leadership skills. Her charismatic style as well as her flair to truly connect make her a great presenter for a large audience and a powerful facilitator of workshops.
Chloe Gottlieb, Director Product Design, Google Aps, NY – Former Chief Creative Officer R/GA

Establishing effectively and with ease in a new role

I started working in a challenging, newly created executive marketing position in a large medical institution. Arjan helped me to successfully position myself in this new role and to focus on my immediate effectiveness for the company. Arjan is an exceptional coach who is raising the bar on executive coaching. She is extremely dedicated to her clients, results-oriented and committed to moving things forward as a team. Her style invokes an ease and sense of trust. Her insight and ability to help bring revelation to an area of focus quickly is remarkable. She gets it!
Maria C. – Marketing Executive, Hospital

Creating a more positive mindset leads to financial rewards

My confidence took a major dip during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Even though I was fortunate to retain my job when so many co-workers did not, I found myself worrying about ‘what could be’ rather than focusing on reality. Arjan’s energy and positive attitude is enlightening. Arjan helped me shift my thinking and create a more positive mindset. We worked on my communications skills and positioning within the company. I was able to increase my visibility, which lead to an unexpectedly high bonus and salary increase. Each coaching session leaves me refreshed, focused and motivated and I am now better equipped to deal with the challenges that lie ahead and ready to make the best of all opportunities that come my way. I realize that I am very much in control of my decisions, and in turn, my life/career path.
Daniel Massey – Project Manager and Sr. Business Analyst, Iridium

Enhancing executive presence and overcoming fear of public speaking leads to increased recognition and greater job satisfaction

As a Director of a not-for-profit organization affected by the economic recession, I felt it was important to develop my leadership skills further. Arjan helped me to enhance my overall executive presence and credibility. I learned to overcome my fear of public speaking, communicate more effectively and develop productive working relationships. While others were let go, my growth was immediately noticed by my superiors and staff, which lead to increased respect, job retention and a higher work satisfaction for me. Arjan and I also worked on life – work balance and while I was able to increase my effectiveness within the company, I also was able to set boundaries around work, and commit to myself in the same way as I committed to the company.
Karen R. – Program Director, Not-for-profit organization

Improving leadership effectiveness

My work with Arjan greatly enhanced my effectiveness as the President of a volunteer organization. Arjan brings to her work extraordinary intelligence, a talent for active listening and wisdom. We have worked both on near-term goals and also on longer term objectives such as creating a positive work environment for my members, charting a realistic strategic plan, and developing my leadership skills. Arjan has clarity of vision, insight and provides guidance that makes each and every meeting with her very effective and worthwhile.
Sheila S. – President, Volunteer Organization 

Career Coaching

From VP of Operations to Division President

“Working in a company that suffered greatly due to the recession, I hired Arjan as an Executive and Career Coach to take a pro-active approach towards my career. Arjan helped me think through numerous complex corporate issues, while simultaneously focusing on my career direction. I wanted my next step to be a Division President. Arjan’s guidance throughout this process has been incredibly valuable and within several months, I accepted a position as a Division President for a large, reputable and financially sound company in my industry. I will continue to work with Arjan because in her, I have found a coach, who has an extraordinary breadth of experience, combined with a genuine care about the success of her clients. She has a “head and a heart”, and I know we will have a strong relationship for years to come.”
James Gomez. – Division President, Home Building Industry 

From out of a job to VP of Sales

“I started working with Arjan when I had been out of a job for over a year. She helped me better define my career goals and refocus. I landed a position within 3 months as a Vice President of Sales and I am very excited about this new opportunity. Arjan is the consummate career coach, professional in all she does; she is insightful and goal oriented, while patient at the same time. She possesses a wealth of knowledge. Arjan has great energy with an ability to inspire and to motivate people. She is talented in helping people learn more about themselves, focus in on their strengths and guide them in creating a clear career direction.”
John E. – VP of Sales, Consumer Goods 

Making a career move, I doubted would be possible, in less than 5 months

One of the great decisions I made last year was to engage Arjan as an Executive and Career Coach to help refocus my professional goals. In a time span of less than 5 months, with Arjan’s expert guidance, I was able to realize a very positive career move that I initially doubted would even be possible. Arjan is an expert in career coaching, leadership development, networking, time management and communication. She stretches your thinking, keeps you accountable and ensures you live up to the goals you set for yourself. Arjan possesses a unique combination of intelligence, caring, commitment, humor, insight, and persistence. She has a breadth of valuable experience and knowledge. Her innate abilities to understand and connect with people combined with her business acumen make her exceptionally qualified to coach at the highest level.
Joris van Roijen – Senior Manager, Ernst & Young

Landing the one particular position that fit my interest perfectly 

My experience working with Arjan was nothing less but fantastic.  As I approached the end of a 30 year career in international public service at the United Nations, there was one particular job that seemed to fit my interests perfectly. I deeply wanted the position and Arjan helped me land it.  First Arjan focused on my resume, creating an effective and meaningful marketing tool, which got me invited for the interviewing process. We role played the interviews. Arjan prepared me for the questions and she helped me gain the confidence that I was the right person for the position.  I was thrilled to receive the offer and feel much appreciation for the outstanding professional support that I received from Arjan. In five one hour sessions she was extraordinarily helpful. Every minute of our time together was valuable. Working with a seasoned expert like Arjan made me feel that I was not alone and had both a friend and a gifted coach pulling for me throughout the process. Arjan is an absolute joy to work with and very effective at what she does!
Douglas Gardner – Director of Occidental, The United Nations

From being confused to a clear direction and landing a position in the legal financial field

I had been going back and forth between two career directions for a long time and was really confused, sometimes focusing more on one, then on the other, trying to move them both forward and not getting anywhere. I knew I was stuck but did not know how to get out of it. Arjan helped me achieve clarity around my values and objectives. Then realize my goals in an expedited manner, I just started a position as a lawyer with a great financial firm. Arjan is skilled at moving the coaching process forward and is adept at getting directly to the heart of an issue. She does not shy away from confronting difficult issues and held me accountable for the commitments and goals I set for myself. Arjan possess a unique combination of intelligence, caring, commitment, humor, insight and persistence. Her innate abilities combined with her business acumen make her exceptionally qualified to coach at the highest level. She is extremely passionate about and dedicated to coaching and her clients. She is a master coach among coaches.
Kathryn K. – VP & Assistant General Counsel, JP Morgan Chase Bank  

From feeling stuck to moving forward

“Arjan is an excellent Coach – from assisting with my job search to helping me tap my own inner resources in ways I didn’t know possible. She helped me to understand not just the ‘what’ but the ‘why’ that was holding me back and most important of all, ‘how’ to change. Real, practical advice that I was able to apply immediately all in a time frame that was comfortable and worked for me. Arjan is compassionate as well as professional and has a wonderful understanding of work and personal life. She eagerly shares her knowledge and expertise, always offering support and flexibility. I unequivocally recommend Arjan as a Coach who delivers results.”
Virginia C. – Marketing, Data Analytics Field

Speaking, Workshops and Group Coaching

Arjan is an extremely skilled executive coach and organizational strategist. She presents to hundreds of attendees at our iRelaunch Return to Work Conferences and consistently gets top ratings. She has also been a popular and well-regarded coach and facilitator of our group coaching program. More recently she has taken on an important role with our corporate initiatives. In all of her work, Arjan demonstrates integrity, excellence and an energy level matched by few. It is an honor to have her on our team.
Carol Fishman Cohen – CEO, iRelaunch

Inspiring Speaker

I immediately thought of Arjan, when I needed to engage an inspirational speaker for an industry event on the topic of confidence and women leadership. Deeply knowledgeable about business, leadership, interpersonal relationships and communications, Arjan offers tremendous value to her audiences. With her unwavering positive demeanor and deep passion, she has an uncanny ability to inspire a room full of people. Her expertise, practical advice and goal-oriented focus ensure that every person leaves her presentations with clear tools and tips that they can immediately apply to enhance their leadership skills. Her charismatic style as well as her flair to truly connect make her a great presenter for a large audience and a powerful facilitator of workshops.
Chloe Gottlieb, Director Product Design, Google Aps, NY – Former Chief Creative Officer R/GA