Helping employees grow and thrive one company at a time.

Meet our Coaches

At Bravely, we believe in the power of personalized coaching to drive meaningful changes in employee & managerial performance, engagement, and retention. Our team of experienced coaches works closely with organizations across healthcare, technology, and consulting industries to craft tailored solutions that align with unique organizational needs. Whether it's through leadership development, conflict resolution, or employee retention, we provide the tools and support your team needs to thrive.

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  Bo (Helen) Hong

  Bo (Helen) Hong

  For over three years, I have coached senior executives from a wide variety of sectors in Asia. My clients span from venture capital, high tech, automotive, e-commerce, construction, education, to nonprofits. I have served in a series of executive HR roles in multinational companies in the past 25 years. With the experience of building a foreign enterprise team in auto parts industry from zero to one and supporting its rapid development, I pay close attention to target management and have strong capability in plan execution which effectively promotes customer awareness. Since March 2019, I studied Professional Coaching Program and I have completed 275 ICF ACTP learning hours. As an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) , I have served for many multinational corporations, including Warburg Pincus, Michelin China, Vipshops and Jiangsu Libert, etc. I love workout and traveling, and I always focus on self-development and growth. I have an excellent daughter who graduated from Johns Hopkins University with two master degrees. 在过去的三年中，我曾为亚洲多国经理和总裁级客户提供教练服务。我的客户来自于风险投资、高科技、汽车、电子商务、建筑、教育和非营利组织等行业。我拥有二十五年以上的职场经验，历任跨国公司人力资源总监、亚洲区人力资源项目运营、人力资源行政经理、中国区招聘经理等不同职能。我具有从零到一搭建汽车零部件行业外企团队并支持企业高速发展的经历，因此注重目标管理、落地能力强，能够高效地推动客户觉察度。 自2019年3月起，我学习了教练技术，已完成275小时的专业教练培训小时数。作为国际教练联盟认证的专业教练 (PCC)，我曾为华平投资、米其林中国、唯品会和利柏特等公司提供教练服务。 Helen热爱生活，爱好健身和旅游，注重不断地自我学习，持续成长。有一位毕业于美国约翰霍普金斯大学并获双硕士学位的优秀女儿。

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  Bob Dyrda

  Bob Dyrda

  Before becoming a full-time coach, Bob spent the first twenty-five years of his adult life working in a multitude of industries and environments, including seven years working internationally, leading multiple businesses – one of which he co-founded – in the Cayman Islands. He has worked in sales and marketing, tourism and outdoor recreation, economic development and business management, bringing to his practice a rich body of experience with different leadership styles, interpersonal team dynamics and challenges both in and outside of the workplace. He has experienced his share of imposter syndrome, doing things before he is completely ready or qualified, and wrestling with those paralyzing thoughts of self-doubt and self-judgment while leading teams. Bob is passionate about coaching and meeting clients where they are at. He enjoys working with early and mid-career leaders and believes we are all leaders- either by choice or default. He believes by increasing our self-awareness and increasing our emotional intelligence, leaders can thrive in their personal and professional lives. When Bob is not helping clients grow and align in their professional or personal lives, he enjoys tending to the 500+ trees and shrubs he has planted and kayaking, golfing and hiking in nearby National and wildland parks. A heart-attack survivor, nature enthusiast and active outdoor outdoorsman, Bob is excited to hear your story and learn how he can support you on your own unique path.

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  Brandon Gould

  Brandon Gould

  MS, Leadership; ICF Certified Coach; Stanford Ignite Certificate of Innovation Brandon empowers leaders to create significance by designing alignment between purpose and action. A 2x founder in the Coaching & Consulting space, he has coached diverse leaders at Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, military and sports organizations, and in higher education. His design-centered coaching leverages curiosity, candor, and compassion - principles refined during his tenure as a coach and faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, Center for Character and Leadership Development, and other world-renowned institutions. Prior to his career as a certified coach Brandon learned the art and science of courageous leadership and unrelenting professionalism while serving as a decorated combat pilot, flight instructor, leadership consultant, and football coach in the U.S. Air Force and as a U.S. Senate staffer.

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  Britt Westfall

  Britt Westfall

  Britt has a background working with various startups in Chicago and New York focusing on workplace experience. In 2019, she expanded her view of what workplace wellness and employee engagement has the potential to be by getting trained as a professional coach. She's since then coached several clients in her own business, worked side by side with a Silicon Valley advisor supporting tech startup founders, and has also done career coaching at a coding bootcamp for aspiring tech engineers. In addition to her time at Bravely, Britt manages People Ops for a quickly growing fully remote startup. She also is a volunteer facilitator for the year round WBECS Coaching Summit. Britt holds a BA in Communications from Malone University and a HR Certification from Cornell University, is an ICF accredited coach and has been trained in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. She is regularly found listening to every audiobook she can find on interpersonal communication, leadership, and self-growth.

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  Burju Erdem

  Burju Erdem

  Burju is an Executive Coach, Existential Therapist, and Business Strategist, with a deep background in strategy, consulting, and entrepreneurship. Working with Fortune 500 executives and successful business owners, Burju rapidly helps her clients breakdown obstacles, gain clarity, and move through their resistance to reach higher potential. With over 15 years of experience in driving impact across diverse cultures and settings, Burju’s mission is to help her clients nurture a winning mindset, elevate their performance and work towards goals with more ease, speed, and joy.

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  Calanit Elza Derby

  Calanit Elza Derby

  Dedicated and passionate life coach skilled in empowering clients to make life changing decisions and pursue their goals, training and supervising young coachers and guiding families and individuals in times of crisis, grief and loss. Highly educated and well trained in utilizing effective coaching techniques, Buddhist and positive psychology as well as active listening and observing skills. Caring and empathetic with extensive experience in working successfully with diverse population and conducting sessions in person and in groups ensuring a safe and supportive environment

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  Carla Vazquez

  Carla Vazquez

  Carla is an open-minded and curious person, passionate about connecting with others and pursuing a life of learning and personal growth. She truly believes in people’s ability to grow and change into whatever version of themselves they envision. She enjoys working with curious, driven people who want to achieve their full potential and overcome self doubt and insecurities. Her clients describe her as warm and empathetic and appreciate her positive energy and support to make traction towards their goals. She has over 15 years of experience working in international environments in management consulting and tech startups as a strategy and operations leader. Carla led multi cultural and remote teams, and was recognized as a highly empathetic and effective leader. She is a certified professional coach through the Co-active Training Institute and holds an MBA from Berkeley Haas and a MS in electrical engineering. Carla is originally from Barcelona, and after having lived for over 8 years in California she is now settled in Amsterdam where she lives with her husband and two young boys.

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  Carolina Spierings-Kudo

  Carolina Spierings-Kudo

  Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC), accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), I work with individuals at all levels of their professional career. My coaching approach is very much heart driven, leading with empathy, authenticity and a genuine commitment to my client’s personal growth and well-being. I believe that the most meaningful progress and positive impact occur when clients align with their true selves, leading with authenticity and a clear sense of purpose. I have a background in healthcare with 10 years of experience as a physical therapist in both rehabilitation and clinical setting. My international background: I am half Venezuelan and half Japanese, and grew up in Caracas Venezuela, Osaka Japan and Kuala Lumpur Malaysia before settling in the Rotterdam Netherlands. I am fluent in English, Dutch and Spanish, with basic conversational ability in Japanese. My coaching languages are English and Dutch.

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  Cathleen Merkel

  Cathleen Merkel

  Cathleen is a Leadership Coach who is curious about people and about everything that makes them 'tick'. Characterised by aspiration and the pursuit of excellence, pace and constant change, Cathleen’s career has been shaped by her passion for a better understanding of what it takes to be at our best, and what it takes to help other people around us be at their best. She spent 15 years as a leader in international, matrix-structured organisations supporting leaders and teams in transition, and individuals through their personal development and growth paths through coaching and leadership development.

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  Christi Nix Bloomer, PCC

  Christi Nix Bloomer, PCC

  After two decades in HR and management consulting, Christi made a pivot to focus on executive coaching. She had much to learn as an entrepreneur and harnessed her ability to use technology, network and connect to create a successful coaching business on her own terms that align with her values. She loves to work with professionals who are high performers, courageous, driven and intentional and want more. She knows that coaching is and consulting are in her blood, both help create success for herself and others and always enjoys seeing her clients create a vision for what's possible for them.

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  Dr. Christine D'Alessandro

  Dr. Christine D'Alessandro

  Christine has a passion for helping people live more meaningful and vibrant lives by unlocking their greatest potential and purpose. In her roles as a life coach and an organizational and leadership development coach she provides the safe space for individuals to create their own conscious transformation. She brings 20 years of collective and diverse experience to her coaching practice. She has a doctorate in clinical psychology and comes to coaching with a background in psychotherapy. She uses a strength-based approach to help empower individuals to live authentically and to thrive in all areas of their life. Her work is strongly guided by a holistic and cultural lens as she is multilingual and multicultural and has worked within diverse groups and organizations globally.

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  Christy Macchione

  Christy Macchione

  Christy enjoys supporting individuals and teams in their ongoing growth. With specialties in leadership development and cultural diversity/inclusion, she provides coaching that creates effective individuals, leaders and teams in support of an organization’s strategy and mission. Christy highly values her experiences working throughout the US, Europe and Asia. She is passionate about developing diverse teams, working across cultural, generational, and gender differences. As gender culture specialist, Christy’s experience ranges from one-on-one coaching to being a keynote speaker in multiple major organizations. Christy has partnered with individuals at all levels of an organization, from new supervisors to senior leaders in identifying their path for growth and improvement. Her coaching philosophy is to meet the individual where they are, without judgement, and providing support to find the direction that best suits them.