True North Effect

Work with Me

Whether you are looking for a single session to work through something specific or ongoing support to build something lasting, there is a way to work together that fits where you are right now.

I keep my one-on-one roster small on purpose. It's how the work stays deep and meaningful.

Free · 15 min New here? Start with a free, no-pressure discovery call. Book a call →

Where people usually start

You have one thing to think through, and it will not wait.

Coaching

You keep circling the same problem.

Coaching

You are leading people for the first time.

Leadership Essentials

You want structure, and something to point to at the end.

Leadership Essentials

One to one

Coaching

Virtual · From a single conversation to six months

No set curriculum. It shapes entirely around what you bring and the season you are in, going deeper than a single session allows and building change that lasts past our last call.

Regular sessions, by video, at a pace that fits your week
Text and email support between sessions
A personalized plan built around your goals
Tools, prompts, and check-ins along the way

A single session

Sixty minutes, one thing worked all the way through

Four sessions

A defined arc on one goal, over about two months

Three to six months

The deep version, with room to go where it matters

Book a discovery call

Some people come for one conversation. Some stay six months. We find the right length, and the investment, on the call.

Structured Program

Leadership Essentials

5 sessions · 4 core areas · Virtual

One core area per session: managing yourself, leading people, leadership presence, and decision-making and direction
A pre and post assessment
A Certificate of Completion at the end

See the full program · Read the overview

A structured program, scoped to your role and where you are headed. We settle the shape and the investment together on a first call.

Book a call to scope it

Let your company invest in you

A lot of organizations have professional development budgets that cover exactly this. Coaching is a recognized investment in your growth, not a personal expense, and asking is far more normal than it feels. Here are a few things that help when you make the case to your manager or HR.

Leadership coaching is a recognized professional development investment, not a personal expense.
Many organizations already have L&D, professional development, or continuing education budgets that coaching qualifies under.
Coaching directly supports performance, retention, and leadership readiness, outcomes your organization cares about.
Coaching with an ICF-trained coach is a structured engagement with clear goals and measurable outcomes.
A 3 to 6 month engagement is a defined, time-limited commitment, easy to scope and budget for.

A longer engagement can also close with a certificate of completion, a plain record of the work you did. That is the shape of the Leadership Essentials program: you work through the four core areas, do the real work, and finish with something to point to when you make the case for a bigger role.

If your organization would rather support several leaders at once, that is The True North Cohort. There is a page on how it runs you can forward to your manager or HR.

Subject: A professional development idea I'd love your support on

Hi [Manager's name],

I wanted to run something by you. I have been thinking for a while about working with a leadership coach, and I have found someone who feels like the right fit, Melissa Schmitt at True North Effect. She is an ICF-trained coach with a master's in industrial-organizational psychology and a background in healthcare operations, and her approach is grounded and practical.

Where I want to focus is [your specific thing here, stepping into leading people, growing into a bigger role, leading through change, or getting clearer on my next step]. I think investing in this would make me stronger at [the thing it would help you and the team with].

It is a defined engagement, three to six months, with clear goals we set together at the start, and it ends with a certificate of completion I can add to my development record. I wanted to ask whether something like this could come out of our development or L&D budget. Happy to share more, or set up a quick chat if that is easier.

Thanks for considering it.

[Your name]

If you lead a team

Coaching for your people

Your strongest people are the ones asking for the least.

They carry the most, and they're the ones you can lose before you see it coming. This is a focused way to invest in them. Real coaching that steadies them in the role and shows them the investment runs both ways.

Keep them

Real support before they quietly start looking. Far less costly than the search that follows a resignation.

Grow them

Real time on the hard calls and the harder conversations. They grow into the role instead of just surviving it.

Show them

Choosing someone for something deliberate says what a raise can't. It tells them they matter here.

See how this works for teams See The True North Cohort One to one, private, and paced to each person.
We settle the shape and the investment on a first call.