Relationship Services

Our most important relationships are at the core of happiness, collaboration, and productivity.

Co-founder Coaching & Business Partnerships

In-person in San Francisco. Video-conferencing worldwide.

Co-founder coaching is a process designed to restore trust, gain a sense of equality, and improve communication in business relationships. It is important to seek help when issues first emerge for more successful outcomes.

How can co-founder coaching help my business relationships 

Is your start-up or small business in trouble because of key relationship problems? Expert advice and counseling in relationships and communication can make the difference that you and your company desperately need. 

Starting a successful company is hard enough. The last thing you need is problems between leaders that thwart your ability to be effective. Be proactive and make relationships a core competency rather than a barrier. Creating an exceptional company culture begins with you.

Why I am uniquely qualified to help

My job is to help build trust, communication and empathy. 

I have the training and skills to approach relationship issues from a deeper understanding than many other coaches. Following my experience in corporate management and start-ups, I have worked as a therapist and clinical counselor for the past ten years.

By resolving conflicts and, more importantly, figuring out a way to prevent future problems, I support business partners to work together as a cohesive team. Work with me to build these skills and create a foundation for the success of your company.

Why businesses fail

Relationship problems between co-founders are among the biggest reasons companies don't succeed. So much of the start-up process involves getting the business up and running. Often times little attention is given to the relationships that drive the company, until it is perhaps too late.

The business relationship wasn’t supposed to be the hard part

Relationship problems often catch us by surprise. People get together to run a business because they believe that they can work well together.  Business partners are chosen based on shared ideas and existing relationships.

Co-founders tend to believe they can bypass work on the relationship because they already know their business partners.

Stress in business relationships

Business relationships can struggle initially when faced with decisions regarding legal agreements, board composition, and raising capital. 
    
Additional stressors can emerge when revenue dips, key customer acquisitions are missed, and other critical decisions need to be made. 
    
Success can also lead to stress on partners when companies are suddenly infused with a lot of cash and power and need to answer to investors.

Can we work it out on our own?

Unanticipated relationship challenges can emerge at any time. Everyone behaves differently under stress and sometimes the person you thought you knew so well can surprise you and you can even surprise yourself. 

The tendency is to want to bury the hatchet and put it all behind you, but if your level of trust has been shaken or your sense of contribution is obstructed, the relationship can sour further rather than rebound.

Relationship dynamics at work

In a lot of business partnerships, there is often one founder who is more dominant, while the other founder/s might not feel like they're being heard or respected. The result is an imbalance that causes good ideas to get dismissed and opportunities lost. 

Once any kind of setback occurs, which of course is inevitable, partners begin looking for someone to blame and start bickering over things that were previously non-issues.

Co-founder coaching can help

Co-founder coaching can be beneficial to most business relationships. When start-ups and small businesses are stressed by potential growth, new communication skills and insights can help partners work through difficult decisions together.

Work with me to build important skills and create a foundation for the success of your company.

Couples Therapy in San Francisco

It’s never too late to repair a relationship if both partners are committed and willing to put in the work in couples therapy. When you feel stuck or aren’t even sure where to begin, seeking confidential help from an effective and caring couples therapist can make all the difference.

Maintain a passionate and connected relationship

When two people first fall in love it feels effortless. Passion, connection, joy, and empathy happen automatically. Relationships change over time and partners can grow distant or engage in frequent conflict. Sometimes significant transitions or critical decisions require both partners to get on the same page.  

Improve communication and understanding in couples therapy

A perceived sense of stress on the relationship almost always causes communication difficulties and doubts about the relationship may arise. Communication can get confusing and breakdowns happen easily. Couples therapy helps to repair or strengthen your relationship by learning how to communicate and understand each other better.

Couples therapy issues:

In couples therapy you will learn to:

• Identify negative patterns hindering the quality of your relationship

• Shift from blaming each other to collaboration

• Find healthy ways to communicate and connect

• Identify triggers and how to navigate circumstances that lead to problems

• Own your role in conflict or distance by better understanding your own defenses

• Prepare for major relationship life-cycle transitions such as moving into together, getting married, having children, empty nest, and aging well together

• Feel deeply connected to each other again and recreate the love and passion that you experienced early in the relationship

How I approach my work with couples:

Every couples therapist claims to create a safe space where learned communication techniques allow thoughts and feelings to be shared without fear of being blamed, judged, or ignored. Unfortunately, few therapists know how to actually create that safe space. Partners often come out blasting each other in session, only to go home later and discover that they hurt each other.

I’m an active therapist and if you begin to fight or say things that are hurtful, I intervene. I teach you how to effectively share your needs and how to tell your partner when those needs are being met.

Couples therapy is extremely collaborative. I begin by helping you to establish a new vision for the relationship, which incorporates the needs and wants of both partners. I create a structured process, where each of your individual viewpoints are respected. Through this process you will gain insight into relational patterns and restore trust, connection, and romance.