I help leaders find their way, because I once had to find mine.
I'm an executive and leadership coach, facilitator and speaker, working with leaders across the globe. My work joins timeless Japanese wisdom with modern leadership practices, and it started a long way from a coaching room.
Where I began
I was eight years old when my family left Burma during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. Overnight, the map we had lived by was no longer relevant and I learned what it takes to find your footing when everything familiar falls away.
That experience set the course for everything I do now. Years later, a deep connection to Japan through skiing, language and time spent in its culture, gave me a different way of seeing strength, stillness and imperfection. It reframed what leadership could be: navigation.
What I believe about leadership
Across more than twenty years leading teams, I noticed that the leaders who came through uncertainty best weren't the ones with the most answers. They were the ones who could stay steady, stay human, and keep moving when the path wasn't clear.
That's kokoro (心) - the Japanese idea that real leadership integrates heart, mind and spirit, not one at the expense of the others. It became my framework: the Michi no Kokoro Compass, eight directions for leading when the map no longer works. It's how I coach, how I facilitate, and the heart of my book.
The background behind the work
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My career spans 20+ years in senior leadership, organisational development and HR across APAC, the Americas and Europe. I lead the Culture First Brisbane chapter, and was a 2026 Lord Mayor's Women in Business Grant recipient. I hold formal qualifications in Business (MBA), Sustainability/ESG transformation, and Process Oriented & Systemic Coaching (ICF accredited), and is certified across a broad range of psychometric tools and diagnostics. Today I coach and guide leaders across APAC and globally and I am the author of Lead with Kokoro (October 2026).
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I'm also co-founder of Bluebird Labs, a human-centred AI startup I built with my husband, Andrew. Being close to the technology shapes how I think about what's coming for leaders. Used well, AI takes the mechanical work off your plate and hands back what's scarcest — time and attention for the human work of leading: presence, care and agency. That's the future I'm working toward, on both sides of what I do — technology that supports leaders rather than replacing them, and amplifies what makes their leadership human. (Learn more about Bluebird Labs →)
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I'm Brisbane-based, a mother balancing business travel with family life, and a believer in 1% improvement — that sustainable, high performance is built from small, steady steps. You'll often find me at the gym, on hiking trail, or on the snow, where I do some of my clearest thinking.
I've had the privilege of coaching and supporting leaders at
Let’s work together
If you're leading through complexity and want to do it with more clarity and less burnout, I'd love to talk.