In 1989 Valerie began her coaching career as a partner in the Amsterdam based company, Executive Performance Training. She formed her coaching practice, Stand & Deliver, in 2005. As a result, executives from companies including Starbucks * Bell * Microsoft * Luvo * Lululemon * Stitch Fix * First West Credit Union and Sovereign Insurance have transformed their leadership and communication capabilities.
The foundation of Valerie’s approach is the premise that accessing your power as a leader starts with having access to all your internal resources. Developing leadership presence is less about refining the words you choose and more about being comfortable in your own skin. It is built on finding physical ease and awareness, which results in increased mental, emotional and social awareness. It begins with the choice to be aware of, and allow, your own breath. This simple shift of attention gives access to calm, clear thought, creativity, physical and vocal expressiveness, personal power and authentic connection.
Valerie is a practitioner and partner in Breathexperience Canada and a certified teacher of The Light Work, a meditation practice uniting mindfulness, psychological awareness and personal responsibility. She taught this practice for 15 years in Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle, Washington.
She attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City and has performed with such companies as the Dance Theater of Harlem, the Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera, Alberta Theatre Projects, the Shaw Festival and Canadian Stage.