Impact
I have been privileged to partner with extraordinary humans building extraordinary things all over the world.
Below are a few reflections of their experiences working with me.
“Hannah is uniquely positioned as a coach for founders and operators because she’s worked in the guts of multiple world class tech companies at their earliest stages. This experience, combined with her high emotional intelligence, means she is quick to build trust by demonstrating strong empathy and perceptive insight. I’ve used Hannah as a confidential sounding board on a broad range of organisational, cultural and interpersonal challenges over the years. She is quick to ask the right questions, not shying from harder ones that invite healthy introspection and growth. She provides pragmatic advice grounded in the realities of working in highly dynamic environments. This isn’t ‘by the numbers’ coaching or management theory. If you’re looking to unlock meaningful shifts in mindset, which are the foundation of great performance outcomes, I could not recommend Hannah more highly.”
— Brendan Humphreys (Global Head of Engineering @ Canva)
“I have known Hannah for several years, and I can confidently say that there are not many individuals globally — much less coaches — with early-stage operating experience at fast-growing startups like Canva and Dropbox, as well as Partner-level venture investing experience. There are also few investors with Hannah’s level of emotional intelligence. This combination of skills and experience makes her uniquely suited to coach investors and execs who are often high in analytical capability but struggle with the relationship-driven aspects of working with people and scaling teams. Hannah is someone we continue to recommend highly to both our internal team as well as AirTree’s portfolio.”
— Jackie Vullinghs (General Partner @ AirTree Ventures)
“I’ve been a coaching skeptic for a long time. I always imagined coaching sessions as a cousin to corporate off-sites and bland icebreakers—a word cloud full of buzzwords, punctuated by generic questions about where I see myself in five years. I feel silly saying that after the coaching partnership I had with Hannah.
Hannah asks thought-provoking questions that provide the space to freely explore, while also grounding you to ensure you are not spinning for too long in one direction. The homework she assigns is both stimulating and clarifying, and I always felt equally pushed and supported with each exercise. It’s not lost on me how much prep and post-session work she does, case in point that she follows up each session with thoughtfully written emails distilling themes and insights, providing additional resources, and actionable next steps. Above all, Hannah brings with her a palpable compassionate and energetic presence and guides each session with warmth and a realness that feels deeply authentic. Even in our most difficult conversations, I always felt connected and anchored.”
— Alia Fite (early Marketing Leader @ Figma, Stripe, and Dropbox)
“I can attest first-hand to Hannah’s effectiveness as one of the most sought-after leadership coaches in Australia’s startup ecosystem. She has ‘walked the walk’ and understands what is required to build the teams operating globally successful unicorns, which means her coaching is grounded in lived experience, not hypotheticals. She has coached multiple founders within the Tractor portfolio, both one-to-one and in a board capacity, and the feedback we get about her is consistently top notch. She is on our shortlist of trusted coaches who we refer our founders to when they are looking to level up their leadership capabilities.”
— Matt Allen (Founder/CEO @ Tractor Ventures)
“I first met Hannah when she interviewed me for a top startup, and instantly the vibe of the entire day changed. It was clear this was someone who spoke from experience, and I was impressed by her professionalism and capability. I've been proud to call her a friend and mentor ever since, and when she launched her coaching business, I didn't hesitate to come onboard as a client. Hannah's superpower is listening. She has the ability to instantly make you feel supported and safe to be vulnerable. That alone would make her a good friend and confidant, but what elevates her as a coach is how she puts it to work to help achieve your goals. She knows how to ask the right questions to inspire you to find new solutions to challenges, and to throw light on what seems dark and complex. I was also blown away by the amount of pre- and post-session work and focus she gives to each of her clients. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to any leader in the tech industry.”
— Kristine Howard (Head of Developer Relations, APAC @ Amazon Web Services)
“The founder journey can be a lonely one, but I've been super grateful to have Hannah in my corner along a number of important inflection points. She provides a psychologically safe and confidential space for honest and reflective conversations, can boldly and compassionately hold the mirror up, and has supported me to work through my blind spots and growth opportunities. It is evident how valuable Hannah’s prior operating and investing experience is. It's so helpful that she ‘gets’ my world as a founder and CEO of a venture-backed company, and regardless of the live topic I throw at her, she quickly wraps her head around context, and understands the right pointed questions to ask. She makes me rethink, adjust, and form far clearer actions. Whether you're a founder or operating exec, I strongly recommend Hannah as your silent partner to help support you along this wild ride.”
— Andrew Lipp (Founder/CEO @ EQL, backed by Insight Partners and AirTree Ventures)
“Hannah has a way of getting straight to the core of something, done through highly empathetic, authentic and powerful questioning. She has a degree of healthy challenge mixed with encouragement that is so rare in a coach. From Canva to VC, Hannah's experience in the startup and venture world mean context is already assumed, and instead of explaining why something is a challenge, she helps you dive straight into it, every session. Hannah has helped me understand my values, leadership style and how to take a concept we speak through and apply it the very next week. There's no doubt she's had a huge impact on my growth, confidence and finding true balance!”
— Alex Gifford (Chief of Staff - Investments, Blackbird VC)
“I wanted to write a testimonial for Hannah because her work has been transformational for me. I had a tricky work challenge to work through in a time of big change in my life which was the catalyst for seeking a coach for the first time. I met a few coaches, who all seemed good, but I immediately felt at ease with Hannah. This turned out to be important, as vulnerability was key to the great outcome we achieved. It's been several months now since we worked together and the old challenge is long resolved, but I still find myself reflecting on new challenges using frameworks we discussed. I feel much more certain in what's important to me and what the things are that hold me back. Hannah taught me to lead with curiosity, and seek to understand rather than resolve conflict which was a learned behaviour that had become a default for me, particularly when the topic felt high stakes. I've come to discover that work and life are intrinsically intertwined, so if you're looking for a professional coach that can help you look holistically at the challenges and opportunities in your career, I can't recommend Hannah highly enough.”
— Toby Buchanan (Commercial Director @ NPlan, backed by GV & LocalGlobe)
“Hannah's extensive professional background brought a wealth of knowledge and insights to our sessions, making it easy to get to the good stuff, quickly. Her meticulous preparation is evident in her thoughtful prompts and targeted questions, which consistently drove our discussions towards meaningful and productive outcomes. Hannah also introduced me to frameworks that have now become integral to my daily decision-making processes. I’ve worked with a number of coaches and Hannah is one of the best.”
— Kylie Frazer (Founder & General Partner @ Flying Fox Ventures)
“Hannah has a rare combination of empathy and insight. She’s able to truly see you, hear you and meet you where you are, but as a razor sharp operator she is able to hold a mirror to bring up illuminating and objective insights that always brings me out of my self-imposed assumptions and narratives. Hannah is a trusted confidant, my number one cheerleader and has helped me to work through some of my biggest professional and personal milestones. Being able to work with Hannah over the last 6 months has been a unique privilege and I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.”
— Jessica Zhang (Strategic Partnerships @ TikTok; former VC)
“Hannah has an excellent reputation within the venture and tech startup ecosystems in Australia. Her commitment to Startmate (YC of Australia) includes partnering closely with founding teams through our 3-month programs through to delivering workshops and providing 1:1 coaching to the women in our Fellowship program transitioning careers. Hannah brings credibility and thoughtful perspectives to how she engages because of her experience as an early employee at companies like Canva and Dropbox, and she is known for her sharp instincts and ability to authentically connect with a diverse range of folks across our ecosystem. We love having Hannah as part of our orbit since the early days, and she will remain a friend within our community for life.”
— Michael Batko (CEO @ Startmate)
“Hannah has an incredibly unique skillset developed through her experience as an adviser, investor, and professional musician. She has experience building and operating businesses, hiring, retaining and developing people and embedding culture within fast-growing organisations. She brings a unique set of experiences and a deep network from having worked and studied in the US, UK and APAC, all of which contributed to her being an exceptional coach to me as an emerging leader in the technology sector working for a fast-growing global technology company. She has been pivotal to my successes over the past two years as I moved from corporate banking and law, to a mission-orientated, software company. I sought Hannah's expertise as an Executive Coach to support me in my new role, as her approach to coaching is characterised by a genuine and deep curiosity to understand people and she stands out as an intelligent, empathetic and perceptive individual. It is these qualities, coupled with her wealth of digital technology experience that mean Hannah is able to share insights into the organisational dynamics within fast-evolving technology and early stage organisations. Her guidance was pivotal as I navigated hiring and developing a team to support the growing business, while also doubling annual revenue and growing our customer base within two years. Her coaching not only supported my transition, but was critical to helping me secure a promotion last year.”
— Tsjatsja Westerveld (Exec @ global technology company)
“I’ve never had a single person in my career that has exponentially changed it like Hannah. Her rare combination of deep empathy and razor sharp intelligence was an incredible asset to have in my corner as I transitioned from being a VC to founder. I’ve learnt so many things about myself, especially from a value / leadership point of view. Investing in Hannah will pay off 10x in your life!”
— Sachin Shah (Founder @ stealth + The Sachin & Adam Show; former VC)
“From our very first meeting, Hannah's warmth and authenticity made it easy to connect and open up. It meant we could skip the awkward "get to know you" phase, dive straight into the deep end and make the most of our time together. Her ability to hold space and connect the dots between sessions is remarkable. Working with Hannah has given me a toolkit of frameworks, exercises and techniques to navigate everything from work challenges to finding work-life balance and living my values. It sounds cliche, but I only wish I'd made this investment in myself sooner.”
— Bree Fedele (Marketing @ AirTree Ventures)
“Hannah's combination of both real world experience and insight along with coaching expertise allows for deep and practical transformation. Underpinned by her empathetic but challenging nature that allows for trust to be built and transformative work to get underway quickly. We've worked together for 6 months during an international transition period that has me more centred towards a new professional chapter with optimism, focus and confidence. Underpinned by a grounding in values and core personality to get the best out of you, Hannah's style is warm, encouraging and pushes you in positive ways. With deep prep work, follow ups and genuine support between sessions I highly recommend Hannah for anyone looking to take themselves to the next level. Working with Hannah I'm more assured, grounded and energetic professionally and personally than has been the case in any chapter of my career.”
— Ryan Ebert (Founder @ Health 2 You)
“I'd highly recommend working with Hannah, having had the privilege of working with her during a career transition. Our work together has had a clear and continuing impact on my professional as well as personal growth and leadership. Hannah has strong empathy and emotional intelligence, and fosters an environment of trust and openness. She helped me examine and challenge past beliefs, build resilience and centeredness, and navigate complex challenges and opportunities with greater clarity of thought, self awareness, and agency. She continues to be a generous source of support and wisdom even after formal end of our engagement.”
— Max Kausman (Chief of Staff @ Chronicle, backed by Accel; former VC)
“I could not speak highly enough of Hannah's coaching. Every session with Hannah is met with encouragement, support, professionalism, personalised guidance and genuine warmth. I truly look forward to every session I have with Hannah! She takes the time to understand you - your needs, your priorities, what success in a session looks like to you - she genuinely cares, is an attentive listener and ensures every session (and the post-session steps) is bespoke to you. Hannah has helped me find confidence, clarity in my life goals, more balance in my life, ways to manage my saboteurs, and has equipped me with valuable tools and techniques that I have now baked into my everyday life. Every session I have with Hannah leaves me inspired to be my best self.”
— Isabelle Chamberlain (ex-Director of Ops @ Forage, backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners & Blackbird VC)
“Hannah is a phenomenal exec coach, which I believe is rooted in her ability to act as a true mirror to the coachee, no matter how onerous that may be (for either party). She is co-invested in your journey of self-development which came across in every interaction with her. Every session was crafted around me, my core values, aspirations, and the nuanced challenges I faced. Through our work together Hannah helped me unlock new perspectives and called into question pre-conceived narratives that I held dear. She empowered me to self-understand, diagnose, and handle tricky situations I encountered. For anyone looking for growth (in all the shapes and forms that ‘growth’ might mean for you), I highly recommend working with Hannah.”
— Lee Lubner (Founder @ Unpac, ex-Head of Ops @ Brighte, backed by AirTree Ventures & Grok Ventures)
“I can't recommend Hannah's coaching services enough! As a starting point, Hannah has an impressive pedigree with a background in operations from high growth tech companies as well as early-stage venture experience. Hannah's experience as an operator and investor gives her credibility as she has walked the walk, and I went into the engagement knowing and trusting that she would have the ability to understand my context and challenges, so that we could focus on the substance of my objectives. In addition to her professional experience, Hannah is an exceptionally thoughtful, attentive, and caring coach and individual. She is thoroughly prepared for every coaching session and genuinely cares about the outcomes and goals of each session. I have found Hannah's approach to coaching to be hyper-personalised and never once did I feel like I was being taken through a stock standard, one-size-fits-all experience. Hannah creates a high trust environment and is willing to challenge and push you to achieve your best outcomes.”
— Daniel Fleming (UK head @ Tracksuit, backed by Shasta Ventures & Blackbird VC)