What Clients Say

“Our team worked with Valery over an eight month period to clarify our organization’s intended impact and Theory of Change. Valery brought out the very best in our team – she listened closely, adapted to our needs as our work progressed, supported everyone in our team to be heard, and maintained an unwavering focus on what we were trying to achieve together. With her support, we have a much clearer understanding of the impact we are working to achieve and how we do that.”

“Valery was a proactive, responsive, organized and focused consultant to help our strategic planning task force stay focused and make headway with vision and clarity. Her recommendations absolutely supported our process and thinking. In addition, Valery is a pleasure to work with and shared our strong sense of values – which was integral to how we do the work. I would work with Valery again and recommend her at any time!”

“Valery’s creativity, community-focused approach, and understanding of the social impact sector supported us to move beyond our day-to-day operations to think about the bigger picture regarding our impact.”

“With her gentle and perceptive guidance and insight, Valery brought our diverse and slightly scattered team together around our common objectives and desired impact. Valery led an inclusive and reflective session that left all participants feeling seen, heard, and understood. This renewed our resolve to keep at it!”

“Valery helped our team dive deeper and build consensus around our strategic priorities at a really important juncture for our organization. She centered equity in her approach and brought us insight and perspective at every juncture of our two-hour facilitated session.”

“Valery is thoughtful and smart, and kept our team on track through a months-long project. She is creative and strategic, and easy to work with. In fact, we hired her for a second project while working on the first. I’d highly recommend Valery.”

“Organizational structural resets are extremely tough to navigate. Fortunately, Valery and Marlo . . . guided us masterfully throughout the delicate process of creating new and sustainable ways to manage our internal priorities. They both took the time needed to get to understand our internal structures and coached our team extensively to ensure long-lasting results. They both proved to be human-first and were very insightful in steering us the right way!”

“With Valery’s leadership, our Board arrived at professional strategic plan that we all understand and use to guide our decision-making.  Using a solid framework that achieves results, Valery listened, picked up quickly on our context, provided relevant knowledge and research, and facilitated  commitment to our identified goals. This was all accomplished within our allotted time frame. We’re very pleased to have chosen Valery to lead the development of our much needed strategic plan.”

“Thanks, Valery, for your leadership on the development of our strategic plan. We’ve had such an overwhelming response. Its simple messaging and practical milestones make it a powerful living document guiding our work.”

“Valery’s group and one-on-one coaching provided relevant perspectives and connections to valuable resources to support my current professional goals. The whole experience was fantastic.”

“Through The Circle I gained a deeper understanding of my own unique leadership style and strengths, knowledge on how to thrive as a racialized woman in leadership, and a community of amazing women to lean on for support and friendship. I would highly recommend The Circle to all women of colour!”

“Working with Valery was powerful. She asked me challenging questions that encouraged me to look at issues in new ways. She provided interesting and new frameworks for developing and fine-tuning my business plan and project ideas. She held space for me to ponder some of the emotional blocks I had around money and sales. During my time with Valery, I got clarity on my priorities, smashed through some major mental blocks, and regained momentum to get my passion projects off the ground. I felt both challenged and supported the whole time, which is not an easy balance to strike. Thank you Valery!!”

“I really appreciated the time Valery created for me to explore and reflect my goals and tensions with my career. As someone who has multiple interests and ambitions, and is a new mom – I needed the time to reflect on my career goals, interests, and where I want to focus my energy. In addition, we explored the natural tensions that come up with what work and my career means to me, and what I can focus on while also being a parent.”

“My coaching sessions with Val were incredibly rewarding. Her insightful guidance and practical strategies deepened my understanding of complex situations and foundational principles. This clarity was key to developing new processes and approaches for what truly matters. I highly recommend Val to anyone seeking professional growth and impactful change.”

“Valery created a thoughtful, inclusive intentional space! Thanks to her I was connected with a great cohort of women and also learned about other racialized women doing incredible things! Valery and the cohort were instrumental in helping me carve out intentional time and space to reflect, plan and think – all acts of resistance as a racialized woman!”