TESTIMONIALS & CASE STUDIES

I am the founder of a rapidly growing professional services firm who had never worked with an Executive Coach. By pushing me to stay focused on the big picture and ask myself hard questions around purpose and mission, Jennifer has been instrumental in helping me clarify my priorities and evolve into becoming a more effective CEO. This work has also had a direct impact on my business, helping me to re-define how I manage time and staff so that I have the mental space to ask myself “what’s next?” for my business.

Jennifer is a great listener who asks powerful questions, and also provides solid advice and support. It is a treat to have a true leader as a coach, one who has extensive career experience to draw from. I recommend Jennifer highly to anyone looking to grow personally and professionally.

Patrice’s experience and knowledge of the luxury retail sector partnered with her coaching style made her a great fit for us when defining how to address opportunities we had in our business through developing our managers and key leaders using one-to-one coaching, and focused workshops for our commercial teams. Wellbeing and Positive Psychology are themes we continue to explore in our business, and Patrice’s ability to weave this into our work has added immense value.

Patrice was able to quickly build credibility and presence with our teams and has strength in understanding the reality of the situation and challenges faced, through creating safe, trustworthy and creative environments for everyone to be open and transparent, and to challenge traditional thinking and ways of working, with an open, thoughtful, collaborative and facilitative approach.

In leading the way forward and helping our teams to plan for the future, Patrice was able to keep everyone engaged and on the journey to ensure accountability and the utilizing of each team member, driving engagement and emphasizing purpose.

Working with Jessica over the last several months has been a rich and transformative experience. She made an investment in my success and helped me see my true impact more clearly. Jessica also taught me to challenge the assumptions I was making about how others view me, what it really means to lead, and the value I bring to the table. Every session resulted in new insights for me to reflect on and apply. Through this process, I learned that when I’m focused on strategy, I’m more confident, composed, and poised. Quite simply, our sessions have impacted every area of my life, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Jessica. She is a true champion for her clients’ personal and professional growth.

I sought out coaching as I was looking to relocate and transition out of the art world, where I had built a 15- year career. I needed to do a full-scale assessment of my skills, and professionally package myself to appeal more broadly to employers. What was especially valuable about working with Jessica was the opportunity to do some big picture thinking about how my skills could be applied in new contexts. She also provided outstanding resume help (I received universally glowing feedback), and she supported me in framing my story, and gave me the opportunity to practice telling it several times in a low risk environment. Through coaching I was able to expand my view of the job search so I felt I was selling was myself and my values just as much as my skills and experience. Jessica challenged some of the assumptions that I had going in to the process, and in the end I was truly able to communicate that the skills I developed in the art world are not just transferable to a broader business context, but also create value for my employer. I went through 10 individual and group interviews during the selection process for my current role, and felt confident and prepared throughout, largely due to the work Jessica and I did together. I successfully negotiated a very beneficial contract with signing bonus, and I have an exciting, challenging new role, where I am learning every day, and where I think I can make a major positive contribution. I am thrilled to be in my new job, and so happy that I successfully pivoted from the art world.

When I was offered coaching by my organization to help smooth my transition into a new leadership role and improve my executive presence, I did not know what to expect. I came into it with curiosity and an open-mind. Jessica is personable, empathetic, and she very much put me at ease. She proved to be truly dedicated to my success and helped me develop the self-awareness and tools to put my best foot forward. As a result of our working together I’m more comfortable being a leader, communicating directly, mentoring my team, and best of all it feels authentic. Jessica both challenged and supported me (even in response to my occasional wee-hour email) and as our work together sadly comes to a close I’m grateful that I’m leaving with the tools to continue growing. Coaching with Jessica has been a valuable and impactful experience.

I was introduced to Jessica while working towards my MBA at New York University’s Stern School of Business. I had never worked with a coach in a professional setting and didn’t know what to expect. I went into our first meeting with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the interaction was. In just our first hour, Jessica was able to ask questions that pushed me to think about some of my personal and professional goals in ways I had not previously considered. I walked away from our first meeting with some actionable ideas regarding how I can best use my time at Stern to achieve these goals. Each time we met we were able to build on insights from previous sessions as Jessica was always able to pick up right where we left off. Our conversations have taught me to be more proactive in the pursuit of my professional goals and will allow me to resume my professional career with an added sense of confidence.

In searching for a workshop to improve my team’s dynamics and communication, I was concerned that bringing our many individual differences out into the open would potentially be counter-productive. Jessica’s understanding of my apprehensions and our team’s uneven past experiences with facilitations informed her design of a workshop tailored specifically to our needs. Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Jessica created a team-building workshop that both supported and challenged us. In just a few short hours we had a deeper understanding and acceptance of individual differences and also were able to reframe our view of our differences as gifts to be leveraged to function overall as a more effective team. Each team member walked away with a newfound self-awareness, as well as fresh insights and appreciation of others on the team. Jessica introduced us to a new common vocabulary through MBTI to explore personality and behavior that we have continued to use to help frame conversations and meetings going forward. This has been incredibly helpful to improve our overall communication. Jessica’s facilitation has left a lasting positive impression on me and my team, and I could not recommend her more highly.

I was going through a difficult period, personally and professionally, when a colleague recommended I speak with Jennifer Zaslow. My colleague explained that when she was at a professional crossroads, Jennifer helped her determine a new career that was most gratifying. As luck would have it, Jennifer and I had worked together many years prior, so I knew her to be a capable and cordial person – with a wonderful sense of humor. Any reservations I might have had about speaking with a coach were allayed as soon as we reconnected on the phone. It was particularly helpful that Jennifer’s background is also in development and fundraising. She brought her expertise in the field to our coaching sessions, providing me with invaluable insight into the sector.
Over the last six months, Jennifer helped me to ascertain my priorities and urged me to take my time to find a position that best suited me. With her guidance, I was equipped to ask the right questions and make a thoughtful decision about my next move. I have recommended working with a coach – and specifically working with Jennifer – to anyone who asks how I was able to navigate this particularly challenging time in my life.

Jessica is a fantastic coach. She took the time to truly understand me and gave me the tools and frameworks to help me move my career forward in a positive direction. Her deep understanding of our business and support in developing my interview strategy really helped me transition into my dream job.

I was always amazed at the depth of information that Jessica unearthed during our hour-long sessions. Jessica was incredibly effective in surfacing some of the underlying beliefs that weren’t serving me in the workplace, and in helping me understand the deeper motivations which drove me. Her knowledge of leadership and psychology was very helpful in moving me towards actionable steps I could take to address what was holding me back, and her commitment and follow-up ensured I got the most out of our time together. I truly feel more prepared for my next role – and the roles after that – thanks to Jessica!

Over the past several years, I have retained Patrice as a coach to present various leadership topics at accounting firms I have worked at.

Patrice is an extremely knowledgeable and engaging facilitator – adept at putting people at ease and creating a safe space for discussion and exploration.  She consistently delivers content that is up-to-date, well researched and actionable.  Because of her background as both an attorney and CEO, she is comfortable in a corporate environment and understands how to tailor material so it resonates with the audience.

I’ve also engaged Patrice for one-on-one coaching for individuals for leadership development issues, from communication and presentation skills to stress management and emotional intelligence, and have witnessed positive results.  Clients find her to be thoughtful and effective in helping them evoke change and achieve their goals.

Patrice is my “go-to” coach for both group facilitation and one-on-one coaching for staff and I always find working with her to be both valuable for my organizations and a pleasure.

Strength, integrity, wisdom, a sense of humor and an ability to “tell it like it is.” These were the qualities for which Jennifer was known as a Vice President of The New York Public Library; they are also the qualities that have made her a natural as an Executive Coach. Having successfully navigated her own career transition, Jennifer knows that change is powerful and possible – and she takes a stand for change in her clients. Jennifer also brings decades of “real-life” experience to this work, having successfully lead teams through institutional transition, and risen to meet the challenge of ambitious goals.

Jessica is an extremely helpful coach. She developed a plan based on my priorities with flex options if we wanted to work on other issues. She gave insightful recommendations and shared resources and techniques. Jessica is a great listener and challenged my thinking. I was able to move beyond my comfort zone on a variety of topics. I highly recommend Jessica if you need coaching.

I had spent 15 years building a career in a field where the expertise is sought after and the subject matter is interesting but the way I was working was, well, no longer working for me. I respect my company’s mission and while I hoped to spend a long career there, I thought I would need to make drastic changes and be prepared to move on to another organization. I felt stymied at my job, and couldn’t understand why I was having trouble with work interactions. I was emotionally drained, and it was affecting my home life too. I knew there was a problem, but I couldn’t even pinpoint the problem or even start to address it because I didn’t even know where to start! A friend introduced me to Clear Path, and Patrice Keitt became my coach. Patrice and I met through a series of calls over 4 months; this worked really well for my schedule and we sometimes met on a weekend. I always looked forward to these conversations.

Through targeted exercises Patrice helped me start at the beginning (really at the beginning) to pinpoint work and life experiences that energize me, to tease out why these were such positive experiences, and to focus on structuring work to have more of these positive experiences. She introduced me to the corporate athlete concept and proven mind-body exercises that foster high performance. Through in-depth Myers-Briggs analysis and scenario debriefs, I began to understand how personality differences and my own biases were resulting in my unsatisfying work communications. Patrice’s friendly but firm (and often funny) coaching helped me adapt my spoken and written communications so that my message can be understood by colleagues whose personality styles are quite different from mine. And the underpinning for each coaching session was a package of carefully curated and thought-provoking articles and books Patrice sent my way – these were such a treat and always highly relevant.

Through my work with Patrice, I was able to explore, learn and dream; to structure my work and life in ways that satisfy me; and to better connect with others. This deeply rewarding and hard work happily paid off in a recent promotion, without leaving my current employer and without abandoning the subject matter expertise I had built. I am grateful for Patrice’s coaching and will continue to work with her as my career evolves and I pursue those ever-important positive experiences that keep me going.

As a high-energy person with a mind jumbled with ideas, ideals, ethical dilemmas, and feelings of confusion, I knew I needed someone to help me prioritize my goals, organize my time, and ultimately, bring me to my fullest potential. As an educational tutor, I do these very tasks to help my students, so I was able to recognize that I, too, needed my own personal advisor. Jennifer was able to guide my thinking and my action in our very first session and help me determine weekly and monthly action steps that included everything from phone calls, to self-reflection, to meditation. Without the gentle yet firm guidance and strong conviction of Jennifer, I never would have made the decision to expand my business nor get it off the ground in only a few short months!

Jessica is a wonderful, engaged coach who offers thoughtful, well considered and insightful counsel. She brought both a well-thought-out process and adaptability to our work together, and enabled me to progress on a new path towards my new career.

I gained a great deal of clarity while working with Jennifer.  She asked the types of questions that moved me to think beyond my typical exploration zones and my typical behavioral and language tropes. I found that when working with her – over a period of months – I was able to learn how to get beyond my ‘comfort’ self in ways that allowed me to connect with aspects of myself that were calling out for recognition. I’m a reflective individual, and Jennifer taught me to honor that even more dearly than I had been.  She’s a gem of an individual and a gem of an Executive Coach.

Working with Jennifer has been a transformational experience in my professional life. I enlisted Jennifer’s help during a period when I was deciding whether to leave a high-level position at an institution I love, but was finding difficult to navigate, or take the “next step” elsewhere. Jennifer is intuitive, insightful, warm, firm, and direct, and has helped me immensely, both in terms of finding solutions to short-term problems and dealing with long-term issues. Our conversations have yielded some surprising, and welcome, revelations about myself. Most importantly, she not only helped me remember my key strengths, she also helped me identify my key values, an important insight to have during a transitional time in my life.

A little over a year ago I was looking to make a major life change, moving my family across country and leaving an institution I’d worked at for a decade. I had the benefit of a few supervisors over the years providing guidance and direction, but had lacked mentorship or an experienced professional outside of my own supervisory channel who could provide me with insight. I was stuck trying to figuring out how to take the first step. I had a good friend introduce me to Clear Path and within a short time, I had an intake call scheduled with Patrice. From our very first chat, Patrice offered advice and suggestions to better myself and work towards my goals. More importantly, Patrice helped me articulate my goals, and as I sought out opportunities, ensure I was keeping true to my intent vs. searching for quick solutions. Some of the specific skills Patrice helped me with included self-reflection, resume review and editing, pre-interview coaching, and mindfulness. Now a year into the position I obtained, I often find myself referring back to some of our initial conversations and the resources shared with me. I am confident that the tools Patrice introduced me to will have lasting benefits in both my personal and professional life, and would not hesitate to engage again.

I was looking for a career coach to become a more effective communicator, create more productive work relationships, and get an outside assessment of my potential. I was drawn to Patrice because of her experience working in a corporate environment and her focus on mindfulness. Patrice helped me understand my strengths, identify areas of improvement, and gave me the tools to tackle any situation that may come my way. She treated me like a partner throughout the process and gave me the space to discover my own solutions. The knowledge I have gained through coaching will help me throughout my life, no matter where my career takes me.

I met Jennifer several months ago when I needed a champion who could provide both practical tips and empathy during a difficult career transition.  Jennifer is that rare coach, one who blends deep emotional intelligence with real world experience.

Because Jennifer is a terrific active listener, she immediately figured out that I was stuck at work and needed to find my voice in order to make necessary changes.  She has taught me about the power of being “mindful” while living more fully in the present.  If this sounds “new age-y,” be reassured that it isn’t.  I’ve conducted several business meetings in the past few weeks that went far better because I’ve taken Jennifer’s advice to heart.

I look forward to each session because I know I will be with someone who is in my corner at all times and because she and I have developed a plan of action that has realistic, achievable milestones along the journey. I highly recommend Jennifer.

Jessica is a rockstar—and makes you feel like one too. My company offered coaching sessions to me after a promotion, so I was facing new responsibilities and navigating a different leadership position. Jessica and I started by mapping out a strategic plan that was attainable and completely customized to me, and she stayed laser-focused on brainstorming ideas and finding solutions that would actually work at my company. Jessica offered great insights and thoughtful questions in literally every.single.session. I appreciated that she was truly invested in making sure I could be successful. Over the course of several months, I found myself turning to her for advice and really wondering, “What would Jessica do?!” “What question would she ask in this situation?!” Jessica also was terrific at helping me question my assumptions and challenged me in a very supportive way. I didn’t want a critic, and Jessica helped me grow tremendously while still having my back. I’m so, so grateful for our time together!