I spent years running one of Chicago's premier theaters before I ever stepped into a boardroom.
That's exactly the point.
I see what's really driving you and your team. And what's getting in the way.
For 15 years I was the Artistic Director at The Marriott Theatre, one of Chicago's premier live performance venues, where I led creative teams through high-stakes productions where everything depended on trust, timing, and people being willing to be honest with each other when it mattered most.
That work trained me to see what most business consultants miss: the difference between what people say in a meeting and what they actually believe, the moment someone checks out of a conversation while still nodding along, and the specific dynamic between two people in a room that's quietly poisoning everything around it.
When a CFO avoids conflict, the budget process breaks. When a CEO holds too tight, nobody else takes ownership. When a COO is afraid of looking incompetent, problems get hidden instead of solved. Most consultants see the symptom. I see the engine underneath it.
That's what I bring to every engagement. Whether I'm working with a full executive team or coaching a single leader one-on-one, the work starts with seeing the whole picture — the business and the people running it.
Here's what I won't do.
I won't give you a personality test and call it coaching. I won't nod along and tell you you're doing great when you're not. I won't run a one-day offsite and disappear. And I won't tiptoe around the thing everyone in the room already knows but nobody will say.
If your team has a trust problem, I'll name it. If you're the bottleneck, I'll name that too. If a leader on your team is checked out or playing politics, we're going to talk about it — directly and with care.
I work with leaders who want the truth, not the comfortable version of it. I don't run a one-day offsite and disappear. I stay for months, long enough to make sure the new patterns actually hold and the team operates differently when I'm not in the room.
What you should know about how I work.
I'm based in Chicago and work with clients across the country. I've spent over 20 years leading teams and developing leaders, first in theater and now in executive coaching. I take on a small number of clients at a time because the work doesn't scale the way most consultants want it to, and I'm not interested in pretending it does.
Don't take my word for it.
"I've worked with Andy during one of the more complex stretches of my professional life. What stands out is that our work was never just tactical — it was holistic. Andy understands that you can't separate the two. He works at that intersection. If you're looking for someone who will help you think more clearly and lead more steadily, he's exceptional."
"Working with Andy has been a game-changer. He has the ability to bring things to the surface that I needed to see — and may have been avoiding searching for — then coach and hold me accountable on how to grow as a leader."
"There was an immediate connection to Andy. I felt like I was speaking to a wise, judgment-free friend who was ready to support me on any challenge. Investing in myself wasn't an easy decision, but choosing Andy was."
If you've read this far, you're probably already thinking about what needs to change.
Let's have a real conversation about where you are, what's getting in the way, and whether working together makes sense. No script, no sales deck.
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