Success
Stories

C.G., VP of Ecommerce and Development Operations

Throughout the executive coaching process, Tess created a space where I could be vulnerable, and courageously face self-limiting beliefs and behaviors that were holding me in place, keeping me locked into negative patterns. Tess’s systematic approach of breaking specific interactions into smaller digestible bits made so much sense. Clearing away the clutter, taking responsibility, while feeling totally supported enabled me to release old resentment, cease to ruminate and second guess myself, and rediscover the calm, self-assured woman I really am.

The shift in my demeanor and self-possession were noticed immediately by my peers and superiors. I give much of the credit for my recent promotion to VP of Corporate Operations to Tess Horan. I will forever be grateful for her firm, yet gentle guidance.

P.G., CEO in the Non-Profit Sector

I hired Tess to work with my leadership team. In addition to leadership development training and 1:1 executive coaching, she supported me as the CEO in learning how to coach my team in a versatile way building trust and connection along the way. After two years of training and coaching, my team trusts one another, communicates more effectively so results happen quicker and are no longer avoiding the difficult conversations they once did. With the increased emotional intelligence and trustworthiness, the positive mood and culture has trickled down and our Board is thrilled with the results. Thank you, Tess!!

K.C., Director, Project Management

I have worked with Tess Horan as my executive coach for over 12 months and our work together has provided me insight and skills to enable significant, publicly noticeable improvements in my work output, effectiveness, relationships and satisfaction. She has a knack for asking the right question at the right time to bring clarity to a situation, and then selecting the perfect tool from her very comprehensive toolkit to deftly apply it for best results. Tess is the most insightful, skillful, and empowering coach I ever had the deep pleasure to work with. I wholeheartedly and unreservedly endorse Tess for Executive Coaching.

Peter Cordone, VP Development

Working with Tess has been an integral part of my growth into becoming a conscious leader. After working for almost thirty years as an individual contributor and leader on IT projects, I was feeling stuck in my personal and career development. I reached out to Tess a little over a year ago through a recommendation of an executive at the company I was working for at the time. With the help of her coaching, I sought a new position, received multiple offers and chose a leadership role at a company doing interesting work with a mission that I am truly passionate about making significantly more money. The insight into human nature, dynamics of the corporate world, and depth and breadth of knowledge she has brought to our coaching sessions has helped me achieve compassion and clarity as a leader for my team. I highly recommend working with her on your journey.

M.R., Education and Consulting

I have had the opportunity to work with Tess in a coaching relationship and also in a group process. Her ability to guide an individual to a state of clarity on many levels of self-understanding – from the intellectual, to the social, from the emotional, to the primal, and most importantly to the heart of the matter – open doors for transformation. In working with her, I have found that my relationship to and understanding of myself has allowed me to move past longstanding patterns that were holding me back from stronger and more vibrant professional and personal relationships. She is concise, steadfast, warm, and committed to providing each person with a structure that promotes agency and fosters their own innate wisdom to come into the experience. Working with Tess is one of wholeness – both in what I have received from her and in what I have grown in my own life as a result.

P. Gibney, CEO Non-profit Sector

Tess is an excellent leadership coach. I brought Tess into our organization because there were many breakdowns in trust and communication between our team. We began working with Tess and immediately were able to communicate with each other through identifying each other’s social styles with empathy. Tess did some one-on-one coaching along with group coaching. We now have an amazing team thanks to Tess.

N.G, Artist, Environmental Educator and Retreat Center Owner

Tess is a highly skilled coach! She has helped me transform my outlook with greater clarity and inspiration on many levels! Working with her has been beneficial for both my personal and professional life. She has a gift for helping me to see the bigger picture of what is possible, while guiding me with the practical steps to get there. I really appreciate how she values my wisdom and helps me to have greater trust in it as well.

Heather Wadlinger, PhD, Director of Consumer Strategy, Paragon Consulting

Tess is a master of holding space and intent for creative and intuitive processes to emerge in a group setting. I had not participated in group coaching before and though intrigued, I was initially skeptical whether this format would be a conducive fit – relevant to my needs. The process far exceeded my expectations. What I gained from the group was far greater than I could create for myself. Tess was able to deliver the gift of hard truth, of holding and being the mirror, as you cultivate different aspects of yourself. It takes a special person with patience and integrity who walks the talk, and Tess is genuinely that person. I very much gained what I truly needed and rediscovered parts of myself that have since continued to blossom towards fruition.

P.K., Storyteller, Educator and Social Worker

Prior to working with Tess, I had spent many years “pulling myself up by the bootstraps,” and creating beautiful action plans and goals for my life.

While I had made progress in reaching several of my goals, I had become increasingly frustrated and stuck. I could not break free from the fear, self-doubt, and internal conflicts that continued to pull me backward, thereby sabotaging my progress.

It did not take long for me to be impressed by her insight, skills, and capacity to serve as a trusted guide. Tess quickly recognized and identified several key barriers that were impeding my progress, as well as helped me see and experience my gifts and talents in a new light. Her thought provoking questions provided me with a different lens and language that has increased my awareness and capacity to move closer to my vision. I now have a deeper understanding of the power of language and my own thoughts to create the change I am seeking in my own life. I also have several new tools to help me do the work!

Tess is incredibly compassionate and supportive. She genuinely celebrated my accomplishments, and skillfully helped me to be accountable to myself and my vision when I wandered off the path or became distracted. I am no longer stuck! I am continuing to move forward with promise and purpose. I am extremely grateful for the transformation that has taken place and continues to unfold. Thank you, Tess!

D. Carlson – Educator, Teacher and Artist

“The Positive Intelligence Bootcamp was a great foundational course! I learned a lot about myself in the process; I’m more aware of some of my old habits, better able to intercept saboteur thoughts, and act differently than I would in the past.

I’m a bit more positive and a little less reactive than I used to be. Continuing 1:1 coaching with Tess beyond the initial six weeks was the most impactful part, though, as Tess helped personalize everything I learned in the first six weeks to my particular needs and areas of growth. I learned to better identify some of my saboteurs, many of which are sneaky! The course and continual work with Tess helped me recognize old habits that I just wasn’t aware of before. It helped me begin to break them and start to rewire my brain in a positive way. My relationship with myself has certainly improved through this program. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to grow and improve their life. It will take dedication and a willingness to change, but the benefits are great, and the investment is worth it.”

S.C., Insurance Underwriter

Northbridge Insurance hired Tess to help me transition while moving into my current position.

Tess puts a focus on getting to the core of what you care about most and using that as a vehicle to affect change in your career and life. She knows how to think outside the box, ask the right questions, and implement a plan to help you achieve success. Tess was invaluable in facilitating my transition by helping me review my goals and working with me to set-up a business plan to achieve those goals. If you know anyone looking to take their business to the next level, I highly recommend Gateway Coaching.

K. Wright, Banking

There aren’t enough words to commend Tess for the work she does.

Before coaching with Tess, I felt trapped in my own skin to the point I was sure to implode at any moment. Unhappy with my job, education, home, and unsure of my choices for the future, I needed to try something. I took a leap of faith, and contacted the person who would positively impact my life more than I ever hoped for.

Tess has a special gift for intuitively seeing and hearing in others what they themselves cannot. I don’t know how she does it, but Tess can immediately hone in on inflections, breathing patterns, and minute details of a conversation to reveal hidden issues to explore and resolve. She is not forceful or aggressive in her guidance – with her help, I became accountable only to myself.

By utilizing an array of skills taught to me by Tess, I overcame hindrances that have affected me for most of my life. With her help, I discovered my true strengths and desires. Tess ignited a passion within me that had been missing for many years. I still use Tess’s tools to this day and can thankfully say that I feel great in my own skin once again.

CH, Regional Service Manager

I have two young children (under four), and both my husband and I work outside of the home.

There are many demands on me, and providing for my family, financially and emotionally/spiritually is one of my top priorities. I realized that I was no longer fulfilled in my job but wasn’t sure what to do next. A friend suggested coaching to help me find the right career path and pointed me in Tess’ direction. I wasn’t sure what to do next in my career. I wanted to be sure to fully explore what I needed in a new job and not to leap into something new for the sake of leaping. What I didn’t realize at first was that in my journey from fully employed wife to fully employed wife with two children, I’d lost myself.

Tess gave me some fantastic tools and techniques to reconnect with myself. I was lost in the trees trying to find my way. It felt as if I had handed over the “steering wheel” of my life to outside forces and didn’t know how to get it back. I lost Me. Tess helped me realize that attitudes or behaviors I held were there because they served me in the past. We worked together to find out which of these values were no longer serving me. The whole process has helped me clear some of the mental/emotional clutter to make space for the next step in my journey. I did find a new job. I’m not sure if I would’ve been open to this specific opportunity had I not been working with Tess. I have also experienced some further benefits: I have more patience with myself and others. I am better able to relate to my husband, my friends and my children. I am finding time and space for myself in my hectic life.

I reached out to Tess to help find my next job. I found something even better. I found ME. And it’s wonderful!

Holli McMann, Chief Financial Officer, MBA

I began working with Tess at a point in my life at which I knew I was ready for some changes, particularly in my job, but I was not succeeding at implementing them.

Tess helped me to identify exactly what I
was looking for and to obtain it. She was particularly good at helping me achieve focus, sorting out my conflicting ideas and confusion through insightful questions and objective observations.

Once I recognized what I wanted, she helped me plan my steps and stick with my plan. During the negotiation phase of my interviewing, her input helped increase my confidence and allow me to ask for (and get) a financial package which was more than I ever would have thought possible. She helped me see my value in the marketplace both through her own business insights and by coaching me to seek out information on my own. I am now in a much more rewarding and challenging environment and well on my way to achieving my financial goals as well. I couldn’t be happier!

Claire Franck, Lay Healer and Massage Therapist

Tess Horan is a brilliant coach. Tess has helped me to move out of the constructs of my mind to what I am feeling in my heart.

In this process, Tess has helped me to identify the roots of the issue I was struggling with, to have an understanding of how my mind was leading me on a “cat chasing its tail” journey, to open to a different perspective from my heart and, with many other tools in her medicine pouch, provide a firm foundation to support healing my issues. I’m so thankful to have Tess to support me when my mind gets in control and I lose track of listening to my heart.

C.B., Recovering Corporate Professional turned Healing Artist and Musician

Tess is simply one of those super professional, insightful, diligent, thorough, and honest coaches. She constantly holds your feet to the fire and asks all the right questions, uses all the tools at her disposal to help you make your own decisions.

That’s what a good coach does. They challenge you to sharpen your thinking and decision making skills so you are empowered in your life. Tess brings a wealth of experience to her work, and she is one of those practitioners that are commonly referred to as ‘integrated’, meaning they are passionate about living what they teach and using themselves as the road test for whatever module they are utilizing in their practice. I highly recommend having Tess on your life team. Being coached by her is just incredible training on your journey of creating a life you LOVE.

Maxima Kahn

Tess worked with me on “intuitive time management.” Her approach was gentle and very helpful, focusing on a spiritual and holistic perspective that I really resonate with.

She listened deeply and offered wise guidance to help me find a more fluid and trusting approach to listen to my own inner guidance in each day and bring more balance into my life. She also helped me work with some of the deeper issues that were blocking me. She is a skillful, kind and heartfelt coach.

Rachael Shea, Bibliographic Instruction Librarian

Tess’s clarity and precision helped me identify and articulate the areas where I wanted her guidance. Once we began the work I found that she was able to help to change habits of long-standing.

She encouraged and assisted me through my blind spots. I know that I have changed for the better as the result of her work. Sometimes I need to consciously remember her advice; some of what she taught me is now natural for me.

Vanessa Sandarusi, MBA, OTR/L

I started working with Tess at a time when I had went through many changes in my life from finishing graduate school to being laid off from two separate jobs within a year.

Needless to say, I was so lacking in self-confidence as a person and manager that I wasn’t sure how I would do working in a new position that I was to start in a few months.

After a few months of working with Tess, I have grown personally, and that has allowed me to be open to new opportunities in my life. My self-confidence improved tremendously by learning that I needed to work at Being versus Doing. Tess has also helped me see how self-care is an intricate part of my personal success by reminding me of what keeps me centered (e.g. journal writing and exercising). She gently challenges me to move me forward and is open to recommendations to enhance our coaching relationship.

I am fortunate that I continue to work with Tess, because now I face my new position at work with confidence and a new perspective. I can work in a setting that nurtures and reflects my values while giving me energy versus draining my energy. I also learned that I can come from a place of choice more when I allow myself the time to be me. What a true gift Tess has given me!

Betsy McNair, Manager, Data Analytics

I participated in one of Tess’s 5-part group coaching series. New to coaching, I found these sessions led by Tess to be extremely well-organized, focused and informative.

Tess’s approach to coaching utilizes tools that help us see how we are constructing our own reality, separating fiction from fact, ultimately helping us come into better alignment with ourselves and those around us. Tess also showed us ways to communicate to others when there is conflict in such a way that brings about understanding and resolution while minimizing defensiveness. As a coach, Tess strikes a balance between professionalism and compassion. Tess shows us how we can remove obstacles, promote healing and ultimately accomplish our goals in the best way possible.

Julius Jessup Peterson MDiv, LCSW

Tess is splash of tenacity, warmth, and grit in a world of ambiguity, tension and uncertainty.
Her uncompromising candor, attention, and intuitiveness makes her a dynamic coach, teacher, and mentor. Our time together was life changing, and my business will feel the impact of her leadership for generations.

Dr. Justin LaPlante, Psychology Professor

I have had the pleasure of working with Tess over the past year and half. Tess helped me see the ways I was stuck personally and professionally, and how they were interrelated in ways I had previously been blind to. More importantly, she deftly guided me through navigating what had seemed previously unmanageable in clear, actionable ways. After our work together, things have been flowing much more smoothly, I’m feeling more confident, and I have been able to take advantage of opportunities that had seemed far out of reach before. I have no doubt I would not be as successful as I am today without her help! I can unequivocally recommend her coaching.

Stephanie Preston-Hughes, Therapist, LMHC

Tess helped me to make an important breakthrough in an area of my job where I previously felt stuck. As a licensed mental health professional working in higher education, it is essential that I keep up with the high volume and quick turnaround in my clinical documentation. I became frustrated about how to resolve a form of writer’s block that was leading to inefficiency in completing case notes. A colleague recommended that I utilize professional coaching services with Tess and I was not disappointed. She challenged me to think and act in new ways that even past counselors did not. I appreciated her focus on helping me come up with creative solutions rather than dwelling in my feelings about the problem itself. Our scheduled phone calls provided me with many “Aha!” insights. Tess is skilled at getting people to look at their blind spots and make choices about how to move forward.

I also participated in Tess’s Positive Intelligence 8-Week group coaching program. Among other gifts, this mental fitness bootcamp shifted my approach away from feeling like I have to just do everything harder to reach my goals. Now I know how to make my brain work with more ease instead of wasting so much energy.

Amelia Cenotti, MA, Therapist, LMHC

As a mental health professional myself, it has been difficult to find the right supports and listening ear that I provide to others. Thank you to Tess for being that exact right fit to help me to heal, grow, and reanimate my heart and soul during a huge transition year of my life.

Gail M. Roberts, LCSW-R, Psychotherapist, Professor Emeritus Division of Social Work

I recently completed a 9-month group program led and facilitated by Tess Horan.  Her guidance provided tools to establish personal intentions and goals.  The group sessions allowed an environment to share pieces of my own life and progress towards my goals and … was a compassionate gentle place that helped me grow and develop an understanding of how I was moving towards my stated goals.  The whole process was informative, helpful, and supportive.  I learned a great deal and am grateful for the support I received.”

C. Stalwart – Director of Finance

Tess’s Positive Intelligence 8-week boot camp was life changing. I have always had a positive attitude but suffered from intrusive thoughts that keep me playing small. During the program I was able to identify where those thoughts came from and create strategies and eventually habits that kept them at bay. My thinking shifted and so did my actions. My life is more fulfilling as I take care of what truly matters. Thank you, Tess!

D. Carlson – Educator and Artist

The Positive Intelligence Bootcamp was a great foundational course! I learned a lot about myself in the process; I’m more aware of some of my old habits, better able to intercept saboteur thoughts, and act differently than I would in the past. I’m a bit more positive and a little less reactive than I used to be. Continuing 1:1 coaching with Tess beyond the initial six weeks was the most impactful part, though, as Tess helped personalize everything I learned in the first six weeks to my particular needs and areas of growth. I learned to better identify some of my saboteurs, many of which are sneaky! The course and continual work with Tess helped me recognize old habits that I just wasn’t aware of before. It helped me begin to break them and start to rewire my brain in a positive way. My relationship with myself has certainly improved through this program. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to grow and improve their life. It will take dedication and a willingness to change, but the benefits are great, and the investment is worth it.

Stephanie Preston-Hughes, Therapist, LMHC

Tess helped me to make an important breakthrough in an area of my job where I previously felt stuck. As a licensed mental health professional working in higher education, it is essential that I keep up with the high volume and quick turnaround in my clinical documentation. I became frustrated about how to resolve a form of writer’s block that was leading to inefficiency in completing case notes. A colleague recommended that I utilize professional coaching services with Tess and I was not disappointed. She challenged me to think and act in new ways that even past counselors did not. I appreciated her focus on helping me come up with creative solutions rather than dwelling in my feelings about the problem itself. Our scheduled phone calls provided me with many “Aha!” insights. Tess is skilled at getting people to look at their blind spots and make choices about how to move forward.

I also participated in Tess’s Positive Intelligence 8-Week group coaching program. Among other gifts, this mental fitness bootcamp shifted my approach away from feeling like I have to just do everything harder to reach my goals. Now I know how to make my brain work with more ease instead of wasting so much energy.