“I was introduced to Annette/The Valiant Group in 2013 when she was selected to conduct a series of Conflict workshops for MBA students. The experience of working with her was a genuine pleasure. Annette listens, envisions, creates, adapts and delivers! The lessons and exercises were designed to empower and prepare individuals to confront conflict in a professional and constructive manner. Annette earns an A+!”
—Debbie Dutra
Assistant Dean, Professional MBA Programs at UCLA Anderson School of Management
“Five stars for The Valiant Group’s, Leadership Development! Annette worked with our Executive Team and Sr. Mangers on leadership communications, helping us understand the way we communicate and why we communicate the way we do under stress. In working with our teams, Annette was receptive to our specific culture, customizing her program to meet our personality and business needs. Her training enabled us to improve the way our leaders communicate with each other, giving all participants the same base line vocabulary to work from. Each leader worked on specific challenges and had both support and accountability built into the follow up, helping make shifts in behavior possible. I highly recommend Annette and the Valiant Group for your company.”
—Dena House
Nikon Precision
“Annette is a skilled coach that has supported me both as part of the faculty at New Ventures West and subsequently working with me on my own personal, professional, and spiritual development. Over the last 2 years, Annette’s deep wisdom, compassion, and insight has helped me see the world differently and make changes in my life that bring more fulfillment and joy. I highly recommend Annette to anyone that is interested in moving their life and/or career to a more fulfilling place.”
—Jeff Purnell
Sr. VP, CISCO
“Annette is a master coach blending a capacity to work with people deeply with an eye toward their taking action in the world. I am consistently impressed with her commitment to her clients development. I whole-heartedly recommend her as a coach.”
—Julie Manga, Faculty
New Ventures West
“Annette supports coaches in developing their many competencies. Her belief that failure is only feedback, helps coaches take the risks that deepen trust in their intuition. Through modeling and deep inquiry, she encourages coaches to ask more courageous questions. Working this way, helped me find a focal point for each client and creatively design for that individual. Run…don’t walk to work with Annette. She is spectacular and completely dedicated to those she supports.”
—Michelle Gale
Director of Employee Dev., Twitter, CA
“I constantly come away with additional understanding, tools and new ways of working with my own clients after powerful discussions with Annette. Annette has helped me bring Leadership presence to my work as I become competent in taking on challenging responsibilities with confidence, agility, and skill. Through our work together I am able to quickly identify and resolve breakdowns, continuously learn and self-correct and experience greater fulfillment at work and outside of work. The process is rigorous but her compassion supports my growth allowing major shifts to occur. I strongly recommend The Valiant Group.”
—Maria-Elena Lopez
NASA
“Annette’s Coaching Circle helped me discover how readily accessible joy is and deepened my understanding of what true integration is: embracing the shadow side. Through this learning, I have been able to help my coachees discover joy and to realize that shadow side is part of their whole selves and something we can embrace.”
—Meribeth Germino
Dir. of Training, Genentech
I worked with Annette one-on-one and I cannot say enough good things about her. She is incredibly knowledgeable, personable, and, most importantly, effective.Annette uses a tailor-fit, holistic approach that addresses your concerns and helps guide you to a better understanding of what obstacles/challenges are keeping you in a rut. The result is better self-awareness, increased confidence, a clearer vision of what you want, and the tools to get to where you want to be.I gained invaluable insight into what was weighing me down, and I learned techniques that I have been using daily ever since working with Annette. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that my work with her changed my life.If you are thinking about giving coaching a try, Annette is the one to contact.
—Maxime Philippe
Kaiser Permanente
“Annette did a fantastic job working with me on leadership/executive presence etc. A lot of her work helped me get through my first 30 days in a high powered role in a confident, assertive fashion. She also excels in teaching the right way to communicate in different settings. I ran into a tough personal situation (unrelated to my work) and Annette was very flexible in working through it and even volunteered to help counsel me through it (this was outside the scope of our engagement).”
—Saravanan Chettier
VP Finance, AgileOne
“After a detailed search for a career coach in the Bay Area I discovered Annette and The Valiant Group. After our introduction session I knew she was a perfect fit, both from her expertise but also her personality. Through our work I was able to dive deep in self discovery. Her holistic approach allowed me to focus on my career objectives in partnership with my personal objectives; much more effective than an isolated approach. Additionally, Annette is incredibly knowledgeable and provided endless resources and tools for me to utilize beyond our discussions. Annette comes with my highest recommendations.”
–Megan Schecter
(corporation remains anonymous)
“I have been participating in a monthly Case Consulting Group with Annette for the past several months. Annette provides personal coaching, expert case consultation and business development support. The flexible format allows the focus to be on whatever is most important to each of us that month. I am able to better serve my clients as a result of this support and have found this group to be immensely valuable”
—Gwen Havern
The Gilmour Group, Palo Alto, CA
“When the Athletic Center needed help to align our team during a difficult period of transition, we relied upon the Valiant Group because we knew of Annette Segal’s reputation for producing results. Thanks to Annette, we have transformed the ways we produce and administer our business. With the leadership and management tools she provided, we were able to rally the team into a committed awareness which continues to benefit our clients, our managers, and the staff members themselves. Now profitability has many faces.”
—Bruce B. Brown
Co-owner, The Athletic Center
“Annette Segal, owner of The Valiant Group is one of the most powerful and courageous coaches anyone could hope to come across. Besides having an amazing and powerful background in education, she will knock your socks off by going in deep to give you insight into what is keeping you stuck. With her help, you can take significant steps towards creating the life or career you deserve. Call Annette now to find out which of her many individual coaching program, case consultation, workshops and circles are right for you.”
—Sarah Kowalski
Alaya Coaching
“When I first met with Annette, I was in a transition, both personally and professionally. I had a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety as a result of the uncertainties and lack of clarity in my life. At the outset, I began to gain a deeper perspective of my life situation and, importantly, myself, through the process. Annette has a unique ability to uncover all that is relevant in addressing those issues most critical to success. She successfully combines the profession of coaching with her gift of being able to offer keen insight, interpret and relate to each client as an individual.
“Her goal-based approach helped me make measurable progress towards a more self aware and confident outcome. She is neither dogmatic nor rigid in her approach. She is willing to take risks and try new methodologies which serve the desired outcome. Annette’s structured approach, coupled with her ability to create intimacy and trust between client and coach has positively impacted me both professionally and personally.
“I achieved a strong sense of progress, gained a lot of clarity and perspective and have a better sense of how to continue to measure my results into the future.”
—Sheldon Goldman
Hoyle Cohen Wealth Management
“Annette is a fantastic coach. Her knowledge, experience, and perceptiveness make her not only a great coach, but also a true ally in tackling the daunting prospect of changing careers or getting “unstuck”. I highly recommend her.”
—Jonathan Mitchelmore
Volunteer Coordinator / Scheduler San Francisco Suicide Prevention
“Working with Annette has provided me with deep insight into my own presence in the world as a person. I have brought my learnings into my coaching work and have become more present with my clients. I have learned from Annette to have more courage in working with my clients..to ask the really deep important questions and get to the “heart” of the matter more directly. She has provided a warm, loving and generous learning environment for me to grow and feel supported in my development.
—Hana Rotman
Rotman Consulting
“Annette is a compassionate, wise and gifted coach. She connects with people and helps them see and realize new possibilities in all aspects of their lives. I have tremendous respect for Annette and recommend her highly.”
—Sari Gluckin
Owner, Wishful Thinking
“Annette is highly attuned, very insightful and absolutely brilliant in her distinctions, observations, assessments and inquiry. She has a very wide repertoire of resources, practices and various exercises to help people grow and develop. I appreciate Annette’s intuition and wisdom combined with her grounded pragmatism. in her work as a coach. She is incredibly gifted as a coach, mentor and case consultant.”
—Katie Gay
Inspirapath
“Working with Annette has given me tremendous insight into discovering all my strengths and developing my business in a way that will be sustainable and completely in line with my ultimate personal and professional goals. Annette has helped me develop techniques and tools to transform obstacles into opportunities to launch a new career at 50.”
—Audrey D.
Aray Studio
“Working with Annette was the opening that I needed to begin further exploration and personal development in my life. I believe that her coaching gave me the foundation to get healthier and go out and do somatic work and continue my life long journey of growth from a more conscious place. Annette is a truly compassionate and intuitive coach and has an innate talent for insight that few coaches possess. The Valiant Group is an apt name for her coaching business because Annette is not afraid of anything and will gently guide you into living a life that is less fearful and more authentic. She continues her own self development so she can be more resourceful and available for her clients, and walks her talk, something that is quite rare these days. If you have some really tough issues and want to hire the best then I would highly recommend Annette.”
—Angela Privin
Author
“Annette is a master in the use of the integral coaching model. Her attentiveness, combined with her gentle, powerful and intuitive coaching style, has helped me quickly realize the importance of honoring all aspects of my being
—Scott Bihr
Psychiatric Nurse
“Annette was my mentor and coach while I was in a Coaching Certification program. I can honestly say this was one of the most challenging periods of my life and I might not have made it were it not for the coaching and guidance from Annette. Whether you need help facing life’s challenges, or desire to live up to your highest potential, I would highly recommend Annette as the person to help you. She is absolutely brilliant getting to the heart of the matter and helping you to focus on what really matters. She is a joy to work with and I know I am a better person for having known and worked with her.
—Maryanne Colter
Owner and Principal Consultant, MMCOLTER, Ltd.
“Annette brings tremendous warmth, creativity and a wealth of resources to her coaching practice. She is flexible and compassionate in response to clients’ changing needs, goals and responsibilities.”
—Karen Erlichman, MSS, LCSW
“I love Annette! So where shall I begin?
“Underneath all of her many qualities is her heart of gold which I’m touched by with each interaction. I appreciate her generosity of time and support. When I ask questions, I enjoy how clear, honest, and quick her responses are whether they be on the phone or by email. Also, there hasn’t been a topic I’ve brought to her where she hasn’t contributed to my clarity. Last but not least, I’ve enjoyed how fun it’s been to “play” with her! Annette is a real human being who has cheered me on, guided me, and loved me. Thank you, my dear friend.”
—Teresa Rose
Teresa Rose Coaching
“Annette is a delightful life coach to work with. It feels like she has honed her practice and techniques through her work with numerous clients. Our semi-weekly (once every other week) meetings provide enough nurturing support while also providing the time to sense, experience, and grow on one’s own on a living, biological time scale. On off weeks, we stay in contact by phone and as needed, as she is always available in urgent situations.
“Her feedback and guidance is invaluable. Annette’s approach to life coaching is wholistic – combining physical, emotional, somatic, and spiritual practices. Sometimes the truth of her guidance is immediately evident; other times the full value of her direction and exercises is only fully realized after months of practice. Most fulfilling is that throughout the year I have been working with her, my progress has been steady and forward, and I feel more open and empowered than ever to embrace all that life has to offer.
—Eric Chen
Senior Software Engineer, Vungle
“Annette is a master coach. She is deeply insightful and and one of the most generous people I’ve met. She continues to be a wonderful resource for information and inspiration beyond the formal work that I’ve done with her. Through participation in her Mastermind class, I was able to clarify my offering to clients and feel much more confident in my business model and my potential to serve. She is deeply supportive and works from the heart, drawing on years of experience and wisdom. Highly recommended.”
—Sessei Meg Levie, MA
Zen Priest
“I have participated in both Annette’s “Mastermind Group” and one of her coaching circles – both were tremendously helpful to me! In particular, I recommend her coaching circles and one-on-one coaching as they provide an amazing opportunity for self-reflection and deep personal learning and growth. Annette’s style is a perfect fit for me – she is honest, direct, and clear with her questions, insights, and feedback. More than once she has asked me THE question I needed to hear and answer in order to move forward. She is intuitive, authentic, and present in a way that is quite hard to find in today’s rapid-fire speed-racer culture.”
—Christina Begley
