A strategic advisor to board members and CEOs, Wendy is an expert on leadership and gender issues in the workplace and is a sought-after mentor for rising talent – including other consultants and consulting firms.
With more than 25 years of combined experience in human resources, organizational development, non-profit leadership, and executive coaching, Wendy has worked with hundreds of individuals and organizations. Throughout her career, Wendy’s outstanding ability to build trust and rapport with diverse audiences, and her agility in assessing and engaging individuals and groups from “where they are” has facilitated breakthroughs and business results. As a speaker, her natural warmth and humor captivate her audience, and her intellect challenges their assumptions about what is possible for us to achieve individually and collectively.
In her consulting work, Wendy customizes research-based best practices to work with each client’s unique culture and business model. She is an expert in organizational and individual assessments, leadership development, strategic visioning, and implementing organizational change. Wendy also understands the dynamics of entrepreneurship, venture capital, and private equity funding and seamlessly integrate those dynamics into her work for the benefit of her clients.
Wendy holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco in addition to a post-graduate Certificate in Management and Innovation from Bentley College and dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology and Spanish from the University of California at Davis.
Tell us about who you are and what you do.
I’m a leadership expert, equity & inclusion advocate, author, and the CEO of Kadabra, an interdisciplinary team of leadership and culture experts on a mission to grow exceptional leaders and teams. My team and I aim to facilitate a ripple effect of positive change and transformation to advance the greater good.
Tell us how you created this brand and what was the sole idea behind it.
Billions of dollars have been invested in leadership and organizational development by companies trying to draw out what we know we’re capable of. The promised magic of leadership and teamwork have yet to fully materialize. What started as a curiosity — What else is needed? —is what Kadabra aims to provide. Our approach to transforming leaders and organizations goes deeper and stretches beyond the traditional. We work at the head and heart level to expand what’s possible for people to achieve together.
Go in detail and tell us about how your brand works. You may keep this from the audience’s perspective.
At Kadabra, we help people do the hard inner work required to become better leaders. We support them to dissolve fear, expand awareness, and explore assumptions. We empower everyone (no matter the personality or style) to transform thinking, awaken potential, and lead with incredible skill and confidence. Because of this, leaders and teams become more than the sum of their parts and turn into powerful forces for good in the world.
We help teams build BRAVE Cultures™. BRAVE Cultures™ are Purpose Driven, Wildly Innovative, and Fiercely Inclusive.
● We help you identify why you do what you do, what values support your purpose, and how to work in alignment with those values in daily operations.
● Finding extraordinary solutions to complex problems means getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. We use proven tools and strategies to help you innovate and implement change.
● Beyond checking a box for diversity, Fiercely Inclusive cultures make inclusion part of their DNA and everyday practices to exponentially improve employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance.
What is your giveaway idea through this interview? Highlight something that may interest the readers on a one to one basis.
It’s crucial to elevate your awareness around your own biases and elicit empathy for “others” — that is the first step toward sustaining success in a changing world.
Explain the challenges you went through while you were working on brand creation. What are the challenges you go through on an everyday basis?
We work with clients across all industries in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and government sectors. And the core of our brand is creating and holding space for vulnerability – to admit flaws and learn how to ask for help. Helping clients overcome their fears around vulnerability is key to their success and ours. It’s hard for anyone to tell the truth when the results of doing so might be punitive. So, vulnerability is pretty scary. Vulnerability-based trust is at the heart of great teamwork; it’s simple in theory, but it’s not easy in practice because it requires courage and commitment not just one day, but every day, but it is worth it because the benefits of a great team are genuinely extraordinary.
How do you manage your finances through the services you offer. Any fundings etc received?
Because we are a certified women-owned business, Kadabra was eligible for and was awarded a small business grant from Facebook in 2020 for $4k. We have adopted a value-based pricing strategy for our services, which enables us to factor need, resources, and impact together in ways that increase broader access and equity.
Tell us your future vision about the brand. How far do you want to take it? What is your dream about taking it to the next level?
I would like to see Kadabra become the international “go-to” source for purpose-driven organizations seeking change and transformation, who want to cultivate equity and inclusive practices throughout their entire ecosystem and use their organizations as forces for good.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
Strengths, blind spots, areas of opportunity – you know everyone has them, but you need to figure out which of yours matters and how to deal with them. That is the key to success in any endeavor, no matter what your ultimate goal is.
Company name: Kadabra
Website: www.wearekadabra.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/we_are_kadabra