• Kraft Foods, Inc.
• American Red Cross
• World Learning and SIT Graduate Institute
  About my Clients

  Organizational change starts with individuals. My clients are key people in businesses, nonprofits, communities and government looking to transform their organizations' cohesiveness and effectiveness.

  “Kerry is an engaging and motivating speaker and leadership trainer. Her approach is fresh, inspiring and hits the mark!”
  
  

  -Allan Goldberg, MD
  Board of Governors, American Red Cross

• KPMG
• Wellstar Health System
• Americorps
• Northern Berkshire Healthcare
• Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee
• Connecticut Association of Realtors
• Town of Brattleboro and Brattleboro Police Department
• Ability PLUS
• American Art Therapy Association
• City Year
• Brattleboro Retreat
• Cedarcrest Center for Children with Disabilities
• Vermont Association for Non-Profit Organizations
• Vermont Housing and Conservation Board
• Grace Cottage Hospital
• Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation
• Cheshire Medical Center
• Connecticut Recreation and Parks Association
• Mountain Computers
• Volunteer New Hampshire!
• Tibetan Healing Fund
• Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce

“The difference between good and great organizations is leadership. Watershed Coaching had the expertise to design and deliver an effective leadership development curriculum over the course of a year to our entire management staff. As a result we were able to demonstrate improved performance across the spectrum of leadership competencies.”

- Rick Palmisano
CEO, Northern Berkshire Healthcare

“Watershed Coaching was instrumental in helping our worldwide group redefine how we are providing our legal services and how we work and cooperate amongst ourselves. The results were real, quick, and significant.”

- Jonas Bruzas, Senior Counsel, Business Units
Kraft Foods

“Kerry’s straightforward yet empathetic approach helped us make huge progress.  As a result, we have seen significant improvements in our relationships with other departments, internal communication, and morale.  She clearly saw what our problems were, helped us come up with the right ways to work on solving them, and was inspiring, calm, receptive, and very goal-oriented.”

- Marla Soloman
Former Dean, SIT Graduate Institute

“I hired Kerry Secrest to present to my organization on the topic of how to coach and/or mentor your employees (my group is largely business owners and key managers). I am very glad to say that her session was presented with dynamism and wisdom, and we all benefited greatly. Kerry was clear on the difference between coaching and mentoring, who in the room should use which tool, how to get started, how to overcome various typical and unique roadblocks, not to mention, why to do it. She was concise, clear, compassionate, comprehensive, charismatic, collegial, and probably some other words that don't begin with C. I give her a both thumbs up, and encourage anyone looking for an extremely effective trainer and speaker to contract her, posthaste.

- Ira Bryck
Director, UMass Family Business Center

 “Kerry was able to provide a valuable service to our Managers at the Brattleboro Retreat by improving their skills necessary to manage a very diverse group of individuals who are challenged on a daily basis by the nature of our business . Her lessons, exercises, coaching and follow-up had a real impact.”

- Robert G. Soucy
Former Chief Operating Officer, Brattleboro Retreat

“Kerry was very valuable in getting our leadership team to work together more effectively. The group has a lot more trust, we’re communicating more directly and everyone is more engaged and taking action to make improvements in the department.  We’re in a much different place than just a few months ago. Thanks!”

- Eugene Wrinn
Chief of Police, Brattleboro Police Department

Kerry is not only highly organized and knowledgeable about the topics on which she presents, she has a dynamic presentation style that adapts and suits a variety of learning styles. I have highly recommended Kerry numerous times!

-Joan Misek,
Director, VHCB AmeriCorps

“Kerry is a consummate professional, and highly effective in engaging participants in trainings. Her preparation is extensive, and her materials are comprehensive and inspirational.”

- Maria Basescu
Communications and Government Affairs Consultant

“Any organization worthy of its mission ought, from time to time, take a look at itself, long and hard. Our board just did -- with expert, sensitive guidance by Watershed Coaching's Kerry Secrest. From our first planning meeting through an excellent two-day retreat and in post-Retreat review, it was clear that we'd made a perfect choice in Kerry. We were able to identify board and organizational priorities and chart a path toward achieving them. Indeed, Kerry makes the business of facilitation an art form!”

- Jerry Goldberg
Executive Director, Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce

“Kerry helped create and facilitate a large workshop with a number of panelists and presenters, and had very useful recommendations for follow-up in order to build upon it. We were very fortunate to work with her and plan to invite her back in the future.”

- Rick DeAngelis
Associate Director for Housing Policy and Research, State of Vermont

“"Kerry was a great presenter and I really enjoyed the way she facilitated the day. She shared the information in an interesting and distinguished way and then quickly got the group engaged. Kerry brought her own life examples that witness credibility of the presenter as “leading-by-example” always inspire me. Kerry’s broad cultural experience is definitely a great asset helping her to have close contact with the audience. I was glad to have time to reflect on my personal and professional life and some of the ideas she presented are still with me. One thing I noticed in comparison with other trainers is that we as participants had many good opportunities to talk with one another about real issues, other than just job related, and at the end I felt I knew my teammates better which will help in keeping our working relationships strong. She moved us out of our comfort zone, which allowed for more learning. Thank you, Kerry!"”

- Antanas Sidaras, Chief Counsel, Baltic States
Kraft Foods

““We recently required Kerry's assistance with communication issues occuring within the organization. The results were excellent. We have since experienced better mutual understanding and cooperation from the participants. We recommend her fully, and believe that your experience will be equally impressive.””

- Dane Rank
Administrator, Thompson House Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

 

Here’s what some coaching clients have to say

“I have worked with Kerry for the past year in the context of a leadership pipeline development program. She coached all 25 of our diverse participants over a 9 month period. During that time, she was always compassionate, encouraging, reliable and professional, taking the initiative to hold the coachees to a higher standard than they were used to. As a result of her authentic connection to them, they discovered the courage to try on new behaviors and ways of being, and committed to thinking about their concerns in a different context. Her intuition, honesty and ability to inspire the program participants to rediscover their strength and vulnerability in order to give her the answers they were seeking was truly amazing! I look forward to working with her again and would highly recommend her services.

-Susanne Diggs-Wilborn, Psy.D.
Director, Leadership and Organizational Development, Wellstar Health System

Names withheld to respect client privacy. Personal references available upon request.

“A transformational journey which opened my eyes to dimensions of introspection and awareness that I never knew existed . . . amazing! This work pays dividends in exponential terms . . . the more engagement with the process, the greater the return. I observed substantially improved work relationships, clearer delegation and improved personal accountability with less conflict. I would highly recommend her work for senior managers and strategic thinkers in any profession. These skills are essential for maximizing human potential and for enhancing long-term success and satisfaction in any field. Two thumbs up!

-Information Technology Executive, regional hospital

“Kerry possesses a unique blend of compassion balanced with a precise ability to look through all of our natural smoke and mirrors and see core issues and inefficiencies. Both my interactions with clients and my organizational approach to the work I do have become much more productive due to my work with Kerry, and I have benefitted tremendously as a result.”

- Small Business Owner

“I have been participating in the Executive Coaching Program with Kerry for approximately nine months.  Kerry’s coaching has provided me with great insight into my management style and my strengths. The tools she has provided me with  have allowed me to become a much more effective and efficient leader, which has resulted in my professional success and appreciation for the work that I do.  I would absolutely recommend Kerry’s Executive coaching program to both senior and junior executives seeking new knowledge and improving leadership skills.”

- Vice-President, regional healthcare organization

 As the head of a non-profit organization, one gains a clear understanding of the saying, "It's lonely at the top".  Kerry helped me to create tremendous clarity around both personal and professional priorities, and to take key steps towards very challenging goals.  She is a resource I would recommend to the head of any organization!  

- Executive Director, non-profit agency

“Over the course of the coaching program I successfully launched my new business and I redefined the kind of lifestyle that I wanted for the future. I highly recommend Kerry as a coach. I found her to be very insightful and compassionate and I really enjoyed the support as I was making some big decisions in my life.”

- Small Business Owner

Comments From Workshop Participants

"Kerry is an excellent presenter: well informed, attuned to the energies in the group, and a dynamic speaker.”

"During our strategic planning retreat, Kerry was able to keep us on task with humor!"

“The content of the training was very applicable and I have already used SO much just in the last two days. It helped me become more aware of interpersonal relations and how to best understand and respond to issues. Overall, the information was extremely useful and I feel better prepared to work in the non-profit environment.”

“The reflective character of the training allows participants to formulate future planning and strategies with greater efficacy.”

“[The training] definitely gave me a clearer perspective on my work tactics and how to utilize my tools to work with my personal tendencies.”

“Kerry’s careful choice of words and very open style was great.”