MEET DEBRA
Helping professionals and their teams create thriving businesses and careers
As an experienced business coach, Debra helps you identify what is and is not working and chart a path to positive and sustainable change
A creative catalyst
Debra firmly believes in ‘failing forward’ and encourages her clients to be courageous, take risks, and exceed their definition of success. A unique combination of entrepreneur, leadership coach, and creative director, Debra has 20 years’ experience coaching and managing teams. She acts as a creative catalyst by actively listening and supporting clients to identify blind spots, clarify core values, and step into their strengths.
My Story I began my career as the founder of Lamfers & Associates, a branding and design firm. I enjoyed building the business yet after ten years, I began to feel something was missing. A friend was working with a coach and I watched carefully as they defined their goals and began reaching them. I wondered if coaching could help me identify what was missing. After only three sessions, I realized I wanted to DO WHAT MY COACH WAS DOING. I also discovered I was already using coaching skills as I led my creative team – and it was the most fulfilling part of my work. So, in 2008 I finished my studies, received my coaching certification, and began my practice. I also volunteer coaching the UN’s global staff through Humanitarian Coaching Network and leading workshops for SHE-CAN, a nonprofit empowering young women from countries restoring peace with the education and leadership skills to become change-agents.
Qualifications
Debra is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) through CTI, the world’s largest leadership coach training organization. She also holds the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accreditation from the International Coaching Federation. Areas of expertise include 360 assessments, executive presence and personal brand, emotional intelligence, career development, change management, strengths based coaching, and team optimization.
Our solutions include
“I truly do feel that my coaching sessions with Debra allowed me to evolve both as a manager and as a person. She took both inward and outward-looking approaches; assigned self-reflective exercises to define my core values and an outward focus on techniques to build relationships with my team, ensuring I create an environment of support and trust for them.”
— Melissa Carmichael, former Product Design Manager at SurveyMonkey
“The great value in Debra’s coaching lies in her highly personalized suggestions. There are many principles in good management, but which ones are most applicable to you? Debra’s style felt more akin to “massaging” the issue with me until the concepts fell clearly into place. This made me feel greater ownership over the solutions and made me confident that she was always addressing what was most important to me.”
— David Lee, Ph.D., Head of Assay Development at Color
“I have recently been promoted to a managerial role. As I navigate in this unknown territory I am very appreciative of the great insights, guidance, help, support, feedback, and encouragement I receive from my coach Debra. She is a great listener and she selflessly invests in my development and growth. She shares resources with me to help me brainstorm, learn and practice new skills. I always walk away feeling encouraged and positive. I feel blessed to have this opportunity and to have been paired up with such an amazing coach and mentor.“
— Aleksandra Doeing, Senior Manager at Capital One
“I value Debra for her insight into difficult situations. She is amazing at actively listening and teasing out an actionable plan. She has also helped me craft team building activities for an amazing offsite that helped bring my team closer.”
— Xin Yang, Engineering Manager Fleet Firmware, Samsara
“Debra’s coaching skills are profoundly effective. She asks the challenging questions and helped me to find the solutions that worked for me. Her approach is both persistent and graceful and she knows just when to challenge and when to encourage with her positivity. The coaching with Debra has been a valuable investment in improving the way I work and the final results.”
— Nina Mullen, Founder and Landscape Designer, Mullen Designs
“Debra is an excellent coach. She came at the right moment and with the right approach. Her capacity as a listener and her very precise feedback when asked, allowed me to find clarity in a very delicate moment.“
— Alejandro Pacheco, UN Development Programme
