Listen to Noomii's interview with Kelly Deich

About Me

I am an empathetic leader who has a passion for communication and understanding others. I’ve had a wide variety of experiences that have shaped my life and lead me to find coaching as my personal and professional passion.

My professional journey started in West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I then took an opportunity in Baltimore Maryland where I taught for a year in city schools as an AmeriCorps member. Ultimately I found roots here in our nation’s capital working with the dynamic community of nonprofits and government organizations that call this area home.

I had always envisioned myself working in academia or with a nonprofit involved in social issues either here or abroad. To support this vision, I trained as an applied anthropologist, but just a few years after leaving graduate school I found myself working for a large management consulting firm—and loving it. I loved applying what I had learned about culture to organizations as well as social science research methodology to business problems.

I was introduced to executive coaching in 2012. It was love at first sight. I found the coaching process a thoughtful and powerful tool for my career as well as for the individuals and organizations I coached. Coaching integrates the thoughtfulness and critical thinking of academic pursuits but ultimately the power is not in what the coach can “do for” or “offer” the client—it’s in the powerful questions and reflecting the powerful observation where true transformation happens. Similar to anthropology, the core of coaching is empathy—and to understand the other person wholly. From that holistic understanding, breakthroughs in all aspect of life and business are possible.

I hold a Masters of Applied Anthropology from the University of Maryland, College Park and am a Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF).