True North Coaching

Our Story True North Coaching is an Austin, Texas-based practice founded and led by Shelley Pernot, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation. Before becoming a coach and leadership facilitator, she spent years in Fortune 500 leadership roles in Finance and Risk Management, working inside the high-pressure corporate environments her clients now navigate. Her own experience with burnout fundamentally reshaped her philosophy, leading her to focus on leadership development that is both effective and sustainable. She holds an MBA from Erasmus Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands, is a CPA, and is the author of the award-winning book "Running on Empty: The Irreverent Guru’s Guide to Filling Up with Mindfulness." Over the years, she has coached and facilitated leaders across industries—including energy, healthcare, luxury retail, technology, higher education, and nonprofit—for organizations such as Shell, Baker Hughes, Texas RE, NIH, Lake Austin Spa Resort, and The University of Texas Center for Professional Education. Programs & Trainings 🎓 Executive Coaching — Leaders of Leaders — For C-suite executives and leaders of managers who are ready to transform their impact. Includes the Leadership Circle Profile 360 assessment with a detailed report and a three-hour deep-dive debrief. Session count and duration are customized based on engagement complexity. Typical investment: $7,000 to $10,000. 🎓 Leadership Coaching — Leaders of Individual Contributors — For emerging, new, and experienced leaders with direct reports. Includes the Leadership Circle Profile 360 assessment with a detailed report and a three-hour deep-dive debrief, plus ten one-on-one virtual coaching sessions usable over a nine-month period. Total package price: $5,000. 🎓 Burnout Coaching — One-on-one coaching for driven professionals who are admired for their results yet quietly running on empty. Blends practical leadership development with deeper inner work to address patterns leading to burnout, rebuild resilience, and realign with purpose. 🎓 Leadership Training for Organizations — Fully customized, end-to-end leadership development programs designed around an organization’s specific goals, culture, and challenges. Shelley Pernot personally designs and delivers every engagement. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Assertiveness — Finding and using your voice in a way that commands respect without sacrificing relationships. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Conflict Management — Navigating disagreement and tension without avoiding the conversations that matter most. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Giving and Receiving Feedback — Building a feedback culture that is honest, timely, and genuinely useful. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Managing Change — Guiding teams through uncertainty and transition without losing trust or momentum. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Transitions in Leadership — Supporting leaders stepping into new roles, expanded responsibility, or significant organizational change. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Coaching Skills for Leaders — Building the mindset and tools that turn managers into leaders people actually want to work for. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Delegation and Accountability — Addressing the beliefs behind micromanagement and building systems that actually work. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Goal Creation and Vision Setting — Developing and communicating a vision that motivates teams and connects daily work to something larger. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Mindfulness and Resilience — Practical tools for staying grounded and making better decisions under pressure. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Psychological Safety — Creating the conditions where people speak up, take risks, and do their best work. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Communication and Influence — Developing the clarity and presence that moves people, not just informs them. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Emotional Intelligence — Understanding how you respond under pressure and leading more effectively because of it. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Growth Mindset — Shifting the internal narrative that keeps leaders stuck in fixed or defensive patterns of thinking. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Personal Branding — Understanding and articulating your leadership identity so you lead with intention rather than by default. 🎓 Workshop Topic: Teamwork — Strengthening the dynamics, norms, and trust that allow teams to perform at a high level. 🎓 Free Online Course — "Reverse the Burnout" — A self-paced digital resource available through the True North Coaching website. 🎓 Book — "Running on Empty: The Irreverent Guru’s Guide to Filling Up with Mindfulness" — Award-winning guide on mindfulness and recovering from burnout. 🎓 Speaking Engagements — Keynotes and presentations on leadership, burnout, and mindful performance for organizations and events. 🎓 The True North Journal — Blog and newsletter offering ongoing thought leadership on goals vs. aspirations, identity through intensity, permission for joy, and accepting reality. Specialties 🎯 Executive Coaching 🎯 Leadership Development 🎯 Burnout Prevention & Recovery 🎯 Emotional Intelligence 🎯 360-Degree Leadership Assessment (Leadership Circle Profile) 🎯 Conflict Management 🎯 Communication & Influence 🎯 Mindfulness & Resilience 🎯 Psychological Safety 🎯 Change Management 🎯 Delegation & Accountability 🎯 Growth Mindset Coaching 🎯 Personal Branding for Leaders 🎯 Coaching Skills for Managers 🎯 Assertiveness Training 🎯 Team Dynamics & High-Performance Teamwork 🎯 Leadership Transitions Methods & Approach Shelley’s work sits at the intersection of leadership development, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and human growth. She uses the Leadership Circle Profile, a sophisticated 360-degree assessment tool that measures both leadership competencies and underlying reactivity to identify root causes rather than surface symptoms. Her approach goes beneath the surface to examine the stories, beliefs, values, and deeply held needs that drive behavior, ensuring sustainable change rather than superficial fixes. Sessions are conducted virtually in a structured yet flexible format. For organizational training, Shelley designs and delivers every program end-to-end; there are no rotating facilitators. The methodology combines practical leadership frameworks with the deeper inner work that makes those tools stick. Who It's For Senior executives, C-suite leaders, and leaders of managers seeking transformational impact; emerging, new, and experienced leaders of individual contributors looking to sharpen their toolkit and lead with authenticity; high-achieving professionals—especially women—experiencing burnout, perfectionism, or the pressure to always be "on"; professionals navigating career transitions, rapid organizational growth, or significant change; HR and Learning & Development leaders seeking custom in-house leadership development; and organizations across industries such as energy, healthcare, technology, higher education, luxury retail, and nonprofit sectors. Facilities & Practical Info All one-on-one coaching sessions are conducted virtually. Organizational training programs are delivered in a format tailored to the client and can be adapted for in-person or virtual delivery. Primary service area is Austin, TX, with a national client base that includes Fortune 500 and public sector organizations. All content and coaching are delivered in English. Location Address: 3800 N Lamar Blvd #200, Austin, TX 78756, United States Hours: See website for schedule The "+" ✅ Founder-led delivery with no rotating facilitators—Shelley Pernot designs and leads every organizational engagement from initial discovery through delivery and follow-up. ✅ Rare combination of Fortune 500 finance and risk management leadership experience and ICF PCC coaching certification, offering immediate credibility with corporate audiences. ✅ Use of the Leadership Circle Profile 360, an advanced assessment that measures reactivity alongside competencies to uncover root causes of leadership challenges. ✅ Award-winning thought leadership: author of "Running on Empty" and recognized as Best Austin Career Coaching Service 2021 and Top Coaches In America 2025. ✅ Custom-built organizational programs that address both practical skill-building and the deeper inner work required for sustainable behavioral change.