Jamie Lee is an executive coach for smart women who hate office politics. She helps them get promoted and better paid without throwing anyone under the bus.
You need courage. The courage to see through the marketing illusions.
The courage to tell the truth to yourself about what’s not working. And the resourcefulness to start something with what you already have, already know, and already are.
After working with so many women of color in executive roles, I’ve come to recognize the pattern immediately.
It feels like an under-the-radar tug-of-war between:
Your chronic need to prove yourself to decision-makers and
Decision-makers who tighten their grip, drag their feet, and withhold approval — even when you’ve exceeded expectations.
And the harder you pull to demonstrate value, competence, and good faith… …the tighter their end of the rope feels.
What we call “executive presence” isn’t about how you matched your Hermès scarf to your burgundy blazer, how impressive you sound, or the impressive count of grams of protein you ingested in the morning. Executive presence is also about the frequency your body emits—one that other people feel in subtle but very real ways.
This is the real secret to stopping difficult people from hijacking your day: you regulate your field so you’re no longer unconsciously absorbing theirs.
We’re taught to believe power lives outside us — in titles, promotions, or someone else’s approval. But the truth is, personal power never left us.
Through feminist coaching and neuroscience, we can reclaim the authority that’s been conditioned out of us. Power lives in how we breathe before we speak, how we choose rest over overwork, and how we decide we belong without waiting for permission.
Power isn’t something you earn.
It’s something you remember.
Compassion isn’t about being “nice” — it’s about being real, present, and grounded in truth. In this post, I redefine compassion as a source of inner strength and leadership clarity, not passive agreeableness.
You’ll learn how fierce compassion helps you set boundaries without guilt, speak hard truths with care, and lead from integrity instead of burnout. Rooted in feminist coaching and neuroscience, this piece explores how self-compassion activates the body’s natural calm and creativity — transforming how you show up for yourself, your team, and your mission.
I read Women Don’t Ask … it changed my life. I realized when I was growing up in South Korea, it was common for women to haggle and bargain, so the concept of negotiating was natural. But in America, I saw most women were not comfortable negotiating for themselves.
That realization lit a fire in me. I thought, maybe it’s not about “fixing” women — maybe it’s about practicing what we were never taught to do out loud.
Do you ever feel "desensitized" to your accomplishments?
Like everyone who matters probably already knows, since they're CC'd on your Monday updates or sit in on your monthly strategy sessions.
So it feels redundant, maybe even cocky, to restate the boringly obvious magnitude and impact of your contributions (which, in your mind, substantiate why you should've been promoted last review cycle, and you feel frustrated that the promotion went to Disappointing Steve instead of you).
[Jamie]’d have me notice spaces on my body, and when I came out of it, she’d say, “What do you know?” And I’d just know. Every time. It’s like she bypasses the amygdala—my fight-or-flight center—and helps the rest of my brain take over. I slow down, find the solution, and then we talk strategy.
It’s not the kind of session people expect. It’s not “What should I do?” and the coach gives a plan. It’s more like, “Let’s get quiet so you can hear your own knowing.”
The result? The year’s not even over, and she already has the backing of her performance coach (the internal one at her company), her new boss, and her boss’s boss.
If getting promoted is like baking a cake, hers is already baked, iced, and ready to serve.
So what’s left? The cherry on top: a five-slide promotion deck that makes her promotion a done deal.
In an increasingly interconnected world, more of us find ourselves working across borders—whether with colleagues in another country, clients from a different culture, or leaders who bring global perspectives. These interactions can be exciting and enriching, but they can also bring moments of tension.
Bias isn’t a personal defect—it’s part of the human condition. But awareness of these patterns allows us to choose curiosity over judgment. When we slow down and notice these blind spots, we not only make better decisions—we also create workplaces that are more inclusive, humane, and effective.
Attribution matters because it shapes whether we judge or connect.
When we remember that people are influenced by larger systems—not just personal qualities—we move from frustration to curiosity, from contempt to compassion.
Yes, progress feels fragile right now. But fragile doesn’t mean doomed. Fragility can be strengthened with intention — and even transformed into what Nassim Taleb calls antifragility.
Leaders who are willing to choose courage, who can combine accountability with compassion, will be remembered as the ones who helped their organizations become more resilient, more human, and more sustainable in uncertain times.
Our role isn’t to demand that people live up to the picture in our heads. It’s to support them with curiosity, compassion, and patience as they live into the picture that’s true for them.
The sweet gift of seeing potential becomes even sweeter when we release the bitterness of unmet expectations.
🤨 How can POC leaders NOT gaslight ourselves navigating the predominantly white world? This was the question a client and I grappled with earlier today. She — a minority executive — told me about the hyper vigilance she feels at work.
On Friday, October 3rd, I’m stepping out of my Newark home office (and let’s be real, my faded, pilling lululemons) to lead an interactive workshop at the NJ Conference for Women.
Where: Princeton Hyatt Regency
When: Friday, October 3rd, 7:30am–4pm
What: The biggest professional women’s conference in New Jersey.
Women of color face systemic bias at work when promotion goalposts keep moving and ‘emotional labor’ becomes the excuse. In this post, I share how these patterns show up, why they’re unjust, and a free 2-minute EFT tapping guide to process anger, stress, and exhaustion — so you can reclaim power, clarity, and momentum in your career.
Where did you come from before you were born? Where do you go after you're dead?
And what's something you want to do so that, on your deathbed, you can say, "I lived a life with no regrets"?
You want to expand your career, maybe even pivot into something different and bigger — but the thought of networking events, office politics, or chasing superficial connections makes your skin crawl.
This playbook is for you: the ambitious but introverted professional who has valuable knowledge to share, wants to keep growing, and refuses to play the schmoozy, transactional game.
In the best of worlds, she could create abundance even without the billionaire. She could found a company, grow it, and guide it to a successful exit event that generates significant returns for herself and her shareholders.
So together, we crafted a negotiation script that anchored her starting salary above the stated range. We aimed for 4X her current pay.
