About Us

ALL WE DO IS COACH, TRAIN AND ASSESS LEADERS AND THEIR TEAMS.

We live in the realm of possibilities and work with clients who do, too.

Through executive coaching, we help grow confident and capable leaders that embrace change and challenge.

Meet Your Coaches

Michael Neuendorff, PCC
Executive Coach & Trainer

Bay Area Executive Coach is run by Michael Neuendorff, PCC. He’s been coaching people in business since 2008 and is only getting started. After leaving a thriving corporate career, Michael decided to fully pursue his passion for entrepreneurship and professional development by entering the field of coaching.

Michael has been trained and certified to provide excellence in coaching by the Center for Executive Coaching (CEC), specifically Andrew Neitlich, founder, and Sheri Boone, MCC, Director of Training.

Michael is also an accredited member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which is the organization that conferred upon him the Professional Coach Certification (PCC). To receive this distinguished accreditation Michael went through 125 hours of coach training, submitted client logs chronicling 750+ hours of paid coaching, and passed a rigorous examination.

Michael works with executives and teams to dramatically raise individual and group performance. He is a results-driven coach who looks for commitment, accountability and a growth mindset on the part of his clients. His areas of specialty are communication, success in a new role or preparing for a new role, emotionally intelligent leadership, and building high-performance teams.

There is no industry specialization in Michael’s work since great executive coaching isn’t about in-depth industry knowledge. However, he has plenty of experience coaching leaders in healthcare, high tech, EdTech, start-ups, and professional services firms.

Michael received his BS Advertising degree from Arizona State University and completed additional graduate-level coursework with Heriot-Watt University. He is a former instructor within Skyline College’s Business division, and also taught within San Francisco State University’s Extended Learning program. Early in his coaching career, Michael was a staff advisor with the San Francisco & San Jose Small Business Development Centers.

When not coaching, teaching or training you’ll typically find Michael spending time with his family, cooking up new recipes, practicing Tai Chi and meditation, or listening to audiobooks.

Holly Allen, PCC
Executive Coach & Trainer

Holly is Certified Executive Coach and trainer with 30 plus years’ experience as a leader in the publishing and HR/talent development field. She successfully led both small and large teams through complex projects and growth initiatives. Throughout her career, Holly continued to take on bigger and more complex projects in roles including editorial, sales, and brand management. She has managed through organizational change and, in her last corporate role worked extensively on leadership and teamwork training programs. This experience provides a depth of knowledge Holly brings to her coaching. She has been recognized numerous times by peers, clients, and senior executives as someone who galvanizes teams to achieve breakthrough results in record time.

After leaving a successful corporate career, Holly pursued her passion for helping leaders uncover important insights around leadership confidence and competence. Holly listens with heart while using her insights to challenge and support leaders to achieve fast, impactful, and lasting results.

Holly is an accredited member of the International Coaching Federation, a globally respected certifying organization for coaches and achieved the level of Professional Certified Coach (PCC). She received her coaching training and certification from The Center for Executive Coaching. Her BA was in Journalism from San Jose State University and she completed Masters Level Courses in Curriculum Development at San Francisco State University.

Holly is also a Certified Master Facilitator for Everything DiSC© and for The Six Types of Working Genius, The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team®.

Meet Our Team

Janine Cerdena

Janine is our Marketing and Operations Manager.

Besides keeping track of all the administrative aspects of our business, Janine handles our digital marketing: website updates and blog posts, newsletters, social media posts, photography and more. She also develops analytics reports for our social media platforms to develop content and strategy.

Janine received her BA in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts from San Francisco State University with an emphasis on digital marketing and media promotions. And received her Master’s in International Relations from Harvard University with an emphasis on Cybersecurity.

Kathryn Donovan

Kathryn is our Graphic Designer.

Kathryn has diverse creative experiences to bring to our team, including many years as a freelance graphic designer for small businesses and start-ups, researcher and catalog writer for art catalogs, and producer for advertising photographers. She also worked with a major west-coast retailer as a senior designer and photo art director for over a decade. Kathryn has been part of the Build and Balance team for several years, serving clients as chief designer, social media manager, and part-time writer. A native of the Netherlands, Kathryn moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after completing her BA in Visual Arts and Business Management.

Robert Brilliant

Robert is our Copywriter and Videographer.

Robert has worked in copywriting and video production since the 1980s. For 11 years he was staff producer/director at Ampex Corporation, a leading manufacturer of broadcast television equipment. While at Ampex, Robert wrote and produced numerous award-winning marketing and sales videos and taught classes in video editing in the U.S. and internationally. After leaving Ampex, Robert freelanced as a copywriter and producer for several F500 companies. He’s also worked as a reporter for video industry trade magazines. Robert holds a B.S. in Mass Communication from Arizona State University and an M.A. in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University.