About
I’m an ICF-accredited coach who spent twenty years leading design teams at Target, Thomson Reuters and Shutterfly. I’m on a mission to make leadership less lonely and more human-centered.
hi, I’m alison.
I coach human-centered leaders one to one, mostly through the moments that don’t fit neatly on a career ladder: the first management role, the reorg, the job that quietly stopped fitting.
I train teams in coaching skills, speak at conferences and inside companies, and take on consulting work when someone hands me a genuinely interesting problem.
I am unreasonably interested in the difference between giving advice and actually helping. Mother to two, and a crossword junkie.
Associate Certified Coach, International Coaching Federation. Accredited 2022, after training through the Learning Journeys International Center for Coaching.
Whether you’re planning a team training, coaching-curious, or just want to talk about human-centered work.
How I got here
how I work
Authenticity
I come as I am, with a little creative mess in tow. I share my mistakes, and whole-human puzzles.
Coach, don’t tell
Coaching is holding space for powerful inquiry, not advice-giving. I will ask you something back.
Generosity
Pay-what-you-can scales, access for people between jobs, reduced rates for under-represented leaders.
I am not trying to make you need me. I am trying to make you better at this than I am.Alison Gretz, ACC
what makes this different
Growth where you are
Most career advice is about finding a new job. Often the better move is growing in the one you have.
A playground, not a ladder
Careers stopped being linear a while ago. Planning one as though it still is makes you feel behind.
Self-efficacy, not advice
I am not trying to make you need me. I am trying to make you better at this than I am.
Small and connected
Not large-scale and impersonal. You are a person to me, not a cohort number.
kind folks share kind things
“For anyone looking for a KICKASS speaker about leadership, design, and showing up as whole humans — please have Alison Gretz, ACC on your radar! She is bold, brilliant, and will absolutely wow your audience.”
Entrepreneur & Community Facilitator
“Alison is an outstanding coach. She provided valuable feedback and helped me see strategic angles I hadn’t considered. She is genuine and always offers encouragement. Having Alison in my corner to support me through challenging tasks was invaluable.”
Design leader
“I can say with complete confidence that the insights I have gained from this course transformed my approach to many different work situations.”
Creative Director
about design by design
Design by Design, LLC is the practice behind all of this — the contract, the invoice and the entity your procurement team will ask about. I am the person who does the work.
Whether you’re planning a team training, coaching-curious, or just want to talk about human-centered work.
also building
A few other things share my calendar. They have their own homes and their own teams; they are mentioned here so you know where I am, not to sell you anything.
Glimmer Network (opens in a new tab)
A soft place to land, and a safe place to explore — career and financial clarity for people navigating the AI-disrupted world of work.
Everdare Advisors (opens in a new tab)
Organisational design and management systems for modern work.
Quill & Thistle
A small maker business, and a much-needed break from thinking about work.