Professional career coaches delivering strategic solutions for our clients
Tested results from seasoned professionals
Close Cohen Career Consulting
Our executive coaches have acted on many varied and complex projects, both in the US and around the world.
From negotiations and influencing to promotions and gaining complex stakeholder alignment, clients look to us for our top-tier expertise in assisting in building, iterating and executing on significant career strategy projects.
Laura Close
CEO & Founder,
Entrepreneur Coach
Brett Coakley
Principal Executive Coach
Nancy Poznoff
Executive Coach
Alisa Cohen
Principal Executive Coach
Daria Lojko
Executive Coach
Alisa Cohen
Principal Executive Coach
Alisa Cohen brings a depth of Fortune 500 global leadership experience to her clients and knows what it takes to succeed in matrixed, global organizations. She has directed global teams and led large-scale brand development projects for Amazon, Starbucks, PepsiCo, Microsoft, and more.
Alisa’s firsthand experience navigating corporate and tech worlds helps her implement strategies for advancement with Close Cohen clients. Over 80% of her clients seeking new roles secured their next position within one year.
Since leaving corporate leadership and taking on the role of Principal Executive Coach at Close Cohen, Alisa has been interviewed by ABC7, Business Insider, Yahoo! Money, US News, The Muse, and KING5 on tips, strategies and trends related to the employment landscape, senior-level career strategy, executive promotions, and job searches.
Clients who work with Alisa comment on her business acumen as well as compassionate leadership style. She attributes this to 20+ years of leading global teams where she had the opportunity to hire, coach, and promote great talent to their next level of achievement. As one of her coaching clients described, “Alisa is a fantastic leadership coach. She helped me gain clarity around the steps I needed to take to move my career forward…after working with her I received 2 promotions in less than 6 months.”
Alisa is gifted at seeing the exact ways to strengthen her clients’ external or internal candidacy for advancement, and above all—is a trusted partner
Daria Lojko
Executive Coach
Daria Lojko is an HR leader with 15+ years of experience in identifying, hiring, and developing top talent within matrixed, corporate environments. She’s known for guiding clients in finding the intersection between their talents, goals, and the needs of organizations.
As an HR director at Expedia, Daria partners with senior leaders to drive people strategies, organization effectiveness, and talent management. Previously, she rose through the leadership ranks at Boeing, where she collaborated with senior executives and managed HR teams to develop leaders across multiple technical and business disciplines. Her focus included employee development, talent acquisition, global workforce planning, and leadership performance. Daria launched her high-impact career with Accenture, specializing in Talent & Organizational Performance, where she helped leaders drive large-scale change and people plans for Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft and Freeport-McMoRan.
Daria holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and applies her real-world corporate experience as an Executive Coach with Close Cohen. She describes her approach:
“The world of work is complex, and having a partner who understands it from within can give you the necessary edge and confidence. That’s where I come in. Whether it’s crafting a standout resume, navigating the early stages of leadership, or strategizing your legacy as a senior leader, you don’t have to go it alone. My approach is based on practical knowledge and developing leadership through strengths. Let’s discuss what drives you and chart a path that suits you best.”
Brett Coakley
Principal Executive Coach
Brett Coakley has scaled some of the world’s most recognized brands, driving transformation across technology, MedTech, and consumer industries. At Google ($2T+), Lenovo ($12B+), and Blue Apron ($2B IPO), Brett led high-impact teams that accelerated growth, sharpened strategy, and navigated industry-defining change.
With nearly 20 years of leadership across hardware, software, R&D, and MedTech, Brett has delivered results from startup to Fortune 500.
Brett has overseen product launches that generated hundreds of millions in revenue, guided operational transformations that unlocked market share, and partnered with executives to position companies for IPO, acquisition, and global expansion.
As a strategist and mentor, Brett is known for his ability to spot the blind spots that stall growth and turn them into breakthrough opportunities. Clients describe him as “the clarity and confidence behind a successful career transition,” a trusted guide whose structured approach produces measurable outcomes.
Today, as an Executive MBA candidate at UNC Kenan-Flagler, Brett brings his track record of scaling billion-dollar businesses into his work as an executive coach.
Brett helps senior leaders and rising executives align strategy with execution, accelerate career growth, and lead with the same rigor that defines market-leading companies.
Nancy Poznoff
Executive Coach
Nancy Poznoff has scaled brands that dominate global categories. As VP at Starbucks ($85B+), Zillow ($16B+), and T-Mobile ($185B+), she built and led high-performing teams that drove market expansion, IPO and M&A readiness, and brand dominance in industries undergoing massive disruption.
Her career spans retail, SaaS, real estate, marketplaces, and consumer products, giving her a uniquely broad lens on what drives both growth and resilience.
Nancy has launched new product lines at scale, built marketing engines that powered billion dollar valuations, and guided leadership teams through reinvention and transformation.
As co-founder & CEO of a marketing and communications firm, Nancy advised founders and CMOs navigating growth from startup to Fortune 500.
Along the way, she became a trusted voice for executives aligning brand strategy, team performance, and financial outcomes.
Known for her warmth, clarity, and results, Nancy now brings that same rigor and entrepreneurial savvy to executive coaching.
Whether she’s helping a high-potential leader step into their next role or guiding a first-time executive through transformation, Nancy translates decades of boardroom-level impact into actionable leadership growth.
Best Seattle Career Coach
2022
Best Seattle Career Coach
2023
Best Seattle Career Coach
2024
Best Seattle Career Coach
2025
Laura Close
CEO & Founder Close Cohen, Entrepreneur Coach
Laura Close is the CEO of Close Cohen, a global career coaching practice she founded in 2013. She is also the Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Included, the first AI-native software for people analytics.
Laura’s career spans decades of coaching, from winning political candidates to successful senior executives –and she’s brought that pitch mastery to the startup world. Her strategic storytelling and business development acumen helped drive Included’s pre-seed and seed funding rounds, win the SXSW Innovation Award before a panel of eight judges, and take top honors at Established’s Startup of the Year competition. She also led the company through four global rounds to reach the final four at SHRM’s Better Workplaces Challenge.
A frequent speaker and thought leader, Laura has been featured by Marketplace and The Wall Street Journal on the legal and workplace implications of recent Supreme Court decisions. She was flown to AWS re:Invent to speak on the role of GenAI in advancing workplace accessibility. As the host of HR Tech, What’s Working?, her LinkedIn Live podcast has featured executives from Google, Microsoft, and other global innovators.
Laura began her career in campaign strategy and public policy, leading state-level victories that changed laws and improved thousands of lives. She has since applied that same multi stakeholder policy and messaging discipline to empower corporate executives, building Close Cohen into a trusted career accelerator for high potential employees, Directors, VPs and even C-suite leaders at Amazon, Apple, Cisco, and more. Close Cohen clients benefit from a tightly designed playbook that accounts for projects where a winning career strategy is akin to a successful political campaign: intentional, multi-threaded, data-informed, and highly persuasive.
A serial entrepreneur with deep experience in leadership, messaging, and scale, Laura offers infrequent advisory sessions to founders at the following stages: ideation, launch, and growth through high-stakes revenue challenges.
Close Cohen has a dedicated practice of award winning coaches highly vetted and trained in securing your strategic victory - no matter the project.
Testimonials
Nancy brings empathy, energy, and fun, and she makes it easy to have conversations I hadn’t had or even thought about before.
Through thoughtful conversation and coaching, listening, and just the right amount of challenge, Nancy guided me through a period of change. I gained clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of direction.
If you're an executive or professional navigating transition, questioning your next step, or wanting to lead with more authenticity, I can’t recommend Nancy highly enough.
The coaching was practical and focused on real leadership challenges I was facing. Alisa helped me think through situations in ways I hadn't considered before, and it definitely improved both my presentation skills and how I work with my teams. Worth considering for anyone looking to level up their leadership and executive skills.
I also really appreciated the time spent on digging into what I wanted and needed from the new role both professionally and personally. I also valued Brett’s recommendations on how to work on further development in areas I identified as opportunities.
Overall a great experience and highly recommended!
Her guidance was transformative. We overhauled my resume, revamped my LinkedIn profile, refined my portfolio, and prepared strategically for interviews. Yet, beyond these tangible changes, Alisa provided a steady stream of encouragement, focusing on my strengths and reigniting my self-belief.
The results were almost immediate. My applications began getting more attention, and I found myself going through multiple interview loops for executive-level positions. After 5.5 months of hard work and dedication, I received two incredible offers on the same day. Alisa then helped me carefully evaluate the options and provided invaluable advice on negotiations, ultimately helping me secure a role that will allow me to leave behind a toxic environment.
Alisa’s work may feel magical, but the results are real—and so worth the effort. She makes you dig deep, and she empowers you to find the answers within yourself, all while building you up every step of the way.
I often refer to Alisa as my career therapist. Her warmth, empathy, and practical approach to career growth not only rebuilt my confidence but truly changed my life.
Alisa Cohen gave me practical, results-oriented advice right from the start of our sessions. This advice has materialized as increased views of my LinkedIn profile, a suite of new tools to aid in my career progression, and strategies to help me network, apply, and negotiate through every phase of the process.
I have gained genuine confidence from defining and owning the value proposition I offer to an organization. If you are looking to enhance your own career progression, I assure you that for me the results speak for themselves.
Thank you Close Cohen Career Consulting!
Fast forward to 2022, and I started working with Alisa for interview coaching. I seriously couldn’t have gotten my new role without her. Her coaching and feedback was crucial to my lengthy interview process, and I owe her for helping me land my dream job.
Laura and Alisa are incredible and I’m so grateful to have them as lifelong allies.
I plan to stay in contact and hope to utilize their services throughout my career.
Not sure what you need?
That’s okay, our executive coaches are here to help you get to clarity. Book a 20-min zoom call with us.
Close Cohen Career Consulting is an online coaching firm – we support clients around the globe. While we were founded in the Pacific Northwest, we work with clients across the Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond metro area, we also support clients nationally and internationally.
Our clients come to us from Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Austin, Dallas/Fort-Worth, Paris, San Francisco Bay area, D.C., New York, and many other cities.