A partner for you and your business.
Organizational effectiveness consulting and coaching, form-fitted to this pivotal moment in your journey.
Transition design, creating systems and structures, refining leadership and culture, setting goals and measurement systems, brave decision-making, role clarity, and whatever is needed to level-up.
In Work
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Designed and delivered a three-day conference for 2,500 global leaders.
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Shut down Starbucks stores to retrain 100,000 baristas at the exact same time resulting in unprecedented company media coverage.
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Introduced Lean principles to over 20,000 locations resulting in a productivity improvement of 6%.
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Led a global customer contact center strategy with 1,000 agents, reducing cost per contact by 10%.
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Directed store training for Starbucks U.S. operations, improving time to proficiency while reducing cost.
In Life
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Published a book about my career and life journey titled “From Barista to Boardroom”.
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Moved to Mexico for a month to study Spanish.
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Completed an eight-day trek in Nepal.
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Traveled around the world for a year with a backpack.
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Active endurance sport enthusiast, especially running and cycling.
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Currently serve on the advisory board for a tech enabled wellness concept and a behavioral health nonprofit.
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Been a guest on over a dozen podcasts.
About Christine
An executive ready to help.
I partner with clients and companies at a pivotal moment—when they’re ready for perspective from a seasoned executive and see our partnership as an opportunity to grow.
I am a Seattle-based, former Fortune 200 executive with a proven track record for achieving results in a wide range of organizations, including 27 years at Starbucks corporate.
My specialty is creating effective organizations by focusing on the structures, systems, leadership and culture so they can rise.
I'd love to connect with you to learn about
your challenges and goals.
My Services
I love working with leaders and organizations journeying through change—moving from confusion to clarity.
Together we grow your organizational capabilities and strengthen your ways of working.
Project-based Consulting
Taking a systems-thinking approach to tackling the biggest problems facing your business—a project within the range of design, development and implementation.
Coaching
Two types of coaching is available to clients:
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Leadership coaching to support your intentionality and approach, including timely ideas in the context of scaling your organization.
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Values based career coaching helps you identify what's best for you at the present and future junctures of your career pathway.
Hybrid Role
Seamlessly toggling between project-based consulting and leadership coaching, based on client agenda and need. Coaching helps you accelerate change in your organization or in your career.
Executive on Retainer
Partnering as needed to collaborate and ideate on your most important people and priorities. Count me as a guide on the side, for wider needs of strategy, structure and culture. I'm just a phone call away with access to a network of additional partners and resources.
"Business outcomes are not templated. It's a process of discovery as we work together. Unearthing problems and solution-finding. Strategic analysis, and creatively determining the best way forward."
Success Stories
Leveling-Up
A woman owned small business needed some external expertise to help take her and her business to the next level. A plan that strengthened her self-leadership and her approach with her team and external stakeholders resulted in several successes including but not limited to: creation of the company’s mission and values, becoming certified as a woman owned business, establishing new productive external partnerships and refining her employee value proposition.
Systems to Double the Workforce
With a critical leadership transition in the rear-view mirror, the client knew that rapid growth and organizational change were up ahead. The initial top priority was putting in structures and systems around internal communications, organization level metrics and a framework for strategic planning that would enable scaling for growth. These foundational areas provided stabilization and a place from which to grow as they nearly doubled their workforce over the subsequent twelve months.
Working Differently
A culture shift was imminent in this client’s organization. With a new charter that stipulated broader stakeholder engagement in solution design, team members were being asked to work differently. Working with senior leaders to further define what success looked like in the future state, I designed and facilitated a retreat centered on the evolved focus and included an organizational implementation and sustainment plan to ensure that the work continued and had longevity long after the engagement.
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For the Nightstand
From Barista to Boardroom—part autobiography and part business memoir with CMC Publishing.
Available at booksellers now.
What Clients are Saying
"I've learned the hard way to never ask just anyone for business advice. Trust me; I have tried everything.... Working with Christine has been the best decision I've made for myself and my business. ...Christine met every expectation and more. After each session she follows up with an overview of our conversation and outlines what your next steps are. She also sends links to resources that were discussed in your meeting. ...I plan on working with Christine McHugh again, and again, and again. If you're stuck in your career or need a kick in the pants to get your business to the next level, I'd highly recommend hiring Christine. She is a gem of a person and a wicked talented one as well."
Owner, Martini Metal Craft
"Christine has been an invaluable partner to Seattle Parks and Recreation, in the Facilities Division and in the Planning and Design Division, to facilitate strategic thinking around annual workplans and to inspire staff to best serve the public. Christine digs deep and guides her clients to analyze business processes to attain desired outcomes; to develop and apply the appropriate performance metrics; and to insure that we collect valid data and produce appropriate analytics to make more informed decisions along the way. First and foremost, Christine understands that a vision enables a commitment and she gets the commitment to dial in change!"
Director of Planning and Development, Seattle Parks and Recreation
“Our company was at a point where we knew we had potential (and wanted) to grow and make more impact, but at the time we just had ideas and aspirations. Christine brought complete clarity on where could go, what we needed to do to get there, and, most importantly, who we needed to be to do get it done. Her impact leveled up our entire company, person by person.”
Executive, Healthcare Company
"Her style is authentic and approachable, but also clear, and when needed, firm.
Christine has a proven track record of setting clear vision and delivering results.”
Global Head of Brand Experience Delivery, Qualtrics
Working Together
A holistic approach to strategy, structure and culture so leaders and organizations can level-up their impact.
Clients that work with me can expect these things:
Speed
Thoughtful analysis without paralysis. Just enough, nothing more.
Breadth
Solutions considered through a wide lens: business, customer & employee.
Collaboration
Leveraging your strengths while we partner on new ideas.
Objectivity
Fresh thinking intended to stimulate change and challenge biases.
Capacity-building
Helping the team and leaders grow is inherent in the process.
Flexibility
There are always options and a recognition that sometimes things change mid-stream.
Sustainability
You can carry our work forward with documented plans, tools and resources.