About
Hi, I'm Kali.
I help managers put AI to work in their real workflows without burning out their teams, and I build calm, intentional AI for coaches and practitioners. I'm based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
An unusual path, on purpose.
I started as a licensed massage therapist. That work taught me that people carry their jobs in their bodies, and it sent me to Columbia University's Teachers College for an M.Ed. and M.A. in Counseling Psychology. The next two decades were about helping people work better: career coaching at Lee Hecht Harrison, executive recruiting at ZweigWhite (54 senior hires in 16 months), career counseling at UC Berkeley Haas, and Headspace, where as a leader in the coaching function I scaled the coaching practice from 12 to more than 200 coaches (17x growth).
Every one of those jobs was about the same thing: what it takes for a person to do good work without being used up by it. The Earthy Executive is where that question finally got its own name.
What runs through everything
Three words I build with.
Renewal
The destination. Nothing I make is worth making unless it leaves people with more energy than it found them with. Nature does not grind. It cycles.
Embodiment
The mechanism. Real change moves through the body, not just the mind. Labs and sessions are built to be felt, not just understood.
Mud
The honest posture of not having arrived yet. I build in public and I'll show you the parts that don't work yet. The polish comes later, if it comes at all.
The book and the stage
Renewable You
My book, Renewable You (Red Aussie Press, 2026), is the method behind all of this: five REAL pillars, Reclaim, Ease, Attune, Lead, Reframe, for people and organizations that want to work in a way they can sustain. I speak and run workshops on the same ideas for teams, events, and conferences.
Also
I advise health tech and AI product teams on behavioral design.
Credentials
- M.Ed. and M.A. in Counseling Psychology, Columbia University, Teachers College
- Board certified coach, NBC-HWC and BCC
- Climatebase Fellow
- Bilingual, English and Spanish. Lived in Costa Rica, Panama, and Germany.
Off the clock
Four kids, one husband, and Kofi the dog. I play USTA tennis and I sing in the car, loudly. I'm at my best after a walk in the woods, which is also where most of my writing starts.
Notes from the trail
Occasional letters on renewal, leadership, and calm AI. No schedule, no spam.
kali@theearthyexecutive.comLinkedIn