“Working with Mary is like talking to a lifelong friend you just met. Her easy style makes the conversation just flow and before long you are having a deep, insightful conversation about career goals you didn’t realize you had. Her inquisitive nature lets her easily ask probing questions about past and current roles that serve as guideposts for contemplation about future opportunities. In the end, you just want Mary to be your friend, mentor, and career counselor because everyone needs her kind of magic in their life.”

“I have had the privilege of working with Mary over the past 4 years as a performance coach. Mary has helped me to identify and achieve far-reaching professional goals while balancing parenting a young child and cultivating nourishing personal time. Mary’s coaching approach combines psychology, change, and leadership theory, as well as adult learning, with the practical know-how of a seasoned manager, and through this unique technique, she has enabled me to navigate both management consulting and academia, as a doctoral student. Mary has taught me how to successfully manage conflict constructively and to set realistic boundaries based on environmental and stakeholder needs, as well as my own needs (professional and personal) to execute with precision and strength. Mary’s committed, kind, no-nonsense style has been nothing short of excellent over the years that I have worked with her. I highly recommend Mary as a performance coach.”

“Mary has served as my coach at one of the most challenging times in my life. As such, she has not only encouraged me but also championed me. She’s seen in me what I cannot always see possible. She’s helped me find clarity where I once found a nebulous cloud. I recommend Mary as your coach without reservation.”

“Mary’s presence and coaching combine the elements of powerful, practical strategies with unfailing positive energy and REAL caring that transfers itself across to you at all times. When you start learning Mary’s strategies to solving problems and achieving goals, you honestly understand HOW to get to where you want to be in your business. She is non-judgmental, yet at the same time extremely motivating and focused on making lasting changes. It’s the first time I have ever been coached by someone who combines the academic mastery of the topic that she has, with the practical strategies that anyone can use to put their dreams on the map!”

“I’ve invested many years attending conferences, reading books, and conversing with motivational speakers across the country. I’ve applied their techniques and experienced minimal results. After engaging with Mary, my perspective has been adjusted and I have experienced positive change. Mary is a committed coach with an uncanny motivation for helping people transform their lives and experience results. Her fresh approach helps people experience a healthy balance of personal and professional success.”

“Mary Barnes is exceptional as a professional coach. She pushes you to be your best and think strategically on your professional goals. I have already recommended her to several of my colleagues. My participation in the Evolve Women in Business Bali Retreat was key to moving forward in my next professional goals.”

“Mary is a phenomenal leader, coach and mentor. She takes time to listen to your concerns, while helping you to learn and progress as a leader. I worked for Mary as part of a one year full-time Executive Acquisition Leadership (EALP) at GSA. Quite frankly, that was the best leadership training I’ve ever had hands down. Mary’s guidance and insights have been instrumental in changing the way that I think, do business, and relate to others. If you want to affect transformational change(s) in your organization, Mary is the right person for the job and I highly recommend her!”

“Mary was a terrific colleague. She had the ability to listen deeply and think both creatively and practically. Mary lives a full life; she brings much more to the table than just work and education. She has traveled the world, and interacted with people and challenges many of us have never had the chance to encounter. Mary is top rate on many scales!”

“Mary sits at the intersection of strategy, change management and impact. I worked directly with Mary for more than five years as I watched her grow and mature organizational workforces. She has a devout following, passion for all things workforce transformation, and an eye for making lasting/impactful improvements to organizations. She is not afraid to tackle even the biggest of challenges, and doesn’t shy away from fighting the good fight.”

“People have talked about goal alignment forever. But you communicate it so clearly and make it so simple. It’s really exciting. We’ve done these exercises all before but with you it was so quick and effortless. Sometimes the regions feel very separated from Central Office. This alignment work is really important, especially in the field offices.”

“Before you came, we hardly ever used the Conference rooms; we just didn’t collaborate that much. Now we have a hard time finding a free one because we’re always in there collaborating. We’re also following through on defining roles, which has helped build stronger teams. We’ve had other outside contractors who do this for a living come in and do this. They didn’t get to the heart of the matter like you did. We didn’t see as much of a change after they left like we did after you left. I’m really looking forward to having you come back next year to help us keep getting better.”

“Mary was knowledgeable about so many different aspects of running a business and always brought in other resources when she herself did not have all of the answers.”