Member since September 2024
Former corporate leader turned well-being innovator, Liz Coffey is challenging how women approach self-care. After experiencing burnout herself, she founded On Leave Experiences with a radical premise: Meaningful self-care isn’t about spa days. It’s about reconnecting with who we are beyond our roles. Featured in the Sunday print edition of the Chicago Tribune in just her first year in business, Liz combines 15+ years of leadership in corporate communications with training as a coach to pioneer fresh approaches to women’s well-being. She's a powerful speaker with a strong stage presence, given her master's degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University and her experience as the communications lead for corporate CEOs and c-suite leaders.
I’m passionate about transforming how ambitious women approach self-care. While everyone’s pushing meditation apps and spa days, I know firsthand that passive self-care doesn’t fix what’s happening in your head when you’re managing a team of 20 and checking emails at 30,000 feet. I help women see that they’re more than their professional titles, their caregiving roles, or their endless to-do lists. My mission is to show them how adding strategic experiences to their lives, even when they feel overwhelmed, actually creates more space than it takes.
I was sitting alone at a French restaurant bar in Birmingham, Alabama -- hardcover book in front of me, glass of wine in hand. The woman next to me asked what I was reading. It turned out to be her first time dining alone after separating from her husband. As this complete stranger shared her story with me, I watched her transform. She was nervous at first, but by the end of our conversation, she was glowing with the discovery of her own courage.
That conversation changed everything for me. Here was a woman stepping into discomfort, trying something new and finding herself in the process. It wasn’t about escaping her life. It was about showing up differently within it. On my flight home the next day, I realized: This is what women need. Not another spa day or retreat promising escape, but permission to rediscover themselves actively, purposefully, one moment at a time.
On Thanksgiving 2020, while most of America was carving turkeys, I was sitting in my Chicago condo eating chicken tikka masala and complaining to my husband about work. Again. Without the usual family clamor, I heard myself clearly for the first time in years - and I didn’t like what I heard. Despite a successful corporate career, awards, and managing large teams, I’d lost myself in the process. That moment led me to invest in coaching, scoring a shocking single digit in self-compassion. Through my own journey of rediscovery, I realized what women needed wasn’t another spa retreat - it was permission to rediscover themselves actively and purposefully. On Leave Experiences was born from this realization, helping women transform through intentionally curated experiences that make them feel alive again.
Traditional self-care advice isn’t working for ambitious women. We’re told to take bubble baths and do yoga, but we end up checking emails from the tub and planning meetings during savasana. As someone who scored in the single digits on a self-compassion assessment while climbing the corporate ladder, I know firsthand that passive self-care isn’t the answer.
In this compelling keynote, I challenge everything your audience thinks they know about self-care. Through my journey from corporate executive to self-care innovator, I reveal why adding strategic experiences to our lives, even when we feel overwhelmed, actually creates more space than it takes.
Your audience will discover:
-- Why traditional self-care fails high-achieving women
-- How to identify the hidden roles they play (from Office Glue to Director of Family Joy)
-- A revolutionary approach to self-care that works with ambitious lives
-- Practical strategies for creating space without sacrificing success
Perfect for corporate audiences, women’s leadership events and professional conferences where attendees are ready to move beyond basic self-care advice to true transformation.
I was sitting alone at a French restaurant bar in Birmingham, Alabama -- hardcover book in front of me, glass of wine in hand. The woman next to me asked what I was reading. It turned out to be her first time dining alone after separating from her husband. As this complete stranger shared her story with me, I watched her transform. She was nervous at first, but by the end of our conversation, she was glowing with the discovery of her own courage.
That conversation changed everything for me. Here was a woman stepping into discomfort, trying something new and finding herself in the process. It wasn’t about escaping her life. It was about showing up differently within it. On my flight home the next day, I realized: This is what women need. Not another spa day or retreat promising escape, but permission to rediscover themselves actively, purposefully, one moment at a time.
On Thanksgiving 2020, while most of America was carving turkeys, I was sitting in my Chicago condo eating chicken tikka masala and complaining to my husband about work. Again. Without the usual family clamor, I heard myself clearly for the first time in years - and I didn’t like what I heard. Despite a successful corporate career, awards, and managing large teams, I’d lost myself in the process. That moment led me to invest in coaching, scoring a shocking single digit in self-compassion. Through my own journey of rediscovery, I realized what women needed wasn’t another spa retreat - it was permission to rediscover themselves actively and purposefully. On Leave Experiences was born from this realization, helping women transform through intentionally curated experiences that make them feel alive again.
Traditional self-care advice isn’t working for ambitious women. We’re told to take bubble baths and do yoga, but we end up checking emails from the tub and planning meetings during savasana. As someone who scored in the single digits on a self-compassion assessment while climbing the corporate ladder, I know firsthand that passive self-care isn’t the answer.
In this compelling keynote, I challenge everything your audience thinks they know about self-care. Through my journey from corporate executive to self-care innovator, I reveal why adding strategic experiences to our lives, even when we feel overwhelmed, actually creates more space than it takes.
Your audience will discover:
-- Why traditional self-care fails high-achieving women
-- How to identify the hidden roles they play (from Office Glue to Director of Family Joy)
-- A revolutionary approach to self-care that works with ambitious lives
-- Practical strategies for creating space without sacrificing success
Perfect for corporate audiences, women’s leadership events and professional conferences where attendees are ready to move beyond basic self-care advice to true transformation.