MICHA G.

Founder & CEO at GO BIG COACHING & COMMUNICATIONS, LLC

Professional Training and Coaching

Education: University of Munich - University of Munich
Seattle, WA, USA

Biography

I help women in tech, mobility and other male-dominated industries lead with confidence.
To do so, I guide my clients through unlearning what holds them back and gaining the confidence they currently lack in their professional environment. My focus is on confidence in leadership, self-advocacy and authentic visibility, with my signature Unlearn Series adding the how-to of going beyond impostor syndrome, negative self-talk, perfectionism, self-sabotage, and people-pleasing.

I am a public speaker, certified coach and published author as well as a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and the lead presentation coach on the speaker team of TEDxSeattle. Before training as a coach in 2012, I founded (and still own) a boutique agency that specializes in corporate communications services for the German luxury car industry, a field in which I have 20 years of experience as a communications expert, intercultural trainer and workshop host. I follow a German-style speaking and coaching approach: efficient, pragmatic, solution-driven, direct.

Recent client companies include Twitter, Amazon AWS, Qualtrics, Hubspot, Microsoft as well as various coding schools, Seattle University, Washington State government agencies, and various women's organizations in the US and Europe. Furthermore, I frequently work with three out of four German luxury carmakers and major automotive supplier companies.

I hold a master’s degree from the University of Munich, taught at several colleges in the USA and Germany, have published two novels (one with Goldmann RandomHouse) and multiple stories and essays, and trained with one of Germany’s leading executive coaches as well as Rich Litvin and others in the USA.

Passion

I am passionate about empowering women, especially in traditionally male-dominated industries like tech and mobility, because I strongly believe that to change our world and society for the better we need greater representation in leadership positions in corporate as well as government. There are plenty of women (and members of other underrepresented groups) who are more than qualified for amazing careers in these fields but are held back by a combination of systemic obstacles and mindset issues. I advocate for the former and help women work on the latter.

Another passion of mine is leading with confidence in highly innovation-driven environments, which pose challenges unknown in slower moving industries and require a very different approach to leadership – and to building confidence.

Featured Video

I am willing to travel

More than 100 miles

When it comes to payments

I generally get paid for speaking but make exceptions

Topics

coaching transformation womens leadership women in tech female leaders overcoming barriers to success overcoming selfdoubts perfectionism impostor syndrome imposter syndrome selftalk inner critic confidence build confidence visibility professional visibility visibility strategies automotive automotive industry mobility automotive mobility transportation career confidence speaking with confidence selfadvocacy allyship allyship and advocacy advocacy professional visibility innovation leadership workshops workshop facilitation workshop facilitator author emcee mc conference mc panel facilitator panel moderator

Best Story

I am very open in sharing my own struggles with the issues I regularly talk about and how I overcame them,
e.g. how to build confidence on failure:
My first-ever teaching experience can only be summarized as "the week from hell" (for both me and my students), but the way I dealt with it allowed me to build a successful and fun career as a university lecturer, workshop host and speaker.
Another example is my dropping out of my PhD program – courtesy of a truly toxic environment in which I did not feel seen at all combined with impostor syndrome.

Origin Story

I am myself a "non-technie in tech" – a communications specialist with 20 years of experience in the German luxury car industry. When I moved from Germany to Seattle, WA and started to make friends among the women in tech community, I was stunned (shocked, really) to hear them discuss the same issues women in more traditional male-dominated industries such as automotive, commercial real estate or finance have faced for such a long time. I had a hard time believing that the old boys' club seems to have simply been replaced by bro culture in many instances.

I have since learned the combination of decades in Germany working in automotive and another decade in Seattle surrounded and immersed in tech gives me a unique perspective that benefits people in both IT/tech and mobility.

Example talks

How to 10X your confidence at work

For female professionals and entrepreneurs, it can still be very challenging to be seen and heard, especially in a male-dominated sphere and exude an air of confidence at the same time. These days, visibility and confidence seem to be about as vital to taking your career or business to the next level as expertise and experience.

In this talk, confidence & leadership coach Micha Goebig will bust a few misconceptions about confidence and share her five-step framework to help you step up your authentic visibility and confidence presence.

TAKEAWAYS
* What real confidence is and isn’t
* Why confidence is a game-changer to tangible results (e.g. promotion/raise, etc.)
* How to leverage confidence for new challenges
* The five steps to follow to build greater confidence & visibility for the long term