Jen Pestikas knows first-hand what it is like to start from the bottom and work her way to the top in her career. Jen started as a bank teller in the financial services industry and over the last 20 years, she moved up the ladder to be the Senior Vice President of Business Development for a Chicago land banking institution. Jen understands what soft and hard skills are needed to make significant leaps in your career, including mindset work, asking for what you want, interviewing skills, negotiation skills, presentation skills and more.

Jen is now leveraging her experience to help her clients better understand where their strengths lie, what they want to do, what may be holding them back and helping them remove these barriers so they can take bolder action in their careers and lives. Jen specializes in the following areas:

Mindset: Jen believes that the foundation for brave action is what you think about yourself, your capabilities and possibilities. Our limitations are often self-imposed and start within our own minds. Jen believes that a healthy mindset is one of the keys to lasting and positive change. (Perfectionism, limiting beliefs, Imposter Syndrome, self-talk)

Career Satisfaction/Advancement: Taking stock of current career satisfaction, personal career vision, planning, mentoring, advancement strategies

Career Transition: Interviewing, negotiation, resume writing, use of LinkedIn for networking, presentation skills, job and culture fit, knowing when it’s time to off-ramp (lateral or downward moves vs. upward moves)

Personal Leadership: Asking for support, time/energy balance, setting work/personal boundaries
Stress and Burnout: Stress management, signs of burnout, surviving burnout when you’re in it, safeguarding your time and energy to avoid burnout repeats

Jen Pestikas has a B.A. in French and Spanish from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. She also is a Certified Professional Coach and an Energy Leadership Index (ELI) Master Practitioner from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC). In addition to coaching, Jen runs a podcast called Brave Women at Work that can be found on Apple, Stitcher and Spotify. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, two daughters, and a cute little Shichon dog who is spoiled rotten.

Helping women take braver action and achieve their career and leadership goals lights me up!