Communication cOACH.
startup advisor. speaker.
Alex de Aranzeta, MA JD is a speaker, trainer, coach and advisor helping early and growth stage leaders and companies scale.
coaching
Scaling you, your team, and your company
Alex has worked with high-performing tech leaders and venture-backed founders from On Deck, Atlanta Tech Village, and more.
training
Delivering dynamic learning to build better together
Seeking a talk or training to inspire or value align your team? Augment communication performance? Build more intentionally with your customers?
advising
Unblocking early and growth stage startups
Alex believes advising is a partnership, where she can add value based on company stage and scope. She guides startups in areas such as optimizing culture and talent, leadership development, discovery strategies, AI products and launches, and go-to-market/ customer communication strategies.
consulting
Fractional leadership and strategic guidance
Having worked with and for startups, Alex can seamlessly embed within any stage team. Alex's investigative and legal background enables her to expertly get to the core of any problem and facilitate options for solutions.
meet alex de aranzeta
Communication coach, founder, and advisor
Alex de Aranzeta, MA, JD is a linguist and lawyer by education, and former Mediator and Investigator by profession. Before tech, she worked in Civil Rights enforcement and governance. She led 300+ Civil Rights investigations and mediations, trained 4000+ CEOs and professionals, drafted and advised 250+ policies and regulations, and built an award-winning Language Access Program (LAP) recognized by the NAACP. She's also built and led compliance programs in government, higher ed, and enterprise for workforces of 50 to 50,000.Now, Alex uses her expertise in policy, conflict res, and equity as a responsible tech advisor, speaker, and executive communication coach; she also hosts The Culture of Machines, a podcast about the intersections of responsible AI, and its impact and implications for society and culture.Alex has spoken on equity, culture, and communication at the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, UNESCO World Congress of Bioethics, San Francisco Tech Week, Women in Product Conference, and more, and has developed communication modalities and compliance frameworks that have been adopted by government agencies and medical schools.
CEO, CTO, CPO, CXO +
Individual Coaching
Whether you're the Co-founder, CEO, CTO, or VP of Product, all eyes are on you to be a strategic and influential force. I offer flexible, one-on-one personalized and integrated coaching whether you need to move fast and break things or steer the ship over a multi-year roadmap. Serving early stage, growth stage, enterprise, and rising leaders.
internal teams
Private Group Coaching
Learning together can be an equalizer, elevator, and a positive value creator for team culture. I've facilitated group learning for every type of functional role across various operations, communication, culture, and ethics domains. I can also help define what kind of coaching or subject matter can present the biggest ROI for your team.
curated group of peers
Mastermind Facilitation
It's important to be able to openly share and receive advice from a trusted circle of peers in your shoes. Having an experienced facilitator for these conversation helps it stay timely, on track, and ensure meaningful takeaways for everyone. This is a great option for leaders of the same leadership level within your company.
Let's connect
Reach out to learn more about how Alex can help you, your team, or your company.
Writing & communication resources
Read through free resources and get helpful frameworks for navigating key questions for founders, products, and teams.
© 2024 Accessity LLC. All rights reserved.
Speaking and workshops for high-performing teams
Alex is a dynamic speaker and trainer. She has over two decades of acting, teaching, training, language, and speaking experience in the US and abroad— skills she leverages each day to help founders, product leaders, and companies communicate their value and impact to customers and communities.
Elevate leadership and team development
with personalized learning and practice
leadership communication and development
Workshops for leaders include topics such as negotiation, conflict resolution, public speaking, ethical decision making, and leading problem-framing.
team communication and development
Workshops for team members and new managers include topics such as self-awareness and agency, feedback signaling and receiving, performance listening, public speaking, and iterative problem solving.
targeted team development
Change is hard. And change management is an art. In a startup, when individual teams like marketing or design experience communication roadblocks from growing pains or pivots, this can ripple through the product org. Alex offers personalized workshops for bridging communication cliffs and unlocking better ways of working.
cross-functional team development
Targeted team learning is suitable when it is beneficial for both team members and leaders to practice together. These workshops include topics such as: building responsible and trusted AI, understanding bias and AI, and use case ideation workshops.
meet alex
A lifetime of speaking, educating, and facilitating
Alex de Aranzeta, MA, JD has been working with stakeholders and speaking to professional audiences since she began writing speeches and speaking competitively at age 10, and on camera acting at age 11 for brands like Nickelodeon and American Express.As an educator and trainer, she taught her first (of eight) university courses at Boston College at age 21. Soon after, she integrated her expertise in administrative law, investigations, ethics, foreign language and curricula design to scale the corporate training program for one of the top Civil Rights enforcement agencies in the U.S., an EEOC and HUD partner.Over her career in government, higher ed, and tech, she's led 200+ trainings for 4000+ professionals comprising attorneys, judges, law enforcement, elected officials, people operations leaders, CEOs, VPs, realtors, administrators, investigators, designers, engineers, and other workers within nearly every industry, including government, real estate, healthcare, construction, higher ed, hospitality, tech and others.Now, Alex regularly speaks about equity, storytelling, and responsible tech to various professional audiences, including founders, investors, and business leaders.Since 2022, Alex has been on the annual faculty teaching culture strategy at Atlanta Tech Village Startup Summer School, and regularly hosts workshops for the Atlanta startup and women in tech communities on responsible AI, building performance-driven culture, and personal and product storytelling.
past speaker and trainer for 200+ companies and communities and counting:
Looking to take your team to the next level?
Upcoming talks and events
Sign up for upcoming talks, workshops, events, and more...
8/6/24 Startup Summer School
"Creating Your Culture"
© 2024 Accessity LLC
coaching adaptively
for scaling infinitely
Alex coaches high-performing founders and tech leaders across the globe with her unique coaching method blending facilitative coaching and tactical mentorship for 10x returns
Founders, CEO, CTO +
Individual Coaching
Whether you're the Co-founder, CMO, or VP of Product, all eyes are on you to be a strategic and influential force. I offer flexible, one-on-one personalized and integrated coaching whether you need to move fast and break things or steer the ship over a multi-year roadmap. Specializing in early stage and growth stage leaders. Also, serving enterprise and rising leaders.
Teams
Private Group Coaching
Learning together can be an equalizer, elevator, and a positive value creator for team culture. I've facilitated group learning for every type of functional role across various operations, communication, culture, and ethics domains. I can also help define what kind of coaching or subject matter can present the biggest ROI for your internal team.
curated peers
Mastermind Facilitation
It's important to be able to openly share and receive advice from a trusted circle of peers in your shoes. Having an experienced facilitator for these conversation helps it stay timely, on track, and ensure meaningful takeaways for everyone. This is a great option for leaders of the same leadership level within your company (aka C-suite, SVPs, or Directors)
meet alex de aranzeta
Communication coach, founder, and advisor
Alex de Aranzeta, MA, JD is a linguist and lawyer by education, and former Mediator and Investigator by profession. Before tech, she worked in Civil Rights enforcement and governance. She led 300+ Civil Rights investigations and mediations, trained 4000+ CEOs and professionals, drafted and advised 250+ policies and regulations, and built an award-winning Language Access Program (LAP) recognized by the NAACP. She's also built and led compliance programs in government, higher ed, and enterprise for workforces of 50 to 50,000.Now, Alex uses her expertise in policy, conflict res, and equity as a responsible tech advisor, speaker, and executive communication coach; she also hosts The Culture of Machines, a podcast about the intersections of responsible AI, and its impact and implications for society and culture.Alex has spoken on equity, culture, and communication at the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, UNESCO World Congress of Bioethics, San Francisco Tech Week, Women in Product Conference, and more, and has developed communication modalities and compliance frameworks that have been adopted by government agencies and medical schools.
/ integrated + personalized
Coaching Philosophy
Alex's integrated method of coaching blends mentorship, advisory, consulting, and facilitative (questions-led) coaching to unblock innovation loops, unlock potential, and restock your leadership toolkit with original, personalized frameworks and systems.
Communication is the
currency of leadership
Preparation makes progress
Preparation is essential for progress. You'd never show up to a negotiation without having done your homework on every stakeholder, defined the issues, reasoned every angle, anticipated every objection, and formulated multiple alternative paths to resolution and overcoming objections. So, why gamble on chance with your performance goals?Alex's clients have a 'ready-to-work' mindset. As an example, in one session, you might practice delivery of your upcoming keynote and tune it for prime time. In another session, you might plan an approach for fairly evaluating talent strategy, work through a people issue, build a Q&A bank for investor practice, or co-develop a framework for piloting a new ops workflow.
client led, coach facilitated
You remain the driver's seat of your coaching experience. As a coach, Alex is will partner and facilitate each step of that experience in order for you to hone your ability to unblock and unlock your own potential.
ethics-grounding for agility
Alex works quickly to establish a path for moving forward. Ethical decision-making models, problem-solving methodologies, and communication modalities ground her approach in sessions.Because of the structure and process these various approaches afford, each session automatically has a built-in foundation for framing and executing on goals, while still allowing the flexibility needed to facilitate solutions.
Transparency builds trust
Alex believes transparency is the path to trust, which is a cornerstone of her coaching practice. She doesn't conduct or close sessions with ambiguity and loose ends. You will discuss action steps together, and review for feasibility.And, you will have access to collaboration documents, notes, and resources from every session so you and Alex remain aligned.
FAQ
Do I need a coach?
If you’re seeking to develop yourself and perform at your highest level, you need an expert who is an ally with your goals and can help calibrate you. As you’re considering options, remember that an elite coach will be able to deliver value on three things:> Unlocking your potential (growth);
> Unblocking your ideas (breakthroughs); and
> Restocking your toolkit (frameworks and teachings)Too often Alex see emphasis on the first one or two, and not on co-creating systems you can reference and iterate on in the future.
Who does Alex coach?
Alex coaches high-performing tech founders and leaders at venture-backed early and growth stage companies. She also works with compliance and product leaders.Alex believes in curating a responsible tech ecosystem for the future, so if you are a junior or rising leader interested in working with her, please get in touch.
What do Alex coach?
Alex is an executive coach, but she's first and foremost a tactical communication coach. This includes helping define, build, operationalize, communicate, and monitor any workflow, process, system, communication, or strategy. As past examples, Alex has helped leaders prepare public speaking engagements, pitches to investors, board presentations, roadmap storytelling, management communications, conflict resolution and mediation strategy, go-to market operations, self-advocacy and self-awareness practice, negotiation training, and more.
What is unique about Alex's coaching method?
What makes her coaching unique is her blended approach of coaching, mentorship, and consulting.Together, Alex and you will actively and collaboratively create outcomes in session, such as defining hypotheses, outlines, plans, or strategies. This ensures full alignment, transparency, and real-time progress, eliminating the need to estimate coaching ROI qualitatively from intangible talk sessions over time.Every coaching session delivers 10x ROI with actionable frameworks, takeaways, and tactical plans, co-developed with and for you, so you can begin implementing and iterating right away to accelerate your journey and exceed your goals.
How do Alex's fees work?
Alex works on a three-month retainer, during which you will meet 3-4 times virtually per month. The reason for a three-month minimum is practicality and efficiency. Time flies, and a month progresses quickly. Also, having to refresh retainers monthly can add to administrative loads and create a mental break in momentum.Part of the value of coaching with Alex is that she offers unlimited flexibility for scheduling and rescheduling, which is critical for founders. You’ll also have access to Alex for questions or follow-up between sessions.Unlike many coaches who maintain a strict calendar and cancellation policy, she optimizes for results.Alex can accommodate global time zones and last minute scheduling needs that may arise. As an example, she's been available for coaching on-call to support clients before time-sensitive keynotes, or during internal dispute resolution with team members.
Integrative coaching for
every style of leader
what leaders say
"Alex brings a wealth of expertise from various fields, including law, negotiation, theatre, and product, which makes her an excellent communication coach. She also possesses a unique and deep understanding of audiences and the ability to break down their goals and motivations, enabling us to tailor messaging effectively. Alex's approach to coaching is rooted in mental models and frameworks that can be applied to diverse situations. Over the past year, I have frequently found myself drawing upon and reusing these frameworks that we've developed together. Alex's exceptional listening skills, coupled with her hands-on coaching style, make her an outstanding executor in her role as a coach. From brainstorming to producing the polished final product, Alex and I spend many hours workshopping and practicing speeches, down to the individual pauses. Her commitment and hands-on approach ensure that everything is carried out to perfection."
Sharon Z., CTO and Co-founder at Personal.ai"Alex has been incredibly helpful with my startups fundraising narrative. Her speaking and coaching skills are on another level. She helped me understand how to tell a compelling story and understand my investor audience. I can’t recommend her services enough."
Jake P., CEO and Co-founder at Dolo"I am so grateful for your advice, your wisdom, and your patience. My delivery and story started as a bunch of jumbled thoughts with many “ums” and, with your help, transformed into a strong [investor] pitch with a catchy hook. Your structure and framework made it so easy for me to input my most vital points, and I had a lot of fun working with you. I was able to show off my new skills during a pitch to [VC firm] this morning, and I think it went pretty well 🙂 I highly recommend Alex if you are looking for help in this arena."
Michael F., CEO and Co-founder at Maverick Community"You're a storytelling expert and I'm grateful to have gotten the chance to jam with you :)"
David K., CEO at Intros.ai"Alex, you're absolutely amazing! Your contribution moved my pitch to the next level... I've heard about different types of hooks a lot of times but only with you they've made sense. You've grasped my story so fast and told it in so many beautiful ways - that was tremendously helpful for me. I've always only got feedback about my pitch needing to be improved - but no clear guidance."
Nicole P., CEO and founder at Calibri.io"Working with Alex was a treat. I knew our marketplace message was complicated, with three primary target audiences. I also didn’t know how to change it beyond the familiar habits that I had developed over the years. She has her own methods for breaking down all existing understandings and data into individual chunks. The language bits she captures in our dialogue effectively takes on a deeper meaning when it is reframed with simplicity and clarity. Then you can see she is creating both a broad storyline and individual storylines…and all apply to our supply, demand, and investor audiences. The broad value is an ability to talk about the company in consistent terms that most anyone can understand, versus using industry lingo that gets lost when speaking about the opportunity. She makes you work before the sessions…and there is a lot of practicing after the storytelling theme[s] comes together. But slowly this becomes the new lexicon for everyone in the company to use in discussions. The framework and resulting messaging feel so much easier to deliver than what we had three months ago. We are now prepared for fundraising and intend to work with Alex again as the company evolves."
Kent D., CEO & Co-Founder at Zimmerfrei
Interested in coaching with Alex?
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BLOG | COMMUNICATION X LEADERSHIP
Getting Real About Trust: A Pocket Framework for building trust in products and teams
Getting Real About Trust:
A Pocket Framework for Building Trust In Products and Teams
By: Alex de Aranzeta
22 Jul 2024
Search “building trust” and you’ll see tons of articles vying to one-up the other on the same ideal — that trust is earned, grown, or given.But, to discuss trust in a meaningful way, we have to remove the gimmicky jargon and get real.Trust is not earned, grown, or given.Trust is confidence won
We have confidence in people [and companies] we believe understand more than we do, have better insight into the unknown, and when a problem arises, can problem-solve clearly and quickly and arrive at a sensible and fair decision.The most interesting thing about trust is that it relies heavily on the perception of an audience, which is controlled entirely by our rhetoric and behavior.Winning trust is a centuries-old practice
Cicero wrote about winning trust in his leadership self-help book, De Officiis, published in 44 BCE.¹ According to the famous Roman orator and Stoic scholar, trust can be won in two ways:1. Having a reputation of wisdom (foresight to discern what is suitable) combined with justice — with the latter being the more influential."Justice without wisdom can do many things, wisdom without justice will be powerless.”²
— Cicero, De Officiis, Book II, Paragraph 342. Being honest and dependable, such that people will want to entrust you [or your product] with their safety, money, or relationshipsThese words are as true as they were 2,000+ year ago. Being knowledgeable doesn’t make you trustworthy, just clever. It has little to do with being able to apply that knowledge, quickly or clearly problem-solve, possess honesty, or arrive at fair, workable, or safe solutions. Whereas, qualities like follow-through, thorough support and service, clear communication, accountability, problem-solving, and navigating emerging situations with safe decisions set you [or your products] up for trustworthiness.A foundation for winning trust
If you want to win trust, you need to work to develop and demonstrate the foundational qualities that enable you [or your product/ company] to be regarded as trustworthy. This isn’t overnight, but over time.Consider reframing Cicero’s core ideas as the basic foundations to winning trust — of your customers, communities, partners, team members, and other stakeholders:- Dependable — Accountable, thorough, and relied upon- Principled— Fair, ethical, and to do what is right- Reasonable — sound judgment, respected insights, appropriate decision-making in priority situationsFirst, commit to offering true value —
To win trust and be viewed as trustworthy, founders, teams, and companies should focus on offering true value to the people and groups wherein winning trust is paramount.Offering true value means participating in interest-based exchanges, without positioning for the purpose or expectation of personal gain. In the context of a product, this not only means ensuring it works (dependability), but can solve a real problem.Then, demonstrate commitment to what they value —
It’s not enough to be value-aligned. You have to demonstrate you authentically care about their interests, and in the case of customers, solving their problems.A primary way to show this kind of investment in others is by learning about stakeholder perspectives and their fundamental cares, concerns, and needs which may be grounded in unique experience, culture, or language traits. For customers, it’s not enough to learn about their problem, but also what drives them in pursuit of a solution to that problem.The reality is that trust doesn’t stop at understanding, developing principles, or making good decisions. It’s an ongoing effort to maintain confidence won.____1 “People’s trust can be won in two ways: first, if we possess the reputation of having acquired wisdom that is combined with justice. We trust those men who, we think, understand more than we and who, we believe, can foresee the future, who improvise an action and who can produce a plan quickly when an event is underway and has reached a crisis; for men think that such abilities are useful and genuine wisdom. Second, people put their trust in honest [and dependable] men, that is, in good men, for the reason that no one has the least reason to suspect them of deceit and wrong-doing.” Cicero De Officiis, Book II, P. 33–34, Translated by Harry G. Edinger. 19742 Id.
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