I’m Jennine Heller, founder of J Heller Coaching.

With a no-nonsense approach to coaching, I guide executives in tech to become the most effective and confident leaders they can be.

Through our work together, my clients have smashed through insecurities and blind spots that were holding them back and have gone on to secure high-level positions at their dream company, increase their influence and visibility, and confidently inhabit their senior role.

I have a degree in Computer Science from Brown University, and I earned a Professional Performance Coach (PPC) certification from Source Point Institute.

But my most important experience? I got that on the job.

For decades, I’ve been a part of the same fast-paced world of tech that my clients are now navigating. I started as a software engineer for companies like Hewlett-Packard, ran and sold my own startup, worked as an executive, and consulted for other startups.

I’m a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and my articles on leadership have been published on Forbes.com, FastCompany.com, Inc.com, and more.

But if you’re here… you probably want to know more than the line-items on my resume, right?

So, what’s my story?

For starters, my background isn’t traditional. Which is a good thing for my coaching clients.

Because it’s what allows me to meet every one of them where they are, without judgment. Without trying to make them fit into the traditional mold of what a leader “should” look like, do, or think.

It started with my very first job out of college.

While my peers were getting set up in their office cubicles, I chose adventure, accepting a position teaching computer science in Malawi, East Africa. For two years, I taught a classroom of over 200 students who were barely younger than I was. It was the best training I could have hoped for in how to lead with confidence even when I didn’t feel it.

Fast forward several years later and I was back in the US, running my own software startup, along with four partners. It was like riding a roller coaster with a blindfold on. Without any formal business training, we had to learn as we went—for an exciting seven years.

After successfully selling to a large consulting company, my partners and I went our separate ways and I became a consultant for startups and tech companies.

Eventually, my husband and I moved to Paris, France, where I worked as a consultant for tech companies in the States. It was then that my calling as a coach first found me.

As a consultant, I found that what my clients needed wasn’t just operational guidance, but the ability to grow as leaders. I wanted to support them the way I wish I had been supported running my own company. I wanted to help them in a more meaningful way — help them develop awareness and confidence, act deliberately, and bring forth the leader inside them. I soon discovered that this approach had a name: executive coaching.

After a period as the Senior VP of Operations for a tech company back in San Francisco, I made the leap to formally train as a coach and learn how to powerfully combine that with my years of business experience.

In 2012, I opened J Heller Coaching, focusing on the industry I know intimately.

With such a non-standard career path, not only has my journey been incredibly fun, but it also means I’ve experienced many different angles of the tech world.

Whether you’re running a startup without formal leadership training, trying to move into an executive position at your ideal company, or juggling all the different needs and personalities of your team in a large organization, I’ve been there. And I’ve coached dozens of other professionals in these areas, too.

Chances are, I understand you better than most coaches you’ll meet.

Outside of work…

  • I’m an artist and painter. I almost graduated with a double major in computer science and fine art because I had taken so many studio art classes!

  • I speak three languages: English, French, and Spanish (and the kids’ language Ubbi Dubbi…. lubook ubit ubup).

  • I’m half Puerto-Rican and half Jewish, so I grew up in a very mixed cultural household. Oy vey, do I like salsa dancing!

  • I moved every 2 to 3 years as a kid and attended 5 schools between kindergarten and senior year. I loved it.

  • My husband and I met on an ultimate frisbee team.

  • Water is my happy place. If it involves swimming, snorkeling, or boogie boarding, I'm jumping in.

J Heller Coaching is based in San Francisco

You might have seen me around the Bay Area hiking Mt. Tamalpais, serving as board president for the Joe Goode Performance Group, or volunteering with TechWomen and Girls, Inc.

I’ve called the East Coast, Malawi, Rotterdam, Paris, and Aix-en-Provence home… but I keep coming back to San Francisco.