Michelle Florendo
Executive Coach · Decision Engineer · Speaker + Facilitator
Me: Hi, I’m Michelle…
Decision engineer
and executive coach
for high-achieving leaders.
Everyone else: What does that mean?
I teach people how to make decisions with less stress and more clarity, and I help leaders level up in their leadership.
Wait, what did you just say? Executive coach and… what’s a decision engineer?
You know how engineers solve problems, in a structured way, using concepts from their field? For example, chemical engineers solve problems using principles from chemistry, software engineers create solutions using the principles of computer science, right?
Well, I do that for decision making. Decision engineer.
Okay, you’ve got me intrigued. I have to know: Is this something you made up?
I’m creative, but no, I didn’t make it up. I studied decision engineering. At Stanford.
I didn’t even know that was a thing.
It went like this: I earned an engineering degree from Stanford, from the department of Management Science and Engineering, which was a merger of the Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, and Engineering Economic Systems departments. The specialized track of study I chose was Finance and Decision Engineering.
While many of my classmates went on to become investment bankers, I followed the decision-making path and built a career coaching high-achieving professionals and executives with analytical minds like my own.
And that brings us here, today.
↑ That’s a standard cocktail party conversation for me.
For the more official bio, read on ↓
Michelle Florendo is a decision engineer and executive coach for high-achieving, Type-A professionals with analytical minds and an appreciation for structure and process.
Using a blend of decision engineering, design thinking, and lean startup principles to help her clients map their path forward, she works with leaders who are ready to play bigger, but are often stressed out, unsure of how to move forward, and kept up at night by their anxieties.
As a problem solver, Michelle helps leaders solve concrete challenges they’re facing, partnering with them to build the skills and implement the step-changes that will positively impact their current problems and future opportunities.
Michelle earned a BS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Over the years, she’s led workshops both domestically and internationally, demonstrating how to use the principles of decision engineering to tackle complex decisions with less stress and more clarity for hundreds of driven professionals.
Michelle is regularly invited to lead workshops at various conferences.
She served on the inaugural coaching team for Seth Godin's altMBA, was a founding member of the Forbes Coaches Council, was a Senior Coach for Management Leadership for Tomorrow, coached for Startup Parent, and is a faculty coach for Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute and New Ventures West.
She was brought in to revamp the decision-making curriculum for Stanford’s Designing Your Life course, teaches a decision-making course for Stanford Continuing Studies, and hosts the podcast, Ask A Decision Engineer.
Michelle has 2,000+ hours of coaching experience spanning more than a decade, working with leaders at companies including, but not limited to, Amazon, Google, Meta, Salesforce, and Microsoft, as well as C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies.
She holds a certification from Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute, a Professional Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation, and an Integral Coaching certification from New Ventures West. Her Decision Toolkit for Coaches and Counselors course is certified for ICF continuing education credits.
When she’s not helping individuals and executives stress less about decisions and become the visionary leaders they’re meant to be, you can find her reading with her kids, designing and sewing their next set of costumes, and choreographing family dance parties.
Michelle is based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, but her work knows no limits.
Good news: Decision making is a process… one you can own.
Start with the Decision Inventory Worksheet: a simple yet in-depth tool you can use to unburden your mind + clarify your next steps.
Download yours now, and get a free, mini-masterclass in decision making: