For 25 years, I watched decision-making determine the outcome.
I'm Caterina Betancourt. I started my career as a teacher, but don't remember many lesson plans. What stayed with me was watching what happened when someone felt seen, believed in, and challenged to see they were capable of more.
Over the next 25 years, I saw that same dynamic play out inside organizations including Takeda, Novartis, Biogen, PwC, and Citizens Bank, where I led digital transformation, employee experience, and organizational change through mergers, AI adoption, new product launches, and a global pandemic.
The specifics of the work changed, but the underlying challenge rarely did. What separated initiatives that succeeded from those that stalled was rarely the quality of the strategy or technology. It was whether the people responsible for putting the change into practice had the context, support, and opportunity to develop what they needed to make it work.\u00a0
The same is true at the start of a career, when the challenge is knowing which opportunities to pursue, what to question, when to speak up, and where to invest yourself. That's what brought me to coaching.
Coaching is a partnership, not a performance review.
I'm not here to tell you what to do because your decisions have to work in the context of your life and your priorities.
My role is to give you my full attention, listen carefully, ask questions, and challenge you when something deserves a closer look. Your role is to share what's going on, think out loud, change your mind, and take your time getting to what you really think.
I won't measure whether coaching is working by how you feel walking out of a session, but by whether you need me a little less the next time something hard comes up.
- Brown University, Leadership and Performance Coaching Certificate
- International Coaching Federation, Associate Certified Coach (ACC)
- Cornell University, MBA
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, BA
- Project Management Institute, Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Massachusetts Professional Teacher Certification, History (Grades 9–12)
I’ve been married for more than 25 years and have two college-age daughters, so our home is rarely short on opinions and useful reminders that I don’t know everything.
Most mornings, I’m out on the water with a rowing crew. Eight people trying to move one boat in the same direction is a good reminder that enthusiasm and coordination are two different things.
I’ve been lucky enough to live and work in China, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, and seen how many different ways there are to define a “good life.”
I love the first snowfall of the year, the Olympics, cooking for friends, rediscovering the world through a child’s eyes, and traveling pretty much anywhere. I also love my dog, Obi, who has never once complained that I feed him the same thing day after day. And my alter ego is a backup singer for a fabulous 70s band like Queen or Earth, Wind & Fire.
Where to start?
Start with a 30-minute conversation. No pressure, just a chance to figure out together if this is the right fit for both of us.