Leadership and success can look impressive from the outside while quietly becoming unsustainable on the inside.

I know that world well.

I believe leadership development is not just about becoming more productive or performing at a higher level. It is also about learning how to lead with greater self awareness, emotional honesty, clarity, resilience, and authenticity.

True North Coaching Owner and Founder, Shelley Pernot

Before becoming a coach and leadership facilitator, I spent years in Fortune 500 leadership roles in Finance and Risk Management. I worked in high pressure environments with constant demands, complex stakeholder dynamics, and the unspoken belief that being successful meant always holding it together.

Like many high performers, I became very good at achieving, performing, and pushing through. From the outside, things often looked successful. Internally, I was increasingly disconnected from myself and operating more from pressure, perfectionism, and responsibility than anything that actually felt sustainable.

My own experience with burnout changed the way I think about leadership, achievement, and personal growth.

It forced me to slow down and ask deeper questions about how I was living, what was driving me, and what it really means to build a meaningful life and career.

That experience now deeply shapes the way I coach and facilitate.

My Coaching Philosophy

My work sits at the intersection of leadership development, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and human growth. I help leaders strengthen the quality of their thinking, navigate difficult dynamics more consciously, and lead in ways that are both effective and sustainable.

I am less interested in polished leadership personas and more interested in helping people:

  • think clearly under pressure

  • navigate conflict and stakeholder dynamics with maturity

  • move beyond reactive or perfectionistic patterns

  • build healthier relationships and teams

  • reconnect with authenticity, resilience, and purpose

Clients often tell me they appreciate that I bring both depth and practicality to the work. I will challenge you thoughtfully while also creating space for honest reflection and conversations that are sometimes difficult to have elsewhere.

My Coaching Bio

Over the years, I have coached and facilitated leaders across industries including energy, healthcare, luxury retail, technology, higher education, and nonprofit organizations. My clients have included Shell, Louis Vuitton, Baker Hughes, NIH, Lake Austin Spa Resort, and The University of Texas Center for Professional Education.

I am a PCC certified coach through the International Coaching Federation, a CPA, and hold an MBA from Erasmus Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands. I am also the author of the award winning book Running on Empty: The Irreverent Guru’s Guide to Filling Up with Mindfulness.

These days, the work that matters most to me is helping people move away from burnout, perfectionism, and constant pressure and toward a way of leading and living that feels more sustainable, intentional, and fully their own.