I teach the skills school left out — to executives and teenagers alike.
Reading a room, earning trust, making a decision and following through — the skills that decide who succeeds are the ones no class ever taught. I help people build them, whether they're leading a team or just figuring out who they want to be.
Four audiences. One problem.
Executives. MBA students. Professionals trying to grow a practice. Teenagers. On paper, four different worlds.
But every one of them is wrestling with the same thing: the skills that decide who succeeds — saying what you mean, earning trust, making a decision and following through — are the ones no syllabus ever covered.
The smartest people I work with rarely get stuck for lack of intelligence. They get stuck on the human skills no one taught them.
Here's what coaching executives taught me that I couldn't have learned any other way: I see exactly which skills carry people through a career — and which ones school overvalued. So when I work with teenagers, I'm not guessing. I teach them the things the leaders I coach wish they'd learned at fifteen, while those skills are still easy to build.
Four doors into the same idea.
Pick the one that brought you here.
Coaching & Corporate Training
As a Senior Advisor at Exec-Comm, I coach leaders and train teams at Fortune 100 companies and global financial firms to communicate with clarity, influence, and presence when it counts.
From Wharton MBAs to Teenagers
I teach leadership and managerial communication to MBA and Executive MBA students at Wharton — and real-world life skills to teenagers. The same craft, taught at every age.
Selling Your Expertise
Author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, and a keynote speaker on communication, leadership, and storytelling for companies, schools, and conferences.
Vana Lab
The venture I'm building today — where real-world experiences help teenagers build the confidence, independence, and follow-through most of us had to learn the hard way.
What people say after working with me.
From Fortune 100 leaders to teenagers — the same craft, taught at every age.
"One day with Robert, and a week later I delivered the best presentation I'd ever given to a large group. I connected with my audience and my message landed."
"It doesn't matter if you feel comfortable or uncomfortable — your feelings shouldn't dictate how you present or speak. You should still look confident, regardless of your feelings."
"Robert kept 60 experienced new hires enthusiastically engaged all day — constant nodding, laughter, and hands in the air. I highly recommend him to organizations and individuals."
"Vana Lab gave me a tangible direction on how to better my communication skills and really portray myself in the strongest way possible. It'll take practice — but I'm glad I know where to start."
"Robert helped me design the career path and lifestyle I wanted — thoughtful, pragmatic, and a genuinely effective motivator. I highly recommend retaining his services."
"Driven, thoughtful, and above all a great listener. He believed any dream was possible and helped me identify the steps to get there."
Top of Mind.
Reflections on communication, career growth, learning, and leading with intention.
Questions I help people answer.
Whatever brought you here, it probably sounds like one of these.
I teach what I had to learn the hard way.
I started out as an equities trader, left to follow work that actually felt like mine, and have spent two decades since on the skills that decide whether smart people succeed — communication, judgment, trust, and follow-through.
Today I'm a Senior Advisor at Exec-Comm, a lecturer at Wharton, and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Selling Your Expertise. And I'm building Vana Lab — giving teenagers that same head start, years before most of us got it.
Let's talk.
Coaching, speaking, corporate training, partnerships, media, or Vana Lab — tell me a little about what you're after and I'll point us in the right direction.