“I was referred to Chris through a mutual colleague at a time when my role at work was ambiguous and ever-changing. I sought Chris out to help me navigate the uncertainty of where I was and where I wanted to be. Through a series of intense, reflective sessions, Chris helped me to move forward successfully in my role. When our formal coaching time ended Chris continued to reach out periodically to check on me, especially during the changing conditions of the pandemic. Those informal updates with Chris have been a huge benefit to the continuous re-creation of my role, as well as to my mental clarity in working through the iterations. I highly recommend Chris’ enlightening and engaging coaching sessions, no matter where you are in your career journey...I know I’ll continue on with him for mine, as well!”
— Alicia V, Nashville, TN
“I began working with Chris formally in 2018 to accelerate both my own professional development and my team. Although I had personal success, I felt strongly that investing my time with a third party, neutral coach could result in even better results. One of my top 3 development priorities was specifically around executive presence, more impactful presence with directs, and building effective comms to leadership. Chris was able to unlock areas of strength that needed refinement and established a tactical plan where I was able to apply these new techniques. He tailored his approach to my personality and helped me develop a philosophy of how I want to lead. For example, doing something each day that would contribute to the betterment of yourself and the team. It may sound cheesy, but this approach allowed us to build a culture rooted in trust, equality, and stakeholder success. The results came quickly. Chris not only shortened my length of time-to-promotion than expected but also helped reimagine what my full portfolio could look like. As of 2020, I’m driving enterprise-wide solutions through our C-Level organization and have a team spread through 3 geographies. His self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and communication skills led me down a path that continues to fulfill my own goals, but also that have my team.”
— Cameron L., Portland, OR
“I began working with Chris to get clarity on my professional goals and start seeing faster progress. I was sure of my performance in my current role - my results spoke for themselves - but I was struggling to articulate my next steps to leadership. I wanted to relocate to our European office, and I wanted to set myself up for leadership roles in the future. After working with Chris over six sessions, I was able to clearly articulate my immediate professional goals, how they tied back to the business’s needs, and how my future leadership aspirations would be exactly what the company needed. Chris helped me develop the business case for relocation and worked with me to be confident when negotiating the terms of my relocation. Having his objective perspective helped me articulate the value I bring to my current role, my own aspirations, and how to take action to move forward on my goals. I’m pleased to say I’m writing this review from the London office. :)

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— Mallory B., London, England
“I began working with Chris about a year ago. I learned of his coaching practice from a friend with whom he had been working and had great experiences. At the time I was in the tech industry but feeling unfulfilled with my career. At first, I wanted to find a way to elevate my career in the tech industry, but stay in it. But after meeting with Chris for just a couple of times and talking through what really excited me both in work and life I discovered that my affinity for the tech industry had faded, and what I really wanted to do was chase my passions in the automotive space. I was really fired up because it had been a long time since I was excited about work. For the past year, we have worked together, and in that time I have started my own company and started a path towards growing it and eventually transitioning to it full time.

Chris is extremely kind, a great listener, and you can tell from your first chat that he is wholeheartedly invested in your success. He makes you feel like you’re his only client, and that type of attention is hard to come by these days.

I highly recommend Chris to anyone looking to both elevate their career and find excitement and passion doing it. I think people who will best benefit from his services are those who are experienced professionals either looking to grow in their current space or pivot to a new chapter.

I personally cannot wait to see what 2021 holds as we continue down this new journey, and it feels great having someone like Chris in my corner to help bolster my efforts.

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— Dylan L., Portland, OR
“I was skeptical about needing a career coach prior to reaching out to Chris. I was working hard to elevate my career to the next level and had put in a lot of work myself, so I wasn’t sure what value I would get out of coaching. But I had absolutely no idea what I was missing and how valuable my time with Chris would be.

I first heard about Chris through a close friend and decided to have an introductory call. Chris immediately provided a comfortable and safe environment to discuss my goals, challenges and fears, related to my career journey. I agreed to meet with him regularly and am incredibly thankful that I made that decision as I have now just renewed with him for a second year!

In my time working with Chris, I landed my dream job working in the tech industry at Microsoft. I put a lot of time and effort into my career but absolutely believe my approach would not be as polished and my goals would not be as clear if I had not set up that first meeting with Chris.

The job market, especially for “career-level” positions, is highly competitive and it takes significant effort and planning to make an impression on hiring managers and drive impact to elevate your career.

I’d highly recommend Chris to anyone looking to take the next step in their career journey whether in the tech industry or not. Chris is the real deal!”
— Peter J., Seattle, WA
“In 2013, I was hired by my dream technology company. I started there in an HR capacity after working in several different roles that focused on mediation, consulting, and HR. After a year I moved into an IT based role within the company, despite knowing little about fundamentals in IT but wanted to challenge myself to learn something new. My manager at the time, had been working with Hayes and recommended him to me as a way to accelerate my growth. At the time I was dealing with some intense imposter syndrome, being a female POC in a male dominated technology space, and knew that I needed some sort of guidance to get me through it. I felt like a fish out of water and decided to take the leap to meet with Hayes.

I was skeptical about what a coach could offer me, mainly because I had never experienced anything close to professional coaching before. Immediately upon meeting Hayes for drinks to get to know each other I felt at ease. Over my nearly three years in working with Hayes I have found him to be my most enthusiastic champion, a staunch feminist, creative problem solver, and an empathetic listener. Throughout our time working together I have been promoted twice, expanded my scope of work, moved into a managerial position, and have embraced challenge after challenge with relative ease.

I would recommend anyone seek Hayes out if you have the means to do so no matter where you are in your career or what industry you are in.”
— Jen V., Portland, OR
“Investing in coaching from Chris Hayes is one of the best decisions I have made in my career. The 3.5 years I have worked with Chris have been by far the most productive, stimulating and fun stretch of my career. Not coincidentally, this run of good form on the career front while working with Chris has contributed to my personal life outside of work being more balanced and satisfying.

I signed up for career coaching with Chris at a point in my career where I realized that I needed to own my own professional development as opposed to assuming my current or future manager(s) would have the skill set, interest and available time to make sure I was hitting my professional goals. Chris consistently creates a comfortable and fun space in our meetings that has allowed me to take an honest approach to my professional development and our monthly meetings are always rewarding and useful. In our meetings we strategize around my current goals, dig into problems I’m dealing with at work and flesh out the specific things I’m doing so I can confidently articulate my value. We also laugh a lot!

I am grateful to have a coach and champion like Chris to help make sure I successfully navigate all the twists and turns, highs and low’s of my professional journey. If you are curious about whether or not to explore career coaching, I highly recommend doing yourself a favor and booking an appointment with Chris. You won’t regret it.”
— Nathan O., Portland, OR
“I have been working with Chris for years and still find every meeting with him to be enlightening, uplifting, and effective. You can always identify a good coach by how many professional coaches use them- I am Director of Coaching in the non-profit field and could’ve chosen numerous other coaches, but I chose Chris because he is just plain excellent at what he does. Highly recommend his services and guarantee you will get your money’s worth. It may sound cheesy, but working with Chris has made my life better.”
— Kristen K., Nashville, TN
“Prior to engaging with Chris my understanding of career coaching was largely uninformed as I had never experienced it before. I viewed career coaching as a ‘nice to have’ but always felt I had my hands firmly enough on the reins of life and didn’t need guidance from the sidelines. Then the year of global derangement happened (2020) and, like many of us, I found myself face-down on the canvas. The blow that took me down came in the form of a shift in culture at my then workplace that was characterised by shame and fear. I was swimming in toxicity that took a toll on my mind and, by default, body. I felt like I was imploding. Psychologically, I was struggle city and not showing up for anyone in a way I was proud of. Physically, my body threw in the towel - couldn’t shake the flu, my skin was that of a pre-pubescent, and lethargy set in like a thick fog. It was time to reassess. Something had to shift.

I tentatively reached out to Chris (full disclosure: he is my childhood bestie’s hubbie) and said something like, ‘Hey man...ummm...things are tough right now and I could use a hand getting the hell out of my current place of work and figuring out how to never go back to an environment like that.’ Chis explained that coaching isn’t a quick fix or simply a resume review and that working together would require a spirit of dedicated, action-oriented work on both sides. I like to look at it like we were going on an adventure together. And not a lap around Central Park adventure...more like an ample water/granola bar and a blister kit adventure.

Off we went and I cannot overemphasize how valuable the process has been. Chis has helped me get clear on not just what I want to do but who I want to do it with. He also helped me identify where my strengths are and what meaningful work looks like to me. But clarity doesn’t fall out of trees, it takes thoughtful discussion around priorities and realities and, most importantly, it takes actionable exploration (think lots of coffees and lots of questions leveled at generous folks). Thankfully, Chris has always held space for me to explore but in a targeted, outcomes-driven way. A big part of my progression has been moving the pipedreams out of my head and making room for ambitions grounded in my current reality.

Chris is a rare combination of head and heart. His feet are firmly on the floor but his heart is engaged and knowing. An ability that is truly a superpower and clients benefit from enormously. His care for clients extends beyond coaching sessions through periodic check-in texts that are helpful reminders to stay in your lane and that you can, in fact, DO it! The ‘cheerleader’ aspect is important because, let’s face it, we all wonder if we’re going to make the cut at the best of times but when getting uncomfortable and excavating for change the little ‘not good enough’ gremlins have a tendency to take over the show if we aren’t mindful when it comes to our worth.

At the time of writing I’m six months into my engagement with Chris and I’m in a far more grounded, hopeful and progressed place than when we began. Although I haven’t landed my dream gig (yet) my head is clear, ambitions have been workshoped (kicked out or developed) and irons are in the fire. I look forward to continuing to work with Chris well beyond the landing of my next role as he is dedicated to not only helping clients secure satisfying work but also to ensuring they thrive within it.
- Angie G. Brisbane, Australia”