Professional career coaches delivering strategic solutions for our clients

Tested results from seasoned professionals

Close Cohen Career Consulting

Our executive coaches have acted on many varied and complex projects, both in the US and around the world.

From negotiations and influencing to promotions and gaining complex stakeholder alignment, clients look to us for our top-tier expertise in assisting in building, iterating and executing on significant career strategy projects.

Alisa Cohen

Principal Executive Coach

Alisa Cohen brings a depth of Fortune 500 global leadership experience to her clients and knows what it takes to succeed in matrixed, global organizations. She has directed global teams and led large-scale brand development projects for Amazon, Starbucks, PepsiCo, Microsoft, and more.

Alisa’s firsthand experience navigating corporate and tech worlds helps her implement strategies for advancement with Close Cohen clients. Over 80% of her clients seeking new roles secured their next position within one year.

Since leaving corporate leadership and taking on the role of Principal Executive Coach at Close Cohen, Alisa has been interviewed by ABC7, Business Insider, Yahoo! Money, US News, The Muse, and KING5 on tips, strategies and trends related to the employment landscape, senior-level career strategy, executive promotions, and job searches.

Clients who work with Alisa comment on her business acumen as well as compassionate leadership style. She attributes this to 20+ years of leading global teams where she had the opportunity to hire, coach, and promote great talent to their next level of achievement. As one of her coaching clients described, “Alisa is a fantastic leadership coach. She helped me gain clarity around the steps I needed to take to move my career forward…after working with her I received 2 promotions in less than 6 months.”

Alisa is gifted at seeing the exact ways to strengthen her clients’ external or internal candidacy for advancement, and above all—is a trusted partner

Daria Lojko

Executive Coach

Daria Lojko is an HR leader with 15+ years of experience in identifying, hiring, and developing top talent within matrixed, corporate environments. She’s known for guiding clients in finding the intersection between their talents, goals, and the needs of organizations.

As an HR director at Expedia, Daria partners with senior leaders to drive people strategies, organization effectiveness, and talent management. Previously, she rose through the leadership ranks at Boeing, where she collaborated with senior executives and managed HR teams to develop leaders across multiple technical and business disciplines. Her focus included employee development, talent acquisition, global workforce planning, and leadership performance. Daria launched her high-impact career with Accenture, specializing in Talent & Organizational Performance, where she helped leaders drive large-scale change and people plans for Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft and Freeport-McMoRan.

Daria holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and applies her real-world corporate experience as an Executive Coach with Close Cohen. She describes her approach:

“The world of work is complex, and having a partner who understands it from within can give you the necessary edge and confidence. That’s where I come in. Whether it’s crafting a standout resume, navigating the early stages of leadership, or strategizing your legacy as a senior leader, you don’t have to go it alone. My approach is based on practical knowledge and developing leadership through strengths. Let’s discuss what drives you and chart a path that suits you best.”

Laura Close

Founder & Entrepreneur Coach

Laura Close is CEO of Close Cohen, having founded the practice in 2013. She is currently CBDO and Co-founder of Included AI-native software for People Analytics. After decades of coaching political candidates and senior level executives Laura’s pitch prowess became the driving force behind Included’s pre-seed and seed round venture capital raise, and secured the SXSW Innovation Award for Included before a panel of 8 judges at the festival. Laura also secured victory at Established’s Startup of the Year competition, and pitched through four international time zone rounds to arrive at Included’s hard won final four award in the global SHRM Better Workplaces competition.

Laura is a sought after thought leader and podcast guest on topics ranging from AI to case law and legal decisions relating to inclusion in the workplace. She was interviewed by Marketplace and the Wall Street Journal during the last session of the Supreme Court and flown to the national AWS re:Invent conference to speak on the implications of GenAI for increased accessibility in the workplace. Laura is a prolific writer and creator, and has hosted and filmed the HR Tech, What’s Working? LinkedIn Live podcast featuring leaders across Google, Microsoft and more.

Laura originated as a campaign strategy & policy expert, delivering state level victories and securing policy changes that benefited the lives of thousands of vulnerable citizens. Now co-founder of AI-native software Included Laura and team have created the first tech of its kind to use AI to help democratize HR data insights for business unit leaders and executives.

Laura applied her success in political campaign strategy to found Close Cohen, a global career development coaching practice serving executives, VPs, and C suite across Amazon, Apple, CISCO, and more. Clients working with Laura’s frameworks and methods secured incredible victories because it turns out – work is political – and a highly calibrated strategy delivers wins.

A serial entrepreneur and successful founder, Laura has limited availability to speak with founders on their most pressing leadership, revenue, and scaling challenges.

Close Cohen has a dedicated practice of award winning coaches highly vetted and trained in securing your strategic victory - no matter the project.

Testimonials

Danielle Allsop

18:07 30 Oct 24

I happily recommend Alisa to anyone seeking executive coaching. She's a fantastic coach, supporter, and partner during the journey -- highly organized, insightful, top notch listener, supreme writer/editor, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Working with Alisa was essential for building my confidence, launching my candidacy, and landing my next role. Five Stars and then some!

Scott Merlino

23:01 19 Apr 24

I worked with Alisa Cohen and she was fantastic. I highly recommend her if you're looking for career consulting/coaching advice and support.

Erica Paoli

04:29 20 Jan 24

Alisa is an amazing coach – smart, kind, and encouraging. I learned so much from her during our time together, and she helped me build confidence in myself; especially with interviewing and asking for what I’m worth. She was always available to answer questions, offer support and feedback along my journey and beyond. The best part is – I landed a fantastic new role a mere 4 months after working with her, and I could not have done it without her!

Amy Persell

17:45 30 Oct 23

Alisa is a terrific coach. Her thoughtful and organized approach was appreciated. I really liked how I was kept accountable. In addition, I found her coaching to be a great mix of informal counseling and specific job search tasks. Unlike lots of couches that you will find on Google-Close Cohen is all about finding the right fit for YOU, not about filling roles at specific companies where you may or not be a good fit.

Andrew Cardillo

04:53 20 Jun 23

I am writing to leave a 5-star review of Close Cohen Career Consulting, LLC based on my experience with their Senior Level Career Coaching package. I wholeheartedly endorse the services and attention I received throughout the entirety of my time.Alisa Cohen gave me practical, results-oriented advice right from the start of our sessions. This advice has materialized as increased views of my LinkedIn profile, a suite of new tools to aid in my career progression, and strategies to help me network, apply, and negotiate through every phase of the process.I have gained genuine confidence from defining and owning the value proposition I offer to an organization. If you are looking to enhance your own career progression, I assure you that for me the results speak for themselves.Thank you Close Cohen Career Consulting!

Alina Perez-Campos

18:08 11 Feb 23

Alisa Cohen acts as a beacon, guiding you through your career journey. With her exceptional ability to identify and highlight your key strengths, you'll stand out amongst the competition and secure the job of your dreams. Her guidance is both insightful and compassionate, consistently encouraging you to stay true to yourself. Investing in her coaching services is a wise decision that will yield long-lasting benefits for years to come.

Vivian Ramos

01:33 29 Apr 22

I worked with Laura back in 2018 when I was looking for a new role and in general a new outlook in my career. My experience was life changing to say the least. She was empathetic and warm, and she came up with an action plan that I still reference to this day.Fast forward to 2022, and I started working with Alisa for interview coaching. I seriously couldn’t have gotten my new role without her. Her coaching and feedback was crucial to my lengthy interview process, and I owe her for helping me land my dream job.Laura and Alisa are incredible and I’m so grateful to have them as lifelong allies.

Lindsay Burke

18:00 31 Aug 21

The team at Close/Cohen career consulting was fabulous. They helped me through every step of my career move. From building my self-confidence and building my resume to making my social profile interesting to making me interesting for interviews, Alisa was the mastermind. I felt completely comfortable and supported through the process. I always knew Alisa was in my corner. She helped me negotiate when I was given an offer.I plan to stay in contact and hope to utilize their services throughout my career.

Not sure what you need?

That’s okay, our executive coaches are here to help you get to clarity. Book a 15-minute call with us.

Close Cohen is an online coaching firm – we support clients around the globe. While we were founded in the Pacific Northwest, we work with clients across the Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond metro area, we also support clients nationally and internationally.

Our clients come to us from Austin, Dallas/Fort-Worth, Paris, San Francisco Bay area, Boston, New York, Charlotte, and many other cities.