About Elisa K. Spain – Biography

Inspiring Action  |  Achieving Results

I am an executive life coach. Throughout my life, I have followed my commitment to excellence. My coaching approach builds on my professional and personal experience and has evolved from executive coaching to coaching executives in living their full lives. My clients include CEOs and C-suite executives from Inc. 500 companies, Crain’s Fast 50, Chicago Tribune’s Top 100 Workplaces, and Crain’s Largest Privately Held Companies.

I created the YOU PIVOT™ Program to guide my clients through career and life transitions. Understanding that careers, like software, require updates to keep them fresh, this immersive program catalyzes leaders to embrace change, tap into their greatness, and explore a better version of themselves. Whether you are exiting your business or making a career change that requires a new tomorrow story, the YOU PIVOT™ program provides the framework for the transition. My flexible coaching style enables me to inspire and guide you through life transitions and help you achieve your personal and professional aspirations.

My journey has given me a deep understanding of the leaders I serve. Over 20+ years, including a decade and a half as a Vistage Master Chair, I’ve coached and led a peer advisory board of CEOs and Founders of privately held companies. Before launching my coaching practice, I was an executive in the institutional investor business unit of Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company. My successful transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship has shaped my unique perspective, allowing me to connect with my clients on a personal level.

I hold an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Kellogg GSM, Northwestern University; Chartered Financial Analyst, Level I; and a BS from Florida International University. I am a founding instructor and executive life coach with the University of Chicago’s Leadership & Society Initiative, advisor to the founder of Firehouse Community Arts Center, a member of the Advisory Board for the Independence Equity I, LP Venture Fund, and a member of the Women’s Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.