Brilliant leadership starts from the inside out.

Coaching for leaders. Consulting for the organizations they build.

Carol Hedgspeth
Carol Hedgspeth
Carol Hedgspeth, Ph.D.

About Me

I’m Carol, Founder and Lead Coach at The Brilliance Lab, my leadership coaching and organizational effectiveness practice with women of color in leadership at the center, and open to all leaders ready to lead fully, on their own terms.
For years, I led in nonprofit education. As Research Director, I ran a small, ambitious research team who produced and published consequential reports that furthered the organization’s mission to inform parent leaders. As Vice President of Operations and Talent, I managed the entire employment cycle and built out our staff from 11 to over 40 across three geographic regions. As Deputy Director, I oversaw research functions while managing culture initiatives and the operational systems that held a growing organization together.
For most of that time, I was the only Black woman in the room. That gap between what I could do and what these organizations were built to see is exactly why I founded The Brilliance Lab. I saw the same pattern over and over: talented leaders with real skill, working in organizations that weren’t built to appreciate and develop them fully.
Lead Brilliantly
THE SELECTION OF

My Services

The Brilliance Intensive

The Brilliance Intensive is a personalized 1:1 coaching engagement designed with women of color in leadership at the center, and open to all leaders who are ready to lead fully and authentically. 

The Brilliance Collective

The Brilliance Collective is a group coaching program that brings together a cohort of 10 to 15 leaders for a shared journey of growth, reflection, and community.

The Doctoral Collective

Similar to the standard Brilliance Collective cohort of organizational leaders, in The Doctoral Collective, we bring together a group of 8-12 doctoral students to build the frameworks, habits, and leadership presence that will carry students through their programs. Offered at a student rate.

The Culture Lab

The Culture Lab is a project-based organizational consulting engagement for teams and organizations that are serious about building cultures where everyone can genuinely thrive.

How We Build Leadership

The Brilliance Lab Method

The Brilliance Lab Method is a framework for developing authentic leadership and the systems and structures that support and sustain it. This 3-step framework undergirds all our engagements, from individual or group coaching to project-based organizational engagements, and is a human-centered approach that develops leaders and organizations simultaneously, from the inside out. 

We do this in 3 steps: 

Discover

First, we get clear on what is needed to bolster and further develop your leadership skills, as well as the current organizational landscape to support it. 

Design

Next, we work together to co-create a thoughtful, nimble plan to honor all you bring as a leader, level up your (and/or your organization’s) leadership, and create a healthy culture to sustain it. 

Illuminate

Finally, we put it all in motion, lighting a path to fully implement our plan with clear structures, policies and practices, so that learnings are embedded, leadership transformation sticks, and a responsive, healthy org-wide culture is sustained.

Happy clients

Words from my Clients

MY LATEST

Blog Posts

Are You Okay?

Are You Okay?

The Leadership Practice ofChecking In With Yourself During Trying Times The world feels heavy...

Why Coaching Matters

Why Coaching Matters

Before I ever became a coach, I was coached. And that experience changed everything about how I...

Leading Through Change

Leading Through Change

Finding Steady Light When the World Feels Unsteady The pace of change today can feel relentless....

MY LATEST

Blog Posts

Why Coaching Matters

Why Coaching Matters

Before I ever became a coach, I was coached. And that experience changed everything about how I lead, how I show up for others, and how I see myself.

read more
Leading Through Change

Leading Through Change

The pace of change today can feel relentless. From global crises to organizational shifts, we’re constantly being asked to adapt, pivot, and carry on often while managing the weight of uncertainty and exhaustion.

read more
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