Deaf since age two, I was told I’d never verbally communicate again. Instead, I rewrote the script. I learned to speak — and I mastered the deeper layers of communication: body language, energy, and what’s left unsaid.

Elementary school taught me culture before I knew the word. I was bullied for my hearing loss and speech impediments. Years of pain turned into anger, and I ended up bullying a friend. I apologized — and learned very early on: pain drives behavior, and that self-awareness and repair rebuild trust and connection.

I’ve seen it across cultures — from coaching athletes, to backpacking through 20+ countries, to interviewing 300+ employees. The pattern is consistent: disconnection sits underneath most workplace problems. Reconnection changes everything.

Workplace culture doesn’t stay at work. It follows people home — and at scale, it becomes an economic and societal issue.

That’s why I built TAKKLE — not to tick a box, but to drive real change. I don’t lecture leaders. I help them hear what isn’t being said, build trust, and turn culture into strategy that actually works. For organizations, that shows up as retention, trust, and execution — or turnover, friction, and constant fires.

TAKKLE is grounded in 12+ years of coaching, real-world workplace interviews, and leadership in workplace harm prevention — including serving as the youngest Director on the Board for the Canadian Institute of Workplace Harassment and Violence, speaking during Global Workplace Bullying Awareness Week, and delivering workshops at District 3 and Balsam Montreal.

Presence is often mistaken for being in the room. But when attention is elsewhere, people miss the micro-cues — early signals someone is overloaded, disengaging, or close to leaving. TAKKLE helps leaders and teams reconnect with themselves so they can connect with each other — and build a culture that actually holds.