I'm Gretchen de Castellane...a small-town girl living great big dreams!
I grew up on an elbow-shaped spit of sand jutting out into the Atlantic.
Perhaps you've heard the Patty Page melody, "Old Cape Cod"? The
landscape is as idyllic as the song portrays: sprawling dunes, salty air, summer nights under the alluring moonlight. The Cape will always have a huge part of my heart. And so does Southern California!
Even as a wee one, I dreamt of making my way West. To find my calling. To make an impact. To be a part of something big that mattered. When I first moved out here there were the doubters who kept saying I'd be back. But I stuck to my dreams and designed a rad life and family here in Sunny California.
A Little About Me
I've lived and led through some wild storms. Each has taught me a truth I live and coach by today: leadership isn’t about controlling the waves, it’s about becoming the lighthouse. Steady. Sovereign. A source of clarity and direction for yourself and others, even in chaos.
For over 20 years, I built and led creative teams at the world’s largest toy company for billion-dollar brands, while navigating dynamic team cultures, intense deadlines, and high standards of output and leadership. I spent nearly half of my time there in burnout. I was ignoring an unrelenting rumble within that kept telling me it was time to make another giant move. To take another Rite of Passage.
Now, I'm on a mission to help leaders and change-makers reignite their spark and passion so they can create the beautiful impact they were born to make. I believe it begins by listening to the rumble within and transforming burnout into work/life harmony and authentic alignment.
When leaders rise from this place of sovereignty and flow, their influence ripples outward to heal, inspire, and uplift the people they lead and influence. Accepting this mission will deliver results, increase productivity and resilience, and unleash more flow. It's time. Your time. Why? Your impact matters now more than ever.
