Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Gilmore.
Hi Allison, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Okay…we are going to start way back. I was born on Mother’s Day…JUST KIDDING. Though, we are going to start in grade school.
When I was in grade school, I felt the call to missions. I always imagined I would find myself living somewhere overseas, serving others. I was ready to go whenever the door opened. But here’s the thing: a door never opened, at least not the door I was anticipating. Looking back now, I realize it wasn’t a closed door after all. It was simply leading me to the right one.
So, while waiting for my open door, I finished college with a degree in public communication. One of the most important things I learned was that how we communicate can create connection, or it can create division. Too often, people simply haven’t been taught how to communicate well or even recognize the power they carry in how they communicate. As someone who has experienced the life-changing power of finding my voice and learning how to communicate well, I have made it one of my life missions to share communication skills with anyone and everyone who will listen. These days, I half-joke that my business card should say “Communication Nerd.”
Coming out of college, I found myself back in healthcare. I learned quickly not just my new job, but also the reality of working under a manager who was known for being feared and making staff feel incompetent. The manager was very talented technically, but they left a wake of self-doubt in nearly every employee they encountered. It broke my heart watching people begin to see themselves just as poorly as they were being treated.
Psychologists actually have a name for it. The Golem Effect describes what happens when a leader’s low expectations become an employee’s own internalized beliefs about themselves, which then become, unfortunately, their reality. I watched it happen in real time. I saw how easily a leader can both build people up or tear them down, and the lasting impact that can have.
That was when I got my “open door” and recognized my mission field wasn’t across the world, but right here with the people I worked with every day. In the U.S., it’s not uncommon for people to spend more time at work than with their own families. Over a lifetime, the average person spends more than 90,000 hours on the job, roughly a third of their lives (at least the awake parts). And THAT was where I could treat people with the honesty, integrity, and grace everyone deserves.
After that experience, I knew I wanted to be a leader who built people up, creating not just better employees, but better whole people, people who saw their intrinsic value and recognized they had purpose. People like that create a ripple. They show up better at the grocery store, at their kids’ sporting events, and in their community. And it ripples generationally too, teaching the next generation by example that our words and actions have impact.
I especially love working with emerging leaders and new managers. They’re still so enthusiastic and eager to learn. They have fresh eyes that see so much hope for the future. Yet, so often, they are promoted because they are good at their jobs but are left to learn how to lead others effectively without guidance. And if we want tomorrow’s leaders to be better than today’s, we need to start there, breaking the cycle of ineffective, burned-out leadership before they’re left to learn through trial by fire. Nobody goes into leadership wanting to fail, but all too often, the cards are already stacked against them. That is the gap I feel most called to fill.
After earning my MBA and professional coaching certification, and spending more than 15 years developing leaders and strengthening communication in healthcare, I became an independent consultant to invest in even more leaders and help strengthen our community. Today, I combine one-on-one leadership coaching with communication training, speaking engagements, and educational courses that support ongoing growth for leaders.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In my first nine months in business, the biggest hurdle hasn’t been people recognizing the need or desire to improve their communication or leadership skills. Rather, it’s been the hesitation over whether it’s worth the investment. There’s still a stigma that communication is a “soft” skill and therefore less crucial than technical metrics such as KPIs that are easier to measure.
In reality, it may be even more valuable than those metrics. Gallup research has found that 70% of the variance in team engagement stems directly from the manager. Even with research like this, many organizations remain hesitant to invest in leadership and communication development at the management level.
That said, I have found tremendous joy in the opportunities I’ve had to share my love of communication and leadership with so many people over the past nine months. I look forward to continuing to invest in our leaders and, ultimately, in our community, in the years ahead.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
As Allison Gilmore, Coaching & Consulting, LLC, I’ve partnered with Leadership Mindset, LLC, an organization founded by my brother, because I believe leadership is one of the most human things we do, and that grace, extended in both directions, is what makes real growth possible. Grace isn’t a soft, secondary idea in leadership; it’s foundational. Grace for ourselves as leaders means letting go of the myth that we have to have it all figured out, and grace for the people we lead means creating room for them to learn, stumble, and grow without fear. What sets me apart is that I refuse to separate the human being from the job title — every leader I work with is a whole person first, with a story, a history, and their own need for grace, and I bring that lens into every coaching session and every consulting engagement. Investing in how we lead and how we communicate is one of the most direct ways to invest in a better future, one ripple at a time.
I specialize in leadership coaching and communication training, and I’m known for pairing the two, because how a leader communicates is inseparable from how well they lead. With my experience and education in healthcare leadership and coaching, I’m able to move fluidly between the coaching conversation and the consulting strategy, because lasting change needs both the inner work and the outer structure. Through my partnership with Leadership Mindset, LLC, I offer individualized and group coaching, communication training, workshops, speaking engagements, and strategic consulting around team structure, culture, and change management. Launching soon as the centerpiece of my offerings sits ELEVATE, my ten-week cohort program for emerging leaders and first-time managers, which pairs live workshops and group coaching with individualized coaching and an Energy Leadership Index assessment, part of what makes ELEVATE, and my work more broadly, a little different from a typical coaching practice.
I’m proud of staying true to myself in how I show up: half-joking about being a “Communication Nerd,” teaching in plain, approachable language, and building a brand that feels warm and human rather than intimidating, even though the work itself is deeply meaningful. I offer both à la carte and custom programs, and every relationship starts with a no-cost consultation so we can talk about what’s actually needed before anything is decided.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love spending time with family and friends as well as building new connections. Hearing someone’s story is such a gift, and I am honored when people are willing to share it. Human connection and understanding that everyone has their own unique story, is so important to how we interact with one another. I also love the sunshine, Disneyland, and traveling to new destinations around the world. I only have two continents left before I have hit all seven.
Although born and raised in the PNW, I dislike the rain, especially when it gets on my glasses. Lol!
Pricing:
- Both à la carte and custom programs are available.
- Reach out for more details.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://leadershipmindsetsolutions.com/consultants/allison-gilmore-mba-coe/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisongilmore87
- Other: https://gilmorea.substack.com/
