Career

Do more of what you love

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Leadership

Lead with passion and compassion

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Culture

Create inspired organizations

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Our services

Career Strategy

There are always possibilities to do more of what you love. Identify opportunities that align with your life priorities, the best of your skills, and an environment where you’ll thrive.

Team & culture

Business is all about the people. We’ll partner with you to enhance team engagement, develop interpersonal communications, and improve individual performance.

Executive Coaching

Great leaders, whatever their role, can inspire others and change lives. Whether you’re an established leader or a new leader, this is a powerful way to enhance your skills and drive day-to-day results.

Workshops & inspiration

Whether for a 30-minute keynote or an all-day workshop, we’re passionate about presenting dynamic and inspiring content. Our underlying message is always about leadership and its power to move individuals, teams, and organizations successfully forward.

Our Reviews

"Stephanie is masterful at bringing clarity to things and helps me look at the big picture. She was instrumental in my decision to leave a long time job and open my own firm—the best career of my life."

Angie Galimanis, Owner/President @ Lawrence PR, Portland, OR

online coaching group
2016-06-08T11:10:27-07:00

Angie Galimanis, Owner/President @ Lawrence PR, Portland, OR

"Stephanie is masterful at bringing clarity to things and helps me look at the big picture. She was instrumental in my decision to leave a long time job and open my own firm—the best career of my life."

"Heather empowered me to look inside and see what it was I truly wanted out of work and life. We set out my priorities, my criteria for my next job, and I learned about the strengths I had as a person, not just a list of software acumen!"

Zöe Flanagan, Research Assistant @ Pacific Research & Evaluation, Portland, OR

online coaching group
2020-03-05T11:21:53-08:00

Zöe Flanagan, Research Assistant @ Pacific Research & Evaluation, Portland, OR

"Heather empowered me to look inside and see what it was I truly wanted out of work and life. We set out my priorities, my criteria for my next job, and I learned about the strengths I had as a person, not just a list of software acumen!"
Jeff Fuchs 222x222"Linda’s Executive Coaching has helped me become a better leader. She coached me to not avoid difficult discussions, but to approach them in a non aggressive way. I feel like much more of a natural leader, and I’m having a lot more fun now."

Jeff Fuchs, City Engineer for the City of Tualatin, OR

online coaching group
2016-06-13T08:35:25-07:00

Jeff Fuchs, City Engineer for the City of Tualatin, OR

"Linda’s Executive Coaching has helped me become a better leader. She coached me to not avoid difficult discussions, but to approach them in a non aggressive way. I feel like much more of a natural leader, and I’m having a lot more fun now."

"Working with Heather changed my life in ways I didn't know were possible. This year I launched a business that has gone from nothing to flourishing in so many ways. I'm so grateful to Heather for her personal, heartfelt, and out-of-the-box style. I'm so grateful for all you do!"

Meghan French, Licensed OR Broker, Scout Realty, Portland, OR

online coaching group
2021-02-03T10:35:32-08:00

Meghan French, Licensed OR Broker, Scout Realty, Portland, OR

"Working with Heather changed my life in ways I didn't know were possible. This year I launched a business that has gone from nothing to flourishing in so many ways. I'm so grateful to Heather for her personal, heartfelt, and out-of-the-box style. I'm so grateful for all you do!"

David Hanna 222x222"Working with Stephanie has been the single most transformative experience. Thanks to Stephanie’s advice and support, I entered and completed graduate school, have made it through many professional challenges, and have established my own business."

David Hanna, Couples, Family, and Individual Therapist @ David Hanna Counseling, Portland, OR

online coaching group
2016-06-14T13:54:06-07:00

David Hanna, Couples, Family, and Individual Therapist @ David Hanna Counseling, Portland, OR

"Working with Stephanie has been the single most transformative experience. Thanks to Stephanie’s advice and support, I entered and completed graduate school, have made it through many professional challenges, and have established my own business."
"Linda unlocked some doors inside me with some ready understanding of concerns that face me as a leader, a parent, and a partner with some very simple solutions and practices. Linda's been an integral part of my successful leadership role at work and home."

Katy Patricelli, Former Sr VP @ Wells Fargo

online coaching group
2015-11-24T13:50:14-08:00

Katy Patricelli, Former Sr VP @ Wells Fargo

"Linda unlocked some doors inside me with some ready understanding of concerns that face me as a leader, a parent, and a partner with some very simple solutions and practices. Linda's been an integral part of my successful leadership role at work and home."

"Stephanie has been an invaluable sounding board. My coaching sessions with Stephanie have provided me with a case study-like approach to work through current business challenges, a constructive unbiased listening center which provides immediate stress relief, and an actionable and useful “nugget” to put into immediate action from each session."

Kathryn Loescher, MBA, Sr. Director of Compensation, The Standard

online coaching group
2017-12-04T13:57:38-08:00

Kathryn Loescher, MBA, Sr. Director of Compensation, The Standard

"Stephanie has been an invaluable sounding board. My coaching sessions with Stephanie have provided me with a case study-like approach to work through current business challenges, a constructive unbiased listening center which provides immediate stress relief, and an actionable and useful “nugget” to put into immediate action from each session."

"Heather brought order to my chaos and helped me pursue my goals in a more purposeful, fulfilling way. Now I feel less stressed, more in control and able to enjoy taking some big steps that I’ve been working towards for a long time."

Carolyn Cosgriff, Owner/Artist/Designer @ HissBuzzHum, Portland, OR

online coaching group
2016-10-19T09:53:56-07:00

Carolyn Cosgriff, Owner/Artist/Designer @ HissBuzzHum, Portland, OR

"Heather brought order to my chaos and helped me pursue my goals in a more purposeful, fulfilling way. Now I feel less stressed, more in control and able to enjoy taking some big steps that I’ve been working towards for a long time."
shannon-headshot-150px"I love working with Heather, she's not only my productivity coach, she’s my accountability partner. She helps me stay on track with my goals, my weekly tasks and I’ve been able to accomplish more in the past 3 months than I have all year.”

Shannon M. McCaffery, Founder @ SoulfulVisionMarketing.com, Richmond, VA

online coaching group
2016-10-20T10:43:32-07:00

Shannon M. McCaffery, Founder @ SoulfulVisionMarketing.com, Richmond, VA

"I love working with Heather, she's not only my productivity coach, she’s my accountability partner. She helps me stay on track with my goals, my weekly tasks and I’ve been able to accomplish more in the past 3 months than I have all year.”
Sharon Crowell 222x222"In my work, I found myself challenged to engage the physician leaders across the organization. With Carpenter Smith Consulting, we learned strategies that resulted in a dramatic growth in provider satisfaction from the 11th percentile to the 73rd percentile!"

Sharon Crowell M.D. @ The Vancouver Clinic, Vancouver, WA

online coaching group
2015-12-01T13:36:55-08:00

Sharon Crowell M.D. @ The Vancouver Clinic, Vancouver, WA

"In my work, I found myself challenged to engage the physician leaders across the organization. With Carpenter Smith Consulting, we learned strategies that resulted in a dramatic growth in provider satisfaction from the 11th percentile to the 73rd percentile!"
Katherine Durham 222x222"Linda is a great listener and powerful observer. I rely on her wisdom and pragmatic advice around team dynamics, culture and leadership. Simply put, Linda makes me better."

Katherine Durham, VP Individual Disability Insurance and Corporate Marketing & Communications @ The Standard, Portland, OR

online coaching group
2015-11-24T13:48:24-08:00

Katherine Durham, VP Individual Disability Insurance and Corporate Marketing & Communications @ The Standard, Portland, OR

"Linda is a great listener and powerful observer. I rely on her wisdom and pragmatic advice around team dynamics, culture and leadership. Simply put, Linda makes me better."
"I found my sessions with Heather to be very insightful, practical, and useful, and focused on elements of employee behaviors which we normally don't pay attention to. Our discussions helped me grow in my new role at work as well as out of work."

Kunal Dugal, QA Manager @ Logitech, Camas, WA

online coaching group
2021-02-03T11:01:27-08:00

Kunal Dugal, QA Manager @ Logitech, Camas, WA

"I found my sessions with Heather to be very insightful, practical, and useful, and focused on elements of employee behaviors which we normally don't pay attention to. Our discussions helped me grow in my new role at work as well as out of work."
"Heather helped me see that work isn't just about the money. She took the big picture view of my life and gave me the tools I needed to commit to my pursuits. My stress is gone and both of my businesses are better than ever!

Theresa Provitola, Founder/CEO @ Pixels & Ink Media, llc, Vancouver, WA

online coaching group
2016-10-20T10:53:17-07:00

Theresa Provitola, Founder/CEO @ Pixels & Ink Media, llc, Vancouver, WA

"Heather helped me see that work isn't just about the money. She took the big picture view of my life and gave me the tools I needed to commit to my pursuits. My stress is gone and both of my businesses are better than ever!

"I learned more about how to be a leader from Carpenter Smith Consulting than I did from my Master's program at Harvard."

Alfred Seekamp, M.D., Chief Medical Officer @ The Vancouver Clinic, Vancouver, WA

online coaching group
2015-11-24T14:05:25-08:00

Alfred Seekamp, M.D., Chief Medical Officer @ The Vancouver Clinic, Vancouver, WA

"I learned more about how to be a leader from Carpenter Smith Consulting than I did from my Master's program at Harvard."
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Our team

Linda Carpenter, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Consultant

Linda is described as a powerful ally and skilled strategist in helping them develop their personal and professional leadership to move their businesses forward.

Stephanie Smith's Headshot

Stephanie Smith, M.A.

Co-Founder and Consultant

Stephanie is known for providing trusted advice and management techniques to people seeking personal and professional success.

Heather Stewart, M.S.

Director of Coaching Services

Heather is unmatched in her ability to motivate clients, friends, and family members to take charge of their lives and to boldly step into their leadership.

what to do when you don't get the job

What to Do When You Don’t Get the Job

Finding a good job takes time—but also an emotional investment. After an interview goes well, you usually get psyched up and imagine yourself being offered the position. But not everyone gets the job. The sad truth is that good candidates can get passed over. Sometimes you come really close… but ultimately the position goes to the other person. The process by which employers choose employees can leave us feeling confused and, when we aren’t hired, doubting our worth, our value,…

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Image of zigzag footprints in sand.

Life Isn’t A Straight Line

Over the past few years, one of our great privileges is running small groups for women in the process of claiming their power. Taking small steps consistently over time, these women make major changes in their lives and their world.   This week, in one of these groups, one of the women talked about the surprising twists of this last year and seemed to almost feel apologetic for how difficult her life has been.  Quite often, we see our clients…

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Emotions in the workplace

Emotions in the Workplace

One of the hardest things about being human is that sometimes life hits us with very powerful and very painful experiences—emotions that we can’t just ignore.  Emotional pain is one of the great disrupters in life and in the workplace. Good leaders don’t ignore pain, but they don’t succumb to it either: they lead through it and they find ways to help others do the same. When confronted with pain, a good leader will acknowledge it and then determine the…

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Person learning to cook in kitchen.

A Great Kitchen Won’t Make You a Great Chef

We have a friend who has one of the most beautiful kitchens we’ve ever seen. This kitchen has everything: amazing appliances, workstations, lighting, and amenities. It would make professional chefs drool and is truly an inspiring sight to behold. When talking about the kitchen, we asked, “Who’s the chef?” We know that our friend (let’s call her Sara) can barely heat soup and so we were curious about who was going to be using this amazing kitchen. Sara stated, “Well,…

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Image of pencil being sharpened. - 5 Career Killing Moves

5 Career Killing Moves

We recently came upon some great research that describes the 5 habits that can derail a career. We thought this was a great list to help you as you lead and manage others. David Maxfield of VitalSmarts interviewed managers from different industries who identified the five top career killers they’ve witnessed in their employees: Being disorganized and unreliable. This person doesn’t spend the necessary amount of time planning, organizing, communicating, and coordinating with others. They fail to follow through on…

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Benefits, Concerns, Suggestions

Benefits, Concerns, and Suggestions

One of the biggest complaints we hear from people who are passionate about leading others to success is that they have trouble getting them engaged and on board with important decisions. We’re not just talking about your work team or organization, we’re also talking about your family, your friends, a board you’re a member of, etc.  So today, we want to share with you 3 simple questions that you can ask that will engage people with the decision you’re considering…

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Revealing Your Inner Beauty

We were so touched by your responses to our recent post, Broken. It’s powerful to realize that we’re all broken in life in many different ways and celebrating how we’ve put ourselves back together is an important part of honoring how our brokenness has contributed to who we are now. This week we want share with you a way to think about life’s challenges and the difference between those that get you closer to your internal beauty, and those that…

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Rules to Live By

  When Linda was in graduate school in psychology, she was influenced by an amazing family therapist, Cloé Madanes, who wrote an article on parenting that Linda found life-changing. The article talked about the fact that children deal with many rules from their parents and that those rules often change, making it extremely hard for kids to know what’s really important. Madanes suggested that parents need to land on 3-5 rules so that kids know what is expected of them, parents…

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Image by Haragayato, used under a CC 4.0 license. Kintsugi bowl with cracks filled in with gold.

Broken

Many of us spend a lot of time trying to hide the ways that we’re broken. We hide the wounds we have from our family of origin, we hide the ways we feel stupid or unsure, and we’re always trying to cover up the wrinkles and age marks that reveal that we’ve lived.   You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Of course we do!” And, it’s true that for many people it’s simply too scary to show the world your scars…

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leading when times are tough

Leading When Times Are Tough

Today we’d like you to spend some time thinking about how you can lead your life and lead in your life. Our short exercise below can help you to: live in alignment with your purpose have some influence and control over your day-to-day life have a sense of connection and camaraderie have opportunities for doing good work and believing your work is meaningful Step into your own leadership.   The power of intentionally leading in your own life gives you…

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We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders, teams, and individuals who are passionate about growing in their leadership and in their ability to create cultures of psychological safety and engagement.

We’d love to hear from you!

(503) 274-9447

letschat@carpentersmith.com