ABOUT US
Expert Advisers
Julie Cook is the Founder/CEO of Leadership Essentials. She is a learning and development professional with more than 20 years of experience in serving high-profile clients from around the world, including North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
Julie started her career in executive education at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain where she served as a Program Director and eventually the Head of Custom Programs. She also headed up business development for Thunderbird’s European operation, based in Geneva, Switzerland and was the Director of their European EMBA and the MBA European Semester Abroad. Over the years Julie has had the pleasure of working with some of the top business schools in the world, including Harvard Business School, IESE Business School, Thunderbird, The Wharton School, MIT, Stanford, and The University of Michigan on the design and delivery of development courses with impact.
On the client side, Julie has worked with public and private organizations in a broad range of industries, including McKinsey & Company, Telefonica, Bertelsmann, BMW, Danone and Deloitte. Her experience with the top management teams from some of the world’s leading companies has given her insights into the motivations of senior executives. She has also worked with a number of organizations to develop their young High Potentials.
Julie speaks English, Spanish and French and has run courses in all three languages. Over the course of her adult life she has lived in Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America. She has an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University a graduate degree in Business Administration from the IESE Business School. She is a CTI certified executive coach and has been involved in coaching for over 7 years. She is also TypeCoach and NeuroQuotient certified. Her focus throughout her career has been on supporting her individual and corporate clients to to create a real and positive impact on their lives and their organizations.
Julie is the mother of two lovely daughters. She is a dedicated runner and has completed marathons, half marathons and triathlons around the world. While far from a world-class athlete, she truly enjoys and believes in the physical and mental well-being that engaging in sport brings to her life.
Bali, Chief Napping Officer (every start-up needs a dog, right?)
Bali is the CNO of Leadership Essentials. He is a Golden Retriever that we adopted in 2017 and he is the heart and soul of the office. He started as the Chief Barking Officer, but we quickly realized he was just not cut out for that job. Luckily Bali excels at both shedding and napping and while he is also the Chief Shedding Officer, his main responsibilities fall under his title of Chief Napping Officer.
Julie first met Bali in Barcelona at the Mikkeller Bar, a favorite hangout for both of them. Bali’s friendly demeanor quickly won over anyone and everyone who came into the bar and Julie was no exception. Julie started to occasionally dog-sit when Bali’s owner would go out of town and their relationship was cemented.
Goldens are notorious for their shedding and are bad news for anyone with allergies. Sadly, Bali’s original owner could not keep him for this reason and in Sept. of 2017, Bali came to live with Julie permanently in her Barcelona apartment. The adventure continued as Leadership Essentials expanded into the US and the two moved to New York City.
Bali specializes in napping in central locations and hallways so everyone has to step over him as they go about their work. He reminds us to relax and let go of stress, to take occasional cuddle breaks and he promotes regular stretching. He is always on the front line to greet people when they come to visit the office. Each and every visitor is greeted with enthusiastic tail wagging and (lets be honest) lots of hair. Bali has instituted daily walking meetings for the management team and enjoys a good swim whenever he has the opportunity.
