Testimonials
Ryan Schneider
CEO Anywhere Real Estate Inc.
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It is incredibly easy for successful executives to continue their careers ‘as is’. It is incredibly hard in the midst of success to step back, to take a fresh perspective on what your passions are, and to chart a different course. eTc and Fred take that daunting challenge and make it exciting and motivating. The series of well-structured exercises combined with Fred’s experienced direction creates an environment where a motivated executive can quickly step back and assess what he/she is really excited to do, and to create a plan to bring it to life.
In my case after eight years in the same role with a great company I knew I needed a change, but did not know how to step away from the day-to-day success and satisfaction of the current role. Fred and eTc gave me a process to better understand what drives and excites me, and taught me practical skills I could start using to grow and develop. I used my eTc results to explore 5 CEO opportunities in new industries and was offered three jobs, one of which I accepted.
I would highly recommend eTc for any motivated leader looking to explore what’s next.
Renee Mauldin
Chief People Officer Project44
eTc has been an invaluable resource for me since 2018. Their unique blend of experienced and talented coaches combined with a cutting edge coaching and mentoring platform has made them a critical partner in the development of senior level talent.
In addition to leveraging eTc for company-wide executive development, Fred has been my mentor and coach. His experience as a Senior HR leader (at ExxonMobil, Capital One and Under Armour) coupled with a pragmatic approach are incredibly effective. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone better.
David Velez
CEO Nubank
Since 2019, Fred and his eTc coaches have been instrumental in developing Nubank's senior leaders. From new leader assimilation to 360 feedback to executive coaching and mentoring using eTc's proprietary portal, eTc has helped us further develop our Management Team members into some of the best in the FinTech industry.
I would highly recommend eTc for any CEO looking to turbo-charge the development of their senior executives.
Ted Gayer
President of the Niskanen Center
Working with Melody at eTc was an incredibly informative, enjoyable, and helpful experience. Her personalized approach and insightful guidance prepared me to evaluate my career options and decide on my transition. Her use of the structured eTc program and her practical tools helped me understand my skills and interests, clarify my goals, and develop a clear plan. Her extensive experience and empathetic understanding made each session valuable and enjoyable. I highly recommend Melody to any executive seeking coaching to navigate professional challenges and transitions, and to achieve personal growth.
Alethia Baggett
Chief Human Resources Officer,
American Bankers Association
From our very first introduction two years ago, I knew I would find a way to leverage Fred for the development of staff at ABA. It only took one conversation to realize his passion for learning and development. But what really piqued my interest was his innovative approach. It was during that conversation that I learned about eTc's mentoring platform. I was immediately intrigued. Mentoring is something I’ve tried to tackle in every organization I’ve worked with since the early days of my career, and I’ve never seen it done well. Within weeks we had our first pilot program. I can’t say enough positive things about eTc's platform and Fred’s engagement throughout the entire process. The program is structured and provides a clear roadmap for both mentee and mentor. It’s the first time in my career that I have been able to truly sustain a mentoring program and the impact on our mentees and mentors has been transformative. I have now achieved the trifecta with Fred and eTc by leveraging them for mentoring, career transitioning, and executive coaching. I feel privileged for the opportunity to build this partnership and can attest to the impact eTc has had on our executives and overall organization.
Ann Rodriguez
SVP, League Operations & Strategic Projects, WNBA
eTc really helped focus on my strengths, passions and values and to develop a filter through which I could quickly evaluate a variety of opportunities. I especially liked the structure of the program – the process and the system were very easy to use and highly efficient. The combination of completing activities on the online portal and in-person (or on the phone) dialogue worked well with my busy schedule.
Jeff Goldberg
Editor in Chief, The Atlantic
Fred Knowles has been hugely valuable to me in so many ways it's hard to count. He's helped me understand my strengths and my weaknesses (he somehow made that second category less painful than it sounds); he helped me understand everything from time management to strategic (and career) planning; and he proved to be an indispensable sounding board for all manner of management challenges. No problem set is new to Fred; he's seen most everything, and brings his experience and wisdom to every challenge, large and small. Ultimately, I have to let others judge whether I'm successful in my role, but to the extent that I am, Fred deserves a large portion of the credit.
Working with eTc and Fred Knowles was one of the most valuable executive coaching engagements throughout my career. eTc’s coaching process is geared towards using data to inform areas to focus on as well as measure progress. The framework eTc used was both structured as well as personalized. I also found Fred to be very insightful given his extensive HR background and work with different executives across various industries. I would highly recommend Fred and eTc to senior executives eager to continue to invest in personal and professional growth.
Dalia Powers
SVP and Chief Information Officer, Humana
Neal Dittersdorf
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, iCiMS, Inc.
eTc is a unique transition coaching program designed specifically for executives looking to get more out of their ‘career’. If you put in the work and follow the regime, you will benefit from a remarkably predictive tool that is valuable for not just one career transition but your long-term career direction. You will have access to a well-designed interface, a terrific coach, and logical progression to much greater clarity about your path.
In my experience, coaching can very easily fall back to platitudes or strict "one-size fits all" programs. My experience with eTc was the complete opposite. eTc provided a balanced combination of facilitating an internal journey of self-discovery with a very practical set of tools to become a more effective and influential executive. During the program I was capable of clearly identifying, internalizing, and leveraging my strengths to accomplish my objectives. Additionally, I became familiar with a series of tools, concepts, and frameworks that gave me much more confidence to perform my role, giving me a newfound sense of control while managing a large organization.
Vitor Olivier
Management Committee Member and Chief Technology Officer, Nubank
I was introduced to Fred and eTc at a pivotal moment in my career journey. The program provided needed clarity about career direction that is often hard to find. First, eTc gave structure to the process of defining what really matters to me in my professional life, in a way that was both effective and simple. It was powerful to put on “paper” what was important to me across my values, strengths and passions. Second, eTc built upon those definitions and provided a framework to objectively assess opportunities based on these qualities. The program felt both structured and personalized, and was truly completed at my needed pace. I had a baby in the middle of the program and Fred completely tailored eTc around that. After leveraging eTc to make a key career decision a year ago, I still find myself reflecting back on the program.
Lindsay Petrovic
VP and Head of Product Management at NCR VOYIX
Fred Knowles has been a fantastic coach. I was going through a huge transition and experiencing the first big success in my career when I started working with Fred. He helped me identify and focus on what really mattered to me in my career, rather than allowing the situation to sweep me away. When things were not going well, Fred served as a balancing force on my mindset.
Working with Fred felt structured without being formulaic. He took the time to deeply understand me and my team. Fred helped me grow to be a better manager and a better individual contributor to my team. I have referred several colleagues to work with Fred.
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Tushar Jain
Managing Partner
Multicoin Capital
eTc was massively impactful in shaping my transition. After a long structured career as a Tech Executive, I knew I wanted to make a change to pursue my passions, but the options felt complex and overwhelming. Working with eTc was very human, guiding me through my values and passions, yet also analytical and geared to an executive mindset.
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eTc's insights into how executives think and the valuable questions, along with the methodology, made this a unique and effective approach. I ended the transition with not only a plan, but a framework by which to evaluate future decisions.
Julie Elberfeld
CEO Women Who Code
I had the opportunity to meet and work with Howard during my tenure as the Chief Product Officer of Anywhere Real Estate. As I was vetting through the various coaches available, I found Howard’s communications style resonated with me as he’s a great listener and seemed to have exceptional emotional intelligence (EQ). His ability to understand and empathize with my emotions, challenges and aspirations was remarkable. Couple this with eTc's practical set of tools, strategies and frameworks that I could immediately put to use made for a powerful combination. In addition, his communication style was both engaging and thought-provoking. He used active listening, open-ended questions and storytelling to highlight insights into myself and leadership style. I wholeheartedly recommend Howard Allentoff as an executive coach to anyone seeking to unlock their potential and achieve their leadership aspirations. His high EQ, engaging communication style, and tailored approach make him an invaluable asset to any professional looking to grow and succeed.
Tony Kueh
Former Chief Product Officer
Anywhere Real Estate Inc.
Melody is an outstanding executive coach and my engagement with eTc’s career transition resources yielded powerful insights about my professional, and personal, motivations and interests. The structured process and deeply reflective experience helped me move beyond the many “could do” career choices to the right “should do” professional next step. I continue to utilize the knowledge I gained to guide my career and to support my ongoing growth as a leader. I highly recommend eTC resources for any executive seeking professional growth or navigating a career transition.
Andrew Blaisdell
CEO and Founder FXI Partners
Former CAO Silverline Technologies​
Stepping away from a successful 40-year career to search for my next ‘success curve’ was daunting until I was referred to eTc and Fred Knowles. Fred used eTc’s coaching framework to help me build a portfolio of activities that allow me to make things fairer and give back while ensuring I have time to do the things I love, namely spending time with my family, traveling, reading, and playing tennis.
Fred was very insightful, which is not surprising given his extensive background working with different executives across various industries. The eTc framework is structured, yet personalized, and helped me identify those times in my career when I was really in ‘flow’ and enjoying my work so much that I lost track of time. I now have a framework for identifying similar activities that will hopefully give me just as much joy. I highly recommend Fred and eTc to any motivated senior executive eager to find their encore career.
Michael G Bradley
Former SVP of Models and Analytics
Freddie Mac​
The work I partnered with Fred on has been transformative. Not only has he been a very effective coach in my transition to a new company, his direct engagement with my leadership team has allowed me to augment the impact to the people, the function and the business. The additional insight he has been able to provide as a result has made me even more effective. I can’t recommend his grounded business and people centric approaches and leadership coaching enough.
Giovani Totini
Chief People Officer​
Chainlink Labs