Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

DISCOVER THE ROI OF Empathy.

Inspire your leaders to boost engagement, performance, and innovation by embracing practical empathy as a strategic advantage.

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Now is the time

The current market is not merely asking, but requiring that you adapt and evolve.

You need visionary and compassionate leaders. You need a high-performing and empathetic culture. You need an influential and uplifting brand.

Amid massive disruption, either/or thinking just won’t cut it. We need BOTH/AND leaders to solve complex problems.

Fortunately, winning leaders and organizations can be compassionate and competitive, ambitious and empathetic. Cultivating empathy is anything but fluff: it fosters more innovation, happier stakeholders, and lucrative bottom-line results.

Today, customers, stakeholders, and employees alike expect your company to value and model empathy – inside and out.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™.

Empathy is the new foundational standard, not a fluffy afterthought.

#1

Empathy is #1 for “new product innovation success.”

Nielsen

87%

of CEOs agree the company’s financial performance is tied to empathy.

Businessolver

92%

of team members would be more likely to stay with their company if business leaders empathized with their needs.

Businessolver

2x

Emotional connection is TWICE as valuable as customer satisfaction.

Harvard Business Review

Improve your empathy in your business or brand now and for the long-term.

My clients learn to imbue their work with compassion to create strong leaders, thriving cultures, and winning brands.

Are you ready to see how high your organization can climb when it’s supercharged by empathy? And how your people can engage and perform beyond your wildest expectations?

Let’s Talk
Just a few of the organizations that love working with Maria

Maria brings nearly 30 years of empathy-led leadership, business, and brand expertise. She has been a trusted advisor to hundreds of companies and brands, including massive global corporations, pioneering startups, and heart-centered nonprofits.

In her engaging workshops and mindset-shifting presentations she offers actionable strategies to amplify impact, and explains how compassionate business tactics will transform organizations from the inside out.

Maria can help if…

  • You want to cultivate integrity in your leadership, business, culture, and brand.
  • You want to create a business that makes a significant difference in the world.
  • You want to craft empathetic brand stories to better engage and connect.
  • You want to leverage your compassionate culture to attract and retain top talent.
  • You want to make the world a better place while still turning a healthy profit.
Speaking + Workshops
Strategic Advisory
Courses
Maria and I partnered on a global webinar on empathy. She was an incredible partner during every step of the process from the design of the session to the promotion to the actual webinar. She is proactive, brings data and stories to the audience, and is a terrific conversationalist. I highly recommend her for events and conferences – especially given the relevance of her content today.
Aaron Hurst, Founder, Imperative
Maria is both a fabulous speaker and subject matter expert on empathy in the workplace. Her style and enthusiasm kept the audience super engaged. Plus Maria shared ideas that could be implemented immediately. Thank you again, Maria. We enjoyed working with you! 
Lynn Zimmerman, Vice President of Marketing, WellRight
Maria is an engaging, inspiring speaker who brings all of her knowledge, life experience, and delightful personality to her speaking engagements. Over the course of our 3-day retreat, Maria’s presentation was the favorite of the group! She helped the group understand the business case for empathy and provided practical tools and strategies for strengthening empathy in the workplace.
Jaime Goff, PhD, SHRM-CP
Maria was our Keynote speaker at Sales Kickoff when I was at Lever. It is no small task to tackle a topic like empathy in front of over 100 sales and support folks. I could not have asked for a more engaging and relevant presentation. Having reps come up after the presentation to share their stories and gratitude for the session is more than I could have asked for.
Giorgia Ortiz, VP, Global Revenue Strategy and Enablement at Jellysmack
Maria is a great facilitator and she deftly got our diverse group talking and contributing. I’d highly recommend any start-up or fast-growth company engage with Maria to ensure they retain their “DNA” as they grow.
Sherry Lowe, CMO, Exabeam – hired Maria at Splunk and Expanse
More Happy Clients

Conversations with leaders, changemakers, and those who challenge the status quo.

The Empathy Edge Podcast
  • May 2025 Hot Take: Why Legacy Leadership is Messy

    Building leadership muscles and practicing leadership is not always pretty. It’s got to get messy if you want to master it. Nothing brought this home to me more than a recent CrossFit workout where I really started to understand the power of muscle memory and why constant skills development is required to keep yourself sharp. […]

LATEST BOOK: The Empathy DILEMMA

How successful leaders balance performance, People, and Personal Boundaries

Through Maria’s research, interviews, and practical advice, you’ll discover the Five Pillars of Effective Empathetic Leadership that enable you to balance empathy with high-performance, accountability, and your own mental health.  Endorsed by many thought leaders, including #1 NYT-bestselling author Daniel Pink as “…a refreshing and practical guide for leaders who want to make empathy more than just a buzzword…Ross provides a holistic approach to empathetic leadership that is both inspiring and achievable.”

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Expert Insights from Maria

  • Leadership isn’t Pretty. Why you have to Get Messy to Master it!
    Leadership isn’t Pretty. Why you have to Get Messy to Master it!

    A recent Crossfit workout really brought home the power of muscle memory. And why constant skills development is required to keep yourself sharp. My coach gives me some pretty tough workouts. When it pops up on my app or my coach describes in my online class, I always think to myself,“Aw, hell no!” and the…

  • Empathetic Leadership Lessons From the Ultimate Crash Course: Parenting
    Empathetic Leadership Lessons From the Ultimate Crash Course: Parenting

    Nothing has taught me more about empathy than being a parent. Full stop. And trust me, I’ve had plenty of training. I’ve studied empathy, coached it, written books about it, and spoken to rooms full of leaders about how to cultivate it. But the real crash course? That came the moment I became “Mom.” Parenting…

  • Two Articles, One Award, and One Great Deal for Your Team
    Two Articles, One Award, and One Great Deal for Your Team

    Word is spreading! Empathy is not just good for society. It’s great for business. And this message I’ve been touting for years is finally getting its time in the spotlight. Wanted to share two of my articles that appeared in the last month – and the fact that The Empathy Dilemma is now an award-winning…

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