HELLO, I'M PAULA
Strategist · Author · Speaker
My Credentials
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MBA, International Business – Strayer University
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MS, Organizational Leadership – Colorado State University Global
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Certification in Entrepreneurship – Yale School of Management
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Certification in Leadership Development – Georgia State University
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Certification in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – University of South Florida
The Work Behind the Work
Our destination is Leadership & Wealth Alchemy™ — where soul meets strategy, wisdom becomes wealth, and legacy is built by design.
My career has not followed a straight line. It has been shaped by layered experience, corporate disruption, personal transitions, and sustained leadership.
After a corporate downsizing, I went to get a business loan and left with a contract to build a program for women business owners. That moment clarified my path. What looked like disruption was, in fact direction. The space between who I had been and what I was stepping into was not a gap. It was an asset.
That insight became The Gold Is in the Gap™.
For more than 27 years, I have advised senior leaders, business owners, and accomplished women at critical inflection points — what I define as The MidTime™: the strategic passage between established success and what comes next.
My work lives at the intersection of identity, strategy, and legacy. I do not position leaders to start over. I position them to use the full weight of their experience to build what is next.
Through The Gold Is in the Gap™ Methodology, I identify where experience, identity, and opportunity converge to create a precise path forward.
This methodology is delivered through two pathways:
The Encore Bridge — For accomplished women 50+ focused on purpose, financial resilience, and legacy.
The Leadership Bridge — For senior leaders, executives, and business owners navigating continued relevance and expansion at the highest levels.
Each engagement begins with The Golden Gap Compass™, a strategic diagnostic that clarifies position, direction, and what is required now.
The Story Behind the Work
I come from a lineage of women who were pathmakers — women who moved forward without waiting for permission.
My great-grandmother graduated college in 1894 cum laude, an early example of the legacy of education and excellence that runs through my family. My grandmother, a Juilliard-trained pianist, became a real estate broker who helped Black families secure homeownership when access was denied. Her own family’s home had to be purchased through an attorney. My mother became the first woman manager in a major bank branch and the only other women were tellers.
That lineage informs my work.
I did not arrive here by accident, but through lived experience — navigating disruption, rebuilding, and leading through complexity. I am its continuation.
The MidTime™ is not theoretical. It is a strategic crossing I have navigated personally.
MANIFESTO
MANIFESTO
I believe...
Experience is not baggage, it is our greatest strategic asset. Everything we have navigated — the setbacks, the pivots, the chapters that did not go as planned, is not just our history.
It is our gold.
I believe meaningful impact requires moving forward, even when things feel uncertain. We must stop rehearsing readiness. Begin with what you have and refine as you go.
I believe legacy is not a retirement conversation. It is something we build from the very beginning. Ask yourself early and often: What am I building that extends beyond my direct presence?
I believe the leaders who create the most profound impact are not always the loudest or the fastest. They are the ones who lead with clarity, act with intention, and build with both today and tomorrow in view.
Your gold is in your gap. Let’s cross it together.
Where Soul Meets Strategy… Wisdom Becomes Wealth™
"What stands out about Paula is not simply her ability to speak, but her ability to see. She speaks directly to the inflection point where accomplished women begin asking themselves, ‘What now?’ and ‘Who am I becoming beyond the roles I have fulfilled for others?’ What Paula delivers is not merely encouragement, it is perspective, permission, and a pathway forward."
— Frances M. Strickland, Founder & CEO