Executive Coach for Tech Leaders

Former Google and Adobe Senior Director helping tech leaders navigate leadership, scale, and executive performance.

About Julie

Julie Gustin - Executive leadership coach for tech directors and VPs, professional portrait outdoors

Experience

25+ years advising and operating inside multi-billion-dollar businesses.

Wall Street
Morgan Stanley trader. Later advised Goldman Sachs leadership on business-critical risk and operations.

Big Tech
Director at Google and Senior Director at Adobe. Led 100+ person teams and operated businesses up to $12B. Evaluated hiring, leveling, and promotion decisions at scale.

Today
I advise leaders on high-stakes decisions, performance under pressure, and operating effectively at scale.

Strategic Leadership

Decision-making, stakeholder management, influence, and leading through complexity.

Leading Through Complexity

Executive Judgement

How I Help

Private coaching for directors and VPs building the critical leadership skills.

Executive Presence

Sharper communication, steadiness under pressure, and stronger trust in senior rooms.

Executive Presence

Executive Communication

Leading Teams

How your team experiences you, delegation, followership, and leading without creating unnecessary stress.

How Your Team Sees You

Managing at Scale

Career Strategy

Executive interviews, promotion strategies, and winning the first 90 days.

The First 90 Days in a New Role

Executive Interview Prep

Promotion Strategy

Also available

Workshops for organizations, selective advisory support, and targeted sessions for specific leadership challenges.

Executive coach Julie Gustin helping senior tech leaders with interview prep and promotion strategy

How I Work

Many traditional coaching models rely primarily on reflection and open-ended questions.

But many leadership problems are not insight gaps. They are capability gaps.

If you have never been taught how to design an organization, manage senior stakeholders, translate feedback into promotable action, or navigate political dynamics, reflection alone will not close the gap.

My work is practical and based in accelerated skill development. I diagnose the real issue, tell you what I see, and help you grow the tools and judgement needed to perform at the next level.

My style is direct, candid, and fully invested in your success.

What Leaders Say

Julie’s interview prep was key to landing my role at OpenAI. Instead of generic 'book advice', she provides highly practical, real-world feedback drawn from her own experience as a tech leader. Her tips were immediately applicable and gave me the confidence I needed.
Director, Data Science
OpenAI (formerly Google)
Working closely with Julie at Google, I saw how effectively she leads in complex organizations. She combines strong operational judgment with a deep understanding of how large companies evaluate and develop leaders. Julie is unusually direct and always tells it like it is. She sets a high and clear bar for how leaders should show up.
VP, GM
Google
I worked for Julie at Adobe. She is incredibly direct and will tell you the things that no one else will say out loud. Now that she’s also my coach, I appreciate that clarity even more.
Director, Program Management
Adobe
Julie is a rare strategic executor: someone who combines sharp strategy with exceptional execution. She not only operates this way herself, but also helps others build the same capability. Any leader or organization would be lucky to have her support.
VP, GM
IBM (formerly Google)
Julie’s coaching was invaluable as I stepped into an expanded strategy and operations role. Her sessions were remarkably efficient, and her candor and flexibility helped me navigate this inflection point with clarity and confidence.
Director, Chief of Staff
Netflix
I partnered closely with Julie at Adobe and saw firsthand how exceptional she is at seeing a leader’s strengths against the full picture: who they are, what they can bring, and the complexity of the system they're operating in. Julie helps people win within the world as it actually is. And when something isn't working — when someone isn’t serving themselves or the system isn't serving them — she has the rare ability to deliver that insight clearly, and with real care.
Senior Director, HR
Adobe
Julie brings a rare ability to understand both the broader system and the people within it, helping leaders see what it truly takes to operate and lead effectively at scale.
Director, UX
Roblox (formerly Google)
I had a great experience working with Julie while preparing for an important interview. She quickly understood my background and helped me refine my story and communicate my impact more clearly. The mock interview and feedback were incredibly valuable.
Principal, Program Manager
Adobe
Julie’s interview prep is exceptional. Practicing with someone who has actually run hiring and promotion processes at scale is very different from preparing on your own. Her feedback and preparation guide left me confident and ready, and the interviews went extremely well.
Staff, Technical Account Manager
Google

FAQ

I’m typically a best fit for senior leaders operating in complex organizations—Directors, VPs, and experienced operators responsible for large teams and high-impact decisions. My clients span all functions: product, engineering, research science, program/operations, marketing, communications, and GMs.
Clients often reach out when their role has expanded or they are navigating a major transition. They may be scaling an organization, leading through multiple layers of leaders, or shaping how teams and product areas operate as they grow. Sometimes they’re trying to make sense of difficult feedback or a challenging situation at work.
I like to start with a short conversation about what you’re navigating. From there we focus on the capabilities you need to develop and the organizational system you’re operating in. The goal is that you leave with practical skills you can apply immediately and a clearer understanding of how you fit into the organization - and how the organization experiences you.
Before becoming an advisor, I spent more than two decades leading organizations across Wall Street and Big Tech, including senior leadership roles at Google and Adobe. I’ve been in the rooms where big decisions are made, and that perspective shapes how I work with leaders today.
It depends on what someone is trying to accomplish and their time horizon. Some engagements are short and focused on a specific situation, while others continue as leaders grow into larger roles or more complex environments. When someone is developing a new capability, our work often follows a simple rhythm - learn something, apply it in the role, and come back to refine it.
My style is direct and practical. I often say the things you may already suspect but no one has been willing to say out loud - the expectations, norms, and dynamics that shape how leaders are evaluated.
Drawing on years of corporate leadership experience, I share what I’ve learned about executive communication and presence, promotion and hiring in big tech, people management and scaling, operational rigor, and running large businesses - so leaders can develop those capabilities more quickly.

Getting Started

Email me at julie@gustinstudio.com to start the conversation