“A master of communications helping leaders find clarity, confidence, and authenticity in moments of pressure.”
Cathal Fitzgerald, Director, LaBruin, Chairman, Arigna Group
Executive & Leadership Coach
Strategic Advisor
Leaders aren’t born—they’re built.
My coaching is grounded in a simple belief: people are naturally resourceful, creative, and whole.
I coach executives and senior leaders navigating one of the most consequential shifts in modern business: leading effectively in an AI-transformed world.
For more than 30 years, I’ve advised CEOs, C-suite executives, and global leadership teams through periods of rapid disruption — at companies like AMD, Cisco, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks. I’ve seen what separates leaders who steer transformation from those who are swept along by it. The difference is rarely technical. It’s human.
AI changes the tools of leadership. But it amplifies the need for it. The leaders who create the most value in this era will be those who build what researchers are calling “change fitness” — the organizational and personal capacity to metabolize continuous transformation. They’ll be the ones who safeguard meaning and motivation when AI risks making work feel less human. They’ll know how to sequence decisions, orchestrate complexity, and translate vision into action when the pace of change makes clarity feel impossible.
That’s what I help leaders build.
As your coach and advisor, I serve as the trusted sounding board who challenges your assumptions, surfaces your blind spots, and helps you lead with confidence, clarity, and authenticity — no matter how much the landscape shifts beneath you.
Sandra Wheatley Smerdon
Executive & Leadership Coach
Strategic Advisor
Leaders aren’t born—they’re built.
My coaching is grounded in a simple belief: people are naturally resourceful, creative, and whole. Real growth, whether in leadership, career, or life happens when values, motivations, strengths, and behavior are aligned. When they’re not, even the most accomplished leaders can feel stuck, off-balance, or out of sync.
I work with established and emerging leaders who want to gain an edge and elevate their impact or who’ve hit a bump in the road and want to show up with greater confidence, clarity, and authenticity when it matters most. I serve as a trusted sounding board – challenging assumptions, surfacing blind spots, and helping you align who you are with how you lead.
Sandra Wheatley Smerdon
Executive & Leadership Coach
Strategic Advisor
Leaders aren’t born—they’re built.
My coaching is grounded in a simple belief: people are naturally resourceful, creative, and whole. Real growth, whether in leadership, career, or life happens when values, motivations, strengths, and behavior are aligned. When they’re not, even the most accomplished leaders can feel stuck, off-balance, or out of sync.
I work with established and emerging leaders who want to gain an edge and elevate their impact or who’ve hit a bump in the road and want to show up with greater confidence, clarity, and authenticity when it matters most. I serve as a trusted sounding board – challenging assumptions, surfacing blind spots, and helping you align who you are with how you lead.
My work focuses on the moments that matter most — and in the age of AI, those moments have never been more consequential: stepping into a role where the rules keep changing, navigating a transformation your organization didn’t fully choose, making high-stakes decisions with incomplete information, or communicating with clarity when uncertainty is the only constant.
Drawing on more than 30 years advising CEOs, senior executives, and global organizations through periods of rapid technological change, I help leaders cut through the noise of an AI-saturated landscape, sharpen their thinking on what only they can own, and make better, more intentional decisions — especially when the pace of change makes that feel hardest.
My work focuses on moments that matter: stepping into a new role, navigating a leadership transition, managing complexity, or communicating under pressure.
Drawing on more than 30 years advising CEOs, senior executives, and global organizations, I help leaders cut through noise, sharpen their thinking, and make better, more intentional decisions.
My work focuses on moments that matter: stepping into a new role, navigating a leadership transition, managing complexity, or communicating under pressure.
Drawing on more than 30 years advising CEOs, senior executives, and global organizations, I help leaders cut through noise, sharpen their thinking, and make better, more intentional decisions.
About Sandra
Sandra Wheatley Smerdon is a certified Co-Active Coach and former senior communications executive with more than 30 years of experience building and leading global organizations through disruption in the high-tech industry.
She has partnered closely with CEOs and C-suite leadership teams at AMD, Cisco, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks — organizations that lived at the edge of technological change. She knows what the pressure of transformation actually feels like from inside the room.
Having led large, distributed teams across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Sandra brings rare operational depth to her coaching: she understands how leadership, culture, and communication interact at scale — and what it takes to drive clarity, accountability, and trust when the ground keeps shifting.
In an era when AI is rewiring how work gets done, Sandra’s coaching sits at the intersection of human leadership and organizational transformation. Her clients don’t just gain insight — they build the capabilities, confidence, and clarity to lead in a world that won’t slow down.
About Sandra
Sandra Wheatley Smerdon is a certified Co-Active Coach and the founder of Edge N Elevate, bringing over 30 years of experience advising some of the industry’s top CEOs, senior executives, and leading global organizations.
Her career has been defined by helping high-stakes leaders navigate the “moments that matter”—whether stepping into new roles, managing complex transitions, or communicating under pressure.
By serving as a trusted sounding board and strategic advisor, she helps accomplished professionals cut through the noise to sharpen their thinking and lead with greater intentionality.
About Sandra
Sandra Wheatley Smerdon is a certified Co-Active Coach and the founder of Edge N Elevate, bringing over 30 years of experience advising some of the industry’s top CEOs, senior executives, and leading global organizations.
Her career has been defined by helping high-stakes leaders navigate the “moments that matter”—whether stepping into new roles, managing complex transitions, or communicating under pressure.
By serving as a trusted sounding board and strategic advisor, she helps accomplished professionals cut through the noise to sharpen their thinking and lead with greater intentionality.
Coaching Approach
By focusing on what truly drives you, we help you:
Clarify goals and priorities—what really matters now
Understand how your traits and motivations shape decisions and leadership style
See how others actually experience your leadership
Strengthen self-awareness, presence, and influence
Build deep, authentic relationships and lead as your best self
This is practical, thoughtful work designed to create real change—not just insight, but action.
Coaching Approach
By focusing on what truly drives you, we help you:
Clarify goals and priorities—what really matters now
Understand how your traits and motivations shape decisions and leadership style
See how others actually experience your leadership
Strengthen self-awareness, presence, and influence
Build deep, authentic relationships and lead as your best self
This is practical, thoughtful work designed to create real change—not just insight, but action.
Coaching Approach
By focusing on what truly drives you, we help you:
Clarify goals and priorities—what really matters now
Understand how your traits and motivations shape decisions and leadership style
See how others actually experience your leadership
Strengthen self-awareness, presence, and influence
Build deep, authentic relationships and lead as your best self
This is practical, thoughtful work designed to create real change—not just insight, but action.
Coaching Services
Executive Coaching/Advisor
Whether you are a seasoned executive or new to the role, navigating a critical transition, or recalibrating your impact in a shifting landscape, executive coaching gives you the space to step back, gain perspective, and lead with greater intentionality. I work with seasoned and emerging executives to strengthen presence, sharpen decision-making, and lead with authenticity under pressure.
Leadership Coaching
The skills that made you effective yesterday may not be the skills that will matter tomorrow. Leadership coaching helps you develop the mindset, emotional intelligence, and adaptive behaviors required to lead in complex, ambiguous, and fast-moving environments.
Communications Coaching
When things are uncertain, people look to leaders for clarity. Communications coaching builds the presence, confidence, and precision to communicate with impact — in the boardroom, with your team, and in the public moments that define your reputation.
Where Human Potential Meets AI – Coaching Workshops
AI isn’t here to replace you — it’s here to amplify you. Edge N Elevate’s AI Coaching Workshops bridge the gap between human potential and intelligent technology, empowering you to think bigger, move faster, and lead with confidence in an AI-driven world.
Coaching Services
Executive Coaching/Advisor
Whether you are a seasoned executive or newly stepping into the role, coaching builds confidence, sharpens decision-making, and strengthens emotional intelligence. Executive coaching provides a confidential space to step back from the daily pressures of leadership and gain perspective. I work with executives to help them strengthen their leadership presence and influence, lead with authenticity, and navigate change with conviction.
Leadership Coaching
Leadership is a skill that evolves over time. Whether you are stepping into a new management role, preparing for greater responsibility, or looking to strengthen your impact, leadership coaching helps you develop the mindset and behaviors required to lead effectively.
I help leaders gain greater self-awareness, discover blind spots and learn how their leadership style influences team performance and culture. I also work with leaders to integrate their personal values, leadership identity and strategic goals so that they create environments where people can thrive and drive results.
Communications Coaching
Speak with confidence. Connect with impact. Strengthen communication in executive, professional, and public-facing moments. We focus on clarity, presence, and influence—helping you communicate authentically, lead decisively, and be heard when it counts.
Reinvention and Transition Coaching
Whether you are ending a corporate career or seeking a new chapter in life, coaching provides structured space to reflect, explore new possibilities and build a plan for the next phase. Together, we will explore and identify new ways to stay intellectually engaged while building a life that feels balanced and fulfilling.
Who Benefits
C-suite seeking to elevate leadership effectiveness, decision-making, and impact
High-performers at a crossroads and questioning what’s next or the way forward
Individuals navigating change—or ready to move forward with confidence and clarity
People feeling out of sync with their values and goals – sensing something needs to change
Who Benefits
C-suite seeking to elevate leadership effectiveness, decision-making, and impact
Individuals navigating change—or ready to move forward with confidence and clarity
High-performers at a crossroads and questioning what’s next or the way forward
People feeling out of sync with their values and goals – sensing something needs to change
Who Benefits
C-suite seeking to elevate leadership effectiveness, decision-making, and impact
High-performers at a crossroads and questioning what’s next or the way forward
Individuals navigating change—or ready to move forward with confidence and clarity
People feeling out of sync with their values and goals – sensing something needs to change
Elevated Results
“During my time working together, Sandra demonstrated an extraordinary ability to cut through noise and bring focus, confidence, and intention to high-stakes leadership moments.”
Michelle Spolver, Chief Communications and Investor Relations Officer, Netskope
“Sandra brings rare clarity to complex situations. She asks the right questions, challenges assumptions, and helps leaders see what truly matters.“
Ian Whiting, Chief Revenue Officer, Azul Systems
Elevated Results
“A master of communications helping leaders find clarity, confidence, and authenticity in moments of pressure.”
Cathal Fitzgerald, Director, LaBruin, Chairman, Arigna Group
“During my time working together, Sandra demonstrated an extraordinary ability to cut through noise and bring focus, confidence, and intention to high-stakes leadership moments.”
Michelle Spolver, Chief Communications and Investor Relations Officer, Netskope
Elevated Results
“A master of communications helping leaders find clarity, confidence, and authenticity in moments of pressure.”
Cathal Fitzgerald, Director, LaBruin, Chairman, Arigna Group
“During my time working together, Sandra demonstrated an extraordinary ability to cut through noise and bring focus, confidence, and intention to high-stakes leadership moments.”
Michelle Spolver, Chief Communications and Investor Relations Officer, Netskope
“Sandra brings rare clarity to complex situations. She asks the right questions, challenges assumptions, and helps leaders see what truly matters.“
Ian Whiting, Chief Revenue Officer, Azul Systems
Ready To Elevate Your Impact?
As your coach, I’m fully invested in your success. I’m not here to hand out advice—I’m here to be a catalyst for growth. I hold you accountable, push when needed, and create space for honest reflection, so you can lead with intention, authenticity, and measurable impact.
Ready To Elevate Your Impact?
As your coach, I’m fully invested in your success. I’m not here to hand out advice—I’m here to be a catalyst for growth. I hold you accountable, push when needed, and create space for honest reflection, so you can lead with intention, authenticity, and measurable impact.
Ready To Elevate Your Impact?
As your coach, I’m fully invested in your success. I’m not here to hand out advice—I’m here to be a catalyst for growth. I hold you accountable, push when needed, and create space for honest reflection, so you can lead with intention, authenticity, and measurable impact.