Seven years into my career in tech, I came to Brandy feeling stuck, unfulfilled, and genuinely lost about what kind of move to make next. I had passions and ideas but no framework for sorting through them. That's exactly where Brandy excels. She brought structured thinking and concrete frameworks to our sessions that helped me cut through the noise and actually make decisions. Beyond being an incredibly capable and intelligent individual, Brandy is kind, funny, and understanding. The progress I've made has been remarkable. I'm now actively prototyping different career paths at once: pursuing a Master's in Art Therapy, working at a high school in San Francisco, and doing strategy & operations consulting for Planned Parenthood affiliates. I was hesitant to invest in coaching, but I no longer have any reservations about that decision. If you're feeling confused, stuck, or unsure of where you want to go, I can't recommend Brandy highly enough. read more

I've been entrenched in a years-long rut and reached out to Brandy to help me get unstuck. Just ten weeks after my first session with her, I've already made huge strides toward a life that is more intentional and in alignment with my values. I'm all around feeling more ease and infinitely less stress and anxiety, even knowing that there are still some difficult decisions ahead. Brandy has given me practical and actionable advice with equal parts encouragement and nudging me toward what I want for myself. I look forward to our sessions - they tend to lead me down a path that I wasn't expecting, in the best way possible. She's empowering, smart, intuitive, and organized. I highly recommend Brandy if you want to move toward a more intentional life that reflects what you want for yourself and need a coach and cheerleader encouraging you along the way. read more

Brandy is incredibly organized and comes to every session prepared with frameworks, questions, and resources. She has a real gift for asking the kind of thoughtful, direct questions that help you get to the heart of what matters -- whether you're shaping a strategy, navigating a tough decision, or clarifying your next step. Each session felt productive and action-oriented, but never rushed. I always left feeling like I had made progress. Brandy also shared great tools and templates that helped me take the conversation further between sessions. If you're looking for a coach who brings clarity, structure, and insight -- and genuinely wants to see you grow -- I can't recommend Brandy enough. read more

When I started working with Brandy, I was extremely lost. I had worked as a Software Engineer for almost 7 years at that point and after getting laid off, all I knew was that I did not want to work in tech any longer. After months of trying to figure out what to do I found Brandy online and started working with her. She has a method to approaching these problems that is very organized but also very flexible. The structure she provided and the freedom for me to focus on what was important to me really helped me figure out my next steps of my life/career! I am truly excited for my future now and looking forward to returning to grad school to continue my education and change my career path. And I couldn't have done it without Brandy! read more

I sought out Brandy's help as I was looking to both change my career focus and expand my work. I had a lot of fear, inertia and overwhelm. Brandy provided a framework in our first session that resonated with my values and allayed my concerns that I would be encouraged to pursue a direction I didn't want. I now have a clear plan with obtainable goals that I am excited about. But honestly, the best part is that Brandy is warm and wise, and I find it enormously enjoyable to do this work with her. She is very organized and a great resource. I look forward to our sessions so much! read more

I've benefited incredibly from working with Brandy - I started working with her several months ago, when I decided I needed to take a more strategic and reflective approach to my job search and job change strategy. She's since helped me to expand my horizon of possibility and to invest more time in cultivating my sense of interest and passion in what I want to do. Our conversations have ranged from the immediate and practical to the long-term and philosophical - while I initially was skeptical of the value of career coaching, her dedication, commitment, and incisiveness have proven their value to me. read more

I've been working with Brandy on and off for almost three years, and I can confidently say that she's been a game-changer in my life. I was reluctant about the value of coaching initially and interviewed many before meeting Brandy, but from the start, I felt she was different from the rest: super smart, kind, genuine, and she really understood the unique challenges of being a high-achieving, professional mom who's also searching for balance in life. The first time I worked with her, I needed help launching a business idea, and Brandy was the reason I was able to get it off the ground (and then recognize I didn't want to do it anymore!). The second time, it was more about finding balance and peace in my life, and again, she was instrumental in helping me reach that place. I've just started working with her for a third time on a new project with my partner, and he's been equally impressed. Brandy's ability to help us organize our thoughts, set clear goals, and hold us accountable has already proved invaluable. Beyond the major milestones, Brandy's tips on small but impactful things--like setting up a better to-do list system or simplifying parenting tasks--have made a huge difference in my day-to-day life. I feel truly blessed to have found her and can't recommend her enough to anyone seeking a coach who genuinely cares and delivers results. read more

I highly recommend working with Brandy! When we started working together, I was feeling really lost regarding my career trajectory; I was working really hard but didn't feel that I was moving forward at all. Brandy helped me figure out a few small but concrete steps to take, allowing me to reclaim some of my time. This reclaimed time can now be used to further work on solidifying my purpose - both professionally and personally! I am much happier since I started working with Brandy. Not only has she been a huge help as I mentioned, but she is also just a kind, compassionate, and overall awesome person to work with. I genuinely look forward to chatting with her each week :) I highly recommend her services - it is so worth the investment! read more

Brandy is passionate and committed to her practice, I have had wonderful experiences while meeting with her throughout the year for career coaching. She is warm, kind, astute, and tenacious. In my experience with Life By Design coaching, Brandy uses her authority, passion, and experience in this field to offer a lot of wisdom and truth to the career situations I am going through. She will also come alongside you and be your partner, counselor, advocate, and confidant in your career search. Brandy pushes you when you need some tough love ;) and is dedicated to helping her clients feel empowered and realize the inherent value we all have as humans. Now, I am confident that I don't need to settle for a job that doesn't meet my needs, and that everyone deserves a healthy work environment! Additionally, Brandy has expertly counseled me through some pretty negative and hostile job situations, and she is equally as dedicated to celebrating the successes I am experiencing in my career journey. 10/10 would recommend her services. read more

Brandy is incredible. After every session, I walk away with tangible tools and insight. I feel like I've made more progress with her than with any other coach I have worked with. Highly recommend! read more

I'm so grateful to work with Brandy as my coach for the past few months. She has helped me transition in my early career life from Phd to industry, and deal with burnt out from covid wfh. I was struggling with the skill gap and the mindset gap between academia and industry and have been juggling too much with so little return for developing my long term passion at work. She truly listens and cares and is full of passion to connect and share. She does not avoid complications and helps me entangle and prioritize mixed lines of thoughts quickly. Super organized! Inspired by her ways and spirits of working, I have gained much more confidence and courage as well as practical skills to communicate complications and conflicts, advocate for myself (being authentic!), plan more focuses efforts around my passion and interests in the workplace. Thank you for helping me find my voice! read more

I started working with Brandy in December when I was thinking about changing industries and needed some guidance. Luckily for me, Brandy is an expert at career changes and was able to help me build my personal brand so that I would look attractive to potential employers. The tools and exercises that Brandy utilizes helped me a lot by refining my personal brand and picking out my strong experiences so that I stand out as an applicant. After a couple months of working with Brandy, I landed a position with a company that I have always looked up to. I would not have been able to have the confidence to apply and interview without Brandy's support. I highly recommend Brandy to anyone who feels stuck and needs someone to guide them through the process of a career change read more

I knew Brandy was exactly the type of coach I was looking for the moment I met her. She had a clear plan and effective process in helping me set my vision and professional goals. I've been able to put my dreams into action and I know it's because of the work that I did with Brandy. Thank you, Brandy! ​ read more

I'm so grateful to have found Brandy and had the opportunity to work with her. I started our sessions with a complete lack of clarity around what I was truly inspired by, passionate about and wanting to pursue in a potential career choice. Brandy was the guiding force I've never had and always needed. She's proactive yet gentle, a visionary yet realist. After a few sessions, she helped me surface a career field that blends the essential skills and passions I was most interested in; truth be told, I never even knew this job or career field existed! Brandy also helped me to identify the different paths forward to achieve them with an actionable step-by-step plan. I can say with 100% confidence that you will find significant value when working with Brandy and open the door to so many new and exciting future opportunities with what feels like a long time friend by your side. read more

Brandy has been a bright light in my life! I came to work with Brandy as a stressed out, people pleasing, perfectionist and am now aware of and feel in control of my future and my time. Brandy is a wonderful coach, and after working with her for over 5 years I can highly recommend her!! read more

Brandy is an exceptional Life Coach and I would highly recommend her to anyone navigating career and/or life transitions. I worked with Brandy on a career pivot when relocating to a new city as well as on my doctoral research strategy. What distinguishes Brandy is her sheer intelligence, outstanding listening skills, ability to discern subtle details and themes, and create an environment conducive to meaningful self reflection. She effectively challenged my thinking, offering keen insights and ready access to useful resources to assist with refining my research and choosing a new career path. Her flexible service delivery model has allowed me to address challenges as they arise, and circle back for check-ins as needed. Brandy is able to very quickly get to the heart of a matter and provide sage, well-supported advice. For those undergoing transitions or seeking clarity in any facet of their life, there is no better sounding board and thought partner than Brandy. read more

Brandy really helped me spell out my values, priorities, goals and career interests. thanks to her, it felt easier to assess and judge offers and make a big pivot! thank you Brandy! read more

During my first session with Brandy, I immediately felt home. I don't know what it is, but her coaching style is one that's rooted in peace, freedom, and sincerity. I felt like I can tell her anything, and it's almost as if I were talking to a life-long friend. Her coaching doesn't stop at the end of the hour either. After each session, Brandy's always there to help or serve when I text or email her with something I'm having trouble with. Initially, I went in for her to uncover my blind spots, and even though she didn't say, "Josh, X, Y, Z are your blind spots," after each session, I'm always amazed at what I haven't been able to see myself. That being said, she's definitely given me what I was looking for, but more importantly, she's transformed my emotional, mental, and spiritual life. One thing to remember, though, is coaching is really a two-way street. At the end of the day, YOU have to put in the work and effort to further your own growth. If you don't care about your own growth, it doesn't matter how great your coach is... you will never grow. Brandy's job is to be the guiding light for your life, but it's you who still have to walk the path at the end of the day. That being said, Brandy will do whatever it takes to serve you, and it's something I always take comfort in whenever I go in to see her. read more

I'm generally someone who practices the doctrine of self-reliance. When it came to the idea of coaching, I was very much a skeptic.. That was, at first. I had just quit my job of 6 years and was going through a transition when my brother recommended I take some time to talk to someone to thoughtfully plan my next steps in my career; I had spent the better part of my career being unhappy with my circumstances but never took any action to change them. My brother, a few months into his session with Brandy, highly recommend I schedule a consultation. It took a me a few months, but I reluctantly conceded. It couldn't hurt, right? During my consultation, we did a handful of thought exercises for Brandy to get an understanding of my situation and distill it key characteristics of my job that were important to me. She then walked me through the coaching process and we talked through creating a vision and breaking down the obstacles in the way of achieving that vision into smaller, actionable items. We ended the session with a review of topics we discussed and identifying things I could immediately put into practice before our next session, and just like that, I started getting coached! Brandy is very thoughtful and attentive in her sessions. More than just regurgitating instructions on how to live your life better, she carefully guides you through the all the noise in your own thoughts and helps identify things you can put into practice today, to make progress towards your life goals. Before Life by Design, pivoting my career or making any major life changes seemed to big and daunting, or requiring too much time commitment that I could afford. Talking things through with Brandy helps me cut through my own bull-malarkey and gets me on track to making change happen, now. read more

When I first started working with Brandy, I was staring down a mountain of "adulting" tasks and projects that had built up during Covid and post-Covid burnout. I was struggling to even get started given how overwhelmed I felt. Within weeks, Brandy helped me put a system in place that enabled me to prioritize what needed to get done, break large projects down into manageable steps, allocate time to do them in a way that didn't jeopardize my work or important creative side projects, and actually get the most onerous items completed and off my plate. I cannot thank you enough, Brandy!!! Not only have I made significant progress in completing these projects, as someone who has always struggled with feeling disorganized, I now have a system in place that will enable me to stay on top of things in a much more organized and efficient way in the future. read more

Brandy has the invaluable knack for asking insightful questions that help me delve deeper into whatever issue I am facing during our session. She always listens to me intently and transforms my disjointed ideas into the most salient points. She has the gift of sifting through my rambling, identifies my larger vision, and helps craft an action plan to achieve my goals. Our conversations have helped me to identify and combat negative patterns of thought that were holding me back from dreaming bigger about my career. She has helped me with countless cover letters and resume revisions as I made two career changes. Instead of safe options, she is always pushing me to think unconventionally. She's also given me dynamic assessment tools to hone-in on my innate strengths and passions. Brandy has helped me tremendously. In times of success, she pushes me to strive to even greater heights. In times of crises, her calming presence brings me peace and she equips me with the tools to press on. Brandy has helped me to design, re-design, and tweak my habits and thoughts to support my life vision. I wish I could give Brandy 10 stars as she continues to surprise me with her ability to coach me into a better version of myself every session! read more

I am grateful to have met Brandy. I am a teacher who is ready for a career change. I have pursued many interests in my life, but have never had clarity as to how my strengths, skills, and interests align with my career. Brandy's coaching was highly effective in helping me sort out my motivations, and in reframing my perspective in a positive light as I explore the options before me. While the prospect of entering into a new career felt ominous and overwhelming to me, with Brandy's help, I now feel excited and optimistic about my career search. I have a new clarity with which to proceed toward my goals. read more

Put succinctly, Brandy is brilliant at what she does. I came to Brandy with the seed of an idea that I wanted to transform my hobby into a small business. She helped me break down what was a faint blur of structure into clear, achievable steps. She provided these steps in concrete, manageable ways, but also imparted a sense of  'of course you can do this' -- this latter piece being critical to the recipe of taking a leap into the unknown. When it came to clearly identifying my business offerings, Brandy enabled me to distinguish between what I wanted to do and what I thought I should do. It was liberating and a watershed moment in getting clarity around my vision. Delivered in a personable, encouraging style, Brandy's strengths in communicating, writing, editing, listening, negotiating, stress management, website design critique, and small business tools (to name only a few!) made working with her both a pleasure and a great investment. At this time, I am on a clear path to seeing my business develop and it's hugely exciting. read more

I highly recommend Brandy! She coached me through interview prep, branding, finding self worth. I landed my dream job thanks to her help! Brandy is extremely talented and good at her job. Again, I highly recommend her. read more

Like most of us, the recent months has been challenging. We feel very secure and confident when we have our life routine working as planned, maybe could use some tweaking to improve things but overall steady. With recent global market changes, the limitations of social gatherings, travel restrictions, increasing the time you have to share with your households/life partner by more then %100. Before you realize,you have the perfect recipe to revisit your level of satisfaction with the way things are moving in your life. I was fortunate enough to find Brandy when my search lead me to a big consulting and management company. The company simply had no room for me to book. Luckily, they where kind enough to recommend Brandy to me. Brandy, recognizing the challenges I am dealing with in my personal life as well as my business. Took the time to listen to my concerns then placing the concerns in the right order to help me priorities them and a logical, rational and peaceful thinking. It's when I thought that I couldn't have asked for a better life coach, when Brandy offered me her availability to reach out to her when I was facing the real challenging moments of uncertainty. despite not having a scheduled apportionment, Knowing how booked ahead she is. I really appreciated her offering herself outside the appointment schedule. If you seak to find a professional life coach that would help guide you in times of need. Someone to help you identify who you are. Highlight your strong colors in your personality. Placing objectives in your life in the right place. Helping you be more motivated in your life. Helping you reach your primary goals. A friend! Your search is now over. Brandy DeOrnellas is your Life coach. read more

Brandy is an absolutely amazing coach. I have had many sessions with Brandy and I walk away from each one with a concrete deliverable (which is so helpful to my actual business) but also with a better understanding of my "patterns" and what I need to work on as a business owner and human being. She is so insightful, super smart, organized, and task oriented and summarizes our sessions and my "homework" each week with an email follow-up. I feel like I can be completely honest with Brandy about my fears and weaknesses and she finds a way to help me turn them around into something positive and productive. She is compassionate, funny, and enjoyable to work with. I highly recommend Brandy to ANYONE looking for a business coach. read more

After having worked for the same company for over 25 years, and having to abruptly adapt to the new world of remote working, I was feeling very burned out and lost, and all I wanted to do is retire! My company was also going through some hard transitions, and I felt it was time to move on. Feeling lost and depleted of energy, I turned to Brandy who masterfully helped me become unstuck, and made me believe in myself again by pointing to all the things I had to offer to any employer. With her help, I zeroed in the type of work I wanted to do, prepared my personal profile, and finally sent my resume to one of the companies that I had identified as somewhere I would want to work. In less than a week I got an offer for my dream job! I could not be more pleased. No loss of income. No loss of benefits. And a new exciting and challenging job that checks all my boxes. I am still in disbelief. The whole process took three months (perhaps it could have take less time, but we got a bit derailed when I suffered a bit of a crisis in my personal life: Brandy helped me with that as well, making me see how related the two were. Once that part was taken care of, it was smooth sailing.) I highly recommend Brandy as a work and life coach. read more

Working with Brandy has been a positive and productive experience. I highly recommend working with her if you are in transition or seeking clarity on next steps. Prior to our work together, I had pages of notes, ideas, and thoughts. I was overwhelmed, scatered, and uncertain on what to pursue or where to focus my attention. I knew I was in a major life transition and I needed a skilled thinking partner to assist me in sorting it all out. Brandy is a great listener and picks up on all of the subtle details and themes. Our time working together helped me gain clarity and confidence on how to move forward. I highly recommend working with her if you have the opportunity! read more

I highly recommend Brandy! I had been considering a career transition for some time, but then when I was caught up in COVID-19 layoffs, I decided to take the plunge and start working with Brandy.  She led me through valuable brainstorms about what I dreamed of in a job and helped me pull that together into a decision matrix narrowing in on roles. She provided resources and guidance to determine my core values, key motivators, and strengths and used that to help me build my personal brand. She also provided tactical help on cleaning up my LinkedIn and resume to reflect my personal brand. Brandy is easy to talk to and made me feel comfortable every step of the way. She is whip smart and an excellent throught partner to help you navigate a career or job change. read more

I mean what can I say? I was in law firm hell, really wondering the heck I was doing with my life. Being able to talk to someone who also had this experience was wildly beneficial for my mental health. Before going to any sort of life coach, I was super skeptical. But truly hashing things out with a neutral party really helps. I ended up moving, finding a much better job and am living a much happier life. Go to Brandy! read more

Brandy has been extremely helpful as my career coach. I started our sessions with very little direction, and Brandy guided me through steps that allowed me to discover the types of jobs I am interested in. She is very responsive and makes scheduling very easy. She is very flexible and I always found it easy to attend our online sessions because she set up calendar appointments. I highly recommend Brandy to anyone looking to move their career forward. I am very grateful for all the tips and guidance I have received from Brandy. read more

Brandy is compassionate and attentive.  At every step in my career coaching journey, she listened to what I was looking for and adapted her approach accordingly.  She quickly synthesized information and put it into concrete action steps for finding a great next fit. read more

Where do I begin? Brandy has helped me tremendously with things that seemed so difficult to overcome and figure out on my own. I have a high demand job and responsibilities and Brandy really helped me clarify my vision, goals, and even helped me dream bigger than I ever would have thought. Since working with Brandy, I have gained confidence, clarity, motivation, and a new found drive for my future that has subsequently affected every area of my life. I am now experiencing a greater sense of fulfillment and will be forever grateful for our coaching sessions. If you are considering whether or not to hire Brandy, I can with confidence say that your time and money will be well invested. There are certain things in life that are priceless and this has definitely been one of those things for me. read more

Working with Brandy has been absolutely fantastic! I initially reached out to Brandy feeling pretty stale and thinking I needed a career change. After about 6 months of coaching with Brandy, I am in a completely different place and am feeling more grounded and excited about all aspects of my life (professional and personal). Brandy's approach of pairing thoughtful coaching conversations with tangible tools and frameworks really helped me uncover the root of what felt amiss and how I can make changes for the better. Would highly recommend working with Brandy! read more

I worked with Brandy for a few months to help work thru some needed changes with regard to my career goals. Brandy was patient and kind and offered some very cool 'tools' and charts that re-confirmed ideas on steps I'd been thinking about for a long time, but needed her guidance to figure it out and finalize a plan. I highly recommend working with Brandy if you're in a career transition or need to switch careers. read more

Brandy is fantastic as a coach. When I first contacted her, my career was off track. A year later, it was back on track and I had more than doubled my salary. She provides fantastic practical advice and also guided me on how to approach the big picture of my career. read more

I've only had an initial session with Brandy, so far. I'm so impressed with her! She listens to what I say and gives great feedback! I originally chose Brandy to work with because in my request for services, I included some personal information about my family situation. Out of four coaches I contacted, Brandy was the only one who replied as though she read and understood what my family issue. The others sent a fairly boiler plate, impersonal response. I'd choose Brandy because it's clear she has empathy and excellent interpersonal skills. read more

Last year, I embarked upon a significant and challenging career transition. My family relocated from the East Coast to Sacramento, California. Entering into the job market in an entirely new geographical region proved understandably daunting, so I used LinkedIn ProFinder to research and obtain a Career Coach. Brandy immediately impressed me by tailoring her proposal to personally address the needs I expressed in the project description. She was very open about what expertise she could provide and how she would be able to assist. During our sessions, Brandy approached my goals with a clear and comprehensive framework and suggested several helpful tools and resources. It was a true partnership focused on how to best position my professional skills, job search efforts, and personal brand. Our work together was instrumental in helping me identify and assess employment options to land a fantastic opportunity. I sincerely thank Brandy for her expert assistance, support, and encouragement over these past several months. She has made such an impact on my life and provided additional resources and insights to hopefully help me to do the same for others in my leadership career. I will never forget it. Highly recommended. read more

I was so grateful to have Brandy's perspective as I began my job search. She helped me think more "blue sky" about what possible for me and kept me from settling on what seemed to "make sense." Instead of a slog, she made the process hopeful and more exciting, like I could make anything happen. Above all, Brandy helped me find a much needed balance in my job search. I spent way less time spinning on job sites and Linked In and prioritized my own wellness, which ultimately went a long way in getting me a job. I recommend Brandy if you need someone to help center you and guide you to think about what you really want out of your life, instead of just what seems possible career-wise. read more

I was very unsure of what exactly a "Life Coach" was and how it could help me, but I'm so glad I trusted Brandy and her practice. Brandy is professional, kind and has made me feel truly cared for in our sessions. She has helped me navigate my thoughts and feelings in all aspects of my life. From relationships, to being a new parent and now transitioning back into a career, she has listened to me and and helped me find ways to cope and move forward in a positive way. Once anxious and overwhelmed, I now feel more at peace and confident in my ability to address life's challenges and I owe SO much of this to Brandy! I have recommended Brandy to my family and all of my close friends and know that anyone who works with her would do the same. read more