Leadership & Team Development
That's how we work. Not through ads, not through algorithms. Through relationships. Which means you're already a little bit vetted, and so are we.
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The Work
We help you surface the elephant in the room and solve the problems that matter. Our method? Asking the right questions, listening intently, and creating the space for the real conversations.
How We Work
Some of our best client relationships look less like a consulting engagement and more like having a secret weapon on speed dial. We work with you month to month: through the big meetings, the hard decisions, the moments when you need someone outside the building to help you think clearly.
We design and facilitate leadership offsites that don't waste anyone's time. Whether it's a strategy retreat, a team reset, or a pivotal moment in your company's story, we create the conditions for courageous conversations — and we accelerate the outcomes.
When your people are spread across cities, time zones, or continents, connection doesn't happen by accident — and neither does growth. We design and facilitate virtual sessions that close the distance and move people forward.
Who We Are
We met when Valerie was getting her MBA at Stanford and Lauren was building operations at a Google Partner tech startup. We recognized something in each other immediately — the same obsession with what makes teams actually work, and what gets in the way. That was ten years ago.
We show up fully for all of it: the serious work and the joyful parts, the whiteboard and the late-night debrief. Our focus is never on rushing to a conclusion. It's on making sure the right voices are heard, the real issues are on the table, and every decision is being approached with the care it deserves. Get the process right, and the outcomes follow.
Lauren Grimshaw
San Luis Obispo, California
Lauren's instinct is knowing which question to ask — and when to ask it. In rooms where stakes are high and clarity is elusive, she has an instinct for finding the thread that unravels the knot. She doesn't come with a fixed agenda; she comes with deep experience and the ability to flex to whatever the moment actually needs. That experience spans tech, nonprofit, and executive leadership — she's the person organizations bring in when they need someone who can think strategically and build operationally at the same time.
Valerie Rivera
Bordeaux, France
Valerie founded Take Back Work on a belief she developed the hard way: that real organizational change only works when people feel like part of a movement, not just impacted by one. That conviction was forged during her time in the Air Force, where she helped lead a grassroots organizational transformation at the National Security Agency — not from the top down, but from the inside out. Today her work blends facilitation, retreat design, and coaching — helping leaders and teams understand themselves well enough to move differently.
What Our Clients Say
A discovery call is low-pressure and genuinely useful — for both of us. We want to understand what you're navigating, and you'll leave with a clearer sense of whether we're the right fit. Most of the time, you'll know in the first twenty minutes.
No pressure. Just a conversation.
