Our Coaches

Dr. Helen Marsh, CPC, CPPC

Founding Partner · 14 years

Dr. Marsh holds a doctorate in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and Certified Professional Pessimism Coach (CPPC). She has coached over 200 executives across technology, healthcare, and financial services. Her specialties include catastrophic succession planning, pre-failure analysis, and helping leaders articulate what they already suspect but have been told not to say in meetings.

Prior to founding Certified Pessimism Coaching, Dr. Marsh spent 12 years as an executive coach at a firm she describes as "relentlessly optimistic." She left after concluding that her most effective sessions were the ones where the client cried.

"Crying is not failure. Crying is recognition. Recognition is the first step toward a realistic assessment of your circumstances."

James Okoye, MBA, CPPC

Senior Coach · 9 years

James specializes in startup founders and early-stage executives, a population he describes as "aggressively under-worried." His engagements typically begin when a board member or investor suggests that the founder "consider the downside." James is the downside.

His coaching has been credited with preventing two product launches that would have failed, accelerating three strategic pivots, and producing one resignation that the client describes as "the best career decision I have ever made."

MBA from Wharton. Certification in Risk Communication from the Harvard School of Public Health. Frequent conference speaker. Rarely invited back.

Margaret Liu, CPPC

Coach, Organizational Pessimism · 6 years

Margaret works with leadership teams rather than individuals. Her specialty is helping teams that have developed a culture of positivity recognize the costs of that culture. She facilitates what she calls "Unsaid Sessions" — structured meetings where team members are invited to say the things they have been thinking but not saying. These sessions are, by her own account, "productive and very uncomfortable."

Prior to joining CPC, Margaret was a management consultant for 15 years. She was consistently rated as the firm's most effective consultant and its least popular dinner companion.