joy stephens, mba, cce-certified coach

Consultant
joy@loebleadership.com

“I believe that empathy is the next true evolution of humanity. I use this philosophy to create meaningful and unforgettable experiences for my clients so that they walk away from interactions changed at the heart level.”

Meet joy stephens

While possessing dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, Joy spent her 20+ years in Corporate America with companies like Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly Clark. She believes that empathy and compassion are the keys to better leadership, better communication, and stronger working relationships.  She imbues all of her workshop facilitation with the goal of recognizing the humanity in each other.    

Joy is also a Board-Certified Life Coach, specializing in corporate leader coaching.  She focuses on executive and individual coaching, specifically around Career Transitions, Relationship Building and Inclusive Leadership Skills.  Seeing the need for more in-depth understanding of the impact of empathy and inclusion, she developed a series of workshops in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion space. In this capacity, she has worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, colleges, and universities to conduct unconscious bias training, facilitate open-forum dialogues around race and privilege, engage in innovative team building, assist in the creation and promotion of Employee Resource Groups and coach leadership teams on inclusivity and communication.  To date, she has delivered training to over 15,000 employees across 12 countries. 

MEMBERSHIPS, ASSOCIATIONS, + CERTIFICATIONS

  • CCE Board Certified Coach, 2018 – present 

  • One-to-One Women Coaching Women – Board of Directors  

  • Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 

Honors + Awards

  • Marquis Who’s Who in America, 2022-2023

Education

  • Spelman College – BS in Chemistry 1996 

  • Georgia Institute of Technology – BS in Chemical Engineering 1996 

  • Webster University – MBA 2010 

  • Institute of Life Coach Training 2018 

  • University of South Florida – Certification in DE&I 2020 

Areas of Expertise

  • Leadership Development, Coaching, and Mentoring 

  • Executive Coaching  

  • Training and Facilitation (Live and Virtual) 

  • Workshop Design 

  • Women’s Leadership 

  • Emotional Intelligence 

  • Interpersonal Dynamics  

  • Workplace Culture 

  • 360 Assessments & Feedback 

  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 

  • Performance Management 

  • Enhancing Communication 

  • Employee Relations/Counseling 

  • Team Building  

  • Team Leadership & Development 

certified facilitator

  • Emotional Intelligence 2.0® 

  • EverythingDiSC® 

  • Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team® 

Q&A With joy stephens

What unique perspective do you bring to your practice?

I have the unique ability to create impactful messages for my audience, causing them to have a positive emotional reaction to the subject matter.

Describe major career/life decisions that led you to your current role. How have these experiences shaped the way you engage with clients?

When I was working in Corporate America, I realized that we (leaders of people) didn’t treat our people well, and that this mistreatment was widespread. This ultimately led to my revelation of empathy as an evolutionary milestone.

 What are a couple of your biggest successes?

Creating an international 15-month program for a client that served to improve representation of minority employees at higher levels by promoting from within.

Relevant Experience Example

Client Type: Law Firm  
Industry: Legal 
Issue: The client was struggling with retaining talent at the non-lawyer level, as well as lawyers of color. 
Our Approach: Leadership experiential workshops to assist in building empathy and understanding for others. One on one coaching with targeted firm influencers to embed cultural change in the organization. Focus group discussions with marginalized demographics to gain insight into the problem.  
Result: Over the course of 8 months, the firm saw a reduction in regrettable attrition and even saw improvements in public perception of the firm. Senior admin talent that was formerly at risk was retained, and new diverse talent was hired, changing the overall demographical representation at the middle and front-line levels.  

 ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS + RESEARCH