Susan Smalley

Susan Smalley is a leadership coach and master facilitator with 20+ years of experience in supporting the growth and development of leaders, teams, and individuals. Her mix of optimism, straight talk and humor allows her to quickly connect and build trust with her clients.  She is the founder of Essential Leadership Partners, specializing in Leadership Development, Team Building & Communication, and Culture Change.

Susan brings a wealth of real-world experience to her work spending 15 years at the Walt Disney Studios improving team effectiveness and building leadership skills. While there she implemented the development strategy for the top executive talent, built the Studio’s coaching practice and implemented an Executive Mentor program.

Susan has her coaching credential and served on the Board of the International Coaching Federation in Los Angeles. She has been certified as a coach from the College of Executive Coaching and as a strengths coach from The Marcus Buckingham Company. In addition, she is a coach for The Mind Gym and Right Management and is an affiliate member of the Harvard Institute of Coaching. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Masters of Business Administration. 

Some of her clients include Sony Pictures Entertainment, Loyola Marymount University, Chief, Women in Animation, Mondo Media, Six Point Harness Studio, Mattel, The Walt Disney Studios, Orora Packaging, Hasbro, NBC/Universal, First 5 LA, Edmunds, Chow Now, and Hyundai.

Susan lives in her happy place, Long Beach, California with her two teens who still have no idea what she does.