Work with Nicole
About
A former Disney executive, now founder of my boutique consulting practice, I have been in the trenches, and as an HR executive at Disney, I have experienced firsthand the importance of getting everyone aligned and supporting the goal. I'm excited to bring my knowledge from both the corporate and non-profit worlds to help supercharge your success. What you really need is a partner who can help you develop a plan that nails the essentials of going from Good to GREAT! With a BA in Theatre, a Master's in Human Resources, a 20+ year certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and decades of progressive HR experience at The Walt Disney Company, I specialize in helping leaders like you turn your ideas into reality. Let me help you uncover what people are really thinking, identify where barriers and cultural roadblocks are getting in the way, and help you cross the finish line on your goals.
Nicole also coaches for Executive Coaching, Human Resources, and Non-Profit Leadership. View all.
Nicole’s Leadership Coaching Qualifications
Coaches professionally
Experience level: Executive
100+ Leadership Coaching clients
Nicole has helped clients get into these companies:
Welcome to my profile! With over three decades of experience in leadership development, I bring a wealth of knowledge from my time at The Walt Disney Company, where I held senior HR roles and led transformative initiatives across diverse business units. As the former Senior Vice President and CHRO for Disney's Credit Union, I crafted and executed talent strategies that significantly enhanced organizational performance and employee engagement. My consulting work extends to various industries, including entertainment, hospitality, and non-profit arts, where I empower leaders to align teams and drive strategic change. Whether you're looking to enhance your leadership skills or navigate organizational challenges, I'm here to help you achieve your goals. Let's connect and create a roadmap for your success!
Nicole can help with:
Change Management
Coaching and Mentoring
Conflict Resolution
Emotional Intelligence
Innovation and Creativity
Problem Solving
Why do I coach?
As a seasoned HR professional with decades of progressive HR experience at The Walt Disney Company as well as nonprofit arts board leadership, I have enjoyed driving change and coaching leaders at all levels across a broad base of diverse businesses including Hotels and Resorts, Theme Parks, Retail Banking, Live Entertainment and Events, Zoos & Aquariums, Corporate Partnerships & Alliances, Hospitality, Finance, IT, HR and Shared Services organizations. My approach to coaching is formed by my belief that self-awareness and understanding are the foundations of leadership. Once we know ourselves, we can then understand how to interact with others. By eliminating barriers, fostering effective relationships based on trust, and leveraging my creative background to problem-solve, I apply my unique background to support the executive leaders who put their trust in me to help advance their personal change goals.
Work Experience
President & CEO
Keith Smith Consulting
July 2023 - Present
Applying my track record working with leaders at Disney in a myriad of diverse industries like: Entertainment, Hospitality, Hotels, Call Centers, Finance, IT, Zoos and Aquariums, Technology, Theme Parks, Corporate Partnerships, Credit Unions as well as in Non Profit Arts & Culture. Whether at an individual, organizational, or team-level scope, my services are diverse, and together we will craft a roadmap to propel you towards your goals. Supported by my experience at all leadership levels, including as a Senior Vice President of HR, I will leverage my unique background and professional HR experience in very diverse businesses at Disney, one of the top and most recognized brands in the world. I empower visionary leaders through creative collaboration, rapidly aligning teams to drive accelerated success. I am the partner of choice for leaders looking to develop effective strategies that overcome challenges related to people, systems, practices, culture, and policies. Seeing first-hand the importance of strategic and aligned organizational change support, I am excited to take my experience in the corporate and non-profit worlds to apply to your needs and help align teams and successfully execute change. An important part of my approach in any of my partnerships is to illuminate the shadows and uncover what individuals are really thinking, discovering the real truths and helping executives accelerate achievement and quality of the results. Providing services to support: - Business Growth, Change and Design - Executive and Transition Coaching - Connected and Engaged Employees - Structuring an Organization for Success Performance Management, Human Resources and +8 skills
Strategic Consultant
MagicMakers Group
July 2023 - Present
As a contributing member of this organization, I help creative leaders and organizations advance their culture and create a plan to help companies bridge the divide between their brand promise and operational excellence. Joining other former executives and experts from the Walt Disney Company, we bring a wealth of real-world experience to empower organizations to create lasting, magical moments that captivate customers, inspire employees, and drive sustainable success. We demystify the magic and utilize tried-and-true techniques of sound business practice to solidify the foundation of your business, all while fostering a deep focus on your company's culture. We believe that by nurturing your employees, particularly your leaders, we can amplify your brand's potential. Change Management, Employee Engagement and +6 skills
Senior Manager OD, Communications and Training
The Walt Disney Company
January 2020 - July 2023
Applying my unique background and professional HR experience in very diverse businesses at one of the top and most recognized brands in the world, I was selected by senior leadership to develop and oversee a strategic three-year HR implementation initiative to provide tools, processes, and forums in support of an enterprise-wide change champion network, which was comprised of over 40 HR, training, and communication leads globally across TWDC. Created alignment forums, tools, and templates to support the training, communication, technology, and organizational development synergies to enable the transformational journey in reimagining Disney’s digital employee experience Spearheaded the enterprise-wide HR technology initiative by establishing a web-based resource tool to streamline internal communications and provide resources for global change leaders across the company; developed a tool to identify change-related approaches and actions needed in 30, 60, and 90-day timeframes, which resulted in a seamless integration Provided 1:1 support to all segment and enterprise change leads in proactively assessing the rapidly changing business needs, realigning HR capabilities to empower leaders & employees, and revamping Disney’s employee experience worldwide to align with future business goals & needs HR Transformation, Change Management and +8 skills
SVP & CHRO
The Walt Disney Company
August 2016 - January 2020
CHRO for Disney's Credit Union, Partners Federal Credit Union. I led a team of 16 HR professionals and set the organization’s domestic Human Capital strategy to ensure engaged, high performing Cast and organization and deliver high quality, timely, value-driven Talent and HR solutions and support. Responsible for setting and driving overall talent strategies for recruiting, learning and development, organizational development, HR business partner, HR operations and employee relations functions. Recognized in September 2019 as a “Best Credit Union to Work”, top 4 in CA and FL. Conducted holistic assessment of HR organization, designing a future state HR structure and organizational processes that support the company strategic plan and evolving needs of PFCU by providing a greater focus on organization and Cast effectiveness, culture, strategy development and change / transition management while empowering leadership with greater ownership and horizontal integration. Introduced full-day management development program to build manager capabilities and knowledge to more effectively lead Cast in day to day situations. Participants average satisfaction score of 4.5 (out of 5) for class content, facilitation, ability to immediately implement, relevance to role and a demonstrated knowledge increase of 3ppt on all topics in ROI Measures and pre and post session assessments. Introduced performance management tools and approaches to enable self-service and reduced performance management cases by 6% over prior year. Through proactive talent acquisition strategies, consistently maintained time to fill average of 28 days, well below our strategic target and industry average. Talent metrics in quality of hire, employee retention, turnover and onboarding all trending positive and well below targets. HR Transformation, HR Management and +3 skills
Senior Manager Human Resources
The Walt Disney Company
May 2008 - August 2016
Progressively elevated to higher levels of responsibility and leadership scope within the HR Business Partner function. Provided HR leadership for 76 executives across 16 different businesses within Finance, IT, Corporate Alliances, & HR. Facilitated the organizational evolution of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Technology (WDPRT) in building and executing a transformational change management strategy in support of organizational change goals. Consulted with the client and provided recommendations and functional support for strategy development, organizational design, talent management, & transition management. Consistently applied expertise in delivering transformational HR consulting for internal clients across businesses and disciplines including, theme park and resort operations, Technology, Finance, Business Development, Strategic Planning, Human Resources and Revenue Management. Enacted organizational change through consultative approaches in strategy development, organizational design, talent management, organizational and cost-effectiveness, as well as change and transition management. Consult and coach Executives and their teams to implement people strategies that transform employee and guest experience. HR Management, Strategic Human Resources Leadership and +2 skills
Charitive Consulting - Advisor to the Board
Garden Theatre
June 2007 - October 2024
Taking my experience and passing it along to other creative organizations as a volunteer, I was fortunate to lead organizational improvement and employee engagement efforts for this outstanding non profit arts organization in Winter Garden, Florida for 17 years. I was invited to consult with this organization pre-opening to lead the organizational design and development of their operating structure, roles, business objectives and develop a robust volunteer program. I continued to help drive ongoing thought leadership for the Executive Leadership and board in developing strategic direction, philanthropic and business development activities. Designed, led and executed inclusive search processes for executive and leadership roles as well as board development. Consulted on HR practices, compensation, executive recruitment and policies. I contributed as an Executive Board Member & Former President, Board of Directors. The Garden Theatre quickly grew to one of the largest and most prominent arts organizations in the Central Florida area hosting over 600 events, realizing annual attendance of over 70,000 and an operating budget of over $1.7M. Board of Directors, HR Management and +23 skills
Education
Rollins College
MHR, Human Resources
1998 - 2000
Nazareth College
BA, Theatre Arts
1985 - 1989
Activities and societies: Alpha Psi Omega
5.0 average review
11 reviews
Overall rating
Nicole has helped clients get into these companies:
Nicole also coaches for Executive Coaching, Human Resources, and Non-Profit Leadership. View all.
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