You can learn to navigate conflict with courage. We can help.

CONFLICT
COACHING

Conflict is hard.

Telling your boss they’re wrong.
Asking for a more equitable distribution of housework.
Giving tough feedback to someone on your team.

These conversations are always hard.
You don’t have to do it alone.

Whether you are preparing for a difficult conversation at home, in the middle of a salary negotiation, or looking to expand your range of skills and comfort when tempers flare, it helps if you can have someone in your corner.

Our trained conflict experts can work with you one-on-one to make sure you feel fully supported and are set to succeed.


Difficult conversations happen when you least expect them.

When a question or statement you weren’t prepared for catches you off guard, the fight-flight or freeze response can derail us all.

In the aftermath, people often wonder “what should I have said, instead?”

Brave Conversations is a practice-filled training that gives individuals the power to find their voice in the middle of some of the toughest conversations in life.

Workshops are scheduled throughout the year and can also be organized for organizations, upon request.

We’ve worked with companies in technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and entertainment.

BRAVE
CONVERSATIONS


MEDIATION
FOR ENTREPENEURS

Co-founders fight. There’s no way around it.

Conflict can be a vehicle for tremendous innovation and growth, although it sometimes comes at the expense of relationships.

As mediators, we specialize in working with people who are at a fork in the road and often at their wits’ end.

In our experience, sometimes all cofounders need is someone else to guide their conversations for a short period of time.

Mediation offers the opportunity to look at old conversations in new ways. Through mediation, individuals work through stalemate and gridlock to unearth interests and new opportunities to create value.

We also work with non-profits, neighborhood associations, and families.

Curiosity | Courage | Clarity

Principal Facilitator / Mediator

Rubén Flores Montenegro has spent 15+ years figuring out how to change the world one difficult conversation at a time.

He began his career working with the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and other international medical humanitarian organizations, coordinating emergency healthcare projects in response to natural disasters, epidemics, and armed conflict. 

Since 2013, he has taught negotiations and conflict management at The Academy. The Academy has trained thousands of women around the world to change their workplaces, communities, and families.

Rubén is a graduate of the George Washington University and holds an International Diploma in Humanitarian Affairs from Fordham University. He has extensive training in negotiation and mediation, studying at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and other professional training organizations. Ever passionate about learning and growing, he is currently training as a Marriage & Family Therapist at Colorado State University.

Rubén is a proud Mexican-American immigrant fluent in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German. He is an avid ice climber, skier, and mountain athlete.


Our commitment to pro-bono work

We dedicate 10% of our time on a pro-bono basis to work with students and other young professionals working in fields with historically uneven power dynamics, such as medicine and the film industry . . . and generally to any young person or activist out to speak truth to power.

TESTIMONIALS

“I thought I was good at managing conflict... until I met Rubén. I remember watching him in a practice negotiation for the first time, and thinking, "This is like watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. How do I learn to do that???"

And the amazing thing is -- he can teach it.

Rubén teaches not just the words to say, but how to align your body language and your attention to get the results you want. You'll feel like you have a secret superpower. And when things aren't working (which happens to all of us) you'll be able to pinpoint the exact moment trouble started, and you'll have effective tools you to use to fix it”

— Autumn Looijen