Meet Your Coach

Dr. Špela Trefalt

Define your own version of work-life balance

There’s an ongoing debate among legal professionals and other professional service providers about whether work-life balance is achievable and what it truly means. For professionals, especially lawyers, to be successful, long hours and demanding workloads seem like a must.

Firms that charge for their time don’t favor professionals seeking better work-life balance, as that could mean fewer billable hours, less project work, and less revenue for the firm.

So, when I speak with attorneys and other professionals I work with, I get a lot of pushback when I mention work-life balance. But the thing is, work-life balance doesn’t mean a 50-50 split.

In reality, life and work are ever-changing, affecting each other symbiotically and sometimes even synergistically. Yes, there are only 24 hours in a day, and there is always more work than you can realistically complete. The pull of work and home creates a sense of tension. The key is knowing what gives you purpose and making day-to-day decisions that fulfill that sense of purpose.

By infusing meaning into each aspect of your life, you can find your own version of balance.

My mission is to help people like you find a way to live with a sense of accomplishment, meaning, and peace of mind. That is what I call “balance”. Together, we design strategies that fit your unique situation, unlocking success both at home and at work.

With Spela’s help in each session, and sometimes with her tough love, I get clarity and move into a state in which I realize that I have the freedom to choose my path forward. Spela is a skilled coach who has been a guiding beacon for me, illuminating the path toward my self-awareness and personal growth.

Rosaria Meek, PhD

Dr. Trefalt joined us at our annual Senior Leadership Team retreat and conducted an outstanding workshop on Leading Organizational Change. Her dynamic and engaging presentation style, coupled with informative and actionable content, left a lasting impact.

Steve Amendo, CMO,
Martin's Point Health Care

My attitude about my career and myself has shifted 180 degrees in the positive. Spela is transformative in a subtle yet profound way that really sticks. Spela combined her extensive and cutting-edge academic knowledge with unmatched professional experience and blended these to help me craft pragmatic plans to really reach my future career and life vision.

Ashleigh Dueker, Associate Director of Products, PA Consulting

Working with Spela has profoundly impacted my personal and professional life. Her coaching instilled confidence in me and reinforced my commitment to my core values. With her guidance, I navigated crucial career decisions, advanced in my job, and enrolled in a master’s degree program.

Magda Carr, Director of SNAP-Ed at the YMCA Greater of Boston

Spela helped me tap into my own energy and existing passion for my craft and team to explore pathways for me to grow into an authentic leader. Our sessions were built on the trust she built from the beginning and led by her patience and dedication to offering new skills and methods based on my own personal goals. I feel sincere in my approach to daily activities and more confident when I face challenges in my role from the mindset and tools we worked on together.

Lisa Fowler, Partner, PA Consulting

One of the unique strengths Spela brings is a deep understanding of the ways, workings, and demands of professional and corporate work. This experience is a critical skill to helping me navigate both my career and personal challenges and successes. She’s been a key reason my career has gone up, up, up.

Jennifer Johnston Canfield, EVP Growth & Strategy, emtelligent

Spela’s coaching was exceptional! Spela guided me through difficult career considerations, ensuring not only me staying with my firm but also retaining my senior position. Financially, this was incredibly important for my family and me, and I am extremely grateful to Spela for this.

Alexandra Rodina, Kennedys, Partner

I started working with Spela shortly after returning to my job in management consulting after my maternity leave. I was in a period of massive transition, reprioritization and deep thinking about what I want from my career, and how that had changed. Spela provided structure and space for me to set my goals and make a plan to work toward them. I continue to revisit her guidance and coaching months later!

Jenna Phillips, Managing Consultant, PA Consulting

Transitioning from early career to the new responsibilities that presented themselves in mid-career was a daunting journey for me, but with Spela/Dr. Trefalt as my professional coach, it became an empowering and enlightening experience. Spela’s approach was not about dictating steps, but rather about guiding me to discover my own path. She helped me leverage my background as a psychologist and academic to navigate entry into the entrepreneurial world.

Allison Wilkerson, PhD, DBSM, Clinical Director, Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina

Coaching with Dr. Trefalt was an unprecedented opportunity to deeply look inside myself and understand the root of my insecurities. Her insightful questions helped me navigate daily challenges, build confidence, and achieve meaningful progress in both personal and professional realms. My lab has grown significantly, I’ve secured additional funding, and I’m learning to lead with empathy and self-trust.

Silvia Guglietta,
PhD, Assistant Professor of Mucosal Immunology,
Medical University of South Carolina

My Story…

I have always wanted to be useful, help others, and teach. I started doing research in professional services firms over 20 years ago. My initial intention was to help professionals achieve work-life balance, and through efforts to do that, I found that much of what makes a difference is how the work is getting done.

I became curious about how successful professionals accomplish results and what enables them to do that without sacrificing everything else. My coaching began as a way to support professionals in finding their own custom-made solutions while benefiting from everything I’ve learned over the decades.

I’ve now had the pleasure of working closely with hundreds of executives and professionals for over 15 years. During my two decades in academia, I had the privilege of teaching at esteemed institutions like Harvard University, Simmons University, University of New Hampshire, and the University of Navarra in Spain.

Alongside teaching, I’ve also researched how professionals can balance their careers and personal lives, and my findings have been published in prestigious journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, European Management Journal, and Journal of Management Education.

Certified as a Co-Active Professional Coach by the International Coaching Federation, my passion lies in being a strategic thinking partner for professionals. As an executive coach for over 15 years, I’m dedicated to helping professionals in fast-paced environments uncover their strengths and resources, empowering them to take confident steps toward their goals.

This involves clarifying their thoughts, making meaningful discoveries, and turning insights into actionable plans for new opportunities.

Drawing on my coaching experience and research background, I identify potential pathways that professionals may overlook and share evidence-based strategies for setting boundaries, achieving goals, and maintaining a sense of fulfillment in their choices.

In my earlier years, I earned a DBA in Management from Harvard Business School, an MBA from the University of Kansas, and a BA in Law from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Beyond coaching and academia, I am a founding member of the Work and Family Research Network, a faculty affiliate at the Institute for Inclusive Leadership at Simmons University, and affiliated with the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Affiliate.

Outside of work, I love my roles as a devoted wife to Tom, a proud mom to Nika and Greta, and a persistent nagger to the caretakers of our two parakeets, Lady and Lucky, and our fish, Bubbles.