Our Vision: We help individuals, teams and organizations make the connection with their full potential in a way that leads to significant impact with themselves and their business results..

The word Connect represents our philosophy that each individual, team and organization can reach its highest potential through connection. When we connect to and are aware of our strengths and challenges, we can move forward with intentional action and choice. What is an organization if not the connections and interactions between the people? By focusing on these connections, we can help you make an impact to the larger organization.

The dual spiral was selected as a symbol of CCC because it is said to be one of the most frequent and basic building blocks in nature, and represents a formative building block. To us, it reflects our belief that all things are inter-related and if we find the appropriate connection to work on, this has a positive impact and percussive effect on the larger organization. The dual spiral has been found on artifacts as much as 24,000 years old, and across a variety of cultures and ages – making it an archetypical symbol of connectedness across time and culture.

At Connect, we believe in working with individuals, teams and organizations to make meaningful connections that are the building block of significant results, we hope we can be of service to you.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”
~Gandhi

Stacey Sargent is the founder and principal of Connect Coaching & Consulting. She chose the name Connect because of her passion for helping people make transformative connections in anything they do. Clients often refer to Stacey’s ability to bring an authentic and approachable manner to the work she does. She works in partnership with her clients in a direct, open and respectful manner. She uses emotional intelligence, dialogue and paradoxical thinking as ways to create a higher return on investment in life and work.

Stacey has worked in several key industries performing leadership, strategic, design and vision roles. Stacey has more than 15 years of experience in business, accounting & finance, consulting, strategy planning and software design & development. She understands business - the people, the numbers and the systems – that can be connected together in ways that transform. She has worked across industries with clients like Microsoft, PeopleSoft, and The Polyclinic, in higher education, government & municipalities, and manufacturing. She is able to communicate across hierarchy, industry and focus so that people can come together to achieve high performance. Stacey traveled the country helping organizations deal with change and challenging their processes to gain more efficiency and effectiveness. She has been a speaker at many conferences delivering energetic, inspirational and informative talks.

Stacey holds a Master of Arts degree in applied behavioral science from the Leadership Institute of Seattle at Bastyr University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in business finance from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA.

"Stacey has a wonderful gift: using just a few words she can help you a lot when you really need it. I saw her working with Microsoft managers who came from more than 10 different countries and it was impressive to see how she dealt with different cultures and backgrounds. She’s smart, analytical and approachable."
~Ezequiel Glinsky, Architecture Group Manager, Microsoft

Stacey Sargent, M.A.

Jan Gelman is a leadership coach and organizational development consultant who combines compassion, inquiry, understanding and directness to help leaders get to the heart of their challenges. Whether working with CEOs or front line personnel, Jan believes that her clients are fully capable and that her role is to help them rise to their potential. Jan’s approach is to link individual and group behavioral development to business results. Based on her passion and experience traveling around the world, she keeps an eye out for how cultural differences impact relationship dynamics and performance.

She has been an internal leadership consultant at Washington State Labor & Industries; and an external consultant with organizations such as Microsoft, Whitepages.com, CarDomain, ShareBuilder, King County Metro Transit, FareStart and Gage Academy of Art. Her consultation draws upon more than 20 years of experience as a leader in business, communications, media, technology, e-commerce and product development. She has managed sales, service, and product-related teams; and been through reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions. She has held executive positions in small and large companies, including GiftCertificates.com, Sierra On-Line, and Capital Cities/ABC. Jan holds a Master of Arts degree in applied behavioral science (focus on coaching and consulting in organizations) from the Leadership Institute of Seattle at Bastyr University and a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“Working with Jan Gelman is both an expansive and clarifying experience. Jan somehow manages to get me stretching while she is simultaneously keeping me on point. Her skill set for framing challenges and possible solutions sets seems endless. And Jan's strong commitment to my success is palpable. With Jan I find myself eager to do the hard work of change.”
– Kathy Koss, King County Metro Transit

Jan Gelman, M.A.

Mitch Shepard has worked in the wilderness of the outdoors and the wilderness of organizations – helping people reach the edge of their capacity and bursting beyond it to new levels of influence, leadership and transformation.  Mitch’s unique style is to combine interactive, experiential sessions with cutting edge organizational and leadership methods and tools.  She uses this creative approach to help leaders and teams recognize the dynamics that both promote and hinder their success.  Mitch has worked with and in a wide range of settings.  She does facilitation, training, coaching, strategic development and team building to help clients reach beyond their own vision. 

Mitch has worked with many different industries including high-tech, airline, insurance, educational institutions, banks, and resort hotels.  Some of her clients include Safeco, Microsoft, and Starbucks.  Mitch spent 12 years leading teams on wilderness expeditions and facilitating ropes course programs for management teams.  Mitch enjoys sharing these lessons learned with the organizations she works with, and has a special knack for helping individuals and organizations navigate their way through difficult transitions.  Mitch holds a bachelors degree in Business Economics and Accounting from UC Santa Barbara, and a MA in Applied Behavioral Science from Bastyr University. 

“Mitch’s combination of keen insight into self, others and systems is awe-inspiring and her ability to articulate these insights with concise clarity is remarkable.”                                                                   
– Program Manager, large Insurance company

Mitch Shepard, M.A.

Suzanne Stafford (Zan) brings over 15 years experience as an executive coach, facilitator, leadership development consultant and mediator to her work.  She has expertise in designing and facilitating experiential leadership development seminars, executive coaching, communication training, and organizational development.  Zan has a knack for getting to the heart of an issue quickly through her insightful questions, intuitive sense and business savvy. Her client’s often comment on her ability to connect authentically with people through her passion for helping people reach their potential.

As the Director of Leadership Development for Washington State’s Department of Labor and Industries she dramatically increased the leadership capabilities within the agency.  She has worked internally and externally in both the public and private sectors.  Her clients include Molson Breweries, GiftCertificates.com, Employment Security Department and Microsoft. Suzanne received her undergraduate degree in Business from CU Boulder and graduate degree in Coaching and Consulting in Organizations from the Leadership Institute of Seattle, Bastyr University.

“In leadership development and as an executive coach, Zan is the total package, A+.” 
~Paul Trause, Director,
Department of Labor and Industries,
Washington State

Suzanne Stafford, M.A.