TEAM RUDY COACHING & CONSULTING

About Dr. Sharon Rudy

Here's the Official Stuff

Over the course of my career, I've lived and worked throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East,leading organizational development, leadership, performance improvement, and behavior changeinitiatives.

I've had the privilege of working with organizations including:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
Public Health Institute (PHI)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
World Health Organization (WHO)
Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH)

I hold a Ph.D. in Counseling and Organizational Consulting and am board-certified as both a coach and counselor.

I'm also a published researcher and author. My book, The Global Health Career: A Practical Guide to Finding and Sustaining Your Place in a Changing Field, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2025. My peer-reviewed journal articles have been cited 274 times (Academia.edu). In 2025, I was named in the "Top 100 Health and Wellness Professionals" Journal.

Those credentials matter. But they aren't why my clients choose to work with me. They choose me because I've lived the transformation I'm inviting them to make.

My work isn't only about helping women find another job.
It's about helping them become the CEO of a career—and a life—they genuinely love.

I Didn't Build TeamRudy to Start Another Business.

I Built It to Create a Different Life.

In 2020, I made a decision that changed everything.

I would spend the rest of my professional life doing only what I do well—and genuinely love. Today, my work aligns with my energy instead of draining it. My calendar serves my priorities instead of controlling them. I spend my days coaching, writing, speaking, and helping accomplished women become the CEOs of their own careers.

I have both autonomy and security—not because someone gave them to me, but because I learned how to create them.

The Biggest Transformation Wasn't My Career.

It Was Me.

The real shift wasn't structural—it was internal.

I've done the same work I now guide my clients through. Today I:

Make decisions more quickly—even the uncomfortable ones.
Stop waiting for everything to be perfect before I begin.
Don't spiral into self-doubt when I make mistakes.
Trust that growth comes through action, not perfection.
Live with clarity, agency, and purpose instead of old patterns I didn't even realize were running mylife.

What brings me the greatest satisfaction isn't a title or an accomplishment. It's helping extraordinary women step into the work—and the life—they were meant to lead.

But It Wasn't Always This Way.

Not even close.

I started working at seventeen to help support my family. While working either part-time or full-time, I put myself through three graduate degrees. Like so many high-achieving women, I believed that if I worked hard enough, gave enough, and proved myself often enough, I would eventually feel secure.

From the outside, I looked successful. Inside, I was exhausted. I consistently overperformed, overserved, and put everyone else's priorities ahead of my own. My confidence depended far too much on external validation, although I couldn't see it at the time.

Turning Point No. 1

Getting Fired Changed Everything.

After fourteen years of outstanding performance reviews, I was fired.

I was stunned. Devastated. Angry. Ashamed. And completely unprepared. I had spent years building a successful career, yet I had never learned how to build a career strategically. I knew how to do excellent work—but not how to navigate the professional marketplace.

That experience forced me to ask a different question. What if my career wasn't something an employer controlled? What if I became responsible for building it intentionally?

That realization changed everything. I stopped thinking like an employee and started thinking like the CEO of a business of one. It became the foundation of everything I teach today.

Turning Point No. 2

Learning to Own My Value.

Ten years later, while working with the World Health Organization in Geneva, I received an unexpected call about what I immediately knew was my dream job.

This time, I approached the opportunity very differently. I had already researched the market. I understood the organization's challenges. I knew exactly which problems the role was meant to solve. Most importantly, I understood my own value because I had carefully documented my accomplishments, measurable results, and the impact I could create.

So I negotiated. Twice I declined offers that undervalued my contribution. Eventually, they returned with compensation that reflected both the market and the value I would bring—along with a Vice President title.

That wasn't luck. It wasn't confidence alone. It was strategy. And it confirmed something I now teach every client: When you understand your value, know the market, and learn to think strategically, your career changes completely.

What Happened Next

Over the next two decades, I led global health initiatives across more than forty countries, directing projects valued at over $1 billion.

When I retired from international development, I was one of the highest-paid Project Directors in the USAID system. Not because I worked harder than everyone else. Because I finally learned how to communicate my value—and negotiate accordingly.

Today, I help accomplished women do the same. Not simply to earn more. Although many do. Not simply to get promoted. Although many do. I help them build careers that reflect who they truly are, where they create the greatest value, and the lives they genuinely want to live.

Because success without agency isn't freedom. And no extraordinary woman should spend her life waiting for someone else to recognize what she's already capable of.