15 Minute Pause

Michelle Burke is a highly respected and sought-after Communication, Team and women's leadership Coach, Consultant, and Speaker. She is the Founder and President of Energy Catalyst Group, a consulting, training and coaching company for well-being. Burke has devoted her 20-year career to helping leaders, their teams and organizations thrive by increasing self-awareness, accountability and shifting negative attitudes and behaviors that get in the way of an energized life and workplace. Her deep experience and knowledge consulting with Fortune 100 and 500 companies established her as a leading expert in bridging communication, team and gender gaps. She has an unique ability to determine root causes of challenges through her keen observation of individual, team and organizational behavior allowing her to assess issues and provide sustainable, actionable solutions that are aligned with the individual and client's goals, values and culture. Burke consults with HR and leadership to focus on increasing individual, team and organizational energy. She leverages employee's "energizers" to build collaborative, engaged and high performing teams and leaders. Michelle developed hundreds of team, leadership and energy boosting training programs which continually garner rave reviews from clients.

As a coach, Michelle works with executives and managers to adapt a mindfulness approach to their leadership capabilities. She has achieved great success in empowering women especially into leadership roles. Her coaching consistently results in a greater awareness of their impact on their direct reports and organization enabling them to lead more effectively and positively. And, her work consistently results in higher productivity, stronger employee engagement, and more energized and inclusive workplaces. Her clients include: Sony PlayStation, Microsoft, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Visa, Ernst & Young, Blue Cross, Intel, Hewlett Packard, McDonald's, Synopsis, E*Trade, Cobra Golf, The Ojai Foundation, Cisco Systems, Blue Shield, Disney, Ericsson, Sony Electronics, HTC, Genentech, Snap Inc., and Stanford University. Michelle is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Valuable Office Professional, endorsed by Ken Blanchard. She co-developed The Productivity Cycle™, a communication tool proven to enhance teamwork and increase productivity, endorsed by Stanford University. Michelle has been featured in Business Week, LA Times, SF Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and her articles have appeared in Training, HR, and Chief Learning Officer, Huffington Post and contributes to Forbes.com. She is a member of Forbes Coaches Council and participated in UCLA's MARC intensive year-long mindfulness Program. Michelle also co-created Personalogy Party and Family fun conversation card games with Lilamani de Silva, co-author of 15 Minute Pause, A Radical Reboot for Busy People available now. Admired for her positive spirit, empathy, keen eye, and creativity, Michelle finds joy by giving back to her community, fun adventures, exploring new restaurants, reading, cooking, is a sports enthusiast and takes time for a daily pause.

Lilamani de Silva, co-author of 15 Minute Pause's career has spanned media relations, film production and worked as a publicist at London Zoo which led to the production of natural history documentaries for ITV, Discovery and Animal Planet. She earned her Masters Degree from University of Otaga in New Zealand. Her jobs gave her the opportunity to travel the globe and experience different cultures and life perspectives. An accomplished painter, Lilamani's illustrations grace this book and have sold paintings around the world. In addition to her love of travel, she is a nature enthusiast, enjoys reading and racket sports.