Stacy Kehren Idema
Presence-Based Chief of Staff & Executive Presence Partner to Founders, Principals & Family Enterprises.
A discreet, steadying presence aligning vision, people, and priorities during high-stakes growth, transition, and succession.
Email:
Virtual & Global On-Site (by request)
Austin, TX • Minneapolis, MN
What I Do
I partner with founders, principals, and leadership teams during periods of rapid growth, transition, or complexity - when clarity is essential and decisions carry long-term consequences.
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My work is Chief of Staff–level partnership practiced through presence, discretion, and emotional intelligence. I sit inside the work with you, helping surface what’s emerging, steady what’s misaligned, and create coherence across people, priorities, and decisions so momentum becomes sustainable.
This isn’t tactical Chief of Staff execution. It’s presence-based leadership in action.
The grounded, discreet support leaders draw on when growth outpaces bandwidth or when transition exposes the emotional and relational layers beneath the surface.
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I align vision and execution, establish operating rhythms, name patterns as they arise, and stabilize the system so decisions become clearer, teams become more aligned, and the path forward feels inevitable.
A Bit About Me
I come from a multigenerational family business where I learned early that legacy is emotional long before it becomes operational.
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Over 30 years, I’ve led innovation across startups and Fortune 5 companies, built technology abroad, and guided founders through reorganizations, culture shifts, and transitions that couldn’t be solved by strategy alone.
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What sets me apart is how I bring clarity, presence, and pattern recognition into environments where identity, power, and growth quietly collide.
I see what leaders feel but can’t yet name, and I help them move through it with steadiness, precision, and truth.
​My work exists at the intersection of:
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emotional intelligence
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behavioral insight
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strategic alignment
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operational grounding
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and generational understanding
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I’m here to ensure transitions don’t just happen, they happen with coherence, conviction, and continuity.
Business Expertise Highlights
October 2023 - Present
December 2013 - Present
July 2011 - November 2019
Founder Equati Technologies Ltd. --- Created a trust-informed technology platform for family offices to qualify and prioritize direct investment opportunities through a behavioral and values-aligned framework.
Equati bridges vision, alignment, and generational intelligence, bringing emotional clarity into private-market investing and strengthening decision-quality across principals, CIOs, advisors, and next-gen leaders.
C-Suite and Principal Partner: Embedded alongside CEOs, founders, principals, and family enterprises to uncover root-cause dynamics, align leadership, and stabilize high-stakes transitions.
Known as a “leadership whisperer” who brings emotional steadiness, pattern recognition, and strategic clarity to complex environments where identity, power, and growth intersect.
Work spans founder transitions, reorganizations, succession, executive realignment, and the creation of presence-based operating rhythms that bring coherence across teams.
Global Innovation Leader: Directed multi-country R&D and innovation programs across six time zones, leading cross-functional teams of up to 300 people with budgets from $100K to $25M.
Pioneered early applied-AI initiatives in voice analytics, cognitive health, and predictive modeling long before they became industry standard.
Led strategic integration, operational alignment, and the development of technology solutions that blended human insight with machine intelligence.
Presence Based Chief of Staff &
Executive Stewardship Services
Services
For Founders, Principals and Family Enterprises in Transition
Private Leadership Session
A 2-hour presence-based session for leaders navigating emotionally complex or high-stakes moments. A space to pause, reflect, and be fully witnessed — so decisions aren’t made from urgency, fear, or collapse.
Private Leadership Session — Details This on-demand session includes: 2-hour virtual session Pre-session reflection prompts Tailored follow-up insights post call via email for one-week. Ideal for: acute transition points, difficult decisions, relational friction, or emotional overload. If something in this meets you where you are, I invite you to reach out for a private conversation. 📧 stacy@stacyidema.com
Season of Stewardship
A focused, high-trust container for leaders moving through a concentrated period of transition — stepping into visibility, restructuring teams, preparing for succession, or stabilizing during uncertainty.
Season of Stewardship — Details This container includes: 8–10 hours/week of presence-based partnership (~30 hours/month) Custom rhythm of private sessions Weekly clarity and alignment touchpoints Real-time text/voice support during active weeks Guidance through key decisions, patterns, and relational dynamics Establishing or reinforcing operating cadence across the leadership field Minimum commitment: 3 months Design: Created following a private consultation. If something in this meets you where you are, I invite you to reach out for a private conversation. 📧 stacy@stacyidema.com
Executive Stewardship
A long-view partnership for founders, principals, or multigenerational families navigating ongoing change. Designed for leaders who need a discreet, steadying presence throughout a season where clarity, emotional steadiness, and aligned decision-making are essential.
Executive Stewardship — Details This work extends beyond stabilizing a season — it supports the leader’s identity, relationships, decision patterns, and legacy arc across an extended period of transformation. Includes: Long-view engagement with a custom cadence Real-time presence during pivotal or high-intensity periods Stewardship through rupture, repair, recalibration, and long-range decisions Integration with leadership rhythms, family dynamics, succession planning, or organizational restructuring Quarterly synthesis and clarity mapping Minimum commitment: 6 months (or bespoke by request) Tailored after a private consultation. If something in this meets you where you are, I invite you to reach out for a private conversation. 📧 stacy@stacyidema.com
Recent Press
See, and Hear Stacy Live on Podcasts and Read Recent Publications
FAQ
How is presence-based leadership different from consulting or therapy?
Presence-Based Chief of Staff & Leadership Steward
What does support look like during weeks of high intensity?
What led you to presence-based leadership?
Presence-based leadership isn’t advisory, therapy, or traditional consulting — it’s a grounded partnership that sits in the space between strategy and the human experience of leading. Consultants solve problems. Therapists explore emotions and history.
I stay with the leader in real time, in the moments where identity, power, and decision-making intersect. I help leaders see what’s emerging beneath the surface: the patterns, pressures, relational dynamics, and emotional signals shaping their decisions.
It’s not about fixing. It’s about witnessing, steadying, and bringing coherence so the leader moves with clarity, not reactivity.
High-intensity weeks are where presence-based partnership becomes invaluable. When everything is shifting, deadlines, decisions, emotions, stakeholders , I anchor the leader’s internal and external system.
This may look like:
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rapid clarity loops
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real-time pattern recognition
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stabilizing the field so teams don’t absorb the turbulence
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ensuring decisions align with long-view vision
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helping separate urgency from noise
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preserving relational trust while moving quickly
During these periods, I act as the steadying presence leaders borrow to stay grounded and decisive, without losing themselves or their teams to the pressure.
Presence-based leadership wasn’t a concept I discovered — it was something I lived long before I had language for it.
Growing up in a multigenerational family business, and later leading innovation across startups and Fortune 5 companies, I learned how people feel their way through decisions long before they speak them.
I saw how emotional truth, unspoken dynamics, and relational patterns shape the outcomes of strategy more than strategy itself. Over time, I became the person leaders turned to, not for answers, but for steadiness, clarity, and the ability to see what they were missing.
Presence-based leadership is the synthesis of everything I’ve lived: emotional literacy, pattern awareness, generational understanding, and the ability to hold leaders through the moments strategy alone cannot reach.
If something in this resonates, you’re welcome to reach out for a private conversation. 📧 stacy@stacyidema.com
Locations
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Virtual: Available globally
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Austin, TX: Primary base for in-person engagements
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Minneapolis, MN: Family business roots and Midwest presence
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On Location: Available at client request for enterprise or family engagements
Contact
If you’re in a season where clarity and presence can’t be left to chance, you’re welcome to reach out for a private conversation.
