There is a widespread fear that artificial intelligence will eliminate jobs, but these mother-daughter cofounders hope to use artificial intelligence to make people better at their jobs. LeaderEQ uses artificial intelligence-based technology to match coaches with executives and host virtual sessions on desktop or mobile.
“We brought on two neuroscientists to help build technology that would make matching coaches with executives faster,” says Chessa Eskandanian-Yee, who started the company with her mother Katherine Eskandanian-Yee. On Oct. 8, 2018, they launched LeaderEQ, which they say matches executives and coaches in five to ten minutes based on their past experience, work habits, personality, culture and values.
How did you decide to go into business together, and what inspired you to start LeaderEQ?
Katherine Eskandanian-Yee: I’ve never treated [Chessa Eskandanian-Yee] like a child, I’ve always trusted her immensely, and that trust we have with each other, you cannot find with a stranger. It is unconditional trust. We’ve always had synergy, but we’re not the same people, and we have different ideas.
When [Chessa Eskandanian-Yee] was growing up, she watched me coach and guide my clients and candidates through different challenges and learned so much from observation. When she graduated from college, we knew we wanted to work together, and we wanted to create a high-touch coaching service that reached a lot of people, without losing that personal and high-quality aspect. This was really [Chessa Eskandanian-Yee’s] brainchild.
Chessa Eskandanian-Yee: Like my mom said, we’re not the same people, but we do often joke that we share a brain. My mom has always been my best friend. We love each other and, from that, we realized we work really well together. We understand each other’s work habits. It also helps that since I am her daughter, she can’t stay mad at me.
What is LeaderEQ’s mission? How is it different than other executive coaching companies or platforms?
Chessa Eskandanian-Yee: The real goal behind LeaderEQ is to help executives not feel lonely at the top. Every executive we’ve met says that at some point, they have felt that way. We want to make today’s leaders feel secure in who they are and match them with coaches that they can create a trusted relationship with so we can help them put their best foot forward. It’s almost like a dating service, we want to be a matchmaker for them. Coaching is an extremely personal experience, and it’s really important that we treat it that way.
Katherine Eskandanian-Yee: With my recruitment company Agency360, we are recruiters and advisors to businesses. We were shaping the culture of a company through the people we brought on. The part we saw was missing from this was that we were not able to stay a permanent guide with those individuals or companies through transitions. For example, one of our recruitment clients went through an acquisition. Through that, we saw a lot of mistakes that the leadership team made around communication with employees, which caused a mass exodus. We realized that if we would have been able to make this a more involved relationship, we would have been there to guide them through it and teach them how to deliver the messages in a way that employees understood. They are actually now a LeaderEQ client. That’s why we started LeaderEQ. We wanted to create relationships that last so that coaches could help executives through every stage of their careers.
Does being mother-daughter business owners give you any sort of advantage? Does the dynamic present any challenges?
Katherine Eskandanian-Yee: I think our goals and visions are aligned. When I started my last company, I had two other partners and our visions were not aligned. And that’s why we went our separate ways. You cannot always find that alignment with people. I think our customers also get an advantage from us being related because they know we’re coming from the same place and we’re always talking to one another.
Chessa Eskandanian-Yee: It’s a lot of just understanding each other. We can bounce ideas off each other freely without fear of judgment or too much conflict. It’s not weird to call your mom at midnight in a panic about something, but it might be to call your business partner. It’s just this basic level of trust and understanding that would take two strangers much longer to build. We had a leg up from the get-go.
It’s not always sunny, and we don’t always agree. But we always work through it.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Chessa Eskandanian-Yee: Make sure you invest in relationships with people that light a fire in you. In high school, I had a teacher that was always pushing me beyond my limits and encouraging me to reach my top potential. She empowered me to keep stepping outside of my comfort zone and to face anything that I was afraid of doing.
Katherine Eskandanian-Yee: No mountain is too high. I have a yoga teacher that is much younger than me, and she had me do a move that I just did not think I could even try. She said, “Your body is a Mercedes Benz, and you just need to learn how to drive it.” Don’t undermine yourself. The power of the mind is something to be aware of. What you think you cannot do is exactly what you can do – face your fears. And that’s the purpose of a coach, to push you to that limit. Just like you need a trainer at the gym to force you to do that extra set, coaches help you reach your full potential.
What is your business advice for other young professional women?
Chessa Eskandanian-Yee: Don’t let limitations of the mind scare you. If someone thinks you cannot do something, show them you can. There really should be nothing in your life that limits you. Embrace your weird, that is what makes you, you.
Katherine Eskandanian-Yee: Speak up. It’s our time as women. It’s time for women to shine. It’s time for female founders. It’s time for us to question the limitations society has put upon us for many years. We have to stand up, and we have to have our voices heard. This is the time for the female voice to be heard on every platform – our time is now.
Responsibility also lies with parents to raise young women who understand that they can do anything. We need to take away that traditional box we have for boys and girls. Stop automatically giving girls dolls, give them something to build. We don’t have enough female engineers in this world. We have to stop putting limitations on each other. Gender should not be the reason to hold someone back from reaching their full potential. For this business specifically, it’s about turning your weakness into your strength and defying stereotypes.
