Trish Wheaton
Principal and Founder of Leaning Out
Trish Wheaton, Principal and Founder of Leaning Out, is part of the Boomer vanguard of professional women who have been profoundly challenging and changing the professional status quo. In her 30+ year marketing career at WPP, she held a variety of C-Suite positions at two of WPP’s largest agencies, led high-growth offices in Canada and the UK, served as Global Managing Partner for Y&R Advertising, and was Wunderman’s first ever Global Chief Marketing Officer.
After leaving the corporate world, Trish encountered the unique challenges of transitioning to a post-career life firsthand. She founded Leaning Out to provide other top-level professional women key resources and support to help them successfully redefine their lives and purpose post-career. Since that time, she and her team have worked with numerous executive women across the country to embrace their next chapter.
Trish holds an M.A. degree from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College. She is a former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. Prior to her career in advertising, she was head of Direct Marketing at Yale University Press. She has been an Independent Director on several boards including a current role on the Susan G. Komen national board.
Marge Watters
Coach, Consultant, Author & Entrepreneur
Marge is a coach, consultant, author and entrepreneur who has spent 25+ years helping individuals realize their career and leadership potential. Working as a career consultant, Marge has coached individuals from all levels of the organization to help them move successfully through the challenging process of career transition. As an executive coach, she helped her clients maximize their strengths and understand their development opportunities to advance their leadership potential.
Marge’s early experience includes 19 years in the financial services industry including corporate finance and investment banking. She was a vice president of Citibank Canada, and co-founder of Penfund Management Ltd. and Permanent Commercial Corporation. In 1995, Marge and her partner, John Knebel, founded and led KWA Partners, now known as Optimum Talent. From start-up, the firm grew to be ranked among the top five organizations in the career management industry.
Marge holds an M.A. and a Master of Divinity degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Northwestern University. Among Marge’s many achievements is authoring the highly successful It’s Your Move, published by HarperCollins in 2001, now in its fourth edition.
