About Marissa
Hello! I’m a 30-year, 5X entrepreneur, speaker, best-selling author, leadership & culture expert, and globally recognized growth & spiritual strategist. I was humbled and honored to be recognized as one of the Top 200 Biggest Voices of Leadership globally for 2023.
I’m the CEO of Marissa International (MI), a global leadership development platform. Through experiential communities, training programs, coaching programs, and speaking engagements, leaders acquire the skills, knowledge, mindsets, and networks to reach their highest personal and organizational leadership potential, build their most successful companies, and live their most joyful lives.
I am also CEO of i5 Conscious Leadership, which trains emerging, mid-level, & senior leaders how to consciously lead to create strong engagement and healthy, joyful cultures.
My entrepreneurial journey began in 1995 when I launched Information Experts, a strategic communications and education firm, after my boss told me I would never be worth more than $34,000. I launched my firm alone with a $35,000 contract and grew the organization to approximately $13 million in revenue and 75 employees until I exited in 2012.
Under my leadership, Information Experts won more than 80 awards for creativity & leadership, was named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2009, 2010, and 2011, won the 2010 SmartCEO GovStar Industry Star Award, and was known as a trailblazer in establishing an extraordinary employee-centric culture that fully supported work-life integration and a core value of “responsible flexibility.”
In 2012, I launched Successful Culture International (SCI), a leadership consulting organization that focused on leadership development, strategy formulation & execution, and organizational culture. In 2022, I sold SCI to devote my energy to creating an awakening around the essential role that consciousness holds in leadership, and to elevate Joy globally.
I greatly enjoyed being one of Inc. Magazine’s most recognized leadership columnists from 2015-2019, and serving as the DC region’s small business expert on ABC’s Washington Business Report for many years.
I hold a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development & Organizational Development. I am a credentialed coach certified by International Coach Federation (ICF) and certified in Instructional Systems Design, Emotional Intelligence, and the Enneagram.
Finally, I am the profoundly grateful mom of Jared (26) and Jordan (23), my most important and cherished teachers who continue to teach me the lessons of unconditional love and expand my heart daily.