Aloha, I’m Meilan

For nearly a decade, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to know Meilan, thanks to our connection through Teach For America – Hawaii. Over the past year, her support has been invaluable in guiding my career development, fostering my personal growth, and helping me set and achieve goals for my small business and teaching practice. Her unique blend of warmth and wisdom, thoughtfulness and empowerment, has consistently inspired me. Meilan’s uncanny ability to ask insightful questions, summarize complex ideas, clarify my thoughts, and reveal the true essence of my words has been incredibly helpful. I wholeheartedly recommend her as a fantastic coach for anyone seeking guidance and support. – Charlie C, educator, entrepreneur, KeikiCards business founder

If anyone is looking for someone to empower their lives, bring about a sense of clarity, or provide informative, sustainable resources for their future, please consider coaching with Meilan Akaka Manfre. Meilan is a compassionate mentor whose care and intentionality is palpable in her work. When coaching with Meilan I felt that she truly took the time to understand not only my situation, what I was seeking guidance for, but also truly who I am as a person. She masterfully takes into consideration the values, life experiences and desires of her clients, and helps them weave together solutions and ideas for the future in a way that feels both comfortable and exciting. Coaching with Meilan provided me new perspectives and insights into myself, and helped me connect with sustainable practices and skills that I was able to take away from our meetings, as well as providing me with concrete resources with tangible, actionable steps I could take towards my goals. Often when one is seeking coaching, it is truly due to an uncertainty in what we want in life, thus the how to accomplish whatever “it” is, is mystified. Meilan works alongside those she mentors in a way that feels supportive but empowering. She works to identify the genesis of a feeling or desire held by her client, which brings forth from the clouds of dissatisfaction or confusion, the real goal, objective, or growth opportunity one might be seeking. It is with the highest regard that I recommend Meilan Akaka Manfre as a coach and mentor for anyone, from any diverse background, trying to work through any situation: whether in search of life or career transition guidance, a new job, new perspective, or simply in need of a partner to work through any next steps, consider Meilan as a partner in the process. – Madeline M., educator

I have had the pleasure of personally getting to know Meilan for the past few months as she was my leadership mentor during a transitional part of my career. What began as a simple request for feedback on my resume, quickly flourished into a much more profound and meaningful partnership. Throughout our coaching sessions together, Meilan challenged me to find purpose and meaning within the ordinary, to take a deeper dive with my values and to discover my overall purpose. All our talks and assignments have helped shed light on my professional direction during a very ambiguous time in my life. She has also encouraged me to make a bigger difference at my school, moving beyond the classroom as Math Department Head. Meilan has helped me to become more confident as an educational leader and has forced me to look inward for the answers that I’m searching for both professionally and personally. Meilan possesses true integrity, stellar communication skills and an excellent ability to lead and work with others. Above all, she is a friendly, well-mannered coach with lots of empathy which helps her connect and forge authentic relationships with her clients. Due to Meilan’s interpersonal and leadership skills, it is my strong conviction that she would be the right person for any kind of coaching/mentorship position. She is a mentor who consistently wants to develop, improve and grow in different ways, which are the main ingredients for becoming a lifelong, passionate learner. So on behalf of my experience working with Meilan, I warmly and confidently give her my highest recommendation and am looking forward to seeing her grow in her future endeavors. – Tyler V., M.Ed, educator, soccer coach, Air Force

Working with Meilan over the past six months has been life changing. When I reached out to Meilan, I was dissatisfied with my job and generally felt in a rut. Over 12 sessions she helped me identify aspects of my past I needed to let go, as well as pushed me to figure out what I really wanted. I feel more like myself than I have in years, and am proud of the person I am. Meilan is prompt to her sessions, present, and most importantly- she genuinely cares. She was very accommodating to my schedule, and I felt every single one of our sessions was worthwhile. Some of my most reflective sessions with Meilan were when I didn’t come with a specific topic to discuss, and she had a poignant activity ready. These past six months of reflection in coaching sessions have been one of the most worthwhile experiences of my adult life. I strongly believe everyone would benefit from coaching with Meilan. – Carly M., Curriculum & Instruction graduate student

Meilan is the best leadership development coach I’ve had. She helped me grow tremendously by providing constructive feedback with care and encouraging me to take professional risks and thrive. I highly recommend working with her! – Morgan O., Consultant

Executive coaching with Meilan was an extremely fulfilling, purposeful, and direction-giving experience. Meilan provides a perfectly balanced mix of authentic honesty and gentle kindness in her creative approaches to reflection. I appreciated Meilan’s rigorous questions, validating affirmations, and exercises that included visualization, rehearsing, mapping, and deep reflection. Even after our series of sessions ended, I find myself regularly thinking about concepts we discussed. Meilan was a guiding and positive presence during an uncertainty-filled life chapter. I recommend executive coaching with Meilan to anyone wanting to dig a little deeper—into any aspect, personally or professionally, of their lives.  – Sayles D., Investment Analyst