What our clients say about us
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have a career helped by mentors and coaches leading me with sound career wisdom. Some use systems and profiles designed to create a more successful path. Some of that has worked, other methods have not been a good fit.For the past 10 months I’ve had the opportunity to sit virtually in front of Mary and Mel and listen to their advice. I can say without reservation, they are the best professional coaches I’ve ever used. They do it differently. They listen, combine the right set of tools and design a very unique path for each of their clients. What a joy it is to learn in that environment. Their process is all about building relationships, addressing hard truths and finding creative solutions. It takes the best to know how to use the right tools at the right time in a way that’s best for you. That’s Mary and Mel, hands down.”
“Mary and Mel work together strategically in a way that builds connection and respect across teams. They are articulate and well-versed in their craft. I found them in a time in my life when I was walled-off and going through the motions to perform my job at a high level, but my leadership was secondary. They helped me to grow and I quickly saw value in bringing others into their circle. After a few years, our teams are more synergistic than ever before. We know one another’s strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, we know how to handle ourselves and others when in high stress mode. I could not recommend their services enough.”
“Mary is an incredible partner who possess a set of diverse tools and techniques. Her ability to deftly work across various training and coaching requirements is superbly complimented by her passion to get to best out of her client. I wholeheartedly recommended Mary to anyone looking for first class executive support or professional coaching.”
“I have worked with Mary for over 4 years. She has been an incredible asset to help me navigate the day to day challenges I face managing a team of 50 as well as pushing me to think long-term about my company, my people, and my own development. Based on my experience, I have had several of my direct reports work with Mary to help successfully advance their own professional aspirations.”
“I have had the pleasure of partnering with Mary on two fronts. She and her partner provide executive coaching to the members of our Communications Leadership Council at Ragan and the feedback from our membership has been outstanding. MVP has been a trusted counselor for us at Ragan. Mary’s intelligence, warmth and attention to detail and customer service are highly valued by me and my team. I highly recommend her for executive coaching.”
“The experience I’ve had with MVP has been extremely valuable to my personal journey. As I was contemplating major career decisions, the process rolled out to me while working with Mary and the MVP team was comprehensive. My background was fully explored and brought to life in a powerful way that allowed me to see my options more clearly and with greater confidence. I thought through all the scenarios in a systematic manner with an open mind and was able to focus on what I truly wanted to achieve. Their series of exercises clarified my thoughts and left me energized and inspired about my career.”
“Mary and Mel are facilitators for Executive Resource Professionals, an organization of 25 Westchester County based business owners, that has been meeting monthly for approximately 15 years. The purpose of our group is to develop meaningful relationships amongst the members in a collaborative environment that fosters both business and personal growth. They did an outstanding job in creating workshops that provided insight and ideas to help our members navigate through some incredibly challenging business decisions during the pandemic. They have a positive energy that is solution based, and their experience in dealing with top level business executives was apparent in the work that we did together. They also had the ability to adapt to the changing needs of the group during some unique times.”
“I had the honor of working with the MVP team and their work was outstanding. I found them professional and highly knowledgeable about the role, the company and the industry. Both Kathleen and Mary had great insight into the culture and needs of the company and were also able to quickly align around my career goals. They were diligent in their follow-up and made sure I was aware of very step in the process.”
“Mary works tirelessly to get beneath the surface and really understands the needs of an organization and the company’s culture.”
“After losing our Executive Director after 30 years we were overwhelmed with the prospect of finding someone to fill her role. MVP Executive Search provided us with the reassurance we needed to find the ideal candidate to back-fill the position. They carefully worked to understand our agency culture & dynamics and helped us to identify the type of leader that could push us to the next level. Never through the search process did we ever feel alone. Mary and her team were always available to provide guidance to ensure we had what we needed to find the right person. I highly recommend MVP – they executed a quality executive search process in a very personalized and meaningful way.”
“From executive recruiting to professional coaching, Mary and her team are some of the most talented and insightful professionals you will ever work with. They take the time to truly understand your business and have a terrific sense of candidates’ strengths and cultural fit. If you’re looking for a true partner for your business or your own career advancement, you owe it to yourself to work with Mary and her team.”
“Mary is one of the brightest people I know. Her skills at quickly and efficiently connecting the right people to right right company is almost unmatched in my opinion. In addition to uniting people and position, Mary has been a great sounding board to me for a host of human resource issues. I highly recommend working with Mary and her team.”
“Mary is a very friendly, driven professional who immerses herself in your business objectives. She is experienced and results oriented in all aspects of Talent Management Services that she provides. Entrepreneurial spirit with vast experience and resources.”
“You will never go wrong by working with MVP. A professional team in every aspect of the process with great personalities to match, they delivers results. I recommend that you spend some time speaking with them, and you’ll see what I mean.”
“I have had the distinct pleasure to have worked with Mary and her team in a number of different occasions. I first worked with Mary as part of a corporate Human Resource recruitment organization and most recently as a client of MVP Executive Search.
Mary’s strength is that she truly believes in a partnership and takes the time and interest to first learn the organization’s business and most importantly the culture. She has the capacity to understand the business imperatives of the organization and how her engagement fits into those imperatives. Her candor, honesty, integrity and professionalism are significant personal assets that reflect the values she brings to her engagements.
It is without hesitation that I would recommend Mary and her team as valuable and effective business partners.”
“I was at a crossroad in my career when I was introduced to the MVP team. Having not looked for a job in over 25 years they provided me with the necessary tools to compete in today’s market place. I highly recommend them for both job search perpetration and coaching.”
“Mary is a superb professional. I worked with Mary at the Tribune Company, when she was both head of Executive Recruiting, then cycled thru a very demanding global MBA program, and in her time in the Field. I need help in a client to fulfill my own promise to them to find and cultivate talent, and she was the first person I called – and the first person I would call under any conditions. Mary has deep insight, impeccable integrity, and a totally pragmatic view of all business situations. She is completely trustworthy and I highly recommend her. Hire Mary and never doubt you’ll get a result that – if it satisfies her – will triply please you.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of engaging with Mary as an executive coach, leadership development professional, colleague, and friend. As a senior executive in healthcare technology, I’ve encountered numerous coaches and consultants throughout my career. Mary stands out not just for her professional insight but also for the unique blend of intellect and heartfelt empathy she brings to her work.Mary’s MVP coaching program is the essence of transformative leadership development. She combines an analytical mind with genuine compassion for personal and professional growth. My journey with her program was nothing short of extraordinary, inspiring and motivating me to implement strategic insights into leadership with practical tools, all within a supportive environment that fostered self-reflection and personal growth.
What truly distinguishes Mary is her ability to tailor her coaching to your unique needs. She offers advice that resonates on a personal level and helps you see opportunities that you may have missed without her. Mary’s methods are innovative yet grounded and reflect an understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by today’s leaders. Her coaching has had a lasting impact on my leadership approach, instilling a sense of value, understanding, and empowerment, for which I am deeply appreciative.
For anyone looking to elevate their leadership skills, whether you’re in a startup or large organization, I cannot recommend Mary highly enough. Her coaching is an invaluable investment in your professional journey. Feel free to reach out directly to Mary or DM me for a personal introduction. Engaging with her is a decision you’ll look back on as a pivotal moment in your career.”
“MVP Executive Search and Development offered me much more in content and results than I ever expected. I had engaged a few other “coaches” with mixed or even some negative results. I was wary to do it again, but definitely felt that I needed a perspective shift, and something to help me package my skills and experience in the best way. MVP Exec takes a completely in-depth and holistic approach to their work. I was an active participant in the process, and with their guidance took a new look at my history, successes, relationships and bad habits. It was truly eye-opening and allowed me to think about what I genuinely wanted. I believe their process was the key to my VERY successful job search. From the beginning to end of the actually quite enjoyable 10 session process with Mary Olson-Menzel and Laura Cassidy we talked, tweaked my materials and messaging, expanded my vision and ultimately, with their exceptional support, led to 2 amazing job offers. I highly recommend their services!”
“Mary is an exceptional career coach who brings her years of HR experience, great listening skills and holistic approach to bear in her career consulting engagements. She worked with me 1:1, on a weekly basis for several months to help me frame my priorities for my career and was an invaluable thought partner in helping me make key decisions about my career journey. She has a very solid and well vetted process to help you in your journey, and will also challenge you. You have to do the homework as what you put into it is what you get out of it. Lastly, she will also leverage her large personal network to help you in any way she can. I highly recommend her, and in fact have since recommended 2 clients to her!”
“I absolutely recommend MVP for those needing extra support in finding a new position. Being new to Chicago, my network was limited so I wanted that extra support to proactively find opportunities. However, I received so much more than expected! MVP’s process provides support in looking deeper into my skills and experiences; preparing for interviews and providing contacts at various companies to network with. My coach, Kay McCabe was absolutely fantastic to work with. She was excellent with follow up and also making sure I was very prepared for interviews. Furthermore, Kay is a wonderful person and I’m happy to have gotten to know her!”
“When you hire MVP, you know you’re in good hands. The executive search team at MVP helped us staff a critical management role during a time of transition and uncertainty in our organization. Their ability to fully understand and execute on our requisites was remarkable and a true differentiator of their talents. The team of professionals was with us every step of the way, going above and beyond to ensure we hired the right person to contribute to our culture and needs. We are delighted with the outcome and strongly recommend MVP as a partner for high-level staffing needs.”
“Mary helped me see the best aspects of my experiences and together, we crafted my personal brand accordingly in a holistic way. In addition, Mary also provided me with networking and job search strategy plus the gentle push for me to be accountable to my career goals. Net net, I would recommend MVP for anyone who wants to make a career and life pivot journey successfully!”
“I’ve experienced working with MVP as a candidate, hiring manager, and a coaching client. They understand my needs and are very thorough. I trust their work and always get to the outcome desired. Their advice has always been spot on.”
“MVP delivered on their promise and did exactly what we asked – sourced a large and diverse slate of highly qualified candidates. Their ability to manage the candidates through a lengthy and challenging interview process was so important. It was really interesting for me to work with them from both sides of the experience, as they also placed me at the College of American Pathologists. I understood and saw first hand. how they cared for both their client and their applicants. We will most certainly call on them again when we need to recruit executive talent.”
“Mary Olson-Menzel and MVP not only take into consideration a client’s experience and talents, but factor in the psychological and emotional aspects — the aspirations and anxieties — that drive them, providing a holistic approach to career transition that goes beyond the traditional executive search firm.”
“MVP is truly top notch. They brought us consistently outstanding talent, and had a keen understanding of our needs. Mary and her team are a pleasure to work with.”
“Mary has been an industry leader in Executive Search for over 20 years. Her in-depth knowledge of recruiting and developing talent is especially important in today’s workplace environment. She and her staff have a personal connection to the clients they work for in order to find the staffing with the best skill set and individuals who are the best cultural fit for the client.
The MVP team are some of the most dedicated and professional Executive Search recruiters and coaches you will find. They are adept at building relationships with both the companies they represents and the candidates they encounters. The benefit to either party is that MVP has the ability to create teams of people that will work together to achieve greatness as a whole. They are honest and dedicated, and insightful. Their continued communication throughout the process will make you feel at ease that you have hired them to fill or find your next position.”
“Mary and I encountered each other in a recruiting situation. I found her to be engaging, open about opportunities and clear as to expectations. She was direct in her information and was extremely helpful in navigating an onboarding process.”
“Mary is an expert in her field and is graciously willing and able to offer her advice and knowledge. On numerous occasions when I was transitioning from one field to another Mary was able to help me when I was stuck and had no idea how to proceed! She was willing to squeeze me into her busy day with little notice. I would recommend Mary to anyone who needs a warm, knowledgeable, and expert in her field!”
“The MVP team are top-notch professionals and people. They really dive deep to understand the issues and people involved and they connect well with people at all levels.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Mary and her team and they are one of the most professional and talented group of individuals I know. They are excellent at talent acquisition and are extremely skilled at building relationships. I enjoyed working with and partnering with Mary and her team during my time with Tribune and recommend them if you have a need for a talented executive search team.”