About Us
We coach influential leaders to create healthy organizational cultures and a holistic impact on their communities.
Roots are both stubborn and strong to weather the storms as well as fluid and teeming with the kind of life that produces good fruit. Rooted Coaching is an intentional practice of paying attention to what is going on beneath the surface of the leader because if the roots are healthy, so will be the fruit of its growth in healthy organizational practices. We believe in the kinds of practices that make leaders come alive and bring health into their local communities with love, compassion, and creativity.
We’ve learned that leaders can be the non-anxious presence in their communities by being rooted in the things that matter, that don't change, and that give them personal meaning as they confront challenges and grow. Leaders in today's culture can often feel stuck. They may lack imagination that the future before them is open for opportunity as they deal with the heavy pressures of having to constantly achieve. Leaders often feel alone, shouldering pressures and feeling like no one understands them.
Good leaders also get weary of the polarizing and negative voices of division embedded in today’s American and global culture. Rooted Coaching exists to reconnect leaders to their original meaning, to an authentic community of learning with other brave leaders, and to infect them with life and hope to build health into their local community.
Who We Are
Chris Marshall
Founder
Chris has 30 years of experience in organizational leadership in growing businesses and non-profit entities, as well as in higher education. He earned a Doctorate in Leadership (DLd) in 2013 from George Fox University and has had the opportunity to study and teach leadership all around the world, including in England, Germany, India, Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Korea, and Guatemala.
Alongside leadership coaching, Chris presently serves as faculty in business leadership at Western Governors University and Cincinnati State online, helping students learn and shape their futures. In a volunteer leadership role, he is the founder and Board President of the Norden Supporter Group. Norden SG is a non-profit charitable and social activist group of 400+ members raising support for FC Cincinnati in the MLS and giving back to the city for neighborhood and community development. When it comes to fun, you will find Chris getting creative in the realm of grilling/smoking meat on his patio and sipping on bourbon.
Nicki Marshall
Coach
Nicki also shares 30 years of experience in community leadership roles where she specialized in influencing the formation of women and kids in holistic ways of healthy development. Nicki earned an undergraduate degree in adolescent development from Trinity International University in North Shore Chicago and also lettered in volleyball as a 2 time NAIA All-American.
Nicki is a trained and certified Spiritual Director through Sustainable Faith School of Spiritual Direction. She presently leads formation with kids, pre-teens, and teens through mindfulness and self-awareness practices at Community Montessori School in the north suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. For fun, Nicki likes staying active and athletic, playing soccer in a local league, and investing her time in our three adult children and two granddaughters.
Core Values
Everything we do is centered on cultivating healthy community culture through intentional leadership development, communal storytelling, rooted content teaching, and connective professional relationships.
Community
We prioritize building and fostering vibrant leadership communities.
Courage
We boldly confront personal, professional, and cultural challenges with a stubborn commitment to hope.
Health
We seek to be a non-anxious presence to bring health into our communities of influence.
Leadership
Healthy communities are born and sustained out of leaders who seek their own health first.
Wisdom
We offer a deep dive into leadership development through decades of experience, global learning, and proven tools.
Explore Our Services
We are committed to professionalism, utilizing cutting-edge assessment tools rooted in science to address contemporary leadership challenges effectively.