Grow into your next level of success
on your own terms.

Riya Kuo - executive coach to unconventional leaders
 

For fifteen years as a corporate lawyer in the tech industry, I was usually the “only one” of me in the room. I’m the child of an immigrant single mom, I’m a woman of color — a woman.

I know what it feels like to not quite belong because you are visibly and fundamentally different.

I’ve felt like not enough and simultaneously too much. I’ve been constantly mansplained and had my ideas bro-priated.

Now I help “unexpected” leaders speak up and show up in environments not designed for people like us. So you can give your ambitions full scope — and also remember to make space for yourself in your own life. 

If you came to this section just to look at my qualifications (I get it, I’m a former lawyer), here they are:

Education

  • J.D., Northwestern University School of Law

  • B.S. Business Administration, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

  • B.A. Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Credentials

  • Professional Certified Coach (PCC), International Coach Federation

  • Certified Ontological Coach (NCOC), Newfield Network

  • State Bar of California

  • State Bar of Washington

  • RYT-200, Yoga Alliance

Corporate Experience

  • Microsoft

  • Sony Pictures

  • Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Personal Development

  • Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Rainier, Kala Patthar (Everest Base Camp), Gokyo Ri, Mt. Abang, W Trek, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

  • Over 500 hours of vinyasa and power yoga teacher training

  • California State Bar accredited cross-cultural mediation training

  • Mediation training with Ken Cloke

  • Playing Big Facilitator Training with Tara Mohr

  • The Coaching Way with Tara Mohr

  • Countless and ongoing mindfulness and spirituality trainings with Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley & Awareness Training Institute, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Trudy Goodman, Ram Dass, Krishna Das, Govind Das, HH the 14th Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Lama Rod Owens, etc. etc.

(I’m a lifelong learner, can you tell?)

Philanthropy & Values

I am a signatory to the Anti-Racist Small Business Pledge. Diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and social justice have been core values for me from the beginning. I was a strong advocate for these values during my corporate career, and I continue to believe in and uphold them.

I dedicate a significant portion of my income to supporting organizations that provide access to resources and elevate marginalized communities. I believe that Black Lives Matter, I believe that Indigenous Lives Matter, I believe that Trans Lives Matter, I believe in intersectional feminism, and I believe that different is not defective.