Sharpend

I work with startup founders to develop self-awareness, improve emotional intelligence (EQ), learn communication/leadership skills and scale with their business.

Prior to coaching I spent 7 years as founder and head of marketing at Looksharp, and then worked as a marketing executive and advisor to a number of leading San Francisco startups. 

Learn more at https://www.sharpend.co/

Executive Coach

500 Startups

Mentor

Parallel18

Various Companies

Advise, consult, and do marketing work for various venture backed startups.  

Specialties include:
-SEO
-Content Strategy
-Content Development
-Marketing Ops (automation through sale)
-Lead Generation 
-Business Development
-Data and Analytics
-Email Marketing
-PR and Marketing Communications
-Brand Strategy & Creative

Software Expertise includes:
-Google Analytics
-SQL
-Marketo
-Salesforce
-ExactTarget
-Mailchimp
-Optimizely
-SproutSocial
-Trello
-more

Marketer in Residence

Carta

Helped Carta through a critical rebrand, new marketing team hires and growth of demand gen channels that resulted in a 40% lift of net new MQLs.

Demand Generation:
-Managed Carta's inbound marketing efforts including webinars, white papers, and product marketing content. Webinars alone accounted for a 20% increase in monthly marketing generated revenues.
-Collaborated with Carta engineering team to implement site-wide SEO changes that resulted in numerous keywords moving from 50+ rankings into top 3 results and a 70%+ increase in organic traffic.
-Developed and launched Carta's first-ever event marketing series including two large-scale half-day events in New York and San Francisco. Each event was cash-flow positive and resulted in hundreds of net new leads, increased brand exposure and powerful online content.
-Worked closely with Carta's outbound email team to nurture new leads from lead generation through the sales pipeline.

Rebrand:
-Helped develop new brand messaging map, including key messages for press, current customers, internal stakeholders and more.
-Worked with engineering team to develop strategy for domain cutover and technical rebrand implementation.
-Collaborated with marketing, engineering, and design team to help redesign and rewrite content for every webpage on the Carta website and reposition product pages with new brand in mind.

Team:
-Hired and grew marketing team from 1 to 6 people. Led charge in interviewing, hiring and training new marketing hires.
-Used Asana to manage team goals and sync day-to-day work with broader business strategy.
-Developed marketing dashboards and pulled key marketing metrics using SQL, Google Analytics, Looker, and other tools.
-Presented marketing metrics at monthly KPI and leadership team meetings.

Digital Marketing

Looksharp

Founded Looksharp and led the marketing team from idea stage through Series A and beyond. Used an "Iterative Marketing" approach (running rapid fire tests and using data to track and scale campaigns) to drive user and revenue growth.

Overall:
-Grew student audience from 0 to over 10 million uniques annually through SEO, business development, content, press and more.
-Generated over 100,000 inbound B2B leads to support successful sales operation.
-Built reports using SQL and Google Analytics to measure campaigns and drive business strategy.

SEO:
-Worked with engineering and design team to optimize website and gain #1 ranking for over 90% of top keywords in the internship space.
-Developed content strategy and managed team of fifty plus writers to support SEO goals. 
-Used Optimizely to improve conversion rate on SEO landing page by over 50%. 

Content:
-Developed long term content strategy using personas, competitive positioning, and SWAT analysis.
-Managed editorial team of 50+ bloggers to create compelling daily content.
-Invented new recurring B2B content including 'Annual Internship Report' to monthly "College Hiring Webinars" and more that drove thousands of net new leads.

Data​:
-Queried SQL database to develop monthly cohort graphs used to analyze business KPIs.
-Queried Salesforce and Marketo to pull reports and graphs and analyze marketing / sales operation.

Branding and PR
-Developed relationships with top industry journalists and received press mentions in publications including: the WSJ, TechCrunch, WashingtonPost, Mashable and more.
-Managed brand transition from established brand to a parent brand including a number of technically challenging changes.

Founder

Founder -> CMO -> Exec Coach

I coach founders and co-founders from Series B - D. I specialize in co-founder dynamics--helping co-founders build more effective and fulfilling partnerships. 

I believe in a world where leaders have done the work to know themselves, in order to build lasting businesses and a more interesting future.

Nathan Parcells

Fractional Chief Learning Officer For Family Office & Enterprise II Author, Therapist, Consultant - Resolve Conflict / Heal Trauma / Build Wealth

The women and families I serve are...Stepping into ownership or leadership while carrying family expectations you didn’t choose and stories about money, power, or worth that no longer fit.Navigating unspoken dynamics with siblings, parents, or advisors that make decision-making feel emotionally loaded rather than strategic.Sensing that wealth could be a force for healing and leadership, yet noticing how easily it becomes a source of silence, pressure, or division.At the same time, the world is shifting rapidly.Women are inheriting unprecedented levels of wealth.AI is accelerating decision-making and distancing us from intuition and relationship.And many women are asking:How do I lead with wisdom in my family of wealth?This is where I come in.I work with women in the wealth space who are ready to move from inherited narratives to intentional leadership, rewriting the stories they were born into and stepping into stewardship with clarity, confidence, and emotional authority.Through my work and my upcoming book,From Echo to Athena: The Evolution of Women in the Great Wealth Transfer,I guide women through journeys of growth and transformation helping them integrate wisdom, power, and care as they assume their place within family enterprises and legacies.My work blends trauma-informed family systems, ancestral healing, and strategic advisory support to help women become stabilizing, visionary leaders inside complex family systems.✨ From Echo to Athena JourneysCurated experiences for women inheriting wealth who want to move from silence, role confusion, or emotional burden into authorship, leadership, and legacy stewardship.✨ Family Alignment &amp; Communication IntensivesFacilitated experiences that help families reduce conflict, clarify fairness, and restore trust—without sacrificing performance or dignity.✨ Stewardship &amp; Learning PathwaysIn partnership with Tamarind Learning, I help women and next-generation leaders build emotional fluency, financial literacy, and leadership capacity for long-term stewardship.If you’re ready to step into your role as a leader, I’d love to connect.Schedule a conversation here:https://www.lifestyleforlegacy.com/contact

Ruschelle Khanna, LCSW

Most wealth conflicts are emotional.

I’m excited to begin facilitating Family Book Clubs around my book, Inherited Trauma and Family Wealth: A Guide to Heal Your Relationships & Build a Lasting Legacy.

This is designed specifically for families and for advisors who recognize that governance is incomplete without emotional integration.

In these facilitated experiences, we explore:
• How inherited trauma shapes financial behavior
• The emotional roots of entitlement, avoidance, sibling conflict, and “failure to launch”
• How to build emotional governance alongside financial governance
• Preparing rising generations for stewardship and succession

This is a structured, facilitated process that gives families shared language and practical tools to strengthen relational capital.

If you’re an advisor who wants to offer something deeper to your client families — or a family ready to do this work, I would welcome a conversation.

The future of wealth management is relational.

https://lnkd.in/esUwuF7H

Founder From Echo to Athena Journey Series for Women ❤️🧠 I Co-Founder Ancestral Healing Center I Making Wellness A Priority I Click the Link to Book A Consultation⬇️

Coming off an incredible writers retreat with Stacy Feiner, co-creator of The Sixth Level.

There were many insights this weekend, but one truth rose above all others:

Women don’t need any more “evolving.”
We have arrived. And it's time to get to work. 

Here’s what I’m taking with me:

1️⃣ The old leadership models were designed inside patriarchal systems that demanded women “fit” inside them. 

2️⃣ Women are stepping up, stopping participation in the old system and designing new ones with long-range stewardship at the center.

3️⃣ Psychological maturity is a form of capital. Emotional literacy, systems thinking, and relational intelligence are not “soft skills.” They are the infrastructure of sustainable wealth.

4️⃣ The Great Wealth Transfer is a moral event. What’s moving now is decision-making power, values, and responsibility across generations.

5️⃣ Good governance protects both people and purpose.

6️⃣ Women are ready to operate in our own financial ecosystems.
Ones that honor legacy, lineage and care.

7️⃣ Identity precedes strategy.
Before vision decks, capital stacks, or governance models there is
“I AM.”
When women claim identity without apology, systems reorganize around that truth.

8️⃣ This retreat clarified the soul of the anthology:
From Echo to Athena: The Evolution of Women in the Great Wealth Transfer

We are done asking permission. 
We give it to ourselves. 

Deep gratitude to Dr. Stacy Feiner for her brilliance, clarity, and decades of work that made space for this.

----------------
Big thank you to The Blennerhassett Hotel and Spa for providing the perfect backdrop to rest, write and celebrate.

Morning, ladies. ☀️
This is your Thursday reminder that we no longer live in a time where our bathing suits are policed (in the United States).

Not that long ago, women could be measured, fined, or publicly shamed for showing too much leg. 

Boldness came with consequences.

And yet—here we are.
Still hesitating on the email.
Still delaying the financial decision.
Still “thinking about” the collaboration, the investment, the conversation, the next move.

Let this be your reminder:
You are not waiting for permission.

If there’s a financial decision you’ve been avoiding, make a move.
If there’s a collaboration you’ve been circling, reach out.
If there’s an idea that’s been tapping you on the shoulder, answer it.
For God’s sake, do something that moves you forward.

Boldness is available to you now.
Forward motion is a choice.

I often talk with families about what they want most for their children.

Underneath the conversations about education, wealth, opportunity, and legacy… the answer is almost always the same:

“I want my child to feel secure in who they are and capable in the world.”

In my work with families, I see self-worth developing through two essential foundations:

1. Inherent Worth
This is the deep knowing: I am lovable because I exist.
It comes from emotional safety, belonging, and being valued for who you are.

2. Earned Worth
This is the confidence that comes from developing skills and contributing something meaningful to the world.
It’s the sense that I can create value.

Healthy development requires both.

If a child only learns inherent worth without earned worth, they may feel loved but uncertain about their ability to stand in the world.

If a child only learns earned worth without inherent worth, they may become high achievers who secretly believe their value must constantly be proven.

When I work with families  we focus on nurturing both:

• Emotional security
• Identity and belonging
• Real skill development
• Opportunities to contribute meaningfully

Because true confidence isn't just “I can do things.”
And it isn't just “I am loved.”

It's the integration of both:
“I am loved, and I have something valuable to offer.”

I'm curious:

Where in your own life do you feel you needed more nurturing growing up?

• Inherent worth — feeling loved simply for being you
• Earned worth — developing confidence in the value you bring to the world

I'm over it. I'm writing the books I want to read.

For years, the advice aimed at women connected to wealth and legacy has been in repeat:
“Women need to be more confident.”
“Women need to be more assertive.”
“Women need to learn financial management.”

What if the problem is this narrative?

As I’ve been writing From Echo to Athena alongside an extraordinary group of women, something has become clear: many of us are already extremely capable. 
We are educated. 
Strategic. 
Thoughtful about capital, family, and the long arc of legacy.

What we’re tired of is being handed the same recycled storyline one that assumes we are somehow incomplete.

So we’re changing it.

From Echo to Athena is a collection of voices exploring power, inheritance, beauty, mythology, money, and meaning through the lens of women who are already shaping the future of family enterprise and wealth.

Echo represents the past version of us who was completely misunderstood.

Athena represents wisdom, strategy, and sovereign thinking.

And there are many other goddesses represented as well. 

When the stories available to us no longer fit, we write new ones.
That’s exactly what these women are doing.

And I couldn’t be more honored to write alongside them.

Artwork by Isabelle van Zeijl

Thank you Karen McNeill, PhD, CAP for the great conversation today on this topic.

Three new books just joined the Ancestral Healing Center reading list. 📚

The Architect of Desire is a powerful meditation on how family stories shape our longings, our blind spots, and our sense of self.

Why We Travel expands the lens outward. Travel helps us remember who we are when we step beyond the familiar. This work shows us how identity is both rooted in family history and evolving.

Power vs. Force grounds it all in discernment. Healing doesn’t come from force but from inner coherence. 

As I continue building the Ancestral Healing Center reading list, I’m holding one guiding question:
What helps us see our inheritance clearly?

These books offer a particular orientation to or lived experience. They invite us to slow down, listen more deeply, and trust that healing unfolds when we approach it with compassion.

If you’re drawn to genealogy, legacy, identity, these are worthy companions for the journey. 

Thank you Michael H Hallett and Rebecca Maffeis for the recommendations.

I grew up just a hop skip and a jump from the birthplace of the lobotomy, that famous spot where you could drop your wife if you grew tired of her...

Check out my latest newsletter and how we've evolved.

View newsletter: From Echo to Athena™ Journey

Many of us women have done years of healing. Therapy. Coaching. Self-reflection. We are no longer broken. We are ready. Those statement carries more h

Open article: Breaking Out of the Asylum And Stepping Into Authority by Ruschelle Khanna, LCSW • 2 min read

Breaking Out of the Asylum And Stepping Into Authority

Today 12pm EST! 
Ancestral Healing Center Café Chat

Plus! Celebrating Bernadette O'Brien Thompson and the release of her new book Ancestral Whispers. 

Register here: 
https://lnkd.in/eUSmYTFJ

"We must look beyond surface conflicts and habits to uncover how generational trauma shapes our ability to connect." - Ancestral Healing Center Cafe Chat 



Join the conversation on substack!
https://lnkd.in/eZJVmD2j

Aristotle purports that women are “deformed males.”
That my friends is Western philosophical canon.

He described women as incomplete versions of men, lacking full form.
For centuries, this idea shaped theology. Law. Property rights. Education. Inheritance systems. Economic participation.

The Great Wealth Transfer is a direct confrontation of this level of mysogny. 

The lecture below is exactly why the anthology From Echo to Athena: The Evolution of Women in the Great Wealth Transfer is being written.

We are here to correct a narrative that declared women defective at the foundation of Western thought.

We are not deformities, derivatives or second class beings. 

We define what comes next.

Open video: Aden | #politics #history #ancient #women #society | Instagram on instagram.com

Aden | #politics #history #ancient #women #society | Instagram

Understanding ancestral trauma means recognizing that “trauma is both unique and universal.” The most intimate pain can connect us with the most universal processes and vice versa. - Michael H Hallett 

Join us at Ancestral Healing Center this Saturday 12pm EST for an intimate discussion on Healing Ancestral Shame. DM me for details.

Being trauma-informed is a valuable skill regardless of financial status. 

Want to find out where to begin? 

Read more here: 
https://lnkd.in/evpGa24Y

What’s hiding on your front porch? In our latest Ancestral Healing Cafe Chat, a simple concrete lawn ornament the famously dressed-up Southern goose transforms into a powerful (and hilarious) symbol for family denial and inherited coping strategies. 

Watch the team lightheartedly unravel the “goose named denial,” you’ll discover how a quirky folk tradition actually mirrors the invisible loyalties, collective shame, and unspoken family codes that shape us across generations.

Is your family’s “goose” just a cute tradition, or is it covering up what no one wants to discuss? Join us as we get real (and a little silly), inviting you to name your own geese, look behind the costumes, and see how even the smallest details carry the stories that are ready to be healed.

Check out the hilarious episode here: 
https://lnkd.in/edZybVGa

If emotions are currency, these are examples of what happens with an interrupted flow...

"I don't want to look at my finances"
"It would be nice to have a different life"
"I'll never get out of this mess"
"F#*% it, let's go shopping"
"I'm so ashamed of myself"
"How did I get here?"
"I give up"

https://bit.ly/3ZUeaqU

Valentine flowers were on sale today...
And historically so were women.

Valentine’s Day traces back to ancient Rome and festivals like Lupercalia, rituals shaped inside a patriarchal order. Women were exchanged in marriage for alliance. Later, under figures like Saint Valentine, the story softened into romance. 

But even then, the structure remained.

For centuries, women were positioned as
property in marriage contracts and currency in political alliances.

Fast forward.

We have lived long enough to see the underbelly of modern patriarchy exposed in new ways. We are in a global reckoning surrounding the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and the systems that enable exploitation.

Women and children are still being treated as transactions.

But the matriarch is rising. We are aware and will not permit our sale anymore. 

We are rewriting contracts.
We are restructuring governance.
We are redefining legacy.

Valentine’s Day began in a world where women were positioned inside someone else’s power structure.

Today, we are designing our own.

And that may be the most profound love story of this generation.

If this resonates stay connected. Follow me here and join the writers of From Echo to Athena as we explore the rise of the modern matriarch, conscious inheritance, and the redesign of legacy itself. The story is being rewritten in real time and you’ll want to be part of the conversation.

Whether you’re new to ancestral healing or deep in the work, my hope is this newsletter gives you both comfort and clarity. This week on the call we jumped right into the big question…

To find out more Join us on substack.
https://lnkd.in/eAVYWS4r

Today we begin Module 3 at the Ancestral Healing Center: Healing Ancestral Shame.

Shame is one of the most powerful forces that travels through family systems. It hides inside family stories, silences, migrations, betrayals, illnesses, secrets, and survival strategies.

Many of us try to think our way out of shame.

But as Bernadette O'Brien Thompson reminds us:
“You can’t process shame from your thinking brain.”

Shame lives in the body.

And it lives in the stories that were never fully told.
This is why family history matters.

When we begin to explore our roots, we start to see the larger context that shaped us. 

We are only ourselves in the context of our families and our ancestral home.

Your fears absolutely did not start with you.
Your patterns do not belong only to you.
Your strengths were have been forged long before you were born.

When we get curious about our ancestors, something profound happens:

Compassion grows.
And the shame that once lived in silence begins to loosen its grip.

So today, I invite you to start with one simple act of curiosity.
Ask a question.
Open a photo album.
Listen to a story you’ve heard a hundred times… but this time, listen differently.
Your family’s story is the map and key to your healing and growth. 

If you feel called to explore your roots and understand the patterns living in your family system, we would be honored to walk alongside you.

The Ancestral Healing Center offers guided programs, community conversations, and therapeutic frameworks to help you uncover the stories that shaped you and release the shame that was never yours to carry.

If something in this message stirred your curiosity, trust that.
Your ancestors may be inviting you to listen.
Learn more about working with us or joining a future session at the Ancestral Healing Center.
https://lnkd.in/e23T5dGN

I am beyond excited to see one powerful thing which has emerged from this book project. 

A discussion around women, power, sex, exploitation in the family office/family business space. 

These spaces have historically easily carried so much abuse, secrecy and shame in an effort to save face. 

Much like the work of Piers Cross and his documentary exposing the horrors of boarding school, I believe our book, while not directly related to domestic abuse and sexual exploitation will be a catalyst in exposing the horrors the past has kept hidden. 

Thank you again to all the contributors on this project!

The global family office sector is entering a moment of profound change. As the Great Wealth Transfer shifts trillions of dollars into the hands of wo

Open article: What’s Sex Got To Do With It? - Family Office Politics on Blast by Ruschelle Khanna, LCSW • 3 min read

What’s Sex Got To Do With It? - Family Office Politics on Blast

If sexual violence is part of your family history there is a seat for you.

Sexual violence rarely lives in just one generation. It travels through silence.

Through attachment patterns. 

In many families, the story was buried to protect reputation. To preserve stability. To survive.

What if the behaviors, patterns, and fractures we see today are not individual failures but unresolved ruptures in the lineage?

Collective wounds require collective containers.

The Ancestral Healing Center exists for this reason. We aim to support you in metabolizing what was too overwhelming to process at the time so it does not continue shaping our families unconsciously.

You do not have to share details.
You do not have to expose anyone.
You do not have to relive what happened.

You simply have to be willing to sit in a space where truth, compassion, and nervous system safety coexist.

If sexual violence is somewhere in your family history, whether whispered about or never acknowledged at all, join us on next week’s call.

Breaking silence does not destroy families.
It restores integrity to the lineage.

There is a seat for you.

Register today: https://lnkd.in/eUSmYTFJ

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Ruschelle Khanna, LCSW

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The Battle

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Ruschelle Khanna, LCSW

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Engagements

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