
The Competitive Advantage For Leaders
Just like elite athletes, modern leaders need to be fully engaged, continually developing new skills, and able to adapt and handle pressures to perform over a long period of time. That’s why the goals for our leadership development program differ from others.
Valor Performance provides professional coaching to help leaders achieve sustainable performance by activating preparation, performance, and recovery mindsets and providing leadership skills for personal and professional growth.


Crevan O'Malley
Senior Sales Director
"Having a place to go, where you can test your thoughts on all aspects of high performance has been the major plus while on the Valor Program. With my coaches' support and experience, I've been able to create that space and have benefited from the confidence gained by having my views challenged. The further you go on a leadership path the harder it can be to find safe, collaborative support systems, Valor has certainly been one for me."
Featured Valor Leadership and High-Performance Coaches

Joe Jacobi
Joe Jacobi
La Seu d’Urgell, Catalonia, Spain
Meet the Coach
Joe Jacobi's approach to coaching is inspired by his learnings from a 19-year career with USA Canoe & Kayak. He combines this extraordinary experience with a passion for innovative coaching for sustained high-performance in his work with Valor clients. His performance strategies challenge his clients to get outside of their day-to-day rush of life and bring focus to what truly matters most with simplicity, purpose, and flow. To date, Joe’s collaborative coaching has impacted the careers of countless Olympic-level athletes and his Valor clients in top US hospitals, corporate c-suites, tech giants, and on sales leaderboards.
Joe made history with his extraordinary canoeing career. He is a 10-time US National Champion, has medaled six times at the World Championships, and won Olympic Gold with his partner at the 1992 Barcelona games, the only Americans to hold gold in the sport. Out of the water, Joe has served as CEO of USA Canoe and Kayak, the sport’s national and Olympic governing body. Always the adventurer, he has experienced many unique challenges including paddling a kayak 113 miles from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Today, Joe continues to be active both physically and mentally training for marathons and sharing knowledge and insight on his blog, Sunday Morning Joe.
Favorite Quote
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.” —Francois Auguste De Chateaubriand
Education, Affiliations, & Accomplishments
CEO of USA Canoe and Kayak (2009-2014)
2005 International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
Six-Time World Cup Medalist - Whitewater Canoe Slalom
Ten-time US National Champion - Whitewater Canoe Slalom
2004 Olympics, Athens - Whitewater Canoe Slalom
1992 Olympics, Barcelona - Gold Medalist, Whitewater Canoe Slalom
1989 Canoe Slalom World Championships - 5th place
1989 Canoe Slalom World Cup Series - 3rd Place
Leadership Development, Leadership Oklahoma City
Catalan language, CFA La Seu, La Seu d’Urgell

Dr. Cindra Kamphoff
Dr. Cindra Kamphoff
Mankato, MN
Meet the Coach
Dr. Cindra Kamphoff leverages her wealth of knowledge, experience, and partnership to encourage her clients to create a bold vision for their future. Since 2006, she has coached high performers, executives, and championship teams including Olympians, players in the National Football League, and leaders of Fortune 500 companies, retail giants, and financial organizations. Cindra’s focused, non-judgemental, and fun approach helps clients create a stronger connection and clarity of their best selves while increasing resilience, courage, and ability to design the life and work they seek.
Cindra was an elite collegiate athlete herself, earning a scholarship to run track and cross-country. Today, she channels her passion for high-performance into each session as she supports her clients towards sustainable peak performance. Beyond one-on-one coaching, Cindra is also a professor and accomplished speaker, and writer. She speaks at trainings and conferences around the country and it has featured her work in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Huffington Post, and USA Today. Cindra is also the author of an Amazon Bestseller and corresponding workbook, Beyond Grit: Ten Powerful Practices to Gain the High-Performance Edge, and the founder of the top-ranking podcast, High-Performance Mindset.
Favorite Quote
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough."—Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Education & Affiliations
Minnesota Vikings - Mental Performance Consultant
Vice President of the National Speakers Association
Association for Applied Sport Psychology - Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro - Ph.D., Sport and Performance Psychology
University of North Carolina at Greensboro - M.S., Sport and Performance Psychology
University of Northern Iowa - B.A., Psychology; graduated Summa Cum Laude

Inga Stasiulionyte
Inga Stasiulionyte
Vilnius, Lithuania
Meet the Coach
Inga Stasiulionyte leverages her experiences as an Olympic javelin thrower, business analyst, and mental strength coach to help her Valor clients discover new heights. Her athletic work has impacted European Champions, Olympians, and National Record holders. Off the playing field, Inga seamlessly translates her coaching to drive the performance of her Valor clients—elite professionals in top U.S.hospitals, tech-industry giants, and corporate c-suites—as well as future leaders as the Head of the MIT Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.
Inga earned an impressive set of accolades over her javelin career. She is a multiple-time Lithuanian National Champion, two-time PAC-10 Champion, NCAA Champion, four-time NCAA All-American, and represented Lithuania in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As a senior at the University of Southern California (USC), she earned the distinction of being the first female in PAC-10 history to win a throwing event in four straight seasons. For her collegiate accomplishments, Inga was inducted into USC’s Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2012. Today, she continues her athletic legacy developing Olympian mindset training programs and serving as a mental strength coach for Olympians and Olympic hopefuls.
Favorite Quote
“Vincit qui se vincit - He conquers who conquers himself.”
Education, Affiliations, & Accomplishments
2012 University of Southern California Track and Field Hall of Fame Inductee
2008 Olympics, Beijing - Javelin
Four-Time NCAA All-American - Javelin
National Champion, Lithuania - Javelin
2004 PAC-10 Champion - Javelin
2001 NCAA National Champion - Javelin
2001 PAC-10 Champion - Javelin
Head of MIT’s Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (2017-2020)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Global Entrepreneur Bootcamp
International University of Monaco - Master of Science, International Business and Global Affairs
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business - B.A. Entrepreneurial Studies

Dr. Lauren Tashman
Dr. Lauren S. Tashman
New York, NY
Meet the Coach
Dr. Lauren Tashman has impacted performers from all arenas and levels since 2003. She has consulted with a wide breadth of high performers, from elite athletes and Olympians to VPs of public tech companies, leading legal professionals, and the performing arts. Most recently, she serves as a Mental Performance Coach for Golf and Body NYC and the Canadian Women’s National Softball Team, the Director of Mental Training for the G2 Girls Golf Academy, and conducts her own practice reaching people around the world. With Valor, Lauren’s work has helped sales leaders, innovators in tech, physicians at top US hospitals, and venture capitalists stay on top of their game when it matters most.
Lauren fell into a passion for performance coaching, earning her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology after 13 years of elite equestrian show jumping. Her budding career in the sport was halted after a series of falls shook her confidence and motivation. Today, she leverages personal experience with her skills from years of training, research, and coaching, to help others navigate the ups and downs of the pursuit of excellence. Lauren is also an accomplished writer, speaker, and presenter in the field. She is the co-host of The Path Distilled podcast and has co-edited three books: Becoming a Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology Professional: a Global Perspective; Global Practices and Training in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology; and Performance Excellence: Stories of Success from The Real World of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
Favorite Quote
“If you never push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you will never improve.” —Dr. K. Anders Ericsson
Education & Affiliations
Association for Applied Sport Psychology - Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC)
Florida State University - Ph.D. Educational Psychology, Sport Psychology Concentration
Florida State University - M.S. Educational Psychology, Sport Psychology Concentration
The College of New Jersey - B.A. Psychology

Shameema Yousuf
Shameema Yousuf
London, England
Meet the Coach
Shameema Yousuf brings a diverse background as a former banker and fund manager, elite international athlete, and psychologist to her work with Valor clients. Since 2010, she has made a career supporting the performance and mental health of elite athletes and executives across the globe. Shameema has led a psychology program for the Brighton Hove Albion Football Club (soccer) in the UK, serves as the consultant sport psychologist for the Zimbabwean Olympic Committee, mentors early career practitioners, and conducts her own practice in the U.K. and Zimbabwe. Her former career in finance allows her to effortlessly translate her performance psychology knowledge for her clients at Valor, helping leaders in sales, tech, and healthcare achieve sustainable peak performance.
Shameema’s work extends into advocacy and diversity and inclusion initiatives transnationally, serving on several international committees. In 2020, she was recognized on the Muslim Women’s in Sport Powerlist for her esteemed contribution to sport. An international force, Shameema has presented around the world on mindfulness and performance, cultural sport, and performance psychology, has 20 publications to her name in numerous journals and books, and has been featured on world media channels including the BBC, Sky Sport, and Wimbledon Radio.
Favorite Quote
“Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before.” —Kamala Harris
Education & Affiliations
Muslim Women in Sport Powerlist 2020
Association for Applied Sport Psychology - Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC)
American Psychological Society (APA) - Division 47 Member
British Association of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Registered Counsellor
Health and Care Professions Council (UK) - Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist
British Association for Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) - Member and Supervisor
Boston University - M.Ed. Counseling Psychology, Sport and Performance Concentration
Brunel University, UK - M.Sc. Business Finance
City University, UK - B.Sc. Joint Honours Economics and Accountancy

Iris Zimmermann
Iris Zimmermann
Rochester, NY
Meet the Coach
Iris Zimmermann leverages a wealth of experience from her impressive career as a World Fencing Champion, Olympian, and businesswoman to coach others towards finding personal and professional success. In her post-fencing career, she owned and operated the Rochester Fencing Club with her sister for nine years. In that time, the pair doubled club membership and moved to a space triple the size of the original fencing club. Today, Iris brings all of her talents, knowledge, and skills into her coaching of Valor clients as they strive towards sustainable peak performance as they lead global tech companies, physicians at top US hospitals, high-growth sales teams, and financial institutions.
Iris is known in the fencing world as a record-breaker and a woman of many firsts. At just 14 years old, she became the first World Fencing Champion from the United States in any age or weapon category. Iris went on to become one of the youngest participants to win a National Championship and the first medalist in US history for women's foil at the 1999 Senior World Championships. Iris participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and is the 2001 NCAA Fencing Champion. In 2013, she was inducted into the US Fencing Hall of Fame for her record-breaking career. She continues her legacy through teaching the sport of fencing to all ages, is the first and currently the only female commentator for the International Fencing Federation, and currently serves as a VP of the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association.
Favorite Quote
“Crisis has two meanings-one is danger and the other is opportunity.” —George Mumford
Education, Affiliations, & Accomplishments
Vice President of the United States Olympians and Paralympians Association
2013 United States Fencing Hall of Fame Inductee
Three-time Div. I National Champion
2001 NCAA Fencing Champion
2000 Olympics, Sydney - Fencing (Foil)
1999 Senior World Championships - Bronze Medal, Foil (First American World Medalist)
First American Junior World Champion
First American Cadet World Champion
University of Rochester, Simon School of Business - M.B.A.
Stanford University - B.A. Political Science
Our Proven Business Coaching Strategy
The Valor team has built a leadership development plan backed by data to help your organization unlock their full potential. Our proven framework focuses on six core areas of growth:
1
Values Endurance
The ability to leverage one’s top strengths, take intentional actions, and create a life aligned with one’s values.
2
Mental Agility
The ability to look at situations from multiple perspectives, creatively problem-solve, and think flexibly under pressure.
3
Connection Strength
The ability to build upon the connection with oneself, and grow strong and healthy relationships with others.
4
Self-Awareness Power
The ability to pay attention to your thoughts, emotions, behaviors and physical reactions and responses.
5
Emotional Flexibility
The ability to strategically change one’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in the service of a desired outcome.
6
Optimism Conditioning
The ability to notice and expect the positive, bounce back from setback, and prepare for success.
START YOUR JOURNEY TOWARDS PERFORMANCE GROWTH.
Invest in personalized leadership development plans & coaching for you and your team. Our team is ready to walk you through the benefits and purpose of coaching in the workplace. Let us show you how we can help.