Let’s start here: advocating for yourself doesn’t make you a jerk. It makes you a person with boundaries, needs, and goals. That’s just a normal part of being a human being. But I get it, some of us were taught that asking for more is pushy, or that having needs makes us "difficult." So we bite our tongues, downplay our accomplishments, and hope someone notices and rewards us for being quiet and chill and agreeable.

Spoiler alert: THEY DON’T. And you will ENDLESSLY frustrate yourself if you live your life this way.

While it’s true we get to do a lot of cool work with various companies, it’s no secret that our individual coaching is considered the crown jewel of The Threadsmith Group. If we can make one person’s life better through the coaching we provide, the business is a success.

BUT, not everyone is able to make the investment to get 1:1 coaching, and we believe in giving back to the community. So welcome to WednesdAMA, in which we take a mix of reader submitted questions and LinkedIn questions and answer them.

In theory, processes are supposed to make work easier. They bring order to chaos, create consistency, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. A good process should remove friction, not create it.

But here’s what actually happens in most companies: processes pile up over time. One team adds a new approval step. Another adds a form. Someone decides everything needs to go through a weekly meeting. And before you know it, the process is the problem.

You ever notice how a company can be full of incredibly smart, talented people… and still get completely stuck? Stuck in their thinking. Stuck in their decision-making. Stuck in endless loops of “we’ve always done it this way.”

It’s not because they aren’t capable, it’s because it’s almost impossible to get true outside perspective when you’re inside the system. And that’s where things start to break down.

While it’s true we get to do a lot of cool work with various companies, it’s no secret that our individual coaching is considered the crown jewel of The Threadsmith Group. If we can make one person’s life better through the coaching we provide, the business is a success.

BUT, not everyone is able to make the investment to get 1:1 coaching, and we believe in giving back to the community. So welcome to WednesdAMA, in which we take a mix of reader submitted questions and LinkedIn questions and answer them.

Let’s set the record straight: coaching isn’t just about giving advice. If it were, every TED Talk would turn people into experts overnight. You could watch a YouTube video and I’d be out of a job. Luckily for me, I suppose, that’s not the case.

Coaching is about unlocking potential, shifting mindsets, and helping people see (and act on) what they’re truly capable of. It’s about transformation, not instruction.

Change is inevitable. Market shifts, new technology, leadership transitions, someone comes up with the next big thing that everyoneeee has to get involved in. Businesses that don’t adapt get left behind. And yet, if you’ve ever been in a company going through a big transition, you know that change can feel chaotic, disorienting, and downright frustrating.

At The Threadsmith Group, we help leaders turn uncertainty into opportunity by guiding their teams through change with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

Every company says they want collaboration. Every team wants to work smoothly together. Absolutely no company on the planet is like “yeah we hate collaboration and we love it when people don’t communicate”. And if they do, wow, yikes.

Anyway, somehow silos still happen. One team is hoarding data. Another is operating on a totally different timeline. A third is working on priorities that have nothing to do with the overall business goals. You’re not even sure another team is even working in the same reality as you are. Sound familiar?

Coaching is an entirely unregulated industry. There’s no single central board or governing body. There’s no “higher power” you can go to for someone’s coaching license to get revoked if they wind up causing some kind of harm in your life. You can take a weekend course and call yourself a coach or you can take no course at all and call yourself a coach. That’s not shade, it’s just facts.

If you've ever worked at a company where leadership and product teams weren’t on the same page, you know exactly how frustrating it can be. One side is focused on long-term vision, revenue, and business goals, while the other is deep in execution, user needs, and feature development. When those priorities don’t align, everything starts to break down—deadlines slip, confusion grows, and frustration builds.

At The Threadsmith Group, we help businesses bridge the gap between leadership and product teams so they can work together instead of against each other.

Hi, welcome, I’m glad you’re here!

I’m Skyler, and I started this business because I got tired of watching brilliant people twist themselves into knots for broken systems.

For years, I’ve been the person people come to when they need someone who can cut through the chaos and say what’s actually going on—without sugarcoating it, but with just enough warmth to make it land. I’ve helped small teams untangle messy workflows, fix confusing products, and get their operations back on track. I’ve accidentally amassed a following on LinkedIn (hi!) based on my snarky responses to their AI-generated questions. And I’ve helped women find their voice in rooms that were never built with them in mind. I’m most proud of that.