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Irene Salter
These days, leadership can be tough. I’m here to make it easier...and ultimately fulfilling and fun. After twenty years of leading, teaching, mentoring, and geeking out on the science, I have assembled a research-backed set of tools and strategies that help leaders truly thrive at work and at home.
You’ve found the right support if you’re a curious adventurer that is...
…people driven. You’re not one of those traditional, top-down leaders driven by ego or money. You lead from behind, often working so hard to care for others, that you forget to care for yourself.
…passionate. You love what you do. It can feel creative, energizing, and meaningful, as if THIS was what you were meant to be doing, but somehow, sometimes (maybe even often), it’s overwhelming, exhausting, and out of balance. Your spark has dimmed.
…purposeful. You seek an authentic, confident voice that can inspire others to join your cause and change the world for the better. As brave and bold as you can be at times, you are also a messy, squishy human that sometimes gets in your own way.
Who I Work With
My clients include visionaries from Verizon, Disney, Chicago Public Schools, Facebook, Boston Medical Center, DoorDash, California Department of Public Health, University of Texas, and The Women's Fund. I especially love working with leaders in education, nonprofits, and government.
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Meet Irene Salter, the founder of Inquiring Minds. She has an unparalleled mind with a PhD in Neuroscience, Masters in Psychology, and 20+ years of leadership experience, but it’s her heart and soul that people fall in love with. Irene's ability to weave science and magic through storytelling makes her a sought after coach who cultivates leadership circles and retreats for executives driven by passion, purpose, and people. If your goals work is your soul’s work, then you’ve found your guide through the wilderness. Irene Salter’s award-winning career has taken her from premier neuroscientist to middle school teacher, from school superintendent to
the nonprofit board president, from ropes course leader to Exploratorium
exhibit designer, from published author to university chairwoman.
Today, as a sought-after executive coach and storyteller, she brings together evidence-based practices from neuroscience, positive psychology, and mind body medicine to help overwhelmed leaders thrive, not just survive. Her clients are leaders at Fortune 500 companies, schools, nonprofits and government agencies nation-wide. Through her guidance, they shed the burdens of perfectionism, performance, and
people-pleasing, and enter a realm of wonder where they can become the leaders they were destined to be.
Oh, and she writes. A lot. Her latest writing project is a book that explores the hard-core science behind why we love to travel and teaches us to thrive without ever needing to leave home. But there’s a blog, monthly column, articles, and much much more that you can find the Leader's Campfire.
When not coaching or writing, she's adventuring. You will often find her paddle boarding, jetting off to some exotic destination, or crawling through a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon.
Meet Irene Salter, the founder of Inquiring Minds. She has an unparalleled mind with a PhD in Neuroscience, Masters in Psychology, and 20+ years of leadership experience, but it’s her heart and soul that people fall in love with. Irene's ability to weave science and magic through storytelling makes her a sought after coach who cultivates leadership circles and retreats for executives driven by passion, purpose, and people. If your goals work is your soul’s work, then you’ve found your guide through the wilderness. Irene Salter’s award-winning career has taken her from premier neuroscientist to middle school teacher, from school superintendent to
the nonprofit board president, from ropes course leader to Exploratorium
exhibit designer, from published author to university chairwoman.
Today, as a sought-after executive coach and storyteller, she brings together evidence-based practices from neuroscience, positive psychology, and mind body medicine to help overwhelmed leaders thrive, not just survive. Her clients are leaders at Fortune 500 companies, schools, nonprofits and government agencies nation-wide. Through her guidance, they shed the burdens of perfectionism, performance, and
people-pleasing, and enter a realm of wonder where they can become the leaders they were destined to be.
Oh, and she writes. A lot. Her latest writing project is a book that explores the hard-core science behind why we love to travel and teaches us to thrive without ever needing to leave home. But there’s a blog, monthly column, articles, and much much more that you can find the Leader's Campfire.
When not coaching or writing, she's adventuring. You will often find her paddle boarding, jetting off to some exotic destination, or crawling through a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon.
100+ Book Club Members
1400+ Facebook Followers
900+ Email Subscribers
860+ LinkedIn Followers
Meet Tessa
Chief Operations Officer
As leaders know well, we are nothing without a strong support team!
With shared values and similar purpose driving our individual missions it is no surprise that when Irene had determined it was time to enlist a sidekick for her journey, Tessa Borquez would be the one to answer the call.
A tourism and hospitality professional for over twenty years Tessa brings an excitement for life, community, and adventuring. Tessa's love for connecting and being connected, together with her passion for creating unforgettable experiences led her to start her own destination and event planning business, Alacrity Destination Services in 2021. Driven by her mission "Explore, Discover, Savor", a reminder to treat every day with the curiosity of a traveler, along with the need for coaching through some challenges as a new business owner, Tessa found Irene lighting the way for leaders just like her.
Today as Chief Operations Officer at Inquiring Minds, Tessa's pride in our work and positive persistence helps to shape not just Irene's daily calendar but the structural organization and community culture, as well. Her collaborative and compassionate nature aids in our ability to provide leaders and their teams with a space for significant transformation.
When not in work mode, Tessa enjoys practicing yoga, kayaking, camping, cruising and playing her crystal quartz singing bowls.
What I Created
I never felt good enough. So I strived and sought accolades, honors, and appreciation. I buried my true identity and tried to be like all the white men around me. I got so busy and overwhelmed that I barely saw my family, and when I did, I was distracted or exhausted -- usually both. My brain was in survival mode. Eventually I realized that...
I am enough, just as I am.
I used my inquiring mind to bring together neuroscience, positive psychology, mind-body medicine, and hard won experience to heal myself–mind, body and soul. I learned how to bring the aliveness I felt while traveling into my everyday life. And I built a community of support around me so that I didn’t have to do it alone. Now, I use science to teach others how to do this for themselves.
Leadership can feel lonely, but it doesn’t have to be.
I was the perfect eldest daughter. A hyper-achiever. A perfectionist. The geekiest kid in the room. I graduated from Stanford University in four years with both a Bachelors in Human Biology and Masters in Psychology. With Honors. With a 3.7 GPA. Then, I earned a PhD in Neuroscience.
But achievement wasn’t enough.
So I became a leader. As an award-winning teacher, I lit the fires of curiosity. As a ropes course leader, I gave people the courage to fly. I designed curriculum, developed exhibitions, published articles, authored books, and won over $2.25 million in grants. I presided over University departments, committees, and nonprofits. I won accolades in leadership as a school superintendent by nurturing a powerfully collaborative team, ballooning our enrollment, and tripling our reserves.
But leadership wasn’t enough.
Where I Started
