Who is Who
Laura Flessner is a leadership coach, innovation expert, and Founder of Mindtap, where she helps diverse professionals break through unconscious bias and lead with authentic confidence. A Forbes Coaches Council member with a background in R&D, innovation, and neuroscience-based leadership, Laura empowers individuals at every level to be seen, heard, and valued while transforming their unique strengths into powerful leadership assets.
A New Chapter Begins with a Shift in Perspective
Every leader has a moment when the path ahead stops looking familiar. For Laura Flessner, that moment came when she realized that the definition of success she once held no longer matched the person she was becoming. It is a theme she now shares with thousands of professionals: your definition of success changes with every chapter of your life. This understanding became the foundation of her journey as a leadership coach, and later the catalyst for her work transforming the experiences of diverse professionals who want to be seen, heard, and valued.
Laura’s story is not one of linear milestones but of intentional pivots shaped through clarity, self-awareness, and courage. Her own career proves a message she often tells clients: “You don’t need a title to lead. You need ownership, action, and authenticity.” Her ability to translate deeply human challenges into practical leadership strategies is what makes her work so resonant for those navigating identity, bias, and ambition at the same time.
Today, as the Founder and CEO of Mindtap, a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, and a recognized leadership expert in innovation and applied neuroscience, Laura empowers people who look, sound, or think differently to advance with confidence. Her mission is to ensure that diversity becomes a competitive advantage rather than a silent barrier.
Foundation: From Feeling “Different” to Understanding the System
Laura’s passion for helping diverse professionals emerged from lived experience. As an Asian woman, a natural introvert, and someone who often appeared younger than her peers, she frequently encountered subtle but persistent barriers on her path to advancement. The challenge was never her performance. In fact, she consistently earned strong feedback, delivered results, and built trust. The barrier was something more invisible: unconscious bias disguised as logic.
This realization didn’t come overnight. It came from years of noticing patterns, from stalled opportunities that did not match her contributions, and from the internal conflict of knowing she could do more but not being given the chance to prove it. Like many diverse professionals, she found herself working harder without always being seen more clearly.
As a consumer insights expert at Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, and GSK, Laura sharpened her ability to detect what is often overlooked. She learned to identify the gap between what people say and what people do, between assumptions and reality. This skill would later become a cornerstone of her coaching philosophy.
During her years in R&D and consumer understanding roles, colleagues consistently noted her ability to draw out insights others missed. One senior leader reflected, “Laura has a deep level of expertise in consumer understanding and a knack for helping teams think in new ways.” These early leadership experiences shaped her commitment to helping individuals break through the unspoken narratives that limit their influence.
Her educational foundation, including Harvard’s CORe Business Essentials and her professional coaching training through Erickson Coaching International, gave her a cross-disciplinary perspective that combined engineering, business, behavioral science, and human development. This multidisciplinary lens would later define the Mindtap methodology.
Ascent: Innovating, Leading, and Asking the Right Questions
Laura’s rise through the corporate world was built on her ability to connect insights with innovation. At Pfizer, she led the New Business Innovation strategy within the Global Wellness category and contributed to building a pipeline projected to generate significant long-term growth. When she moved to GSK Consumer Healthcare, she helped co-found three startup ventures in emerging spaces such as CBD, functional food and beverage, and personalized supplements.
Colleagues from this period describe her as a leader who could see opportunity inside ambiguity. One former executive partner shared, “She pushed us to make tough calls and pivot our strategy. Laura isn’t afraid to challenge for a better solution.” Another added, “She can take organizational information and transform it into usable frameworks and tools that lead to real results.”
These experiences taught Laura a truth she now teaches others: leadership is not about having perfect conditions but creating clarity when the situation is anything but. Her philosophy echoes one of her most shared messages: “Leadership doesn’t wait for ideal conditions. Leadership creates something valuable with what you’re given.”
However, her most defining professional moment came when her innovation role was eliminated during a joint venture restructuring. What could have been a setback became a turning point. As she reflected later, “Setbacks are a setup for success.” Instead of viewing the change as an ending, she recognized it as the beginning of something she had quietly been preparing for years.
This realization led her to build Mindtap.
Impact: Helping Diverse Professionals Break Through Bias
Mindtap was not created from certainty. It emerged from resilience, experimentation, and the decision to turn what made her different into a strategic advantage. Laura applied the same innovation tools she used to build corporate ventures to design her coaching frameworks. She combined these tools with applied neuroscience to help clients understand how the brain interprets bias, pressure, feedback, and leadership signals.
Her approach is both scientific and empathetic. She helps clients step into visibility without abandoning authenticity. She teaches them to lead ideas, not just tasks. And she equips them to influence decisions by shifting how others perceive their presence and potential.
Client recommendations highlight the depth of her impact. One executive shared, “I am not the same person I was before meeting her. Laura helped me find clarity about my drivers, my values, and my superpowers.” Another client noted, “She asked questions that made me think critically about my life and business in ways I never had before.”
Her coaching is described as calm, confident, and transformational. Clients appreciate that she helps them uncover solutions they already possess but have not yet articulated. Many credit her with helping them pursue new roles, launch businesses, clarify purpose, or rebuild confidence after major career challenges.
Her broader impact extends into speaking engagements, leadership training for global companies, and thought leadership featured through Forbes Coaches Council. She consistently reinforces the truth that leadership is built through intention, clarity, and courage not perfection.
Vision for the Future: Authentic Leadership for Every Professional
Today, Laura continues to expand Mindtap’s mission through coaching programs, self-paced courses, and leadership cohorts designed to help professionals grow from any level. Her message is rooted in the belief that leadership is not about mastering expertise but mastering presence.
As she often says, “People don’t trust what you know. They trust your confidence, your energy, and your passion.” Her vision is to help every diverse professional claim these qualities without having to change who they are.
Laura’s work is a reminder that authenticity is not a liability but a leadership asset. Her commitment to reshaping workplace narratives ensures that professionals who have felt overlooked can finally step into recognition with pride, clarity, and power.
Call to Action
Laura Flessner’s journey is a powerful example of what becomes possible when individuals choose to lead from who they are rather than who they are expected to be. Her story invites every reader to examine the next chapter of their own leadership and to pursue a path that reflects both purpose and authenticity. To explore coaching, programs, or leadership tools that can support your next step, connect with Laura and discover what your growth chapter could look like.
