Your business has aggressive goals, and you need a strong leadership team to achieve those goals fast. Leadership development is a strategic investment that not only positively impacts engagement and retention, but it also creates a future-ready work force that is well positioned to drive business success. That’s where K&R EDGE comes in.
Our Executive Coaches work to help the uniquely talented leaders of food and ag realize their full potential.
A certified executive coach and search professional, Sally brings more than 25 years of industry experience as a senior leader working for well-known consumer food companies, including The J. M. Smucker Company, Unilever, Keebler, and Nestle. Sally’s tenure in organizational strategy and leadership provides an unmatched experience when coaching executives or working with clients to identify and assess future talent.
Sally knows firsthand the kinds of challenges leaders encounter. She has a career’s worth of experience placing leadership, building teams, coaching, and mentoring. A Board-Certified Coach (BCC) through the Center for Credentialing and Education and an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation. Sally also holds an Executive MBA from Kent State University and completed her B.S. in Business Management and International Business, with a minor in Polish Language from Alliance College. She holds certificates in executive coaching and leadership assessment from the following accredited organizations.
As an executive coach, Michael works with senior leaders to identify opportunities to maximize their performance and build on their strengths to support them grow in their role and extend to the next level, while also finding their work / life harmony. He puts his client’s needs first and they value his ability to distil and understand the complexities of any situation. He provides the space and time for self-reflection, and uses some provocative and probing questions to help clients become more self-aware, so they are even better equipped to shape their future path and take ownership of their evolving thinking, decisions, and actions.
Michael graduated from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served as an infantry officer in the British Army for more than 10 years before moving into industry. He holds a Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching from Henley Business School in the UK and is studying to become an accredited coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Joe Marques is an executive coach and leadership development expert with more than 25 years of experience across the consumer food and healthcare sectors. He has held senior leadership roles at organizations including The J.M. Smucker Company and New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he led organizational development and transformative leadership initiatives.
Joe is known for an authenticity-centered coaching approach that helps senior leaders and teams achieve sustainable performance and measurable growth. His industry experience spans healthcare, banking, and consumer goods, allowing him to tailor coaching to complex organizational challenges. Joe holds a JD from Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law and is certified in Executive Coaching, Hogan Assessments, MBTI, and ESCI.
Based out of Vevey, Switzerland, Liesbeth Van Loock is a senior executive coach and leadership development expert with more than 15 years of experience partnering with leaders globally to accelerate careers and strengthen organizational performance. Her areas of expertise include executive coaching, leadership coaching, career transition, and HR talent development.
With professional experience at BASF and executive search firms, as well as global market exposure through INSEAD, Liesbeth brings a pragmatic and culturally informed approach to her work. She also facilitates workshops focused on resilience, supporting leaders navigating change in complex environments. Liesbeth holds a BA in Journalism and certifications in Executive Coaching, Hogan Assessment, and Positive Intelligence from institutions including Stanford University and International Mozaik Paris. She is known for guiding professionals through complex career and organizational transitions with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Heather is an executive coach with more than 25 years of experience as a senior finance leader, including service as CFO of both privately-held and public companies. Her background spans corporate finance and management consulting, where she led complex transformations, built high-performing teams, and advised executive leadership through periods of change.
Heather partners with senior leaders to build sustainable performance by strengthening mindset, decision-making, and strategic focus. Her coaching is grounded in trust, clarity, and challenge, creating the conditions for leaders to align performance with purpose and drive meaningful impact. Heather is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation and a Hudson Certified Coach. She brings a disciplined, performance-oriented approach to supporting leaders across career and organizational transitions.
Cynthia Iglesias Guven is an executive and leadership coach with extensive global experience leading teams across six continents in both government and private-sector organizations. She partners with leaders at all levels—from emerging managers to CEOs—to strengthen executive presence, enhance decision-making, and navigate organizational change and career transitions.
Known for her strategic and adaptable coaching style, Cynthia supports leaders in complex, multicultural environments and high-stakes settings. Her coaching helps clients improve leadership effectiveness, collaboration, and communication across geographies. Cynthia holds an MA in Political Science from The Ohio State University and a BA in International Relations and French from the University of Alabama. She is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation and certified in EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360 assessments.
77%
of organizations report their leadership is lacking
50-75%
of executives fail within 18 months of taking on a new role
55%
of CEOs report developing leaders is a top challenge
*Apollo Technical; Corporate Executive Board
The K&R Edge leadership consultants leverage a suite of solutions with their expertise and executive experience to build strategies that develop strong leadership and move business forward.
Each engagement includes:
– John C. Maxwell
Our firm is committed to providing not only top-tier executive search services, but also exceptional leadership advisory solutions that help our clients identify the best leaders, develop their leadership capabilities, and nurture their human capital strategies for sustained success.
Connect with us to discuss how our tailored services can give your
leadership team the EDGE it needs to succeed.
A high-end leadership advisory practice for food and agriculture companies, built for executive leadership teams and boards of directors. EDGE extends our executive search work into strengthening the leaders you already have, through leadership assessment, executive onboarding, succession planning, executive performance, and coaching, all grounded in the realities of your industry.
EDGE is built for the leadership teams and boards of established food and agriculture organizations that treat leadership as a driver of business results. Engagements are usually sponsored at the board or C-suite level, and the work flexes from the full leadership team to one-on-one coaching for individual executives and board members.
Five core areas: leadership assessment, executive onboarding, succession planning, executive performance, and executive coaching. Each is tailored to the organization. We do not run a fixed program, because the needs of a board, a new CEO, and a rising leadership bench are not the same.
We help boards and leadership teams build a clear line of sight to the next generation of leaders: who is ready now, who is ready with development, and where the gaps are. Because we also recruit and assess executives across food and agriculture, we bring an external market view to internal succession, not just an org chart exercise.
Our advisors are certified in established instruments such as Hogan, EQ-i 2.0, MBTI, and ESCI, applied to both individual leaders and team dynamics. Assessment usually sets the baseline for an engagement so that development and succession decisions rest on evidence rather than impression.
Experienced leaders and certified practitioners. Most hold ACC or BCC coaching credentials through the International Coaching Federation and related bodies, and many are former C-suite leaders from companies like The J.M. Smucker Company, Unilever, and Nestle, working across the US, UK, and Europe.
We work exclusively in food and agriculture. Our advisors understand commodity cycles, global supply chains, family and founder dynamics, and long capital horizons, so engagements start from your reality instead of generic leadership theory. That focus is the EDGE.
Every engagement starts with a conversation about your leadership priorities. Because EDGE is scoped to the organization (the size of the leadership team, the mix of assessment, coaching, and succession work, and the time horizon), investment is set per engagement rather than from a price list. Use the form above to start that conversation.
