About Whitney

Whitney helps progressive creative leaders design their careers and accelerate their missions. Her techniques help people gain self-awareness, identify blind spots, navigate obstacles, and bring their whole selves to their work.

For more than a decade, Whitney was a user experience consultant hired to make technology easier and more pleasurable to use. She has been recognized for her work with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Foundation Center, Seamless, Boxee, and WNYC. She is named as a co-inventor on a U.S. patent with American Express.

Whitney is a two-time graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, with a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction and a Bachelor’s in Professional Writing and HCI. She is a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. She writes on her blog Pleasure & Pain, co-hosts the podcast Designing Yourself, and speaks at conferences and corporations worldwide.

A native New Yorker, Whitney lives in Maine with her partner Fredrick Selby. They are in the early stages of planning their circumnavigation.

       

Timeline & Credentials

• Joined Board of Directors of the Indigo Arts Alliance (2026)
• Founding member of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Intercultural Corps of Maine (2025)
• Mentor for entrepreneurship programs at Roux Institute of Northeastern University (2025)
• Acts of Reparations Circle of Practice cohort (2025)
• Recertified as Certified B Corporation by B Lab (2024)
• Land Trust Alliance’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Peer Program for Land Trusts in Northern New England cohort (2024)
• Money Management Essentials course completion with the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education (AFCPE) (2023)
• Joined Board of Directors of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust (2023)
• Certified Zentangle Teacher with Zentangle, Inc. (2021)
• Integral Team Coaching training at New Ventures West (2020)
• Nonviolent Communication International Intensive Training with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (2020)
• The Wisdom of the Enneagram training at The Maine Enneagram Center for Transformation & Well Being (2019)
• Reiki 1 Certification with Kristine Keegan at Arcana Maine (2019)
• Incorporated as Public Benefit Corporation (2018)
• Certified B Corporation by B Lab (2018)
• Facilitative Mediation training at New York Peace Institute (2017)
• Nonviolent Communication training at NVC Boston’s NY Intensive (2015, 2016)
• Professional Certified Coach credentialed by the International Coach Federation (2015)
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion training at UCSD Center for Mindfulness (2014-2015)
• Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West (2013-2014)
• Certified Social & Emotional Intelligence Coach through the ISEI (2013)
• Launched Pleasure & Pain (2008)
• Established Limited Liability Company (2005)
• Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University (2004)
• Bachelor’s in Professional Writing and HCI from Carnegie Mellon University (2004)

Styles & Strengths

• Enneagram: 8 with a 7-wing (The Challenger, The Maverick)
• Myers–Briggs: ENFJ (The Protagonist, The Teacher, The Giver)
• DiSC: D/i (Inspirational, Assertive)
• CliftonStrengths:
1. Activator – one who gets things started
2. Maximizer – one who pursues excellence
3. Futuristic – one who inspires with a hopeful vision
4. Strategic – one who sees the best route
5. Relator – one who is comfortable with intimacy
• Fascination Advantage: The Maestro (Power + Prestige — ambitious, focused, confident)
• Conflict Style: Collaborating (you win, I win)
• Love Language: Quality Time (undivided attention)
• Cancer sun, Pisces moon, Scorpio rising