A team with dreams

Meet the women of MadhuCoach:

  • Madhu Maron

    Leadership Coach & Founder of MadhuCoach

    I’m Madhu, a passionate advocate for helping leaders know themselves, find their voices, and lead with clarity and purpose. Early in my career, I saw how insecure, unsupported leaders often created similar environments for their teams. I’m committed to changing that cycle by empowering leaders to embrace who they are and build workplace cultures where everyone can thrive.

    My journey with MadhuCoach began in 2003 as a part-time dream, and today, it’s a six-figure business with a team of four, dedicated to supporting individuals, teams, and organizations on the path to transformation. Navigating my own career changes, building this business from the ground up, and continually challenging myself in my leadership give me a unique perspective I bring to each coaching relationship.

    My core values are curiosity, directness, clarity, resilience, and a willingness to take risks. When I’m not coaching, you’ll likely find me in improv class, weight-training at the gym, or spending time with my closest friends.

  • Mary Bajorek

    Coach, Facilitator, Program Designer

    I’m Mary Bajorek, work life coach and a passionate facilitator. I guide curious and thoughtful change makers  through transition points in their careers towards feeling agentic, confident and capable so that their work can become aligned with who they are and the impact they want to make in the world. I also believe in the transformative power of thoughtfully designed gatherings, where everyone feels seen, empowered, and invited to contribute to something larger than ourselves. With a background in design thinking and a love for creativity and play, I approach each challenge with curiosity, openness, and courage, inviting others to step into their fullest potential. As co-author of The Path of Empowerment, I celebrate the journey of self-discovery and connection, living out my commitment to building a meaningful, connected world.

    When I’m not working, you’ll likely find me on the social dance floor, dancing West Coast Swing both competitively and socially around the world. Dance is a space where I continue to explore connection, joy, and the art of collaboration.

  • Natasha Perlis

    Leadership Coach, Facilitator, Program Designer

    I’m Natasha Perlis, a leadership coach with a deep commitment to fostering intentional and compassionate leadership. After two decades in the nonprofit sector, I saw firsthand the gaps in leadership development and realized my calling was to help individuals and teams slow down, align with their values, and learn mindful, inclusive leadership practices. Since 2019, I’ve been working with clients to create spaces where they can find their voices, build intentional practices, and expand their communities of care.

    At MadhuCoach, I’m inspired by our collective commitment to joy, curiosity, and the wisdom of change. We strive to model the leadership we wish we’d experienced, rooting our work in exploration, inclusivity, and the healing power of connection.

    Outside of coaching, I’m raising teenage twin daughters, studying to become a Buddhist chaplain, and spending time in nature with my 91-pound rescue dog, Orwell. These practices keep me grounded and bring depth and intention to my work.

  • Reese Hart

    Director of Operations

    As Director of Operations, I manage client communications and serve as the administrative backbone of MadhuCoach. With a focus on warmth, presence, and authenticity, I bring transparency and care into all my interactions. I value creating nurturing spaces where others feel seen and supported, fostering growth and resilience, especially during challenging moments. My detail-oriented approach allows me to track multiple moving parts, ensuring nothing important falls through the cracks. Relationships come first, and I believe this approach builds the trust and reliability I bring to my work.

    When I’m not working you can find me in learning community, in nature, resting and studying somatics.

“Who I Am”

I am a Motown girl, from the suburbs, from a cul-de-sac with a circular drive.
I am from a dusty village, Bengaluru, where we sat on the floor for our meals.
I am an only child, the only child, a son and a daughter combined into one, an impossible thing to live up to.
I am from immigrant parents, a dad who staked his life on the American Dream and a mom who longed to go home. 
I am from internalized whiteness, not seeing my true self in the mirror.
I don’t know Bollywood or ayurveda or garam masala or the Taj Mahal
I know Smokey, Stevie, Marvin, Michael, Aretha, Prince
Detroit and New York.  Joe Louis and Malcolm X. 
Pizza and beer.  Latkes and sour cream. 

Who I am is ever-unfolding.
Without my dad on this Earth
With my mother on another continent
I stand untethered, undefined
Surrounded by love and still on my own.
Picking up pieces of myself along the way,
Holding them up, trying them on for size,
Wrapping myself up in them,
Noticing who I become.

(based on The I Am From Project.  If you’ve never done this exercise, I highly recommend it!)
Mary and Eric Chisholm at Rose City Swing 2024 in Portland. 
Photo credit Shawn Bellenbaum

“Mosaic of Home”

I am from two places, separated by an ocean, a language and a culture.
I am from the same twelve dishes every Christmas Eve,
from Sunday's under the church eating paczki with chosen family
from throwing money into the English Jar at home.
I am from Canada when anybody outside of the borders asks but always Polish within them.
I am from parents who packed up three little girls and five suitcases and moved across the ocean,
from parents who dance in the kitchen, hold hands when they go on walks and put experiences above money.
I am from entrepreneurs for whom independence means freedom,
from hundreds of roses in the bathtub and chilly bedrooms filled with centerpieces
from the brand new accounting diploma in my dad's office.

I know putting relationships above everything else and how important doing the scary new thing is.
I know receiving Christmas presents from the government and rummaging through bags of passed down clothes.
I know zabawas and disco polo shouted at the top of my lungs and cheering my sister on in the community center ice rink.
I don't know many things, I just know what I know.

Where are you from? is not as simple a question to answer for me as you might think.
I am not easily defined, not easily explained.
I am a mosaic of home,
a shifting kaleidoscope of people, places and experiences.

“Living compassion is a verb”

A white leather 1971 wedding photo album from The Plaza Hotel brimming with people who'd crossed oceans, destruction, and loss to be there
I am from multiple family tables
Dad’s novels, poetry, and music and Mom’s talismans, crystals, and celebration
Need for validation
Pleasing to stay safe
Performing to be seen
Performing to be embodied
I am from a caterpillar from our southern garden that transformed into Terry the Monarch Butterfly
Cobalt blue Morning Glories growing up our 1825 Soho brownstone facade in September
Deep South hush y'alls and NYC yous guys
White fragrant magnolias and "please curb your dog" sidewalk trees 
BBQ from Dimitri’s and dal from the Chand Moon
I am from 7 schools before 18
Raised by a single mom
Being a little mama to my baby sister
Mothering fierce twin daughters who patiently show me how to be
Learning about unconditional love from dogs
I am from finding the call to be in service by becoming the red barrow covered by rain near the white chickens (thank you William Carlos Williams) 
I am from jasmine in my hair in India-showing me sacred hospitality and covering the hills of my San Francisco teaching me how to adult
Brooklyn F train and Berkshires bucolic
I am from taking off my masks taking off my masks taking off my masks
I am from deep curiosity
I am from finding gratitude in seasons, senses, and the elements
I am from the non profit industrial complex and wanting for others what I did not have
I am from sitting at the bedside not knowing; bearing witness; and loving myself and others and 
Living compassion is a verb.

“More is possible now”

I am from lilac trees and warm summer days running through a sprinkler.
I am from playgrounds and the world of make-believe,
from staying up late reading books under a blanket,
from a heart full of magic.

I am from farmers and tradesmen,
from houses with empty beer bottles and little food,
from people who were hurt and in turn hurt others.
I am from forgetting and grief.

I am from the torch being passed on,
the feet taking one more step in front of the other,
the hope for something better.

I am also from people who think deeply and love widely
from hope, passion and kindness
from welcomed mistakes as a pathway of learning.
I am from a world of getting messy and always coming back to the same side.
I hold the steady belief that we can collaborate in our areas of greatest vulnerability.
A belief in  experimentation, discernment and a commitment for mutual thrival.

I am from play, fully embodied expression, and ‘after the ecstasy, the laundry’.
I am from the future of humanity being played out at the kitchen sink.

I am from the moments of conflict, of reconnection, 
and basking in the inquiry:
What is possible now, that was not possible before?

Work with us: