Michelle Merritt - Co-Founder, Executive Coach, & Speaker

Greater than your desire to win should be your desire to prepare to win.

Meet Michelle

Michelle Merritt is a senior people executive, keynote speaker, board director, and entrepreneur who has built talent strategies and developed leaders at every level, from emerging managers to the C-suite.

Often called “the corporate cheerleader,” Michelle proudly embraces this title as she revolutionizes the business community with her unique brand of pragmatic positivity and direct communication. She fosters professional confidence in individual clients and helps organizations build cultures centered on active listening and a strengths-centered approach to professionalism.

Michelle co-founded Circle City Consulting in 2012 with the motto “Fix what’s right with you,” a dedication to helping others embrace their unique talents and confidently invest in their development to build professional and personal success. She believes no one reinvents themself alone, and that the right network can carry you through career pivots, hard seasons, and the boldest chapters of midlife.

She is co-author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Empathy Impact and has served on more than 30 boards, currently as President of the Westfield, Indiana Police Merit Commission.

A Guinness World Record holder, Michelle lives in Westfield with her husband, Jason, and two senior cats, and is happiest hosting a backyard full of loved ones.

Connect with Michelle

Consultant/Fractional Executive

Michelle Merritt works with organizations on a fractional and project basis, bringing senior people leadership to companies that need C-suite level talent strategy without a full-time commitment. This is advisory work built for boards, executive teams, and HR leaders who want a partner who has done the job, not just studied it

Fractional CHRO / CPO Advisory

For companies navigating a leadership gap, a period of rapid growth, or a talent function that needs a senior hand at the wheel. Michelle steps in to lead compensation strategy, organizational design, and people operations on a part-time or project basis, giving you executive-level talent leadership exactly when you need it.

Best for: Companies between HR leaders, scaling fast, or testing whether the role needs to be full-time.

Talent & Succession Strategy

Every organization has people it can’t afford to lose and roles it isn’t ready to backfill. Michelle works with leadership teams to build succession plans, leadership pipelines, and talent review processes that hold up under pressure, so the next departure is a transition, not a crisis.

Best for: Companies preparing for growth, ownership transition, or key-person risk.

Empathy-Centered Leadership Training

Drawing on her Amazon #1 bestseller *Empathy Impact*, Michelle delivers workshops and leadership team engagements built around a simple premise: empathetic leadership drives retention, performance, and revenue. This isn’t a soft-skills add-on. It’s a framework for leaders who want teams that stay, perform, and trust their direction.

Best for: HR and L&D teams building leadership development programs, or executive teams navigating change.

Board & Governance Advisory

With service on more than 30 boards and current leadership as President of the Westfield Indiana Police Merit Commission, Michelle advises boards directly on governance practices, board composition strategy, and onboarding. This is work done in partnership with the board itself, strengthening how it operates and prepares for what’s next.

Best for: Boards refreshing their composition, onboarding new directors, or reviewing governance practices.

HR-Tech & HRIS Advisory

For HR technology companies who need a former practitioner’s perspective. Michelle advises on positioning to CHRO and CPO buyers, product feedback from the people-leader seat, and go-to-market strategy grounded in what talent leaders actually need.

Best for: HR AI and HRIS companies sharpening their pitch to enterprise people leaders.

Let’s talk about what your organization needs

Every engagement starts with a conversation about where you are and what’s actually needed, not a fixed package. If you’re weighing whether a fractional leader, a targeted project, or a single workshop is the right fit, that’s exactly the conversation to have first.

 

Schedule a call

Board Director

Board Director

Michelle Merritt brings a rare combination to the boardroom: deep human capital expertise paired with enterprise strategy fluency. Across more than 30 board and committee roles, she has overseen approximately $1 billion in fiduciary responsibility, bringing a practitioner’s lens on talent as a competitive advantage and a strategist’s command of the systems, culture, and leadership infrastructure organizations need to win.

Michelle’s governance work centers on translating complex organizational challenges into strategies that drive measurable outcomes, with particular strength in succession planning, executive compensation, and building the leadership pipelines that carry organizations through growth and transition.

Current Board Leadership

Westfield Police Department President, Merit Commission

Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis Advisory Board, Personnel Policy and Compensation

Prior Board Leadership

3Rivers Federal Credit Union Board Director, HR and Policy Committee

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Founding Board Member, Northern Indiana

Private Directors Association Membership Engagement Committee

Governance Highlights

  • Led talent and succession efforts as a 3Rivers Federal Credit Union board member, including compensation management, executive reviews, and succession planning.
  • Designed and governed enterprise-wide talent development initiatives as director of training and development at ACPL, providing one-on-one executive coaching to senior leaders while building programming that developed 19 department heads and more than 400 staff members.
  • Awarded the Air National Guard Blacksnakes Recognition for outstanding support, underscoring a track record of commitment and engagement.

Author

Michelle is co-author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Empathy Impact: The Wild Effects of Kindness in Action. 

Her second book, Emergent Power:  Midlife Women Redefining Love, Health, & Work, is due out Fall of 2026

Her newsletter, The Talent Advantage: Driving Revenue Through Strategic People Leadership, is published every Wednesday.

Speaker

Michelle Merritt is a recognized authority on transformational career moves, revolutionizing executive careers. She’s a rare strategic force advising Fortune 500 C-suite leaders and board candidates across industries.

A sought-after speaker, Michelle addresses executive leadership development, strategic career navigation, compensation negotiation, and breaking into corporate boardrooms. She hosts exclusive roundtables and coaching sessions designed to empower senior professionals to command their careers as intentionally as they lead their organizations.

When your audience needs strategies that deliver real results, not theoretical frameworks, Michelle delivers the tactical expertise that turns career ambitions into realities. Her sessions don’t just inspire; they equip leaders with the exact playbook that has elevated hundreds of executives to their next transformational role.

Michelle’s most requested talks

  • The Power of Accompaniment: A Guide to Leadership
  • The Future-Ready Director: Navigating AI, Your Network, and the New Rules of Board Service
  • The Adaptive Executive: Building Your Future-Ready Career Through Strategic Networking & AI Fluency
  • The $2.8M Lesson – The Art of Negotiating Compensation
  • Designing Your Winning Career Strategy
Hire Michelle as a Speaker
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