We recently connected with Adrianna Muñoz and have shared our conversation below.

Adrianna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

Let me tell you about *Sarah. She got that management promotion she’d been working toward for years. You know the feeling, right? That moment when all your hard work pays off and you think, “I’ve made it!”

Here’s the truth Sarah and many new managers face: Sarah’s story mirrors what I see every single day. This rockstar employee, absolutely crushing it in her role, suddenly finds herself drowning in the deep end of management. This isn’t just Sarah’s story. This is YOUR story too if you’re sitting there nodding your head right now.

Three months ago, Sarah and I were out for coffee. “I love my business,” she told me, “but managing people? It’s tough.” She was doing that thing we all do – working way after work hours, letting every employee conflict feel like a personal failure, and carrying her laptop to bed like it was her security blanket.

Here’s where it gets good.

We rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We tackled conflict resolution head-on. We implemented time-blocking strategies so she wasn’t working 60+ hour work weeks anymore. We covered the skills needed to transition from employee to manger. And you know what happened? Within weeks, Sarah stopped doing that deer-in-headlights thing during feedback conversations. She started leaving the office at 5 PM – actually leaving, not just thinking about leaving while sending “one last email.”

But the real transformation? That moment when Sarah realized she was finally running her business instead of letting it run her. That’s the moment I live for. Leadership isn’t about being perfect. It’s about having the right tools and the confidence to use them.

I’ve spent the last two years transforming leaders just like you. People who were exactly where you are right now, feeling like they’re barely keeping their head above water. And I guarantee that I can help you find your footing in this chaos too.

Because here’s the truth: You weren’t meant to just survive in management. You were meant to thrive.

(*name changed for client confidentiality)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Picture this: It’s 2 AM in a busy inner city Chicago ER, and I’m literally hiding in the supply closet. Not because there’s a code blue or because I needed supplies – but because I was avoiding a conflict with a difficult patient. Yeah, I know – pretty ridiculous for someone who could handle cardiac arrests and trauma cases without breaking a sweat, right?

The truth? Great nurses (and great frontline employees) don’t automatically make great leaders. I learned that lesson the hard way when I got promoted to management.

Let me take you back to 2017. There I was, a critical care nurse who’d just been handed the keys to the management office as a project manager working towards my masters degree. I went from confidently running codes to running away from tough conversations. From managing life-or-death situations to not being able to manage my calendar.

My breaking point? The day I found myself not able to spend time with my family, my husband, and my friends. A family member of mine was sick and I needed to get home to visit, but had 3 projects with tight deadlines coming up. Something had to change.

I made a decision that would alter everything: I was going to figure out leadership.

I became obsessed with studying leadership, conflict resolution, and time management. I’m talking about devouring books, courses, and workshops. But here’s what made the difference – I started treating leadership skills like I used to treat medical skills: practice, implement, refine, repeat.

The transformation took years, but it was profound. I went from hiding from conflicts to being called an essential employee by a C Suite executive. I had the opportunity to help other leaders as a mentor. My boundaries became so rock-solid that I finally got my personal life back. The real plot twist in this story? The moment I realized that my struggle and transformation could help others. That’s when I knew – I had to become an executive coach for women leaders in the health and wellness space.

Today, I work with women in leadership who are exactly where I was. You know who you are – the brilliant individual contributor who’s suddenly found themselves in charge of a team, feeling like they’re wearing someone else’s shoes. My superpower? Taking everything I learned the hard way and helping you fast-track your way to confident leadership. It doesn’t need to take you years to develop leadership skills like it took me, it can happen in less than 3 months (that’s a guarantee).

What sets me apart? I’ve been in those trenches. I know what it’s like to feel like you’re failing at leadership while excelling in your technical skills. I’ve figured out how to transform that overwhelm into overachievement, and I’ve created a system that works specifically for high-achieving professionals who need to make this same transition.

The thing I’m most proud of? It’s not the awards or the promotions or even the coaching practice I’ve built. It’s the leaders I work with who text me saying they finally had that tough conversation they’d been avoiding for months. It’s seeing them implement boundaries that let them attend their kids’ soccer games – and actually watch them this time.

Here’s what I want you to know: If you’re struggling with leadership, you’re not alone. And more importantly, you don’t have to figure it out alone. I’ve created a roadmap from my own journey – from hiding in supply closets to becoming a confident leader – and I’m here to be your guide.

Leadership doesn’t have to feel like a struggle. You can learn to handle it with the same confidence you bring to your technical work. And I’m living proof that with the right support and strategies, you can transform from running away from conflicts to running successful self-sustaining teams.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The fluorescent lights hummed overhead as I dodged stretchers in the controlled chaos of a busy Chicago ER. Sixty beds, all full. Sirens wailing. Another patient rolling in. This was my element – the perfect storm of organized mayhem where I knew exactly who I was and what I was doing.

I was removing medication when one of our pharmacy leaders appeared at my side. Instead of the usual conversation, he said something that would change the trajectory of my career: You should apply for the management position.

I actually laughed out loud – that awkward, caught-off-guard kind of laugh that comes out as a cough. “Me?” I asked, looking around as if there must be another nurse standing behind me that he was really talking to.

“Yes, you,” he said, with the kind of certainty that made me question myself.

That moment stuck with me. As I drove home that night his words kept echoing in my head. The truth was, I had gotten comfortable in my comfort zone. I could handle any patient case thrown at me, navigate the most challenging situations, and keep my cool when chaos erupted. But management? That felt like stepping off a cliff.

The voice in my head had a field day with this one. “You’re a floor nurse not a manager,” it whispered, conveniently ignoring my nearly completed master’s degree and years of informal leadership experience. “You don’t know the first thing about management.” Never mind that I was already the person newer nurses came to for guidance, or that I regularly led critical responses when things got dicey.

But here’s the thing about comfort zones – they’re really just beautiful cages we build for ourselves. That night, sitting at my kitchen table with a glass of pinot and a half-eaten sandwich, I realized something: I wasn’t afraid of failing at management. I was afraid of succeeding at something that would force me to become someone new.

The application for the management position didn’t happen that year- it actually took a few more years before I could get over my fear and go for it. It felt like jumping off that cliff I’d been so worried about, only to discover I had wings all along.

Now, years later, as I coach other women professionals through their own leadership journeys, I often think back to that moment in the ER. Sometimes the biggest obstacle to our growth isn’t the mountain ahead of us – it’s the comfortable valley we’re afraid to leave behind.

And that nervous nurse who couldn’t imagine herself in management? She became someone who helps others find their wings too. Funny how life works out when you learn to get out of your own way.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There are SO many resources I’d love to share, but for the purposes of this article and not overwhelming the reader I’ll limit myself!

Podcasts:
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Rethinking by Adam Grant
Build by Leila Hormozi
Sedate the Stress by Adrianna Munoz (shameless plug!)

Books:
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenburg
Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine
The Leadership Pipeline by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ogdenpeak.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ogdenpeakcoaching/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriannamunozcoach
• Youtube: @OgdenPeak