Barbara Waxman, the founder of Odyssey Group Coaching, is a leadership and longevity advocate who helped define the Middlescence life stage. Barbara is passionate about building clients’ personal and professional skills so they can thrive while increasing their ability to lead through complexity and maximize their effectiveness. Barbara’s work spans the globe as a highly sought-after coach, workshop leader, and keynote speaker. She is a part expert coach, caring truth-teller, strategic thought partner, and accountability advocate, and she buoys her approach with compassion, cutting-edge expertise, and a light heart.

Barbara’s leadership in the coaching field has culminated in the transformative coaching model, Entrepreneurship Turned Inward©, and her science-informed Five Essential Elements© process. Barbara is an Advisor to the Stanford Center on Longevity and Stanford Lifestyle Medicine and the Generations Over Dinner Project. Additionally, she is a faculty member at Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy and an angel investor in the aging and longevity space. Featured in Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global and Next Avenue, among others, Barbara shares her experience and insights on leadership, resilience, longevity, aging, preferment, and more. She has also appeared on CBS This Morning and is a frequent podcast guest.

Barbara recently authored How to Avoid Burnout, Provide Exceptional Care, and Enhance Work-Life Integration, a chapter in The Successful Health Care Professional’s Guide: Everything You Need to Know but Weren’t Taught in Training (Springer Publishing). Barbara is also the author of two books examining aging, including, The Middlescence Manifesto: Igniting the Passion of Midlife.

A Wexner Heritage Foundation Fellow, Barbara holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and Gerontology from the University of Southern California and is a graduate of Colgate University. In addition, she earned her coaching certifications from the International Coach Federation and The Hudson Institute.