Trista Hollweck
PhD (coaching & mentoring in education); Post Graduate Certificate in Education (teaching); International Institute for Restorative Practices certification; coaching in education practitioner and facilitator
“I work with leaders, teachers, and professionals across education, business, and healthcare to build coaching cultures and thriving organizations through systemic and network thinking rooted in accompaniment, meaningful relationships, and humanity at work.”
About
My Style
My sessions are warm, conversational, and deeply human but always purposeful and impactful. I bring passion and genuine care to every interaction, showing up as a thinking partner who listens closely, builds on what is already working, and helps open up new possibilities together. Drawing on my expertise, research, and scholarship, I provoke new thinking and deeper learning by challenging assumptions, surfacing what matters, and expanding how people see their work and the systems they are part of. Grounded in practice, my sessions are practical and generative; it is less about having the answers and more about exploring, questioning, and co-creating the conditions for real growth and change. People leave feeling seen, challenged, and energized, with new thinking that stays with them.
Before Our First Session
There is nothing you need to prepare before we meet. Come as you are, with whatever is on your mind and in your heart about your work. What you will find is a thinking partner who is genuinely curious about you, your context, and what matters most to you. Our time together will feel less like a formal meeting and more like a rich kitchen conversation — warm, open, and full of possibility. I will walk alongside you, accompanying you through your thinking with care and joy. And while our work together will be purposeful and generative, it will also be energizing and fun. People often leave our first meeting already looking forward to the next.
I Am Best With
I work best with people who want to support, develop, and bring out the best in others in their workplace. People who are looking to explore what it means to be a relational leader, teacher, coach, or mentor and who want to build teams that can navigate and thrive, even through conflict and complexity. People who want to be intentional about developing their own leadership and systemic thinking. If you are curious and committed to growing, we will do great work together.
Referrals Welcome
I am well-positioned to support leaders, teams, and organizations who want to foster professional growth and lead in a more relational and systemic way. If someone is looking for a thinking partner to help them navigate change, conflict, or complexity, build a thriving culture, or grow as a relational leader, please send them my way.
I Refer Out For
I refer clients to other practitioners when our work together surfaces a need for deep personal or emotional support, highly specialized expertise, or more formal mediation.
Outside the Practice
Outside of work, the people and places I love are what restore me most. I seek time to laugh and connect with my family and friends from all over the world. I love making memories with my husband, three kids, and our Bernese Mountain Dog, Mabel. Nature, movement, travel, and exploration energize me, and the quiet moments of reading and reflection rejuvenate me.
What Shaped My Practice
My approach to this work has been shaped by my lived experience as a teacher, vice-principal, and school district consultant — and by never losing touch with what it truly feels like to work in schools and systems. Designing and leading a district-wide mentoring and coaching program at the Western Quebec School Board (Canada) was formative, sparking my doctoral research into how relationships, accompaniment, and coaching transform professional learning and wellbeing. Leading educational networks across local, provincial, national, and international levels deepened my systemic and network thinking, while working across education, business, and healthcare sharpened my understanding of what relational, human-centred work looks like in different contexts. At the heart of it all is my identity as a pracademic — someone who spans practice and research — and a deep personal commitment to authenticity, love, and care as the foundations of how we work and grow together.
Details
Ottawa, Canada
Eastern Time (ET)
Hybrid
By arrangement
Yes
Accepting new clients
English, French (at times)
she/her
5 years
B.A- McGill University, Canada: PGCE- University of Edinburgh, Scotland; M.Ed- University of Toronto, Canada, PhD- University of Ottawa, Canada
Yes
Yes
Afternoons / Mornings