From the boardroom to the breakdown — and back, differently.
About Teresa
Former Fortune 500 CHRO. Trauma-informed executive coach. Keynote speaker. Teresa's story isn't a highlight reel — it's the reason her work with senior leaders actually holds.
Former CHRO, Allianz · PCC Certified Coach · CHRL · Featured in Fast Company & Business Insider · Founder, Crucible Leadership
01 The Climb
Teresa spent two decades in corporate leadership, rising through senior HR and executive roles until she reached Chief Human Resources Officer at Allianz — a global Fortune 500 organization. She had built the resume, the reputation, and the composure that was supposed to make her untouchable.
She had also learned, without ever naming it, how to perform. How to be unshakeable in every room, regardless of what it cost her to get there.
Twenty years building everything they told me to build.
02 The Break
I was in a meeting with my CEO when my body gave out completely.
At the peak of her career — about to be promoted to Vice President — Teresa's heart began pounding so hard she had to excuse herself from the boardroom, in front of everyone. She was wheeled out on a stretcher. The shame, she says, was total.
"That moment is why I call this Crucible. Because a crucible is what holds something under extreme heat until it either breaks or becomes something stronger. I broke first."
It was the end of a career built on performance, and the beginning of a much harder question: what happens to a leader when the mask finally comes off?
03 The Rebuild
In 2020, Teresa left her corporate role to find out if there was a better way to lead — one that didn't require leaders to burn out in order to succeed. What followed was years of research into trauma, resilience, and the psychology of high performance, which became the foundation of Crucible Leadership.
Today, as a trauma-informed executive coach and PCC-certified through the ICF, Teresa has worked with over 100 executives across industries — CEOs, CHROs, VPs, and directors at organizations including GM, OPG, Securian, and Global Excel. Her clients don't just feel better. They show up differently, and their teams notice immediately.
What I wish someone had taught me twenty years earlier.
A Note From Teresa
Why "trauma-informed" isn't a soft word in my work.
Trauma-informed leadership doesn't mean therapy in the boardroom. It means recognizing that the patterns keeping you stuck — the hypervigilance, the people-pleasing, the perfectionism — aren't character flaws. They're strategies you built a long time ago, and they can be updated.
That's the work I do with every leader I coach, and the story at the heart of my book, Little Kid in a Power Suit →
The Work
It's not just coaching.
It's transformation.
"Crucible is more than just a coaching company. We are a team dedicated to creating more effective, resilient, and authentic leaders. I firmly believe that no executive should ever have to feel overwhelmed or unprepared."
— Teresa Vozza
20+
Years in corporate leadership
100+
Executives coached across industries
PCC
ICF Certified Coach
2020
Founded Crucible Leadership
Work with Teresa
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