Jennifer Maxson & Associates

What Jennifer Maxson & Associates does

Jennifer Maxson & Associates is a privately held, founder-owned leadership development and professional coaching firm headquartered in Belmont/Grand Rapids, Michigan, founded by Jennifer Maxson. The company delivers training programs, executive and emerging-leader coaching, communication skills workshops, and guest speaking engagements to businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, and individual professionals, primarily across the US Midwest. Its portfolio spans 20+ structured programs organized around four pillars: leadership (The Exceptional Leader™, EXCEL), communication (Speak Up & Be Effective™, Be Bright. Be Brief. Be Gone.™, Effective Communications), professional coaching (Executive, Emerging Leader, New Professional, Presentation Coaching, Confidence Reframed), and team effectiveness (The Five Behaviors™). Programs are delivered through two channels: scheduled public enrollment cohorts (with small class sizes capped at 7-10 participants) and custom organizational programs tailored to client needs, available both in-person and virtually. The firm also offers bilingual delivery in Spanish and English.

The company's core technology foundation is its Authorized Partner relationship with Wiley for the Everything DiSC® assessment suite, which underpins most programs (Work of Leaders, Workplace, Management, Sales, Productive Conflict, Agile EQ) and is augmented by The Five Behaviors™ team development methodology. Coaching and facilitation are delivered by a team of approximately 8, including the founder and senior coaches with prior corporate leadership roles at organizations such as Kellogg Company, Priority Health, and Fifth Third Bank. The firm is differentiated by small-cohort personalization, active-participation-heavy program design (50-75% of program time), and founder-led regional brand recognition, including the 2018 ATHENA Award and Grand Rapids Business Journal recognitions.

Jennifer Maxson & Associates monetizes primarily through professional services fees. Revenue is generated from custom organizational programs (delivered under multi-year contracts, quote-based pricing), public enrollment programs (pay-as-you-go, pricing not publicly disclosed), individual coaching engagements, and guest speaking fees. There is no disclosed institutional investment, no funding history, and no parent company. The customer base is horizontally diversified across at least 13 named enterprise and institutional clients spanning banking, healthcare, consumer products, automotive, manufacturing, education, and nonprofit sectors, with a heavy concentration in the West Michigan region.

Name

Jennifer Maxson & Associates

Legal name

Jennifer Maxson & Associates Inc.

Website

https://jennifermaxsonassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Jennifer Maxson & Associates is a privately held, founder-owned leadership development and coaching firm in West Michigan delivering DiSC-based training programs, executive coaching, and communication workshops to businesses, nonprofits, and individual professionals across the US Midwest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Leadership Development and Executive Coaching

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Learning & Development (L&D) & Training Management (EDABAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Strategy, Decision-Making & Business Acumen Coaching (EDABANAH), Onboarding Program Design, Enablement & Train-the-Trainer (EDABAOAL), Corporate Learning & Training Content Development (EDAGAKAC)

Keywords

• Leadership development programs
• Executive coaching services
• Communication skills training
• Team effectiveness training
• DiSC assessment services

Headquarters

HQ city

Belmont

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Coaching Services: Individual and executive coaching services delivered through structured programs including Emerging Leader Coaching, Executive Coaching, New Professional Coaching, and Presentation Coaching. Coaching engagements are tailored with intake meetings, ongoing sessions, and completion meetings.
2. Leadership Development Programs: Over 20 unique programs for groups and individuals including The Exceptional Leader™, Speak Up & Be Effective™, and other leadership and communication training programs. Programs are offered as public enrollment (open to any participant) or as custom programs tailored to organizational needs.
3. Guest Speaking: Guest speaking engagements at conferences, corporations, trade associations, and educational institutions. Most engagements are 50 minutes in length including hands-on activity and Q&A.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Jennifer Maxson & Associates designs and delivers leadership development, executive coaching, communication training, and team effectiveness programs for individuals and organizations. Offerings are anchored on the licensed Everything DiSC® assessment methodology and include 20+ structured programs (e.g., The Exceptional Leader™/EXCEL, Speak Up & Be Effective™/Momentum, The Five Behaviors™) plus individualized coaching (Executive, Emerging Leader, New Professional, Presentation) and guest speaking. Programs are delivered in-person and virtually, with bilingual Spanish facilitation, to enterprise and mid-market clients and individual professionals.

Product overview

Jennifer Maxson & Associates is a leadership development company offering a comprehensive portfolio of 20+ training and coaching programs. The core offerings span four main categories: Leadership Programs (The Exceptional Leader™, EXCEL), Communication Programs (Speak Up & Be Effective™, Momentum, Effective Communications, Productive Conversations), Professional Coaching (Executive, Emerging Leader, New Professional, Presentation Coaching), and Team Effectiveness Programs. The company serves as an Authorized Partner for Everything DiSC® assessment solutions, offering multiple DiSC-based products including Agile EQ, Management, Workplace, Productive Conflict, Sales, Work of Leaders, and the Catalyst digital platform. They also deliver The Five Behaviors™ team development programs. Public programs are offered multiple times yearly and open to any participant, while custom programs are tailored to organizational needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Exceptional Leader™ One-day leadership program with multiple 1:1 coaching sessions, teaching the difference between managing and leading using Everything DiSC® to build effective leadership skills. Available in-person and virtually.
• The Exceptional Leader™ – EXCEL Four half-day sessions over four months for leaders with integrated responsibilities, built on Everything DiSC® Work of Leaders Assessment to develop vision, alignment, and execution capabilities.
• Speak Up & Be Effective™ One-day communication and presentation skills program limited to seven participants, teaching skills to think on feet, project confidence, and craft clear messages for virtual and in-person presentations.
• Speak Up & Be Effective™ – Momentum 1.5-day advanced communication program for eight participants focusing on authentic presence, clear messaging, and connecting key initiatives to organizational vision with peer coaching and 1:1 presentation coaching.
• Be Bright. Be Brief. Be Gone.™ 2.5-hour program teaching participants to craft clear, concise, focused messages using proven planning methods and the Rule of Three.
• Effective Communications 4-hour program focused on crafting clear messages, projecting professional non-verbal communication skills, and using tools for active listening and effective voicemail/email.
• Productive Conversations Half-day program teaching strategies to reduce roadblocks, give constructive feedback, set performance expectations, and engage in active listening with direct reports, peers, and managers.
• Executive Coaching Personalized one-on-one coaching for executives incorporating discussion, activities, instruction, rehearsal, and observation with monthly sessions tailored to executive and organizational needs.
• Emerging Leader Coaching (Lead to the Max!®) Six-month coaching engagement for emerging leaders including six coaching sessions, Everything DiSC® Assessment, and structured alliance building with intake and completion meetings.
• New Professional Coaching Coaching program for new professionals during onboarding with intake session, six virtual coaching sessions over 3-6 months, and wrap-up meeting with manager.
• Presentation Coaching Individual coaching focused on delivering presentations with impact, including organizing content, crafting communication for buy-in, delivery feedback, and Six Planning Must framework.
• A Coach Approach 3.5-hour program teaching managers to shift from command-and-control to a coaching approach that inspires, motivates, and develops others through powerful questions.
• Confidence Reframed
• The Five Behaviors™ Team development program based on Patrick Lencioni's model building cohesive teams through trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results, powered by Everything DiSC®.
• The Five Behaviors™: Personal Development Individual development program teaching principles of cohesive teams (trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, results) to become better teammates across any organization.
• Business Professionalism 4-hour program covering six principles of business etiquette, personal branding, networking skills, social media use, and written/oral communications.
• Delegating with Purpose 2.5-hour program teaching how to delegate thoughtfully with intention, creating awareness of barriers and implementing delegation plans.
• Facilitate Effective Meetings Full-day program limited to ten participants teaching meeting facilitation skills including brainstorming, problem-solving, decision-making, and group dynamics management.
• Leading the Sale Sales leadership program teaching trust building, non-verbal communication, listening skills, solution presentation, and sales leader presence and style.
• The Art of Business Dining 4-hour program teaching business meal planning, dining etiquette, and social confidence for professional dining settings.
• The Business of Networking 2.5-hour program teaching networking skills, maximizing professional memberships, expanding social skills, and developing 30-second commercial.
• The Power of Storytelling 3.5-hour program teaching critical story elements, storytelling performance, and using stories in business to connect, persuade, inspire, and motivate.
• Guest Speaking Guest speaking engagements at conferences, corporations, trade associations, and educational institutions, typically 50 minutes with hands-on activity and Q&A.
• Everything DiSC® Assessment Solutions Authorized DiSC assessment solutions providing insight on workstyle tendencies, conflict response, motivation, stress causes, and problem-solving approaches for improved leadership and teamwork.

Quantifiable outcome

• Small group sizes ensure personalized attention (limited to 7 participants per session for Speak Up & Be Effective™)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dale Carnegie Training: Dale Carnegie Training is a direct competitor in corporate leadership development, communication skills, and presentation training. It serves a similar mix of mid-market and enterprise clients with both public programs and custom organizational engagements, overlapping directly with Jennifer Maxson & Associates' Speak Up & Be Effective™ and executive coaching offerings.
• Crucial Learning (formerly VitalSmarts): Crucial Learning offers Crucial Conversations, Crucial Influence, and leadership training programs targeting communication skills and team effectiveness — directly overlapping with Jennifer Maxson & Associates' communication and productive-conversations offerings for similar mid-market and enterprise audiences.
• CMOE (Center for Management & Organization Effectiveness): CMOE is a leadership development and team-effectiveness firm offering custom programs, assessments, and coaching to mid-market organizations. It is a comparable boutique-scale competitor with similar custom-program GTM and overlapping content in leadership, communication, and team performance.
• Wilson Learning: Wilson Learning is a global leadership and sales-effectiveness training company offering custom programs to mid-market and enterprise clients. It competes for the same leadership development, communication, and sales-coaching budgets that Jennifer Maxson & Associates targets through Everything DiSC® Sales and Leading the Sale.
• The Ken Blanchard Companies: Ken Blanchard Companies is a direct peer in leadership and team-effectiveness training and is the originator of The Five Behaviors™, which Jennifer Maxson & Associates licenses and delivers. Both firms serve enterprise L&D buyers with leadership and team-development programs built on shared assessment frameworks.
• Bates Communications: Bates Communications specializes in executive presence, presentation skills, and communication training for corporate clients, directly overlapping with the Speak Up & Be Effective™ and Presentation Coaching offerings. It serves a similar mid-market and enterprise audience with comparable custom and cohort-based delivery models.

Broad incumbents

• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): CCL is a research-backed global leadership development provider offering executive education, coaching, and assessments to enterprise clients. It is a broader incumbent in the leadership development space where Jennifer Maxson & Associates operates, though CCL specializes in more senior executive populations.
• FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a scaled incumbent offering The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and a full leadership development suite to enterprise and mid-market clients. It competes for the same HR/L&D budgets but operates with significantly larger content IP, global delivery, and proprietary research capabilities.
• Korn Ferry (Leadership Development practice): Korn Ferry offers a global leadership development and executive coaching practice inside its broader talent and organizational consulting portfolio. It competes for executive-coaching and leadership-development engagements at the enterprise tier where Jennifer Maxson & Associates operates with its executive and emerging-leader coaching practices.
• Development Dimensions International (DDI): DDI is a global leadership and talent development firm offering assessments, training, and coaching to large enterprises. It competes for HR/L&D budget in the same leadership development category but at greater scale, with proprietary assessment IP and global delivery infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/JenMaxsonAssoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/JenniferMaxsonandAssociates
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jennifermaxsonassociates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Jennifer Maxson & Associates