“Choose well. Choose wisely. Choose love.”

Those were the last six words that Merritt’s husband, Peter, wrote the night he died from brain cancer in 2012.

In the years since, Merritt embarked on a transformational journey which led her to create Master of One Coaching. It is the culmination of myriad passions, experiences, and training that now allows her to support established and aspiring leaders from all walks of life. An international speaker and published writer, her work has been shared with private organizations and the general public around the world.

Born in Northern California to an entrepreneurial family, Merritt began her theater career in New York City and before long realized her passion for sharing inspiration with others. After years of teaching arts-based strategies in under-served communities, her interests pivoted into social justice and leadership development with youth and adults. Since then she has developed and implemented a wide array of coaching and leadership programs in venues ranging from private corporations to government agencies, schools and districts, law enforcement, higher education, nonprofit organizations, and with elected officials.

Merritt holds a Professional Certified Coach designation from the International Coach Federation as well as Certified Professional Coach and Energy Leadership Index - Master Practitioner certifications from the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). She earned a BFA in Acting from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and a Masters in Humanistic/Multicultural Education, a social justice education degree, from State University of New York,  New Paltz. She is currently pursuing a certification in Soul Medicine Intuitive Coaching, with a planned graduation in Summer 2022.

Merritt is a member of Leadership Dutchess class of 2018, has served on several boards, and enjoys giving her time in service including as a Fellow Hudson Valley Future Summit at SUNY New Paltz. She has also been known to muck out a stall or two for Woodstock Farm Sanctuary with her oldest son.

She shares her life with her remarkable husband, Tom, their three vibrant boys, and a menagerie of critters. After years in NYC, Seattle, the Monterey Peninsula, Western NY, and the UK, she now calls the Hudson Valley, NY “home.” She is an avid live music fan, a devourer of books, a joyful traveler, a self-taught knitter, and calls anywhere by the ocean her happy place.

Merritt credits her experience with trauma, loss, and rebuilding with providing her the perspective that truly anything is possible with a lot of tenacity and a little magic.
Master of One Coaching is a conduit through which she carries out those six little words every day.