How Two Relationships Built a Performance Coach with Carla Fowler

What if middle school endurance training and PhD-level strategic thinking could revolutionize executive coaching?

In this episode, Carla Fowler, founder of THAXA and executive coaching expert, shares her unconventional journey from MD/PhD student to surgical resident to performance science coach. Through two pivotal relationships: a demanding outdoor education teacher and a world-class immunology researcher. Carla discovered how physical endurance and strategic thinking form the foundation of extraordinary leadership. Her mission? Helping 50-60 executives at a time accelerate toward their goals using evidence-based performance science while freeing up their mental bandwidth to focus on what matters most.

Carla reflects on how these mentors arrived at critical moments in her development and why she believes performance science, not generic leadership advice, is the key to helping leaders achieve breakthrough results.

[00:04:00] What THAXA Does

• THAXA = Executive coaching firm centered on performance science

• Helps leaders and executives improve results, impact, and leadership

• Uses rigorous scientific foundation from multiple disciplines

• Works with 50-60 leaders at a time across diverse industries

• Every approach is individualized. No cookie-cutter solutions

[00:04:00] The Unconventional Path

• Started career in medicine: MD/PhD program at University of Washington

• Trained to become an academic physician blending clinical work and research

• Matched to general surgery residency after graduating

• Made the hard pivot: left surgery after one year to pursue passion for performance

• 12 years building a coaching practice that merges science with practical application

[00:04:00] The Science Nerd Meets Impact

• Always fascinated by high performance since fifth grade

• Loved surgery for its hands-on + decision-making combination

• Realized coaching could create exponential impact: improve one leader, impact everyone they lead

• Performance science is broad and deep enough to meet each client's unique needs

• Blends everything from business strategy to physiology and decision-making

[00:16:40] The Power of Mental Clarity

• Example: Multi-hour focus sessions to help leaders get crystal clear on goals

• One client shared their clarity framework with their team. Team "lit up"

• Team members could finally see where they fit and why they mattered

• Result: Better alignment AND genuine motivation from one strategic input

• Shows the power of performance science: one principle creates multiple downstream effects

[00:20:40] Two Pivotal People

[00:21:38] 1. Fran Call: The Physical Endurance Teacher

• Middle school outdoor education teacher (7th and 8th grade)

• Ran alternative PE program focused on endurance activities

• Showed Carla how to do hard things and believe in herself

[00:30:00] 2. Phil Greenberg: The Strategic Thinking Mentor

• PhD advisor in immunology at University of Washington

• Early pioneer in T-cell immunotherapy for cancer research

• Very hands-off mentor. Forced Carla to think independently

• The game-changer: Pushed on the quality of her thinking, not just productivity

• Would challenge: "Why are you doing that experiment? What's most valuable to learn?"

[00:37:20] The Million-Dollar Question

• Working with entrepreneur who wanted to sell company for specific valuation

• Client stopped mid-conversation: "I need to raise my prices immediately"

• That one insight contributed to over $1 million in company value

[00:41:40] The Ripple Effect Philosophy

• Not just about what leaders need to DO, but WHO is around them

• Both mentors arrived at exactly the right moments in Carla's development

• Physical endurance (Fran) + Strategic thinking (Phil) = Her unique coaching approach

• Leaders don't have to figure everything out alone. The world's highest performers don't

• Relationships create impacts that cascade through our entire lives

 

KEY QUOTES

"A lot of times we think we have to have this super linear path to get a place. Mine was linear for a while and then took a major left turn. I think it's great to always just have stories where you can always make pivots in your career." - Carla Fowler

"If I could help connect leaders to science and ideas that would help them improve, like their ability to inspire or connect or lead, if I could improve them even just a little bit, the number of people who would be impacted by that and who would get the downstream effect would be many." - Carla Fowler

"Part of coaching is having a process that turns the soil. You don't know what it's gonna be and you don't know when it's gonna happen. But sometimes that's what it looks like if you have a good process." - Carla Fowler

CONNECT WITH CARLA FOWLER

🌐 Website: https://www.thaxa.com 

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-fowler

 

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