Wende Gaikema

Location: United States

Wende Gaikema is an executive coach who partners with leaders to elevate their confidence, presence, focus, and resilience. With a career rooted in leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, where she earned the prestigious Chairman’s Club Award, Wende now works with CEOs, senior executives, and teams across Fortune 100 companies, privately held firms, and nonprofits. She helps clients grow their impact through strategic communication, emotional intelligence, and effective leadership practices.

Wende holds an MBA from the Wharton School and undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University. She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and holds numerous coaching certifications including Executive, Career, Brain-Based, and Strengths coaching. Her client list includes Capital One, Pfizer, NBCUniversal, Workday, and Houston Methodist, among many others.

Notable Engagements

• Coached a CEO of a large nonprofit to enhance strategic communication, executive presence & vision casting.

• Guided a CEO in global marketing through onboarding, EQ development & new team formation.

• Supported a healthcare VP in building executive presence & shifting from operations to strategic focus.

• Helped a pharma VP/General Counsel grow confidence, lead former peers, & strengthen communication.

• Worked with a financial services Head of Legal on managing imposter syndrome & internal dialogue.

• Coached a senior investment manager on empathetic communication & effective team leadership.

• Enabled a pharma VP to manage up, improve networking & step into a promotion-ready mindset.

• Supported a tech AGC in confidence building, stress management & strategic role transition.

• Helped a financial services AVP develop leadership presence in a hybrid work setup.

• Guided a VP in financial services through empathetic team onboarding & leadership growth.

• Elevated a senior counsel in sports/entertainment to contribute beyond legal scope.

• Coached a managing director in tech on relationship-building & change leadership.

• Worked with a healthcare director on strategic thinking, time management & communication.

• Coached multiple pharma/life sciences directors on vision, presence & speaking up.

• Supported a healthcare director on interpersonal leadership & vision alignment.

• Helped a tech director build executive presence, EQ & team strategy.

• Guided another tech director in stress/time management & strategic leadership.

• Partnered with multiple AVPs/VPs across industries on presence, team leadership & impact.

• Coached a VP to refine executive confidence, influence & strategic direction.

• Worked with an SVP on time mastery, communication strategy & perfectionism.

Client List

Wende has coached leaders across a wide spectrum of public & private organizations, including Capital One, Rice University, University of Texas at Austin, Pfizer, GSK, ADP, and NBCUniversal. Her client list also features companies like NerdWallet, Workday, BASF, MetLife, Smith+Nephew, TIAA, Invesco, Soltage, and Compass. She’s worked with nonprofits & institutions such as AccessHealth, Pine Cove Camps, PASE, The Jockey Club, Vanderbilt University, Houston Methodist, Phillips Academy, and Haleon—spanning healthcare, education, tech, finance, and more.