Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Gruening.
Hi Michelle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I spent close to twenty years in corporate leadership roles building teams, developing managers, and helping people grow into bigger versions of themselves. I genuinely loved leadership and seeing someone realize they were capable of more than they thought. From the outside, my career made sense. It looked stable, successful, and progressive.
But in 2021, something shifted.
I hit my own version of rock bottom with the realization that I wasn’t supported and I the leadership around me was anything but intentional. Decisions felt reactive, the people became the lowest priority, and I felt I was fighting an uphill battle with every opinion and decision. The overall leadership was lacking clarity and purpose and I was feeling it deeply. I had a choice to make, and it started by looking inward.
I had spent years helping others lead well, but I had to ask myself if I was leading my own life with the same level of intention. The answer was no.
So I made the decision to leave that company and to move to Colorado. 6 months later, after some deep personal development of my own, I started my coaching business with a clear mission: to help women understand that they already have what they need to become the leaders they want to be. They don’t need to wait for permission. What they need is clarity, standards, support, and the willingness to take ownership of their growth.
Over time, that work evolved.
Today, I focus on high-performance coaching for women entrepreneurs who are done settling for “good enough” in their businesses and their lives. These are capable women who have already built something meaningful, but they can feel the next level calling them. My coaching isn’t about hype or surface-level motivation. It’s about raising the standard of how you think, how you make decisions, how you lead your business, and how you show up when it would be easier to coast.
High performance, to me, isn’t about grinding harder. It’s about operating with intention and alignment between who you say you want to be and how you actually move every day.
Everything I teach now was forged in my own decisions — choosing to leave what wasn’t aligned, choosing to build something from scratch, choosing to lead myself first.
And that’s the work I invite my clients into: not chasing someone else’s version of success, but rising into their own.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Whenever you’re building something from nothing, it’s not going to be a smooth road. Entrepreneurship is full of challenges, hard choices, and unexpected pitfalls because you’re choosing a path that doesn’t come with a map. You’re stepping onto the road less traveled, and that means you’re also stepping away from certainty.
When I walked away from a steady paycheck and a clearly defined leadership role, I also walked away from structure and built-in validation. There’s no automatic promotion. No annual review telling you you’re doing well. You’re responsible for creating the momentum, the clarity, and the results. And if you’re not grounded in who you are and why you’re doing it, that can absolutely mess with your head.
One of the biggest struggles early on was identity. In corporate, it’s very clear who you are and what you do. As an entrepreneur, especially in the beginning, you’re building credibility in real time. You’re not just offering a service — you’re offering yourself. As a coach, my name and my work are directly connected. That level of visibility stretches you.
Being a high-performance coach also means I don’t get to opt out of my own growth. I have to do the internal work consistently. You can’t ask women to raise their standards if you’re quietly tolerating your own excuses. Entrepreneurship exposes every gap in your mindset and discipline. I’ve had to confront impatience, comparison, overthinking, and the temptation to shrink when something feels vulnerable.
But what I’ve learned is that those struggles weren’t signs I was failing or off track. They were invitations. Each one required me to become a stronger, clearer, more grounded leader.
So no, it hasn’t been smooth. It’s been stretching. And the stretching is exactly what made it worth it.
We’ve been impressed with MG Coaching LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I run a high-performance coaching practice for women entrepreneurs who are successful on paper but know they’re capable of more. These are women who have built solid businesses, who are smart and driven, but can feel when they’ve started tolerating “good enough” in their thinking, leadership, or execution.
I specialize in helping them raise their standards and I do it with tough love.
That doesn’t mean adding more to their plate or pushing hustle culture. It means sharpening how they think, how they make decisions, how they lead their teams, and how they hold themselves accountable. My work is rooted in ownership and then we back that up with practical systems and execution. Clarity without action is useless, action without clarity is chaotic, so we build both.
I am a Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, Trainer, and Speaker, but I don’t coach from those theories alone. I coach from lived leadership experience of nearly two decades leading inside organizations before building my own business from the ground up. I understand performance, pressure, and the mental discipline required to sustain growth. My clients know I will celebrate them, but I will also call them forward when they’re playing smaller than they’re capable of.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud that my work is known for being compassionate yet challenging, and that I don’t suffer excuses. I’m not interested in being the loudest voice online. I’m interested in being the coach whose clients outperform their old selves because their standards have changed. My frameworks, workshops, and coaching practices are built around one core belief: leadership isn’t a title — it’s a choice you make daily.
What I want readers to know is this — high performance isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about fully stepping into who you already are and refusing to settle beneath your own potential. If you’re ready for that level of ownership, my work will resonate.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Over the next 5–10 years, I think the coaching industry will absolutely evolve — especially with the rise of AI. And honestly, I think that’s a good thing.
There’s a lot of fear around AI “replacing” coaches. But when you zoom out, everything AI produces is based on information that has already existed for decades. Personal development principles, leadership frameworks, mindset tools — none of that is new. And yet, even with books, podcasts, online courses, and endless free content available, people still hire coaches.
Why? Because information has never been the problem.
Execution, ownership, and being challenged in real time — that’s the gap.
AI can give you ideas. It can organize your thoughts and can even help you see patterns. But most AI tools operate with a form of confirmation bias so they respond to what you input. They refine your thinking, but they rarely confront it. A skilled coach will interrupt your narrative and challenge your blind spots. She’ll notice your inconsistencies and push when you’d rather justify excuses.
That human-to-human tension is where transformation happens.
I actually see AI pushing the coaching industry to get sharper. Coaches who rely on surface-level advice or recycled motivation will struggle, because AI can replicate that instantly. But coaches who specialize in deep thinking, identity shifts, leadership presence, and behavioral change will become even more valuable.
I believe we’ll see a return to premium human connection with more intentional conversations, more depth, and more direct challenge. High performance isn’t built in isolation. It’s built in relationship, accountability, and discomfort.
AI will be a tool but it can’t be a replacement for being seen, known, and challenged by another human who is fully present.
And the coaches who understand that will continue to thrive.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.michellegruening.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mgcoaching_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelleegruening
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellegruening/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/michellegruening
Image Credits
Kalen Jesse Photography, GrowthDay Live Events, International Maxwell Conference
