

Meet Orit
International Coach, Author, and Creator of the Make it a Good One® Coaching Philosophy and The Box of Life Project®
For more than two decades, Orit has shared the lessons she learned in putting her entrepreneurial visions into action. She launched businesses in Argentina and the United States.
Orit’s practice also draws on her previous outreach, leadership and fundraising experience as an executive director for nonprofit organizations. She has led volunteer engagement efforts and helped lead a successful campaign to fundraise a $7.5 million new community center for the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation.
Orit is a certified coach by the Newfield Network and a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coach. She embraces the long-standing approach to assisting clients holistically by combining professional coaching with personal development.
Orit also founded The Box of Life Project® and she is the author of the Box of Life: A Guide to Living with a Purpose and Preserving What Matters Most outlining her methods for living a meaningful life while preserving one’s most treasured stories and memories for generations to come.
Coaching approach guided by a true “Citizen of the World”
Orit has lived in seven countries, from the Middle East to Latin America to the United States, where she currently resides. She has a unique understanding of human behavior — within our differences, we find common ground.
By learning to lead no matter the language, Orit gained a unique understanding of the importance of active listening. She teaches her clients to listen beyond the words said to the underlying meaning they convey as a powerful tool for creating connection.
Fluent in English, Spanish and Hebrew, Orit works with clients around the globe for leadership coaching, CEO coaching, career coaching, personal development and professional development. She thrives in partnering with individuals and organizations in crafting strategies and taking proper actions toward achieving goals.
She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from Universidad CAECE in Buenos Aires. She serves on the Board of Visitors for the Duke University School of Nursing and coaches for DELTA Leadership Inc. as part of Duke’s FUQUA Business School Executive MBA, among other institutions.
Orit lives in Durham, North Carolina. She loves spending time with family and friends, volunteering and having fun with her husband and Addie, their furry family member. She is the happiest when her adult kids come to visit, and she has a full house.

“Orit has been a wonderful coach. She is extremely accessible, affable and caring. She has helped me to build my business from the ground up. Orit teaches, coaches and leads by example. She is truly a tribute to her field.”
Fran Mendelowitz, Founder and President at InterACT New York
“Smart, insightful and driven. That’s how I would describe Orit in a few words. Orit and I had the opportunity to engage in several brainstorming sessions where out-of-the-box thinking was encouraged. The team tried looking at challenges from different perspectives in order to arrive at creative new solutions. Orit was very involved in the conversation and was able to quickly incorporate new ideas and concepts into her thinking. I would enjoy any opportunity to work with Orit on a project or daily business challenges.”
Orna Drawas, The Rock Leadership Academy
“Orit has held multiple positions of responsibility, which she has carried out with great professionalism. She has continued to pursue her carer in coaching with great energy and passion and is today a well-respected practitioner in the field of business and personal coaching. She is a very good spokesman and an example of the benefits that coaching can bring.”
Steven Drysdale, Senior Development Officer, ORT America
“Orit is a remarkable coach. I have seen how she works to achieve what I would call ‘fully integrated coaching.’ By that, I mean that she can coach businesspeople about business issues and coach anyone about personal or life issues. It is my belief that the clients who benefit the most from Orit’s coaching are those who get to experience both her excellent business coaching combined with personal/life coaching. Orit is also a warm, genuine person who cares deeply about every person she encounters.”
Eric Larsen, Managing Director, TriHelix Software
“I asked Orit to coach me a few years ago in preparation for a high-profile event that required me to step out of my comfort zone. (She’s also coached others I know.) She was excellent — very supportive and highly skilled. She was astute and knew how to guide and encourage me in tremendously helpful ways. She understood my challenges and worked adeptly with me. I still employ some of the tactics I learned from her, and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with her again. I highly recommend her.”
Diane Evia-Lanevi, Freelance writer
“I fully and highly recommend Orit as a coach. She is a great listener and asks the right questions to peel back the layers to get you to take concrete action and hold you accountable. All done with warmth, sincerity and kindness.”
Howard Brown, Author, Speaker, Podcaster, Healthcare Advocate and Consultant at Shining Brightly
“Orit has been a wonderful coach. She is extremely accessible, affable and caring. She has helped me to build my business from the ground up. Orit teaches, coaches and leads by example. She is truly a tribute to her field.”
Fran Mendelowitz, Founder and President, InterACT New York
“Orit is one of the most engaging, inspiring and intelligent leaders I have encountered. She had built on her remarkable strong intuitive abilities to ‘read’ people, situations and ‘the room’ by adding formal training in coaching. Many clients, some of whom I have known, found her advice surprising, careful and remarkably useful. I have referred many people to her. All were very pleased.”
Robert Gutman, M.D., Duke University School of Medicine
“Working with Orit gave me an entirely new framework and paradigm for decision-making in my career that is quickly also spilling over into other areas of my life. Her signature ‘vent and reinvent’ methodology enabled me to express myself, take a breath and then figure out how to move forward in a positive way. She is a skilled and thoughtful coach and listener who is always kind but never scared to address difficult topics. I’m so happy I invested the time and money in her services. Orit truly changed the way I approach my career, and my life.”
Elizabeth Fisher, Chief Talent Officer and Managing Director
“We all want a coach who understands where we come from and can help us get to where we envision going. Drawing on a very broad base of experience — ranging from technical business environments to nonprofit settings and across an array of cultures — Orit is a coach you can rely on to push and support you as you reflect on your situation and move toward your goals. She has successfully helped CEOs, middle managers and younger employees become more aware and achieve more than they thought possible. Those who have worked with her literally glow when they talk about how she connected with them and was able to work with them to pursue challenges they face.”
Sim Sitkin, Duke University Michael W. Krzyzewski University Professor of Leadership
“When working with Orit, you immediately feel a connection to her and can sense that her goal is to make you as successful as you can be. She isn’t afraid to give feedback that others might be hesitant to share with an executive, and the further you advance in your career, the more vital that type of feedback truly is.”
Ellen Dobbs, Vice President of Operations, Easy Auto
“Orit was a great help to me when I was in between jobs and then throughout my first year of my new job. Orit is a great listener, and offers practical tools and suggestions to move one forward in their career. She is very accessible and quick to respond to her clients.”
Helene Kornsgold, Director of Congregational Education, Temple Israel
“Orit is a joy to work with, as she is so kind and gracious, and her insights into human nature are extremely helpful. I enthusiastically recommend her as a guide on any project involving human relations.”
William Berkson, author and philosopher
“I have worked with Orit during my past 10 years as a nonprofit leader. She has given me countless hours of wise counsel, has always shown compassion and has not been afraid to give me honest feedback and constructive criticism. It has shaped my leadership in so many positive ways.”
Lori O’Keefe, President and CEO, Triangle Community Foundation
“Optimism, strategies, ideas, collaboration, guidance, expertise: There is no such phrase as ‘we can’t’ when working with Orit. She is a never-ending source of reasons why ‘we can.’ Orit worked with our nonprofit campaign committee to develop a comprehensive strategy. Her past expertise in this area was invaluable in providing ideas, techniques and advice on how to change our approach in order to achieve success. We met our campaign goal and learned much more about how to plan a fundraising campaign.”
Denise Carson, Associate Director of Major Gifts, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
“Total commitment. This is what you get with Orit whether she is your coach, colleague, friend or partner on a journey through a mission. I have had the wonderful pleasure of calling Orit a co-collaborator and friend for over 20 years when she first drew me in as a willing participant helping to build our small Jewish community in Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina. With Orit, there was never a question of whether we could do something; rather, it was how we would do something — in our case, raise $7.5M dollars to build a brand new Jewish Community Center and completely redefine our community. Orit is dedicated, enthusiastic and truly a student of the ‘art of the possible!’”
Matt Springer, LLC Principal, Madrock Advisors
“Orit coached me through a journey down memory lane. We revisited the stories, memories and relationships that have shaped my life. The conversations alone were enriching and fulfilling. But on top of this, we curated the physical artifacts and memories that make up these stories — often left unorganized in a forgotten pile of ‘junk’ — and placed them in a special box that is now sacred to me. I know my family will treasure this box and pass it down for eternity, keeping the stories, values and lessons of my life alive. I highly recommend everyone works with Orit to create their own .”
Nathalie Goodrich
“I worked with Orit to start the process of building my own Box of Life. My strong recommendation is that you don’t wait another minute to start assembling your own or your loved one’s! While we all think we have lots of time ahead, I’ve been reminded in dramatic ways several times recently that there’s no truth in that thinking. None!”
Joanne Mazurki
“I’ve hired Orit to coach my parents and help them put their Box of Life together. I want them to know that their lives have mattered and that their work and sacrifice have made this world a better place for future generations. Even though our time together on this earth is limited, the impact of their lives will continue on forever. I also want them to know that, even if they don’t remember these things themselves, someone else will be there to remind them — someone who loves them dearly and wants nothing more than for them to be remembered for who they truly are: kind-hearted beings whose presence in this world helped shape it into something better than it was before they arrived here today … They fell in love with Orit and the process.”
James S., entrepreneurFrequently Asked Questions about Working With Orit
Not at all! I’m currently based in the U.S., in North Carolina, but I’ve coached clients from around the globe. I have had clients from all continents and more than 20 countries. I welcome clients from anywhere in the world. Most sessions will take place via video call or face-to-face meeting (depending on your location). Some clients chose to fly me to their location for shadowing, a coaching retreat, or to spend a few days together exploring their goals and creating an action plan.
It all depends on your needs and wants. While exceptions exist, multiple sessions are often required to create meaningful progress on longstanding barriers you’ve struggled to overcome. I ask for a commitment of three sessions at a time.
Some of my clients chose to continue meeting until they achieve their goals and, afterward, have checkpoints as needed. Some clients like to keep me on a retainer or an as-needed basis. Others want to meet once a month and have a safe space to think and strategize.
Orit customizes the coaching process to the needs of each client. Each individual comes to the coaching relationship with their own set of priorities. Together, we will design the primary focus of our coaching relationship based on your goals. You will have control of the discussion, and you will be able to bring a pressing challenge you are facing. On top of the goals they have for coaching, I encourage my clients to also work through problems and challenges as they arise.
No. I assume my clients are experts in their functional area. My job as your coach is to provide different perspectives, point out what I see, and challenge and support you. My job is not to provide specific advice on your line of work. I will provide feedback and guidance and help you develop new ways to attack old problems.
As a certified coach, Orit’s work embraces the philosophy that to have a good life, you must make it a good life. Through her unique approach to empowerment coaching, each client gains insights from their experiences and challenges. She carefully guides clients as they identify their vision and create their roadmap toward achieving goals.
To enable success, this approach to coaching includes:
- Creating a non-judgmental, confidential space to vent and reinvent.
- Actively listening to what you say (or don’t) to help you hear it yourself.
- Engaging in honest, thought-provoking conversations.
- Providing a sounding board to achieve goals.
- Sharing resources and support to move forward.
- Offering accountability check-ins toward meeting objectives.
Not at all, but coaching can be therapeutic. Coaching focuses on helping individuals or groups achieve their goals, while psychotherapy or counseling assists with mental health issues.
Orit’s five-step process ensures the success of each coaching partnership.
- The Discovery Session: A complimentary, 30-minute Zoom call to determine which coaching approach fits you.
- The Exploration Session: After an intake questionnaire and agreement, this first session engages each new client in an in-depth, tailored interview to inform our work together.
- Coaching Sessions: Together, we will develop a plan of action to meet your goals during sessions of 45 to 60 minutes each. Session frequency varies though clients are requested to book three prepaid sessions upfront.
- You-work: Coaching will empower you to commit to actions between sessions to foster insight and keep you working to achieve your goals.
- Wrap-around Support: Between sessions, 5- to 10-minute phone calls or unlimited emails or text exchanges Monday through Friday help address in-the-moment challenges, find quick insights or celebrate successes.