About Monica
I Build Leadership and Work Systems That Hold Under Pressure
I didn't set out to work in construction. I was in school for dental hygiene, working as a receptionist for an architectural firm, cast stone, and precast concrete supplier to pay the bills. Somewhere along the way I had a 'hell no' moment. Dental hygiene wasn't it. Construction was.
I started doing takeoffs and learning more about the industry. Then I went to work for a commercial GC. Then ventured into multifamily. In 2014, I joined one of the country's largest commercial GCs, where I eventually got introduced to the people side of the business — and that's where the rest of it started.
Twenty years in, I've come up through the actual work: receptionist, project engineer, project administrator, field office operations, HR business partnership, regional talent leadership, and organizational change management. Along the way I served on a business unit leadership team, which put me in the room where both the people-side and business-side decisions get made.
And I earned credibility the way construction demands it. By being the person people trusted when pressure was real and stakes were high. That meant saying the thing nobody else would when the room needed it.
I’ve Seen the Pattern From the Inside
Across the industry, the same dynamics repeat:
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Strong performers promoted without preparation
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Leaders operating without consistent support
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Change initiatives launched and quietly abandoned
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Burnout normalized as commitment
None of this comes down to motivation. It comes down to how the work and the leadership around it were built.
And too often, organizations try to solve it with one-off training or generic consulting that never touches the root cause.
Why This Work
I do this work because I've lived the hard things, not just studied them, and it taught me that it's almost never the person who's broken. It's the system built around them.
I came up inside construction and couldn't unsee how often good people get moved up, burned out, or quietly lost, with no one handing them the words or the support to do it differently.
So I decided to be the person who says the thing: who hands people the language they didn't have and helps them make a change that holds. It's root-cause work, it's deeply human, and for me it's personal.
My Differentiator: Recovery-Informed Organizational Insight
That insight doesn't replace my professional expertise. It sharpens it. It allows me to build leadership, communication, and team practices that sustain performance without requiring quiet sacrifice.
Why Copper Penny Coaching Exists
Copper Penny Coaching® exists because change should fit the people it's for: construction leaders who deserve people-side support built for their world, and individuals anywhere stuck in a pattern they can't name or break alone. Not consulting that lectures. Not coaching imported from other industries. Embedded partnership, practical design, and real-world application.
No theory. No off-the-shelf frameworks. No drive-by consulting.
What changes when it works: the conversations people kept avoiding start happening, and happening well. People put words to what they need and start advocating for themselves. That's the whole point.
Building Leaders Who Build Better.
Credentials
Change Management
Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner
Leadership Development & Coaching
ATD Adult Learning Certificate · Coaching for Engagement and Performance (Human Capital Institute)
Team & Behavioral
Team Transformations Certified, The Enneagram in Business
Recovery Informed
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Mental Health First Aid
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Medicine Wheel & The 12 Steps Facilitator Training (Wellbriety, White Bison Inc.)
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NAADAC Associate Member
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CAAP Member, Colorado Association of Addiction Professionals
Methodology
My approach applies principles proven in addiction recovery: accountability without shame, emotional regulation under pressure, candid and blame-free communication, and sustainable performance practices. These frameworks benefit all leaders, regardless of personal recovery experience.
Community
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Board Member and Fundraising Chair at Recovery Friendly Leader
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Board Member, Construction Industry Education Foundation (2022–2024)
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Event Director for the DPR Hoot & Holler Benefit Concert for ten years (2015–2025), supporting the Carson Leslie Foundation
Let’s Talk About What’s Creating Pressure
If work feels heavier than it should, that’s not a personal failure. It’s a design opportunity.
No sales pressure. No obligation.
Just a straightforward conversation about what's possible.
Confidential • Construction Focused • Results Driven
Start with The Blueprint Session
90 min - $297
Not sure yet? Book a Free Discovery Call
30 min