By: Emily Carter
As organizations navigate mounting pressure on leaders, executive coach and business strategist Catherine Rocheleau is stepping back into the public arena with a renewed focus on resilience and human-centered leadership.
Rocheleau, Founder and CEO of Ignite Leadership International®, recently appeared on the Health & Wellness Panel at the Women to Watch Summit. The two-day virtual event, held March 7–8 in recognition of International Women’s Day, drew approximately 250 registrants per day and brought together women leaders across industries to discuss leadership, entrepreneurship, and personal development.
The appearance marked Rocheleau’s return to broader public visibility following an extended medical sabbatical, a period she says reshaped her approach to leadership development and executive support.
“Leadership and life can shift quickly. It can drop you into uncertainty without warning. I’m dedicated to helping leaders slow the spin, get clear, and take purposeful action so they can protect their well-being while leading through real pressure. When you lead from purpose, the impact shows up in the work and in the people,” Rocheleau says.
Rocheleau brings more than three decades of business experience to her work with executives and organizational leaders. Over the past 17 years, she has worked as a leadership coach across sectors, including professional services, nonprofits, health care, hospitality, food services, and manufacturing. Her experience includes executive leadership roles, organizational change initiatives, performance management systems, and strategic transformation programs.
Before launching Ignite Leadership International® in 2014, Rocheleau built a career in corporate leadership and industry associations. Earlier in her career, she was recognized as Food Executive of the Year in Vancouver and was named Western Canada’s regional winner by the Canadian Food Service Executives Association.
Her work has also drawn media attention. Rocheleau has appeared on Worldwide Business with Kathy Ireland® on Fox Business Network and has been featured on outlets including Bloomberg Television, CTV, Citytv, and CUTV News Radio. She is a three-time international best-selling author and recipient of the Quilly Award from the Academy of Best-Selling Authors.
Now based in Victoria, British Columbia, after relocating from Vancouver, Rocheleau works primarily with purpose-driven executives and business owners navigating periods of growth, transition, or organizational strain.
In recent years, conversations about leadership have increasingly focused on burnout, workplace culture, and the mental health of senior leaders. Rocheleau’s work centers on helping executives maintain strategic clarity while managing the demands placed on them by teams, stakeholders, and rapidly changing market conditions.
Her current coaching program, Catalyst: Human Centered Leadership for Sustainable Impact, aims to help leaders regain focus during periods of uncertainty or operational pressure. The program encourages leaders to step back from reactive decision-making and instead build sustainable leadership rhythms that support both organizational performance and personal well-being.
Catalyst builds on Rocheleau’s SPARK™ framework, a model designed to guide leaders from uncertainty toward committed action. The framework emphasizes accountability and disciplined decision-making while recognizing the human dynamics that shape workplace performance.
According to Rocheleau, balancing empathy with accountability is one of the most important leadership skills in modern organizations.
“Human-centered leadership is not soft. It asks leaders to be clear, to be consistent, and to follow through. When leaders can hold compassion and accountability at the same time, trust grows, and performance becomes easier to sustain,” she says.
The Women to Watch Summit featured speakers and panelists discussing leadership visibility, entrepreneurship, wellness, and social impact. Rocheleau’s panel focused on how leaders can maintain personal resilience while navigating increasing expectations in their professional roles.
Alongside her summit appearance, Rocheleau has several upcoming media engagements, including guest appearances on the podcasts Making It! by Mirasee and Mission Accepted, with release dates expected later this year.
Through Ignite Leadership International®, Rocheleau works with senior leaders through executive coaching, consulting, and leadership training. The boutique firm also operates the MoreThanGreen™ initiative, which commits at least 2% of the company’s top-line revenue to charitable causes and contributes volunteer time and resources.
As leadership demands continue to evolve across industries, Rocheleau says the conversation around leadership development must also evolve to reflect the realities leaders face today.
“Organizations rely on leaders to carry enormous responsibility. Supporting those leaders in a sustainable way is no longer optional. It’s essential for the long-term health of the organization,” she says.
For Rocheleau, returning to the public stage at the Women to Watch Summit represented both a professional milestone and the beginning of a new chapter in her leadership work.
For more information, please visit https://igniteleadership.co
