Growth Happens
at the
edges
Wherever you're headed and whatever you're facing, you don't have to do it alone.
Dessy Levinson, creator of the CRATE Framework, will partner with you to identify and reframe existing internal narratives, align objectives with accountability, and help you become your bravest, most functional self.
Whether you're addressing career, relational, strategic, or internal challenges, there's a path forward—armed with clarity, regulation, agency, trust, and energy.
It's time you found your edge.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Do What Scares You
There's a version of your story where you regularly make the brave, aware choice. Where the narratives of your past empower, rather than deplete your future. It's time to integrate your internal resistance and become a more functional person, a more inspiring leader, and the focused and conscious human you always wanted to be.
Every challenge—whether strategic, relational, or internal—contains an invitation to grow. Through building Clarity, Regulation, Agency, Trust, and Energy, you'll discover how your current obstacles can become catalysts for transformation.
How do you get there? Get curious and do the work.
Individuals cannot transform by troubleshooting partial behavior. If you only tackle work, relationships, or even mindfulness as stand-alone subjects, whatever surrounds them will bleed in sooner or later. Instead, we will address the self relationally and holistically, simultaneously orchestrating change in multiple aspects of your life.
The CRATE model enables you to see, track, and shift the interconnections between how you relate to yourself, your loved ones, your teams, ideas, and output. With it, it becomes easier to:
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Face your fears
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Shift your course & build a Future Map
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Trust yourself & others
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Align purpose & strategy
Coaching Services
CRATE Personalized Coaching is a transformative, one-on-one journey designed to help you unlock your fullest potential and navigate life's challenges and opportunities with greater ease, purpose, and joy. With her unique blend of entrepreneurial experience, psychological expertise, and creative problem-solving, Dessy is a rare and valuable partner for thoughtful, curious, and high-achieving individuals.
Through a tailored approach that combines deep inquiry, experiential practices, and strategic guidance, Dessy helps her clients gain profound insights into their inner world, release limiting patterns and beliefs, and take bold, purposeful action towards their goals and dreams. Her work is grounded in the CRATE framework, a powerful synthesis of cutting-edge research and time-honored wisdom that illuminates the five key dimensions of human flourishing: Clarity, Regulation, Agency, Trust, and Energy.
Great leadership requires more than strategy. It demands the ability to see clearly, inspire authentically, and create environments where both innovation and trust can flourish. Through CRATE's approach to leadership development, executives learn to align their deepest values with clear strategic direction, transforming how they lead and how their teams perform.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
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Clear, compelling vision that inspires genuine engagement
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Leadership presence, combining strength with authenticity
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Create cultures where psychological safety enables peak performance
LEADERSHIP & VISION SETTING
Success depends on our ability to build and maintain authentic connections. CRATE's relational integration approach helps leaders navigate both professional and personal relationships with greater awareness and skill. Learn to lead with both strength and vulnerability, creating deeper trust across all domains of life.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
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Skills to navigate complex relationship dynamics
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Capacity to build trust in tenuous situations
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Ability to notice and respond intentionally
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Successful fundraising is about more than numbers—it's about crafting narratives that resonate while staying true to your vision. Whether you're preparing for your first pitch or your fifth fund, CRATE's methodology helps you build compelling stories that inspire action while maintaining authentic connection to your purpose.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
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Craft pitch narratives that engage both logic and emotion
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Develop confidence in high-stakes presentations
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Build genuine relationships with investors and stakeholders
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Navigate fundraising complexity without losing your calm
FUNDRAISING & NARRATIVE
The early stages of building something new demand both vision and pragmatism. Whether you're launching a venture or scaling an existing one, CRATE's approach helps you navigate uncertainty while maintaining creative momentum. Through integrating strategic thinking with emotional intelligence, you'll learn to build sustainable growth rather than chasing quick wins.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
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Transform ideas into viable strategies
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Build teams that both innovate and execute
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Navigate uncertainty with confidence
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Make decisions that align vision with reality
STARTUP OR GROWTH IDEATION
Your professional path is more than a series of roles—it's an expression of your deepest contribution. CRATE helps leaders design careers with intention, aligning professional choices with genuine purpose. This isn't about climbing ladders; it's about creating impact that resonates beyond your tenure.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
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Clarify your unique path and purpose
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Make career decisions with greater confidence
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Build meaningful professional legacy
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Design work that energizes rather than depletes
CAREER TRAJECTORY AND LEGACY PLANNING
Conflict isn't just inevitable—it's often where the greatest opportunities for growth emerge. Learn to navigate challenging dynamics and difficult conversations with confidence and skill, transforming friction into creative energy that moves you and your endeavors forward.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
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Convert tension into productive dialogue
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Navigate difficult conversations with clarity and purpose
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Build stronger relationships through conflict
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Create sustainable resolution practices
CONFLICT RESOLUTION & NEGOTIATION
Take the First Step:
Reach New
Heights
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ABOUT
Dessy Levinson
Dessy Levinson is an executive strategy, narrative, and relational integration coach, the creator of the CRATE Framework for cognitive and emotional resilience, the founder of crate.com, and an early-stage investor and advisor. With a career spanning over two decades in advertising, finance, and high-performance coaching, Dessy enables individuals (and their partners, co-founders, and teams) to align their narratives and behavior in order to achieve lasting change.
Dessy lives at the intersection of psychology, creativity, and early-stage startups. In all three spheres, she has witnessed real growth happen at the edges of our comfort zone—which is why she coaches humans to chart a path toward courage, meaning, and resilience.
Previously, Dessy served as Managing Director at 645 Ventures, where she invested in early-stage consumer startups and frontier technologies. Previous to that, she spent a decade as a Creative Director in consumer advertising for Fortune 500 brands.
Dessy studied Critical Theory and psychology at the University of Alberta and has been mentored by David Pezenik, L.C.S.W, and Executive Somatic Coach Rachel Rider. She has completed Level 3 RLT training at the Relational Life Institute with Terry Real and continues to study with Esther Perel and John Vervaeke.
Her popular keynotes include "Do What Scares You," "Immersive Power," and "Thinking in Story."
If you find yourself at a crossroads and aren't sure where to turn next, there's no better person to have alongside you than Dessy. She's a true polymath who will help you with startup ideas, sort out your emotions, and inspire you with a can-do attitude to boot. I would have probably thrown the towel in, and instead I got to seven-figure revenue. A big part of it was thanks to her.
Nick V.
Startup Founder & CEO
Dessy's coaching approach is firm and warm, thoughtful, and rapidly effective due to her outstanding ability to identify my inner states and understand my long-term vision.
Dessy was instrumental in helping me establish a 6-month roadmap along with concrete milestones to achieve my goals. I always gain much greater clarity by the end of a session with Dessy and an empowering sense of renewed optimism and energy.
Virginie R.
Managing Director, Tusk Strategies
Dessy is an insightful, responsive, warm, and incredibly helpful executive coach who cuts directly to the heart of the issue. She has expertise in storytelling, technology, the venture capital space, and understands how to construct a clear and concise presentation that is also visually beautiful. Sometimes I can get bogged down in details and Dessy helps me see the forest through the trees. I have enthusiastically recommended her executive coaching services to friends and will continue to do so!!
Kristin D.
Managing Partner, Kraken Capital
14 weeks ago, I found myself in a constant state of panic that seeped into every area of life. I was introduced to Dessy after a concerned family member recommended her coaching services. When I started working with Dessy, week by week, I noticed significant changes and growth. Fast forward 14 weeks later, I can wholeheartedly say today Dessy has changed my life forever.
She is not only kind, compassionate, and highly intelligent; she is helpful, reliable, and creates the space for others to evolve into the people they were always meant to be. More often than not, I now find myself saying “What would Dessy do?” Just that simple thought changes my entire state of mind. Thank you, Dessy for giving me the tools to rebuild my life. I am forever grateful.
Brianna B.
Marketing Director
Dessy has a very rare combination of left and right brain thinking that gives you both the way forward and the inspiration to follow it. She's excellent at providing the kick you need and doing it with kindness. Her fundraising and branding advice is invaluable and she also helped me manage a difficult team situation with awareness and strength.
Her specialty is making you braver than you thought you could be.
Sara J.
B2C Startup Founder