Margaret D. Finley,
CPEC, CDP
Certified Personal and Executive Coach | Certified Diversity Professional
Founder & CEO | Move HER Forward Coaching & Consulting
Founder | CHIEF The Ambitious Woman
Author | Protect Your Peace
Some people are born into confidence.
Others have to fight for it.
I am one of the women who fought.
My story is not one of perfection—it is one of perseverance. Like so many women, I have experienced seasons of self-doubt, disappointment, rejection, loss, and moments that tested my confidence and challenged my sense of worth. Those experiences could have defined me. Instead, they refined me.
Today, I stand on the other side of those experiences with a clear mission: to help women and girls discover the leader within themselves long before the world gives them permission.
For more than three decades, I have dedicated my career to helping people, organizations, and communities become stronger, more inclusive, and more courageous. I have served in executive leadership roles, advised senior leaders, spoken before audiences across the country, and built strategies that transform workplace culture and strengthen leadership.
But my greatest accomplishment has never been a title.
It has always been helping someone believe in themselves.
Whether I am coaching an executive preparing for the boardroom, mentoring an emerging leader, speaking to hundreds of women, or encouraging a young girl to find her voice, my purpose remains the same—to help people recognize that they already possess more courage, influence, and potential than they realize.
That calling led me to create CHIEF The Ambitious Woman.
CHIEF The Ambitious Woman was born from the belief that ambition is not something women should apologize for—it is something they should embrace. It is a movement committed to developing confident leaders, courageous decision-makers, purpose-driven entrepreneurs, and girls who believe their dreams are worthy of pursuit.
Through executive coaching, leadership development, mentoring, speaking, transformational experiences, and community, CHIEF The Ambitious Woman equips women to advance their careers, strengthen their financial confidence, build thriving businesses, protect their well-being, and lead with lasting impact.
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At the same time, we inspire girls to dream boldly, develop leadership skills, discover their voice, and walk confidently into their future.
Everything I create is grounded in five values that define the CHIEF The Ambitious Woman movement:
Courage
Choosing faith over fear.
Honor
Leading with integrity and character.
Influence
Using your voice to create meaningful change.
Excellence
Pursuing your highest potential with intention.
Fortitude
Standing strong through every challenge.
I also believe leadership begins with peace.
That belief inspired my book, Protect Your Peace: The Quiet Power of Becoming Emotionally Grounded, Purposeful, and Unbothered, which encourages readers to protect their well-being while pursuing extraordinary lives and meaningful leadership.
Throughout my career, I have been honored to receive numerous leadership and community recognition awards, but the achievements that matter most are the women who earn promotions they once believed were out of reach, the entrepreneurs who launch businesses with confidence, the leaders who find their authentic voice, and the girls who begin to see themselves as future CEOs, founders, elected officials, innovators, and change-makers.
My vision is bigger than coaching.
I am building a legacy.
A legacy where women lead with confidence instead of comparison.
Where girls grow up believing there is a seat waiting for them at every table.
Where purpose becomes action.
Where influence creates opportunity.
And where every woman understands that her greatest leadership journey begins the moment she chooses to believe in herself.
Thank you for being here.
Whether you are taking your first courageous step or preparing for your next extraordinary chapter, I would be honored to walk alongside you.
I believe every woman deserves to be seen. Every girl deserves to be believed in. Every dream deserves the opportunity to become reality.
My life’s work is helping women and girls discover the courage to become who they were created to be - not someday, but now. Because the world doesn’t just need more leaders. It needs more women and girls who have the courage to become them.
