PRIVATE ADVISORY
Private advising for principals, founders and executives
Dr. Daryl is a private advisor to executives and leadership teams, and to principals and founders. What many people call executive coaching is, in her practice, a blend: counsel on how they lead and decide, and attention to the relationships and patterns that come with the role.
In practice, the work draws on counsel, perspective, relationships and pace: a private place to think through decisions before they are made, an outside read on how you operate under pressure, the partners, boards, teams and families a role depends on, and what to carry, what to hand off and what to stop.
Dr. Daryl Appleton, Ed.D., LMHC, is a behavioral strategist who advises executives and leadership teams. She is a licensed mental health counselor in Rhode Island.
Her advisory, podcast, and media work are educational and are not therapy.
Her work is not financial, legal or tax advice.
The premise
Most leadership problems are self-awareness problems before they are skills problems. Another course rarely fixes them. A clearer view of how you operate under pressure usually does. Dr. Daryl's approach is science and soul: research and common sense, used to separate fact from feeling.
Who it's for
Principals carrying a family's name and a company's future
When the role is both personal and inherited, or both leadership and stewardship, the pressure rarely shows in public. Advising is a private place to think through decisions before they become family decisions. For work with the wider family, see Family Advisory.
Founders who can't stop doing everything themselves
The habits that built the company start to cap it. The work is on what to hand off, what to stop, and what only you should be doing.
Executives with strong results and a full calendar
Strong results, a full calendar and very little left at the end of the day. The work is on doing less, better, without giving up the role or the ambition.
Leaders in a high-stakes transition
A new role, a sale, a reorganization or a succession. A steady place to think before deciding.
Leadership team advisory
For a senior team whose difficulty is how it works together rather than what it knows: how decisions are really made, where friction sits, and what to change first.
How it works
One to one or with a senior team. Dr. Daryl takes a limited number of advisory clients each year, and she does not name them.
Background
Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, Johnson & Wales University.
CAGS in Mental Health, Salve Regina University.
M.Ed. in Counseling, Providence College.
Dr. Daryl designed and delivers the Performance Wellness Curriculum for surgeons at Brown University Health. She hosts the podcast Feelings & Other F Words.
Featured in Vogue's best mental health podcasts (2024). Quoted in Oprah Daily. Profiled in Rhode Island Monthly (2026).
FAQ
Should I work with an executive coach or a therapist?
Executive advising is educational and focuses on how you lead, decide and work. It is not therapy. If you are looking for clinical care, a licensed clinician who provides therapy is the right fit.
Do you advise principals of family enterprises and family offices?
Yes. Dr. Daryl offers private advising to principals on leadership, decisions and the pressures of a role that is both professional and family. Work with the wider family is described on Family Advisory. Her work is not financial, legal or tax advice.
I'm successful but exhausted. Is advising right for me?
It may be. Advising is built for leaders who are succeeding and stretched thin. If exhaustion has become a health concern, see a medical or licensed clinical professional as well.
Is advising confidential?
Yes. Dr. Daryl does not name advisory clients.
Do you work with women founders and executives?
Yes. Dr. Daryl advises women founders and senior leaders on how they lead, decide and carry responsibility.