Directions West, LLC
Organizations invest deeply in how they communicate with the market. Directions West brings that same rigor to how companies communicate with their people, building the communication strategy and systems that create alignment, strengthen culture, and move the business forward.
The Framework
Culture is not what an organization says it values. Culture is what its leaders communicate, model, reinforce, and celebrate every day.
Every leadership choice sends a message.
Every message shapes culture.
The Work
I help organizations and the leaders who run them build the discipline no MBA teaches: how to lead people well through intentional communication.
Sometimes that means helping an organization build the strategy and structure for communication to move consistently from leadership to the frontline. Sometimes it means advising an executive on how they set direction, explain decisions, and lead their team through change.
In both cases, the goal is the same: people understand the priorities, know how their work connects, and can act on them.
I build the internal communication strategy and operating structure that help business priorities reach employees consistently.
That means getting clear on the core story, how leaders and managers carry it, which channels are used for what, who owns communication decisions, how questions come back, and how the organization knows whether people understand.
The result is a communication strategy and system that supports the business goals with every employee touchpoint.
I advise leaders on the communication they personally own: how they set direction, explain decisions, navigate change, and make sure their teams understand what matters.
The work might include their leadership narrative, town halls, team communication rhythm, the cascade below them, or a high-stakes communication already on the calendar.
It is direct, practical counsel tied to the role and the work in front of them.
The Approach
The work starts with business direction: what the organization is trying to accomplish, what leaders need people to understand, and what employees are actually hearing, interpreting, and doing.
From there, the work follows the communication wherever it needs to go: through the leader, the leadership team, the manager cascade, or the organization's communication channels.
The goal is not more communication. It is communication that helps people understand what matters and act on it.
For organizational strategy, the work moves through four stages:
Understand → Align → Build → Activate
See how internal communication is working today, where people are getting lost, and what needs to change.
Get clear on the business story, what matters most, and what employees need to know, understand, and act on.
Create the strategy, structure, and tools that make internal communication consistent and connected to the business.
Put the strategy to work, equipping leaders and teams to communicate with clarity and consistency across the organization.
“Culture is built in the moments leaders communicate — how they explain decisions, what they leave unsaid, whether they listen, and what they do next.”Alisha Westfield Celestine
About
Executive Advisor. I help leaders and organizations communicate from the inside out.
Throughout my career as a communications executive, I've built the strategies and systems organizations use to communicate with their people, including leading internal communications at Kaiser Permanente and UCLA Health.
That work also put me alongside senior executives as a strategic advisor, helping them think through what needed to be communicated, how to communicate it, and how to make sure it was landing with the people they were leading.
I've built integrated communications functions from the ground up, led culture transformation across workforces of 75,000+, and counseled senior executives through growth, crisis, and change.
Across all of it, I've seen the same thing with consistency: Communication is the Culture™.
Directions West is the culmination of that experience: a practice built around helping organizations and the leaders inside them communicate by design rather than by chance.
Let's find your direction.
Let's Connect
A first conversation is just that: a conversation. No deck. No agenda.
We'll talk about what is happening inside the organization or in your leadership role, where communication could be stronger, and whether I'm the right person to help.
Let's Connect → or write to hello@directionswest.com