The First Conversation

Chrysalis is an executive coaching practice focused on identity crossings and liminality — the disorienting space between who you were and who you're becoming. Founded by Aaron Perkins, ACC, the studio works with leaders moving through career crossings, cross-cultural relocations, and the deeper reckonings that arrive when success stops meaning what it used to. Based between Bali and Singapore. Serving clients worldwide.

Senior leaders, executives, and professionals moving through major identity crossings — whether that's a career reinvention, an international relocation, a role reshaped by AI and restructuring, or the quiet crisis of meaning that arrives when you've achieved everything and it still doesn't feel like enough. Clients have included leaders at LinkedIn, Uber, Coinbase, Twitch, Gilead, Capgemini, and Saint-Gobain, among others. If something is shifting and the old story no longer fits, this is the space for you.

Private one-on-one coaching grounded in an evidence-based approach to identity crossings. Sessions draw on solution-focused methodology, narrative coaching, and insights from neuroscience and developmental psychology. The first session is a 60-minute exploration — we sit with what's shifting, what's emerging, and what coherence looks like from here. If there's resonance, we co-design a longer engagement based on your needs.

A framework for understanding identity crossings and liminality, built from over twenty years of coaching practice across 59 countries. It maps five stages that every major crossing follows: The Crack (when the old story stops being true), The Freefall (the liminal space before anything new has formed), The Noticing (attention before action), The Crossing (living the question rather than answering it), and The Inhabiting (identity recomposed as a living practice). The details differ — a restructured role, an international move, a crisis of meaning — but the inner architecture is the same.

Two tools sit alongside private coaching. Naya is an AI coaching companion for crossing thresholds — she helps you reflect, find clarity, and move through identity crossings using guided conversation grounded in solution-focused coaching. Not a chatbot. Not a therapist. A thinking partner for the in-between. Currently free during beta at naya.chrysalisleaders.com. Imago turns five reflections into a single portrait of who you're becoming — a synthesis of what's been quietly forming beneath the life you've been living. Not an assessment. Not a personality test. A mirror you return to. Explore it at imago.chrysalisleaders.com.

No. Coaching is not therapy. While coaching may engage with personal meaning and emotional material, the focus is on clarity, direction, and intentional forward movement — not diagnosis or treatment. Aaron holds an ACC credential through the International Coaching Federation and follows ICF ethical guidelines, which include referring clients to appropriate mental health professionals when needed.

No. Many people begin with a single 60-minute session. If it resonates, we co-design a longer engagement — some clients work through a focused 6-session arc, others continue across different chapters of their life and leadership. There is no required commitment beyond the first conversation.

Yes. While Chrysalis is based between Bali and Singapore, all sessions are conducted globally via Zoom and scheduled flexibly across time zones. Clients currently span Southeast Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.

Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation. Certified Organizational Coach, Institute of Executive Coaching & Leadership. Brain-Based Coaching Certification, NeuroLeadership Institute. Over 20 years in leadership development and executive coaching across 59 countries. Former faculty at EAE Business School (Barcelona) and Thunderbird School of Global Management. Creator of Naya and Imago, contemplative AI tools built on the Threshold Method™. Publisher of the Thresholds newsletter.

A free, short reflective assessment that locates where you are in the five stages of the Threshold Method — the territory you're standing in right now. In a few minutes it gives you a reading of your crossing and a small set of reflections tailored to it. It's the simplest way to begin: no session, no commitment, just a clearer sense of where you stand. Take it at snapshot.chrysalisleaders.com.

Start with the free Threshold Snapshot — a few minutes to locate where you are. When you're ready for a conversation, book a first session on the Begin page, or email directly if you're not sure which session fits — the crossing rarely comes with a label, and a short note is often the best way to begin.