$200 / month
Start free, decide later
I'm a Senior Engineering Manager at Honeycomb, where I lead a product engineering team. Over the past decade, I've built and led engineering teams at companies ranging from pre-seed to Series D, and spent nearly six years as a software engineer and engineering director at Formidable (now NearForm Commerce), shipping projects for clients like Starbucks, Nintendo, and 538.
Most of the people I work with are individual contributors who are seeking more managerial guidance and career coaching from someone who’s not their current manager. Maybe you’re seeking a promotion, and want a third-party opinion on where your strengths and gaps might be. Maybe you got feedback you can't decode - "not a team fit," "needs to take more initiative" - and want some help parsing it out. Maybe a role ended badly and you're trying to work out how to talk about it in interviews.
I also love working with engineers who are considering management, or current EMs who are new to the job and are looking for some practical advice for situations they’re working through.
I've managed through reorgs, layoffs, hypergrowth, and the messy in-between parts of startup engineering leadership. I’ve hired extensively and have been on the manager’s side of hundreds of challenging conversations, so I can provide insight into how your manager might be thinking through things. I've also gone deep on integrating AI into my own management workflows, and I'm happy to get into that if it's useful to you.
I bring practical, specific advice grounded in my own experiences. Mostly it's the manager's-eye view - what that feedback probably meant, what makes a scope argument credible, what I'd be thinking if I were the person on the other side of the table. I'll share what's worked for me (and what hasn't), help you think through real situations you're navigating, and push you to build systems that stick instead of ones that fall apart in two weeks. I'm direct, I ask a lot of questions, and I want to help you find some joy in the messy tech industry.
If any of that resonates, send me a message and tell me what you're working through. We'll start with an intro call to make sure we're a good fit, and go from there.
5 out of 5 stars
Standard Plan • 1 month
5 out of 5 stars
I sought mentorship from Emma while working through a sensitive career situation. I needed someone who could help me think clearly and explain a difficult recent work experience in a professional, credible way. Emma was thoughtful, helpful, and grounding from the start. Her experience as a manager really showed in how she helped me look at the situation from different angles, not just how I felt about it, but how a hiring manager or founder would see it too. That perspective helped me understand what mattered, what didn’t, and how to talk about the situation clearly. Working with Emma felt personal. She didn’t give generic advice. She listened closely, asked smart questions, and helped me work through real challenges, including how to frame my experience, and prepare for conversations with leadership. I especially appreciated that her guidance was both empathetic and realistic. She understood the human side of the situation while helping me stay professional, strategic, and grounded. The mentorship made a real difference for me. I felt calmer, more prepared, and much more confident about how to move forward. Emma helped me separate emotion from strategy, communicate more clearly, and take the next steps in my career with more confidence. I’d highly recommend Emma to anyone looking for career coaching, interview prep, or support through a nuanced professional transition. Her background as a manager gives her advice a practical insight that’s hard to find.
Standard Plan • 1 month
You tell Emma your goals. They see exactly what you want to work on before session one.
You meet within days. Emma reviews your application and books your first session, usually within a day or two.
You leave with a plan. Concrete next steps and a weekly rhythm from your very first week.
Emma Brillhart
Sr. Engineering Manager at Honeycomb.io
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Book a free intro call with Emma
Connect with Emma in a quick call (usually 15-20 minutes)
One-off sessions with Emma
One-off sessions are a great option if you're looking for specific advice on a certain topic.
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