Hello!
I am Isilay, an executive leadership and personal growth coach. My passion has always been helping people realize that they can make their dreams a reality when they actively pursue what they are after. I believe that courage and determination are key in this process.
Before I started my coaching business, I worked in the finance sector, and even before that I worked as a Registered Nurse in Istanbul, Turkey. My multidisciplinary background gives me an unique edge, and the ability to see situations from different perspectives.
I am currently based in New York, partnering with leaders and business executives to realize their potentials and live courageous lives aligned with their values.
My story
I started my career as a nurse practitioner, helping and healing patients in the Intensive Coronary Unit in The American Hospital, Turkey. My tryst with the US happened when an American patient needed assistance flying back. I was one of the very few nurses who managed to speak bits of English. After staying in the US for 2 weeks, it was as if my heart knew that this is where I want to study finance. It was a place full of opportunities for a girl like me who was full of dreams.
The challenge, however, was to convince my parents. Shifting my major from nursing to finance was a huge step. My nurse and doctor friends told me I was making a mistake and that I was setting myself up for failure. To that, I told them that even if I fail, I would come back home being able to speak English better!
Secondly, I was wanting to move to a place where I knew no one, I didn’t speak English fluently, and needless to say, I was young with little money. I wanted to move only with my parents’ blessings. It took me two years to persuade them about the opportunities and the world I would be exposed to if I came to New York.
Once I came to New York, there was no turning back. I fell in love with the city, its people and the spirit. I worked in high-level managerial positions at Standard & Poor’s Index and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services dealing with international companies and over 100 Stock Markets. My Wall Street experience puts me in a unique position to understand challenges and identify opportunities for the business leaders of today.
How i can help you
what my clients tell about my work
Paul Lyons,
National Security Leader I Defense Policy and Strategy Expert I Indo-Pacific SME I Top Secret SCI Clearance
If you are looking for an executive coach and mentor who is in it for you, Isilay is it! Divine providence and the American Corporate Partners program brought Isilay and I together during my transition from a 30 year career in the military to the private sector. For most veterans, this period is a wholesale change from years filled with certainty and linear career progression to a boundless arena of vast opportunities and possibilities. Isilay's expert ability to listen, consume, consider, and construct have been instrumental in forging pathways to opportunities, networks to navigate, and principles and protocols to hone. She epitomizes what I expected in an executive coach and corporate mentor. She's excelled on Wall Street and done so after a significant career transition from nursing. As such, she speaks from first-hand experience when it comes to corporate ethos, changing sectors, and purposely taking a career turn at the mid-career stage. Bottom line, she is multidimensional in experience, approach, vision, and perspective. Across the board, her constructive support, positive demeanor and outlook, and steadfast professionalism are impeccable - and PERFECT for the role of executive coach and corporate mentor.
Sheryl Berger, PMP CSM
Enterprise Project Manager, Ameritrade International
“Isilay is a warm, engaging and intelligent person with a natural talent to coach people with diverse backgrounds. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Isilay. She is patient, positive and an excellent listener while offering multiple approaches to challenges and remaining encouraging. Isilay has years of experience working in the financial services which contributes to her sharp and analytical consideration of problems and issues. Isilay’s coaching techniques enable the recipient to feel as if one is figuring out the answers on their own. If you are searching for a professional and/or personal coach who can offer insights into how you can aspire in your career or life, Isilay is the perfect coach for you!
Kerry Nelson, M.A. MPP NCC
Assistant Director, Executives On Campus
Isilay Cabuk has been a long time Mentor within Baruch College’s Executives on Campus Mentoring Program. During the Spring of 2018 she enthusiastically served as one of our esteemed featured speakers within our Job$mart speaker series. She energetically facilitated an engaging workshop on “How to Live a Courageous Life Aligned with Your Values”. Our graduate and undergraduate students alike were very inspired by Isilay’s bold approach via sharing her moving story on how she created a value driven career and courageously launched her dream job. In fact, students then inquired as to whether they can be matched with Isilay individually for mentoring. Isilay’s moving delivery also instilled in students that they should become aware of their values, then live courageously both personally and professionally without sacrificing those values. Students then discussed how obtaining that self-awareness can help them do what they love and are absolutely best at. The Executives on Campus team is very grateful for Isilay’s committed contributions toward developing successful professionals within Baruch’s students. She has continuously given back to our students in an invaluable manner and it is always a pleasure to work with her.
Laurel Berstein
Founder and President, Laurel Berstein & Associates
The first thing that comes to mind about Isilay is her poise. It is the underlying structure that supports her extensive knowledge, her amazing skills, and the outstanding ability she has a professional. She moves into new things with determination but never loses site of the necessary cautions. She is prepared. She uses her extensive communicative skills to clarify, network and collaborate. She is not risk adverse and approaches thing with planned and logical thinking. She is acutely aware of her environment and reaches goals with the highest performance and most beneficial results. Anyone who encounters her excellence will always use her accomplishments as a benchmark for future comparison. I feel lucky to have worked with her.
Speaking engagements
