The Wise Women's Council, The Men's Leadership Council: Coaching Circles for Founders & CEOs
Every year, we put together a private leadership mastermind for CEOs, leaders, and business thinkers who are also parents. Plus, an all-gender space, and a possible new men's group.
Over the last eight years, I’ve run leadership incubators where I bring brave, curious, and kind leaders together. We meet once a week for a guided conversation around life, business, and leadership.
The Wise Women’s Council: Our longstanding group, The Wise Women’s Council is our leadership group and small-group mastermind for women leaders, business owners, and CEOs. Many folks who join are mothers or contemplating motherhood, but you do not have to be a parent to join our program. We have parents and non-parents alike. The common thread? Women who are tired of the status quo and want to design better business and life structures to support them.
Deadline to Apply: May 8th, 2025. Our next cohort for The Wise Women’s Council will start in May 2025. The deadline to submit an application is Thursday, May 8th, 2025. If it’s right for you, submit an application to join. Below is more information about how we run our programs.
The Men’s Leadership Council: We are also hearing from dads who are interested in a similar Men’s Leadership Council specifically for men at the intersection of fatherhood and business. I am currently exploring a pilot of this program for 2025. If you or someone you know would be interested in a leadership council for dads, join the early interest list here.
Other Inquiries: Not a parent but need something like this? Tell me. We’ve already had a few folks reach out and ask if I’ll put together a cohort for women leaders that are on a different life path. I don’t have an answer yet, but tell me if you’re interested. Please fill out the application form and put a note for us in the comments section explaining your situation.
THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL: AT A GLANCE
This is a year-long leadership incubator. We select a small group of leaders to work with each year, curating a small group of kind, brilliant, and wise peers who are in a similar journey in life.
Our members. The people who join us are founders, business owners, investors, leaders, and entrepreneurs—and they are are also parents or caretakers. This is a group that understands the complex demands on your time and attention.
Small groups. Our typical group size is 16 to 24 participants. From there, you’ll be thoughtfully paired with folks in a smaller sub-group to spend time together with during the year ahead. The groups are typically a group of six to eight people, and designed with your skillsets, expertise, and industries in mind so that you will have people to lean on and learn from.
We meet once a week for 90 minutes. A ninety minute session length allows for conversational depth that doesn’t happen in the default time of 60 minutes, and builds connections and depth that last for years afterwards.
The Wise Women’s Council meets every Thursday at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern. We have not yet selected a start date or a group time for a Men's Council, as we're still determining if there is enough interest in a group.
The Wise Leadership Framework. Each month, we explore one core leadership concept together, drawing from real-life experiences and challenges you’re facing. Throughout the year, we take you through our Wise Leadership Philosophy, an approach that allows for the fullness of life across all areas. The practice of wise leadership is about creating space for all of who you are.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The depth of conversation is unparalleled. “I didn’t realize how much I needed a space where I could show up with ALL parts of me. I can show up as a parent, as a spouse, as a mom, as a founder, as a leader, as a team operator—and get support across every channel. I end up crying a lot, but I don’t feel ashamed about it. I know they get what I’m going through.”
They are still in touch with each other—years later. “We still have a group chat going from our first year together, and we get together for an in-person weekend every year. These are my friends and peers for life.”
The guest lectures are deeply supportive across all areas of life. “I knew that the decision-making framework would be helpful in my business, but I didn’t expect that I would use it all the time as a parent and in my daily life, too.”
We cover a range of topics often missed by other leadership programs. “The grief session you held, and the session on rage, were so profound and affected me. I didn’t realize how much my feelings about my mother and her passing were affecting my leadership approach. This was deeply nourishing to me.”
Our members are actively pioneering new models of work, play & life. One of our core values is that we don’t have to do things the way they’ve always been done. Our members share insights for how they’re reducing work stress, managing family life, and building a different concept of work entirely as founders, with their unique business and vision.
THE SCHEDULE
Our leadership incubator cycles through a specific set of group calls every month. This is what the schedule looks like — although all you really need to do is show up every Thursday for our 90 minute sessions.
All Group Call — Designed to connect you to members throughout the community, introduce the monthly theme, and dig into exercises and breakout room conversations.
Drop-In Coaching — Get expert coaching, feedback, and space to talk about what’s coming up for you in your area of work and life.
Small Groups — A monthly call facilitated by SKP to engage in peer-to-peer support, with a focus on growth and depth as a leader.
Co-Work — The last week of the month, join us to get that sticky project, process, or write-up off your plate and body double with other leaders for accountability and push.
DETAILS + FAQS
Our approach follows our Wise Leaders Framework, an approach we’ve been building and developing for the last eight years.
We ask members to commit to joining 75% of the calls. We understand that life events happen, and they happen a lot for parents, and we also expect you to attend the majority of our sessions. These are not lectures—these are conversational, connection-based calls for you to share, discuss, and explore.
There are executive summaries and notes from all the calls. We record the calls for playback, create a one-pager of notes, and share transcripts post-call so you can review materials quickly and easily. The design and rhythm of this program are specifically tailored to the lives of modern working parents and caretakers, making our program as accessible and manageable as possible.
The Leadership Incubator is $6,000. We’ve worked very hard to keep this program magical, intimate and reasonably priced. Many mastermind programs are priced at $10k-$20k or more. The year-long program is $8k. There is a payment plan option, listed on the website. Click here to learn more.
APPLY TO JOIN OUR NEXT COHORT
We’re currently putting together our next group of women leaders for the Spring 2025 cohort. If you’d like to apply to join our upcoming cohorts of The Wise Women’s Council, click here to review the program and to submit an application.
Applications close on Thursday, May 8th, 2025. There are a very limited number of spaces each year, so apply today.
After you submit your application, our team reviews every application. Invitations to join us will go out the week of May 12th, 2025. Everyone who applies will hear back from us by Friday, May 23rd, 2025.
Questions? Want to know more about the program? Send an email to director@startupparent.com with any questions you have about the program. Serious inquiries only, please.
Looking forward to putting our next cohort of wonderful leaders together! If that’s you, then I’m glad we emailed you today.
— Sarah K Peck,
CEO & Founder
Hi Startup Parent Team, there's a survey design bug where I can't say Yes to all three options for "Are you open to a council run by Sarah K Peck, or would you rather it be run by a fellow father, or some blend? *" as it requires one per row. I'm willing to trust any of those three.