Helping Leaders Build Resilient Teams
I’m Joyce. I work with leaders and teams when emotions run high, helping them combine different perspectives so they can move forward collaboratively — making well-reasoned decisions backed by full evaluation, accountability, and shared responsibility.
My mediation experience began early and developed over time. I served on a college student mediation team, volunteered in small claims court during law school, and later mediated workplace disputes and EEOC complaints professionally.
Along the way, I’ve facilitated emotionally charged community meetings, coached leaders, trained teams, and served as an ombuds, helping groups navigate conflict, communicate clearly, make collaborative decisions, and follow through under pressure.
It doesn’t stop with internal differences; leaders have also sent me to meet with their clients who had expressed dissatisfaction. I helped identify systemic issues and provide coaching and recommendations. One client even rescinded a termination notice after our meeting.
In one extreme situation where I was taken hostage and none of the demands could be met, I applied the same principles I use today: listening, connecting, and collaboratively creating solutions when no options were immediately apparent. That experience highlighted a critical reality: when conflict escalates, it's usually because people haven’t been trained to de-escalate and resolve high-emotion situations and may be missing out on all its benefits. I set out to change that.
Today, as a Conflict-Savvy Strength and Stability Strategist, I help leaders and teams uncover new options — even in situations that feel impossible or adversarial — and build the kind of stability that allows work and relationships to strengthen together. The result is stronger, more stable, and resilient teams — with less turnover, firefighting, and burnout.
I’m the founder of Conflict Options LLC and the creator of a practical, integrated de-escalation system, developed through years of mediation, crisis work, and leadership support. It was designed for real-world pressure — when perspectives clash and the stakes are high.
My work draws upon a Juris Doctorate, built on a foundation of social sciences, psychology, history, and some nursing coursework, along with graduate-level studies in public policy. I’ve also completed training in supervision, mediation, crisis counseling, coaching, consulting, and facilitation.
I’ve designed and led workshops for at-risk youth, supported adolescents in inpatient recovery, managed community associations, and presented nationally and internationally on de-escalation, collaborative negotiation, and conflict under pressure. You may have also seen me on television, heard me on podcasts, or read my chapter in a book on resilience or my work on Thrive Global, Medium, and Authority Magazine.
When I’m not working with leaders and teams, I’m usually negotiating with my paraplegic Siamese cat, tending my vegetable garden, completing coaching certifications, or studying Spanish.
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