About

My approach and how I got here

my Approach

At the heart of my practice lies a blend of art, science, and playfulness.

By merging traditional executive coaching with progressive tools like psychedelic coaching, I help leaders forge dynamic connections and gain profound insights to overcome obstacles.

Drawing from decades of experience in Design & Tech, neuroscience, psychology, and modern psychedelics, I am deeply passionate about facilitating personal transformation and helping leaders create meaningful, achievable paths forward.

My Journey

While leading the design team at Grubhub, I had a revelation during a commute home: If the world’s top athletes, like Serena Williams and Dan Marino, collaborate with coaches to enhance their performance, why shouldn’t Design leaders do the same?

Probably not a new insight, but personally significant for me. I had typically associated coaching as being leveraged to address ‘troubled performers’ and had not considered it as a tool for further developing already high-performing leaders who strive to better themselves.

After a profound experience with my first executive coach, I decided to enroll in Columbia University’s coaching program. Initially, my goal was to use coaching to enhance my own leadership skills, but I quickly fell in love with the art and science of coaching — and dedicated myself to mastering the craft of coaching.

After completing the certification program at Columbia, I began coaching my former and current colleagues, applying new methods and insights that proved highly effective. As my expertise and passion for coaching grew, so did my ambition to extend my impact beyond internal teams. Today, I work with Design & Tech leaders across the industry, offering bespoke coaching solutions that transform good leaders into great ones by fostering clarity, resilience, and innovation.

Client Love ♥

“Thanks to Jacob’s coaching mentorship I feel more knowledgeable and competent in coaching others more effectively. His open and non-directive approach to mentoring me was exactly what I needed.”

— Marena S, former Amazon

Certified Executive Coach

Jacob Styburski

I am a Certified Executive Coach, nationally recognized BBQ Pitmaster, and seasoned Design leader with nearly 20 years of experience in multi-channel experience design and innovation. Throughout my career, I have held leadership roles in organizations across the spectrum, including JPMorgan Chase, frog design, Meta, Grubhub, PayPal, and American Express.

My professional journey began with a deep passion for harmonizing disparate perspectives, turning institutional skeptics into advocates, and demonstrating the power of Design at scale. My leadership roles have consistently involved building and leading high-performing Design teams, developing innovative strategies, and creating cohesive, elegant user experiences that have profound impacts on the business. From working with Disney on the design and launch of the Magic Band, to a global redesign of PayPal’s consumer Design language, to groundbreaking use of data models at Grubhub — driving consumer, business, and personal impact for every team member has been critically important to me.

Certified by both Columbia Business School and the Psychedelic Coaching Institute, I specialize in helping senior Design & Tech leaders achieve holistic personal and professional transformation. My coaching approach integrates rigorous, data-driven techniques with progressive tools like psychedelic coaching, fostering profound personal insights and sustainable change.

In addition to my corporate experience, I co-founded and served as pitmaster of Revenge BBQ, a critically acclaimed Texas-style BBQ restaurant in Irvington, NY. This unique blend of Design leadership and entrepreneurial spirit underscores what I bring to coaching, where I leverage diverse experiences to help leaders go where their passion leads.