# Tony Mainardi **Founder, Executive Coach & Advisor** — United States > Serving founders, entrepreneurs, and leaders operating in non-traditional, high-stress environments, my work is supported by a background spanning executive coaching, security operations, entrepreneurship, and hospitality. Insight is cultivated through practices and conversations that build physical and psychological resilience over time; increase agility in holding, shifting, and understanding different perspectives; and foster clarity in decision-making. Career Archetype: **Launchpad Navigator** (HS-DG) — One of the first Launchpad Navigators on Saywise ## Links - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tonymainardi ## Experience ### Operations, Risk & Security Advisor, Masterfully Planned Experiences (2022-01 – present) Remote · Supporting a luxury travel firm designing custom, small-group, and corporate journeys, my role spans organizational management and the risk and security considerations that come with moving clients across borders. The work draws on the same three threads as the coaching practice — leadership, risk, and strategy — applied to a growing company and the people it serves. • Provide high-level organizational management and founder-level organizational support, working alongside leadership on structure, process, and decision-making as the business scales. • Conduct global security and threat assessment for destinations and itineraries, drawing on seventeen years of executive protection and behavioral assessment work across 34 countries. • Manage information security practices across client data and operations, with particular attention to the privacy expectations of high-net-worth travelers. • Advise across the full client range — leisure, small group, high-net-worth, non-profit, and corporate — where the operating conditions, risk profile, and definition of a successful trip differ meaningfully in each. ### Executive Coach, Stagen (2015-01 – 2022-06) Contract Executive Coach for Stagen's Integral Leadership Academy, a year-long program for C-Suite leaders focused on cultivating conscious business approaches. Provided one-on-one coaching, facilitated group sessions, and led bi-weekly teleclasses covering leadership styles, execution, strategic thinking, conscious communication, team development, and interpersonal dynamics. ### Founder, Executive Coach & Advisor, Thanku, LLC. (2013-07 – present) Global · My work with individuals and teams centers on Leadership (of self and others), Risk (anything that might interfere with a stated goal), and Strategy (steering through uncertainty). Because my approach is relational and contextual, every engagement is customized, built with the client, using their experience, their current context, and their desired future. • Serve as executive coach and advisor to founders, entrepreneurs, and leaders across financial services, tech, entertainment, sports, aerospace, travel, health, safety and emergency services. • Maintained a twelve-year continuous coaching engagement with a financial institution as it grew from $750 million to $3 billion in assets, advising leadership through sustained organizational change and growth. • Conversations typically involve topics such as: needing to make an important decision (especially under time pressure); difficult relationships and team dynamics; managing stress and overwhelm; and getting clear on future/next steps. ### Executive Protection Specialist / Safety Consultant, Self Employed (2008-01 – 2014-01) Global · Provided executive protection, behavioral and country assessments, security system consultation, and investigations for high net worth individuals and public figures. Also delivered training on detail advance procedures and protocols for security organizations seeking to enhance operational precision. ### Deputy Director Field Details, Galahad Protective Services, Inc (1996-12 – 2013-12) Remote · Helped scale executive protection and behavioral assessment firm from startup to industry leader over ten years, working across 34 countries. Built and delivered training on situational awareness, group dynamics, and communication. Later worked independently as security and behavioral-assessment consultant for high-net-worth individuals (2009–2013). ### Hospitality Management, The Gate / Jones Hollywood (1993-01 – 2013-12) Los Angeles, CA · Held management roles in hospitality venues and gained extended exposure to Michelin-rated hospitality operations through security work. A hospitality approach is foundational to my professional disposition: attentiveness, discretion, and relationship. ## Education ### Certificate in Regenerative Entrepreneurship, University of International Cooperation (2019-10 – 2021-04) 140-hour program ### International Business, California State University, Long Beach (1990-01 – 1992-01) Activities and societies: Football ### International Business, California State University, Northridge Activities and societies: Football ## Projects ### Elevated Denver, LLC Grassroots civic initiative and narrative podcast · Co-founded a community-focused initiative addressing challenges in Denver through narrative storytelling. Produced a 10-episode podcast exploring homelessness in Denver. ### Thanku Apparel, LLC Regenerative apparel company · Founded a regenerative apparel company focused on building regional community resilience through integrative production practices. ### 4Moz Infrastructure development initiative · Co-founded an infrastructure development initiative based in Mozambique, working across Agriculture, Manufacturing, Film, and Tourism to build local resilience. ## Skills Personal Development, Team Building, Project Management, Personnel Management, Logistics, Security, Executive Protection, Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, Coaching, Organizational Development, Management Consulting, Leadership, Culture Change, Workshop Facilitation, Change Management, Strategic Planning, Management, Consulting, Entrepreneurship, organizational strategy, risk management, security operations, behavioral assessment, decision-making, team dynamics, systems thinking, integral theory, regenerative economics, information security, global operations, trauma-informed work, situational awareness, hospitality management, community resilience ## Credentials - **Regenerative Finance** — Capital Institute - **Berens Core Approach** — Linda Berens Institute - **Spiral Dynamics / Integral Theory** — 5Deep Integral - **Body Based Approach to Trauma** — Bessel Van Der Kolk - **Theory U** — MITx ## AI Fluency - **Claude** (https://claude.ai) ### Projects #### Tend: Practice Tracker A leadership development app for people who understand that leading others starts with tending to yourself. · I built this app with Claude to assist my clients (and anyone who lives a practice based lifestyle) to stay consistent with their developmental work. · https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thankullc.tendpracticetracker --- Source: https://saywise.com/member2253 (last modified 2026-10-05T20:47:21.323Z)