executive coaches and facilitators
Meet Our Team
A Team Dedicated to Your Professional and Personal Success
Fast Forward Co-Founders Wendy Leshgold and Lisa McCarthy have developed a team of executive coaches, facilitators, and engagement managers who are dedicated to helping professionals achieve extraordinary success and fulfillment. More than 100,000 people from leading companies around the globe are living their best lives after training and coaching from the Fast Forward Group.
Lisa McCarthy is the CEO and co-founder of The Fast Forward Group, a training and executive coaching company that gives people a proven approach to think big, manage stress and achieve success and fulfillment in their whole life. Prior to starting Fast Forward, Lisa spent 25 years at prominent media companies Univision, Viacom and CBS leading sales organizations responsible for billions in revenue. She experienced firsthand the toll of high-pressure, always-on workplaces where people feel professional success requires personal sacrifice.
She and co-founder, Wendy Leshgold, set out to challenge this belief and designed a bold yet simple and immediately actionable approach that helps people achieve success and fulfillment in their whole lives.
Recognized as a people-first leader and change agent with significant commercial impact, Lisa was named a “Woman to Watch” by Advertising Age and Crain’s New York “Business 40 Under 40.” Lisa received her BA from Georgetown University. She lives an “overly fulfilled” life in Port Washington, NY with her husband and three children.
Wendy Leshgold is the co-founder and President of Fast Forward Group. After many years leading teams and coaching executives, she saw first-hand the challenges leaders faced and she felt compelled to create a solution. She joined forces with her childhood friend Lisa McCarthy, and together, they launched Fast Forward Group, a leadership development and coaching company with a proven system designed to ignite leaders, transform culture, and accelerate growth. For the past 11 years, Fast Forward has worked with tens of thousands of executives from leading global companies such as Visa, Ford, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Meta, L’Oréal and more.
Before launching Fast Forward, Wendy ran her own executive coaching practice, working with senior leaders across industries. She also spent more than a decade in advertising, leading teams at Ogilvy & Mather, BBDO and Deutsch, where she worked with brands including Apple, IBM, Bank of America and Mitsubishi Motors. Wendy is a frequent keynote speaker and podcast guest. She is the co-author of Fast Forward: 5 Power Principles to Create the Life You Want in Just One Year.
Wendy received her BA in History from the University of Virginia, her PCC from The Co-Active Training Institute and she is an active board member of California Environmental Voters. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Gary, and three children. In her free time, Wendy can often be found watching her son play baseball and walking her beloved dogs, Scout and Cali.
Our Story
Childhood friends Lisa and Wendy founded Fast Forward Group to challenge the belief that professional success demands personal sacrifice. Their simple, proven approach transforms workplaces, one person at a time. People-first leaders around the world are using Fast Forward to ignite their people, business, and culture.
Leadership Team
Fast Forward Team
Facilitators
Coaches
Our diverse roster of Fast Forward coaches includes more than 50 seasoned professionals based in a dozen countries around the globe. Reach out to be matched with a Fast Forward Executive Coach or to hear more about our roster of coaches
Invest in Your Future Success
Our proven, science-backed approach to professional and personal success transforms how people and teams lead, live and work. Get in touch to find out how our programming and coaches can contribute to your success in the year ahead.