Hi, I’m Mary. I used to have my bio written here in third person, but that felt weird, since I’m literally the one typing this right now. If you’re looking for a more formal, third person bio, here it is. For the first person story that underlies the formal bio, read on...

As a teenage entrepreneur, I struggled when work and life didn’t go as I expected (which, was often!)

I signed up for an improv class and my life was never the same.

Over the past 10+ years I've been practicing improv and incorporating improv inspired principles and practices into work and life, designing intentional improv techniques to support entrepreneurs and business leaders. I studied improv comedy at The Second City, The Groundlings, and the Upright Citizens Brigade among other improv theatres, and am a graduate of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, completed The Human Side of Entrepreneurship, Organizational Leadership, at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. I've led workshops for tens of thousands of people around the world, at large companies and small ones, Fortune 500s, universities, and nonprofits. I even gave a TED talk about it. Along the way I incorporated tried and true business frameworks, elements of neurolinguistic programming, mindfulness, and other research and performance backed methods to really use improv to improve. And now you know why my company's name is Improve.

The principles we practice and teach at Improve have delivered lasting impact - to me and to others. I've advised startups that have raised over $50 million and played a key role in several startup teams that have collectively raised over $3 billion, gone public and been acquired (one by Facebook, another by Lawgix). In the trainings I've designed and delivered, participants report improving communication skills by 30%, listening skills by 25%, ability to adapt by 49%, with a 95% NPS score and a 5/5 enjoyment and 4.8/5 learning experience rating.

And though I am a huge proponent of improv comedy as a means towards serious personal and organizational transformation, I also create entertaining humorish things with an eye toward impact. I wrote, directed, and performed in the award winning short film Dating Apps In Real Life, associate produced award winning documentary Act Social featuring Colin Mochrie. I created and hosted Startup Late Night, a late-night comedy show featuring business leader guests, and have performed improv and comedy all over the country, including at Gilda Radner’s Laughfest, The Punch Line in San Francisco, and the Lady Laughs Comedy Festival.