Rob Hailey

When Hurricane Katrina struck, I was Tulane’s Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Interim Director of Housing. I helped close the campus, transport students to Jackson, and then returned in the second wave of staff to rebuild operations from the ground, including procuring a cruise ship docked on the Mississippi River to house faculty, staff, and students. My family lost our home in the same storm. That year taught me more about resilience, people, and what holds an organization together than any leadership book ever could. It also sits at the center of who I am as a coach: someone who has navigated genuine crisis and come out with a clearer sense of what matters.

I am a PCC and CEC. After 31 years as a senior administrator at Tulane and as an adjunct marketing professor in the Freeman School of Business, I retired 18 months ago and now bring that full career to my coaching work. I partner with emerging and mid-level professionals navigating career growth, role transitions, and the challenge of building meaningful professional networks. I help clients clarify their strengths, expand their opportunities, and move forward with a concrete plan when they feel ready for more and want a clear path forward.

My coaching focus areas include career development and transitions, professional network building, leadership development for emerging and mid-level managers, and navigating higher education administration.

My coaching works on two tracks. The first builds self-knowledge: through targeted questions and exercises, I help clients understand what they bring and how others experience them. The second expands opportunity: I work with clients to grow their professional networks with intention, and every client leaves with a networking plan that includes, where appropriate, direct introductions from mine. Thirty years of watching careers unfold inside a single institution confirmed what I now build every engagement around: most new opportunities arrive through people, not postings. I also assign articles between sessions and ask clients to reflect on them when we reconvene, a practice that deepens the work considerably. Clients have said: “His advice was truly catered to me as a person, instead of pushing me down the best path” and “I ended up in a job I love and would never have considered otherwise.”

I hold an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential and a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) from the Center for Executive Coaching. I served as Vice-President/President Elect of the ICF Gulf Coast Chapter. I earned an MBA from Tulane University, an MS in Sports Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a BS in Education from Baylor University.

Outside of coaching, I am a husband of 42 years to Joan, a father of two Tulane graduates, and a grandfather of three. I spend my free time exploring the neighborhoods and bars of New Orleans, a city that rewards curiosity and reminds me, regularly, that the best discoveries come from following an unexpected connection.