Great organizations are built and sustained by great leadership.
Design People Leaders partners with organizations to build leadership at every level and create engaged, high-performing cultures rooted in excellence and purpose.
leadership coaching
The move from high achiever to leader is one of the defining — and most demanding — transitions in any professional career.
At some point, every design professional reaches a moment when the skills that made them exceptional are no longer enough. The work that once defined them — designing, building, creating, solving — begins to give way to something more complex: leading people, shaping culture, and guiding performance through others.
Design People Leaders partners with firm owners, executives, emerging leaders, design professionals, manufacturers, and builders to strengthen leadership capacity, elevate team and organizational performance, and develop the next generation of future-ready design people leaders.
At some point, every design professional reaches a moment when the skills that made them exceptional are no longer enough. The work that once defined them — designing, building, creating, solving — begins to give way to something more complex: leading people, shaping culture, and guiding performance through others.
See Clearly
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Leadership growth begins with awareness. Through coaching, assessments, and facilitated reflection, we help leaders and teams better understand their strengths, patterns, blind spots, working styles, and opportunities for growth. This phase creates clarity around how leaders show up, how teams function, and what may be limiting trust, alignment, accountability, engagement, or performance.
Lead Intentionally
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Build What Lasts
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Coaching tools & collaborators
Services
The Connected Leadership Development Ecosystem
Coaching Leaders
Coaching Leaders
Executive coaching for senior and emerging leaders — building the self-awareness, confidence, and leadership capacity to lead people, culture, and business at every level.
Coaching Leaders
Coaching Leaders
Executive coaching for senior and emerging leaders — building the self-awareness, confidence, and leadership capacity to lead people, culture, and business at every level.
Coaching Teams
Coaching Teams
Team alignment, succession planning, and executive coaching at the organizational level — helping firms build stronger leadership benches and more cohesive teams.
Coaching Teams
Coaching Teams
Team alignment, succession planning, and executive coaching at the organizational level — helping firms build stronger leadership benches and more cohesive teams.
Coaching in Organizations
Coaching in Organizations
Facilitated workshops, team off-sites, keynotes, and advisory support for building high-performance cultures and developing leadership at every level of the organization.
Coaching in Organizations
Coaching in Organizations
Facilitated workshops, team off-sites, keynotes, and advisory support for building high-performance cultures and developing leadership at every level of the organization.
our clients
A coaching approach transforming leaders, teams & performance
“As someone who naturally leans toward perfectionism and high standards, I used to carry that weight heavily. Diana’s coaching helped me reframe this belief by teaching me how to coach and develop my team instead of trying to carry it all. I’ve learned the power of asking the right questions, empowering others, and creating an environment where it’s safe to make mistakes, share them openly, and grow from them.”
Yusley Sosa
Director of Finance & People / Us Construction Corp.
“Throughout my coaching engagement with Diana, I learned to be more intentional and purposeful in every interaction, particularly as I adjusted to leading a new region and much larger design team. By aligning my actions with my personal values and the organization’s goals, I’ve been able to lead with clarity and authenticity. This intentional approach has not only strengthened my relationships but also enhanced my ability to guide the team effectively through complex challenges.”
Eduardo Meza
Managing Director / Coffeehouse Design / Starbucks Corp
“Diana’s professional evolution has brought her Leadership Coaching and Development. Her coaching practice comes from a wealth of experience in architecture and design, leading teams and growing leaders through the complex challenges of running a successful design practice. So when she started her company Design People Leaders, I was the first in line to hire her to coach and develop our office’s emerging leaders along with my partner Christian and I.”
Gigi Alvarez, IIDA, Associate AIA
Founder + CEO / G. Alvarez Studio, Inc.
“Initially we started working with Design People Leaders for 1:1 executive coaching for my small executive team and I. We quickly experienced the value and extended Diana’s coaching to our emerging leaders and then engaged our entire organization. The impact has been transformative for our company culture and performance. I believe any personal, professional or organizational goal that you might have are obtainable through Diana‘s leadership coaching. Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.”
Rafael Reyes
President & Owner / Us Construction Corp.
“Diana’s style of coaching was complex and subtle. She made room for me to come to my own conclusions, gently serving as a truth-telling mirror by reflecting me to myself. This approach allowed me to feel empowered. The learnings I had were mine, and that sense of possession made them more impactful and long-lasting.”
Tola Porter, PhD.
Museum Leader / Lowe Art Museum / University of Miami
“Diana has generously shared the depth of her 30+ years of design and leadership experience with me, and I am forever grateful to have a coach and mentor like her. She guided me in honing and developing my client relationship and interpersonal skills, such as navigating tough conversations, pitching and selling, and making sure that I am always putting the client and their needs at the front and center of decision making. Without her guidance, I do not think I could have risen as quickly in my own career journey.”
Steven Burgos, IIDA, Associate AIA
Principal, Director of Interior Design Miami / HOK
“One of the most valuable lessons I learned from working with Diana was to trust and listen to my inner voice as a leader. Through her coaching and mentorship, I came to understand that effective leadership is not about applying the same approach to everyone—it’s about truly seeing people as individuals, understanding their unique needs, and helping them grow in ways that are meaningful to them.”
Vanessa Rubio, LEED AP
Design Director / New York Studio / Starbucks
“The most meaningful for me from our engagement with Design People Leaders is to experience how much Diana cared for our team and her genuine desire for our growth and success. She took a group of managers who were used to working and performing as individuals and systematically got us to work and perform as a team. What at times felt like measured progress were really paradigm shifts in our company’s DNA. One could feel the change from one session to the next, it was that palpable.”
Eddie Arvesu
Project Executive & Client Relationship Leader / Us Construction Corp.
“Having worked closely with Diana professionally for more than 10 years, I can confidently say that her greatest leadership and coaching superpower is her genuine commitment to people. She has an extraordinary ability to connect with others on a personal level and make them feel seen, valued, and capable of more than they may believe themselves. She didn’t develop leaders because it's part of her role—she developed leaders because she genuinely loves helping people succeed.”
Danielle Elzahr, AIA, LEED AP
Founder & Principal / Architecture & Interiors / Rescale Design Collaborative
“As a Georgetown classmate, coaching colleague and now a Return On Character© practitioner, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Diana and her company, Design People Leaders, over the past two years. Diana brings a deep understanding of the whole-person mindset required in coaching, along with her creativity, leadership experience, and deep human understanding to her clients and practice. She is a ROC(k) star!”
Kelly Kiel Garramone
CEO & Return on Character® Practitioner Converting Research into Practice / KRW International
“Diana’s coaching style is personal and professional. As my coach, she created a secure space to share and explore. Her passion for helping me and others uncover their personal and professional value and her dedication to our success was evident. This experience was impactful and encouraging.”
Jessica Lancaster
Relationship Manager and Programs Director Miami / NCF South Florida
Meet diana
Designing Leaders from
the inside out
Diana Farmer-Gonzalez
Diana Farmer-Gonzalez, FIIDA, Associate AIA, MS Leadership, Certified Executive Leadership Coach, is the Founder of Design People Leaders Inc., a leadership coaching and development consultancy dedicated to helping leaders, professionals, and partners across the architecture, design, manufacturing and construction industries to build cultures of excellence, accountability, engagement, retention, joy, through whole-person- human-centric leadership. Diana brings more than 40 years of experience in architecture, interior design, design team leadership, and design business leadership. As an inductee of the IIDA College of Fellows and a long-standing Associate AIA member and contributor, Diana brings both deep industry credibility and lived executive leadership experience to her coaching work. She is certified as an Executive Leadership Coach through Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership, holds a Master of Science in Leadership from the University of Miami Herbert Business School, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Interior Architecture from Florida International University.
Diana Farmer-Gonzalez
Diana Farmer-Gonzalez, FIIDA, Associate AIA, MS Leadership, Certified Executive Leadership Coach, is the Founder of Design People Leaders Inc., a leadership coaching and development consultancy dedicated to helping leaders, professionals, and partners across the architecture, design, manufacturing and construction industries to build cultures of excellence, accountability, engagement, retention, joy, through whole-person- human-centric leadership. Diana brings more than 40 years of experience in architecture, interior design, design team leadership, and design business leadership. As an inductee of the IIDA College of Fellows and a long-standing Associate AIA member and contributor, Diana brings both deep industry credibility and lived executive leadership experience to her coaching work. She is certified as an Executive Leadership Coach through Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership, holds a Master of Science in Leadership from the University of Miami Herbert Business School, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Interior Architecture from Florida International University.
Diana Farmer-Gonzalez
Diana Farmer-Gonzalez, FIIDA, Associate AIA, MS Leadership, Certified Executive Leadership Coach, is the Founder of Design People Leaders Inc., a leadership coaching and development consultancy dedicated to helping leaders, professionals, and partners across the architecture, design, manufacturing and construction industries to build cultures of excellence, accountability, engagement, retention, joy, through whole-person- human-centric leadership. Diana brings more than 40 years of experience in architecture, interior design, design team leadership, and design business leadership. As an inductee of the IIDA College of Fellows and a long-standing Associate AIA member and contributor, Diana brings both deep industry credibility and lived executive leadership experience to her coaching work. She is certified as an Executive Leadership Coach through Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership, holds a Master of Science in Leadership from the University of Miami Herbert Business School, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Interior Architecture from Florida International University.
Proffesional & academic organizations
Communities of Leadership
The American Institute of Architects
IIDA
Georgetown University
University of Miami
Florida International University
International Coaching Federation
Let’s schedule a leadership conversation.
Whether you are looking for leadership coaching, team workshops, manager training, or support aligning your design organization, we would love to hear from you.