Today we’d like to introduce you to Debra Mitchell.
Hi Debra, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started in management consulting almost 20 years ago after graduation from George Mason University with my Masters in Adult Education. That launched my career in consulting. First as an Instructional Designer and Training Facilitator supporting civilian agencies with the federal government. I then moved into a leadership role supporting the Air Force team as a organizational change management lead. And that is when I completely fell in love with organizational change management. Over the course of my career, I have always leaned into my organizational change management training in everything I did as a team lead, as a strategy consultant, as a mentor, and a human because understanding where people are – their challenges, their fears, and their dreams – in order to bring them on their unique journey to get them where we need them to go and where they want to go.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, it has mostly been a smooth road. Some of the struggles I have encountered along the way include:
1. Travel – for most of my career, I travelled 50 to 75% of the time. At first it was great, seeing the country, meeting new people, doing really cool things. But eventually, it became really exhausting. I missed so many events, family gatherings, and time with my husband. He instructed me to stop buying tickets to events because I was never home to attend.
2. Being the only woman – early in my career, I was often the only woman in the room. I was in technology sales at the time and so I had to put up with a lot of nonsense. I learned quickly to have a thick skin otherwise I would have been in tears every day. I would hear things like “You only got that sale because you are a women and you flirt with the clients.” What is so terrible is I have a client today who is a VP at a bank and she hears those comments!
3. Transitioning from DoD consulting to FinTech – this was huge struggle because I had to learn a whole new language, a whole new way to communicate, and find a way to bring value quickly to prove myself.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Debra Mitchell & Company?
Debra Mitchell & Company exists to make change something people actually embrace, not just endure. It’s the home for 20 years of work that used to live under two names. Consulting that guided Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, and government agencies (including the Department of Defense and federal partners) through complex transformations. And a leadership practice that helped rising professionals decode the vague feedback that quietly stalls careers. “You’re not quite ready.” Same person, same belief, now under one roof. The throughline never changed: change only sticks when the humans inside it feel steady enough to move.
What sets us apart is the blend. I pair enterprise-grade methodology (Prosci change management, Lean-Agile, Design Thinking) with mindfulness and the art of leading people through ambiguity. Most firms give you a framework and a timeline.
We give you both, plus the emotional intelligence to make the framework land at every level of an organization. That same care shows up one leader at a time, through the Four C’s method, the cohorts, and the Leadership Compass. Whether it’s an organization or an individual, the work is the same shape.
What I’m proudest of is that the name has come to mean change without collateral damage. Whether we’re integrating platforms for an organization or helping one person finally get promoted, the promise holds. Strategic, people-centered, and genuinely kind. Bringing everything under Debra Mitchell & Company wasn’t a fresh start. It was finally saying out loud what the work always was. I want your readers to know that transformation doesn’t have to feel like something done to you. Done right, it feels like something you were ready for all along.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I moved to the Washington DC area 25 years ago. I thought I would be here a year, or less. I was going through a personal transition. Here I am 25 years later. I love being in this area – being so close to the Capital, the museums, the food, and entertainment. I LOVE the diversity this area offers. And in 30 to 60 minutes, I can be out in the woods hiking with my two goldendoodles and my husband. I cannot imagine living anywhere else!
What I like least about the city is the traffic and the heat and humidity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.debramitchellandcompany.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debmitchell_company/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchelldebra/
