You Don’t Have to Choose Between Success and Sanity: High-Performance Leadership with Eva Medilek

Women's Journal Staff

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By: Pam Perry

Let’s be real: hustle culture often glorifies burnout like it’s a badge of honor. But what if you could lead effectively without sacrificing your peace, your health, or your relationships?

Meet Eva Medilek, a high-performance executive coach who is helping reshape the leadership playbook—one balanced, fulfilled, and thriving leader at a time.

Eva is the powerhouse behind Optimize You High Performance Coaching, and she’s on a mission to help leaders like you strive for excellence without exhaustion. Her philosophy is simple yet thought-provoking: You may not have to do it all to achieve success.

“Being a high-achiever doesn’t necessarily make you a high-performer,” Eva shares. “I learned that the hard way.”

From Burnout to Balance: Eva’s Journey

Before becoming the high-performance coach executives often seek out worldwide, Eva was navigating a whirlwind life. Picture this: working full-time, launching a real estate business from scratch, taking care of a family, and doing all the things. She was chasing success, but it often came at a cost—her health, her marriage, and her joy.

And then came the pivot.

Eva realized that something had to give. “I needed to change who I was being as I was building,” she says. “Otherwise, I risked losing everything I was working so hard for.”

Fast forward, and Eva is now a certified High-Performance Coach, an award-winning international speaker, and the notable author of The Intimacy of Race. Her coaching programs focus on teaching professionals how to lead powerfully—without burning out or checking their humanity at the office door.

You Don’t Have to Choose Between Success and Sanity: High-Performance Leadership with Eva Medilek

Photo Courtesy: Nikki Incandela Photography

So, What Exactly Does High-Performance Coaching Look Like?

Glad you asked. With Eva, it’s not about working harder—it’s about working smarter and living better.

Her coaching focuses on three major pillars:

High-Performance Leadership Coaching

She helps executives develop clarity, resilience, and habits that can contribute to sustainable success. Not just the corner-office kind—but the peace of mind kind.

Inclusive Communication Training

If you want your team to thrive, people need to feel seen, heard, and respected. Eva teaches leaders how to foster cultures where every voice is valued, which can lead to better collaboration and innovation.

Human Relationship Style Assessment™

This signature tool helps identify hidden barriers that may hold leaders back—so they can break through limits and move closer to their full potential in both their careers and personal lives.

And here’s what sets her apart: she doesn’t coach from theory. She coaches from lived experience.

The Real Talk About Inclusion

Let’s not sugarcoat it—Eva is also doing the work where it matters most: helping build inclusive cultures that aren’t just performative. She’s passionate about helping executives recognize unconscious bias and lead with empathy and intention.

“I remember overhearing doctors refer to me as an ‘intelligent Black female’ during a hospital stay,” Eva recalls. “It struck me—would they have used the word ‘intelligent’ to describe a white patient? Perhaps not always. These subtle biases show up everywhere.”

Eva doesn’t believe in shaming people for not knowing better. Instead, she offers a practical framework for learning and unlearning through conversation. As she puts it, “Conversation is the currency of inclusion.”

Her book, The Intimacy of Race, explores how to move from unconscious racism to active allyship—and it’s a valuable read for any leader serious about walking the talk.

“Creating inclusive environments starts with listening,” she says. “Not to respond or fix, but to understand.”

Why This Matters—Now More Than Ever

If you’re leading in today’s world, you know the pressure is real. Teams are stretched. Expectations are high. Burnout can be lurking. And on top of it all, we’re being called to lead with more empathy, inclusion, and awareness than ever before.

The good news? You don’t have to figure it all out on your own.

Eva’s coaching aims to give executives the tools to not just survive—but thrive. Her clients often report more energy, clarity, confidence, and connection, both at work and at home. Imagine that.

And she walks the talk. As a woman in a multicultural marriage, an entrepreneur, and someone who summers in Europe with her husband (fun fact: they were even featured on HGTV’s House Hunters International!), Eva embodies that you can design a life and career that lights you up.

Want to Lead at a Higher Level—Without Losing Yourself?

If you’re a CEO, leader, or manager who’s tired of choosing between professional success and personal fulfillment, it might be time to talk to Eva. She’s not about adding more to your to-do list—she’s about helping you lead with purpose, power, and presence.