Change Management Coaching for leaders and their teams.
You made the call. We help your people move with it, so the change becomes the way your team works instead of another announcement.
A 20-minute fit call with Catrina · No pitch · Virtual coaching · In-person workshops · Houston metro and beyond
Happy Teams provides change management coaching for leaders at startup and midsize companies in Houston and across the US. Founder Catrina Ballard, M.S.Ed., brings 20+ years in team dynamics to the people side of change, including AI adoption, growth, restructuring and new leadership. Leaders get one-on-one coaching, and their teams get facilitated sessions that turn an announcement into the way the team works.
People rarely resist the new thing. They grieve what's ending.
You can't tell if it's resistance, confusion or a very full plate. (Usually all three, if I'm honest.) Most change plans are built around explaining the new thing, but people push back on losing what they were good at, what they knew and who they were on this team, and usually nobody has said out loud that it's going. Until someone does, the old way keeps quietly winning. That part is learnable, and it's the part we work on.
From stuck to sustained.
Whether we start with one leader or the whole team, the work follows the same path. What we build on it is yours, because no two teams get stuck in the same place. During a change, the path runs in four phases. It draws on the change models your HR team may already know (Prosci's ADKAR and Bridges' Transition Model) and focuses on the part those models hand back to you: the leader in the room, and the people deciding whether to follow.
More about how I work →- 01Uncover.
We start by finding what's in the way (which is rarely the problem on the agenda). I talk one-on-one with the people living the change and read what I hear through three lenses: capacity, clarity and trust. You get a written read of where your team stands, including what's working that the change shouldn't break.
- 02Steady.
Before anything else moves, your leadership team gets clear on the why, on what success looks like and on what's ending, said out loud. Then come the first real conversations with your team, the kind that notice what's happening, name the impact and invite people in instead of announcing at them.
- 03Shift.
One change at a time, owned by the people doing the work. Every move gets an owner, a time frame and a clear "done when," so progress doesn't depend on you holding it all together.
- 04Sustain.
We check in at 30, 60 and 90 days and rerun the team pulse, so you can see what moved instead of guessing. The goal is a team that can carry the next change without starting from zero.
Different changes. The same people side.
AI adoption
In BCG's 2025 survey of about 10,600 employees, 85% of leaders used AI tools regularly, compared with 51% of frontline staff. That gap is rarely about the software. We help managers bring their teams along, and get clear on what stays human.
Growth and scaling
New hires and new layers change how a team works, even when the change is good news. We help you grow without losing what made the team work at 10 people.
Restructuring
A reorg leaves trust gaps an org chart can't show. We help you rebuild clarity quickly and keep the people you can't afford to lose.
New leadership
Whether you're the new leader or your team just got one, the first 90 days set the tone. We help you earn trust without pretending nothing changed.
Start where the change is. Go as deep as it needs.
Change Readiness Huddle
A half-day working session with your leadership team, before or early in a change. We get aligned on the why, what success looks like and the first conversations to have with your team, and you leave with a written plan.
Schedule your joy →Leading Through Change: 90 days
The full Stuck to Sustained path. It starts with the Happy Teams Company Inventory (one-on-one conversations with your team and a written read), then coaching for the leader driving the change, facilitated team sessions, and check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days.
Schedule your joy →Leader coaching through change
One-on-one coaching for the person carrying the change: the hard conversations, the pushback and the decisions nobody else sees.
Composed by Happy Teams™, for the conversations about the change you'd rather not wing. Try Composed free →
Words from people who've worked with Catrina.
Catrina showed up with curiosity and knitted our thoughts together. We discovered shared interests, celebrated unique strengths, and cultivated a sense of purpose in our work.
Growth is a change too. When Mallory Oxendine founded The Brooke Center, she brought in Happy Teams to help her grow the practice well. It went from 1 to 4 clinicians in 16 months and hit its two-year goal a year early. See how one practice owner did it →
The leader in the middle usually gets no one.
Big firms run the program plan. Trainers run a one-day workshop. Software vendors run the onboarding. The leader in the middle, the one who has to make it real on Monday morning, usually gets none of them.
That middle is where I work. I hold an M.S.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Baylor University, I've spent 20+ years in team dynamics, and I serve as President of AMA Houston. What that adds up to is someone who can see what's happening on your team, not just what the change plan says should be happening.
Leading people through change, answered.
What does a change management coach do?
A change management coach helps the leader and the team through the people side of a change: getting aligned, having the hard conversations and making new habits stick. Happy Teams doesn't run your software rollout or redesign your org chart. We help the people affected by those decisions move with them.
Do I need a change management consultant or a coach?
If you need someone to run a large program plan across hundreds of people, you want a change management consulting firm. If the plan exists and the problem is that people aren't moving, coaching for the leader plus facilitated team sessions is usually the faster fix.
How do I get my team on board with AI tools?
Start with why, and with what stays human. Teams resist AI when they don't know what it means for their role, or don't trust how it'll be used. We help leaders have that conversation first, then roll out one change at a time with clear owners.
How do I lead my team through a restructuring without losing good people?
Tell people what's changing, what isn't and why, earlier than feels comfortable. Then talk one-on-one with the people you can't afford to lose. Most good people leave a restructuring because of silence, not because of the change itself.
I'm a new leader inheriting a team. Can coaching help?
Yes. Your first 90 days set the tone. Coaching helps you learn what the team values, earn trust and make your first changes without breaking what already works.
How long does change management coaching take?
Most engagements run about 90 days, with check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days. A Change Readiness Huddle is a single half day.
How much does change management coaching cost?
A Change Readiness Huddle starts at $4,500. The 90-day Leading Through Change engagement starts at $12,000, and leader coaching is $2,100 for six sessions. Your fit call is free.
Do you work with teams outside Houston?
Yes. Coaching and fit calls are virtual, so Happy Teams works with leaders across the US. In-person workshops are available in the Houston metro and beyond.
Let's decide together.
A 20-minute conversation to understand what's changing on your team, and whether any of this makes sense right now.
No pitch · hello@happyteams.net