Susan Shallcross, MA, MBA
Susan brings over 20 years of high-level corporate and executive experience to the Whole Professional Institute, offering a sophisticated blend of business strategy and deep psychological expertise to Charlotte’s legal, financial, and medical elite. Having spent decades navigating the fast-paced world of Washington politics and the Big Law, Susan intimately understands the compounding pressures, velocity anxiety, and extreme stressors that define high-stakes professional environments.
Recognizing that executive performance is inextricably linked to psychological stamina, Susan founded Whole Professional to pioneer a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to sustainable leadership. Her methodology treats the "whole professional"—integrating executive presence and problem-solving skills with emotional awareness, personal identity, and adaptive coping mechanisms to build unshakeable professional resilience.
Susan holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northwestern University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her advanced clinical training serves as a profound differentiator in the executive coaching space. As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) and EMDR-trained clinician, Susan possesses a rare, highly specialized capability to help corporate leaders identify and resolve deep-seated barriers—ranging from chronic burnout and high-functioning anxiety to acute situational stressors ("big T" and "little t" variables) that quietly degrade leadership capacity and interpersonal relationships.
Her clinical foundation includes serving as a lead clinician at the pioneering Kolmac Intensive Outpatient Services, where she engineered company-wide Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention programs and customized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) architectures for high-pressure professionals managing addictive behaviors and maladaptive stress responses. Furthermore, Susan is a Certified Mindfulness Teacher (Professional Level) through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, having completed a rigorous 300-hour, trauma-informed program with the Engaged Mindfulness Institute.
Bridging the gap between clinical excellence and rigorous corporate operations, Susan holds an MBA from the University of Maryland, graduating magna cum laude, alongside a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida with a double major in English and History and a minor in Political Science.
By combining psychological training with sharp business acumen, Susan provides her clients with an absolute circle of psychological safety, operational clarity, and the structural tools required to sustain elite performance without sacrificing personal well-being.