USCMA Connect

Zeena Hicks is a positive psychologist, executive coach, and doctoral researcher whose work explores how people build inner psychological capacity when pressure doesn’t let up. Known by many of her clients as The Positivity Doctor, Zeena bridges rigorous science with lived experience, translating positive psychology, neuroscience, and coaching psychology into grounded, self-directed practices. Her current doctoral research  at Oxford Brookes, UK, examines how positive self-coaching, particularly when supported by peer connection, can create powerful ripple effects across families, workplaces, and wider systems. 
This conversation explores what psychological sustainability really means for coaches, leaders, educators, and parents operating under chronic demand. We also explore the realities for parents of neurodivergent children and how positive psychology, according to Zeena helped her  ‘survive some dark moments as a parent’

Oscar Trimboli is an executive coach, author, speaker, and creator of the Deep Listening podcast and framework. With a career spanning senior leadership roles at global tech companies such as Microsoft and Vodafone, Oscar has dedicated his later career to helping people become deeply attentive and impactful listeners. He is the author of several books including How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication.
His work centers around the transformative power of listening—not just hearing the words, but decoding the unsaid, sensing meaning, and guiding conversations toward deeper insight. His research includes extensive analysis of over 35, 000  of workplace conversations, to understand how people listen.

Tracy is a renowned Master Certified Coach, International Speaker, Mentor, Facilitator and Author, and has been at the forefront of the coaching field since 2001. She has worked with leaders in for-profit and non-profit organisations in fields from healthcare, finance, aged care, government, academia, technology, construction, retail, travel and hospitality. 
She has also worked in Parenting based coaching and specialises in Gold Mind play having written and spoken in this specialised topic.
Tracy also supports the development of individual coaches through mentoring and supervision, to develop competence, capability and capacity.Tracy provides leadership to the coaching community through her contribution to the International Coaching Federation Australasia (ICFA) and ICF Global Communities, and previously to the Asia Pacific Alliance of Coaches.

Dr. Laura Hefer is a researcher, consultant, and speaker whose PhD from the University of Sydney Business School focuses on the organisational use of AI meeting assistants. Her work uniquely blends information systems, organisational psychology, and identity theory to explore how AI technologies are shaping workplace dynamics.
Originally trained in coaching psychology, Dr. Hefer later became fascinated by how digital tools—especially those that record and summarise meetings—change the way people manage impressions and identities at work. Her PhD investigates not only the technical implementation of AI meeting assistants but also the social and psychological consequences for those who use or are affected by these tools.
She has published papers in top-tier conferences (PACIS and ACIS), exploring the unacknowledged assumptions baked into AI meeting assistant designs and their effects on productivity, fairness, identity construction, and power.

Erin Buttermore is a Hobart-based strategy consultant and executive coach with a rich 20+ year career spanning export trade, climate change, tourism, education, international relations, and skilled migration. She’s held senior roles across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Erin is particularly passionate about leadership, organisational behaviour, decision-making, and behavioural economics.
She holds a Master of Science in Coaching Psychology from the University of Sydney, an MBA in Policy Management, and other business qualifications. Her coaching integrates cutting-edge research, practical leadership experience, and mindfulness (she’s also a certified vinyasa yoga teacher).
Erin is currently pursuing PhD research with Dr. Gordon Spence exploring how perceived organisational support and psychological capital relate to the impostor phenomenon—a topic she has both personally experienced and deeply studied. Her work challenges the notion that impostorism is an individual flaw, instead framing it as a systemic, organisational issue that demands more nuanced and evidence-based coaching interventions.