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492: The Art of Improvisation Meets Coaching with Ricci Victorio, MCC
13th May 2026 • STaR Coach Show • Meg Rentschler
00:00:00 00:46:16

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In this lively and inspiring episode, you’ll hear our guest’s remarkable journey from the theater stage to the executive boardroom. Her career has been a winding path of rich, creative experiences, culminating in three decades of improvisation training that has become the unexpected backbone of her coaching philosophy. You’ll learn why the rules of improv are the rules of great coaching and what it means to say “yes, and” to every dimension of yourself. Join us!

Ricci Mann Victorio is a Master Certified Coach and the president and co-founder of Victorio Counseling. She has spent more than three decades guiding leaders, entrepreneurs, and family businesses through complex transitions of leadership and life. Her work focuses on helping individuals navigate change and discover new possibilities, an insight that deeply informs the transformational themes at the heart of her fiction. Before executive coaching, Ricci worked as an improvisational comedian, director, and creative facilitator. She has written “The Guardian of the Faewild,” a philosophical fantasy series that explores transformation, courage, and the unexpected paths of becoming. When she’s not writing, Ricci continues her work as a leadership and succession coach while enjoying her wildly creative family and two young grandkids.

Show Highlights:

  • Ricci’s unconventional career journey: aspiring clown, actor, director, writer, choreographer, and transformation coach
  • Learning to coach organically—before she even became a coach
  • Ricci’s story of finding her tribe in an intensely emotional experience
  • “How can leaning into improvisation affect how I show up as a coach?”
  • A perfect alignment of improvisation skills and coaching techniques: being present, being comfortable with not knowing, learning to integrate and give back, learning to respond and be with, and using “yes, and.”
  • The five golden rules of improv (AND core coaching skills):
  • Use the “yes, and” approach.
  • Start in the middle.
  • Don’t ask questions.
  • Do—don’t tell.
  • Stay in the moment.
  • Using “Yes, and” in team and business settings
  • Understanding that leading with improv isn’t easy, it takes training and skilled practice.
  • Key takeaways from Ricci: “It’s easy to feel that we only get to choose one aspect of ourselves, but what makes us unique is the ‘all-of-ness’ of ourselves. Be all of you. Say YES.”

Resources:

Connect with Ricci Victorio

Coaching Website, Book Website, Facebook (Coaching), and Facebook (Books)

Connect with Meg

Explore the STaR Coach Show Mentor Program. We are enrolling NOW for this summer!

Subscribe to the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel!

Explore over 480 past episodes and other helpful resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com.

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