About Laing F. Rikkers
Laing Rikkers is an Executive Coach specializing in Crisis Management and Grief Support. With 30 years of corporate leadership experience, she understands both the high-stakes nature of executive roles and the profound impact of stress and grief on performance.
Her approach integrates emotional intelligence and practical business strategies to help leaders process grief while maintaining focus, clarity, and resilience. With a confidential, structured framework, Laing empowers executives to navigate personal & collective loss without losing their professional edge.
She is Founder and former Chairwoman of ProSomnus, has held management roles at Fortune 100 companies, was a senior partner at a private equity firm, and has served on numerous boards.
Laing lives in Southern California with her husband, two children & dog. In addition to spending time with them, she loves to write, walk, read, listen to podcasts, travel and engage with a wide assortment of people. She appreciates art – painting, sculpture, fashion, jewelry, and architecture – as well as flowers, trees, cloud formations, and beaches.
After reading Julia Cameron's The Artist’s Way in the summer of 2020, Laing started writing a journal every morning, but it was months before it became clear that it would lead to a book. The creative process turned out to be a critical step in processing the sudden loss of her younger sister, Ginna.
Ginna’s unexpected death, combined with the vulnerability Laing felt during the pandemic, brought into focus the need to ensure that her children truly knew her. What started as an exercise in typing up poems and journal entries, became the backbone of Morning Leaves. From there, the book took on a life of its own. Laing has found that one of the greatest gifts of the process has been connecting more closely with like-minded people and feeling their support as she engages more artistically.
Laing graduated from Harvard College, received an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and trained as an Executive Coach at Co-Active Training Institute.
In 2016, Laing co-founded ProSomnus and was the company’s Chairwoman. ProSomnus develops and manufactures medical devices for people suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a condition that affects one billion people worldwide.
Tragically, untreated OSA likely contributed to the heart condition that took her sister’s life. So, if you or someone you love has daytime sleepiness or snore, do not ignore it – speak to a doctor. There are effective treatments that can greatly improve quality and length of life. Please see Resources for additional information.
Morning Leaves is Laing's first book, and she is currently working on her second.
Photography by Laura L. Rikkers
Art by Kelly Leahy Radding
