Today we’d like to introduce you to Michaun Elise Winborn.
Hi Michaun Elise, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Honestly, my journey has been anything but linear and that’s the beauty of it. I’ve worked in retail management, property management, and financial services, leading teams as small as two and as large as twenty-one. Along the way, I realized how challenging it is to be a manager and how much harder it is to actually lead with intention, especially across difference.
I spent over a decade at JPMorgan Chase, and the last five of those years in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) space. That work gave me a front-row seat to the complexities of culture inside corporate America, and to the quiet tension leaders face when their values don’t quite match their behavior. I was helping executives navigate identity, power, race, and inclusion every day.
When my role was eliminated in May 2025, I didn’t hesitate. The very next day, I filed Born2Win Coaching as an LLC. It felt less like a risk and more like a release. I’d been doing this work internally for years — now it was time to bring it to a wider audience.
Born2Win Coaching was born out of a simple but deep belief: leadership should be human, courageous, and culturally fluent. I coach executives, design inclusive leadership programs, and create the kind of growth spaces I wish I had when I was young and navigating my own leadership path. This isn’t just DEI training this is deep culture repair.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not even close. When you start a business, especially as a solopreneur, there’s this pressure to be everywhere. Networking events, webinars, strategy calls, virtual coffees, social media… When you promise yourself time freedom as an entrepreneur, this is directly contrary.
One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn is how to filter the noise and trust my own voice. Just because someone says something worked for them doesn’t mean it aligns with your purpose and that took me a while to understand. There was also the emotional piece of grieving the corporate identity I had built for over a decade. I had to let that version of me go to fully step into the one I was becoming.
I’m about six months in now, and things are clicking. My vision is sharp, my offerings are solid, and I know what kind of impact I’m here to make. That clarity didn’t come easy, but it’s been worth every bit of the work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Born2Win Coaching partners with corporate and nonprofit organizations to transform leadership — not just with theory, but with real, practical behavior change. I work with executive teams, people leaders, and HR partners who are ready to move beyond the checkbox version of DEI and into something more honest, accountable, and sustainable.
I specialize in what I call “culture repair.” That means coaching leaders to build trust, hold complexity, and lead with both head and heart especially when things get messy. I’m proud of the frameworks I’ve built, like the WIN Method™ (Wake, Interrupt, Navigate) and the CDR Framework™ (Curiosity, Data, Relationships). These aren’t just acronyms, they’re tools that help people move from discomfort to clarity.
What sets me apart? I don’t code-switch my values. I speak truth to power, with care. I know the inner workings of corporate systems because I’ve lived inside them. And I help leaders shift from performative to transformative.
At the heart of it, Born2Win is about restoring leadership to something human again. That’s what I want readers to know: we don’t need perfect leaders. We need brave ones.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me, success is all about impact. If someone leaves one of my workshops and tells me, “That really made me think,” or “I’ve never had space to talk about this like that before,” – that’s success. That’s change starting to take root.
Of course, I also have practical goals. Replacing my corporate salary would be a huge milestone, not just financially, but as a signal to myself and my family that this path is viable, sustainable, and deeply worth it.
But ultimately, if I’m helping people lead better, with more courage, more cultural awareness, and more integrity then I’m already winning.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.born2win.co
- Instagram: @Born2Win.Coaching
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/MichaunWinborn
- Youtube: @Born2WinCoaching
- Other: linkedin.com/company/Born2WinCoaching
