Debra Howard has an eclectic background, beginning with a bachelor's degree in 1981 from Brown University in semiotics (a hard-to-explain major now called modern culture and media). She worked in the film industry in New York City and Boston, and transitioned to the human resource consulting field, where she put her writing, creative, and project management skills to work for an entrepreneurial company developing stand-alone training programs for such clients as AT&T and Polaroid. She found herself supervising six project managers, and was fortunate to have a boss who taught her how to be an exceptional manager. She still uses the lessons she learned from him as she coaches clients today.

Deb moved to a human resource consulting firm in Faneuil Hall and worked with such clients as SNET, Continental Insurance, and New York State. She was mentored by some of the best consultants in the business, who trained her in job competency assessment and behavioral interviewing, skills she uses today to help clients recruit top performers for senior-level positions.

She married a computer engineer and the two of them moved to Vermont, where she was hired by a women's college as its director of public relations and marketing. This gave her valuable inside experience, helping her understand the pressures her clients face and the internal policies and politics that affect them. In 1991, she formed her own firm and has been happily engaged in independent marketing and organizational consulting ever since.

Deb has collaborated with some of the country's top consultants and creative talent over the years, and often invites one or more colleagues to join her on project teams. Her current clients are based in the eastern United States.

When she's not working, she enjoys natural history, landscape photography, backcountry skiing, and hiking.