Olivia Fox Cabane

is one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of charisma. She is the former Director of Innovative Leadership for Stanford University’s startup accelerator, StartX, and now serves as executive coach and keynote speaker for Fortune 500 companies.

She has been featured in media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and lectured on charisma, leadership, and innovation at Harvard, Yale, MIT and the United Nations. 

Olivia’s first book, The Charisma Myth, published by Penguin Random House, went into second printing before it even launched; her books have been translated into 32 languages, including Mongolian.




In her pro bono work as cofounder of KindEarth.tech, she became known for her industry landscapes mapping out food technology’s most innovative companies for climate and environmental sustainability as well as impact investing.

Olivia is fluent in four languages and was the youngest person ever to have been appointed Foreign Trade Advisor to the French government.


B O O K S 



The Charisma Myth

What if charisma could be taught?

For the first time, science and technology have taken charisma apart,  figured it out and turned it into an applied science: In controlled laboratory experiments, researchers could raise or lower people’s level of charisma as if they were turning a dial.

What you’ll find here is practical magic: unique knowledge, drawn from a variety of sciences, revealing what charisma really is and how it works. You’ll get both the insights and the techniques you need to apply this knowledge. The world will become your lab, and every person you meet, a chance to experiment.

Supplemental materials from the book 




The Net and The Butterfly

The Neuroscience of Innovation

Thanks to recent neuroscience discoveries, we can now explain breakthrough moments, but also induce them through a series of specific practices.  

From Achimedes’ iconic moment in the bathtub to designer Adam Cheyer’s idea for Siri, accidental breakthroughs throughout history share a common origin story. In this book, you will learn to master the skills that will transform your brain into a consistent generator of insights.

Drawing on their time on faculty at Stanford University’s startup accelerator, StartX, Cabane and Pollack provide a step-by-step process for accessing the part of the brain that produces breakthroughs and systematically removing internal blocks.

By trying the exercises in this book, readers will emerge with a powerful new capacity for breakthrough thinking.


S E R V I C E S

Executive Coaching & Advisory Services 

Feed your hunger for continuous growth

Each year, Olivia works with a limited number of executives to guide them to breakthroughs in their work and in their lives.

Olivia takes only four clients per year to allow them unlimited access to her. She works on a retainer basis at a rate of $350,000 per person per year.

Her most requested coaching topics are charisma, personal & leadership branding, and public speaking. 

Through her coaching and strategic advisory services, Olivia works on a wide variety of subjects such as:

  • Leadership Development
    • Dealing with big egos, difficult people and difficult conversations
    • The science of persuasion: how to influence without authority
  • Personal Development:
    • Self-confidence, self-esteem, and the impostor syndrome
    • Handling change, navigating uncertainty 




C L I E N T S   I N C L U D E


F E A T U R E D   I N

Olivia Fox Cabane