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About Mori
AUTHOR | EDUCATOR | SPEAKER | ADVISOR
FEATURED CLIENTS:
Whether I'm joining a podcast, sitting down for an interview, or speaking to an audience, the conversation usually begins the same way: “Tell us about yourself.” For years, I found that question surprisingly difficult to answer.
I was supposed to be a doctor. That was my parents' hope, and for a long time it was the only version of a meaningful life I could picture. They had left their country so that I would have opportunities, and medicine was the clearest way I knew to honor that and to help people. So I took biology, organic chemistry, and physics when I wanted to be taking history, economics, and politics, and I sat for the MCAT before I was ready to admit that I didn't want any of it.
Nothing about my career has followed a straight line since. I went into public health, cofounded a health care consulting practice, and served as vice president of corporate diversity at the American Red Cross. Sports has been part of my work for most of my career, and I’ve taught negotiation to students at The Wharton School for more than twenty years. My work has also brought me into classrooms and conversations with athletes, executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders around the world.
Only recently have I come to understand that the range wasn't something I needed to explain away. It was the source of my perspective. Across all of those roles, I learned how differently people communicate, make decisions, respond to conflict, and understand what matters to them. Those experiences continue to influence the way I teach, advise, and navigate the conversations that matter most.
That understanding influences the way I teach. Negotiation isn't something that happens only in boardrooms or across conference tables. It's part of how you make decisions, build relationships, advocate for what matters, and determine the direction of your life. I also teach authenticity and vulnerability as strategic assets, particularly when interests differ and something real is at stake.
People come to this work for different reasons. Some are preparing for a specific conversation: a salary, a contract, a partnership, or something they've been avoiding. Others are leading through change or are frustrated by how often they settle for less than they could ask for.
What they leave with is not a script. It's a clearer sense of what they actually want, a more accurate read of their own leverage, and the willingness to ask for more than feels comfortable.
I never became the doctor my father hoped I would. But what drew me to medicine was never the title. It was wanting to be useful to people at the moments that matter most to them. Thousands of students later, I know that this is what that looks like for me.
