For international professionals in tech, biotech, and pharma.

Feel like you belong in the room.

Communicate your ideas with greater clarity, confidence, and authority—especially in the meetings where your voice matters most.

For professionals who stay quiet when they have something important to say, or who speak and still are not fully heard.

  • Bring one meeting, conversation, or workplace situation that did not go the way you planned.
  • Identify what may be getting in the way. Not your accent. Not your grammar. The issue may be how your message is framed, delivered, or interpreted in the U.S. workplace.
  • Leave with a written strategy you can put to work this week.
Marina Lee, JD
Marina Lee, J.D.Founder & AdvisorBusiness attorney and communication advisor with deep experience in negotiation, workplace communication, and professional strategy.
“I have seen highly capable professionals struggle not because they lack expertise, but because their ideas are not always heard, understood, or valued as intended in the U.S. workplace. That can change.”— Marina
Start here

Find Your Gap Session

$14945 minutes. Zoom or in Holly Springs, NC. Comes off any program you join within 14 days.
Step 1 of 2. Takes about a minute.

You pay when you book. Everything you share is confidential.

Attorney-led advisory approach
Private, one-on-one work — never a group program
Confidentiality built into the engagement
In-person or Zoom
Is this you?

You know the answer. The words come out wrong, or not at all.

These are the things clients say in their first session.

"My manager said I need to be more visible."

You do strong work. Nobody sees it, because you do not talk about it the way U.S. managers expect.

"I think faster than I speak. People stop listening."

You give the details first. By the time you reach the point, they have moved on.

"Someone asks a hard question and I go blank."

You know the answer. You need a way to take two seconds, think, and answer with confidence.

"Someone with less experience got the promotion."

It was not your accent. It was how they described their work, and how you described yours.

Programs

Private communication advisory, built around your real work

One promotion in tech, biotech, or pharma is worth $15,000 to $30,000 a year. Every year after that, too.

Most clients choose this Ready for the next role

Get Promoted

$3,50010 sessions over 4 months
  • Move up where you are, or move to a better company
  • Built on your real presentations, reports, and reviews
  • A 15-minute call each week for urgent moments
Becoming a manager

Become a Leader

$5,50015 sessions over 8 months
  • For new managers and senior roles
  • Leading meetings, hard conversations, negotiation
  • Up to 2 hours of support each week
You have a date coming

One Big Meeting

$7503 sessions in 2 weeks
  • One presentation, review, or interview with a date
  • Build it, practice it, fix it
  • Email support in between

Every program ends with a written progress report you can share with your manager. Payment plans available at the same total.

Where everyone starts

Find Your Gap Session. 45 minutes. $149.

One real meeting, taken apart with Marina. You leave with a written plan. The $149 comes off any program you join within 14 days.

Book my session

Most clients have their company pay.

Tech, biotech, and pharma companies set money aside for training. We give you the invoice, the W-9, and a one-page note for your manager. It usually takes one email.

What your company gets
The Gap Method

You already speak English. This is how U.S. leaders expect to hear it.

No grammar lessons. No accent work. Four steps, using your real meetings, your real emails, and your real manager.

Bring

One meeting that did not go the way you planned. A presentation, a review, a question you could not answer.

Find

Marina shows you the exact moment people stopped listening, and why.

Say

You practice the new version out loud, right there, until it sounds like you.

Plan

A short written plan. What to say, when to say it, and what to work on next.

Marina Lee, J.D., at the table in her Holly Springs office
How the work happens

You talk. She listens for the turn.

Sessions are conversation, not lecture. You say the thing out loud, the way you would say it at work. Marina hears where the message stops landing, and you rebuild it together on the spot.

What you walk out with

One page. Your gap, your fix, your next step.

Marina writes it during the session. You get it by email the same day. Most clients read it again before their next meeting.

Example
Your Gap Plan
Sample plan. Names and details changed.
The meeting
Sprint review with the VP. You gave six minutes of detail. She cut you off at minute two.
Your gap
You start with how. U.S. leaders want the answer first, then the reason.
Say this instead
"We can ship by May 3. Two risks. Here is how we handle each." Then stop. Let her ask.
Practice this week
Open your next three updates with one sentence that has a date or a number in it.
Clients in Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill

Engineers who found their gap

"I came unsure if my difficulty with English was real or if other gaps were stopping my progress. From the first session, my gaps were identified and a clear plan was created. I have already recommended this coaching to many colleagues."
Francimario BezerraAutomation Engineer, Raleigh
"I learned that my consulting and academic background is not a gap to minimize or over-explain. It is a strength I can lead with. I now feel better equipped to advocate for myself in negotiations and leadership conversations."
Yi WangSustainability Engineer, Raleigh
"She provides materials ahead of time, writes a summary after every conversation, and follows up to make sure the process moves along. With her familiarity with Asian culture, the conversation is always right to the target."
Simone QuSoftware Engineer, Cary
Marina Lee, J.D.
Founder

Marina Lee, JD

A business attorney and communication advisor. Ten years inside the Triangle's international community, working with skilled professionals whose ideas were not landing the way they intended.

She is not an English teacher. She works on how your message is framed, delivered, and understood: what to lead with, what to cut, and the two sentences that change how a meeting lands.

Why an attorney?

Marina brings a business attorney’s training to workplace communication: how to frame an argument, negotiate, and say the consequential thing clearly. That is a different discipline from language teaching.

20 yrspracticing U.S. business law
10 yrsadvising international professionals
Top 7%of her law school class
Dukecertificate in business writing

This is for you if

  • You work in tech, biotech, pharma, engineering, or research
  • English is your second language and you already speak it well
  • You are good at your job, and your title does not show it yet
  • You are willing to practice out loud and bring real work

This is not for you if

  • You need beginner English lessons
  • You want accent reduction
  • You want a script but do not want to change how you act in meetings
  • You do not work in a U.S. company
The office building at 300 S Main St, Holly Springs, NC
Where we meet

300 S Main St, Suite 212, Holly Springs

A quiet private office, 25 minutes from Raleigh and Cary. Or Zoom from anywhere in the U.S., with the same attention. Most Triangle clients do a mix.

Questions

Before you book

What happens after I send the form?

You get a text and an email with a booking link. Pick a time and pay the $149. Then think of one real meeting, email, or conversation you want to go over.

Is this English class?

No. You already speak English. This is about how U.S. managers and executives expect to hear ideas: what comes first, how short, how direct, and when to speak up.

What if I do not join a program after the session?

Then you paid $149 for a written plan and a clear answer. That is fair. Most people leave knowing exactly what to do next, and many do it on their own.

How does my company pay?

Ask your manager or HR if there is a professional development budget. Most companies have one. We send you the invoice, a W-9, and a one-page note about the program. You forward it. Many clients get the whole program covered. Here is what your company gets.

Is it confidential?

Yes. Marina is an attorney. Confidentiality is part of her professional training. Nothing you share goes to your company, even when they pay. They receive a progress report on skills, not on what you said.

Zoom or in person?

Either. The office is at 300 S Main St, Suite 212, Holly Springs, NC. Most clients in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, and Chapel Hill do a mix.

Do you help with interviews and raises?

Yes. Interviews, raise conversations, performance reviews, and presentations to leadership are the most common reasons people book.

One meeting. One gap. One plan.

45 minutes with Marina. $149, and it comes off any program. She works with ten clients at a time, one-on-one only. When the ten spots are full, you wait. Stop being the smartest quiet person in the room.

Find My Gap Call 919-939-7383