Emma Brillhart
Leadership coach for engineering managers and senior engineers
| Hourly rate range | $100 to $175 an hour |
|---|---|
| Focus areas | New managersLeadership developmentTransitions and new rolesTech and engineering leadersTeam performanceTech careersPromotions and advancement |
| Works with | Managers and Engineers |
| Also coaches | Career coach and Business coach |
Emma Brillhart is a leadership coach for engineering managers and senior individual contributors. She is a Senior Engineering Manager at Honeycomb, where she leads the App Observability team. Over the past decade she has built and led engineering teams at companies from pre-seed to Series D, including Zapier, MainStreet and Endgame. She has managed through reorgs, layoffs and rapid scaling. She also builds AI tools for her own management work and coaches others on using them.
What Emma helps with
Emma works with engineering leaders in the middle of hard changes, such as a first management role, a reorg or a layoff. She also helps managers use AI in their daily work.
- Moving from individual contributor to engineering manager
- Managing a team through a reorg
- Keeping a team steady during layoffs
- Using AI for meeting prep, team updates and prioritization
- Building AI tooling for planning and inbox processing
- Building management systems that last past the first few weeks
Who Emma works with
Emma works best with engineering managers and senior individual contributors who are in the middle of something hard. Some just moved from IC to manager and find the job different than expected. Some are leading a team through a reorg or layoff. Others are solid managers who want to use AI in their day-to-day work.
Background and qualifications
Emma is a Senior Engineering Manager at Honeycomb, where she leads the App Observability team. Over the past decade she has built and led engineering teams at companies from pre-seed to Series D, including Zapier, MainStreet and Endgame. Before that she spent nearly six years as a software engineer and engineering director at Formidable, now NearForm Commerce. There she shipped projects for clients like Starbucks, Nintendo and 538. She has managed through reorgs, layoffs and rapid scaling, and has built custom AI tools for her own planning and inbox work.
Emma Brillhart pricing
Programs and services
- Free intro call
- Grow into Engineering Management coaching package
- Custom hourly coaching
Emma Brillhart reviews
The CoachVouch take
She is a working engineering manager who has built her own AI tools for planning, inbox processing and meeting prep.
Best for engineering managers and senior engineers going through a role change, reorg or layoff, or wanting to use AI in their management work.
Common questions
How much does Emma Brillhart charge?
Coaching with Emma runs $100 to $175 an hour. Request an intro for an exact quote.
What does Emma Brillhart help with?
Emma Brillhart helps with moving from individual contributor to engineering manager, managing a team through a reorg, keeping a team steady during layoffs and using AI for meeting prep, team updates and prioritization.
Does Emma Brillhart coach on using AI in management?
Yes. She has built custom AI tools for planning and inbox processing and uses AI for meeting prep, team updates and prioritization. It is the topic she is asked about most.
Can Emma help new engineering managers?
Yes. She works with people who just moved from IC to manager and find the role different than they expected.
How do I contact Emma Brillhart?
Request an intro on this page. It's free, and we'll connect you with Emma and, if you want, 2 or 3 similar coaches to compare.
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Last updated September 2026. Request a correction.