Sharon McDowell-Larsen

For nearly 20 years, Sharon has worked with executives from all parts of the globe to improve their health and fitness. She has worked with numerous clients to design and implement a Fitness for Leadership component in their leadership training courses.

Clients have included SAIC, DOW Chemical, Mars Inc., Women in Cable and Telecommunications, Sodexo, the U.S. Navy, Pfizer, NEXEN and General Motors. Sharon has written and been quoted in numerous articles on executive fitness and leadership stress which have appeared in the Wall Street Journal-Hong Kong, Forbes, the Washington Post, Virgin Active South Africa, The San Diego Union-Tribune, HR Magazine, Human Capital Management, Supply Management, Comites Executifs and the South China Morning Post. She is also a co-author of Managing Leadership Stress, a CCL guidebook.

Sharon came to CCL after having spent three years working with elite U.S. Swimming athletes and the US Olympic Committee’s Sports Science Division. While there, she was involved in research related to athletic performance, and the effect of stress on elite athletes. While with U.S. Swimming she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in exercise physiology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She has also coached athletes at the elite and amateur levels as well as executives to achieve their fitness goals and performance outcomes.

Sharon received a Master’s and Ph.D. in exercise physiology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her graduate research examined the impact of exercise and training on immune function. She was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa, attended high school and college in Canada, Europe and South Africa.

She also lived in Costa Rica where she taught English. She has competed extensively as a triathlete, runner, and, most recently, as a professional mountain biker.