Claire Von Cleveland
Writer, Speaker & Consultant
A life fully lived. Now written down.
Two suitcases. One knowing. Everything that came before.
I write about the gap between the world we are shown and the world we actually live in — drawing on 21 years in London, a Fortune 500 career, and a life rebuilt from scratch at 47. Portsmouth to Vancouver. Tokyo to London. Palm Springs by way of everything.
MEMOIR · IN PROGRESS
Two Suitcases and a Knowing
by Claire Von Cleveland
A memoir of survival, reinvention, and the slow, hard work of choosing yourself. From a childhood home that looked fine from the outside, through Fortune 500 boardrooms and a marriage in London, to two suitcases on a plane and a life rebuilt from scratch in Palm Springs.
Redemption is widely celebrated as an idea.
It is narrowly tolerated as a reality.
— FROM THE ESSAY "REDEMPTION IN THEORY, DISCRIMINATION IN PRACTICE"
01
ESSAYS
Long-form essays on power, shame, media, and the gap between what we are told and what is actually true. Published weekly on Substack. Free to read.
02
SPEAKING
Keynotes and panels on systemic exclusion, institutional integrity, redemption, and the mechanics of how we form beliefs. Available for conferences, nonprofits, and corporate events.
03
CONSULTING
Advisory work for nonprofits, foundations, and mission-driven organisations navigating the gap between stated values and lived practice. Drawing on a decade of coaching executives and leadership teams on organisational culture and wellbeing. For leaders ready to close it.
ABOUT CLAIRE VON CLEVELAND
The life behind the writing.
Claire Von Cleveland is a writer, speaker, consultant, and the founder of Frisky Business Cat Café in Palm Springs — the first cat café in the Coachella Valley, recognised with two Certificates of Congressional Recognition for disability employment and inclusion work.
Her background spans modelling in Tokyo and Southeast Asia, a Fortune 500 career as Global Director at American Express in London, and a decade running an independent coaching and consulting practice working with executives and leadership teams across the UK and North America.
She holds certifications from Harvard and the University of California Berkeley in organisational health and the science of happiness at work, and is a Certified Neurodiversity Professional.
Her memoir, Two Suitcases and a Knowing, is in progress.
Latest essays on power, culture & redemption
APRIL 26, 2026
Everything Felt Heavier Than It Should
What happens when you spend a day consuming the worst
parts of the world — and what it reveals about attention, reality, and what we allow to define everything else.
APRIL 23, 2026
Who, Exactly, Is "They"?
When language turns strangers into enemies — and how the efficiency of collective language comes at the cost of encounter, accuracy, and truth.
JANUARY 28, 2026
Shame, and Those Who Guard the Silence
On shame, masculinity, and who is allowed to speak — written from the particular vantage point of someone who has watched this up close, for years.