Age: 37
Occupation: CEO and co-founder, Monark
When Kelsey Hahn worked up the nerve to ask organizational psychologist Adam Grant for a photo at a conference back in 2016, she was starstruck. Seven years later, the public figure was citing her research in the New York Times.
In 2020, Hahn co-founded Monark, betting that AI could do what traditional leadership consulting couldn’t: make executive coaching accessible beyond the C-suite. It worked.
The AI-powered platform has raised more than $5 million, grown from zero to seven-figure revenue in four years, and now serves more than 60 clients across industries from aviation to energy. It offers leadership training and development programs, coaching, organizational assessments and more.
Last year, research firm Gartner recognized Monark alongside other AI-enabled leadership intelligence players who’ve raised over half a billion dollars.
None of it came easy. Pitching to roughly 150 investors, Hahn heard “no” from all but three. She’s also been called “uncoachable,” a word she thinks wouldn’t be used for a man with the same assertiveness and strong will.
“Life only gets harder… your ability to bounce back, pivot, adjust — especially as an entrepreneur — that’s what defines companies that can be around for the long term,” says Hahn.
One investor’s willingness to look past the “uncoachable” label stuck with her. He had three daughters who played hockey, and in Hahn, he recognized the qualities he hoped for in them.
It was, she says, the moment someone saw past the bias that assertive, strong-willed women are difficult to work with, rather than an asset, and it changed the trajectory of her company. Today, Hahn, a former college hockey player, heads up her daughters’ hockey team, crediting sport for the resilience that got Monark through its leanest years.
“I don’t think I would be who I am without playing sports,” she says.
Top 40 Under 40 2026
Devin Fisher and Gabrielle Leakey