ABOUT
RISING HORSE

Rising Horse is an advisory and coaching practice for leaders and organizations navigating pivotal moments of growth.

Education & Certifications

  • MBA, Harvard Business School

  • BA, Smith College

  • Hogan Assessment Certified Practitioner

  • Center for Executive Coaching ICF Certified

  • Cornell AI Strategy

ABOUT ADA LIEN

“I advise and coach from lived executive experience.”

Ada Lien is a former CEO, strategic advisor, and executive coach who helps leaders and organizations navigate pivotal moments of growth, transformation, and reinvention.

Over a 25-year career spanning The Estée Lauder Companies and LVMH, Ada has led global beauty and luxury brands across North America, Europe, and Asia. She served as Global CEO of Fresh, a LVMH Maison, and previously as Global General Manager of Origins and Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at La Mer, where she led brand transformations, accelerated growth, built high-performing organizations, and managed multi-hundred-million-dollar businesses.

Drawing on this operating experience, Ada combines strategic rigor, commercial expertise, and a deep understanding of human behavior to help organizations accelerate growth, strengthen leadership, and align teams around what matters most. Her experience spans strategy, brand building, innovation, organizational transformation, and commercial execution in complex, global environments.

Today, Ada partners with CEOs, C-suite leaders, founders, investors, and leadership teams to sharpen strategy, navigate complexity, unlock performance, and create lasting business impact.

Areas of Expertise

  • CEO & Executive Leadership

  • Brand Strategy & Growth

  • Consumer & Luxury Industries

  • Organizational Transformation

  • Executive Assessment (Hogan)

  • Executive Coaching

  • AI & Business Transformation

  • Innovation & Commercialization

  • Board & Founder Advisory

Moments of change are where clarity, strength, and opportunity emerge.

THE STORY BEHIND RISING HORSE

Rising Horse draws inspiration from an ancient Chinese parable that reflects the unpredictable nature of progress. What initially appears as disruption often becomes the source of new opportunity – not by accident, but through how leaders respond.

At Rising Horse, we work at moments of transition and inflection – when decisions matter most. We believe growth is not linear, and that strong leadership requires the ability to hold complexity, see multiple perspectives, and move forward with clarity and intention.

The Rising Horse mark reflects balance and perspective – the ability to hold opposing forces in view while moving forward with intention. The horse, both a symbol of momentum and a strategic piece on the chessboard, represents strength through speed, judgment, and foresight.

Together, the name and mark represent a belief at the core of our work: progress comes from navigating complexity with judgment, discipline, and humanity – and making the right moves at the right moments.