Call me the change lady…..I have been way ahead of the curve on this one. The prediction is that current college grads will have at least 6 different careers – several of them that don’t even exist today! To date, I’ve had 9 careers across 6 companies – in addition to starting 3 companies. My longest length of employment was with RR Donnelley – where in 13 years I had 11 different roles – ranging from HR leader to manufacturing supervisor. I envision working for another 15 to 20 years – so the final count is yet to be seen.
Some of my career transitions were well planned, beautifully executed and smashing successes. Far too many, especially early, came with plenty of angst, drama and very rough landings. As I look back, each one was a step along a journey – both in skills but also in the grace and ease in which the transition occurred.
Work and careers are not the only place in which I’ve learned to navigate change successfully. My husband and I lost all we had (and we didn’t have all that much) in a fire 10 months into our marriage. We’ve dealt with flooding, a direct hit to our house from a tornado, and being a hair’s width away from personal bankruptcy. We’ve moved multiple times and have worked through my husband’s downsizing from a 20 year career, a subsequent move into entrepreneurship, two successful business launches and one colossal failure. And lived through it! No – actually it is better described as living and learning and growing through it. My life has never been better than it is right now. K. Taylor & Associates is the penultimate role for me – an indication that perhaps I have learned much about transition and landing well.
I’ve always been an avid learner, explorer and synthesizer – and overarching passions have included wanting to help myself and others realize more and more of their potential, finding ways to improve myself and the world around me and an unfailing belief that things can get better. I love business and working with leaders and the opportunity to help improve their leadership skills and then the organization as a result. I love to simplify complexity – finding the inner concept that crystallizes things and makes the path perfectly clear. I am passionate about learning – through exploration, reading, doing and reflecting.
It’s my heart’s desire that I share what I’ve learned about personal growth, change, and transformation to help others move through today’s challenging environment well – with purpose, intention, grace and ease. I want to help others learn what I have – without painful years of trial and error. If I can make the journey lighter and easier and at the same time make the destination point richer and fuller – then I will have succeeded. If I can help leaders learn how to lead in today’s turbulent environment and as a result, create much better outcomes for themselves and the organizations they lead, I will have fulfilled my life’s mission.