Whitney Kinne
ACTIVATOR - BELIEF - FUTURISTIC - MAXIMIZER - CONNECTEDNESS
Hey, there. Do you have a moment for a story? I want to tell you about one of my earliest childhood memories with my dad.
I remember walking up to the counter of the Dairy Queen in my hometown on a hot summer day. My dad looked down at me with a smile and simply said “show some leadership!” He surely anticipated my need for his support as he pushed me to order my own ice cream treat that day. Little did either of us know at the time how those three words repeated over and over throughout my life from a loving coach would take root to bring purpose to my future work as a career and leadership coach.
Here I am decades later coaching clients to career and leadership success of their own. And to be honest, I'm still making every effort to enjoy my share of ice cream treats in between!
What started as a childhood watching my dad teach agriculture and my mom work for Extension, led to my own experiences and friendships built through 4-H and FFA. I was naturally conditioned toward a career path of connecting with and helping the people around me.
My goal in my professional and personal life is to help others lead and serve well. If you're familiar with strengths-based development, it will mean something when I tell you I am a natural maximizer. I am at my best when I can use my time and energy to help people, projects and teams move from good to great.
My coaching expertise comes from 10+ years of teaching and leading professionals to success in their own career and leadership goals. I worked as the Assistant Director of Career Services for the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources serving more than 2,000 undergraduate students with career development resources and training.
Career coaching
While working at Mizzou I gained extensive insight to employer needs. I leverage this to support established professionals in reaching their career goals. I coach clients through professional transitions, self-discovery, and more. I have a heart for professionals aspiring to live authentic lives tailored to their unique gifts and passions. My clients get my expertise, along with my empathy and encouragement through the career search process. I know what it is like to be out of harmony between personal and professional endeavors, so I support clients in walking toward harmony in their goals.
Leadership development
One of my favorite projects was facilitating courses, developing educational materials, presenting training sessions, and providing career coaching in one-on-one and group settings. Because Mizzou has a long-standing tradition as a Strengths-based campus, I have experience facilitating group and individual growth using the CliftonStrengths assessment. In my own business, I've now consulted and facilitated team development programming for a wide range of audiences, including non-profit organizations, for-profit business teams and K-12 school districts teaching staff.
What else should you know about me?
I am a communicator by both training and trade. After graduating from the University of Missouri with a degree in Agricultural Journalism in 2010, I took on my "dream job" as the Director of Consumer Outreach for the Missouri Beef Industry Council. In this role I leveraged relationships with key industry stakeholders, and managed education and marketing programs. The two biggest lessons I learned in this job are monumental to the coaching I do now:
- There is no such thing as a dream job, because work always has ups and downs. We can certainly find the details that make a job the right fit, but let's not ever get caught up thinking there is such a thing as a perfect, DREAM job!
- We are more than we accomplish. Working to prove yourself is a hard and exhausting battle. Our lives are multi-dimensional and the work we do certainly matters, but it is not ALL that matters.
My heart for others extends around the globe. Since 2013 I have volunteered with a ministry serving vulnerable and orphaned children in eSwatini, Africa (formerly Swaziland). She works with mission team development and leads fundraising projects to help the community thrive.
I just moved into my childhood home outside of Clinton, Missouri with my husband Shane and our two kids, Charleston and Hunter. I am cherishing the memories we are making as a family, and enjoying the walk down memory lane from decades past in this old house. I am guilty of reserving more library books than I can read, and I am quick to play an audiobook or a podcast when I get one of those rare, quiet moments to myself.
Interested in working together? Here are some ideas to get those ideas flowing! I hope you'll reach out and let me know what needs and goals you have personally, or for your organization!
Here's where you can reach me:
[email protected]
573-864-6868
