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ABOUT
Hi. I'm Kristi.
Let me tell you how I got here.
I help leaders navigate change so they feel energized to move forward — without having it all figured out.
That sentence took me a long time to write, mostly because I had to actually live it first. So before I tell you what I do, let me tell you a few things about who I am — in the hopes that by the end of this page, you'll feel like you know me a little.
The brief version
I'm a leadership advisor, keynote speaker, and coach with 25+ years in manufacturing and distribution — including a decade as VP of Sales leading teams through high-volume change, restructuring, an acquisition and the kind of cultural friction that derails most companies.
I'm the creator of the SPARK Method™, a leadership framework built from actually leading through change — not studying it from the outside.
I'm currently writing my first book, Teaching Myself to Jump, which traces the long, winding path from a college dropout in Pittsburgh to a corporate VP — and everything that path taught me about trusting myself again.
I'm an operator first. Everything I teach, I've actually done — in the room, under pressure, with real consequences attached.
Outside of work, I'm a gardener, a traveler, and someone who believes a good glass of wine and an even better view solves at least 60% of life's problems. I live in the Seattle area with my husband, who ranks his priorities as golf, Xbox, and relaxing at home — in that order.
Most weekends you'll find me in the garden, building my own version of a European courtyard at home while I dream up the next trip — and the next retreat — to Spain, France, or Italy.
How I actually got here
(Only for the very curious, or anyone who's ever felt like they didn't have a plan either.)
If you're wondering how someone goes from a community college dropout working two jobs in Pittsburgh to a corporate VP advising companies on transformation — here's the honest version.
TURNING POINT ONE
I left with two suitcases
and no plan.
I grew up in Monroeville, a suburb east of Pittsburgh. After dropping out of college, I found myself restless, broke, and quietly certain that the life that was expected — college, marriage, the station wagon — didn't fit me anymore. I worked retail. I worked at a ski shop. I rode the bus everywhere because I didn't have a car.
One weekend, wandering through a bookstore, I found two books — a summer jobs guide and a cost-of-living index. That was it. That was the whole plan. I applied to a couple of jobs out west, and when a resort in Stanley, Idaho called — population 71 — I packed two suitcases and got on a plane.
"I didn't have a plan. I had a pull. And I've been following it ever since."
That first jump led to a string of others — Big Sky, Sun Valley, a sales assistant role in Boise that turned into an actual career, then Portland, then Seattle. I just kept saying yes. No degree. No roadmap. Just a willingness to find out what was next.
TURNING POINT TWO
The promotion that wasn't —
and what I did instead.
Over the next two decades I built a real career — working my way up to VP of Sales, leading teams through constant change (and the fatigue that comes with it), restructuring and then an acquisition, becoming the person the organization relied upon when things weren't going according to plan.
And then, a few years ago, I was quietly demoted. Not loudly — there was no announcement, no hard conversation. My responsibilities were just... condensed. My title stayed the same. Nobody acknowledged what had happened. It was one of the harder professional moments of my life, and I had to carry it privately while continuing to show up for a team that still believed in me.
Instead of waiting for someone to fix it, I stopped waiting. I enrolled in a coaching program. I joined a speaking workshop. I started building something of my own, on my own terms, while still doing my job well.
"I didn't need a title to lead. I needed to show up with purpose."
WHERE IT CLICKED
A talk in Valencia
that wasn't really about Valencia.
I gave a keynote about leading organizational change. At the time, it just felt like another talk. It wasn't until later — doing the deeper work of building this platform — that I looked back and saw it clearly.
Every external change I had ever led — teams, strategies, restructurings — had been matched by a change happening on the inside. Leading change wasn't just something I did. It was the foundation of who I had become.
That's the moment my actual expertise came into focus. Not sales. Not operations. The thing underneath all of it: helping leaders navigate change from the inside out.
Growth happens in movement.
MOVE. LEARN. GROW.