Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Clark.
Hi Kristin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Have you ever been fired from a job and smiled the whole way home after? That was me.
Let me back up a little. I love working, ever since my first job scooping ice cream at 14, I was enamored with work. It was much more fun for me than learning in school.
After college, I had the good fortune to be hired into a marketing role and loved every minute of it. That is until I got my coveted role as a Vice President. Things changed and I found myself hating to go to work every day and I didn’t know why.
During the time I was out of work I met a lady that introduced me to the CliftonStrengths program and it all clicked. The reason I was so unhappy with my work as a VP is that I tried to be something I’m not. I decided that I needed to be this great strategic thinker. Guess what, I’m not and it was not what brought me to the party.
People did not promote me and hire me for my great strategic mind. They wanted me in these positions because I am really good at getting groups of people to move forward quickly, efficiently and enjoy working together to solve a problem.
I didn’t realize that was my gift until I was given the language through CliftonStrengths. My report described me so clearly it hit me to my core. At a time when I felt so defeated and unsure of myself, it gave me my confidence back and a new purpose. I just needed to figure out where to aim it.
At that time my boys were starting to plan for college, and I realized there was a huge gap in the college planning process. Our school counselors and college consultants spend a lot of time helping kids get IN to college, but rarely are they helping kids understand who they are as a person, why they want to go to college (or another path), and what they want as an end goal (a career path).
The result is kids are going to college on the ‘Figure it out as you go plan’ and the statistics on this are not great. One that really struck me is that 30% of students that go to college do not return after their freshman year. So now you have a kid that feels defeated AND has $25,000 worth of debt with nothing to show for it.
I knew this was a perfect time in life to introduce kids to the CliftonStrengths program. To show them the gifts, the natural talents they have to share with the world. I developed a signature formula to help students determine a career path and college major (or another path) based on their goals. And I’m having a ball!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The challenge is this concept is a disruptor. I have to educate parents that college planning starts here.
Parents know the steps to take to get their kids into college. Taking the SAT/ACT tests, writing essays, filling out college applications, and visiting colleges. The idea of helping your kiddo learn more about themselves and what they want from a career perspective and how it will help them, in the long run, is not mainstream. It should be.
It’s tough for students to think about who they are and what they want from their life. There are no right answers, no one telling them they did a good job, no one giving them a passing grade. Most times, they just put this off and never really focus on themselves to learn who they are as a person.
Many parents ask if a child can really know what they want to do for a career at 17. My question is, what is the right age to start thinking about this? Is it 18, 20 25, or 45? Why not start now!
As you know, we’re big fans of Kristin Clark Coaching. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We help students gain:
• Confidence to pick the RIGHT college major without feeling overwhelmed
• Learning about their natural talents (CliftonStrengths assessment) and using the info to help on college applications, college essays, internships, and job interviews.
• A process to help pick a career path that will make them happy
We have two programs, a group class called ‘Pick the RIGHT Major’ and one on one coaching.
We focus on determining a career path that will energize your child and make them happy. Picking a major is really easy at that point.
2/3 of students’ state that picking a major is the most overwhelming part of college planning. We give them the formula to make that decision much easier.
Of course, the CliftonStrengths program is the cornerstone of our teaching. We see our students grow two inches when they discover their natural talents. Much like I did as an adult. I love that we can expose them to this incredible knowledge much earlier in their life.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking?
I have no problem jumping into new things and trying them out. One might say I’m not afraid of risk. However, when it comes to bigger decisions my risk tolerance shifts quite a lot.
My best decisions have come from fast action and just going for it without a lot of thought. Sometimes this gets me in trouble and other times it leads me down an amazing path, like starting my business, running a half marathon, and camping out in the mountains for six days with 9 women I did not know. Those are stories for another day!
Had I sat down and put together a business plan and thought through all the things it would take to get launched, I never would have moved forward with it.
I don’t suggest this is the right plan for anyone else by any stretch of the imagination. But because of how I am built, it works for me. I may not take the fastest path to get things done, but I get started and that is 90% of the battle!
Contact Info:
- Email: kristin@kristinclark.com
- Website: www.kristinclark.com/pick-the-right-major
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristinClarkCoaching
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa27onXwtQFUiORNXDmUzGg
