Jackie has spent more than a dozen years as a leader in various roles – one of the youngest President/CEO’s of a local chamber of commerce in Michigan, time as an elected member of a local school board, a board member of a local Rotary club, a trustee of a community college foundation, time on various state-wide boards, and more. Although she has numerous awards and has received recognition in her career, that isn’t what pushes Jackie to do the work of her LLC. She knows this is the work she is meant to be doing because of her passion for it. Her experiences have prepared her to excel at helping others develop their leadership. She has developed a passion for leadership and her desire to spend her life dedicated to creating a world with better leaders.
It isn’t just her career and volunteer leadership experiences that have prepared her for this work. Even though Jackie has a long history of being a positive influence on others, the one person she didn’t have a positive influence on was herself. For many years, while building her successful career, Jackie wasn’t building a successful self. Outwardly, others thought she had it all, but inside she was crumbling. For more than 18 years, starting in college, she battled severe clinical depression and an eating disorder. She started down her personal path of recovery, climbing over many large roadblocks along the way, and discovered that her personal experiences, combined with her leadership work, adds a unique and valuable perspective to her work and has led to many of her keynote speaking engagements.
Scholastically, Jackie holds a Master of Arts Degree in Communication from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from Saginaw Valley State University.
Jackie can be described as an engaging person who cares deeply about seeing other people find happiness in their lives and success in their leadership. She has been known to have humorous (weird) ponderings (that are often shared on social media), and presentations that are best described as authentic and energetic. She often describes herself by saying, “I’m just me.” She prides herself in her creativity and has a desire to maintain a healthy balance of fun and seriousness in her life. Although she views everything as an opportunity to learn, when not directly engaged in building her business, she enjoys traveling, biking, yardwork, reading, beach volleyball, paddle boarding, yoga, working out, hiking, swimming, diving, golfing, boating, skiing, spending time with her family and friends, and volunteering.
Jackie’s Journal
Why I Share
I want to make people cry. Sounds harsh, but sometimes I really do. If I am doing a presentation that includes my personal story about my struggle with an eating disorder and depression, then I
Practice Excellence
Aristotle is credited with the following quote, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Someone who knows I am a quote person read this to me recently.
Listen to Understand
The number of meetings I attend in a week can be substantial. Meetings are one of the many things I wish I would have kept a running total of since my first day in a, "real"
Share Your Experiences
I shared something on my social media accounts that told a very personal story to anyone who bothered to read the post. I finally shared that I have struggled for many years with both an
The Biggest Betrayal of All
Many people recall that when I was running for State Representative, the Michigan Chamber endorsed another one of the candidates in the primary race. I know people remember because I still get asked about it.
Change of Perspective
When I first got involved in the Michigan College Access Network I was given a book. I don’t remember the title but one concept really stands out to me from the book. Regarding running