Meet the Team
I don’t want to help you make your business look like MY business.
I want to help you make your business look like YOUR business.
And I’ve been helping service-based entrepreneurs
create their own business path since 2004.
Hi, I’m Kristen.
I was a business coach before business coaching was cool.
I guess you could say I’m the OG biz coach.
Okay, but seriously.
I started my first 6-figure business straight out of college, and in less than 2 years I was doing it full time and teaching other people how to do the same thing — individually, in groups, and on a national and international basis.
My work and my business success were featured prominently in business books, magazines, and through trainings, workshops, and presentations at regional and national organizations.
It wasn’t because I followed the rule book.
It was because I wrote my own rule book.
And that’s exactly what I help my clients do now as a business coach and mentor for service-based entrepreneurs.
My clients run the gamut from coaches and therapists to writers and designers to medical doctors and consultants to financial professionals and psychics and more.
They may have diverse backgrounds and interests, but they have one thing in common: They think I’m awesome.
Okay, well three things actually.
They think I’m awesome, plus:
- They give a shit about developing actual relationships with their clients, where they collaborate to make the changes that make their clients’ lives better.
- They’re not content to do entrepreneurship like it’s a fucking hostage situation where joy is just for OTHER people not them.
And if that sounds like you, well, it’s about fucking time we met.
Let’s get entrepreneurship feeling as good for YOU as it has for the countless other people I’ve supported.
Hey, Meet Erlinda
Erlinda Japson is my executive assistant and an absolute goddess.
Erlinda joined my team in July 2022 and immediately became my right hand and the other half of my brain. You’ll see her in my inbox and in the Fuck Yeah Entrepreneurs Society (F-YES) community, as well as alllllll over behind the scenes, keeping the lights on and the trains running on time.
From her home near Manila, Philippines, Erlinda works off-hours so she can be fully present with her 3-year-old son during his days — a total win-win-win for all of us! (And can we just mention that her kiddo is ADORABLE? Omg, he’s so cute.)
When she’s not working or momming, Erlinda enjoys reading autobiographies and watching a wide variety of TV series, mostly comedy-drama, crime fiction, and adventure.
Street Cred
Wanna know more?
OKAY FINE, I’ll tell you EVEN MORE about how fucking amazing I am and why you should not wait one more goddamn second to hire me already.
Official Credentials That Are Sexy AF
- Certified Hypnotist, Center for Integrative Hypnosis (2023)
- Certification in Integrative Change Work (including hypnosis), from the Ethical Coaching Collective and International Association of Counselors and Therapists (2023)
- Professional Certified Coach (PCC), The Life Coach School (since 2021)
- Certified Life Coach (CLC), The Life Purpose Institute (since 2020)
- Master of Business Administration (MBA), with a focus on entrepreneurship, from Isenberg School of Management at University of Massachusetts–Amherst (2019)
- Intensive Training in Motivational Interviewing (MI), University of Massachusetts Medical School, Center for Integrated Primary Care (CIPC; since 2019)
- Master of Professional Studies, Publishing, The George Washington University (2007)
- Certified Co-Facilitator, Wellness Recovery Action Plan with Mental Health Recovery, The Copeland Center (since 2011)
Fun Facts
- I live in America’s highest incorporated city, Leadville, CO at 10,200 feet in the high Rockies
- I’ve had dogs that range in size from a 16-lb pug named Steve Buscemi to a 240-lb Neapolitan mastiff named Gruff
- One time I “discovered” an author in the comments of a now-defunct blog and edited the manuscript that snagged her a two-book deal with Bantam/Dell
- Gordon Ramsay kissed me once; he smelled really good
- I’ve performed barefoot on stage at the famous Tabor Opera House
- I’ve taught Zumba at sea level and at 10,200 feet
- I saw NKOTB in the front row TWICE (both times as an adult) and I touched Joey McIntyre both times; he’s just as adorable in person
- I haven’t yelled at my kids for over 2,000 days and counting
- I grew up on a farm
Hot-Shit Badassery
- Presenter/trainer to conferences/organizations including Washington Independent Writers, American Independent Writers, National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, eLearning Guild, Society for Technical Communication, BlogHer, Alternatives, and others
- Finalist, Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest
- Multi-year winner, Top 10 Blogs for Writers
- Quoted in Washington Post
- Facilitated/produced/moderated hundreds of webinars and virtual (hosting 10 to 6,000 people) for commercial and federal clients both as a consultant and through employers
- Featured in How to Start a Home-Based Writing Business
- Featured in The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Commercial Freelancer in 6 Months or Less
- Featured in Creatively Self-Employed: How Writers and Artists Deal with Career Ups and Downs
- Featured in Women on Writing, FreelanceSwitch.com, The Urban Muse, and many, many others
- Published in print and online media and featured on numerous podcasts (see my abridged portfolio)
Shit I’m Really Into
- Taking extraordinarily long bubble baths
- Skiing with my dog (not the pug — the other one)
- Smashing the patriarchy
- Doing yoga
- Singing Disney songs (especially late ’80s/early ’90s Disney)
- Telling pirate jokes
- Making lasagna (seriously, it’s amazing)
- Singing karaoke
Shit I’m Still Kinda Working On
- Cooking anything other than lasagna and Instant Pot mac ‘n’ cheese
- Learning Spanish
- Becoming a morning person
- Putting the book down before “just one more chapter”
- Saying no to adorable rescue pets
- Sudoku
Secret Shit I Probably Shouldn’t Tell You (but I’m going to anyway because fuck the rules; also, more to follow)
- Love, Actually may be the literal worst fucking movie ever made; know what everyone’s getting for Christmas? SOME FUCKING BOUNDARIES AND A SHITLOAD OF THERAPY, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.
- The only thing olives are good for are olive oil and making my martinis look fancy.
- I’m fucking STELLAR at Balderdash and I will absolutely kick your ass and gloat with zero remorse while I do it.
- I absolutely, irredeemably suck at Scrabble, despite being a voracious reader with a bachelor’s in English.
Career History
- Coach/consultant, 2004-Present
- Public health consultant, 2009-2021 — Director of Digital Strategy (2020-2021), WRAP Project Manager (2016-2020), Manager of Virtual Solutions (2015-2020), Senior Writer/Technology Coordinator (2012-2015), Writer (2009-2012)
- Adjunct Professor, The George Washington University (2009-2011)
- Blogger, b5Media (2007-2008)
- Medical Editor (Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Oncology Practice), American Society of Clinical Oncology (2004-2006)
- Early career included roles in newspapers and magazines