Pre-Shift
I always knew I wanted to be a working mom. A natural nurturer, I was eager to babysit and care for others. I also have vivid memories of playing “Architecture Firm” where my #1 job was to be “The Boss” and my sisters had to field calls and make appointments for me as my secretaries. Though strongly inspired by Murphy Brown, the vision of being a kick ass boss mama was pretty clear from Day 1.
I triple majored and started my career in Manhattan, working for an incredibly inspiring group of female leaders. I moved to Chicago and my career took off quickly as I rose through the ranks at a boutique investment bank. By 28, I had a seat at the Leadership table, an awesome condo in Chicago, a vibrant business network, and an MBA. Just short of 30, I decided it was time to start a family and was hella-confident that I’d pop 3 kids out by 35 and be done.
I had no idea that it would take seven years, multiple losses, IVF and ultimately the borrowing of my sister’s baby oven (i.e.. altruistic surrogacy) to make me a mom.
My Shift
Seven years was a long time to think about what type of parent I wanted to be. And despite all my dreamlike intentions, when I finally became a mother reality sucked. I was leading a huge organizational transformation as the Head of HR for a PE backed firm. I had big responsibilities that kept me working most nights and weekends, traveling non-stop, and a perpetual to-do list that kept me distracted whenever I was with my son. My work was thriving, but my own health and family were not.
One early Sunday morning in 2019, while cuddling with my two year old, I decided to make a shift. I was curious about coaching and quickly signed up for the Co-Active Training Institute and Positive Intelligence ® coach programs. I left my fancy job and hung a shingle as a leadership and HR coach / consultant. My leadership coaching practice developed and thrived as I partnered with TalentRise to develop a world-class leadership onboarding program. In this work, I create breakthroughs everyday in partnering with C-Suite leaders by asking powerful questions that lead to lasting change. I’ve developed group and individual coaching journey’s for corporations that reduce stress, increase performance, and drive overall satisfaction at work over the last four years.
Our Shift
A common thread in all of my coaching has been the transformational impact of Positive Intelligence ®. As a PQ Coach ™ and Mental Fitness Coach, I work with my clients to build the sustainable mental muscles that lead to a healthier and happier you. Mental Fitness is the ability to actively shift from a negative to a positive mindset regardless of the obstacle. Much like personal training, we learn the power of sustainable daily habit building except instead of running our bodies, we are training our minds.
I am not a child psychologist and I am not providing parenting advice. This is a journey in which every parent is challenged to bring unconditional love to every conversation and interaction with the people they love most so that they aren’t spent, overwhelmed and useless to the audience they care about most.
In focusing mental fitness on parenting, I am inviting parents to make the habit building choice to shift from a negative to a positive mindset regardless of the obstacle.
The Parental Shift
I’m on a mission to change the way we parent. As a certified leadership coach, I’ve struggled watching high powered executives feel on top of the world at work and at the bottom of the barrel at home. So many parents are tired, overworked, stressed, and burned out to think purposefully about parenting. Society does us no favors where shaming, guilting, or judging others can be normalized within the parenting culture.
If we work to live, then why do the people we love get the worst of us, not the best?
It’s time for parents to shift their mindset to one of self-acceptance and self-authority that builds the mental muscles needed to be better lovers of their children.
I envision a world where parents…
- bring their best selves home at the end of the day by being present, authentic, and positive.
- approach parenting with unconditional self-love, self-care, effective boundary setting, and grace.
- have a clearly defined parenting vision that serves as their North Star.
- celebrate their unique parenting style and have confidence in their strengths.
- build strategies to address self-sabotaging beliefs that no longer serve them at home or in life.
- do the deeper work needed on themselves to help serve their kids more effectively.
- cultivate loving and deep connections with their family members.
- are supported by a community of accepting, non-judgmental, and like-minded parents.
The Parental Shift wants parents to be more self-assured, capable, and confident in their own parenting approach through the practice of mental fitness coaching.
WANNA KNOW A BIT MORE ABOUT ME?
WORK ME
- 4 years of executive and leadership coaching experience with private equity backed and high growth companies
- 18 years of HR leadership experience serving as head of HR or HR lead for founder-owned financial, private equity, and legal services firms
- M.B.A. Entrepreneurship and Finance at DePaul University
- B.A. International Relations, Speech, and Spanish (yes, that’s a triple major) at Bradley University
- ICF Certified PCC Coach
- Positive Intelligence ® trained PQ Coach ™
- International Coaching Federation (ICF) Former President of the Charlotte Area Chapter (2021 was a crazy year)!
- SHRM-SCP and SPHR certifications
- Hogan Assessment Certified
- Predictive Index Certified
REAL ME
- Born in Chicago and living in Matthews, NC
- Mom to an emotionally intelligent and theatrical 6 year old boy
- Lifelong Girl Scout (yes, that means I was a H.S. Senior Girl Scout) and Silver Award Winner
- Aspiring Children’s Book Writer and Amaturer Poet
- Casualty of Lower Back Tattoo trend of the 1990’s
- College TV producer of Midstate Magazine, public access television while a student at Bradley
- TV Segment Host of my own creation, “Out of the Box with Kristen Fox” (2000’s version of TikTok)
- Half Ironman Finisher and Half Marathon Racer (those running days are long gone)
- Raving fan of Street Parking workouts
- Lover of Forrest Yoga
- Incredibly clumsy and accident prone