Working with Kristen is always such a blast! As a successful professional, she knows how to bring confidence and energy to every session. This time was no different—her recent headshot session was full of fun, laughter, and some seriously powerful shots that reflect her dynamic personality and success. Let me tell you, I see this boss lady's Linkedin Page and she is BUSY! She is forever involved.  It’s always a joy capturing her journey and celebrating elite women in Columbus!

I also asked her about her inspiring career journey and how she’s passionate about giving back, making this session even more meaningful to capture! 

• What inspired you to pursue your current career?
  In my time at Nationwide, I've held several roles ranging from software analysis, technical consulting, product management, and strategy. In my current role, I act as a corporate strategist at Nationwide Insurance for their life business and enterprise digital and innovation organization. I oversee strategic planning and activates on key initiatives to further growth and success in these respective organizations. Highlights to mention include forming their generative AI strategy and north star digital aspirations across a few of their key financial businesses. I was inspired to get into my current career because of the opportunities to see how broad decisions create such impact to our community in the short and long run. I also have worked several years in technical, detailed work; to be able to spend time working on a business' strategy would help me become a stronger leader in the future through development of my strategic mindset and my executive skillset.

• Can you share a defining moment in your professional journey?
  I have had a lot of defining moments in my professional journey, but I always feel that my first internship at Nationwide was pivotal. In college, I was actually a music and psychology double major, and nearing graduation I was very unsure of what to do after school. I had two degrees that I enjoyed leaning into, but had little desire to pursue a full time career in either fields. I got some great advice at that time, which was to look for an internship at a company that would let you try a lot of different skills and opportunities to see what sparked interest. Following that advice, I found a communications internship opportunity at Nationwide, and by luck/fortune/right time right place...I was given a chance to learn! And I loved it! The communications internship was in a specific technology department and opened a lot of new doors, which eventually put me on my journey to lean in and build my technical background.

• How do you handle set backs and turn them into opportunities?
  When a set back occurs I often think of it as a "test and learn" actually. Regardless if the situation was in my control or not, something was being tested - a specific technical skill, a leadership skill, how to work with people, etc. And though it didn't go my way, I try my best to reflect and determine what I "learned" in the situation, so that I can use that learning the next time in a future opportunity when needed.

• Who has been a mentor or role model for you and what impact have they had on your life?
  I have been very lucky in my life to have many mentors and sponsors in my professional career, and through conversations I have learned from a variety of leaders about their career goals while discovering what I wanted in my development. To highlight one example -- A few years into my career, I was a junior technical consultant that was looking for my next opportunity. I was feeling stuck in my career, unsure how to move forward, and above all, struggling to find a voice. One of my sponsors, mentors, and a good friend gave me this great advice at the time = take up as much space as I possibly can. And when I feel I’ve taken up enough space, just try to take a little more. I cannot take space if I am not vocal about what I want out of my career and how I want to grow. This was really important for me to hear in that moment because I knew in my path, I needed an experience where I could be a hybrid individual where I aligned to a business unit, but I could still use my technology background to influence, strategize, orchestrate, and execute. And upon reflection, I felt the best place was to take a stint in product management because it’s the perfect blend. You take ownership of a product and that means you own EVERYTHING – the vision, the strategy, the performance, the delivery, and the execution. So following that advice, I went to people that I thought were my sponsors and other mentors, and I said “I want to go here, and I want this kind of position to help aid my growth to achieve X. What do you think must be true in order for me to reach that outcome, and will you help me build my network?” And from there, I leaned into conversations to network, job shadow, informational interview, and eventually find my right fit.

• What is your definition of success?
  My definition of success is where I feel that i have made a positive impact to not only the people around me, but also an impact to our community. In my work, I tell myself everyday that while I am in the business of insurance and financial services, I am above all in the business of working with people. And I am most successful when I am able to strengthen, collaborate with, and grow my relationships to create positive impact. When we work together as a community, our community strengthens tenfold than that of one individual's actions.

• How do you give back to your community and what impact do you hope to make on the city of Columbus (or Dublin)?
  I give back to my community through a few different channels, with majority tying back to two personal core values - to be a community leader (of Columbus), and to be a STEAM advocate. For our community, I currently act as a volunteer leader for the Columbus Red Cross Chapter. My main focus is tying my strategic consulting and analytics background to where I can help interpret donation data into key insights for their leadership team to determine potential campaign and marketing opportunities to increase donor interest while supporting their manufacturing lab. I also try my hardest to be a strong advocate of blood donations through personal data and story sharing about the need for blood, and as being a blood donor myself! Regarding STEAM or "Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math" -- I act as a STEAM ambassador for Columbus through my background in technology. I try to make a difference through teaching, writing, and community outreach. To highlight a few: - I have taught as an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University's computer science and engineering department, with helping over 200 undergraduate students lean about software concepts while also preparing them for work beyond graduation - I published my first educational textbook, called Analyze It!, for pre-teens and middle school teachers as a focus on foundational software engineering concepts. Since its publication, I have donated 100+ copies to youth across Columbus through the Columbus Metropolitan Library branches, Girls Who Code Columbus, Girl Scouts of Heartland, and other one-off outreach events.

Kristen is performing her farewell event on Friday October 18th at Natalie's Grandview! If you'd like to check out her event, you can find all the details here >> Elliott Collective