We recently connected with Stefanie Adams and have shared our conversation below.
Stefanie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
On the surface, I wouldn’t consider myself a “risk taker”. I’ve never had interest in bungee jumping or skydiving; vacations are executed with planned precision so I know where, when, and what to expect. And don’t get me started on my lack of adventures regarding food–I’m a salad (no dressing), and “my food better not touch on my plate” kind of girl,
However, if I really pull back the layers of the onion, in life, I have taken a lot of wild chances that made sense and were obvious choices to me in the moment, but to other people, I was brave, creative, or sometimes plain crazy.
Examples?
I tried out to dance professionally for a Philadelphia sports team, and made it; while working full time, I earned a Master’s degree; I moved to a new state with no connections for a job, I ran for local elected office (and won–top vote getter!), started my own leadership training and development company, and most recently, I’m writing a book with hopes to publish in 2024.
If I take a step back, I guess I am a risk taker (even if I don’t put dressing on my salad) because I have an internal voice constantly asking, “why not me?”. If I don’t do it, someone else will, right?!
Stefanie , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a facilitator, keynote speaker, educator, former elected official, entrepreneur, wife, and mother; for those who know me best, I’m “Cheerleader Stef”, which personifies my personality and leadership style. I have over 20 years experience leading and training in corporate, non-profit, and educational settings. In addition to being a small business owner, I also am an adjunct instructor at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. I earned an M.Ed. in Multicultural Education in 2008.
In early 2020, I launched WNY People Development because I believe that how we prepare our leaders to support, guide, and grow teams has to change. In my role as Chief Empowerment Officer, I provide leadership training, coaching, and keynote presentations to grow the next generation of leaders. My main areas of expertise are building high impact teams, first time/front line manager development, women in leadership, and engaging multigenerational workforces with a focus on millennial and Gen Z employees; my facilitation style is interactive, full of movement, laughter, learning, and occasionally includes pom poms.
I have worked as an organizational consultant for Johns Hopkins University School of Education (Baltimore, MD), partnering with educational systems across the Southeast to guide the implementation of whole school reform programming through coaching, training, and project management; I have served as Director of Customized Training for Cape Fear Community College (Wilmington, NC), assessing, identifying, and connecting appropriate training solutions to local corporations, and most recently, I led the corporate training function for CastleBranch (Wilmington, NC), a software development company, assessing, designing, and facilitating company-wide training to support organizational culture and increased productivity.
Since company launch, I have developed and facilitated leadership solutions for clients in varied industries including construction, healthcare, higher education, hospitality, human resources, manufacturing, municipalities, pharmaceutical, real estate, and non-profit management. WNY People Development’s clients include the Association Executives of NC, City of Wilmington, Embassy Suites, HC Beauty, National Resilience, New Hanover County Schools, NC Realtors Association, NC SHRM, Port City Java, UNCW, Waffle House, and Yogasleep.
In 2024, I plan to publish my first book, “CheerLEADERship” a playbook for first time and front line leaders to improve organizational culture, build innovative teams, and drive business impact utilizing cheerleading strategies, and focusing on five core themes: connect, care, challenge, celebrate, and inspire.
I am highly involved in my southeastern North Carolina community. My professional affiliations include SHRM, the Lower Cape Fear Human Resource Association, the Wilmington (NC) Chamber of Commerce, and Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeastern NC, and I’m a WILMA Mentor; I was nominated as a YWCA Woman of Achievement in 2022 for service on my local Board of Education, and School Board Chair during the Covid pandemic.
In my personal life, my days are fueled by coffee, chocolate, yoga, new challenges, and building relationships; my passions are developing others, serving the community, the beach, Philly sports, travel, managing the chaos that comes with life, and kitchen dancing. I am a proud mom to an awesome middle school son, Brayden, and wife to a supportive and extremely patient husband, Scott.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
After preparing for five months to launch WNY People Development, the world shut down due to covid LITERALLY two weeks after my website went live.
I was crushed. My business plan was based on “in person” training, not virtual; I wasn’t comfortable on camera, my content involves a lot of movement and team discussion, and frankly, I didn’t believe I could truly connect with training participants for true impact over a computer screen. I hit a wall of frustration feeling like everything I had planned for, prepared for, and envisioned got thrown out the window.
However, reflecting now, the pandemic was one of the best things that could have happened for me and WNY People Development! It pushed me out of my comfort zone; I was forced to tear up the plan, make a new one, and learn a new modality for training. I proved to myself I was able to flex, adapt, and change, and I haven’t stopped doing so in my business since.
I am now better equipped to meet market need; I have diversified my training offerings, added keynote options, increased my service area to include a national audience, and continue to educate myself on leadership and workforce trends. When I initially started, my plan was to work with small to midsize companies in southeastern NC, but now I am able to serve large corporations and associations in industries I wouldn’t have considered early on across the country.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
How you treat people is key!
The majority of my business grew out of personal relationships fostered over the years through work, organizations I was a part of, and even through friends whose kids attended daycare with my son. I try to make every person I meet feel seen, valued, and heard, and what I learned is if you approach relationships authentically and humbly, without expectation of getting anything out of them, those connections may end up helping you build your brand by default.
When you treat people with kindness, believe in them, and invest in their goals, you’ll find they do the same for you; they want to see you, AND your business win.
WNY People Development has been successful because a few people that worked for great companies took a chance on me and my start up leadership training company; however, it has continued to succeed because we keep showing up with energy, innovation in our practices, we listen and adapt, and provide value and impact for our clients.
As a small business owner, referrals are your bread and butter, so how you execute once you’ve got your foot in the door is paramount! Don’t give people a reason to leave a bad review; do what you promise, and do it well!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wnypeopledevelopment.com
- Instagram: @wnypeopledevelopment
- Facebook: @wnypeopledev
- Linkedin: @wnypeopledevelopment
Image Credits
Allie Weaver Mark Darrough