Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katie Knips-Ladas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business and let us know what you do?

My career has always been a big part of my identity. In college, I actually started out working towards an accounting degree. I was decent in math in highschool and figured that was a good direction. But I discovered I wasn’t good at accounting. It was hard for me and not very much fun. I randomly took a marketing class and thoroughly enjoyed it. That was a transformational learning for me. Work doesn’t have to feel like work. It can be fun, meaningful, exhilarating. Work can bring meaning to your life and be a part of your life purpose.

I decided I wanted to explore all of the aspects of marketing, starting with sales, then advertising and public relations, then marketing communications and brand strategy, and eventually putting my marketing skills into fundraising and engagement strategies. I worked in different environments from very small companies to corporate to small and large nonprofits to higher education. I traveled to many parts of the world to volunteer and expand my viewpoints. This exposed me to the different forms of marketing within different cultures of work spaces. I discovered two things. At the core of marketing is to grow an idea into something bigger as a way to help others. I also discovered that I personally needed to know my work makes a difference – to know that my work is moving the needle for something that betters the world in some way.

I am proud of my career. Every corner I turn, I see, understand, and learn more – with my biggest learning being that there is so much that I don’t even know that I don’t know! Our lives are a never ending opportunity to widen our perspectives. All of these learnings build on each other and connect the dots for other work I’m doing. I love it. The people I meet are fascinating and I continue to be impressed with the wisdom, ingenuity, passion and genuine care people bring to their ideas and to their work.

All of this has led me to launch Kayak Consulting. In my consulting work, I leverage my skills in strategy development, visioning, marketing, brand, fundraising, engagement and more to help nonprofit fundraising teams, small businesses and emerging leaders take their work to the next level. I help guide people to not only see, but believe that they can go farther than they may have thought possible. I am honored to help engage audiences so that they can be the difference that they want to see in this world.

Kayak Consulting helps clients define a vision of what success can be and then chart a pathway to get there. Naming where you want to go is a critical part of reaching your full potential. When you see and feel the heights you can reach, your energy elevates and you can more easily define the focused course you need to take, and map out a timeline that expands confidence and belief in what you can achieve.

So many of us get caught in the day to day tasks and don’t step out to really define what success looks like, not only in terms of tangible outcomes, but what it really feels like. I take clients through a series of questions and exercises to help them imagine what could be. The first step is to see it. This is where we start to build out a path to get there, creating steps to take so that it isn’t overwhelming and you can actually believe that you can do this. With the vision and the belief, and the path planned out, you are ready to take action.

This work can be done for nonprofit Advancement teams, where I have many years of experience in identifying where we want to go and then building a team structure that helps create an effective workflow. This work includes engagement strategies that look not only at how the work is done, but how it is perceived by the audiences. The engagement work is then tied to how it correlates to fundraising so that you are cultivating a pipeline of prospects in authentic ways, and engaging them deeper until they feel true ownership in the organization with the work of the organization being a part of their own purpose.

I also work with small businesses to help them see a vision of where they can be going with a charted course, and a system for helping them stay on track to get there. Together we name a north star, define values and brand personality, define a positioning that states relevance and uniqueness, and prioritize the work that brings the biggest value to achieve goals.

I absolutely love working with emerging leaders who maybe don’t feel their potential yet. I guide them through a set of tools to help them see their value, along with coaching on how to think strategically and set up their teams in ways that build trust and excitement for the direction needed.

Kayaking has been a passion of mine for years. Traveling and exploring are priorities in my life, and kayaking always seems to be a part of the explorations. I love to be on the water – feeling the air, appreciating the scenery and the wildlife around me. My rejuvenation and inspiration comes from nature and the wisdom we get from taking a moment to connect with our beautiful earth. In a kayak, it is relaxing and fun to wander and explore without a specific direction. But there are times where you have a destination in mind and a timeframe to get there. Knowing the right course, water conditions, and weather is important.

My energy also comes from you. I love getting to know you and your vision, and working with you to build the path that gives you confidence and elevated energy in your work and in your core belief in your potential.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic, I was one of the many individuals that took that time to really examine what I wanted my next step to be. I was working for a small liberal arts college where students represent 93 countries, are unbelievably smart, and driven to build a more just world. I led the annual fundraising and alumni engagement work. I was inspired daily.

I also was on zoom meetings for 12 hours a day while being the caretaker for my 97 year old mother. This was unsustainable and the universe was telling me it was time to make a shift. I spent a lot of time working with a coach to think through my next career move. I thought deeply about what my core values are. What is my purpose? What feeds me and also what drains me? Am I spending precious moments of my life doing the things that bring me joy, or am I spending too much time working on a to-do list that seems to just tick time off? Am I surrounding myself with people and things I love, or doing things that I think I should do versus want to do? And, if I were to prioritize joy over material items, how much money do I really need to live a meaningful life?

It’s scary to make a big shift. It’s hard to balance trusting the flow and anticipating potential failure. But it is also freeing. Once I made the decision to go out on my own, I knew it was right.

I have gone out on my own and had a company that helped nonprofits and small businesses with their brand strategy. I loved the work and always had more than enough work, but I worried that I may not. I let that worry get in the way of just trusting that all would be fine. That was 20 years ago. I have a lot more wisdom and faith in the flow of life now.

I also feel my own value. I think – especially women – we many times don’t lean into our own worth. We see the expertise in others more than we embrace what we ourselves bring to the table. I have taken the time to clear out the sludge that gets in the way of connecting with my inner wonder. I’ve thought about what caused this sludge to form, to think about what is real and what are stories that I tell myself that aren’t actually the truth. I’ve done work to break this apart and let go of the things weighing me down that are no longer needed.

I’ve also spent a lot of time thinking about what in my career and life energizes me. This is what inspired me to do the work I’m doing. I was able to combine my many years of experience in marketing and fundraising strategies with the work I have found helpful for my own journey. This is what sparked Kayak Consulting.

My passion and energy is to help people connect with what brings meaning to their life and that they have the power within themselves to make that happen. By talking through where you want to see yourself as a team, as a small business, or as an emerging leader, you start to think broader than where you may be stuck now. You start to imagine where you could possibly go. Together we can talk through a realistic path on how to get there so that you can see and actually believe it is possible. It’s so fun to see the confidence light up, just like it did for me.

Pivots in life are opportunities. They let us say goodbye to old patterns and free space for new healthy patterns to emerge. When you put the right work into how to pivot and what to let go of, those pivots can set you free to go farther than you may have thought possible.

Any advice for managing a team?

To manage a team successfully takes two parts: genuinely caring and understanding each individual team member and what energizes them, and to bring those skills together into a team that collectively identifies a motivating north star with a clear direction and course of work.

Respecting and valuing what each person brings to the team is critical – helping them see their value to the team and helping each team member see and appreciate what others bring. Identify the strengths of individual team members and share those strengths to show how the different strengths complement each other. Styles are different and how we each go about doing our work is unique. This can be difficult so it’s important to talk through differences so that people can see how to leverage those differences instead of being annoyed by them. Having a clear vision and direction with everyone’s role clarified and understood helps build cohesiveness and trust.

One thing I have used is to co-create the vision, determine key milestones needed to reach that vision and then break the work into three pillars: Revenue, Structures/Processes and Team Culture. Revenue addresses how to advance your goals or mission through revenue generation or fundraising. Structure and Processes address elevating efficiencies and clarity in doing the work (including ensuring equity across the work), and then Team Culture ensures you are building a supportive and enjoyable culture that embodies trust and a sense of belonging as each team member understands their individual impact and the impact they make on the collective work.

The vision can be set for maybe 3-5 years out and then each year the team defines the tasks needed to move towards that vision. This means that you can see where you are going, and you can see that not everything needs to happen at once. You build a path where the work builds on itself, but can be done at a realistic pace. This brings hope and relieves stress to state priority tasks that are doable.

Acknowledging each individuals’ strengths, building a vision together, and co-mapping out a plan of action helps build trust and elevates morale. People are inspired, feel valued, and are ready to take action.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kayakconsultingmn.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieladas/