Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Barbour. Kelsey was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Tamica Sears.

Kelsey, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
Like a lot of people, I was sent home to work remote during Covid. I loved it. I was more motivated than ever and worked as much overtime as possible. Towards the end of 2021, I was sent back into the office. I quickly realized that this was not the best choice for me and started looking for something remote. I* had worked in customer service at this point upwards of 10 years and it was surprisingly difficult to find a remote position. FInally, my current company was the only company to respond to my application. I did a lot of research and found this was a company I was confident I could grow with and decided to jump at the chance, taking a pay increase, confident that I could work hard and quickly move up. And I did just that. I worked hard, and learned as much as I could. About 9 months in, I was able to apply and get offered a role on a brand new team. I was so excited. Around this time I also felt more stable in my role and really focused on my career development. I am lucky to work for a company that values employee growth and I took advantage of a lot they have to offer. One of the programs was a third party coach and I quickly signed up! As soon as it was approved, I logged in to make my choice on which coach I wanted to work with, I took this decision very seriously, I wanted a coach that really was going to push me to grow. I chose Tamica. Her bio really made me feel like this was the right choice. I started meeting with Tamica weekly in the beginning and we talked about issues I had within my current role. I quickly decided I wanted to move into a team lead role and then possibly into leadership. Tamica and I quickly dove into building on those leadership skills to make me a great candidate for the position once it opened. We continued to work on these skills for sometime, and my coaching experience was getting ready to end and I was devastated. I reached out to my company and voiced my interest in getting this extended and luckily for me they approved. I continued working with Tamica and aligned with this, I was retaking the Blue EQ test. I was absolutely blown away at my result. I felt like I had grown so much in both my personal and professional but to see the tangible results from before I started my coaching with Tamica was beyond amazing. This really motivated me as I headed into my interview for the team lead role which I ultimately didn’t get. I was feeling confused and let down. Tamica helped me navigate these emotions and determine what my next steps might look like. Around this time, Tamica was able to help me connect with a fellow coworker who very quickly became a highly valuable mentor. My mentor helped me to determine my passions and I quickly realized i wanted to peruse project management. Tamica was able to point me in the right direction and even help me attend a Project Management Summit where I was able to make a ton of connections and learn from other PM’s around the world. Around this time my coaching opportunity was coming to a close where I was unable to renew it further, but Tamica and I have stayed in touch. It was her knowledge and advice that has helped me to successfully move into a project management role and grow into the person and professional that I am today. I truly cannot thank her enough.

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I recently moved into a new role as an Associate Project Manager within Implementation. I am very excited for this role as I previously only ever worked in customer service of some sort and this role is really the first of a big step in building my dream role. I am pursuing my PMP Certification while working multiple other projects through my company. I am a leader of our Young Professionals ERG and I take great pride in this. I am also working on a project with one of my mentors to help increase employee engagement through our companies culture. I am very passionate about career development and project managing. I have strong skills in customer service, de-escalation, organization, and prioritization.

So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Tamica Sears and Sears Coaching and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Sears Coaching.
When I started working with Tamica, I was on a journey to grow emotionally and professionally. I was able to met with Tamica regularly to discuss any current challenges or emotions I was working through. The way Tamica was able to talk me through situations while asking me questions and really help me get down to the bottom of whatever was going on was so impressive. I love the way she challenged me to be fully transparent and allowed me to come to resolutions own my own while Tamica provided feedback. This was exactly what I was looking for in a coach. I wanted someone to push me to do the work myself and allow me to grow and this is exactly what Tamica allowed me to do. While working with Tamica, I was able to see tremendous growth professionally, emotionally, and even personally. I love how the skills I learned leaked into my personal life and relationships. Along with the tremendous growth I saw, I received two promotions during the time I worked with Tamica, and I am well on my working to working towards my third.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-barbour/