We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laci McKinney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laci below.

Laci, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I didn’t realize it at the time, I just knew I needed a creative outlet so I started to explore entrepreneurship. It took years to come to this conclusion but what my side hustle was doing was helping me build skills in my 9 to 5. One increasingly popular path to career growth is through a side hustle. It was a part-time venture that not only generated extra income but also helped me to develop a unique set of skills and experiences that profoundly impacted my career. In my case, my side hustle didn’t just provide additional income; it completely transformed my career trajectory and led me to a new career field in Organizational Development.

Laci, 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?

In 2019, I came to the realization that despite working in the health, wellness, and leisure services field for 15 years, I had not been able to establish a satisfying career. I was unaware of my strengths, had difficulty communicating my worth, and was consistently overlooked for job opportunities. It was frustrating to know that I possessed skills and abilities, but my inability to express them hindered my progress.

Today, it gives me great pleasure to share with you my journey of crafting a professional persona as a dynamic and forward-thinking individual, utilizing my natural instincts and passion for generating original concepts and content. If you’re curious about learning more, I’m excited to offer some insights and guidance on how to establish a memorable professional brand that enhances your presence in any setting.

If you are a new leader aiming to build a robust professional brand, an experienced professional seeking to refresh your image, or an organization looking to invest in the growth of your emerging talent, you have come to the

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Trust is easier to lose than it is to gain. As a leader, building relationships is important. This is how the work gets done! Relationship building is a key component of building trust. Not only do you have to work to build trust, but you also have to put in the work to maintain the trust. Trust-building can be hard when you are managing a team but it helps to build morale in the team.

Try these 3 tips on how to earn trust and maintain high morale:

1. Ask for Feedback – The only way your teams are going to grow is if you give them the chance to show what they know. This is called capacity building. Take time to ask for feedback and remove the need to take center stage.

2. Have difficult conversations immediately – Avoiding difficult conversations is detrimental to the culture of your team. When situations occur the sooner you address them; the faster you are able to redirect the negative behavior or mistake that was made.

3. Act in the best interest of your team – Leadership is about knowing what the team needs or stepping out and securing resources.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Here are a few books that significantly impacted my career, mindset, and growth. These aren’t the typical leadership books, but rather stories of people who took risks.

The Memo- What women of color need to know to secure a seat at the table by Minda Harts

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

Becoming by Michelle Obama

We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers

We’re going to need more wine by Gabrielle Union

A New Model Ashley Graham

Contact Info:

• Website: lacimckinney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelacimckinney/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lacimckinney/
• Other: https://www.thepeoplesvoicecreative.com/ – An organizational design agency for change-makers of the future.