We were lucky to catch up with Shelly Kelnhofer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shelly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

My best boss…MY BEST BOSS…my friend, Scott.
I was working at a high end restaurant, but kept going to the local “burger place” down the road. It was a small place, not many workers, but everyone was always in a good mood, seemed to be having fun, and the food was fantastic.
I would hang out just to talk, and kept joking about having a job there. One day the boss/owner offered me a place with the crew.
It was the best job I have ever had in all my years of working at restaurants, country clubs, having my own catering company, working at gyms and doing personal training, working at a jewelry shop…working for Scott was the BEST!!!
He is a great guy, we were a small team of 5 or 6, depending on the day of the week, but we were a family. I was the only “girl” and even though we closed the location 10 years ago, we are all still close and love each other.
Scott is a perfectionist about everything. Our food was always fresh and you could literally eat off the floors. We did a major scrub down every night and cleaned all day as we went along. The health department never found anything wrong with our place.
Everyone was expected to do their job, and to know how to do all the jobs in the place, and to jump in and help without being asked. We were treated with full respect and were paid well for our efforts.
I would work for Scott again in a minute.

Shelly, 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 know my last answer was about the best boss I ever had, and working in the food industry was just one of the things I loved doing. But I’ve done a lot of other things too.
I have been a personal trainer for well over 25 years, and I love being able to help people get to the degree of fitness that they are looking to achieve.
I still enjoy designing and making jewelry. It’s fun to create something unique for a client, whether working with pearls, seaglass, weaving lauhala, feather work, it’s always nice to see an idea come to life. Custom orders are very satisfying, but every piece I make is one of a kind.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

For me, it really comes down to one thing. The “Golden Rule” I guess…treat others as you would be treated.
In any job, in any business that I had, I provided a service that I was proud of. I always went above what was asked or expected of me, and I always treated everyone around me with respect, whether it was a client, co-worker, boss or employee. In every business, my reputation was built by word of mouth. I didn’t advertise.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

As I said above, for me it’s always been the “Golden Rule”
Treat others well, and with respect. A business owner will always get the best work from someone that feels they are of value. Say “thank you” for a job well done.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.seaglassmonkeyjewelry.com
• Instagram: seaglass monkey jewelry
• Facebook: shelly bacon kelnhofer or seaglass monkey jewelry