\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019m leaving my dream job<\/a> as the Director of Membership & Communications at The Mountaineers. My last day is June 6, 2024, my 11 year anniversary. A perfect storm of factors \u2013 including the unexpected passing of my longtime colleague and friend Jeff Bowman<\/a>, which further accelerated our need for an organizational restructure<\/a> \u2013 gave me the opportunity to leave with intention and a long lead time. I\u2019m so grateful for all that The Mountaineers has given me, including the chance to usher in a new set of change makers.<\/p>\n To celebrate the time that I spent at The Ms \u2013 the entirety of my 30s \u2013 I\u2019ve compiled a list of eleven of my favorite learning opportunities from the last eleven years. This is a longer read than most of my blogs, so I\u2019ve bolded the lessons if skimming is your jam today. Skip ahead to the What\u2019s Next section if you just want to get on with it already.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone feels imposter syndrome<\/a>. I certainly feel it all the time. Take writing this blog for example. Do I feel like I have enough wisdom to impart knowledge to others? Do I think people will read this and think I\u2019m a delusional, self-aggrandizing a-hole? I wonder about both of those things, but here we are; I\u2019m doing it anyway. When I was asked to Chair the Board for SheJumps<\/a>, and again when I launched our SheJumps Governance Committee, I was also scared. Same when I was tasked with serving as the staff lead on our Vision 2022 Strategic Plan<\/a> development for The Mountaineers. I did it anyway, and I learned a ton. Being courageous is different than being fearless. The saying \u201cfake it till you make it\u201d is popular for a reason. Don\u2019t let fear hold you back from great opportunities \u2013 just do it scared.<\/strong><\/p>\n Shortly after starting at The Mountaineers, I had the opportunity to write my first magazine article<\/a>. Naturally, it was about Turns All Year<\/a>. Seeing my byline for the first time was life-affirming. Finally, this thing that I love to do is good enough that someone printed it.<\/em> Throughout the years I\u2019ve had the chance to write (and ghostwrite) hundreds of articles and blogs for The Mountaineers, while also learning from other authors as their editor. While I still get excited to see my name in print, nothing tastes as sweet as that first publication, which I hope to frame someday. Landing an article<\/a> in Adventure Journal<\/em><\/a> certainly comes in close second. Seeing others believe in me taught me to believe in myself.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I was the first person with marketing experience to be hired at The Mountaineers. Having the opportunity to build a brand voice, look, colors, and collaborate on a logo refresh was such an exciting endeavor. A final step to the brand refresh was to create an evergreen branding video. I dove headfirst into our history, pulling out the best sound bites then writing a script. I recruited a team of volunteers for voiceovers (including the icon Jim Whittaker<\/a>) and coordinated hundreds of photo and video submissions. Together with our incredible videographer Mike Short, we released the We Are Mountaineers video<\/a>. I loved the entire process of managing that project, and used that experience to inform my process-based approach to serving as Editor in Chief for our quarterly Mountaineer<\/em> magazine. I also wrote and produced \u2013 and did the voiceover for \u2013 our Adventure with Purpose video<\/a> in 2022. Managing projects taught me to trust my gut when it came to knowing when to dig in and when to let go.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Before arriving on The M\u2019s team, I worked for Allrecipes.com, the number one recipe website in the US at the time. I was on the team responsible for launching the international sites, and in doing so, I learned about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as enough other things to be dangerous with websites. Therefore, pairing me with the technology manager for mountaineers.org 2.0<\/a> made sense. Together, Jeff and I built a relationship of mutual trust and launched the website on-time and on-budget. Was it perfect? Definitely not. But we continued to work on it for the last decade, making improvements based on thousands of pieces of community feedback. When Jeff passed away<\/a> unexpectedly at the beginning of December 2023, I was devastated (I still am). Picking up where he left off has been challenging, but I was able to launch Upgrade 4.5<\/a> a few months later in Jeff\u2019s honor. Today, I know more about canonical tags and UX design and Plone website integration than I ever expected. My life is richer for the experience, especially for spending so much time with Jeff. Developing a deep partnership showed me the power of valuing relationships over linear progress.<\/strong><\/p>\n I love a well-designed process, a theme you\u2019ll probably see throughout this post. Whether it\u2019s organizing my to-do list, soliciting articles for our magazine, or creating a production plan to get a new video out on time, I like to put my processes to work for me. My mind has always worked this way. So when I joined staff with the charge to grow membership from 10,000 to 12,000 (no small feat given that we\u2019d experienced a decade of decline), I put my processes to work. I launched social media, established regular monthly emails, built a welcome email series for newcomers, and began working on our first blogs. Today, we have a robust communications calendar of 8+ monthly emails, 2-4 blogs a week, and daily social media posts managed by a team of three. Thanks to these regular communications and annual membership campaigns, we\u2019ve reached 16,500 members with a retention rate of 78%. This growth is due to the great website design (SEO friendly) and our ability to consistently build brand awareness through proven processes. By creating repeatable systems and processes \u2013 working smarter, not harder \u2013 we were able to achieve much more than planned.<\/strong><\/p>\n Fairness and equity have always been important values in my personal life (just ask my sisters). When I got the opportunity to be involved in our organizational equity and belonging work in 2017, I jumped. Holy cow did I have a lot to learn. I still do. For the first few years, I said a lot of wrong things and experienced my fair share of cringe-worthy moments. And still, together with a committee<\/a>, we did a lot of great work. We leaned heavily into representational justice in our magazine (my favorite article<\/a>), amplifying stories from folks who have been historically excluded from the outdoors. We sharped our internal lens too, standardizing processes, increasing transparency, investing in educational resources (like the Emotional Safety in the Outdoors<\/a> eLearning course), <\/em>growing our scholarships program, and building new, more equitable systems. There\u2019s still so much more to do. Our progress wasn\u2019t perfect and certainly wasn\u2019t linear, but I\u2019m proud to have played a small part in making the outdoors a place where more people can feel belonging.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Like the rest of the world in February 2020, The Mountaineers were business as usual. Then the world shut down. Not only did we all become expert epidemiologists overnight, but I had to learn the ins-and-outs of crisis communications. Our leadership team banded together and created systems which continue to serve us today, including a regular cadence of CEO Updates<\/a>. The road was rough, and included severe austerity measures including layoffs and pay cuts. We stayed nimble and responsive, doing things like building a Virtual Education Center<\/a> to help foster connections during a lonely, isolating time and offering a fun \u2018Stayed Home\u2019 badge<\/a> for our community. Our teamwork made us stronger and we survived the pandemic \u2013 an unprecedented event we could have never planned for. Keeping a business running during COVID taught me to be more comfortable living in the unknown.<\/strong><\/p>\n For many years, I thought that showing emotion was a sign of weakness. Thanks to a number of mentors, I learned a lot about emotional intelligence and empathy in the last decade. This helped me immensely in my professional life (see #2: value relationships) and has paid dividends in my personal life. When I suffered my first miscarriage<\/a> in 2019, I processed the loss as I process most things: through writing. The support I received from that blog was overwhelming, and by sharing my own vulnerability, I\u2019ve had the gift of helping others through similar challenges. I carried this lesson into my job, striving to build deeper connections with my colleagues. These connections have enriched my life in countless ways, and without being vulnerable first, they might have never happened.<\/strong><\/p>\n I love to do puzzles and paint by numbers. They allow you to be creative and solve problems within a \u201cbox\u201d, so to speak. I believe having this type of \u2018frame\u2019 leads to more creativity. That\u2019s why writing prompts can be so valuable. At The Mountaineers, I first applied this frame by building our brand guidelines and voice. I saw folks use the tool to be effective and I was emboldened to tackle our hiring process. Each hiring manager did it differently and a candidate\u2019s experience was wildly different from job to job. As a stickler for fairness, this stuck in my craw. I systematized my hiring process (with support from our Equity & Inclusion Committee<\/a>) to create templates for standard communications, an evaluation matrix, an objective evaluation rubric, and interview questions. We started sharing salary ranges before it was required and still share interview questions in advance for equity. We built a compensation philosophy and salary range table, informed by greater nonprofit market trends. This structure has led to more objectivity in hiring. Today our staff also has a broader diversity of lived and professional experience. When you manage expectations, create transparent communications, and set foundational structures, people and organizations thrive.<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the legacies I\u2019m most proud of is the longevity of my team. The Mountaineers was the first place I\u2019d managed people. Over time my team grew, and at its peak I had five direct reports and a team of nine. With no formal training, I reflected on the great and not-great bosses I\u2019d had. I wanted to be the type of boss who would never ask people to do something I wouldn\u2019t do. I wanted to give people the knowledge to understand what success looked like and the tools to achieve it. And, I wanted to create an environment where folks could come to me with anything. Since I\u2019ve told you about the many times I failed at work, I think it\u2019s okay to say that I am good at leading people, or at least my staff tells me I am. I strive to set clear goals, provide a balance of freedom and support, and hold space for others to contribute and lead. I push my direct reports to expand their expertise by creating opportunities within their interest areas. The best bosses create opportunities, empower innovation, and step aside to watch the magic happen.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When my boss said, \u201cI want The Mountaineers to do a beer. Would you like to be involved in the project?\u201d, the only possible answer to the question was \u2018Yes\u2019. Fast-forward a year and the \u2018romance copy\u2019 I wrote<\/a> was being printed on the side of a beer can I helped to design on a new IPA recipe that I helped to name. It\u2019s STILL being printed today! I previously shared an inside look at the process, and I encourage you to read that<\/a>. The takeaway? Sometimes unexpected opportunities fulfill dreams you didn\u2019t even know you had.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo what are you doing instead of your dream job, Kristina?\u201d you may be asking yourself. The answer is: I don\u2019t know yet. As I said at the top, my feelings are conflicted. Ultimately I know that all good things must come to an end, and that\u2019s the case with my time at The Mountaineers. I have no doubt they\u2019ll benefit from a new perspective, and I know I am better for the time I\u2019ve spent there. I\u2019m proud to close out my tenure having accomplished everything I set out to do (and more).\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, if it\u2019s okay, I\u2019d like to humble myself again to ask for your help finding my next professional home. I probably will not find my next job through an online application portal. Most likely, someone will know someone, we\u2019ll chat, and things will progress from there. Maybe you\u2019re that someone?<\/p>\n My biggest passion is communications. I believe transparency fosters unique trust and collaboration, and I strive for that in everything I do, whether it\u2019s creating a communications vision, writing social media copy, or leading a team of people. I have a skillset to do any number of other things: communications, executive leadership, strategic planning, project management, video production, HR, PR, and probably more (my LinkedIn<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m interested in a wide array of opportunities, though I\u2019m most compelled by a smaller team where I can experience the impact of my work. I\u2019m not specifically looking to stay in the outdoor industry, and I\u2019d like to try my hand back in the corporate world. I\u2019d be happy to pick up freelance\/consulting opportunities or find a new permanent home\/dream job where I can dive in and get my hands dirty.\u00a0We need to stay in the greater Seattle area (husband is a firefighter, so can\u2019t relocate), and I am open to remote, hybrid, or in-person gigs, ideally starting sometime after September.<\/p>\n I\u2019d love to make a date with you this summer. Coffee or happy hour, Greenlake walks, and anything that involves spending time in the mountains or outside would be ideal. Let\u2019s run, walk, bike, hike, paddle, lounge, and chat (Zoom is okay too). While it\u2019s no secret that I\u2019m looking for my next dream job. I\u2019m also looking for connections regardless of the reason. Email me!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n I also want to thank YOU for all of your love and support over the years. This little blog of mine was the deciding factor<\/a> in me getting the job at The Mountaineers. Sharing this journey with you has been an honor and a privilege. I look forward to continuing the conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n And lastly, on a personal note, I met my husband<\/a> through The Ms. Today we\u2019re raising two rambunctious boys together. To say I owe my life to The Mountaineers would not be an exaggeration. Generations of folks<\/a> have met their spouses and partners in The Mountaineers. I am honored to carry on the tradition. I promise, I will remain a Mountaineer for life.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m leaving my dream job as the Director of Membership & Communications at The Mountaineers. My last day is June 6, 2024, my 11 year anniversary. A perfect storm of factors \u2013 including the unexpected passing of my longtime colleague and friend Jeff Bowman, which further accelerated our need for an organizational restructure \u2013 gave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11760],"tags":[5041,3690,6287],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-51366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","tag-dream","tag-job","tag-leaving"],"yoast_head":"\n11 Lessons for Eleven Years at my Dream Job<\/h2>\n
#11: Do it scared<\/h3>\n
#10: Believe in yourself<\/h3>\n
#9: Know when to fight<\/h3>\n
#8: Value (and nurture) relationships<\/h3>\n
#7: Put processes to work for you<\/h3>\n
#6: Strive for progress over perfection<\/h3>\n
#5: Plans can only take you so far<\/h3>\n
#4: Embrace vulnerability<\/h3>\n
#3: Structure will set you free<\/h3>\n
#2: Find your people and be their biggest cheerleader<\/h3>\n
#1: Dreams do come true<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s next?\u00a0<\/h2>\n
What I\u2019m looking for<\/h3>\n
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Let\u2019s get together!\u00a0<\/h2>\n