Inward Inquiry, LLC

I am thrilled to give a keynote on Friday to the group. My keynote “Storytelling as a Hard Skill: Excavating Your Experiential Wisdom” is designed to inspire and equip the next generation of entrepreneurs to share their stories authentically. Stay tuned for more!

My phone recently died. So I walked into my provider’s store and what followed was some of the worst customer service I’ve had in years.

Cold, disengaged and zero communication. Another customer asked about the wait and got silence. He stormed out. I tried a softer approach and got “you can do whatever you want, we’re open till 7.”

So we left and went to a different location. Completely different energy: Warm greeting, the wait time communicated, and we didn’t feel like a burden. Same company but two completely different cultures.

When I mentioned the first store, the employee nodded: “That’s the headquarters branch…they get bad reviews all the time, they are understaffed and miserable.”

And there it was! Culture is a mirror. What it reflects on the outside almost always starts on the inside. The real question isn’t “how do we improve our customer experience?”

It’s this: What are we building internally that permeates to the customer?

If I had to describe workplace culture in one word, it’s relationships. It’s at the center of everything an organization does. Time and time again, I’ve found that people are willing to stay in workplaces where they’ve found community and belonging; even if it’s not their dream job.

When I work with organizations, the very first pillar we focus on is “People” and the core competency within that is “Relationship-building.” It’s not a soft skill, it’s an essential foundation.

Want to change your culture? Start by building relationships.

This trend is just too cute to not join in 🤭 poor - he’s the real MVP.

I am really looking forward to facilitating my Culture Clarity Workshop at the upcoming Omaha Organization Development Network Conference.

If you’re attending the conference and wrestling with culture misalignment, competing values, or culture drift...this session is for you. Can’t wait to see everyone there!

Strategic planning gets a bad rap and honestly, I get why. When you cram three years worth of planning into a one-day session, people can lose steam. This is why I created a paced, six month process to dig into strategy in a way that builds momentum and keeps people looking forward.

While working with the team at , the most meaningful part of the process wasn’t landing on the “right” answers...it was creating space to slow down, listen across roles, and name what’s actually true about capacity, priorities, and hopes for the future.

There were a-ha moments.
Moments of deep questioning.
Moments of real alignment.
And that’s the work.

Strategy isn’t just about direction, it’s about trust, shared language, and helping people see how their day-to-day efforts connect back to the mission they care so deeply about.

Grateful for a team that was willing to listen deeply, stay curious, and do the kind of work that makes a difference. These rooms are my favorite place to be.

Here are a few snapshots from our final planning day on Friday. A big thanks to Miki in marketing for capturing these moments.

Committees have the power to enact massive changes — or be a massive waste of time.

If you’re curious about starting a Culture Committee, send me a message so I can help you avoid common pitfalls I have seen.

It was a fast and full weekend in St. Louis for a crash course in Dale Carnegie Leadership training for the Delta Chi Fraternity conference! These were some awesome and engaged guys - I forgot how much fun it is to hang with college students!

Quote of the weekend:

Student: “Only old people eat Fiber One cereal.”

Me: “At what age are you considered old?”

Student: “Really, anyone past 30.”

😭👵🏽

Not pictured: my amazing co-trainer and guardian angel Amanda Spiers ❤️

Is your organization multi-location or remote? Do you gather once a year in person for a conference or retreat?

My keynote speech “The Work of Work: Cultivating Human Connection and Culture” is tailor made to help those teams connect in ways they don’t have the chance to otherwise - DM me if your org is looking for a 2026 conference speaker. 💫

Earlier today, my coaching cohort did a year end review and here’s what I said I was most proud of:

Riding the waves of entrepreneurship, even when it’s been hard. In Q1 I had the least amount of business I’ve ever had in 5 years. In Q4 I facilitated over 20 workshops/trainings - it was a record quarter.

The stark difference in how I started the year vs. how I ended is mindblowing! I see why people give up. I see why people question what they’re doing. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. And yet sometimes you just have to keep going- one day at a time.

I’m proud of myself for staying the course, maintaining my work ethic day in and day out, and believing in myself.

Feeling especially grateful today, as we drive with big smiles to a holiday pajama party to celebrate year’s end - Ollie 🐾 and by my side, as always.

What’s something your proud of this year?