We have a habit of making everything into a sports analogy, so I couldn’t resist it when it came time to announce our new hires.
Meet Kyler Redmond. She’s 5-9 and has some post moves. At least she had them.
Twelve games into her basketball career at Frostburg State University, she injured her back and didn’t finish the season. Prior, she started nine games and had been racking up the points and boards, but she didn’t think two surgeries and 18 months of recovery would be around the next bend.
She fought back. She used the experience to focus on what mattered to her. Her family and her career.
The day she walked into my office for an interview was the first day, post-surgery, that she had walked without a cane.
First impressions and hazing
Kyler had all of the tangibles. The highlights were there—writing samples, résumé, references. Got it, got it, got it. The intangibles, though, were what stuck with me. Her values and her focus.
On the first interview, and the ones after, Kyler talked about her family. She revealed that, during a doctorate level research project she helped with, she uncovered some skeletons in her family’s closet that she wasn’t prepared for. The project centered around her family’s resilience in the face of disparity and their journey to achieve the American Dream. She used the story to explain how she faces adversity and takes on challenges—with tenacity. I told her she’d need that tenacity if she was going to help a bunch of strategy and IT consultants communicate effectively.
Well, she’s still here. In two months as marketing coordinator, Kyler launched a storytelling campaign that is drawing the best out of people. The game plan is simple: we have smart people who have great stories to share that can help organizations meet their mission. Her job is to tutor us. A team comprised of executives, managers, cyber gurus, application developers and technology consultants are now doing two-a-days just to keep up with her. Not without some hazing, though.
She’s the youngest person in the firm. In fact, she’s younger than our firm—by a month. Our CEO Marshall Micheals was first to point that out on Facebook. Missteps like cooking Pop Tarts in the kitchen have left her vulnerable to our unoriginal millennial jibes.
She’s relentless, though. Her passion for helping others makes her the perfect addition to the team, and I urge you to welcome her.
Better yet, check out the stories she’s helping us tell.