Hi!

I’m Kelly Jennings. My colleagues and clients call me Coach Kelly.

It may not seem like it, but you and I are a lot alike.

This is my story.

30 years ago I launched my professional career as an actor/improviser, director, and theatrical producer because I didn’t want to go into the family business. I wanted freedom. I wanted to do things on my own terms. I wanted flexibility. No one told me that a performance career is the ultimate definition of “solo business owner.”

Every day I ran my business. I created lists to make it easier to set and track appointments for auditions. I built a contact list to help me stay connected with industry professionals. I made a schedule to send my head shot and postcards to let directors and agents know what I was doing. I created a list of theaters and colleagues to pitch and develop new projects. I prepared my auditions, researched playwrights and industry professionals. It Hmm…sounds like a business. Show BUSINESS. I didn’t know then I was building what business and sales people call a CRM system, a marketing system, an appointment system, a sales and productivity system.

Then one day, a friend and I decided we would co-found a theater. I mean, how hard could that be? It wasn’t like starting a “real” business - it’s theater! School of hard knocks anyone? We ran our company for five years. During that time, we produced several ground breaking pieces and received many accolades. I learned about creating and sticking to budgets and tight deadlines. I learned even more about promotions and marketing. I learned how to collaborate with stake holders, to influence VIPS. I learned the value of teamwork, listening, and empowering others to help make it all happen. Definitely not a class offered in acting school.

Next, I served for 2 years as Co-Artistic Director for Philadelphia’s longest running Comedy Improv Company. In addition to lessons learned from my theater company, my co-directors and I added the principles of improvisation to our leadership approach. Sales increased and our audience size doubled. For the first time in company history, the owners gave everyone in the ensemble a cash bonus and a huge party. Improvisers being paid to improvise? Unheard of!

Seeking more challenges led to me co-creating a fully interactive 2-person show. Not a scripted show. Not a comedy- team. We used improv to incorporate our audience into the story, and every story built on the next. No one in Improv was doing that. Nothing like that show had ever been produced before. We were on the forefront of a unique style. I used everything I learned about the business of theater up to that point. We sold out theaters across the Midwest and garnered national press. I never worked so hard at something I loved. It was glorious.

Through all of these experiences, I learned about leadership. Success is not a solo role, it takes a team, pulled forward and inspired by a big, bold vision. It takes a system, and a strategy. It takes the “soft skills,” the people skills that are not often taught in “B School.”

I learned that leadership is about about making others look great, not about "making people do something." Leadership is service. It is connecting, and building relationships and collaboration. Leadership is empowering others as much as our self, because when we all feel the power, we are all successful.

The skills required to fill a theater or deliver a great performance on stage are the same skills required to be a high level performer in any business; An inspiring vision, a clear strategy, a repeatable system that leads to specified results.

For more than 20 years, I have taught and facilitated hundreds of interactive team building and customer service training for people from C-Suite to custodial staff. I have personally coached dozens of executives, and small business owners one-on-one to help them achieve that leadership “it factor.” My clients develop their ability to create systems that work for them. They develop their confidence, learn some of the tools improvisers use to create solutions and overcome obstacles on the fly. They practice active listening and collaborative skills. The results?

• Increased Sales and business growth

• Increased confidence in high value conversations

• Increased motivation and deeper trust in the team

• Increased productivity and effectiveness

• More freedom, flexibility

• Happier people up and down the organization

Are you next?