Page 40 - BusinessWest January 6, 2021

Kirley
Three Pillars
Although ‘dignity’ is the theme of the collective’s first series of courses, it’s also the foundational con- cept of the business itself, Kirley explained.
From that foundation rise three pillars. “The first
is dignity as defined by self-worth, something that’s
inherent, that we bring with us all the time. The sec-
ond pillar is the embodiment of this connection to
massive global Continued from page 38 pandemic that has
caused so much loss and disruption, and I’m including myself there —
I was again on unemployment, facing my own fears and insecurities.”
As the single mother of three teens, she felt pres- sure to provide stability to her household, but she also loved working. “It was a lot of figuring things out, like so many of us needed to do. And what I noticed was that I felt compelled to go back to my roots of helping people.”
Seven months later, the result of those ideas became JKirley Collective, which offers personal- and professional-development courses, beginning with its first track, the “Dignity Series,” and the pilot pro- gram in that track, “Dignity in Conversation,” which includes a virtual workshop on Jan. 19 and a follow- up virtual peer-group session on Jan. 26.
As she explained, JKirley Collective collaborates with others who share the mission of helping people unlock their potential to build the lives they want through transformative action. As the pandemic wore on, she said, “I found myself asking what really mat- ters — to me, and to this world. I started a business to pursue my passion of helping people unlock their potential, to craft the lives they want.”
It’s quite a detour from when she studied biology at Smith College with a goal of one day curing cancer.
“I was very ambitious,” she said. “But I always came back to that anchor within myself, wanting to help people. With COVID and the loss of jobs and just moving through this workforce disruption and trans- formation, how can I help people navigate that? What skills do I have? That’s what brought me to offer my Dignity Series programs.”
our self-
worth;
there’s a
difference
between
simply
under-
standing
dignity and
abilities, questioning our success. And that can derail our ability to reach our goals and move to the other side.”
Getting back to the collaborative concept at the heart of her new enterprise, Kirley credits Andrea Bordenca, who is helping her design and develop the Dignity Series, with being a sounding board as she built the business.
“Considering her valuable experience, it gave me
“
massive global pandemic that has caused so much loss and disruption, and I’m including myself there — I was again on unemployment,
Here I am again, two years later, during a
bringing ”
it into the facing my own fears and insecurities.
body and
seeing it as JESSI KIRLEY
a platform
for growth and a way to increase confidence and ward off self-doubt. That’s the embodiment piece.”
The third pillar is about action. “We’ve dived into concepts of self-worth and our dignity and really worked on ways to embody that and practice that. So, how do we connect to our agency, our actions, our free choice? And the choice, in this case, maybe, is to move through these disruptions to make a better life for ourselves, or to be more generous, or to step into a new role.”
Many individuals these days are certainly doing the latter. “In this time of change, we’re stepping into new responsibilities, with massive amounts of uncer- tainty — and what does that feel like? Maybe we’re unsure of ourselves, not confident, doubting our own
a kind of safety net,” she said of Bordenca, who is CEO of both the Institute for Generative Leadership and DESCO Service, as well as the founder of Lead Yourself Youth. “Taking a chance to start a business — the visioning, the planning — is a very vulnerable experience, and it can be scary. Having a safety net in Andrea allowed me to reach higher.”
Another early collaborator is Amy Jamrog, a financial advisor and founding partner of the Jam- rog Group, who is helping Kirley develop a second track of courses, called Claim Your Worth, which will incorporate concepts of self-worth and dignity into practical lessons on financial empowerment. That program’s first course will launch on Feb. 10.
The individual classes are collaborations as well;
O’REILLY, TALBOT & OKUN:
CELEBRATING SOME OF THE CORE VALUES LEADING OUR TEAM INTO THE FUTURE.
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