Leadership designed from the inside, out.

It’s our mission to help companies foster more creativity and confidence in their leaders by cultivating greater emotional awareness, balance and empowerment.

We are Create + Lead

Hello, we are Kim and Jennifer, aka Create + Lead. We spent a combined 37 years of experience in agency life, each working at a variety of different agencies. Meeting in our coach training program, we bonded over very similar experiences in our agency - and personal - lives despite Jennifer coming from the Creative side and Kim coming from Account.

As we reflected on our experiences and our coworkers' and friends' stories, we realized there was a real need and opportunity to create impactful programs to help agencies and marketing companies level up in their leadership and consciousness. And we have since combined forces to do just that.

Our Approach

We know the agency world can be demanding. It can be very challenging to find time to think, reflect and “do the work” that’s often required to thrive and be good leaders. Even though many people in the business really want that, the in-depth work required often becomes the last priority in the list of demands.

We design our programs so that there’s dedicated time and space for reflection, sharing perspectives and finding opportunities for growth, both as individuals and teams. Our programs are designed to help people define who they are, and who they want to be, as employees, managers and leaders. They will discover - or rediscover - the fullness of their lives, both at work and beyond, and we believe that starts inside.

Offerings

Power of Engagement Workshop

INTERACTIVE 4 HOUR WORKSHOP
Our highly personalized signature workshop to build leadership and design the possibilities of transforming them as individuals and as an agency.

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Energy Leadership for Teams

INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENTS +
4 HOUR WORKSHOP
We use a data driven framework to introduce energy to your teams in a whole new way. We assess with individuals and as a group to create engaged leadership through energy.

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Create Your Leadership

10 WEEK GROUP COACHING PROGRAM
OR 2 DAY INTENSIVE
Designed for leaders to build confidence, camaraderie and define their own personal leadership style.

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Our Why

In 2021, Jennifer and Kim joined forces to create Create + Lead because they are passionate about the advertising industry. They shared a vision for wanting to help creative people thrive in their careers and lead the business into the next generation. They have created powerful programs based on their own personal journeys in the business, as well as their coaching expertise.

Testimonials

Megan's Story

I came to Create Your Leadership feeling frustrated with burnout, struggling with setting boundaries and lacking confidence in how to lead a team. After our 10 weeks together, I am a force to be reckoned with. I'm now able to set boundaries that are important to me and be more present at work and at home. I have tools now that help me be the best version of myself and make the best decisions for me. I was so nervous at first, thinking others had more experience, and after the first class, all those fears were gone. I quickly learned that no matter your title or experience, we can still all have the same concerns, issues, problems and questions and it was comforting to be surrounded by people who were in the same headspace as me. I felt safe to be vulnerable and learn from Kim and Jennifer and the other participants as well. I revisit my leadership statement often which helps me realign with how I want to show up as a leader. Learning about my energy with the ELI was huge for me. I now understand myself more and clearly see why I communicate the way I do and how others communicate the way that they do. I would absolutely recommend Create Your Leadership! You'll learn so much about yourself, how you work, how you lead and learn how to get better in all those areas. This is a wonderful opportunity to get better, be more vulnerable, stand up for what you deserve and this class is a perfect way to step into that part of yourself!
Megan Atkins, Art Director, Common Sail Investment Group
Participant in Create Your Leadership
Carol's Story

I’m grateful I made the decision to join the Create Your Leadership program. Expertly led by Jennifer and Kim, I found each session full of useful knowledge and well thought out exercises. This was further solidified by lively group discussion, breakout sessions and introspection. I loved hearing other perspectives and learned a lot through the group dynamic as well.
Designed to be practically applied, they shared professional tools and techniques to help us thrive, not only in the work environment but also personally. If you want to hone your professional skills and be reinvigorated in your career this is a great workshop. It also helped me get clarity around areas of personal and professional development and created a path forward. All in all, I was impressed by the material offered, the way the program was so well moderated and the excellent communication throughout. This group helped me create a more refined leadership vision that I’ve applied to my career.
Carol Bartos, Senior Project Manager, Ad Agency
Participant in Create Your Leadership
Jessica's Story

Create + Lead offers an open environment to gain clarity on how you want to lead in your organization, be heard, be present - and provides actionable assignments to put changes in motion. The 9-week group program was a valuable time to connect - even amidst the demands of having four young children and working full time - to center and ground myself, and realign to my values and goals. The biggest takeaway for me was the acknowledgement of the types of leaders I chose to learn from and the type of leader I strive to be as I grow my team. I have been able to shift my mindset in a positive way. Rather than seeing problems, I'm looking for solutions with how to level-up my team, expand upon collaboration, and learn as we grow. It’s led me to re-evaluate how I lead and the type of environment I wish to create for those around me.
Jessica Cutrer, Creative Campaigns Manager, AMD
Participant in Create Your Leadership

Our Proven Process

In order to create lasting change in how someone leads and engages with their work, we have developed a process that structures all of our programs and workshops. We ensure there are points of connection and engagement at every step, as we believe that's what will ensure success.

Learn: We share a concept, thought-provoking question or research to expand perspectives around a key topic.

Reflect: Individuals reflect on the learning and think about how it relates to them.

Insight: Individuals develop a key insight based on their reflections which directly impacts them, their lives and how they show up in their day-to-day.

Action: Individuals create an action based on their insight. Commitment to action is a key component to driving change - "an insight without action is only an idea.”

Share: Group shares what they have gleaned from their reflections and interpretations. They commit to their actions within a group session, which we know helps drive success via accountability.

The Research

In late 2021, we got curious about all the buzz around “The Big Quit” or “The Great Resignation” and how it was impacting the agency world, so we conducted quantitative research with 50 people who worked at agencies across the US. Check out what we learned.

See The Research