Dr. Katie Ervin
Founder & CEO
Genius: Galvanizing, Discernment
Katie Ervin is a vision-driven, goal-focused leader with a proven history of innovation and achievement. Throughout her career, she has established a reputation as a leadership expert and a transformational leader who is driven by challenge, undeterred by obstacles, and committed to furthering standards of excellence. Efficiency, project management, and organizational change while building trust throughout an organization is a strength.
Her expertise encompasses all aspects of organizational administration and operations, from controlling costs and maximizing results to harnessing team strengths to improve overall performance. Further, her ability to build consensus among executive teams and stakeholders to promote transparency and influence positive change has been repeatedly proven. Throughout her career she has been successful in breaking down silos and assisting all in understanding the overarching needs of the organization.
She is an enthusiastic mentor, coach and team member. She believes in lifelong learning and assisting people to continue their growth. She enjoys sharing her expertise and working with organizations to foster a positive culture utilizing self-determination theory. She believes it is critical for organizations to build employee loyalty and focus on organizational happiness.
It is about the people! Building strong leadership and relationships are the cornerstone to healthy organizations. Success begins and ends with our continued growth both personally and professionally. Investing in developing our power skills benefits us, our teams and our organizations!
Dr. Katie Ervin
Jenna Scott
Chief Operating Officer
Genius: Tenacity, Galvanizing
Jenna is a relationship builder focused on growth and people. She enjoys getting to know an individual’s story to better understand who they are. By getting to know the whole person, she uses her life and work experience in Professional Development, Sports, and Marketing to help others see their full potential.
Jenna graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor’s in Entertainment Management and then pursued her MBA with a certificate in leadership. She currently serves on the DEI board for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City and loves feeding her growth mindset with new activities, learning opportunities and interactions with people.
Emma Blankenship
Chief Strategy Officer
Genius: Wonder, Enablement
Emma Blankenship has over 10 years of experience in education, mentorship, training, and nonprofit leadership. She received her BA from Rockhurst University and MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is a trained historian with several published articles and writing awards, and because of that, one of her passion areas is the transition from a liberal arts education to the business world.
Through her career in nonprofits, she has built networks and fostered community engagement. She runs trainings on networking and personal brand creation.
Emma has a passion for people and is deeply committed to the idea that everyone should be able to enjoy their work. She is a certified career coach specializing in early to mid career.
Catalyst Workplace Model
The Catalyst Workplace Model was developed by Dr. Katie Ervin rooted in self-determination theory. She found in her research that self determination theory had great application in the workplace but was lacking a workplace model. This model shows the importance of creating a workplace environment that focuses on relatedness, competence and autonomy to improve workplace motivation and happiness at work.
It is important for leaders to understand their employee’s basic psychological needs of relatedness, competence, and autonomy.
Relatedness – need to have a close relationship with others
Competence – need to be effective in dealing with environment
Autonomy – need to control the course of their lives
Self Determination Theory
In 1985, psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan introduced the self-determination theory (SDT) of motivation, which provides a framework for a person’s motivation level. SDT is unique because it explains motivation level as a continuum that a person moves through based on their experience and the situation they are presented. The theory presents the three basic needs of people as relatedness, competence and autonomy. At the very basic level, our employees want a sense of belonging and community, the tools and training to do the job they were hired to do, and then to be allowed to do their job.
The Working Genius
The Working Genius is Patrick Lencioni’s teamwork model, which helps people understand how they can contribute to work most effectively. This tool can help individuals, leaders and teams better leverage one another’s strengths and understand how to be both productive and fulfilled at work.
This model can be used in a variety of ways to bring greater success and fulfillment:
Leadership development/coaching
Job alignment/adjustments
Team cohesion and productivity
Creating a common language for organizations and teams
Clarity around stages of work
Our Core Values
Growth
We value lifelong learning, which includes personal and professional development. We believe in being bold in the face of challenges: we are bold enough to admit when we need to change, to have difficult conversations, and to share our stories.
Autonomy
We give ourselves the autonomy to do our jobs in the manner that works for us. Knowing that every team is different, we give our clients autonomy to tell us what they need. We help organizations build trust from within and create autonomy naturally.
Community
We believe in creating an environment where everyone has a seat at the table. We want our friends and clients to feel a sense of belonging. We help our clients create their own community of belonging, both internally and externally.