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Name: Jackie Kellso

Business: PointMaker Communications, Inc., communication and interpersonal skills training and coaching

Industry: Coaching & Consulting

Location: New York, New York, U.S.

Reason for starting: To leave corporate life and the pointlessness of advertising sales — not that there’s anything wrong with a lifelong career in ad sales, but it no longer matched who I was becoming, who I wanted to be and how I wanted to express my purpose in life. At the time I left my high-paying job, I was dating a jazz musician who was making a living by sharing his talents. He was doing what he was born to do and the gigs were coming in! I have since married that wonderful man and am always grateful for the inspiration he gave me, to leap into a career that I felt passionate about, that made me grow as a person, and work hard to become a skilled, certified interpersonal and communications specialist and brain-based coach.

Related: Read about another Coaching & Consulting entrepreneur here.

How do you define success? I define success by how much value I’m bringing in and  how I’m helping others on their paths. By how much the word of mouth about my talents gets spread to others who can use my services.

Biggest Success: Not only that Dale Carnegie Training invested in developing my coaching and training skills, but that I’ve been hired by them consistently for the last 11 years to deliver a variety of their programs. This is the ultimate proof that the organization considers me to be a highly effective trainer.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? The biggest challenge is that I need to write a book to build a real platform that differentiates me, and gets my name out there on a larger scale. However, I’m told by agents that I must first have a large following or a publisher won’t want my book. But, I need my book to leverage my brand! So, the challenge is to use social media and marketing in a clever way, with a limited budget, to get my name out there. Without it, I fall into the sea of other coaches and consultants vying for the same thing!

Related: The Ascent of Women Business Owners

Who is your most important role model? My husband, Jon-Erik Kellso, is my role model. As mentioned, he was my muse to leave corporate life for living my purpose with passion, and he continues to give me strength: living in the moment, trying not to worry about what will or won’t happen, not to focus on money as the key goal, but that the riches are in the freedom of expression, the freedom to be one’s best self and the joy of living authentically.

[box_light]Website   www.pointmakercommunications.com
Twitter   @jackiekellso
Facebook   www.facebook.com/PointmakerCommunications[/box_light]

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Edited by The Story Exchange