About the Owner
After spending 10 years at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn Michigan as a mechanical engineer in powertrain systems, Karissa made a radical career shift to serve with the non-profit organization Adult & Teen Challenge. This ministry is a Christ-centered outreach and recovery program for youth and adults addicted to drugs and alcohol. The move came after a series of mission trips to Jamaica to help build a women’s Adult & Teen Challenge center. In 2003 she moved to Ocho Rios to serve as the women’s and men’s Program Director, and eventually Executive Director, until 2007.
Leadership Development
The leadership experience in Jamaica led Karissa to a passion for leadership development and staff training and an opportunity to help develop the Emerging Leaders Program with Adult & Teen Challenge in Columbus, GA. Until 2015, she served as the Director of Corporate Training, overseeing all aspects of corporate training, leadership development, and corporate IT, communication and events.
Organizational Health
With a growing interest in the area of organizational health, Karissa launched out on her own in 2015 to start Redwoods Consulting. Because Chick-fil-A had a reputation for servant leadership and organizational health, Karissa went to work part-time for a stand alone restaurant while building content for her business. She wanted to see if a Chick-fil-A team member would experience a servant leader culture, and she wasn’t disappointed!
Chick-fil-A Experience
For a year and a half, Karissa ended up working almost every position in the business (FOH and HOH), including closing shift leader and director. This led to working with Operator Brandon Jackley in Blue Springs, MO to develop systematic leadership training as well as providing leadership coaching. What was originally intended to be short-term, became a long-term dedication to the success of Chick-fil-A’s God-given purpose.
Passion for Empowering People
Karissa is passionate about seeing organizations create healthy cultures, effective leaders and empowered people resulting in the best possible service to the mission and to the customer. She resides in Kansas City, MO with her husband Pete, a senior engineer with Honeywell.
Equipping a generation in servant leadership.
Core Purpose:
01.
Servant Leadership
02.
Simplicity & Systems
Core Values:
03.
Responsible & Responsive
Life-long Learning
04.
05.
Keep it Real
06.
Sense of Urgency
