Meet Janine Davis

We recently connected with Janine Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Janine, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
My purpose and I were on converging paths since I was very young, and we have finally and firmly intersected. It’s been a circuitous road and all the steps on it have been necessary, although I wouldn’t have wished some of those steps on my worst enemy.

I started off as an engineer at Accenture, and then worked my way up to CTO/CIO. I loved parts of it, but if you think it’s hard being a woman in tech now, imagine it 30+ years ago! I had my babies back-to-back and decided to get into tech recruiting, thinking it would afford me more flexibility so I could see them occasionally. I figured worst case, if I hated recruiting, I’d just find myself a job . I ended spending 20 years in that world including owning my own recruiting agency focused on venture-backed startups. Towards the latter part of that career, recruiting became very transactional. I was feeling less fulfilled. I’d joined the board of Women Founders Network 10 years ago and started coaching female founders on a probono basis. THAT fulfilled me. I embarked on getting certified as a coach through The Hudson Institute of Coaching, and juggled running my own business, starting up a coaching practice and raising my kids.

And then The Life Tornado™️ hit…. I had a series of about 10 major concurrent stressors within what seemed like a never-ending several years. I was running on fumes. But those dark nights of the soul can be the birthplace of the greatest change if you take them as opportunities.

Once I was past the survival stage, I used that experience to fuel my emergence fully into my current career as an Executive Coach and Facilitator with Evolution. I was fortunate enough to meet the founders through a mutual friend that I’d met at some random networking event years prior. When I first went on Evolution’s site, the home page read “Scale Without Losing Your Soul”, and I knew I’d found my people.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Now seven years into coaching, my primary focus is 1:1 coaching with CxOs and Founders, facilitating offsites and leading training, DEI and culture programs for companies including Glassdoor, Headspace, Microsoft, Help Scout and Planned Parenthood.

I love the intersection point between science and human experience and am especially passionate about partnering with nature and animals as co-facilitators to growth. I build these interests into my work in a few ways.

– I took an incredible MIT course on the Neuroscience of Leadership taught by Dr. Tara Swart. Understanding the physiology of change can make that change so much easier for leaders. They understand how the brain will both help and hinder their progress. There are also 6 ways of thinking and helping leaders tap into their non-default ways can open up doors to new insights and behaviors.
– I’m a big fan of the enneagram, a personality assessment with somewhat mysterious roots and eerily accurate results. It’s a great nuanced tool for understanding typical behavior as well as behavior under stress. I’ve found mapping a leadership team’s enneagram makeup to be particularly powerful. It helps them understand why they operate the way they operate, how they interplay with each other, and how they can most effectively communicate, delegate and hold each other accountable.
– I run several unique programs bringing leaders into nature, working with animals, including horses, wolves and wild animals in Kenya. I’m increasingly certain that connection to nature is essential for the health of the earth and humanity. We need to remember that we are part of nature in order to be its guardian. I’ve found that connection to nature re-opens leaders to reconnect with themselves and their purpose, and then to deepen connection with their teams and mission. Nature and non-human species model exemplary modes of leadership, team dynamics, self-awareness and self-regulation. These experiences are so out of the ordinary, it opens leaders up to new ways of thinking and behaving that can create rapid transformation.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
A few qualities have helped me traverse to my current career happy place. I’ve typically been able to blend seeing the big picture along with being able to execute logically. This allows me to project out probable outcomes, pick the best route, and then make it happen. I come from a traumatic background and have complex PTSD, a form which comes from being in a constant state of fight or flight versus having endured a single horrific event. The silver lining of that is I made positively sure I could take care of myself and my kids. Discipline, hard work and focus have come easily to me through necessity. (Side note: I’ve learned to regulate that and keep myself in balance. Earlier in my career, I worked wayyyyyy too much). Finally, I have a very intuitive side. I can sense energy and feel when systems/organizations are in or out of balance, as well as sensing the non-verbal communication happening when I interact with people. In every job I’ve been in, I end up being a rebel and contrarian, being the voice for those that might otherwise not have one. This is a silly example, but in my first role with Accenture, all new hires were sent to St. Charles, Illinois for a 3-week onboarding. At the end, a group picture was taken. There was a sea of black and gray suits and white button up shirts, and in the middle, there I am in a red silk shirt. Dressing conservatively made no sense to me, especially when we typically worked 80-hour weeks. Comfort seemed much more logical. This contrarianism has showed up many times since, and around much more important topics.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
I was privileged enough to go on safari in Uganda and Kenya with my kids last year. There’s a reason everyone says going to Africa is life-changing. I entered the Maasai Mara one person and came out another. There is a magical moment when you’re flying into the Mara on a bush flight, and you look down and realize there are animals everywhere – the surrealness of seeing zebras, elephants, and giraffes in the hundreds is mind blowing. I remember feeling like I was entering West World. And after a couple of days of being in the wild, I realized that my life back home was what was actually West World. Seeing nature operate as intended – its effortless symbiosis and dynamic equilibrium – THAT was reality. Being there stripped away limiting beliefs and obstacles. I came home with clarity on my purpose to connect people with nature.

To that end, I’m now certified as an Equine Coach, I lead a program called Leadership With Wolves in partnership with Wolf Connection, and in July, 2024 I’m going back to Kenya to take leaders through a program called Essential Leadership!

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