An Inspired Chat with Kristin Kaufman of Highland Park

Kristin Kaufman shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Kristin, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
My natural ‘alarm clock’ goes off at 5am every morning. I have not used an alarm is at least 3 decades.

Before I put my feet on the floor, I have 20-30 minutes of centering prayer and meditation. This is a practice that has been integral to my life for the past 40 years. This gets my head and heart right for the day – and aligned to my higher power.

Then at 5:30am, I head downstairs to have my energy drink and a few cups of herbal tea – typically ginger tea. Then, I have my 30-minute HIIT workout – which has been transformational for my life.

After a bath (yes, I take a hot bath every single day – no shower), I take my seat in my office where I catch up on the news (though, not as regularly as in the past – as it is such a downer, I don’t like to start my day in the manner), catch up on social media, review my day – and begin my ‘work’ no later than 7am.

My biorhythms are definitely at their highest point in the morning, so I stack the ‘hard stuff’ in the morning so that I have done most of my ‘heavy lifting’ by 11am each day.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am what I refer to as a ‘recovering corporate exec’ turned entrepreneur. I loved what I did the first 25+ years of my career, until I didn’t! As people (and professionals), we evolve; and there was a day when I realized I had ‘lost the plot’ of my career trajectory. I was, as I now refer to it, ‘out of alignment’. That was when I embarked on re-inventing how I wanted to contribute to the world – that was 20 years ago.

Through this personal experience, I tapped into and trademarked my concept of alignment – which up until then – had been reserved for chiropractors and automobile alignment companies! I define alignment as ‘loving what you do, being good at it, and most importantly having it tied to something greater than yourself’. If any of those pillars are wobbly – then we are as well! Yet, once we become aligned, we are undoubtedly at our most powerful.

So – that is my mission – to help individuals, teams, organizations, and boards of directors become fully aligned. At my company, Alignment, Inc.®, we don’t pigeonhole our services as we believe each organization and individual need is unique to any given situation. Our Alignment at Work® foundational approach is customized for each and every client with whom we work.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
Hewlett-Packard was my first professional alma mater. From my perspective, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard created the gold standard of strong company values which led to the powerful HP Way culture. As my first job out of college, this experience formed how I have met every professional role I have had sense that time. I learned so much from these two seminal leaders: honesty, integrity, respect for all people, not to mention the example of their brilliant technical and business minds.

However, the two people who taught me the most about life AND work were my parents: Joe and Gretta Kaufman. They reared my sister and me with a solid foundation of love and faith. And through their actions and their lives, they taught the basics of a strong work ethic, that our character and reputation were indispensable, and that if we treat others as we would want to be treated – the rest will work out. Those lessons are indelible in my career and also in my life.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Life is full of wounds, all of which shape our lives. There have been many in my life and all have impacted how I see the world.

However, the one loss that completely shifted how I make meaning in the world was my inability to have children. Ironically, having children was never ‘the’ pinnacle event I longed for in life – until the actual gift of being able to conceive was completely taken away. Yet I was able to live, which was the tradeoff. Mortality can be a truth serum for what is truly important.

Being reared in the south, many decades ago, most female role models had children. Thus, I had to reframe how I was going to build my life and my legacy. This reality forced me into accepting that a conventional and traditional aspect of being a female was not to be for me. Truthfully, that void is still ever present.

However, I also learned that all human beings are children – and all of us can be mothers to one another. Interpretation is paramount. I choose to grasp that concept and realize that my metaphoric womb can be a vessel for many births and my ‘DNA child’ is just one. Thus, this gives validity to the work I do today.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
At the risk of sounding cliche, I sincerely believe that being true to oneself – aka: being AUTHENTIC is one value I hold very close – for several reasons.

In the world of social media and putting the ‘positive spin’ on everything, I have grown weary of the shiny object. I long for the vulnerable, honest voice. In fact, the individuals to whom I am most attracted are those that show all sides of themselves – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Given we are all in the human condition, to me, this is TRUTH. These people are approachable and real. They are the ones with whom another person feels comfortable opening their inner sanctum and sharing their secrets. That is beautiful to me.

Secondly, in the world of easy access to all things, it has been astonishing to watch how people plagiarize and in fact steal, other individual’s intellectual property, ideas, phrases, and indeed their livelihood and attempt to ‘make it their own’. They do so without even the slightest hint of attribution. This is the base definition of INAUTHENTICITY – and yet it is pervasive in the world today.

From my perspective, if we lose our authenticity and ‘who we really are’, we are short-changing the world. As we are all unique – every single one of us. Our sacred responsibility is to be true to ourselves. Full stop.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
This question hits home to me. You see, I have literally looked mortality in the face 4 times in my life. Three times in my adult life, and one as an infant. Since the first experience, as an adult, I look at life completely differently than I did prior to that time.

When you have looked the proverbial ‘death tiger’ in the eye, there is a sense of urgency to live life NOW. As that is truly all any of us have. Not to be fatalistic, yet it is 100% the truth. And I simply don’t look at ‘retirement’ as the ‘permission slip’ to start living life. That perspective has never fit my value set. Now is really all we have. Period.

So, honestly, there is little I would change in how I spend my time now, versus if I was given only 10 more years. I have faced that reality more than once…and 10 years would have been a generous sentence. So, I travel voraciously now. I spend time with people I love now. I try to contribute to the best of my ability now. I keep many long, deep, introspective days to myself now (selfish as that may sound). And I try very hard to create ripples that will live long after I am gone. No guarantees on any of this – yet that is most certainly how I try to live each day.

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Marla McDonald – photo credit

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