Meet Kerri Soukup

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kerri Soukup. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kerri, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?

My Kansas roots are a big part of who I am. I feel that a less traditional path has had a role in maintaining my authenticity as a creative leader. Since moving to Chicago after college from rural Kansas where I grew up, I often feel grateful for the range of perspective this gives me.

I had been working since I could ride my bike into town for my first babysitting summer gig. Then while studying graphic design in college, juggling deadlines with waitressing the morning breakfast shifts, which meant weekend alarms set to 4:30am, helped me pay my way through school. I always attributed this to my ability to juggle a lot, but I’ve come to realize that empathy might be the greater lesson from working in the service industry.

That was followed by coming up in the advertising industry when all nighters happened at least once a week and hailing a cab to head home at 3 am on eerily quiet city streets was the norm. Entering advertising when I did also shaped my perspective about how I wanted to show up as a leader, but that wasn’t immediate. Having the lived experience in that world helped me reach a point of making a conscious choice to break some of those generational patterns and ways of doing things that had always seemingly come with the territory.

Perhaps one of the most indelible marks on my journey with empathy started when I was a senior in high school, but I wasn’t consciously aware of it. This is the year my dad died by suicide. There was a lot of trauma in his life and his death. That was 1992 and the stigma and shame around suicide made grieving and healing confusing. Studying graphic design in college, about 5 years later, I processed a lot of my feelings through a project I created – a book I named Sentiment. The main character was “e,” and the other letters create the emotions that I allowed myself to confront, begin to process and feel when I attempted to put myself in e’s shoes. “e” has gone on to represent empathy for me. It became an important part of me allowing myself to grieve and my journey with healing. There was power in acknowledging the feelings that I had but I also realized the immense power of sharing my story with others in my class.

In 2019, I decided to start sharing my story as a suicide loss survivor and that is when Sentiment Project started creating space for grief. I converted the pages of the book to a series of Instagram posts. We must remove the stigma and talk about this more so I also took the book off the shelf to share it more often. Each time I do this, I am reminded of the power of sharing our stories so we know that we are not alone. Since then, from State Street in Chicago to ABC Sunday morning news to virtual talks, I have shared more about the impact that healing has had on me. No two loss experiences are the same, yet there are parallels and shared themes that connect us. There is an inextricable link between my healing journey to my wholeness, leadership development and ability to show up.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

That step of sharing my story of suicide loss led to a conversation series from Sentiment Project. In 2020, it began with six people who had lost someone, coming together to create a safe, trusting space where people could use creativity to process their emotions too, then share their stories with the group. That is how the “create, share, heal” framework came to be and is used in our Sunday Conversations program with suicide loss survivors, workshops and 1:1 settings, for suicide loss and beyond.

I am deeply grateful that project came into my life when it did.

I can also look back on this time period and parallel many significant milestones in my leadership path as an Executive Creative Director. From culture programs to mentorship to building community and nurturing brands and teams, I see the role that empathy has had in it all. Creating platforms and programs that not only energize me, but create meaningful impact and contribute to the greater good of the community around me has become a part of my story.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Embrace your whole story—the successes and the struggles is the first thing I would say. These things can bring us down or drag us into victimization, but if you own it all, it can build resilience and fortitude. This acceptance is so important. It all made me, me and there is only one you. Then get clear on what this means for you and how this shapes your values. Stay true to who you are and your authenticity will always shine through.

Let yourself dream. Bigger. I had to work mindfully to move from a constrictive to more expansive mindset. It’s something I am still conscious of. Believe in your gifts and your uniqueness. Being aware of my self talk has been a big part of changing that narrative and mindset.

Third, I have to bring it back to empathy. Through curiosity and kindness, you can continuously cultivate this. It will allow for deeper relationships, more perspectives and better solutions—no matter what your calling is. There is so much fulfillment in lifting others up and creating spaces where others feel seen and heard.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

I’d been feeling a pull for a few years. A friend recently shared that “there are two paths in life. You can step forward into growth or backwards into safety.” These words resonate deeply with me. When it was time to think about what came next after 25 years working as a creative in an advertising career that a graphic design degree and other parts of my upbringing had seemingly well-prepared me for, it felt funny to say that I was taking a pause to catch my breath, reflect, reset, and even dream. But it also felt so right.

It wasn’t in my character to sit still and refrain from jumping five steps ahead to solutions and next steps. But that was exactly what I knew I should do. That my skillset had grown and evolved and that I wanted to reflect on the ways to use those gifts, especially where that intersected with my passions and purpose. That with a calm nervous system, I would have more clarity. That it was important to make room for what was next.

I am now expanding the impact of Sentiment Project with clarity and intention and feeling those benefits of pausing for whatever environment I show up in next as a creative leader.

I believe there is a lot of courage in taking the space to create space. This can come from the small pauses in our day to day or longer ones. By allowing myself to really, really be present in it all, feel it all, without attachment to outcomes, I realize that this, too, is a space where healing is needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sentimentproject.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrisoukup
• Other: https://www.kerrisoukup.com