Meet Leanne Kampfe

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leanne Kampfe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leanne, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I grew up on a ranch in South Dakota, with parents who were raised in the same traditions. My mom and dad worked tirelessly to support our family and the ranch. My dad always worked more than an eight-hour day, but at certain times of the year, the days were incredibly arduous, as well as long. In the winter, it was calving season, and when a cow is ready to give birth, there isn’t any discussion about whether you’re on or off the clock. In the summer, he was harvesting and spent 12+ hour days out in the field.

While my father spent his days outside navigating the elements of the natural world, my mother’s career as an English teacher was also very demanding. I remember her spending long nights grading essays, and as the sponsor of the yearbook, attending every activity to ensure there were photos to commemorate the occasion.

While I do recall them being tired at times, I don’t remember them complaining. They did what needed to be done. I gained the perspective that when you make a commitment or accept a responsibility, you need to see it through. In addition, I saw the thought and care with which they approached their work, and learned the value of not just persisting, but giving your best to create the most beneficial experience for the ones you serve. Those lessons have served me well, whether in my work as a career educator, or in my efforts to launch and scale my small business.

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?

I am excited about the work I have done to build a small business. My brand, All That Glitters, focuses on providing quality beauty experiences that fit into their busy lives and help them feel seen. Whether it’s recommending quality skincare and cosmetics, or helping them craft unique pieces of permanent jewelry, I bring my authentic self to every interaction and encourage them to do the same.

I expanded my business to include permanent jewelry about six months ago, and it has really taken off. While I primarily connect with customers via pop-up events and markets around the Twin Cities metro, I also recently opened a studio to take appointments in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN. In addition to offering services by appointment, I will be adding monthly interactive experiences as an offering in the fall. I would love to collaborate with other small businesses, but also add some additional options to what I offer as part of this next step in my journey. I’m taking a step in that direction by collaborating on some interactive, ticket-based experiences with other small business owners this summer, and plan to host a grand opening event in my studio space in September that builds upon this theme.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

It has been important, as well as useful, to continually work on my ability to be adaptive. In addition to running my small business, I am a full-time educator. I’ve spent 25 years in education, teaching, working as a school administrator, and now serving as a district administrator that supports school principals. I led my own school through multiple complex experiences, including the tragic loss of students, distance-learning during the pandemic, and the return to in-person learning in the midst of a national awakening around racial consciousness. All of this has taught me to be flexible, think on my feet, and not rely on past solutions to solve current problems. These skills have served me well as I work to develop my small business and helped me roll with the punches when things don’t go as planned. I think you develop adaptability the way you grow in any area – through practice. When tough situations present themselves, don’t walk away. Lean in and push yourself to work with others to engage and change as the situation requires.

My 17 years as a music educator have also been incredibly impactful in the work I have done since, whether that was as a school administrator, or in my current efforts to develop a small business. As a vocal music teacher, I learned the importance of collaboration and the value of creativity of thinking. I also learned to see connections where others may not. I believe my experiences focused on crafting performance opportunities for children and audiences fostered my ability to consider how all people can contribute, regardless of skill, as well as my ability to identify experiences that provide unique moments of connection for performers and audiences. At the heart of all of that is a belief in the value that every individual brings to an interaction, and a desire to help all people feel included and integral to the success of the project. As a school administrator, this belief in the possibility of every individual to contribute influenced me to identify ways to engage staff members who weren’t immediately inclined to demonstrate leadership. In my small business, it has led me to value opportunities to collaborate with other small businesses and create experiences that will meet the varied needs of our customers and community. This mindset helps me see opportunity where others may not, and everyone benefits when all involved are engaged. It’s like the Paul Wellstone quote, “We all do better when we all do better.”

Finally, my commitment to living by my values has been instrumental in my journey. This is something that my parents instilled in me from a young age, and has evolved over the course of my life. Doing the “right” thing is complex – often it’s not the easiest path, and evolving what you see as the “right” thing to ensure it is equitable and serves the greater good requires you to be continually self-reflect on why you believe what you believe. I think this skill is honed when we embrace the opportunities to live our values in the face of opposition. Like being adaptive, a values-driven life is enhanced by opportunities to navigate the disequilibrium created when you stand up for what you believe, regardless of opposition or hardship that may result.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

My life as an administrator has provided many moments of overwhelm. When everything is coming at me at once, I try to pause, breathe, and consider what is most important in that moment. It can be challenging to focus on one thing at a time when everything feels urgent. I have had to learn that I won’t ever make everyone happy and I won’t ever be done solving problems. That doesn’t mean I can’t have impact, and making significant change is a journey, not an endpoint. I believe I started learning that lesson as a music educator. While it is tempting to focus solely on the final product of your efforts (the performance), it is incredibly important to value the journey and understand that the learning can happen anywhere along the way. I think a need to feel competent and in control is at the heart of being overwhelmed, and we can shift the anxiety that produces by realizing the navigation of complex situations is a success as much as the positive resolution or completion of a project.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leannekampfe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leanne.kampfe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leanne.kampfe.ATG

Image Credits

Engle//Olson