We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Whitney Vaughn, M.Ed. . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Whitney below.
Hi Whitney, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
The development of my confidence and self esteem is 2 fold. 1) My parents were very instrumental in building confidence and self esteem within myself since I was 5 years old. I attended a private Christian school from age 5 to 13 where self confidence and self esteem were at the core of the curriculum. My parents always ensured we had all the educational opportunities possible to thrive. They instilled in myself and my sisters that we are just as good as any one and to always strive for the best. 2) As I have developed in my career, I continue to learn and grow intentionally by continuously developing my skills through various professional development opportunities to build my confidence in my industry. I am always reading, learning and engaging in higher education news to ensure I am up to date with trends, etc. Keeping myself informed and educated continuously builds my confidence and self esteem.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I LOVE what I do! I purposely start with that statement because I truly love what i do everyday. I currently serve as the Launchpad Program Director at UMKC’s Bloch School of Management which is a career readiness and professional development program for undergraduate business students that comes with a renewable scholarship! I work with over 3oo business students to ensure they have access to building a professional toolkit while developing a comprehensive network business of leaders within the Kansas City community. My role is special because I am a HUGE part of developing the next generation of Business leaders. As a strategic leader myself, I am always forward thinking on the best ways to impact growth within my department and ultimately my company. My areas of working genius are Enablement and Tenacity . I get joy, energy , and passion from supporting and initiating the implementation of tasks and ideas to ensure completion and the desired results are achieved.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The 3 areas that have been most impactful for me in my journey 1) Learning to be strategic in my career development. Ensuring I was not just saying Yes to every opportunity because it was presented to me. Making sure that each role and/or project i took on propelled me to the next step in my career. Learning to say No when necessary. 2) Being authentically me. In my 14 years working in higher education, I have learned so much from the students I serve and one of those lessons is that students respond differently when they know they can relate to you and you are being ” real”. Students can spot when you are not being real. I never want to forget how I felt as a freshman in college at a HUGE predominately white institution away from home learning to navigate life in a unfamiliar environment. That is scary. But having people you can relate to and lean on makes all the difference in the world. My goal has always been to be just that for any student I work directly with . 3) Having mentors to guide me along the way. I would encourage anyone to seek mentors to help guide and navigate you in your chosen field. The best thing I have done was seek and develop relationships with my mentors. They guide and challenge me daily. I reach out to them for the good and the bad that come with navigating the higher education industry. I have multiple mentors that have been very instrumental in guiding me through my journey that began 14 years ago and I am forever grateful .
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Weekly Coaching Conversation by Brian Souza is a business fable about taking your leadership game and your team to the next level. I have read this book twice and I learned that as a leader , each member of your team has a different need when it comes to coaching. What works for one may not work for another. My coaching has to reflect that to be effective. This is explained in what the author refers to as the “coaching framework”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneyvaughn1/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneyvaughn1/
Image Credits
UMKC Bloch School of Management.
