About | Kristen Fragnoli, Life and Leadership Coach

Kristen Fragnoli | Life & Leadership Coach

You Are the Leader of Your
Life and Career!

You may be feeling stuck right now. You likely know that there is “more” trying to emerge in your life. Perhaps you are ready for a new challenge or have recently taken the next step in your career. You're striving to make a difference and you want to be the leader you know you can be! You're craving more impact and confidence along with more balance, more rest, more fun. You know you have to do something but you’re not sure what.

Here’s my guess: You are seeking change, growth, and renewal in your work, your business, your relationships, and your life (am I right?). This is the quest we all share – a deep desire to fulfill our potential, live a life of vitality and meaning and follow our own North Star. We want to find and use our talents to reach our desired goals with more ease, whatever those goals may be. The first step towards living an integrated, meaningful, joyful life is recognizing that to change your world, you start by changing yourself. To feel fully alive and connected, you first connect deeply with yourself. So, are you ready for this? (The answer is yes - yes you are!)

I partner with thoughtful, caring people (like YOU) to build confidence, presence, and clarity so you can take the next steps towards the vibrant life and career you want. We'll dive deep to uncover what you REALLY want and release your unique brilliance so you can connect to your inner leader. Then together we'll explore and establish practices that empower you in the pursuit of your vision. I'll hold space for you to discover and harness your deep intelligence and rid yourself of limiting patterns. With support, you'll learn to tap the power of discernment to take the best next step forward. Build your own "Resilience Portfolio" to carry you through challenge and flourish as the leader of your own life. Create the life you want; grow yourself, contribute in meaningful ways, and have positive impact in your organization and community.

This is not about lip service - I’ll help you pair insight with action by clarifying your values, uncovering obstacles holding you back, and building a toolkit of communication skills, reflection strategies, and resilience practices to lead you in your own right direction.

My Story

About ten years ago, my life looked very different than it does today. I was overwhelmed by working long hours on an endless list of projects, feeling disconnected from colleagues and family alike. I was working to create positive change yet facing almost daily conflict. How had I gotten here after 25 years of progress and success? My work had always been fulfilling; I celebrated many accomplishments, developed positive relationships, and thrived as a leader. It was great... until it wasn’t. Instead of feeling like I had “arrived,” I felt squashed. At 49, approaching the “pinnacle” of my career in higher education, I faced burnout, deep discontent and a sense that my life was happening to me instead of being created by me.

I was “second in command” as the Provost and Vice President of a college but I needed to be “first in command” of my own life.

I was working overtime to fit myself into the shape of other people’s expectations, often held back from using my gifts. I was tired of going to work with a pit in my stomach. I needed more fulfillment and positive change and less “conflict management.” I was waking up to the voice inside me yearning for more transformational, connected relationships and fewer transactional, tit-for-tat I owe yous.

I wanted more authenticity and deeper connection to who I am underneath it all. I knew I had the skills and experience to share my talents and make a meaningful difference in the world. It was time to connect to myself and others in new, less constricted ways. My life wanted to OPEN. I needed, connection, collaboration, celebration and transformation. I yearned to step out onto a new path.

So I walked.

I decided that I would not abandon myself any longer.

I took a big scary leap and left my 30-year career. Well, it was actually a bunch of small steps that added up to a big leap (something I can help you accomplish too!) My point is, I’ve gone through “significant transitions” in my own life, so I get it! I am dedicated to supporting and guiding others as they transform their lives (even as I have transformed myself!)

Once I decided to be the leader of my life, things changed. Within 2 months of walking away, I traveled to my bucket list destination of Machu Picchu, turned 50, attended a women's entrepreneur conference where I walked across a bed of hot coals (I still can’t believe it myself!) and launched my own business. One year later I hosted a women’s leadership conference attended by 200 amazing women! Then, I tackled the biggest challenge - learning to embody the life and leadership I wanted.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't always been smooth sailing; like everyone, I've had my ups and downs, faced loss, had days of happy celebration, connected with new people and experiences, and cleared away things that weren't working for me. I'm still working on it - creating a life of meaning, joy and connection is a daily practice.

I've faced many of the same lessons my clients have. Number one among those lessons is learning to listen to my own wisdom to guide my choices (because you know as well as me, the "world" has all sorts of opinions about what we "should" be doing.) I'm a happy work-in-progress, and every day (even the hard days), I am proud to be living according to my own convictions, making positive change in the world and creating the vibrant career and life I want.

Deep inside me, I KNOW that you also have the potential to transform yourself!

It would be my privilege to be your partner and guide as you create whatever you are yearning for in your life and work. Let's do it together!

Lessons I Learned On the Journey from Burnout to a Vibrant Life and Career

What I’ve learned over the years is that any venture that requires you to sacrifice your true inner self will leave you feeling unsatisfied. We CAN learn to tune in to the leader within and trust our inner yearnings. Often the first step is to "find" the inner, authentic voice - the core of you that has been buried by social expectations, survival strategies, overwhelming external demands and the chaos of modern life. The work of excavating the self is challenging and messy, and it is also joyful, playful and celebratory!

There is NO need to stay stuck in a life of dissatisfaction!

Not everyone will walk away from their job like I did (although maybe you will). But I know that being true to yourself, using your gifts, and sharing your authentic self changes how you lead and how you relate to the world. You may even find that with the transformation you experience, you develop a whole new perspective about everything - your current role, your current challenges and your current goals. This is the insight that changes things,

Learning to listen to, trust and take action based on my own inner leadership helped me achieve more connection, deeper satisfaction, and attunement to the most meaningful parts of my life. (It is scary at times, but so exciting too!) I use these guiding principles to practice being the leader of my life.

Learn How I Can Help

You can do it too by:

Practicing “radical connection” with yourself and others; by building deep self-awareness and self-acceptance, you will connect more deeply with others.
Setting and achieving goals by listening to your inner guidance instead of external pressures.
Developing resilience and emotional intelligence on purpose to manage challenge and adapt to change in your life and work.
Improve your leadership by confidently using your voice, trusting your own knowledge, building skills and asking for help if you need it.
Strengthening your relationships by using proven communication techniques that build trust.
Understanding and investing in social justice to help create a more inclusive and equitable world.
Finding opportunities to mindfully practice creativity, balance, and joy.

Credentialed by the International Coach Federation as an Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
Founder of FLX Women - A Community Leadership Forum for Women
A lifelong educator; formerly a professor, an advisor, a Dean, and a Provost & Vice President of a college - now a coach, facilitator & trainer
A lifelong learner who holds a Master’s Degree in Human Communication, numerous certifications, and years of study in positive psychology, resilience and mindful leadership
A humble practitioner, facilitator and teacher of mindfulness
A lover of books, feathers and mountains
Awed by the natural world, have a collection of rocks in my home and find inspiration in the woods
An avid traveler (I’ll go anywhere!) and I speak broken Spanish
Happiest when I’m with my husband, two grown kids, and my 6 siblings - preferably having a dance party!

Using a holistic coaching approach founded on my experience and expertise in communication, mindful leadership, positive psychology, and resilience, I support client-partners to integrate life and career and become more fully themselves so they can bring their unique gifts to the world. Working together, we take your whole life into account so you can successfully take the next step towards the life and career you long for.

Deep down, you know there is more; let's find that more together.

Book A Free Discovery Call Today!

You Are the Leader of Your Life and Career!