Meet Colby Jones | Board Certified Executive Leadership Coach and Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Colby Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colby, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My work life balance has experienced a great shift over the past 4 years. Before COVID, I was working on building my brand, completing my Doctorate courses, and still working a full time job while being a mother to my very active 14 year old daughter. Admittedly, at that time, I was working myself into the ground all day because I had to work on my brand outside of my full time job and I wasn’t leaving leaving much personal time to myself. Fast forward to today, add in a 5 month old baby, I had to become more disciplined with my work life balance.

With the addition of my youngest daughter, I started to prioritize my time. My business coach helped me with the suggestion of utilizing time blocking. With my time blocking, I now have specific tasks that I work on everyday at a certain time and once that time is over, the rest of the day is devoted to spending time with my family.

This new work life balance that I have created has worked wonders and I often suggest it to the clients that I work with, as they are experiencing some of the same struggles that I dealt with. Experience is the best teacher, and I now even with my plate as full as it is, I can complete everything that I need to do and still be there for my family.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business, Live2Lead Professional Coaching, LLC, offers multiple levels of support. First, I provide consultation support to small to mid-sized businesses including Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion strategies, new manager training support, self-care for leaders, professional development, and culture change. Secondly, I provide 1:1 and group leadership coaching support to women that are in leadership roles who want to increase the performance and productivity in the teams that they lead while still maintaining a healthy work life balance. My coaching support helps line my clients up for career advancement by increasing the their own productivity in their roles.

My 15+ years of experience in the mental health field give me a different outlook on how to support women in leadership, with a focus on reducing burnout. In my experience, I have held Director level positions, which have given me an upper hand at knowing what exactly director level leadership is looking for when it comes to work performance and career advancement.

My journey to where I am today has been a long one. While working in the mental health field and moving up in leadership roles, I found myself becoming more and more removed from the reason why I entered that field in the first place. I wanted to get back to supporting people directly. During my mental health career, I was providing leadership support to my teams and I learned how to effectively manage teams and increase their performance, which is where I focus my expertise in my business. It was NOT easy, by any means. The investment alone almost made me quit, but I soon realized that if I valued what I did, I needed to invest in my dream to make it work.

Along the way, I struggled with feeling like I wasn’t getting the recognition that I deserved, so I decided to take things into my own hands. I told myself that if no one was going to allow me to have a seat at their table, I was going to create my OWN table. So that is what I did. I created my own space to grow, and stopped waiting for others to see my worth.

I want the world to know that I am a go-getter and so are the amazing women and businesses that I support. My dedication to my clients and family are what make me the successful, well-balanced business woman that I am today.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a very laid back type of person, so my favorite spots are museums and outdoor nature activities. I would love to set aside a few days to enjoy a cabin getaway in the woods somewhere and go for walks enjoying the peace and scenery. As far as food and drinks, I enjoy the city atmosphere where we could enjoy some drinks and music (I love a live band).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
So there is a group of people that I have to give credit to, because without them, I would not have the confidence to do what I currently do as a leadership coach. First, I absolutely have to shoutout my fiancé (Jason). His support for me and my journey has been essential to my success. He allows me to make mistakes without judging me and cheers me on for every goal that I accomplish, no matter how small.

Next I need to give my best friend (Marquita) some shine. She is the epitome of what it means to support a friend. She shares all of my accomplishments, gives recommendations and referrals, and promotes my business.

Lastly, I need to shout out my business coaches that I have worked with past and present. Without them, I wouldn’t be at the level of success that I am at now. They all pushed me in different ways to get outside of my head and comfort zone, to really show the world who I am.

Website: www.live2leadcoaching.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/coach_colbylyn

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbyjoneslive2lead/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colby.lyn.94

Image Credits
Dominique Murry Dominique Murry Photography