|
What a Garden Taught Us About Growing A Business
A Note from the Roots
June feels different this year.
Maybe it's the longer days. Maybe it's the fact that we are officially two years old this month and still pinching ourselves a little. Maybe it's that we are watching the seeds of connection we have been planting for two years finally taking shape in ways that feel really meaningful. Whatever it is, June has us feeling rooted in the best possible way.
This month, we are leaning into exactly that...what it means to be rooted. In your strengths. In your work. In the relationships that make both of those things truly meaningful. We are talking about what it looks like to tend to the things that matter most, a little every day, and what happens when you finally give them room to grow.
We are also taking time to celebrate. Not only are we celebrating Aspen Root Collective's birthday, but June always feels like a month full of celebration! Whether it is graduation parties or cookouts, Pride or Juneteenth, or just simply Mother Nature being in full bloom, we hope you can take time for connection and reflection this June.
We're excited to share some rooted updates with you as well! We are previewing something really special coming at the end of July. An Intro to Strengths session designed specifically for students, built around Gallup's brand new Strengths for Students report. We get so many requests for this kind of workshop. Amy is wrapping up her ICF coaching coursework, and Sarah is renewing her Gallup strengths coaching certification, which means the work we bring to your teams just keeps getting deeper. And we have been reading some books that we cannot stop thinking about. All of that, and we're spending more time with amazing teams taking this work even deeper.
Two years in, we are more committed than ever to this work and to the people doing it alongside us. That includes you.
Let's dig in.
Amy & Sarah
Aspen Root Collective
Collective Connections | From Strengths to Success
A Rooted in Potential Workshop for Students
Resumes that don't sound like a template. Interviews where you're not winging it. Networking that doesn't feel weird. Yes, please!
Here's something you might not know about us: between the two of us, we've got kids spanning the entire spectrum of "what's next." A son heading into his senior year of high school. A daughter who'll be a junior. A son who just graduated and is heading to college for the first time. And our oldest kids? Already in college, navigating internships, resumes, and the terrifying question of "so what do you actually want to do?"
So when we say we live this work, we mean it. Not just as certified career coaches and Gallup Global Strengths Coaches, but as parents actually standing in it, right now, with our own kids.
That's exactly why we're so excited about something new from Gallup. They've recently rolled out a whole suite of role-based CliftonStrengths reports — for managers, for leaders, for sales professionals — each one designed to help people understand not just what their strengths are, but how to actually use them in the specific role they're in. It's a meaningful step forward in making strengths work practical and personalized.
But the one that's got us the most excited is the CliftonStrengths for Students report. It takes everything we love about strengths-based development and applies it directly to where students are right now. It gives them meaningful insights into how they study, how they work in groups, how they set goals, and how they can start connecting their natural talents to real career paths.
We're excited to dig into it with our next workshop:
From Strengths to Success: A Rooted in Potential Workshop for Students
📅 July 30th | 6:00-7:30 PM
📍 DeKalb Chamber Partnership
💵 $59.99 (includes your unique CliftonStrengths for Students report)
And if cost is what's standing between you (or someone you know) and this workshop, reach out. We always hold a spot or two for anyone who's genuinely passionate about growing in their strengths. Price should never be the reason someone misses out on understanding what makes them exceptional.
This workshop is for high schoolers nearing graduation, college students figuring out internships or next steps, and recent grads who are wondering, "Okay, now what?" We'll explore your CliftonStrengths for Students results and turn them into something you can actually use for stronger resumes, better interview answers, and smarter networking conversations that actually feel like you, not a script.
And parents, educators, and anyone else investing in supporting students' growth, you're welcome too. If you know a student standing at one of these crossroads, this is something you can offer them with confidence. As certified coaches in two different, unique career coaching frameworks, our approach isn't about telling students what to do. It's about helping them see the natural talents they already have and giving them the language and confidence to use them. Spots are limited. Sign up today!
|
|
|
This month on the blog, Sarah is in the weeds.
Like, pajamas-slippers-coffee-in-hand, before-she's-even-fully-awake in the garden.
What's something you're good at that you haven't actually used in months?
Sarah leads with Maximizer, the strength that wants to perfect everything on the first try. Her cut flower garden has zero patience for that. So she's tracing the thread between a season of zinnias, delphiniums, and a few new experiments, and what she already coaches other people on every week, but apparently needed to relearn herself.
Spoiler alert- strengths aren't something you identify once and file away.
They're something you grow. And then give away.
|
|
|
|
What We're Loving This Month!
It's the Manager by Jim Clifton & Jim Harter
This one isn't new, but I picked it back up recently while prepping for a workshop on employee engagement, and it hit differently this time around.
We've all heard the saying, 'people don't leave bad companies, they leave bad managers'. Well, the research shows that this is true.
The core argument is simple but honestly kind of shocking once you sit with it: managers are the single biggest factor in whether someone is engaged at work. Not perks. Not mission statements. Not even pay, really. The relationship someone has with their direct manager shapes almost everything about how they experience their job... and that influence is only growing as the workplace itself continues to change.
Reading it again with fresh eyes (and a workshop to prep for) reminded me how much this book isn't about managers needing to be perfect. It's about managers needing to be present; to know their people, to communicate clearly, and to actually invest in their growth.
If you've got managers on your team who are doing okay but could be doing so much more, this is the book to hand them. And if you're thinking about what it would look like to actually invest in your managers this year, that's a conversation we'd genuinely love to have with you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aspen Root Collective Turns 2!
And we have a LOT to celebrate!
Two years ago, we started with an idea, a shared belief in this work, and honestly, no real clue how any of it would unfold.
Today, we're celebrating two years of Aspen Root Collective, and we're not going to pretend we saw all of this coming. We didn't know we'd be building career workshops for high schoolers. We didn't know how many "aha" moments we'd get to witness in a Q12 debrief, or how much we'd come to love watching a team finally understand why they clash, or click, the way they do. We didn't know how many of you would become not just clients, but genuine champions of this work. We definitely didn't imagine traveling beyond Northeast Indiana, but here we are...loving every minute of it!
What we did know was this: people thrive when they understand what they do best, and organizations thrive when they build around that truth. Two years later, we believe that more than ever.
So today, we're celebrating. The wins, the learning curves, the clients who trusted us before we'd fully figured it all out, and the ones who are still with us now. Two years in, and we are more rooted in this work than we've ever been.
If you've been curious about what working with us could look like, but haven't taken the leap, consider this your sign. We'd love to celebrate this milestone by getting to know you and your team.
Click the link to book a free 30-minute conversation.
Here's to year three. 🌱
|
🌱 Results Taking Root with a Real Return on Investment
This month, we had the privilege of joining 75+ people leaders at 3 Rivers Federal Credit Union's Leadership Development Institute.
Their CEO opened the day with a question that's been making the rounds in leadership circles for years: "What happens if we invest in training our people and they leave?" And the answer that follows it is just as thought-provoking: "What happens if we don't, and they stay?"
It was the perfect frame for the day. We spent our time together talking about employee engagement, what actually drives it, and what people leaders can do at the local level to build it intentionally rather than hope it happens on its own.
3 Rivers is a team that believes in investing in their people, and we're proud to be part of that work with them.
Real People. Real Results.
This month we've been talking about what it really means to get rooted in your strengths — to uncover them, cultivate them, and share them with the world.
But here's the thing. It takes intentionality to make that happen.
Building a strengths-based culture, navigating complexities at home and at work, and growing into who you are truly meant to be—none of it has to be something you do on your own. That's exactly what we're here for.
Don't just take our word for it; here's what Noah Buehner, a participant in one of our recent workshops, had to say.
If that sounds like something you and your team need, we'd love to find out if we're the right fit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
