Meet Ken Meeker | Executive and Career Coach, published writer, public speaker

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

Hi Ken, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Phoenix, Arizona, but grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to permanently relocating to Arizona in 2014, I had a successful career working in the commercial insurance industry. In my role as the lead for my department and responsible for establishing best practices, I found that I am most passionate about people. I care deeply about helping others recognize their potential, give them the tools they need to flourish, guide them in breaking down barriers, and provide objective support when needed. There is nothing more personally rewarding that to witness someone’s “a-ha” moment when they recognize and believe in their potential. On July 4th, 2014, shortly after relocating to Arizona, I lost the majority of my vision. After two and a half years of treatment, surgeries, and recovery, I was able to regain limited central vision in my left eye. The rest of my vision is gone permanently. As such, I am legally blind. I don’t dwell on this, it’s important for context. Because while the experience of losing most my site was awful, it gave me more than it took away. I came to recognize what I really cared about and valued. Shortly after my health and vision became stable in 2016, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and I became her caregiver until her passing in early 2018. At that point I knew it was important for me and to honor my moms legacy that my next career move be something of purpose.
In 2016, I felt lost in my career path. I had no desire to return to the insurance industry. My priorities had changed. It was then that I started building my own coaching program. I started building it primarily as a way to help me get unstuck. Over the next few years I continued to refine and make improvements to the program.
For many years I had maintained a long term of eventually launching my own coaching business, but it was not something I was yet prepared to do at the time. In 2021, I began working for the Foundation for Blind Children, FBC, in their Adult Comprehensive Program as the Career Specialist. My job was to help students in the program in employment related topics. When a health scare required me to leave FBC at the end of 2021, I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do.
Quite literally, on January 1, 2022 I woke up and decided that it was the time to launch my own coaching business. I created a business plan, became a Certified Professional Coach, and with the support of friends and family, launched my business. I have spent 2022 building my brand and establishing myself and my business as a resource, subject matter expert, and resource for both individuals and organizations. Aside from one-on-one coaching, I also provide consulting to businesses, primarily small businesses, on the advantages and benefits of implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into their small business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am very proud of the achievements I had prior to launching my coaching business. At 19, a close friend at the time and I started our own event production company that was very successful. Eventually, we were throwing large scale events and owned a specialty record store. We sold off those businesses and that is when I went into commercial insurance full time. I’m proud of my time in the insurance industry because I quite literally started at the bottom as a file clerk. Over the span of about 20 years I kept learning, gained industry certifications and designations, and moved into high and more senior roles. As I moved up, it was important to me to create opportunity for others as well. I wanted to give others the same opportunities I had been given. Towards the end of my career in insurance, I made a bold and risky move. Leaving a senior role at a well established and financially secure company for an opportunity at a start up. Needless to say, the start up did not have the finances to provide the support needed to fully commit to what I brought to the table. I left the start up after just over a year. This left me in a perilous place financially and led me to take a position working for a company that quite frankly was abusive and toxic. The environment was so bad that after 3 months, our of concern for my mental health, I left. This is what led to me relocating to Arizona.
I moved to Arizona in 2014 because I needed a reset in my life. Something was broken and I needed to figure it out. Then my vision loss occurred, derailing me further.
What I’ve learned is that failure is an attitude. Failure is to stop trying – to give up. One must always get back up and keep trying. Let the times when you get knocked over teach you something. Learn something from every experience. When you do this, you will understand that you can make it through anything and keep moving forward.

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?
Assuming my friend had never visited the Valley of the Sun and it was during the fall or winter months where we could do more things outdoors, these would be on our agenda. A day trip to visit the Desert Botanical Gardens,finding something to do at the Phoenix Arts Center., checking out Wonderspaces in Scottsdale, and a hike of North Mountain are all on the agenda. We would likely find a show or concert to attend since there is always a great band or musician coming through town. On the menu is lunch at Luci’s at the Orchard, grabbing a sandwich from Hatch-It Green Chile Burger, dinner at Wildflower, Aunt Chilada’s, and Thai E-San. We would do some shopping by hitting up some cool thrift stores like White Dove and cool local shops like Whozitz and Whatzitz, and going to the Uptown Farmers Market on a Saturday morning. We would grab a tour of Adventure Stills followed by a drink in their tasting room.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This might seem cliche, but my mom is genuinely my greatest inspiration. I do what I do to honor and celebrate who my mom was. My mom did not have an easy life, and often she shouldered far more hardship than any one person ever should. But through it all, she was always kind, generous, compassionate, and believed that each and every person has within them the potential to be great. For that potential to be realized, people need support, for someone to believe in them. My mom always believed in me. It is my turn to honor her legacy and do that for others. Of course there are many other people who have guided, supported, or believed in me – even when I didn’t. There are too many to name individually. There were times when managers saw my potential and fostered my growth. Other times when I was provided tremendous support by co-workers, friends, or family. Life has taught me that when we put good out in to the world and expect nothing in return, life somehow shows us a path that leads somewhere we want to go.

Website: https://vitalitycareercoaching.com

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

Other: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/kenmeekeraz

Image Credits
Bold Blind Beauty, Dr. Martin Mendelson