About Jackie Kelm
Oh, where to start? My official career began as a development engineer for General
Motors with an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. During this time I
wrote and presented a few technical papers that had concepts like "thermodynamically
balanced," which I have selectively forgotten.
I then explored being an entrepreneur and started a custom carpet business. Working
with interior designers, we designed and made one-of-a-kind area rugs and carpet
inserts. I also volunteered for SCORE during this time, providing business consulting to
other start-ups.
Three years later, I sold the business to return to school full time. All my life I had been
fascinated with individual behavior and group dynamics, and when I discovered there
was actually a field devoted to this--called Organization Behavior, I dove in headfirst.
In 1996, I graduated with a Master's degree in Business with a concentration in Organization Behavior from Case
Western Reserve University. During this time, I happened to take several classes from David Cooperrider on Appreciative
Inquiry (AI), and was enamored with the concept. I became passionate about learning and applying AI from that time
forward, and have been committed to it ever since.
While still finishing graduate school, I began working with Ernst & Young LLP as a senior consultant in the Leadership
and Organization Change group. I was able to use AI in several initiatives and also got some great experience in
education and training, along with group facilitation. I left as a manager when I had my daughter in 1999.
Being a full-time mother was a whole different kind of learning experience. I did a few part-time activities on the side, like
participating in the start-up and founding of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting (AIC). I was also engaged in personal and
spiritual exploration during this period, and began looking at applying AI in daily life.
Clarifying my ideas through a few years of heavy research and reading, I tried various practices along the way. As my life
began to transform, my passion for what I was learning burgeoned. Writing accelerated my learning even more as the
ideas unfolded on paper. In September of 2005, it all culminated in the publlication of Appreciative Living--and it has been
a wonderful whirlwind ever since!
And now I am passionate about sharing these ideas with others. My life continues to get better and better, and my
prospects for happiness are greater than anything I ever believed possible. I am working on several future book ideas,
and fittiing this in with workshops, speaking engagements, book signings, and, of course, my family. I have two wonderful
children and a husband of 18 years. It is an exhilarating journey, and I am grateful every day for having found my
calling--something that is so deeply meaningful and fulfilling. My greatest joy comes from watching others take these
ideas and make positive changes in their lives, and I look forward to many wonderful years of co-creation!
