Meet Jess Kirby | Assistant Professor, Girl Mom, and Recreational Athlete

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

Hi Jess, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
I am the program director for Mountain Lion Strong at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Through this program we offer an innovative athlete wellness program that provides all student-athletes at UCCS with education and resources to build resilience, foster healthy behaviors that support wellbeing, and reduce the stigma around mental health through a community of support. The program has been successful in increasing athletes’ confidence in talking about and seeking support for mental health, as well as increased confidence in managing their physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness. Our mission is to create a culture of wellness in UCCS athletics where athletes build the mental skills to more effectively manage challenge and adversity in order to be happy and healthy and thrive across the dimensions of their lives. By building a community of support we aim to normalize athletes asking for help when they experiences mental health challenges and supporting one another when life’s challenges become too much to manage individually.

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.

Finding your path to a rewarding career is never the linear path you expect it to be growing up. We are often taught a myth that we will know what career is best for us out of high school and that we will choose a single major in college that will lead to a job we will want to spend the majority of our hours doing as an adult. What I have learned from my own experience and from that of mentoring hundreds of students over the past 14 years, is that the most common path taken will be the winding path with unexpected and unpredictable turns and detours. But through the journey of discovery and trusting the power that unplanned opportunities afford us, we can find a career that is fulfilling and empowering, that brings us joy, and that provides us with a platform to better the lives of those around us.

I grew up planning to become a doctor. I was always interested in health and the medical field. I grew up watching the show ER with George Clooney, the best medical drama on TV a decade before we had Meredith Grey in our lives. During high school, I maintained a 4.0, volunteered at my local hospital for upwards of 500 hours, attended a junior leadership camp at Harvard Medical School and had my sights set on med school when I entered college at UCCS in 2002. But college did what it does best when we let ourselves explore. Through the process of self reflection and exposure to various disciplines of knowledge, I changed from pre-med to nursing, before finally finding my light bulb moment through a nutrition course, changing my major yet again to sport, health and wellness. That nutrition course with Dr. Jackie Berning was the moment that illuminated for me that my passion was driven more by helping people lead healthier lives from a preventative model rather than treating those that are already sick in the reactive model we still see today in much of healthcare. The change to health and wellness was the perfect fit for my interests and I planned to apply to Physical Therapy School after graduation. In my senior year, I applied and I was accepted, but wasn’t convinced that the PT profession was the right fit. I made another pivot and instead decided to stay at UCCS and complete my Masters in Health Promotion. I wanted to work in a coordinating role encouraging others to incorporate physical activity and sport into their lives. By chance, my first year, my graduate advisor took a sabbatical and asked if I would be interested in teaching a class for her while she was gone.

Teaching? Teaching was never on my radar, EVER. In every “what do you want to be when you grow up” conversation that led to that moment, I had never considered being a teacher. But that turned out to be THE moment. The YES that changed my life. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I am grateful I made the leap. I fell in love with teaching from the beginning. Following that first teaching experience, I continued to ask for more teaching opportunities as often as I could. For 6 years I worked my way from part time lecturer, to full time senior instructor, but after those 6 years, I reached a plateau of ways to grow in that role. So with the support of my family, an incredible nanny, and two very patient young daughters, I set my sights back on becoming a doctor, but rather than an MD or DPT, the doctor I was meant to become was through a PhD. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

I am most proud of being a strong, resilient, and healthy role model for my two daughters. They were 1 and 4 years old when I started my PhD, and 7 years later they have seen me “do hard things” by pursuing my goals and dreams and working hard to accomplish those while still staying healthy and active along the way.

The part about being a professor that fills up my heart and soul is not about the content I teach every week or the research I do; it’s about the relationships and the opportunity and privilege I get to be a positive part of each student’s journey as a mentor and partner in their learning and development.

Today I get to do my dream job every day. I get to combine my passion for health, wellness, and sports to support our athletes on campus to develop skills and habits that lead to health, happiness, and resilience so they can thrive in their lives after they leave UCCS.

My advice to students, but really to anyone unsure of what’s next, is to ask, what is your why? What are your goals? What do you love? What gets you excited to wake up with the possibility of a new day? How can you dedicate your time and hone your strengths to find joy and to make others better for your presence?

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?
One of my favorite things to do for fun is be active with friends and family. If my best friend is visiting for the weekend, the first thing we will probably do is head to my local CrossFit gym and hit a partner workout together – shoutout to CrossFit SoCo in Colorado Springs, Same goes for dates. My favorite way to start date night with my husband is a partner workout. Next up would be some great coffee – something strong and delicious, preferably from great local places like Jives or Building Three. Then, if it’s one of the hundreds of beautiful days we get in Colorado, we would go hiking for a few hours. Best case scenario is to hike somewhere with an alpine lake and take a refreshing ‘cold plunge’ in the mountain water. Post hiking I always love a good burger, with a bison burger being my favorite. If it’s not a burger, our favorite date night dinner place is 503W.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shout out recognition and gratitude to my team of students and student-athletes that show up with courage, curiosity, determination and passion every day to create and facilitate a program that leaves a lasting positive impact on the lives of their peers. I am also grateful for the incredible support system I have in my husband, daughters, family, friends, and neighbors that are always cheering me on.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-kirby-phd-361b2880/