Meet Christine Fonner | Leadership Expert & Strategic Life/Career Coach

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

Hi Christine, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
I think most people believe that you have to pick a specific career pathway and that’s your trajectory for the rest of your life. It limits you in believing in possibilities as you grow and learn and experience life. As we age, we learn new things and about new possibilities. I wish that young people were coached and mentored in a way that allows for trying out new things without having to commit so fully – for what feels like forever and I wish we didn’t have so much baggage attached to letting something go that isn’t working for you.

At a young age, I knew I wanted to NOT be poor. I tried to learn as much as I could in how to do that but I also just had to pay my bills at a certain point. My career pathway is messy. I was a barista making coffee in junior high, I worked at a real estate office in high school to pay for some night classes at the local college. I was able to transfer into a university after three hard years and had three jobs to make it work – I was an assistant in accounts payable, made coffee, and worked at a juvenile facility.

Each of these jobs brought a new skillset to my toolbox that I really needed to make it to the next step and I learned a lot about myself in what I enjoyed and didn’t. I ended up with a well-rounded ability to understand accounting, behavior, and working in a fast-paced environment. You don’t get that kind of exposure to learning by following a beaten path. I wish we valued that kind of scrappy learning and exploring more. It felt hard to explain my resume forward and I was aware that it was not “conventional”. It took me a while to learn that I needed to be searching for companies that valued depth in experience as well.

My advice – don’t be so scared to try out things that are out of the norm and be ready to move on when it’s time, without looking back.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Having spent twenty years in leadership, I was highly aware of the unique challenges women face in leadership roles and in situations where we exercise decision-making power. Success comes in valuing the strengths that we bring into our work as individual humans and in the ways we create environments of care and connection. I coach and consult leaders in strategies for growing their organizations in ways that both improve collaboration, communication, and effectiveness while supporting them in building a workplace where everyone feels valued.

Roam Your Soul is changing the face of women’s retreats. We’ve been ahead of the game on what holistic wellness and self-care really should be and a silver lining of the pandemic is that a lot of people took the time to reassess their quality of life.

This is why I am so passionate about helping women who have ever felt the same as me find deeper meaning in my breakthrough retreats. Our retreat experience is a deep dive into transformational learning where we give space for connecting with other amazing women and offer independent time for reenergizing.

I bring a team of experts together from across the wellness industry and we help you focus on you – mind, body, and spirit. We help women connect to nature and themselves in outdoor adventure. Women who join us experience transformational workshops and learn new strategies for a deep dive into reflecting on their life’s true purpose to recenter in their strengths. We give women an opportunity to connect to themselves and each other while providing some practical strategies and tools to bring all of this back into their daily lives.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Silverton and the San Juan Mountains are such a unique and majestic place to live. I feel lucky to be able to wake up every day surrounded by the mountains and it just never gets old. Nature and outdoor activities are a cornerstone of the Roam Your Soul experience – just being out here feels powerful and healing. If you were to come out here for a week, hiking and biking would be a must and there are more trails to choose from than I can count. We could head high up above the tree line and be able to look down on all the wildflowers, rivers, and rocks.

A must visit when in Silverton is the San Juan County Historical Museum and Jail which has one of the most comprehensive mining museums you’ll ever find (and an impressive rock collection!). Silverton is also home to over 30 artists and craftspeople with galleries and stores up and down Blair and Greene Streets. Eureka Station is a solid option for a scrumptious dinner and I love heading down to the river walk trail by the train tracks after.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I always say that mentorship is really important and everyone should have mentors but advocacy is what creates opportunity for change in peoples’ lives. Having someone believe in you can sometimes be the one thing that keeps you resilient and willing to keep trying. Believing in yourself – TRULY – is the difference between having a great idea and bringing that dream to fruition. In each step in my career, I had people believing in ME. Not me in my role but me as ME. They put my resume on the top of a pile. They made a phone call. They shared my story. They not only listened when I was down but offered ways to help lift me up. I didn’t realize how important that little nuanced difference in belief was until now – in owning my own business and growing my own business. I have a team of advocates around me now and it feels so GOOD.

That being said, here are a few books that have been influential in my growth:
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Life’s Great Question by Tom Rath
Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Website: https://www.roamyoursoul.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roamyoursoul/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-fonner/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoamYourSoul/

Image Credits
Lindsey Halvorson Christine Fonner