Meet Raleigh Global Shaper Jen Riedel #ShapersinNYC
Q: What’s your name? Jen Riedel
Q: Which hub are you from? Raleigh
Q:What brings you to New York? Inspiration! New York is the best place I know of on the planet to gather new ideas and farm serendipity.
Q: What are you working on?
Professionally, I work at the intersection of design, culture, and business. I’ve been functionally the Chief Operating Officer for a service design consulting firm called Trestles in Durham, NC and recently left the firm to explore a new path! I’m excited to see what the future holds for customer experience, employee experience, and human centered design.
More intensively, a passion project turned company I’m working on focuses on bringing water safety, swim education, and a deeper connection to nature and mind/body awareness to my community. We call it KAI KOA, which is a Hawaiian word meaning water warrior. We are taking to the waters this summer with passion, purpose, and years of wellness instruction under our belts to serve our community.
Q: What’s your passion/what matters to you? And why? (Or what’s your why?)
I’m passionate about building well-designed, empathetic sustainable communities, systems, and people-focused businesses that promote wellness, human centered design, and inclusive culture.
Q: What does being a part of the Global Shapers Community mean to you? (Connections, etc.)
I’m humbled to have been in the Global Shapers Raleigh Hub since early 2016 and nominated the Curator for 2016–2017. What it means to me is that I have a place to flex my leadership muscle as well as connect deeper with a glocal (global + local) tribe of go-getters and change makers that resonate with similar values on impact and connection.
Also, growing up in the Triangle and specifically in the YMCA community, I’ve been practicing leadership and service since a very young age. Global Shapers Raleigh is giving me a platform to have a much bigger positive impact on the community, and allows me to give back to this amazing community that brought me up!
Q: What is something you want readers to know about you? I love meeting new people, photography, and traveling. I’m open to more adventures with the Shapers community, simply reach out!
Q: For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
I’m most grateful to have incredibly supportive relationships, an able body, and an able mind.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
There is a quote from spiritual guru, Deepak Chopra’s book, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, in which he lays out mindfulness and being in the present moment with incredible simplicity.
“The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called ‘the present’.”
I attempt to live each day from the here and now and the above advice brings me back when I need a reminder of where I am and what is happening right in front of me.
Have other questions for Jen? Ask her on LinkedIn
