Best-selling author, speaker, corporate coach and trainer, and host of the You’re the Boss, Now What? podcast.

Hey TheRE,

I'm Desiree

I founded my company Intentional Action in 2022 after losing my mom unexpectedly just two months after bringing my son home from the NICU.

Intentional Action is a leadership development company dedicated to unlocking the full potential of individuals and teams. With a diverse range of services including teambuilding activities and retreats, emerging leader programs, high-level masterminds, workshops, keynotes, and breakout sessions, we empower organizations to cultivate strong cultures with strong leadership at the forefront. Whether you’re looking to instill confidence in your emerging leaders or build a team around trust and a common goal, we ensure tailored solutions that will have your team excited to learn and grow together.

John Wooden says that "when a crisis comes it’s too late to prepare "

This advice saved my life.

On 2/22/22, my son was born during the middle of a Minnesota blizzard, and had to be kept alive for 15 hours by nurses and doctors who were willing to do anything they could to make up for the equipment they did not have. He then spent four weeks in the NICU before he finally got to meet his big sister.

During the four weeks I spent away from home, I had a choice to make. I could continue to read the personal development books I had on my list to complete my fourth year of 75 books, or I could watch TV. I could sit on the same couch day after day, or I could take a few walks and sit on the floor of the NICU and stretch like I had every night for the last 3 years. I could spiral into thoughts of being scared and stressed, or I could put my faith in the process and be optimistic of the outcome of the things I couldn’t control, while I controlled the things that I could.

I wish my story of overcoming hard times ended there

… 24 hours after we brought my son home from the NICU, I got the call that my mom had had a stroke at work, and was being flown to the hospital. We packed up my 4 week old, and my 2 year old, and we drove 3 hours to the hospital. That night was one of only three times I got to see my mom before she passed away two months later. COVID restrictions were seemingly gone in the “regular world”, but in the hospital world, they were still as strong as ever.

Again, I could have let this break me. I could have let grief and anger dictate how I was going to proceed. But I will tell anyone who will listen that personal development saved my life.

I was still exercising because I had created a habit long before I needed one to hold on to. I continued reading because I had created the habit, and had seen the benefits long before I needed them. Without realizing it, I had built a strong foundation of habits and a community of people who were there for me so when a crisis came, or in my case two, I didn’t have to start from scratch, and I didn’t have to pick up the pieces by myself.

What does any of this have to do with my love of helping others find confidence in leadership?

My journey to personal development started when I went in for an interview to be an assistant at a healthcare facility, and left as the manager. My degree said I was qualified, but my head said I wasn’t.

I was leading from fear. A fear of inadequacy, a fear of being unworthy of the title, and a fear of people finding out that I wasn’t supposed to be there. After a year of grasping at straws, and 6 months into managing through the start of COVID, I knew I had gotten as far as I could on my own. I began to read as many books as I could get my hands on. I went from the typical high achiever, who was always trying to prove my perfectionism to everyone, including myself, to a leader who truly cared about adding value to people more than anything else.

I am passionate about leadership because both good and bad leadership have the ability to change your life, they’ve certainly changed mine.

Some would even argue that bad leadership caused my mom’s stroke. But if I was able to teach anyone anything about leadership, it’s that you don’t have to be at the front to lead, sometimes it’s most effective to lead from behind and lead by example. Leadership is a 360 degree lesson that everyone needs. Personal leadership is the number one thing missing in people’s ability to lead with confidence. Not only in their ability to lead their teams, and their families. But confidence in their ability to lead themselves.