Jen Miller is the founder and CEO of Leading Edge, where she helps organizations and individuals thrive through executive coaching and HR consulting. With eight years of HR leadership experience and over a decade as a leadership coach, she has worked across industries such as tech, finance, hospitality, and non-profits. A certified coach and HR professional, she holds an MBA from HEC Paris and a BA from James Madison University. Having lived in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Jen now calls Las Vegas home, where she enjoys running with her local club.
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your corporate journey/venture/initiative.
Moving around every couple of years as a kid was tough sometimes, but it helped me become adaptable and make friends quickly. It also sparked my interest in people, which made it easier for me to live abroad and in challenging environments. I kept learning French, which allowed me to study in France and become a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa. These experiences really shaped my career and life path.
Every industry that is now a large-scale, top-notch business once started as a small idea in the minds of entrepreneurs. What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business/initiative? What motivated you within to say, “YES, go for it!”?
Starting an executive coaching and HR consultancy company certainly isn’t a unique idea, but my unique set of skills and experience sparked a lot of interest from potential clients. My HR background allows me to really understand my clients’ needs and integrate coaching and other organizational development strategies into their existing structure. I also understand the specific challenges that exist within organizations and for individuals. Once the company I most recently worked for was sold, I realized it was the perfect time to start this new chapter. I felt that I had the skills, credibility, and network to move into entrepreneurship.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
I’m committed to empowering individuals and organizations to reach unprecedented levels of success. I see a future where success is within reach for everyone and that we create ways to help people find a path forward in terms of career and life goals. Right now, too many people feel roadblocks to professional and personal achievement. I’d be honored to help people break down those barriers.
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women leadership today?
Women are a growing force in the workplace, but not necessarily in the most senior roles and C-Suite—yet! However, there is much more recognition that having women running companies and/or in the C-Suite leads to more successful companies—both in terms of profit and more inclusive cultures. So we’re getting there, but women and men in leadership positions will have to help make this happen.
What’s the most important thing you have learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
Doing hard things makes the next hard thing easier. It’s really important to me to keep challenging myself so that it becomes natural to keep setting the bar a little bit higher each time.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as a role model for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
The first thing that I think of is… you can do it! You will have to be resilient and persistent, but keep going, trying, and iterating. Be open and proactive about getting support from others; no one needs to know everything, and you can likely achieve a stronger outcome with shared knowledge and insight. I know people always say, “Be authentic,” but one of the best things I ever learned was just to be me all the time. I realized that’s what people wanted to see anyway—the real me.
