Kellie Jenkins, leadership coach
Through coaching with Jennifer I gained the clarity and courage that I needed to make progress towards my professional goals. She listens supportively, asks thought-provoking questions at the right time, provides perspective and reflections when appropriate and shares relevant resources. She effectively used outdoor coaching to encourage insight and perspective from nature and movement, which proved to be powerful learning moments.
Sarah S., consultant & entrepreneur
I highly recommend Jennifer Wills for career coaching services, and greatly enjoyed my time with her. She helped me to think through and craft "accomplishment statements," which gave me clarity on my skill set and therefore focused my resume and job search. She is relatable, personable with a great sense of humor, and an incredible resource for her clients. Working with her gave me confidence in sending my resume and bio to potential employers and professional contacts. As she’s transitioned to full time career coaching, I love that more people will now have access to her services.
Mike D., business owner
Jennifer is one of the best active listeners I’ve ever worked with. She has a tremendous ability to recall themes from conversations weeks ago and bring them back to the forefront of a present discussion to challenge and enlighten. During our five months together in a George Mason-led leadership program, I always found her to have a genuine enthusiasm and desire to help throughout every conversation we had, while still managing to strike a delicate balance between confirmation and challenge. Her use of socratic questioning and understanding of different learning styles forces her clients to be architects of their own development. I’d highly recommend Jennifer and will seek to work with her again at the next available opportunity.
Executive Director, international association
Jennifer's gifts and strengths brought clarity, ability to summarize and ask a pivotal question to launch the next level of thinking.
Elise Spontarelli, Executive Director, Vector Space
Outdoor coaching provides the ideal scenery for mental clarity and self-evaluation, and is overall a peaceful and rewarding experience. Jennifer is the ideal outdoor coach- her love and appreciation for nature are matched by her robust hiking experience and talents as a coach. The combination of outdoor setting with Jennifer’s prompts and guidance provide for an experience that allows distractions to fall away while you gain insight and discover new realizations on a calm and refreshing hike. I recommend outdoor coaching for those struggling to slow down and connect inward, going through life transitions, and anyone interested in investing in their mental health.
Betsy Q-M, Deputy Director of Executive Leadership Development, U.S. Government
Jennifer is an amazing coach who used her systems thinking, combined with her background in biology and clear comfort with the outdoors, to get me to see challenges at work and home in new ways. Our virtual calls on the woody trails by our own houses (during the pandemic) were inspiring (I was a bit hesitant at first since I’m not a big outdoor person and she helped me overcome that). However I came to notice that the outdoors presented unique metaphors. Bluebirds and trail heads were metaphors for things like hope and thinking about taking things in new directions. These metaphors helped me more fully explain my issues during coaching and reach new understanding about myself.
Megan Huffman, Executive Director, SHARE Greater Lynchburg
Jennifer possesses a rare combination of the best attributes you'd want in a coach. She has a brave intellect, deep empathy, and an inspiring focus that helps you get to the next step. She helped me clarify my priorities for my career and find the perfect fit for re-entering the workforce. As a stay-at-home parent for the past seven years, I've given myself very little time to think about how my non-negotiables have shifted. She helped me define my values and tell my story to parse out what excites me and what works alongside the current demands of a young family. We worked through blind spots and boundary weaknesses to watch for along the way. I have found an ideal nonprofit management role that fits me and my family and I am grateful to Jennifer for helping me to be prepared when the perfect opportunity presented itself.
Jennifer is also a fabulous coach in the great outdoors! She possesses an inspiring communion with nature, and you experience this when you're in the woods with her. She encourages the use of all of the senses to take in your surroundings and leads a deep conversational reflection on the metaphors that nature holds. I have enjoyed the two retreat walks I've been on with her. They both unlocked important self-awareness and drew me closer to my fellow leaders I was able to experience this with.
Tina Ndoh, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Jennifer has an open and relatable coaching style. She guides clients in prioritizing the elements of their work that are most important, and then helps them build a brand around those elements. Overall, I found my coaching sessions with Jennifer to help me target my energy on the areas of greatest personal importance. I highly recommend Jennifer to anyone seeking career coaching!