Lead Through It with Kim and Jada
Hosted by Kim Andrews and Jada Willis - two would-be competitors who chose collaboration over rivalry - Lead Through It is your weekly dose of real talk and practical wisdom for navigating leadership’s hardest (and most human) moments.
Each episode features candid conversations with business owners and seasoned leaders who’ve led through the big pivots and the everyday grind. Whether you’re a service-based entrepreneur scaling early success (Jada’s sweet spot) or an organizational leader managing complex change (Kim’s jam), Lead Through It helps you get clear on where you're headed, build a resilient team that steps up, and weather the tough stuff no one warns you about.
You’ll walk away with fresh insight, actionable takeaways, and just enough wit and charm to keep things interesting.
Lead Through It with Kim and Jada
Ep. 25 - Building Culture is Not About You with Melanie Huggins
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What if the key to building a strong culture isn’t about you at all?
In this episode, Kim and Jada sit down with Melanie Huggins, CEO of Girl Scouts of South Carolina Mountains to Midlands and former CEO of Richland Library, for a candid conversation about leadership, burnout, reinvention, and what it really takes to build a culture that lasts.
With more than thirty years of leadership experience, Melanie shares hard-earned lessons from transforming a large public institution, navigating COVID-era exhaustion, and stepping into a new CEO role where culture change is still unfolding in real time.
Together, they explore:
- Why culture is built in the details no one sees
- What it means to “operationalize equity”
- How brand promises must match internal behaviors
- Why culture change takes longer than you think
- The tension between honoring legacy and leading transformation
- Recognizing burnout before it reshapes who you are
- Creating space to pause, reflect, and make brave decisions
Melanie offers a powerful reframe: culture is not about what leaders prefer or how they want to operate. It is about the people you serve. The customer. The member. The girl at camp. The parent who must trust you.
If your organization is in a hard culture moment, if you are leading through change, or if you are quietly wondering whether it’s time for your own next chapter, this conversation will meet you there.
Because building culture is not about ego.It is about alignment. It is about trust. And sometimes, it is about knowing when something is over so something new can begin.
If today’s conversation resonated, connect with us and be part of the community of leaders who refuse to lead alone.
JadaWillis.com | KimAndrewsCoaching.com
Jada@jwillisconsulting.com | Kim@kimandrewscoaching.com
