Relational

- Co-founder of a design studio supporting purpose-driven entrepreneurs
- Design and ops: client recruitment, onboarding, and product design (group coaching, community structures)
- Handle core business operations: accounting, legal, banking, account management

Partner

- Design, development & launch of new line-of-business for a successful music teaching company
- Designing events and experiences for a fiddle music practice community
- Designing company organizational structure for business partnerships
- Facilitating feedback sessions with community members

Community Strategist - FiddleHed

Acquired

- Coaching and founder support for business sustainability through fundraising and organization design 
- Helped set-up and streamline core banking, accounting, account management operations & system design
- Design of social games and rituals in Discord community space

Advisor & Executive Producer - Lingonberry Intelligence

Ember Consulting

We identified a critical gap in community hiring: businesses struggling to find community managers who actually know how to launch paid communities; and community managers looking for *actual* community jobs, not social media or marketing roles. So we built the solution.
Ember Fractionals is a three-part ecosystem:
✔️ Course & Certification - Teaching specialized 0-1 community skills with a generalist mindset
✔️ Curated Directory - Vetted community managers with experience in early-stage builds, strategy, and operations
✔️ Quality-Guaranteed Placement - Connecting the right talent with the right opportunities

Ember Fractionals - Co-Founder & Partner

The Sensemaking Scenius

I wear multiple hats within the Sensemaking Scenius:
🎩 Founder & Organizational Architect - Pioneered the community using an innovative scenius-org structure, growing from 3 to 65+ active members in social sensemaking
🎩 Community Experience Designer - Created and facilitate bi-weekly community rituals, sensemaking games, and collaborative experiences that build deep relationships and shared purpose among members
🎩Strategic Steward - Lead multiple working groups including mission/vision development, and design emergent organizational structures that enable authentic collaboration and continuous community evolution
🎩Culture Cultivator - Nurture vibrant community engagement through intentional async/sync facilitation, fostering a space of belonging that spans from casual social connections to deep collaborative partnerships

Source, Steward, Community Gardener

Facilitation Pods Commons

The Facilitation Pods Commons is a hub for facilitators across industries to gather and support one another. Our core offering is the Facilitation Pod, an intimate, small-group space to reflect on our experience as facilitators, practice facilitation, and find more ease in our facilitation work.

Facilitator and Steward

Relational Social Tech R&D Lab

- Co-founded a social tech R&D lab to explore innovative social applications for emergent technologies like blockchain & AI
- Convened developers, engineers and designers into small work groups to build software in a playful way
- Designed & tested innovative approaches to building emergent technology

Co-Founder, Social & Org Designer

BIGTIME

- People Lead for a 40+ person theme camp at Burning Man 
- Communications design & curation of content for weekly updates & camp handbooks
- Glue across all aspects of camp: art, architecture/build, finance/budgeting, communal product offerings
- Qualitative survey design & findings analysis (results: https://kpaxle.mmm.page/bigtime)

People Lead

Interhackt

Part of organizational team and participant in a week-long interaction-design hackathon 
- developed Discord community structures and hosted matchmaking events for hackathon participants
- facilitated live events through Discord video/voice chat, and moderated text-based convos in the Discord for 250+ participants
- co-designed a non-linear chat app around branching-style conversations with a software engineer

Strategic Facilitator

Ponder

- Co-founder where I wore a lot of hats: setting strategy, product design, user-testing, quality assurance testing, marketing, internal organizational processes, development of case studies
- Brought people together through social experiences in the app, like a shared journaling
- My first experience building software with a team

Co-Founder/Operations Whiz

Holloway

Support the development of "The Holloway Guide to Remote Work" through:
- research and development of the "Ultimate Remote Work Tools Landscape"
- qualitative interviews with startup founders and leaders about remote work 
- analysis of interview findings, identification of thematic elements, incorporation of findings in the Guide
- editorial support in reviewing drafts of the Guide as it progressed to its final form.

Contributor - Research and Editorial

IBM Watson Health

- Program Design, Researcher Analyst: codifying best practices for health programs to adapt and implement with clients from state and federal government entities 
- Technical Writer: translate quantitative research findings into qualitative language to better describe health system processes and outcomes to a broader audience
- Operator: manage budget and staff time to ensure both financial and people sustainability
- Communications & Org Design: build synchronous and asynchronous communications systems for internal teams on multi-year projects; determine appropriate scheduling and style of snyc comms for teams based on project to ensure work flow, and quality of deliverables

Senior Research Leader

👋 I'm Kristen, I'm a relational designer transforming community-driven businesses into creative, self-sustaining ecosystems.

As a community strategist, I guide founders and entrepreneurs in transitioning their audience & customers into a new role: community members. I create spaces where shared creativity emerges naturally through member contribution and participation.

Previously, I founded an R&D lab for social tech innovation where I built and tested techniques for bringing social/community to the forefront in blockchain and AI development. 

Prior to that, I spent 10+ years as a health policy researcher and consultant with an emphasis on publicly funded home/community-based services. I collaborated with federal and state governments on health program design, strategy and operations. I co-founded a health insurance company (acquired) where I also worked as a leader in a clinical operations role.

Fun facts: I studied human evolution in undergrad. I’ve coached girl’s lacrosse teams from kindergarten to college. I co-founded a mentorship program that is still running 10+ years later.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you don’t have to play on hard mode all the time.

When you catch a wave in life, and feel like you’re going with the flow, ride the wave! 🏄‍♀️🌊

So often I notice myself doing more than I have to. Trying to prove myself, worried that what I'm offering isn't enough. 

Then, there are these moments where life just seems to happen and I’m riding the wave.

I feel good. I feel connected to myself. I feel deeply that I’m enough.

Still, I catch myself wondering: when is the wave going to break? What else do I need to do?

I’m basically smuggling in negativity, when it’s really not necessary.

At the end of the day this comes down to self-trust. The more I trust myself, the longer I can stay up on the board. The longer I can ride the wave.

It’s practice, life practice. Falling off, getting back up again to catch the next wave. It’s just… how it is. 

When I treat this whole (𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘺) thing that is life with a sense of play and wonder, I feel the most grounded and the most ease.

I’m stubborn, so maybe a bit ~ S L O W ~ to turn off hard-mode. But I’m doing it! Wave by wave.

P.S. I don’t surf 🤭

📸 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘦𝘨𝘰!

Kristen Pavle

Community Strategist & Relational Designer | Creative Co-Conspirator | With a Personal Development & Spirituality Twist ✨

Last week, I was collaborating with a work colleague when I noticed they were withdrawn. So I asked what was going on.

I held space and lightly coached them to dig into what was arising. What we unearthed: a lot of emotionality around feeling blocked in the work.

This internal blocker was manifesting externally too—they were becoming a bottleneck in our projects.

We spent a large part of our time together in the crunchy, ephemeral land of emotions. My biggest tool was deep, compassionate listening.

Of course, part of me was thinking: "𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨." Even after years working on my own, this mantra from traditional American work culture dies hard.

But it was clear that without unblocking the emotional pipes, none of the work was going to get done. The bottleneck needed some TLC, literally.

So often in work, we run into our own emotions. The typical response: I'll deal with that later. I don't have time for this. Maybe if I pretend it's not there, it doesn't exist.

The problem: when emotions aren't processed, they build up in the body. They compound.

Of course, there are times when you can't stop everything to fully process something that arises. It can help to keep a little journal during the day to note what has you feeling a way. 

Then, when you have time later, take it for a walk. Have a dance party. Journal more. Do some yoga or meditate about it. It doesn’t have to be a major event. 

When we're in touch with our emotions, working with them regularly, accepting what's arising—work actually gets easier. We get more clarity because we're not clouded with unresolved emotional off-gassing.

So the next time you or someone you're working with seems off, check in. 

Be there for yourself and others by listening compassionately. 

You might be surprised at just how productive these little emotional check-in detours can be.

End of year insanity is upon us! Sometimes we're so focused on getting everything done and preparing for the new year that we forget to reflect on what has passed.

Reflection is one of the most powerful practices for change, especially when we need to process something.

Life happens so fast. Pausing allows us to take stock in our own lives. From here we can choose what to let go of, and where to head next.

The letting go part can be particularly challenging. There's something about being human where we just get so darn attached: to people, experiences, even past versions of self.

Which is why Dave Gorum and I are hosting a FREE Play Into Being workshop about the ritual of letting go on Wednesday, December 11th from 12-1pm ET.*

The workshop is an opportunity to slow down and release something you no longer need.

We'll teach a simple release ritual you can practice again and again. We'll connect with others to share our stories of what we're ready to put down.

If you've been carrying around more than you can handle, this workshop is for you. A nice little reset going into the new year.

Hope to see you there! RSVP here: https://luma.com/7v3ly028

*𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 Bonfire 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴!

I'll be spending time with family this Thanksgiving, and I've got client work that won't wait. I've learned the hard way that trying to work and family at the same time doesn't work so well.

But this year, I'll need to carve out some time away from the festivities anyway.

I always feel this tension before taking time off, whether it's for a holiday or just time away with Dave. 

It’s the transition away from work. The busyness of it. The excitement and energy.

I happen to love what I do, which makes it hard to put down. 

But I also love not working. It's the transition between the two that gets me every time.

I've learned to be reasonable about what I can expect to get done before clocking out on a break. Otherwise I try to do too much. I've got this idea that I'll catch up on everything so when I return it will be a completely clean slate. Ha! Never happens.

For holidays like this one, where I can't take a complete vacation, I get SUPER boundaried about what I will spend time on.

And then I hold the line. No sneaking in other small tasks. No checking email just because it's a habit.

I'm looking forward to the break in routine this Thanksgiving. Hopefully it’ll be a little reset before finishing the year strong.

How do you handle the transition into time off? Do you try to clear everything first, or have you found another way?

📸 𝘣𝘺 Dave Gorum 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘊𝘖. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 10 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰!

I’ve noticed a major theme of ~release~ in my life this holiday season. I’m doing a detox diet, a friend just told me about a Scream Club in Austin (literally scream at the lake to release whatever you’ve got tucked away inside), and I’m hosting a workshop this Wednesday called Let Go.

It’s funny how that happens. A pattern shows up in your world and then you see it everywhere. 

Apparently this phenomenon has a (long) name: the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or “frequency illusion”.

In simpler terms: once something catches your attention, like the release pattern, then your brain consciously keeps looking for it.

This frequency illusion has got me thinking about how this plays out with releasing. 

Part of the art of letting go is knowing what you’re releasing.

So you have to name it, you have to make it conscious. 

Kinda of weird, right? You’re trying to let it go, so you welcome it in.

For some reason that’s the way of things, to change something the best thing to do is actually to presence it, to bear witness to it

And then you create the conditions for release.

Maybe it's literally joining a group of people to scream at a lake. Or attending the Wednesday workshop. Maybe it's a moon ritual, or just saying it out loud to a friend, or journaling about it

I'm learning that releasing takes intentionality and practice. And a willingness to feel whatever comes up.

End of year feels like a natural time for this, clearing the slate before the new year arrives.

If you’re around, join Dave Gorum and I for Let Go: a 60 minute workshop to learn and practice releasing. It's this Wednesday December 10th at 12pm ET - and FREE! https://luma.com/7v3ly028

Thx to Kevan Lee & Shannon Deep for the collab here. 🙏

Business is a meeting at the intersection of art x market, and it’s not easy for all of us!

What I mean by art is creating something for the sake of it. Being driven by something within you that you can’t not do. It doesn’t matter if you get paid or not, you’re doing the thing.

Market is the transaction. Finding customers, people who want to buy your thing (product).

It’s hard to intentionally walk the line between art and market.

Go too far into art and you’ve got a hobby.

Go too far into market and you’ve got a job.

Business is finding the balance between the two. So you can thread the needle between doing what you love and making money. 

Walking this path is sometimes called dharma. It’s about finding a life’s work that sustains you: intrinsically and extrinsically. 

There’s nothing wrong with swinging more in one direction or the other. 

For me, there’s something magical about walking this line. I haven’t quite cracked the code yet, but I can feel myself getting closer.

This past week, I feel like I tapped more into my inner artist. 

On Thursday I hosted a Studio Nite where an emergent demo happened in the kitchen: a friend who loves maps was showcasing his latest weather map creation using publicly available data. 

We talked about following your purpose (for him there’s just something about maps!) and the frustrations that come up without a market application. 

I also checked out many Austin artists studios during the annual Studio Tour. Meeting ceramists, experiential artists, jewelers and more. Everyone figuring out how to walk their dharma.

I was so inspired to follow that internal beat of creativity, being surrounded by so much art.

Where are you finding yourself these days - more art, more market, or walking that line?

Really excited to share this job opportunity! I've had the pleasure of working with NextGen Center, they have great leadership and are super fun to collaborate with (no surprise given their company mission!).

To apply, be sure to join the Ember Fractionals directory first (link below 👇). If you're already in, shoot me a DM or respond to the email that's in your inbox about this new fractional community manager role. 🔥

🚨 New Fractional Community Manager job opportunity! 🚨

NextGen Center is a leadership development company offering vital tools and transformational growth experiences. They're seeking a relationship-driven fractional Community & Marketing Manager to nurture their alumni community.

We're looking for someone who's part strategist, part storyteller, and part get-it-done operator. The emphasis of this role is the community, with some LinkedIn content development.

This is a position for someone who's proactive and skillful in initiating new projects, tracking progress, and thrives in collaboration.

Details:
- Monthly retainer: $1,000-$1,500
- 5 hours per week
- Must be available during Eastern Time (ET) work hours
- 3-5+ years experience desired

For more details on the position: https://lnkd.in/gteaCSZf

We've had the pleasure of working with NextGen Center and know from experience this is a great company and opportunity!

Ember Fractionals are eligible to apply! Not yet part of the Directory? Join here: https://tally.so/r/3Eelb2

taplio

Kristen Pavle's Linkedin Analytics

Kristen Pavle

Performance ScoreKristen Pavle's LinkedIn Performance

Kristen Pavle's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Kristen Pavle's Linkedin Analytics

Kristen Pavle

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Kristen Pavle's LinkedIn Performance

Kristen Pavle's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Kristen Pavle's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreKristen Pavle's LinkedIn Performance

Kristen Pavle's Best Posts (last 30 days)