Member since February 2022
Kelly Byrnes is the Founder and CEO of Voyage Consulting Group, the Kansas City firm recognized as strategic advisors in culture and leadership for industry-leading companies. A renowned expert in leadership and company culture, she is an executive coach, adjunct MBA professor, best-selling author, and award-winning speaker.
Her diverse career has spanned executive roles across operations, marketing, and HR. She has served as an employee, consultant, or executive coach for top companies in defense, science, financial services, and more. Kelly has also launched numerous ventures, both independently and with large corporations. She is deeply involved in Kansas City’s AI Club, reflecting her commitment to innovation.
Holding an MBA, BA, and several certifications including Harvard’s Disruptive Strategy, Kelly has served on multiple boards such as the Ignatian Spirituality Center, Central Exchange, Best Buddies, and is a past president of the Kansas City NAWBO chapter.
Kelly lives in Kansas City with her husband Bob, a retired Air Force veteran and firefighter. She is active in community service, focusing on education, women, children, and animal welfare.
Kelly would be honored to hear about your event and discuss ways to engage your colleagues and clients.
My passion related to work centers around helping leaders create companies that are purpose-driven, performance-focused, and principles-led—basically, ones that don’t suck the life out of people, including themselves! I help leaders see the bigger picture of their work, so they lead in a way that aligns with their true core values, even when it’s tough. And, it is tough being a leader these days. I’ve been through the rough waters and smooth seas of leadership and am passionate about helping others have a fulling journey of life and leadership.
On a personal note, I am passionate about my family, hometown of Kansas City, yoga and mindfulness (hence living all-in), teaching, service, my faith, and dogs.
People respond to the work-related business stories, but brief summaries of the two that get the most comments are below.
⏺️On June 11th every year, I send a former colleague an email with a heart. You see, on June 11, 1989, a drunk driver hit my car as I left a work reception. It was Father’s Day, and I had been out of town all weekend and had not even seen my dad. I drove straight from the airport to the work reception welcoming ten colleagues from around the country for the kickoff of a weeklong meeting. Just out of the parking garage, a drunk driver flew over a hill and crashed right into my car. The colleague saw my totaled car and stopped to help. My dad picked me up at the hospital hours later, and that was how Father’s Day went. There were several key lessons that night and the week ahead.
⏺️My husband and I met on a Notre Dame football website. It predated social dating sites and Facebook. More than 10k people had memberships back then, and we were a few of the regular posters. The meeting is a funny story. It led to him flying from his home in Pittsburgh PA to mine in Kansas City every three or four weeks for four years. We have been together for 17 years now and celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary in 2024.
I was a weird kid. I played Barbies and kickball, rode bikes all over the neighborhood, read books, worked in the little store down the street, volunteered lots of places, loved the pool in the summer and sledding in the winter. I did well in school except for the frequent checkmarks for talking too much in class.
Looking back, I see how my childhood led to where and how I am today. My varied interests enabled me to connect with everyone from the kids in school and in the neighborhood to parents and teachers. My Barbies built the pool club for friends to come to, ran the grocery store, and planned the other Barbie’s weddings--the interest in business was evident early on. Today, being curious still enables me to connect with others easily, and I have helped grow several businesses over the years.
My second-grade teacher got a kick out of me earning a living by talking when we caught up several years ago.
I’m excited to see where curiosity, energy, optimism, and high tolerance for risk take me next!
(Well, the risk tolerance is a bit different now. Rollerblading all over the parking lot of Arrowhead stadium is not in my future, but it was fun as a teenager!)
Business was VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) before the pandemic, and it remains so as the recovery evolves. The business environment was similar in 2010 as it recovered from the recession. That’s when the All-In message of high performance was captured in the book Put Your Whole Self In! Life and Leadership the Hokey Pokey Way.
The author, Kelly Byrnes, has shared its universal message with leaders, teams, and employees in the customer service, financial services, health care, advertising, marketing, legal, automotive, consumer goods, and telecommunications industries ever since.
Companies eager to cement their relationships with employees and clients seek more when they realize Six Sigma, TQM, CRM, CYA, and flavor of the month initiatives are not enough. The All-In Way can elevate performance so people and companies can thrive in today’s complex and dynamic world--without burning out.
In this session, you will…
⏺ Hear about real people who became All-In, influenced others, and impacted their lives and companies.
⏺ Learn about companies that shifted and grew to influence their industries and society.
⏺ Identify practical ways to live and lead All-In in your own life and work.
Emerge from this fast-paced program with clarity and momentum needed to move forward, not just get by. Kelly shares practical actions to help you reaffirm your purpose and reclaim the confidence needed to go after your goals no matter how the world changes.
Leadership Now is an engaging keynote designed to help leaders ensure they are on par with today’s complex challenges.
The rapid pace of multiple, simultaneous changes happening in business means leadership requires different skills and behaviors now than in the past. The constant uncertainty pressures people, strains operating systems, complicates decision-making, and depletes morale. Leadership Now, which includes a new leadership model developed with Chief Learning Officers, helps leaders stay focused and competent as they surmount today’s business challenges.
Organization leaders who absorb the new model and traits shared in Leadership Now will be better equipped to solve challenges, influence culture and engagement, and grow their companies. They will learn to navigate the unpredictable terrain of contemporary business with confidence and strategic foresight. They will be able to set the pace and bar instead of trailing behind competitors.
This keynote will provide leaders with actionable insights and practical strategies, including the 5A Model framework, empowering leaders to capitalize on complexity and turn potential obstacles into opportunities for growth of themselves and their companies.
Participating leaders will…
⏺ Reflect on the leadership failures behind recent company and leadership failures, so they can prevent similar disasters
⏺ Learn how to ensure swift mobilization is possible and leads to competitive advantage
⏺ Identify how to bring stability in an era of multiple, simultaneous changes that can sabotage growth
People respond to the work-related business stories, but brief summaries of the two that get the most comments are below.
⏺️On June 11th every year, I send a former colleague an email with a heart. You see, on June 11, 1989, a drunk driver hit my car as I left a work reception. It was Father’s Day, and I had been out of town all weekend and had not even seen my dad. I drove straight from the airport to the work reception welcoming ten colleagues from around the country for the kickoff of a weeklong meeting. Just out of the parking garage, a drunk driver flew over a hill and crashed right into my car. The colleague saw my totaled car and stopped to help. My dad picked me up at the hospital hours later, and that was how Father’s Day went. There were several key lessons that night and the week ahead.
⏺️My husband and I met on a Notre Dame football website. It predated social dating sites and Facebook. More than 10k people had memberships back then, and we were a few of the regular posters. The meeting is a funny story. It led to him flying from his home in Pittsburgh PA to mine in Kansas City every three or four weeks for four years. We have been together for 17 years now and celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary in 2024.
I was a weird kid. I played Barbies and kickball, rode bikes all over the neighborhood, read books, worked in the little store down the street, volunteered lots of places, loved the pool in the summer and sledding in the winter. I did well in school except for the frequent checkmarks for talking too much in class.
Looking back, I see how my childhood led to where and how I am today. My varied interests enabled me to connect with everyone from the kids in school and in the neighborhood to parents and teachers. My Barbies built the pool club for friends to come to, ran the grocery store, and planned the other Barbie’s weddings--the interest in business was evident early on. Today, being curious still enables me to connect with others easily, and I have helped grow several businesses over the years.
My second-grade teacher got a kick out of me earning a living by talking when we caught up several years ago.
I’m excited to see where curiosity, energy, optimism, and high tolerance for risk take me next!
(Well, the risk tolerance is a bit different now. Rollerblading all over the parking lot of Arrowhead stadium is not in my future, but it was fun as a teenager!)
Business was VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) before the pandemic, and it remains so as the recovery evolves. The business environment was similar in 2010 as it recovered from the recession. That’s when the All-In message of high performance was captured in the book Put Your Whole Self In! Life and Leadership the Hokey Pokey Way.
The author, Kelly Byrnes, has shared its universal message with leaders, teams, and employees in the customer service, financial services, health care, advertising, marketing, legal, automotive, consumer goods, and telecommunications industries ever since.
Companies eager to cement their relationships with employees and clients seek more when they realize Six Sigma, TQM, CRM, CYA, and flavor of the month initiatives are not enough. The All-In Way can elevate performance so people and companies can thrive in today’s complex and dynamic world--without burning out.
In this session, you will…
⏺ Hear about real people who became All-In, influenced others, and impacted their lives and companies.
⏺ Learn about companies that shifted and grew to influence their industries and society.
⏺ Identify practical ways to live and lead All-In in your own life and work.
Emerge from this fast-paced program with clarity and momentum needed to move forward, not just get by. Kelly shares practical actions to help you reaffirm your purpose and reclaim the confidence needed to go after your goals no matter how the world changes.
Leadership Now is an engaging keynote designed to help leaders ensure they are on par with today’s complex challenges.
The rapid pace of multiple, simultaneous changes happening in business means leadership requires different skills and behaviors now than in the past. The constant uncertainty pressures people, strains operating systems, complicates decision-making, and depletes morale. Leadership Now, which includes a new leadership model developed with Chief Learning Officers, helps leaders stay focused and competent as they surmount today’s business challenges.
Organization leaders who absorb the new model and traits shared in Leadership Now will be better equipped to solve challenges, influence culture and engagement, and grow their companies. They will learn to navigate the unpredictable terrain of contemporary business with confidence and strategic foresight. They will be able to set the pace and bar instead of trailing behind competitors.
This keynote will provide leaders with actionable insights and practical strategies, including the 5A Model framework, empowering leaders to capitalize on complexity and turn potential obstacles into opportunities for growth of themselves and their companies.
Participating leaders will…
⏺ Reflect on the leadership failures behind recent company and leadership failures, so they can prevent similar disasters
⏺ Learn how to ensure swift mobilization is possible and leads to competitive advantage
⏺ Identify how to bring stability in an era of multiple, simultaneous changes that can sabotage growth
