TED Community » Christa Chambers-Price

About Me

Violas, Foxholes and Risky Business

As a teenager, I was forced to make a decision: Julliard or The Army. I chose the Army by necessity. My world pivoted from the smells of rosin and aged oak stages to foxholes, TNT, and Army-issued everything. Immediately, I started to question this rash decision. The Army said that I could 'be all that I could be'. One day, after not throwing a live grenade far enough, prompting my drill sergeant to throw both of us over a wall, I thought, 'Maybe not!'. I think I could be all that I can be at McDonald's! Eventually, I landed in Washington, D.C. at the FBI as a fingerprint analyst. WARNING: AHA! MOMENT AHEAD. At 18, I was a GS-4 level government employee. One day, I overheard a 63-year old colleague in the same job for over 25 years, explain how she was looking forward to getting her GS-5 level status so that she could 'get the hell out of here'. That's when I said, 'I'm getting the hell out of here now'. Goodbye Washington, D.C.; hello Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Cubicles and Commuter Traffic

After graduating from the University of Michigan, I worked for corporate america. I fit in but was never fulfilled. I am an extremely ambitious person. I love being around ambitious people but divine restlessness eventually lead me into the world of risky business three years after graduation.

Newbie entrepreneur

So graphic design it was. The work of design and advertising was challenging, creative and exciting. I won awards, solved some amazing visual puzzles and literally worked around the clock. Now, don't get me wrong, the work was fun, but I was exhausted. After 9/11, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I closed the company and worked on me.

Timeout

I took time off, worked with a life coach and avoided making any major decisions for almost a year. I eventually made peace. Chrysalis Interactive, another design company, was created. I LOVED working with leadership and organizational experts. I was in heaven and the results showed. In two quarters, I had more business than the seven years prior. Along the way, the consulting industry was shifting. Companies were shrinking their training budgets, some were cutting training altogether while others wanted to duplicate the expert in the room with a train-the-trainer model (You show 'Bob' how to do it and he'll teach the rest of us...Yay!). It was clear to me that consultants needed to redesign their practices and market themselves to accommodate those shifts. I had no idea at that time that knowledgecrush was being born.