About Thrive
 The Thrive Story - Believe. Align. Achieve.
Our Clients
Client Feedback
Our Team
The Thrive! Story - Believe. Align. Achieve.
At Thrive!, we often are asked about the significance of our tagline, Believe. Align. Achieve. Although most people understand the meaning behind these words, few understand how they fit together and how they relate to the history of Thrive! The intent behind Believe. Align. Achieve., is the foundation for a powerful partnership built between an Olympic Athlete and a Cancer Survivor; a Business Consultant and a Family Therapist, and where they overlap. Below we describe its meaning and how it creates healthy organizations, individuals, and teams that Thrive!
Believe
Believing is about vision, meaning, and thinking beyond what is. People are often confused when they continue to think and do the same thing yet expect different results. In order to create change, a person needs to take on a new perspective and consider possibilities that lie outside their existing belief system. Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, "The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them."
Believing is imagining my ability to achieve something that is outside of my current reality. It is about developing new paradigms, values, and beliefs. It is also finding meaning, creating vision, and holding on to a new idea against all odds. The United States didn't even think of the possibility of putting a person on the moon until President Kennedy stated his vision in his famous speech, "We will put a man on the moon by 1969." This was outside most of our belief systems, yet it was the first step in creating it as a reality.
Over fifteen years ago, Susan Clarke, co-founder of Thrive! was given six months to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. In order to create a different possibility, Susan had to develop a new way to think about her situation. She was able to reframe and hold on to a vision, against all odds, that she could live. She also got in touch with her courage to find meaning in a nightmare. Today Susan knows that the one strength she brings to any situation is her ability to reframe, reconstruct, and rebuild beliefs, vision, and meaning. She helps clients do the same around their situations.
Align
Alignment is being clear about a goal, while understanding exactly what the current situation is and building a bridge between the two. It's about setting and maintaining priorities that align or direct my actions towards my objectives. It is about letting go of activities that hinder my progress towards my goals. Alignment is about discerning what is really important from what presents day to day as urgent. It is about commitment; getting up every morning and remembering what I want to accomplish in the long run while taking one step today that will get me there. It's about not letting myself be seduced by short-term gratification when it conflicts with my long-term direction or values. Alignment is the path between believing and achieving.
CrisMarie Campbell, co-founder of Thrive!, and Olympic athlete, demonstrates alignment. She knows what it means to recommit day after day to the goal of making the USA Olympic Rowing Team while working full time as an engineer for Boeing. She kept the Olympic goal top of mind—getting up at 5:00AM every morning and going out on the water in the cold and the rain when no one was watching or cheering even when her body was just too tired to go anymore and she continued to give it her all. She kept the Olympic goal in mind when she headed to work to meet the daily demands of making a living and then came back for an evening practice. Through all of this, she had to let go of negative ways of thinking and remind herself that just maybe she would get to the Olympics. Today CrisMarie brings that same insight and strength to her clients, helping them develop the skills and tenacity to align their actions and build the bridge between believing and achieving.
Achieve
The Oxford dictionary defines achieve as: "to reach or attain by effort; accomplish; be successful." It is often an outcome of new ways of thinking and a long, disciplined effort. Sustainable success comes through the synthesis of believing and aligning—thinking beyond the box and aligning my actions to be successful. At Thrive! we also believe achieving takes building the right team.
Susan would not have returned to a healthy life simply by being a visionary or a meaning-maker. She had to learn how to build a team around her that would provide what she alone was missing. She needed help with alignment; the bridge to take her back to health: a complementary medical team and support from friends and family. Along the way, each reminded her what was both important and urgent in making sure she got there.
CrisMarie would have never thought of going to the Olympics when she joined the rowing team in college. She needed someone to encourage and direct her along the path to a goal that she could not see herself achieving until well along the way: a coach and a close friend did just that.
The roots of Thrive! are in the co-founders stories—surviving cancer and making the Olympic team. The common link is in their passion, skill, and understanding in developing relationships that produce extraordinary results through: Believing, Aligning, and Achieving. Today Thrive! is about creating healthy organizations, teams, and individuals. We do this by partnering with others to build a Thrive! team, which embodies these principles.
What this means for our clients
Thrive! is an organizational development firm that offers coaching, consulting, and training services aimed at creating healthy, thriving organizations, teams, and individuals. We are often contacted when a team is struggling, change initiatives are stalling, the organization is losing key performers, or politics are bogging down the culture of the organization. Though we focus on resolving these types of symptoms and getting results, we also are equally committed to addressing the underlying alignment issues that may be more significant in the long run.
Our approach utilizes our strengths and our partnerships to ensure that our clients get more than just symptom relief. Ultimately, Thrive! is about successfully spanning the human side (Believing) and business side (Aligning) of any side of a situation and getting results (Achieving).
Click here for the Thrive! Company Fact Sheet.
Our Clients
Thrive! clients are typically CEOs, presidents, senior executives, and even sport coaches who are:
- Interested in building a high performing team with direction, purpose, and clarity
- Wanting to reduce politics and create more direct, honest communication
- Seeking to increase commitment, productivity, and morale
At Thrive!, we work across industries: healthcare, insurance, government agencies, consumer products, property management, services, and manufacturing. The types of businesses we work with are: non-profit, for-profit, commercial, federal, family-owned businesses, and non-corporate individuals.
A partial list of our clients:
- AT&T Wireless, Redmond WA
- Bellevue Downtown Association, Bellevue, WA
- Cardinal Health, St. Charles, MO
- Calyspo Healthcare Solutions, Mountlake Terrace, WA
- Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, Seattle WA
- Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, WA
- Government Supply Agency, Auburn, WA
- Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA
- Hitachi Consulting, Seattle, WA
- Holiday Retirement Corp., Salem, OR
- Huawei Technologies, Shenzhen, China
- Kootenai Medical Center, Corde d Lane, ID
- Pacific Foods of Oregon, Tualatin, OR
- Point B Solutions Group, Seattle, WA
- Premera Blue Cross, Mountlake Terrace, WA
- Seattle Athletic Club, Seattle, WA
- Seattle Institute of Integrative Medicine, Seattle, WA
- Theravance Inc., San Francisco, CA
- Young Entrepreneur's Organization Bali, Indonesia
Client Feedback
A simple "great" would not be good enough. "That was a good meeting!" is now a phrase we are hearing after project
teams meet at our company. After working with the two dynamic women of
THRIVE! our project team members have gained insights on how each person's
personality style and behavior affect team performance. We have begun to
address some of the issues we now understand are counterproductive to being
effective teams. THRIVE!'s direct facilitation style fostered dialogue
between individual team members that has improved the approaches we take to
reach our project goals. Susan Clarke and CrisMarie Campbell model effective
team behavior through their synergistic method of presenting challenging
material for teams to chew on and digest.
-Pat Singer, Senior Director Project Management, Theravance, Inc.
"I would highly recommend Thrive! for anyone in a leadership role who is either trying to make the leap from personal excellence to empowering excellence in others or for someone who knows they are not getting all the feedback that they need to get the results they want."
-Jon Fleming, Managing Director, Point B Solutions Group
"When I first brought Thrive! in, I wanted them to "fix" the "problem team". Once I realized how much work I needed to do, Thrive! was great in mapping out a path. What I appreciated most was the direct and honest style of CrisMarie and Susan. Now, when we as an organization face a challenge or a team is in crisis, we have the resources to not just get through, but to thrive while we are making the necessary changes.
For example, this past quarter we have faced the loss of one of our key managers, and we have had to deal with not getting a client we thought for sure we had. At the same time, we have had the best financial results ever - spectacular results! I believe the work with Thrive! has played a significant role in helping us reach this new level of performance."
-Catherine Albert, President, Calypso Healthcare Solutions
"We engaged CrisMarie and Susan during a period of crisis during a critical project, and with their guidance, we developed into an effective leadership team (our "A" team) and overcame some significant barriers. As a result, we have more leadership, clarity and alignment throughout the broader IS organization."
-Patrick Dolan, Program Director-Clinical Information Systems,
Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center
"CrisMarie and Susan I wanted to send you a note to let you know how much we appreciated your time and energy last week! I thought you did an incredible job and we all really enjoyed working with you. Thank you so much! You work really well together and set a great example for our team!"
-Leslie Ota, VP, Bellevue Downtown Association
"And the hi-light for us was the standing-room-only crowd that squeezed in to hear Susan Clarke and CrisMarie Campbell speak about their unique take on the topic of Emotional Intelligence. The audience seemed to listen attentively and stayed long afterward to ask Susan and CrisMarie more about their presentation and get information about related courses."
-Vancouver Wellness Conference, Cathy and Ernie McNally,
Managers, The Haven Institute, BC Canada
"I have had the pleasure of working with Susan Clarke from Thrive! and seeing her in action. If you are looking for a no-nonsense, straight to the issues type of change agent, Susan is a worthy candidate. Her down to earth and plain speaking style is refreshing."
-Paul Cosolich, CEO, SIL Enterprises
"If you want to get your company's team and interpersonal relationships back on track—call Thrive! I've worked with Thrive! in a variety of settings over the last couple of years. Their skills are sharp. Their integrity is without question. Your payback will be immediate. That's why we invited Thrive! to be on our corporate team."
-Jim Sellner, PH.d., Dip.C., Co-Founder, Partner, ViRTUS Inc.
"Thrive! worked with the leadership team through a series of off-sites to resolve the conflict that was dividing the team and help the team develop and align around a common business strategy… I found the facilitators to be straight shooters, easy to work with, and professional. In terms of time and money well spent, I would highly recommend Thrive! I really enjoyed working with them. I will gladly call them up the next time I have a people, leadership, or team issue."
-Timothy Moe, Deputy Director, Fleet Management,
Federal Supply Service, US General Services Administration
Our Team
CrisMarie Campbell and Susan Clarke started what is now known as Thrive! in 1999. Thrive! grew out their desire to work with teams and organizations blending business and psychology.
Today Thrive! has expanded to become the Thrive! team, which includes others who share the same core values. Specifically, Thrive! Associates are:
- Straight shooters: We are genuinely interested in helping our clients accomplish their goals. That often means uncovering blind spots that have been getting in the way of achieving results. We help our clients become aware of these blind spots and develop new approaches to achieve the desired outcome.
- Relationship based: We believe working relationships are a powerful way to produce results, which is why we partner a business person with a people person to co-facilitate our sessions with clients. We use our team as a model to help clients develop their own powerful working relationships.
- Resilient: The roots of Thrive! are in the co-founder's stories—surviving terminal cancer and overcoming a back injury to make the Olympic team. The common link is their resiliency in surmounting incredible odds. Today Thrive! is about going beyond resiliency to creating relational resiliency: healthy organizations, teams, and individuals that not only survive but Thrive!
- Flexible: Working with Thrive! is not an "all or nothing" decision. We understand that you may need a little help or a whole lot. Either way, we customize our services and approach to meet your needs. We don't use canned methodologies, instead we rely on our own experience to understand what our client's problems are and collaborate on an approach that fits best.
CrisMarie Campbell has long understood the type of leadership and teamwork that produces extraordinary results, resulting in her founding Thrive! in partnership with Susan Clarke. Growing up in a military family, being a member of the 1988 USA Olympic Team, a Flight Test engineer for Boeing’s 777 airplane, and an experienced Management Consultant for a Big Five Tax and Accounting Firm, CrisMarie has always moved in the world of teams, producing powerful results.
For the last several years, CrisMarie has focused on bridging the gap between business success and personal fulfillment. She specializes in coaching leaders, teams, and individuals to: believe what is possible, align their intention with their actions, and bring their vision into reality to create extraordinary results.
CrisMarie received both her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and her Masters in Business Administration from the University of Washington. She also completed post-graduate work in Coaching, Change and Transition Management, Leadership Development, and Team Effectiveness.
Susan Clarke has worked for over 18 years leading and facilitating groups, conducting conflict resolution, and teaching communication effectiveness. When she met CrisMarie in 1999, she saw how powerful these tools are when applied to a business team approach. They decided to join forces and created Thrive! to assist people in leveraging the power of people in organizations.
Susan’s courageous journey, successfully battling a life threatening illness, provides her with a rich tapestry of experience and an appreciation for the paradox of life. She believes creative potential is attained through open, honest communication with curiosity of self, and other. Her specialty is navigating conflict and chaos and developing creative outcomes.
Susan received her undergraduate degree in Education from the University of Virginia, her Masters in Applied Behavioral Science through the Leadership Institute of Seattle at Bastyr University. Susan also completed post-graduate work in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Visioning and Strategic Planning.
CrisMarie Campbell and Susan Clarke bring a unique, in-depth blend of both the business and personal perspectives into their consulting approach. They believe the goal and the process are equally significant to the success and the health of an individual or an organization. Campbell and Clarkee believe by harnessing the untapped power of people, companies will create healthy organizations that Thrive! and achieve extraordinary results.
|
