PJ's Journey
How I Got to This Moment
Growing up there was always one constant in my life, my positive perspective on the world. I knew I just wanted to make a difference, it didn’t matter at what, I just wanted to matter.
After high school I wandered lost, not sure how to apply my talents, so I joined the Navy to see the world, and see it I did! I enjoyed fourteen years living in far away lands like Iceland and Turkey and being part of the east coast Navy on a submarine tender.
By this time, I was a divorced single parent raising a young daughter by myself. I knew I had to move forward, and so I turned to education starting with government and political science, then moving into engineering and knowledge management. After ten years of going to school at night, while working a full-time day job, I stopped to notice: I had arrived. My life was filled with a wonderful new husband, a healthy well-rounded daughter and I was a highly respected applied scientist, running large scale enterprise-wide culture change initiatives, I WAS making a difference!
This is where my story takes it’s turn. You know how life gets in the way, not just once, or twice, but three times? At the peak of my success, I was asked to pay attention to me and my purpose in the most unconventional ways; a stroke, a layoff notice and my husband becoming deathly ill.
This was the crossroad, the time to make a choice, career or family. After much soul searching, love triumphed, and off I went into the great unknown of being a health care provider.
The awesome news is my husband survived, and I am back making a difference, this time on my own terms. Doing work that really matters, for both organizations looking to change, and individuals looking to experience personal transformation.
Along the way, I also created a children’s character, Sophie G Wanderlin, who is on a quest to make the world a kinder place. Sophie’s colors of kindness encourage positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) set forth by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) influencing future generations to be loving, kind and respectful to themselves and to others.
– I AM making a difference, influencing the future from children to CEOs, making change a positive experience for everyone.
PJ's Approach
Through deep listening and creative design options, I develop a journey forward for you where your success is my guiding light. After leading thousands of people through change, I know people don’t fear change, they fear the unknowns of change. That’s why my approach is transparent and personalized to your needs.
Together we’ll create, and design options based on my thirty years of experience in areas of organizational change, customer focus, enterprise-wide collaboration, knowledge management, program management, institutional education, and workforce development as well as one-on-one personal transformation.
Why PJ?
Finding the right fit for your journey is the key to your success, you need a creative force. I bring a positive energy like no other – I am truly one-of-a-kind! My engagements empower and enlighten, creating a positive experience for my clients. When you ask yourself, “Am I doing this right?” you’ll need a real change agent to help influence and guide your transformation based on proven experience.
If this sounds like the right fit for you, then you’ve come to the right place– reach out and connect with me today!
PJ's Biography
The Narrative
PJ Jackson - Author, Influencer, Difference Maker
One-of-a-kind applied scientist, who believes that love, kindness, and respecting others is the success formula for making change a positive experience.
PJ Jackson is a senior advisor to C-Suite executives seeking to transform their organizational culture. After three decades of influencing change in federal government, defense and aerospace industry, PJ is focused on our future. Through active engagements, PJ promotes a respectful and diverse culture of awareness from children to CEOs.
PJ’s engagements empower and enlighten, creating a memorable experience for her audiences, making a difference and influence change in her own unique way! Strategic influencer and transformational change agent, providing repeatable large scale organizational change, PJ is a high energy leader. Trained as an engineer, while excelling as a knowledge strategist, PJ has over thirty years of combined professional enterprise-wide change experience in program management, strategic planning, knowledge management, collaboration, customer focus, information management, organizational learning, workforce development, international services, and culture change.
Leading authority on women in business and career transformation, serving as your catalyst for personal transformation. As a positive role model, PJ teaches and coaches you to improve your performance and accelerate your career through her unique professional development offering called Building Your "A" Game. Through her own story, The Labyrinth Influence, Awaken the Wisdom Within, PJ is focused on helping influence personal transformation. She helps people accelerate their career growth, teaches them how to be grounded in a positive self-image, and inspires them to find their true center.
Children’s author and kindness advocate, PJ is providing schools a positive approach to encourage good behavior. PJ’s character, Sophie G Wanderlin, is a one-of-a-kind adventurer, who teaches children that they are special, that their big ideas matter and that kindness is an adventure. Sophie and her companion, BOB the Cat, along with Sophie’s friends, are on a quest to make the world a kinder place. All their adventures are centered around the “Colors of Kindness”, which is a way for schools to encourage good behaviors. PJ has read to over 3000 children across several states, wearing her rainbow socks and spreading her influence to help change the direction of our children’s future. PJ work is aligned with positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) set forth by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) influencing future generations to be loving, kind and respectful to themselves and to others.
The Results
PJ’s clients include global Fortune 500 companies, many with workforces of over 100,000 employees: United States Navy, Lockheed Martin, France Energy, AT&T, World Bank, Defense Acquisition University, National Contract Management Association and the Society of Women Engineers.
Enterprise Culture Change Evangelist - Established the Customer Initiative for Fortune 500 aerospace defense contractor to facilitate their cultural evolution. Spearheaded a powerful catalyst for change across the enterprise of over 100K employees.
Skilled Diplomat - Led negotiations for adoption of search and social networking platforms resulting in 100% enterprise-wide adoption. Developed International Collaboration CONOPS with 100% buy-in, exceed indexing to 11M documents, a 275% increase in three years.
Drives Innovation – Lead Fortune 500 company to become a knowledge-based enterprise, selected as APQC Best Practice Partner for Transferring and Applying Critical Knowledge after eight years of applying KM principles in a decentralized model.
Influencer – $5 billion increase in profit through improved workforce skills and competencies, a realization of a fifty percent profit increase over a three-year period by implementing a multi-faceted program for 20K Logistics and Sustainment professionals .
Experienced Program Manager - Inherited ~$27M program portfolio in overall Red status, returned to overall Green within 9 months. Holds staff accountable, 100% milestones met. Retired current portal ahead of schedule and realized $4.7M in savings, and accelerated service retirements to realize $3.6M in savings.
PJ proudly served on active duty for fourteen years, United States Navy.
Degree credentials: Applied Scientist, Engineering Management, George Washington University; Master of Engineering Management, George Washington University.
Published Author:
The Labyrinth Influence, Awaken the Wisdom Within, Ingram Spark, 2018
Sophie G Wanderlin One of a Kind, Author House, 2017
Adventure Day One, Seven Positive Strategies When Life’s Journey Gets Rough, Balboa Press, 2014
KM Strategic Execution: How to Get Executive Attention, Employee Participation, and Increased Organizational Performance, Making it Real: Sustaining Knowledge Management, ACPI, April 2013
Next Generation Job Title: Knowledge Productivity Coach, On the Horizon Journal, Emerald Publishing, UK, September 2010
Knowledge Asset Management - A Systems Approach to Human Capital, VINE the Journal for Information and Knowledge Management Systems, Emerald Publishing, UK, April 2007