A bit about Christie Kerner
Obsessed with Company Building
Christie Kerner has over 30 years of experience building companies and leading teams in various roles, including CEO, COO, Entrepreneur in Residence, Head of Strategy, People, Finance, Marketing, and more. She possesses the unique ability to transform big visions into actionable plans, effectively translating visionary ideas into reality and helping others do the same.
Early in her career, Christie immersed herself in the study of emotional intelligence (EQ), combining her passions for EQ and business to focus on leadership. After successfully building and selling a couple of her own companies, she deepened her expertise by earning a Masters Degree in Leadership. Christie has coached, mentored, and advised hundreds of founders, led startup executive peer roundtable circles, hosted memorable retreats, and coached entire executive teams across various stages of startups and growth-stage companies, from early-stage deep tech startups to international IPOs.
Christie’s diverse experience includes strategic planning and operations in a Fortune 100 corporate environment, running the Center for Entrepreneurship at the nation’s largest public university, and fostering vibrant startup communities across North, Central, and South America.
Currently, Christie splits her time between teaching leaders at the Startup COO Club and the Modern Leadership Academy, helping them understand themselves and guide their teams to achieve significant accomplishments. When she’s not doing that, she’s likely dancing as part of a world champion west coast swing dance team. She believes there is always a reason to dance, as the sign in her office says.
A Modern Approach to Leadership
Specializing in modern leadership, Christie provides executive coaching and EQ training to venture-backed startups. As a Modern Leadership Specialist, she helps others become powerful, well-loved leaders by blending practical innovation with deep emotional intelligence. She trains today’s leaders to create tomorrow’s world. As a Startup Strategist, she teaches COOs to become Vision Architects who deliver, adapting strategic planning tools to meet the needs of high-growth startups.
Christie is the founder of the Startup COO Club, a community for ambitious startup COOs who turn visionary ideas into reality. The club fosters knowledge-sharing, making members stronger together and helping each other avoid common pitfalls.
In addition, Christie serves on the board of StartupAZ, assisting ambitious company builders in finding healthier, faster, and more connected paths to success. She also heads Scaling Strategies at the AZ CROWN family office, where she helps portfolio companies grow by ensuring focus, alignment, and prioritization through leadership coaching and strategic planning.