Hello

I'm Kristen Koester-Smith. I help brands of integrity turn their dream clients into loyalists. I am also the founder of a leadership school that teaches soul-led people how to become pillars in their community.

Originally from small-town North Idaho, I spent 13 years abroad in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. I use the incredible insights I received abroad to inform my work, drawing on my unique experiences to question the status quo and rewrite playbooks.

About Me

I started writing my first novel at age 11. Since then, her short stories and non-fiction have been featured in The Sandhill Review, Typehouse, Wherever Mag, and Afterglobe. She has read at Singapore Writers’ Week and is a multiple-time performer with Hague Center for Acting and Creativity’s Metaphors Be With You. In 2012, Kristen graduated from the University of Idaho with B.A. in journalism and English- creative writing.

My creative work used to have a heavy tone--I said that I wrote to bleed the pain from me. After I began healing my inner world, my creative urges slowed to a trickle. I'm learning to steward my creative channel and nurture my creative will through joy. I'm currently working on a fantay novel based on my own travels and magical knowledge.

Where I grew up in a town of three thousand in North Idaho, I experienced a lot of the same. From a young age, I ached to experience the different. I lived abroad for 11 of the 13 years since graduating from the University of Idaho in 2013. I lived in Singapore, Greece, Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia, and I've visited over 30 countries. I became more comfortable being a stranger in a strange land than I did in my home country. Even for the years I spent within the states, I lived in Hawaii and New York, far from the Inland Northwest.

From these travels, I found out who and how I wanted to be in the world. I met myself beyond the space of my programming and outside of people's expectations of me. I came face-to-face my prejudices and programming by being exposed to Truth and having personal experiences. I became an expert at recognizing propaganda and unfounded cultural narratives. I saw myself and others truly- as one family, sharing a planet. Even within my professional life, this instilled within me the value of speaking kind, necessary Truth.

My goal in my work is to always speak kind, necessary Truth. I value working for organizations that serve people and the planet, and I only desire to work for brands of integrity. My most important contributions come from wisdom gained from my unique experiences during my time abroad and my exposure to varied cultures, walks of life, beliefs, systems, and even propaganda. My ability to connect ideas and perceive energy leaks makes me a valuable team leader.

My professional career has spanned countries, sectors, and designations. I've been a copywriter, designer, founder, editor, team leader, teacher, and more. As an entrepreneur, I have defined myself as a self-starter who can bring an idea into reality, navigate the highs and lows, and stick with a vision.

As a copywriter, I've tackled projects from a wide-range of clients, from an organic teddy bear brand and a sustainable farm on Maui to a programmatic healthcare ad provider. I'm an expert at taking complicated content and creating easy-to-read, compelling long-form content, as well as copy that sells. My clients love me for my professionalism, creativity, and ability to get it right the first time. As one of the first employees of a stat-up, I spearheaded and managed concurrent initiatives, led junior team members, and was the go-to person for our CEO.

In 2023, after 20 years of spiritual study and 10 years of teaching, I founded Spiral of the Star. Our school intends to build community leaders who are guided by their intuition and fed by their faith. Science has proven that people who make spiritual, intuition-based decisions are better leaders who value the collective good, the health of the planet, and the well-being of those they are responsible for.

I created a unique methodology, three course levels, and designed an online portal. This school is my soul's gift to the world and my mission.

As a founder and a teacher, I am also a lifelong student. I continue to deepen my knowledge of human interconnectedness, spiritual traditions, and wisdom teachings across the globe. I have studied Christian Mysticism, Zen Buddhism, agnostic mindfulness, Yoga, Tantra, and Qabalah. I'm currently an initiate of Las Piramides Del KA in Guatemala, where I have completed three courses, including 40 consecutive days of silence.

I've completed three yoga teacher trainings in wildly different environments--New York City, India, and Thailand. I specialize in Yin and Asthanga Vinyasa and have been teaching yoga since 2014. I completed my first Vipassana 10-day silent retreat in Jaipur, India in 2018. I learned Reiki I II from a master in Chang Mai, Thailand, and I studied mindfulness at the University of Leiden online. Recently, I've been deepening my studies in breathwork and EFT (tapping), both science-backed modalities.

These studies help inform my personal daily practice, giving me resilience, focus, and love of life. I've found (and science has proved) that no matter what the tradition or the practice, spiritual connectedness serves my humanity.

Contact

I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.

contact@kristenks.com

208.981.9446