Q & A with Kelly Brockett, RFL Academy and Mastermind Alum

Kelly Brockett didn’t have much of a plan when she moved to the valley in 2008. An Indiana native, Brockett had lived in San Diego previously and after returning home for six months, she visited a friend in Aspen and decided to move shortly thereafter. After a series of odd jobs, she found her footing career-wise with the Snowmass Base Village in 2010 where she’s been ever since. Now a mom of two, Brockett credits RFL with boosting her confidence as a leader and re-igniting her passion for her job, leading to her recent promotion as vice president of operations.  

Read on to find out how going through RFL Academy and Mastermind helped Brockett reach new heights as a leader and transition into her new role!  

Roaring Fork Leadership: What brought you to RFL? 

Kelly Brockett: At the time, I was a property manager and HR coordinator at Snowmass Base Village and I was just starting to get into more of a leadership role at work. Up until then I’d been in more of an administrative role – doing what people told me to do.  

I heard about RFL through coworkers. One of them was on the [RFL] Board of Directors and said this program would be really good for me. I applied and got accepted and graduated with the 2019 cohort. 

RFL: How did the RFL Academy shape you as a leader?  

KB: Initially, I saw it as a great networking opportunity for the valley because this is a big program and a lot of businesses and organizations put their employees through it, but I think I’ve always struggled with believing in myself and in my abilities. This program really helped me realize I can do things. 

It helped me gain confidence in myself as a leader and, more generally, it helped me understand myself better. I learned how to recognize the things I can control and the things I can’t control, and how I react to certain situations. 

RFL: This past year, you did RFL’s Mastermind for women program. What made you want to come back to RFL?  

KB: I decided to do Mastermind because it had been several years since I’d done Academy and I just kind of needed a refresher. I wanted to re-ignite my excitement about work and I felt like I needed to build up my confidence again. I was starting to feel a little bit stagnant and complacent and wanted to shake things up. Also, the fact that it was a program geared specifically to women — I thought it would be great to be around a bunch of strong women. 

Right at the end of Mastermind, a big opportunity came up at work. My boss got a promotion and moved up to our corporate office and I was promoted to the vice president of operations for our local division. I think that Mastermind helped me feel ready for the promotion by reinvigorating my desire and excitement for my job. It was the perfect timing. I was ready to grow, but I didn’t know if there would be an opportunity for that and then this happened.  

RFL: How’s it going so far? 

KB: I feel like I’m doing well. It’s a change, so I’m in the process of trying to figure out what my new role is and also learning to let go of some of the things I was doing that don’t make sense anymore. It’s been good for me to realize that if you want to move up, you have to let go of some things so that you can grow. 

RFL: What’s the biggest change? 

KB: I’ve always been a doer, so the biggest change that I’ve felt is transitioning from being a person who just gets the tasks done to needing to carve out time for bigger picture/strategic thinking — beyond just  “what do we need to do today?” 

That was one thing I remember most from Mastermind: Nancy [Fredericks] saying that if you’re in a higher-level job, you need to set aside some time for thinking. I was like, “What?! I need to be doing something.” That was really eye-opening.