A Leader With Grit: Kirsty McKenzie

Taking The Right Road Even If It’s The Hard Road

Kirsty inspires me in so many ways. She is undoubtedly an incredible leader and has learned lessons through ups and downs her whole life. She has somehow mastered the fine balance between her genuine spirit of service, her highly competitive nature, and her willingness to help others.

Over the years, she has had to enact strong boundaries, decide what’s hers to carry, and move forward. She realizes that she is not responsible for other people’s happiness, and yet ironically, is continually contributing to the happiness in those around her, at school, at home, in her community.

Her story? In a nutshell, Kirsty has been teaching Athletic Therapy as a professor at Sheridan College for almost 20 years.  She is a Certified Athletic Therapist and Registered Kinesiologist, treats out of her own clinic, and is an avid outdoorswoman while raising a teenage son with her partner Scott. She has been a strong support for her sister Cuileann as she navigates MS, and in her spare time hikes with Izzy her puppy and does every Peloton workout available to man.

Lowlights to highlights of her career:

- Being told she should change her social group in the workplace if she wanted more opportunities and not get overlooked (she didn’t and got promoted).

- Being told she shouldn’t do as much for patients so they would want to return to private care. She was treating them once their benefits had been exhausted for the year or some who didn’t have access to EHC benefits. Once some of the patient’s benefits were renewed, they still requested treatments by Kirsty (even though the private practice treatments would now be available and covered).  Six months later, she resigned to follow opportunities that fulfilled her career goals.

Inspirational is how I would describe Kirsty. Not perfect; a work in progress on a constant path of improvement and self-challenge.  I narrowed down the following as her key to being a great leader. She consistently…

1. Listens with intent to understand. 

2. Meets you where you’re at, not where she thinks you should be.

3. Inspires you to reach for the stars, along with the sweat and grit it will take to get there.

4. Celebrates your effort, achievements, and commitment to always getting better. 

The moral here is this: Kirsty is a small human (barely 5 feet) with an infectious laugh, lighthearted view of life, and a ground-shaking belief that if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. Period. Second, you have to take action that shows you believe in yourself, and be brave enough to let the crumbs fall where they will. In her situation, the result was an increase in respect by those in her field and a natural loss of those who didn’t align with her values.

Her leadership of new and graduating students at Sheridan is not only her way of teaching the next generation to be great therapists but to be great people. 

I’m honored to profile Kirsty as a leader who cares about doing the right thing, treating people right, and having the courage to grow and learn even when it’s hard, tiring, and there is no one there to make it easy for you.

I thank my lucky stars she is leading a generation of wonderful leaders in training at Sheridan.

Find more about Kirsty here.

- Jen