How my journey began

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How my journey began * 

I desire women and girls to realize their dreams and aspirations, seek out and live in Truth, walk confidently with Authority and Authenticity. I want to inspire my daughter, nieces and nephews as well as women and our younger generations to live in their purpose. I want to live to cheer them on and celebrate their wins.

Debbie Petru,

Blogger. Consultant. Coach. Cosmetologist. Follower of Christ. Wife. Mom. Daughter. Sister. Friend.

Meet Debbie,

Debbie Petru is a native Nebraskan who currently resides in Bellevue, Nebraska with her husband, Scott, and daughter, Nyah.  Her day job (and professional passion) is all things talent development and lifelong learning related.  She serves as Director of Talent Development with Heritage Communities headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, which serves 17 senior living communities in Nebraska, Iowa, Arizona, and Texas. Debbie’s formative years were shaped by the support of her dear parents, the late William and Nancy Clute, who were lifelong educators. She actively attended a predominantly black church and was bussed to urban schools for most of her primary and secondary education, which led to a unique post-secondary schooling and lattice career path. 

Debbie (she/her/hers) found her passion for writing and public speaking during her college years, growing her talents personally and professionally within the walls of her childhood church. This experience was further cultivated by giving back to her community by serving youth ages 6 weeks through high school as a child development teacher and volunteer, arts academy assistant, Sunday school teacher, youth group leader, and pianist.

Debbie maintains an active cosmetology license, giving haircuts and other services to friends and family of all hair types. She Debbie (she/her/hers) found her passion for writing and public speaking during her college years, growing her talents personally and professionally within the walls of her childhood church. This experience was further cultivated by giving back to her community by serving youth ages 6 weeks through high school as a child development teacher and volunteer, arts academy assistant, Sunday school teacher, youth group leader, and pianist. She now serves as a group mentor for middle school students and youth minister in her church. She keeps her cosmetology license active, giving haircuts and chemical services to friends and family with all hair types. She particularly enjoys making house calls to clients who are older adults or those who are home bound. She hopes to one day return to expressing herself through acrylic paintings. She finds her energy and purpose in helping people discover, develop, and maximize their unique strengths and talents.

Debbie’s upcoming book will share some of the life lessons she has learned along the way both personally and professionally. Her foremost desire is to share this knowledge with her daughter as a life skills reference guide when she is older. Debbie welcomes opportunities to coach and consult with aspiring women, especially those lacking representation, confidence or inner drive to fail forward. Her desire is to help her clients reveal their true passion and amplify their voice in rooms traditionally where have not felt welcome.

We must learn to find our motivation from within and from a higher power, rather than looking to outside sources for validation for our calling and greater purpose.  Debbie has been fortunate to have some phenomenal mentors and cheerleaders in her life and now is the time to pass that torch to ignite this passion in more amazing women!

Expertise

  • Career and job progression counseling especially for women; identifying commonalities and lessons learned; provide useful, relevant resources; Close the confidence gap in leveling up one’s skills and finding and pursuing your passion. Promoting inclusion and collaboration. (i.e. Mentorship; passion for learning; seeing people growing – tell the story of how they are tied together)

  • Accountable, legit, genuine; able to express my passion and connect with people on a professional and personal level.

Audience

  • All young professionals, especially women and those in underrepresented groups, searching for their passion and niche.  Those who want to know how to advocate for themselves and how to advocate for others who don’t have a voice or a seat at the table. Those seeking motivation on how to present their whole, authentic selves.

  • Stop shying away from speaking up; stop hiding in the background; seek out counseling and advice from trusted individuals.

Your Stories

  • I have worked in 5 very different industries throughout my 23-year career.  I want to share lessons learned as if I am speaking to my younger self of 20 years ago.  It’s time for me to get up and go—to rise up and share what I’ve learned.

  • Self-discovery; trial and error; overcoming obstacles and challenges.

  • I’m at 1500+ followers; I started speaking up through the learning program management social posts I did through my last couple of positions; but there is more work to be done.

Your Personality

  • Learning Leader; Relationship Builder; Community Partner and DEI Advocate; Honest, helpful, passionate about learning as a lifelong journey and inclusivity and collaboration to capture diversity of thought and perspectives to result in the most innovation solutions for organizations facing complex training problems.

  • In my personal life, I am a youth minister, pianist/organist, and I enjoy doing haircuts and chemical services for ethnically diverse heads of hair, and acrylic painting as a creative outlet. Helping people find their unique strengths and maximize them.

Your Voice

  • Lifting others up; sharing unique insights and thought-provoking quotes and concepts; fair and balanced; attitude of gratitude

  • “Leadership is action, not position.” – Donald H. McGannon “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go with others.” – African proverb.

The time is now to speak life into your goals, purpose, and existence. Honor your boundaries and words. Learn wisdom, well-being, and self-worth. Fail forward and be your own best cheerleader

What People Are Saying

  • Adam McDermott | Database/Systems Analyst at lowa State Education Association

    “

    I worked with Debbie at Central States Indemnity for approximately 7 years. Being a part of the IT team, I worked closely with Debbie on several projects. She worked wonderfully as a Client Services Representative by consistently being thorough and on time. On top of that, she was also very pleasant and easy to work with. I would highly recommend Debbie. She would make a great employee to any organization.

    ”

  • Darin Plum | Director of Technology - Infrastructure at Spreetail

    “

    Debbie is an amazing facilitator and leader. She has a passion for helping others learn and grow. She is detailed focused and delivers results. Debbie's onboarding and training helped me connect with others and learn the business domain. She created small steps to help me process the content, ask questions, and learn. I highly recommend Debbie for any business looking for a leader to invest in their staff.

    ”

  • Mei Wu | Supply Chain at Union Pacific Railroad

    “

    Debbie is an exceptional team player and lead with passion regardless what project or group she is on. I have had the pleasure of working alongside Debbie at Union Pacific. Her work is always top-notch, she is always making timely deliveries and helping team nurture long-term relationships with clients. She is extremely self-motivated, always looking for ways to improve personal and organization's productivity. Her passion in people development makes her standout! She sets a great example that achieving ultimate success is by empowering and building each other!

    ”

  • Arli Boustead | Healthcare Transformation Planning & Innovation

    “

    I had the pleasure getting to know Debbie through her work at KinderCare. My son attended their program, and he has special needs. Debbie was always very attentive to his needs, while never compromising the needs of his peers. Debbie also participated in a workshop series with me around nutrition and physical activity practices in child care and had much to offer the other participants in the collaborative with her knowledge and experience. I would recommend Debbie for account and project management as she is very dedicated to providing great service to those she works with.

    ”

  • Alex Brummel | Design Consultant at Renewal by Andersen

    “

    I had the pleasure of working with Debbie while we both managed KinderCare Learning Centers in the Omaha area. Debbie was always very knowledgeable in her profession, and is a person that I would frequently call on for advice when I needed support. I would recommend Debbie to anyone looking for an intelligent, professional, and hard working individual.

    “

  • Khayla Graves | Senior Sales Executive, Graphic Packaging International, LLC

    “

    Debbie has been nothing short of fantastic to work with! Her enthusiasm for her work and her superb communication skills make her an instant asset to any team. As a relatively new employee, 5 years ago, Debbie quickly stepped in to teach and develop her peers while working in a very fast-paced, challenging environment. Now, as a training and development manager, I've seen her meet the changing demands of our industry and develop and implement new training classes to accommodate those demands. She has created numerous interactive lessons, using innovative approaches to engage and develop various employees across the company. Debbie has absolutely flourished since l've known her and I truly look forward to her continuous development.

    “

  • Rhonda Harvey | Senior Recruiter, Union Pacific

    “

    I had the privilege of meeting Debbie when she was Director at Kindercare. Not only did she have drive, but she truly had a passion for the growth and development of each child there. She knew each child by name and parent, that meant so much to me as a parent dropping my child off each day. Her ability to lead and organize a center filled with both adults and children deserves recognition alone. She did a great job coaching the teams and took her role very seriously as a leader should. Great job Debbie.

    “

  • Randy J. Goodwin | Actor/Director/Writer/Producer

    “

    I have not only been a colleague of Debbie's for many years, but a life long family friend since childhood. I am amazed at Debbie's tenacity to get the job done. She is loyal to the task at hand and professional to the letter. I've witnessed her ability to follow the leader as well as lead when called upon. I've seen her handle the most stressful situations.and people, under pressure and under deadline, like a champ. I live and work in Hollywood and would give my right arm to have a Debbie Clute as a member of my production company, as well as any project I'm working on. As a matter of fact, "Debbie...want to come to Hollywood?”

    “

Chat with me

I appreciate you being here and taking the time to read about my story. Now, I’d love to hear yours! Let’s get connected. Click the link below to schedule your free 30 minute discovery call with me! I can’t wait to hear from you!

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