Katina Koller: Living a life of purpose as a Best Practice Chair

I finally feel like my life is harmonized as much as I preach to my members to harmonize their lives.

Editor’s Note: This profile is part of a series highlighting Vistage Chairs — executive coaches who help guide CEOs and leaders of small and midsize businesses to make better decisions for their companies, families and communities.

For Katina Koller, being a Vistage Chair is a commitment to living a life of purpose. She believes the most important thing is to live a life of impact and to be purpose-aligned.

“I always tell Chair candidates that when you’re living for your purpose, the money will follow,” she says. “When you pursue the money, you never find your purpose.”

Koller experienced the impact of Vistage membership when she joined in 2013 after purchasing a second-generation, family-owned business founded in 1972. As a third-generation family business owner, the predicted failure rate was 97%, so she knew she needed a community of experts to guide her journey.

“I was surrounded by people who were challenging me, holding me accountable and ultimately giving me the confidence that I needed to be in this arena,” she says. “I knew I needed the support, resources and expertise I could get from Vistage.”

Learning from her peers, expert speakers and one-to-one coaching, she worked with an incredible team and guided her new company to success, positioning it for another sale. After selling the business, she knew she wanted to serve others and help them achieve the best version of their life, personally and professionally.

Giving and supporting each other

That same year, she became a Vistage Chair. From her experience as a member, she knew the impact of the Vistage platform and community. But when she became a Chair, she discovered a new level of impact.

“The greatest and one of the most rewarding surprises for me was how strong our community of Chairs is,” she says. “Everyone gives to each other and supports each other. There is an incredible amount of reciprocity that I’ve never experienced anywhere else.”

Katina (second from left) with one of her Arizona-based CEO groups

Koller currently runs 3 groups and oversees 40 members. While she serves as the Best Practice Chair for her home state and runs a Key Group, this Chair role gives her more flexibility than her past positions as Chairwoman, CEO, and owner of award-winning companies.

“Because the Vistage home team is so awesome, I get the highest return on my invested time, which is my executive coaching with my members, facilitating my meetings and hosting Tiger Team meetings,” she says. “They give me the tools, the resources, the frameworks and the models — all of the things that I need to be successful as a Chair.”

‘My life is harmonized’

Koller doesn’t believe in work-life balance because the two are in opposition. Instead, she thinks of it as being harmonized. Chairing allows her to integrate work and quality time with her husband, their 2 daughters and the extensive animal rescue work they champion.

Her family fostered and rehomed 150 kittens during the pandemic and has since launched a rescue called Whisker Mountain. She volunteers with the Humane Society and serves on a non-profit board and serves on the board of a successful private equity backed company that designs and manufactures medical devices. This summer, she will host two getaway retreats in Wyoming so she can enjoy her family’s school break together.

“I get to do my daughter’s club volleyball. I get to do all the things that I want that, frankly, I didn’t have the latitude to prioritize historically,” she says. “I finally feel like my life is harmonized as much as I preach to my members to harmonize their lives.”

The view from Katina’s (and the kittens’) home in Sedona, Arizona

In addition to challenging members and guiding them on their growth journey, she advocates for more women and greater diversity in leadership. She believes female and male leaders from all backgrounds create a flywheel where they all become better together.

“The future of Vistage is what our communities look like, and what our communities look like are the people who are building the businesses,” she says. “We have a wonderful history and tradition, and it is evolving. Female leaders, first- and second-generation immigrant leaders and business owners are up and coming, and we’re seeing more in our groups. I can’t express how important it is that our groups look like our communities and experience the gift diversity brings to every one of us every day.”

Koller says Vistage’s biggest impact can start with a kernel of a question that leads to a breakthrough, creates life-changing decisions and expands again and again.

“It’s amazing to know that I just get to play such a small role as a Chair shouldering that journey with my leaders and being part of their lives and the amazing new things, they’re doing in the world,” she says.

Explore more coaching journeys

If this coaching story interests you and you’d like to see more, learn more about Chairing and how it could lead to the next chapter of your life.

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