Hi, my name is Katie Armentrout, and I'm a recovering corporate person.

Don't get me wrong, I loved being in corporate for over 13 years....

...and I loved leaving leaving.

Today, I teach leaders how to stop being nice.

The opposite of nice isn't mean. It's courageous.

Nice got me promoted.

Courage set me free.

My Corporate Career: The Good, The Bad & The Burnout

Truth be told, I spent the first 20 years of my career having absolutely no idea what REAL leadership was.

I was a Director at a Fortune 500 company, surrounded by smart, ethical, driven people. But the culture? Slowly shifting in a way I couldn’t quite name. I was promoted, told I was valued, asked for my input… but nothing changed.

Our revenue and profit were rapidly declining, in a time where we should have been leading the company.

We did what most teams do...we tabled our conversations for 6-12 weeks to discuss at the next quarterly offsite.

Do "leadership" offsites make you cringe too?

Why do companies insist on flying employees to a beautiful beachside hotel just to:

 ➊ Sit in a windowless room for 10 hours a day with <60 minutes of breaks?

 ➋ Ask for our feedback… and then do nothing with it?

 ➌ Get our input on "what needs to be true" to increase revenue—without providing the resources to make it happen?

Every quarter, we went through the motions:

✅brainstorming

✅ post-it notes

✅ whiteboards

✅ “parking lot of death”

✅ capture next steps

✅ jargon like "let's double-click on that" and "peel the onion back"

✅ dinner and forced team bonding at Top Golf

And then, Monday morning, back to work like it never happened.

The cycle was maddening. And expensive. (By my modest calculations, each offsite cost at least $150K in salary, travel, and food.)

So why did we keep doing it?

Because it’s how we always did it.

I was losing my mind. Many of my colleagues felt the same, but we didn’t have the words to explain why it felt so broken.

So, I left. Not just because of this process, but for a hundred small reasons I couldn’t yet articulate.

ENTER Patrick Lencioni from Stage Left.

After leaving corporate, I saw Pat Lencioni speak about The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I read the book immediately, and it was like therapy—it gave me the words for everything I had been experiencing.

Most importantly, it provided a simple roadmap to fix the problem.

I became obsessed with learning real leadership. Four years, over 100 books, and at least a hundred offsites later…

I binge content on trust-building, the power of healthy conflict, and how to actually hold people accountable. And now, I teach these frameworks to leaders.

Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Sooner:

◾Self-awareness is the most important leadership quality.

◾Every relationship is built on trust. No trust? No relationship. Period.

◾The only way to build trust is through vulnerability. Apologizing or sharing        a mistake earns respect faster than anything else.

◾Avoiding conflict is just as damaging as a toxic, blame-filled culture.                   Healthy conflict is NECESSARY for strong teams.

There IS a better way. Let me show you.

I founded Peoplefluence to teach leaders these principles (and more). When people truly connect, they communicate better, work smarter, and build teams that actually function. My clients say their teams are more engaged and productive after working with me.

I’ve been featured on dozens of podcasts and speak to high school and college students about leadership, helping shape the next generation of business leaders.

I'm a proud alum of UNC Chapel Hill (MBA) and Saint Louis University (BSBA), but still can't quite explain either mascot. When I’m not coaching or speaking, I’m spending time with my husband, three kids, and dog. I love hiking, reading, hot yoga, and roller coasters.

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