Sacramento Ph.D. Helps Others Reach Success

EDD Labor market forecasts provide a look at projected employment numbers for the Sacramento-Roseville-Arden Arcade metropolitan area from 2012 – 2022. Demand for community and social services, social work and counseling are expected to grow by 18.4 percent, an increase of more than 2,600 jobs in this area alone. The field includes counselors for mental health, substance abuse, personal and career development, as well as numerous types of social workers.

Kim Geil, Ph.D., has spent her life helping others achieve their goals, whether those goals include getting an education, improving relationships, finding their passion, or expediting their climb up the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park.

Geil offers her valuable personal coaching skills with Coaching Heights, a company she founded in 2013. She is also the senior program coordinator for the College of Continuing Education at Sacramento State. Her background includes helping manage the office of a mountain-climbing business in Grand Teton National Park, a job she started at age 14 and still does every summer, as well as teaching Japanese to American students and English to students in Japan.

Geil initially found it hard to narrow down what she wanted to study in college, but ending up getting her bachelor's degree in sociology from Stanford. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in, but finally had to declare," she says, laughing. Choosing sociology allowed her to take all sorts of classes.

Further education and the support of a caring academic mentor helped Geil realize what her true passion was. "I found what I wanted to do," she says, "was to help people get on the path that is right for them." She earned her doctorate in educational psychology & research on teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Geil wrote her dissertation on teacher engagement and burnout, and freely admits, "finding the willpower to complete the dissertation was an interesting experience." Her mentor made all the difference, convincing her that she could succeed.

With Coaching Heights, Geil is helping others find their own successful path in life.

Valerie Heimerich is a freelance writer out of Sacramento. She typically covers animals and community issues. She has volunteered and worked for many organizations helping animals and people. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.