Kris Irwin
Picture this: third grade, gym class. Two kids are asked to choose their respective teams for a soccer game. Some students slump towards the back, hoping to disappear. Some shift nervously in their shoes. Some hold their breath in dreaded anticipation. But one... one is ready. Confident. Eager. Her name is Kris Irwin and she's going to be your star player. Take a good challenge, mix in a healthy dose of fear and you've got a recipe right up Kris' alley. She pets tigers, wins Iron Chef competitions, wears white so she can "blend in" on Mt. Hood and bungees off the world's highest jump in South Africa. Call it what you like, Kris is fearless.
For clients, having Kris on your team means you never have to worry. After all, she isn't going to. Having traveled the world and worked with some of the largest names in business, she comes armed for action. Not only did Kris earn her M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, but she, along with her husband and two fellow-students, also won the Fuqua Iron Chef Competition - yes, for cooking! She spent seven years at Deloitte Consulting, tackling challenges in just about every kind of industry - and situation. In 2011, Kris was conducting time-sensitive merger and acquisition meetings in Chicago. The meetings were scheduled for Thursday and Friday but an impending blizzard had other plans. Not easily-deterred Kris caught a last-minute red-eye flight on Monday. She arrived in time to prepare the team - and watch the storm roll in from the 63rd floor of a Chicago high-rise (just her style).
Kris and her equally-brave husband live in Portland, where they sometimes can be found doing "calm" things like drinking Pinot Noir and trying out a new restaurant. But then it's back to backpacking, airplane jumping and whipping up their own culinary concoctions. Here's to picking the fearless competitor. She's exactly who you want on your team.
