Michelle Kirk, Ph.D., is a leadership and performance coach and consultant with fifteen years of experience helping individuals, leaders, and teams of all ages and competitive levels to maximize their potential, enhance their performances, and achieve their goals. Michelle’s experience as a standout collegiate athlete, collegiate coach, and performance specialist with various populations such as military, business, athletics, and academia has garnered her unique perspectives and a diverse skill set in helping leaders and performers get the most out of themselves and others. Simply put, Michelle’s work focuses on cultivating the winner’s mindset and developing the mental tools to support it.
Understanding what it takes to achieve excellence is evident as Michelle was recently inducted into her alma mater’s Hall of Honor for her collegiate academic and athletic accomplishments. Michelle’s athletic resume at Southwest Minnesota State University highlights her personal experience of achieving challenging goals through dedication, hard work, mental toughness and coachability. For example, sophomore season, Michelle was the nation’s leader amongst all college divisions in three-point percentage by shooting 52.5% (73-139) behind the arc.
Additional awards and honors Michelle received in her tenure as a student-athlete include:
- Daktronics & WBCA Division II All-America Honorable Mention
- North Central Region Co-Player of the Year
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s Player of the Year
- SMSU’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
- CoSIDA Academic All-America
- Four-year letter-winner
- Three-time first team All-NSIC
- Led NSIC in scoring and assists her senior campaign
- Finished career ranking first in school history with 190 3-pointers made
- Finished career ranking first in school history with 493 assists
- Finished career ranking third in school history with 1,645 points
- Finished career ranking third in school history with 349 free throws made
- Finished career ranking fifth in school history with 553 field goals made.
Michelle continues to pursue athletic goals, and challenge herself mentally and physically, by competing in marathons, ultra-marathons, and triathlons. Michelle’s personal athletic success, years studying and working with top performers, years spent as a collegiate coach, and an earned doctorate degree in Performance Psychology, gives Michelle a scientific yet practical approach in her coaching and consulting work. An avid life-learner, Michelle is passionate about sharing the knowledge she’s gained through her educational pursuit and her personal and professional experience in order to enrich the lives of others.
Michelle is a proud military wife to husband Dennis, a Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army, and mother of three (ages 4, 2, and ~1). She is no stranger to the need for resilience in everyday life and especially through transition and uncertainty. Her family currently resides in Northern Virginia.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michellekirk356
Optimal Pursuit 