Community Highlights: Meet Krystle Dorsey of Uplift Opportunity Career Services

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystle Dorsey.

Krystle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I realized that I wanted to be a counselor when I was in the 6th grade. I was going through a difficult time, and it made me observant of others’ behaviors and how it was different from my own. I asked my teacher, “What does someone do that helps others with their problems.” And he said, “That’s a therapist”. And then I said, “Well, I want to be that. What do I have to do?” and he responded, “You have to go to college.” Well, I was set! I was placed in a college prep program called AVID the following year. In both middle school and high school, I was very diligent about selecting classes that prepared me for college. I set my heart on majoring in Psychology in college, which is what I studied at George Mason University. I continued to a Master of Education in Counseling and Development at Mason. While going through my master’s program, I realized that mental health was not a fit for me. I felt more connected in the higher education space and preferred helping middle school and high school adolescents make decisions about their futures. I switched to focusing on educational counseling and career counseling in my final year of graduate school. I started my counseling career working in college access programs at higher education institutions. I did that for two years and then switched to working in career services. I was so in love with career counseling that I wanted it to be my primary focus. Today, I have been an Assistant Director at university career centers for 7 years, and I also own my own business doing career services for a niche population. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My road was a bit bumpy. It was hard to initially let go of a career in therapy since I had wanted to do it for so long. I tried an internship and a job in mental health, but I experienced a great deal of stress, one even led to health problems. Yet, this experience led to me accepting that those environments were not a fit. Initially, it was a bit of an identity crisis. A friend suggested I read “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. It helped me embrace the change in career path God was carving out for me. Today, changing was one of the best decisions I ever made. 

Additionally, it was the height of the Great Recession when I graduated with my master’s degree in 2012. I could not find a full-time job after two years of graduating. I worked a part-time job for the two years, but it was very discouraging to put so much time and effort into achieving my goal and then not be able to find work. 

My career is a faith journey of purpose, so I decided I would keep going and applying until God opened up a door. Finally, a connection I met at a conference sent me a job in March 2014 at a university in the Midwest. I had decided that I would just apply to anything within my field of either college access or career services. The job in the Midwest was the ONLY job I was offered. I accepted it. I backed up my professional clothes, work items, books, and some summer clothes in my 2004 Toyota Corolla, and my dad and I drove out West for the move. 

I did not know a single person in the Midwest other than the connection that sent me the job posting, but even they lived about 45 minutes away. It was very lonely starting out. I had to start from scratch – no friends, no family, no furniture. Not even kitchen utensils! I eventually designed a lovely apartment and made friends… but this took about a year from the first day of starting my job until I found the next opportunity. 

My next opportunity was a leadership role where I was the only ethnic minority, the first in that position. I also possessed other identities that made me feel like an outsider – a single woman, a Spanish speaker, a Southerner, a millennial. It felt like I was always the minority on any given day or occasion. This compounded the loneliness I was already feeling from yet another move to a new city. I think my colleagues tried their best to make me feel welcome, but “blazing the trail” was not an easy road. I found allies at work and built connections with other colleagues on campus and the greater community, but this also took time. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Uplift Opportunity Career Services, LLC is a career services and media platform specializing in the needs of diverse mid-career professionals. Krystle Dorsey, M.Ed. is the CEO and Founding Editor, and she helps mid-career professionals get unstuck and prepare for their next opportunity. She provides helpful information and proven, hands-on strategies to help them reach careers on the next level. Her six-step career development strategy empowers her clients to gain clarity about their purpose and live a more balanced life. 

Krystle has been featured on “Two Therapists and a Mic” radio show discussing the workforce development needs of college students. She has also been a featured guest on the InTheChat Podcast and the Here We Are Podcast with Teka. Her guest episode “Relation” on InTheChat is ranked one of the Top 5 in streaming for the show. 

Services include reviewing career documents, such as resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles. She also provides coaching about topics such as career changing, job searching, graduate school, and career planning. 

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
I enjoyed playing checkers with my father at Buckroe Beach in Hampton, Virginia. 

Contact Info:

• Website: krystledorsey.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kduplifts
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystledorsey/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kduplifts_u