Kuan Collins was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, but moved because of her parents’ work to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when she was 4. She shares about her childhood, including getting arrested by the religious police as a teen, all thanks to a trip to Wendy’s. With a strong desire to return to the States, she graduated high school early and applied to colleges around the D.C. area. She earned her degree in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland.

After graduating, Kuan started her first job as a 23-year-old working in the Pentagon for a one-star general, but soon landed another job in sunny San Diego, California, where she eventually met her husband. After hopping around to a few other companies, they relocated to Austin, Texas, and then finally to Huntsville, Alabama. She now works as the Executive Director for Digital Innovation at Axient.

We discuss the stages of raising kids (and how Kuan did this while continuing her education, all the way to her doctorate) and watching them grow more and more independent. We talk about the value of communication and working together with your partner along the way. Kuan’s boys are now in high school, with one getting ready to go off to college. She discusses the challenge of wanting to help and oversee, but her boys are taking strides toward adulthood, handling summer jobs and college prep diligently, allowing her to breathe and have faith that “they are going to be fine.”

Kuan has spent the last 5 years working more on herself. She has gone through executive coaching and multiple personality tests, doing her best to understand who she is and how to be a better person and leader. She has more recently fallen in love with yoga with our mutual friend, Cristina Lynn.

I am so glad I had the chance to meet Kuan last year. She has been encouraging and the blunt voice I’ve needed to hear at times, and I can’t wait for you to get to know her too (or if you already do, hopefully you’ll learn something new).