Kora Skeele
33 | Owner/Sales Manager, Viewpoint Consulting & Winterland Marketing
Residence: Windham
Career highlight you are most proud of:
The career highlight I am most proud of is finding the courage to launch my business, Viewpoint Consulting. It has been wonderful and hard and strange. I wouldn't be where I am today had I not trusted myself, upended everything, and taken that enormous leap of faith.
Community Involvement:
I currently serve as a volunteer soccer coach with the Putney Recreation League and will join their board this winter. 
This my 4th season coaching, and it is one of my absolute favorite things. I also helped revive Putney's monthly Community Suppers after the pandemic; they are free for the entire community and encourage neighbors to connect over a hot meal. Having briefly paused my involvement, I will be rejoining the Community Supper team after the fall soccer season comes to an end.
Over the past few years I have also been involved in rural development efforts in Putney, and served as Co-Chair of the Marketing & Business Support Sub-Committee of the Downtown Revitalization Taskforce, Discover Putney board member, and member of the Next Stage Arts Marketing and Communications Committee.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont?
I was born and raised in southern Vermont, and despite my adventurous spirit and love of travel, I always new I would land back here. It might sound trite, but Vermont is home; it is part of me, and I am part of it.
Favorite part of your job:
My favorite part of my job is getting to meet and work with local small business owners, who are the best type of professional. They are passionate, smart, gritty, and love this state as much as I do. Helping them grow their businesses is a privilege.
Most inspiring mentor and why:
My grandfathers:
A mid-century ad man to his core, my maternal grandfather, James Quest, has always guided me with love and thoughtful insight; although marketing is in constant flux, the core principles remain, and his professional mentorship is invaluable.
Robert Skeele, my dad's dad, will be 99 in February. He's simply never been interested in letting age slow him down, and has self-published 13 books over the last decade or so. His approach to life is measured, joyful, and full of humor, and his thoughtful and earnest encouragement means so much to me.
What is the best career advice you have received?
Get sh*t done. My former boss noticed that I can get caught up in the details, sometimes allowing my perfectionism to slow me down. Not only did he give me this advice, but he also gave me a coffee mug with the slogan scrawled across it in gold lettering; it's my favorite mug.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know:
The fall I turned 18, I spent 2 months traveling around the US by Greyhound bus (+hitchhiking), spent the spring solo traveling through India, and ended my year of adventure that summer, as a greenhorn deckhand on a commercial salmon fishing vessel in Alaska. It was quite a formative time.
What three words best describe you:
Enthusiastic. Tenacious. Inquisitive.
Favorite Vermont escape:
Putney Mountain.
Favorite Vermont season:
It's always been fall! (Although I love every season. Superlatives are hard for me!)
Favorite downtime activity:
Reading with my children and beating my husband at Rummy.
What is your favorite smell?
Old books, new leather, garlic & olive oil, the ground thawing in spring, leaves in fall, woodsmoke and boiling sap in winter, and fresh tomatoes in summer. To name a few...
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support:
If funds could buy justice, I would buy justice for Palestine.
What career goal(s) would you like to accomplish in the next 5-10 years?
My career goals are to find deep passion in my work, achieve balance between my career and the other rich parts of my life, and be well compensated for the work that I do.
