Second Green City Sponsor An Intellectual Titan Says Sustainability is Just Plain Smart

Heather Busby Kelly:

Second Green City Sponsor

An Intellectual Titan Says Sustainability is Just Plain Smart!

By Gail Conners

What does local business woman Heather Busby Kelly share with actress Geena Davis (Thelma and Louise); prolific science fiction writer Isaac Asimov; and believe it or not, actor James Woods?

All have scored in the top two percent of the population on approved intelligence tests, making them candidates for The Mensa Society. The society is not a country club where membership can be bought; you either have it or you don’t – a high IQ. Davis, Asimov and Woods are members of the society, among a throng of other individuals – famous or not. Kelly has achieved all the ranking and tests for acceptance in the group, but needs to finish some paperwork -when she has time.

Long before she created Vantage Business Solutions, LLC In Colorado Springs, and the online resource Colorado Sustainability Record, Kelly was a “Jersey” girl, with the big “Jersey hair and everything,” she admits.  She was the epitome of contradictions, because while she was attempting to be a rebel and enjoyed shocking people at Hackettstown High School, she was also heavily involved in 4H Horticulture, earning her the 4Her of the Year award, and she was only one girl out of three from her high school to be a National Merit Scholar.

But it was Kelly’s involvement with the youth organization 4H that truly impacted her values and goals and framed her talents. 4H stands for Head, Heart, Hands, Health, and offers programs from youth leadership and citizenship to environmental science and plant and animal sciences. She not only learned about horticulture, she also developed public speaking skills and learned to sew.

Not content to focus on just English at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., she quickly honed in on computer science and software engineering. But Kelly’s passion transcended into helping small businesses succeed. Eventually she moved westward and earned her master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado/Denver.

“I wasn’t interested in politics as much as non-profit work,” she says. “I like small businesses and supporting local owners.”

In addition, she received her MBA in management operations from Regis University, all while she was getting married and giving birth to her daughter.

While at Regis, she was reconnected with computer systems engineering, which as she explains, “rolls right into sustainability.”

When she opened her business, it was initially called Sustainable Transformations. Yet, she found the name may have confused some members of the community, including manufacturers, who could potentially benefit from sustainable practices.

The business became Vantage Solutions LLC, and Kelly helped to develop the Colorado Springs Chamber’s Sustainability Council. She’s now invested in the Chamber’s Small Business Advisory Group.

“I love working with small businesses,” she says with a smile. “They have a scrappy attitude. No one cares about a job description or roles of responsibility. There’s an excitement there – a ‘let’s get going’ attitude.”

Kelly says sustainability is essential to small businesses. She’s been learning it since the sixth-grade and understanding soil conservation. “There’s always a connection to nature there, but the larger concept of sustainability is how systems work within one another.”

She hopes her new endeavor, The Colorado Sustainability Record, will become a central repository of information.  A “one-stop shop for all things sustainable,” she adds. Her plans include adding a mobile application to find things such as a recycling and/or business directory.

“Sustainability is about building community,” Kelly says. “Sharing a vision for the future which is rooted in today. For businesses, especially smaller businesses, sustainability can keep you in business and not put you out of it.

About the Sponsor: Heather Busby Kelly began her writing career while in college, with her column Boot to the Head. An irreverent look at “what’s ridiculous,” the column was written in the spirit of radio host and DJ Dr. Demento.

In addition to being President/Partner of Vantage Solutions, LLC, Kelly is the Legislative Watch Member of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce; a business counselor and educator with the Colorado Springs Small Business Development Center; and member of the American Business Women’s Network-Pikes Peak Chapter. She recently became chair of the Green Cities Coalition Steering Committee.

Curiously I asked Heather if she had ever taken a Myers-Briggs personality test and she smiled and said “yes”.  Of the different personality types, she’s considered an Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging (INTJ) type, or one who is known as the "Systems Builders" of all the types, which combine imagination and reliability. They are described as having “tremendous value and need for systems and organization, combined with their natural insightfulness, (INTJs) makes them excellent scientists. An INTJ scientist gives a gift to society by putting their ideas into a useful form for others to follow."

Hmm…there just might be something to this test…….For more information, or to contact Heather Busby Kelly, call (719) 358-8986; or visit the Colorado Sustainability Record, at www.coloradosustainability record.com