Discovering a Lifelong Career with COO Kim Einloth

CEO Judy Niedbala and COO Kim Einloth

It's almost unheard of these days for professionals to stay at a company for longer than a handful of years. New opportunities, new avenues to grow their skills and transfer them across industries, it's all changed the way people once thought about career growth as they hop from agency to agency. However, there are still some professionals who have achieved incredible success and growth at one agency--and one of those professionals is none other than Perspectives Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kim Einloth, who is celebrating twenty consecutive years with Perspectives!

During her junior year at the University of Rhode Island (URI), Kim decided to temporarily step away from her studies to make decisions on what she wanted to do for a career, and in that time, she found a posting for a Vocational Specialist in the Narragansett Times. She didn't know what to expect from a job at the agency then known as Alternatives, Inc., but she did know that she needed to find a way to support herself while deciding her future educational path, and in 1989, Kim came aboard, starting a career path she never anticipated.

"I had no idea what my career would look like," says Kim. "But I know I was always competitive and driven, and I embraced the challenge of helping individuals we supported build fulfilling lives in their new homes with us."

The individuals Kim worked with then were those who had been living at places like the Ladd Center and were just beginning to explore community life--some for the first time. And while she started as a Vocational Specialist, Kim later went to work with individuals in their homes, too, as Perspectives found itself needing more professionals in its Adult Residential Services. There, Kim's competitive spirit led her to approach the challenge of helping individuals build whole new lives with enthusiasm; she found herself supporting individuals in getting the whole life experience, from home living to working in the community to making new friends at church and other local spots. And as Kim was a young adult herself then, she found herself not only supporting individuals in learning those practical life skills we sometimes take for granted--cooking, cleaning, and so on--but learning many of them herself.

"The timing couldn't have been better," Kim notes. "I and the individuals I supported were learning how to live side by side, and I had such great mentors there, too, to help me learn along the way."

"I've never been bored in the thirty total years I've been here... I'm glad that I've become not only a leader, but someone who can pass on what I've learned and my experience to the next generation of human service professionals."

From fellow professionals in the homes she worked in to supervisors like President Dave Ruppell and CEO Judy Niedbala, Kim had no shortage of support as she continued to learn and grow at Perspectives. She took a three year break from her work in 1999 to live abroad in Australia, but when she returned to Rhode Island, she then continued her career with Perspectives in the beginning of 2002--and twenty years later, she's not only advanced her leadership skills, climbing from her original position to COO through hard work and collaboration with her peers, but also completed her degree at URI and built an incredible career with like-minded, innovative professionals.

"I've never been bored in the thirty total years I've been here," Kim says. "I love working with both other professionals at Perspectives and the individuals we support--and it's incredible to think I've known some of them for around thirty years now! It's been such a fulfilling career, and I'm glad that I've become not only a leader, but someone who can pass on what I've learned and my experience to the next generation of human service professionals."

And at Perspectives, the collaborative spirit, dedication to quality services, and community of like-minded professionals continues on, especially with leaders like Kim and her peers at the helm. It's a place where professionals of all backgrounds have come together to do fantastic work, and a place where Kim firmly believes that anyone, no matter where they are in deciding their future career path, can come to learn valuable things--both about themselves and others. And that's why as we celebrate her official 20th anniversary, grateful for many years of leadership and excellent work, we're also glad to welcome the many new human services professionals coming aboard with her! Congratulations, Kim, on a milestone anniversary!

Discovering a Lifelong Career with COO Kim Einloth

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