Barb Kyes Nominated for Business Woman of the Year

Barb Kyes, president and managing partner at ActionCOACH Pinellas Firm, has been nominated for the prestigious “Business Woman of the Year” award.

March 2, 2010

The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Women of Distinction Awards” program has announced its nominees, and Barb Kyes, president and managing partner at ActionCOACH Pinellas, is nominated for Business Woman of the Year.

Nominees aren’t chosen by members of the Chamber of Commerce, but by other business owners in the St. Petersburg area.

“It feels really awesome,” Kyes said of being nominated. “It’s an honor to be nominated by my peers in the business arena.”

Kyes and her husband opened the ActionCOACH Pinellas firm because they saw the tremendous opportunity to accelerate growth for their community’s driver, small-medium sized businesses. ActionCOACH business coaching franchise seemed like the perfect fit with all of its national and international awards and huge international presence of coaches. They are determined to bring the award-winning, proven systems of ActionCOACH locally and they believe that they can change the shocking national average of only a four percent ten year success rate for businesses in their community through coaching.

To be nominated is quite the process, which includes filling out and turning in an application, and then being interviewed either in person or over the phone. Kyes said her experience in business coaching and with ActionCOACH helped her realize how important it is to speak with people face-to-face. “People can look at you and see how passionate you are right there in front of them,” Kyes said.

ActionCOACH Pinellas is nationally recognized within the ActionCOACH global franchise due to its award-winning coaches who are honored year after year. In 2008, Kyes received the Action Man of the Year award from ActionCOACH for Excellence in Systems.

Kyes has also been a speaker at several charity and community events, and has led many charity events, raising over $500,000 in the Tampa Bay area. When Kyes chaired the inaugural Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show, women sent their resumes to secure a seat. Kyes has even been awarded for being an integral part of making a difference in how a local domestic violence charity viewed its business; in 1998, she received the “Victory over Violence” award from CASA.

Kyes’ also has been active in helping others donate to victims in Haiti through Facebook. “It makes the most sense to raise money online because online mediums reach the most people,” Kyes said. “People are talking about connecting and doing things online, but are they really utilizing social media sites to change the world? I want to see change happen.”

Today, as president and managing partner of ActionCOACH Pinellas, Kyes continues to help business owners maximize their potential and realize their dreams through techniques she’s learned throughout her career and ActionCOACH.

Her advice for business owners: “Take advantage of life-changing educational opportunities,” she said. “If I see an opportunity that will help me learn and grow, I go after it.” And ultimately, that’s how she got to where she is today – nominee for Business Woman of the Year.

ActionCOACH is the world’s number one business coaching and executive coaching firm, with more than 1,000 offices in 26 countries. To learn more, go to www.actioncoach.com. To find the Pinellas Firm online, go to www.actioncoachpinellas.com.