About Krista Grinder-Dettloff
Nonverbal communication expert
Krista has over 30 years of experience working in the education sector from being a paraeducator to supporting all levels of education from preschool through the college level as a specialist. Experience being a classroom teacher was at both the elementary and middle school levels.
The biggest expert who has personally trained Krista for over 50 years in the field of communication, non-verbals and relationship building was and continues to be her father Michael Grinder.
The Beginning..
In Krista’s younger years she was raised by Michael as a single parent. They had two of everything so that they could borrow from one to fix the other. Even at a really young age she remembers helping her dad work on the VW Bus every weekend. They had 2 identical white VW Buses both parked on the street. Michael would park them motor to motor so the two of them could study the vehicle that was working better than the other and borrow what was needed to be able to get to work for the next week. Krista loved these puzzles not really realizing how important it was to put the puzzle together before Monday rolled around. When Gail came into their lives she was shocked that Michael brought 2 identical television sets into Krista’s room and let her “fiddle” with them in hopes that she could fix one so they could watch tv together. Low and behold Krista fixed the television. Michael fostered Krista to see patterns all around her and to “experiment” with them to know what the outcome might be. She has been watching and connecting patterns ever since then to create a form of perception of the world around her.
Growing up always seemed like an adventure even though there were times that could have created a much different outcome than it did. Krista’s parents split up and went through a divorce when she was in kindergarten. At the end of first grade her teacher recommended that she repeat first grade due to failing the reading end of the year test.
Even though she repeated first grade she was placed in remedial reading groups through her elementary school years. (Gail and her son’s became Krista’s mom and brothers Sean & Kelly around this time.) She struggled but survived until sixth grade came around. She started failing most of her classes. Michael knew there had to be something he could do to help her before it was too late. He started studying Krista’s study skills and natural learning styles and realized how dependent she was learning auditorily. Her teacher was highly visual and as we know as the grades get higher so do the visual skills.
A Step Toward Education
Krista started studying in a different way to store information in pictures/visually as opposed to auditorily. This was the magical wand that helped keep her in school. As she graduated from high school and all her close friends were going away to college she knew she needed to figure something out. She thought she would fail out of college so instead she attended community college going through cosmetology school.
Things were running smoothly until mid-year testing. Her teacher called everyone in one on one and talked to them about their assessment. The first thing the teacher said was that Krista really needed to think about her future and think beyond graduating and working in a salon somewhere. She looked Krista in the eye and said, I think you should consider becoming a teacher. After coming out of shock the first words out of Krista’s mouth was, “Did my Dad call you?”.
Yes, Krista became a beauty school drop out and enrolled in educational classes the next semester and never looked back, achieving a masters in educational leadership from University of Portland. (Yes, haircutting skills came in handy raising two boys. To this day Krista still cuts her husband Mark’s hair.)
The Journey of a Family Business
Michael Grinder & Associates soon was born.
MGA was truly a family business. It was just Michael and Gail running the business and Krista helping with paper packets for seminars and folding brochures to send out to schools. Remembering folding letters, stuffing envelopes, licking envelopes and putting stamps on as an assembly line while watching our family shows at night together. She was able to watch both her parents learn the business as they went.
Krista attended her father’s seminars from sixth grade on, watching and learning. While in college all her presentations became an introduction to Michael’s work. After 2 years of teaching her district asked her to present his work during evening PD opportunities. When you have something that is so magical it is hard not to share it with whomever will listen.
As Michael Grinder & Associates grew from a family business into a team of six, we are now growing a second generation of Michael Grinder & Associates. Krista and her husband Mark are helping Michael and Gail transition into as much or as little retirement as they want by taking over the business but the family extension doesn’t end there. Krista and Mark’s oldest son Calvin is a first grade teacher and his wife Savannah is MGA’s Director of Operations. A third generation of MGA is around the corner.
Family & Love
Krista loves spending time with her husband and growing family. Krista and Mark have two sons Calvin & Riley and they are married with children.
Calvin and his wife Savannah have a son Luka and are expecting a daughter in the spring. Riley and his wife Hailey have two daughters Everley & Paisley and a son named Oakley. They definitely feel blessed in so many ways!
