LaTosha Kerley, a Nashville-based HR leader, uses her voice and professional experience to highlight the importance of resilience, lived experience, and people-centered leadership in today’s workforce.
NASHVILLE, TN – Kerley is calling for a more comprehensive and realistic understanding of what talent and leadership looks like, particularly for professionals whose careers have not followed a traditional or uninterrupted path. Drawing on her own journey, she emphasizes that growth, adaptability, and perseverance are often stronger indicators of leadership potential than perfectly linear resumes.
Kerley brings years of experience in human resources, employee relations and organizational leadership. Their perspective is shaped not only by formal education, but also by dealing with career setbacks, reinvention, and the responsibilities that many adults carry both inside and outside of the workplace.
“People don’t come to work as blank slates,” Kerley says. “They bring their whole lives, challenges and growth with them. When leaders recognize this, they build stronger, more sustainable organizations.”
The personnel data reflects this change. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the majority of American workers experience nonlinear career paths, including career changes, breaks, and reentry into the workforce. Adult learners now represent a significant proportion of university graduates across the country, suggesting that education and professional development are increasingly taking place later and at different stages of life.
“For a long time, success has been defined by a narrow model,” notes Kerley. “But real leadership comes over time through experience, reflection and persistence – not through a flawless schedule.”
Kerley’s own journey reflects this reality. Although she faced significant personal and professional obstacles, she remained committed to growth and education. While working and raising her children, she then earned a master’s degree in human resources management and built her career through perseverance, discipline and a people-centered leadership approach.
“I didn’t follow a traditional schedule,” she says. “But I never stopped pushing forward or believing in what was possible.”
Their advocacy focuses less on formal policies and more on awareness, encouraging leaders to examine how assumptions about education, career gaps, or personal circumstances influence hiring, promotion, and development decisions.
Research confirms their message. Studies from Harvard Business Review and Deloitte consistently show that inclusive, people-centered cultures outperform their competitors in terms of engagement, retention and long-term performance.
“Retention is not just about pay or title,” Kerley says. “It’s about being respected and understood. People stay where they feel seen.”
She also highlights the realities that many professionals struggle with outside of work, including caregiving, child-rearing and complex family responsibilities. She believes that recognizing these dimensions is essential to modern leadership.
“Life doesn’t take a break when the workday begins,” she says. “Effective leaders understand this and lead accordingly.”
Rather than positioning herself as the face of a single campaign, Kerley aims to stimulate thought and conversation, inviting leaders and professionals alike to rethink their definition of credibility, success and potential.
“My story is not unique,” she says. “It’s just honest. And there are tons of people whose paths look like mine.”
Call to action
Kerley encourages leaders and professionals to reflect on how they evaluate talent and leadership, challenge assumptions about career plans, and create space for conversations that normalize nonlinear growth, resilience, and second chances.
About LaTosha Kerley
LaTosha Kerley is a Nashville-based human resources manager with a master’s degree in human resources management from Strayer University. Her work focuses on HR leadership, employment issues and organizational culture. She is known for a people-centered, experience-based approach to leadership and people development
