Get To Know: Jean Kelley

 Jean Maslanka Kelley is the Managing Director of the Jean Kelley Companies which includes CollegeMajorFinder.com and Jean Kelley Leadership Alliance. Jean is married to Bill Jacobi and lives in Tulsa, OK. Her passions include her family, their dogs Mika-Paprika and Arlo Guthrie Jacobi, the 12-step recovery movement, competitive sports car driving, writing books and articles, songwriting, objective and nonobjective abstract, painting and photography competitions, collecting antique Navajo textiles, gardening, and John Deere Tractors! 

Jean’s professional journey began with Jean Kelley Search, soon she started JK Temps and Jean Kelley Training, where she managed sales and operations, personally interviewed over 10,000 candidates, and directed more than 60,000 searches. Her company earned the Inc. Magazine Positive Performer Award for customer service and a commendation from the state governor before she sold it in 2001.

An alumna of Harvard Graduate Business School’s OPM29 program, Jean also holds certifications from the University of the South School of Theology and is Master Level Certified in the Birkman Method. She is also certified in DiSC and other instruments. Her business insights have been published in over 50 trade journals over the past 20 years, and she has four books in print and co-authored one book, still in progress.

Jean’s dedication and enthusiasm extend to community involvement. She’s been nominated for Woman of the Year in Oklahoma and received the Pinnacle Award from Leadership Tulsa. She served on the board of the Tulsa Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce for nine years and has held leadership roles in over 15 nonprofits. For six years, she was a weekly guest on Tulsa’s CBS affiliate, KOTV, and hosted a drive-time segment on FM radio, owned by Griffin Communications. Her accolades include Tulsa’s Female Entrepreneur of the Year, a place in her high school’s Hall of Fame, and awards from the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.