Life often leads us down unexpected paths, a truth Kwelli Sneed knows all too well. A graduate of the GWU e-Co Leadership Coaching Program, she now serves as the interim director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety Engagement. Initially joining as Chief of Staff during tumultuous times in the District of Columbia, Kwelli assumed the role of Director following the tragic passing of her friend and colleague, Linda Harlee Harper. She shares insights into navigating these transitions, staying true to herself, and utilizing skills honed through the program.
Photography, a passion reignited through a vivid dream reminiscent of her late aunt Sandra, led her to rediscover its significance during the pandemic’s chaos, eventually leading her to use photography as the throughline in her coaching. Kwelli discovered the benefits of having her coaching clients use photography to tell the story of who they are, in both their professional and personal lives.
During the episode, Bonnie Bucker, Ina Gjikondi, and Kwelli also explore the concept of “line” and “curve,” which is a cornerstone of the GWU Leadership Program and is described as representing distinct energies. Kwelli, who identifies as a “line” – analytical and methodical, recognizes the importance of personalizing one’s passion as well, a characteristic of someone who describes themselves as a “curve” and follows the twists and turns of life as they come. Inspired by a fellow coach’s use of photography in palliative care, she delves into how images evoke emotions and memories, integrating her passion with the science of career coaching, and harmonizing her dual identities.
Kwelli demonstrates photography’s transformative power by recounting a unique community initiative, providing cameras to teenagers, predominantly boys. Witnessing their introspection and aspirations through their work, she illustrates how photography can empower individuals to explore their identities and aspirations.
This conversation acts as a thoughtful reminder to see beyond any barriers you think you may face and to always keep in mind what you’re passionate about. You won’t want to miss Kwelli’s story and how she has stocked her toolbox with tools that will help her use her passions to drive her career.
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Listen to the podcast here
Harmonizing Passions: Career Coaching Through Photography With Kwelli Sneed
With us, we have Kwelli Sneed who was an alum of our Eco Leadership Coaching Program. Kwelli comes to us to discuss a little bit about her experiences in using photography in coaching. She was also named as the Interim Director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and prior to that as a longtime district employee with fifteen-plus years of career building. She’s worked for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. She’s worked in Employee and Labor Relations at the Department of Public Works. She’s also been a Deputy Director of Administrative Services and Interim Chief of Staff at the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Formerly also, she worked as the Dean of the Department of Human Resources, City University, and Career Pathways programs. She was recruited to drive the development of a people-focused strategy and program designed to develop the human capital for the district government. She was born and raised in DC, and her impact is felt in the communities she serves. As an interim director, she’s a relentless innovator, thinker, and powered by possibilities and stimulated by problems. She’s a graduate of Florida A&M University.
Kwelli, it’s so wonderful to have you with us.
Thank you.
The last time you were with Bonnie and I together in the space, you were in our Eco Leadership Coaching Program. I know since then, you’ve moved and done exciting things. You’re the Interim Director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement in the city. You’ve been working with the Career Pathways program. You’ve been developing your passion for photography, which was one of the things that emerged as your next thing in the program. I’d love to invite you in to bring yourself into the space. Maybe share a little bit about what has been moving for you since you graduated.
It’s been an emotional time for me personally and professionally. There have been great highs and joys, and then there have been some lows and sadness. I’ll give a brief update on how I ended up at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, supporting a friend. I was in a place where I said, “Let me step out and try something different.”
I had been at previous district government agencies. This would be the first time that I was entrenched in the community. I was born and raised in DC, so it seems so exciting to be a part of it. I went over as the chief of staff, and within four months, my friend passed away. I immediately was pushed not in a negative way, but pushed out of my comfort zone once again.
A part of that was the city was in a state of peril with violence being on a surge. You are really hearing the voices of people in the community looking for answers. Here I am in this new role in the midst of grief. Once again, what was presented didn’t quite manifest as how I originally envisioned it. I was facing all of this at once and still being there for a group of people. The agency had approximately 110 or maybe 115 employees at that time. It was understanding that they have been through so much change, and here, once again, change is upon them.
Through this and with my new understanding of self, I was able to remain connected to self and not sacrifice myself in all of this change in this whirlwind. I figured out how I could bring my authentic self to this table and this new space. I’m a planner. I’m still a planner. I’m still in that line. I’m very much that line even though that line has been curving. I’m still trying to honor my friend, honor the needs of the employees, and honor myself all at the same time. With that photography, it’s been a balance for me. It’s been the go-to. I’ve also been able to bring it with me along the journey and incorporate it into some of the work that I do there and outside of the district.
Photography As A Meaningful Link
You’ve said a couple of times, “Once again, I find myself there is some change and things happening differently.” That’s a little bit of a part of the photography story as well. Can you talk to us about that and tell us that story?
Photography was very much a part of my upbringing, the younger Kwelli. It was a connection that my aunt and I shared. She wasn’t a trained photographer in the sense of schooling, but she enjoyed capturing those moments. That is something that we shared together. I very much was doing that in high school in the yearbook club and doing it in college. Over time, as I emerged into these new spaces, I lost connection with them.
It was through the pandemic that I was searching for something stable. I was searching for something that felt common and relatable, but that also felt natural. I realized at that moment how distant I really had become from some of those things that I enjoyed and were very much a part of me as I moved into the workspace and that professionalism and constantly trying to demonstrate my skills and abilities to take on new projects. It was disconnecting from me in those processes in that life journey. I was forced to sit in silence. No one knew this pandemic was going to happen. I was then grappling with different things. I so badly needed to connect to something familiar, and that was photography for me.
I remember, Kwelli, from the program, you shared with me that it was your aunt Sandra who gifted you a camera before her passing. That was a little opening and perhaps the thing that’s familiar that you are speaking to. Can you say more about how that moved you having that camera or perhaps that familiar thing?
It’s a bit of a dreaming story if I remember correctly.
It has multiple layers. My aunt passed away. During the pandemic, you have a lot of the backlog and a lot of the orders and things. My aunt during that time, unknown to myself, ordered the Canon EOS. It’s this fantastic camera of all things. She emailed Canon, because it was in back order at that time, to let them know that she more than likely would not be here to receive it. They didn’t share the email, but I’ve been looking through the emails that she was sending. I haven’t been able to find it, but they communicated in a letter to me in the packaging.
I’m parking my car and I see this box on my porch. I’m like, “These people ordering from Amazon must stop. This has gotten out of control.” I’m fuming mad. I’m getting out of my car and I see this package. It is heavy and I’m like, “This is expensive.” I’m going through the thing and it’s a gift beyond the grave. That’s how I refer to it with my family.
It also happened in another sense with something that she had ordered that she pretty much had accepted that she would not be here to receive. She had communicated to the organization. My aunt continues to give to me in ways beyond the grave. I remember sharing this dream. It was so vivid to the point where I honestly questioned my own sanity. I shared it with you, Bonnie. I am very much aligned, but I was curving.
Let’s say a little bit about line and curve. I know this is a part of the work Bonnie teaches in the program, but people reading this are probably wondering, “What’s a line? What’s a curve?”
Bonnie, give yours and then I’ll give you my take on line and curve.
Line and curve are two shapes that compose our universe. Everything is composed of either line and curve and combinations of line and curve. Each thing of a line and curve speaks to a different energy and what we do with energy, whether it’s structure or receptivity. Curve is more receptive, and line is more structured. That’s the thumbnail. Kwelli, tell us how you understand that.
It’s similar in approach. I’m very analytical. I’m structured. It’s black and white. Ina who has probably known me for a long time would say on the day one of meeting me, if the numbers did not suggest, then it did not exist. I also find that if you look at the former director who I lost, my really good friend, Linda Harllee Harper, she was a curve. She was open to the environment. She was like, “We are going to feel our way,” whereas I’m in the corner making the plan and putting it into a spreadsheet.
We worked so well together and complimented each other well. I find that I attract hers in all of my work. Whether it is within the dynamics of the government or externally, I attract curves. My mother is a curve. She’s an educator. She was like, “We’re going to explore.” Even the vocabulary that she’s using is very open whereas I am like, “This is this, and that is that.” As I mature, grow, and evolve, I am more open to that gray. I see it even in the work that I do within ones at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. I say the word again because it’s lost and leads me sometimes to this really great opening.
Let’s take that to get us back to that dream.
I want to hear the dream.
In the dream, my phone rings and it’s my aunt. I’m like, “Are you okay? Are you fine?’ She said, “Yes. I’m blessed,” and then she said, “I have a word for you.” I said, “What is it?” She said, “Go with God.” I said, “Do I have to go right now?” She says, “No. We’re in the same space together.” She’s looking at all the plants and flowers that people have dropped off at my house. She said to me, “I don’t know why these people have dropped those off. They don’t know that you don’t have a green thumb to save your life.”
I immediately woke up, ran down the steps of my house, and opened the front door with pajamas and all on my porch, expecting to see my aunt standing in front of this daisy plant. It was that clear. It was extremely clear. I wasn’t at first going to share it. I wasn’t going to share it in the open class, but I did take the time to share it in my one-on-one because I could not believe something could be that clear to the point where it had me, the line, running down the steps in pajamas to make sure or confirm what I had dreamt.
At that moment, I embraced it more. In all fairness, I don’t think I was fully invested at first because I was like, “Okay.” At some point, it was that dream. I was invested in the fact of a dream because I really didn’t believe that I could still dream. I am usually going to sleep super exhausted. I am probably skipping all kinds of cycles. I am going straight from this to sleep and then waking up. That also shocked me too, the fact that I had a dream that was so clear.
I wasn’t invested in the fact of dreaming because I really didn’t believe that I could still dream. That also shocked me, too, the fact that here I am, that I actually had a dream that was so clear.
I feel like I remember that being such a turning point. What I don’t remember is, did you receive the camera before or after that dream?
After.
That’s what I remembered.
It was after. That’s why I say the giving beyond the grave. That dream was a gift because, one, it made me feel like she was okay. It was that confirmation. She had such a strong personality. I can’t imagine anything any more watered down. It’s vivid and live. That was truly her spirit.
It feels like it drew the curve energy out of you too, like it moved you.
It was a transformational period. I wanted badly to dream, but sometimes, it didn’t seem like it was natural. There was a blockage maybe, or there was something in me that believed I was 100% there, but not quite as present as I wanted to be. At that moment, honestly, it shifted a lot of things for me.
All of this happened during the coaching program. I remember that continuing. It created opening after opening. After that, you found a certain kind of photography coaching, right?
Coaching Through Photography
For me, listening to it, we had a lot of speakers, and I realized that there was not one approach to coaching. I remember in one of our sessions, it was like, “You have to find your niche.” I was like, “Kwelli, do you see the value and the importance of this? You have to make this your own where you are connected to it as well.”
The neurology and the science behind the visualization were very intriguing. I’m taking time to really try to understand the science behind it a little more because that does speak to me and my interest and approach to it. The dreaming piece or the visualization was like, “For your natural curiosity, Kwelli, how can you make this your passion, and how can you make it your own?”
I started doing lots of research. I discovered this one particular coach in Poland who was doing palliative care coaching and using photography to capture those final moments with family as they’re embracing the potential or the soon-to-be transition of a loved one. I thought, “It’s incredibly sad, but how beautiful to capture these moments for a family that is in grief who also now has this record of those times together and be able to reflect on them beyond the grave?”
I was in my own grief and trying to find ways to connect. We took pictures but with the cell phone. We took a family photograph that’s really beautiful. It hangs in almost every relative’s house of my aunt. She looked fabulous. She died shortly thereafter. I really began to think about the value of pictures and the value of visualization. I began to think about using myself and how that helped to reconnect me to myself and also reconnect to some of those stories and those moments.
There were great moments, and what made them so great? At that moment, what was I doing? It is looking at that moment, but to expand it out a little bit. In that period of time, talk about yourself. When you have these photographs, it immediately transports you to that moment of reflecting on the time. It speaks to your emotions and memories. That’s a major equalizer for me with people in general regardless of what circumstance may have brought you to this moment. It’s the equalizer in the sense that it is powerful words that come from pictures. For people who aren’t as expressive and can’t necessarily find the words, it usually naturally starts the conversation. Who can’t connect over a picture?
I feel how much this has brought forth in the new quality in you. It’s full of discovery and excitement. I know you took classes. You took classes on active photography and looked at client’s biography through photography. I wonder if you could share maybe a couple of examples of how you used photography with clients in coaching.
For me, it’s the conversations. I usually give an exercise and say, “I want you to gather some photographs that aren’t necessarily too detailed in the instructions. Gather some photographs that you are willing to share about yourself or about who you are.” What you’ll find is that people gather photographs of their younger selves and current selves. They’re really open to sharing what was happening in that moment.
My niche is ultimately career coaching. The people that I tend to work with the most are returning citizens. I work with women who are in these workplaces. There’s a lot of misalignment fatigue. They can no longer contort themselves into these spaces. Their body is really letting them know, “I can’t do it in this way,” and then trying to find out in that journey what’s open and what’s possible.
In both cases, regardless of whether it’s the high-achieving career-driven person or a returning citizen who is trying to figure out what’s next for them, I start with the photographs. I ask, “Bring pictures of yourself. Let’s get to know you.” That’s an exciting thing. There is some reluctance, like, “This is not what I thought this was going to be. You want me to do what?” You’ll find if you take each of those photographs, it is a movie. It tells a story. It helps them to also see themselves and remember when they were happiest, when they had moments of sadness, when they were driven, and when they were passionate about things. It comes through these pictures.
If you take each of those photographs, it is a movie. It tells a story and helps them to also see themselves and remember when they were happy, when they had moments of sadness, when they were driven, and when they were passionate about things. It comes through these pictures.
Another exercise, and this is more for career women who are seeking the next phase in their career, is that I ask them to bring their bio picture. They take this bio picture and I’ll say, “Describe this person.” Some of it is very shocking too in how they see themselves. I say, “Let’s look at this picture that you brought earlier of yourself. What’s different between the two pictures or the two people in this bio versus this Saturday out on the town?” At the end of the conversation and discussion, they reconcile, “I’m both.”
It’s interesting how we can fragment and compartmentalize pieces of ourselves and not see them in totality as a whole person. We explore from there. Usually, I always start a coaching relationship with pictures. It adds so much value to the connection. It helps me to connect more, understand, and allow somebody to share. Also, I have found people who are very introverted, it opens them up in terms of they want you to know what’s happening. They want you to know what was so prevalent in that photograph at that moment.
It is interesting how we can fragment and compartmentalize pieces of ourselves and not see them in totality as a whole person.
That’s beautiful. It’s such a great tool. Bonnie, you’re getting ready for a question.
I seem to remember, Kwelli, that you did something with young people with cameras. You had some cameras donated. Can you talk about that?
One thing I can tell you is that the former elementary school teacher in me is very resourceful. I’m going to find a way. I am not computer or technical-savvy, but I know enough young people who are. What we were able to do was take old cell phones.
Bring us back. Tell us exactly who you were doing this for. Give us the picture.
Usually, with parks and recreation, there are always summer groups. They’re looking for ideas and activities to keep especially the younger generation engaged. When I’m talking, I’m talking more of 11, 12, and a couple of 13-year-olds. I always find it from an education perspective to see what life looks like through the lens of a young person, especially living in the city and living in different parts of the city of the District of Columbia. If they could tell a story, what is the story that they will share?
I’m still a very experimental type of person. I was like, “Let’s use some cameras. I’ll get a couple of donations. I’ll pour it out of my own pocket. I want to see the art that comes from these young people.” In this group, it was mostly boys, which is an interesting group. You get a little bit of the young bravado, and then you see it melt away not even within days, but within hours. It generates creativity. The pictures that they were able to take and print told how they see life.
What’d you do? Do you send them out with an assignment or into a certain environment?
I send them to different areas. We started off in the community of Ward 4 that’s here in DC. It’s middle class. It’s green space. You have dogs walking, dog parks, this, that, and the other. I had the idea to see what they would shoot. There are pictures of the older men who congregate on the bench every day with their coffee and having conversations. You see pictures of them. You see pictures of people walking their dogs. They took pictures of their tennis shoes from the lens of them looking down at their shoes. They took pictures of the sky.
I would sit down with them individually and collectively and be like, “Now, tell me. What motivated you to take this picture?” They go in like, “He reminded me of my uncle. He reminded me of my grandfather,” or, “I love looking at cars in motion.” You’ll see a lot of them thinking through. I’m asking them, “If you could dream anything for yourself, what would it be?
Now, I have you sitting down. You’re here. You gave me bravado an hour ago, but now, we’re here. I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more from you about you and what you envision for yourself.” I always conclude, especially with my young people, the question of, “What’s stopping you?” Generally, they find it’s the hardest question to answer.
Do you know what was coming when you asked that question? It’s like another experiment. What if you give them the camera, take that picture of what’s stopping them, and have it be a conversation? I wonder whether this program is continuing and how you are moving because it sounds wonderful and so opening. You started with photography, and here you are having a conversation again through photography. It’s not coaching, but it’s a conversation that transforms.
It’s a conversation. That was a one-time thing. I am very blessed that they trusted me to experiment in this way. It has opened up for me the desire to do more. I found my connection with the populations that I work best with. Career coaching is ultimately all I enjoy to the fullest. One thing I realized in both populations, whether it’s career women or returning citizens, is that there’s a story we tell ourselves of why we can’t release or let go of, “I make a certain amount of money. I’m used to this. I’m used to that,” or, “I have this past. I have this colored background that is going to keep me from propelling forward.” As time changes and people are more open and receptive to change, colored background or not, there is an opportunity.
We push certain ideas on what life is like once you return to living life in the free world. There’s nothing wrong with construction and things like that, but there are thousands of career paths out here. We tend to push a certain type of career path on returning citizens. I’m trying to break that barrier and get them to see beyond that. It has been an enlightening opportunity to work with the returning citizen population.
I always share that my father is a returning citizen. I was very young, but he was excited about taking advantage of those opportunities and thinking beyond the box if you will. That’s all I want to allow. It’s not to have limitations. I want to get them to see the possibilities beyond some of those things that we as a society tend to push on returns. It’s the same with women who are feeling that misalignment and fatigue, can no longer construct and contort themselves into these boxes, and do this work. Your body is letting you know that this no longer serves you. What are the possibilities for this place?
It is such a blessing to be honored like that and to be in that space for you to be able to see and open up the space of possibility. I have one more question as we come to a close. Bonnie, if you have something else, please jump in. I’m so curious. What was the first picture you took with Aunt Sandra’s camera?
It was the Potomac River. I went down there by myself. I usually go with my mom. We’ll sit on the bench. Sometimes, we’ll set out, but this time, it was a spontaneous one. It was a nice day. I love water, oceans preferably, but I’ll take the river. I sat there. It was very peaceful. From the banks, I took from different angles where I could see into the wharf on the side, the river, and the changes of it.
I was being observant. I was taking different shots and also thinking of how I always come to that same spot as a little girl, a teenager, and a young adult and how it has changed drastically over the decades. Also, those pictures that I took that day, I had them framed, believe it or not. That is so interesting you asked that particular question. I have my pictures framed because it was the first set of pictures that I took with such a beautiful gift. It was at the Potomac.
Kwelli, thank you so much for being with us. This has been joyful to know the story, but also to witness a little bit of the transformations through your lens, through your photography. I’m glad that we could have it. I know people who are going to tune into this episode will take it in, possibly go out there, take photography, and take moments to witness the beauty that is all around us. Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you, Kwelli.
I love you all.
We love you.
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About Kwelli Sneed
Kwelli D. Sneed was recently named Interim Director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE).