Meet the Team: Kraig Ware
The covid-19 pandemic changed a lot of peoples’ plans for their lives. For Kraig Ware, this meant closing his family’s ice cream startup and trusting in God’s plans for his future.
However, even as that chapter of Kraig’s life closed, God was leading him to Liberty University.
Kraig has 30 years of experience in business and entrepreneurial startups, but his biggest passion has always been helping others. After closing the ice cream business and looking toward what God had next for him, he found that career coaching was a perfect fit.
He officially became a career coach for the School of Business in April of 2021, with a focus on students in finance, accounting, actuary, and economics. His main responsibility is to equip students to achieve their career goals, but he knows that his job is so much more than just pushing students forward into their career.
“I think the responsibility that I put on myself is to understand their life goals and understand their career goals,” Kraig explained.
Kraig knows that when students understand their goals and their unique passions, they can pursue opportunities with excitement and intentionality. This helps students create a personal brand based on their passions and abilities, and knowing your brand is just as important as having a good resume.
“The key that students have to understand is that you have to be able to network and create an image for yourself that’s bigger than the traditional elements of being hired,” Kraig said.
Reflecting on His Experience as a Career Coach
Not only does Kraig enjoy working with Liberty students, he is also grateful to work for an institution that strives toward excellence for the glory of God.
“My faith is incredibly strong, and Jerry Falwell Sr. laid out a vision 50 years ago about excellence, and if it’s going to be for God, it’s got to be the best in the world,” Kraig shared.
After almost a year as a career coach, Kraig can now look back and see that the ice cream startup was a wonderful blessing and brought him significant opportunities. However, it also kept other opportunities away, and while the ultimate outcome of his business might look unsuccessful in the eyes of the world, Kraig knows it was the kindness of God that guided him to a career coaching opportunity at Liberty.
If you’re interested in meeting with Kraig for career coaching, click here! With the All-Majors Career Fair quickly approaching on March 1st, Kraig is available to help students prepare and build their professional brand.
