DYL Certified Coaches
TENNESSEE
Lydia F. Johnson, M.S.
Lydia is a certified life coach, consultant, and founder of ThriveCulture Coaching. As a coach, Lydia works to empower her clients to design fulfilling lives and careers that are aligned with their passions and strengths. She is known for her authentic, growth-oriented, and empathetic style. As a consultant, Lydia specializes in helping companies increase employee engagement, create excellent employee experiences, and build healthy workplace cultures. Lydia leverages approaches grounded in psychology theory & research, mindfulness, and creativity to help her clients thrive. This expertise comes from her unique background of an M.A. in Industrial-Organizational psychology, a B.A. in studio arts and humanities, and over a decade of mindfulness practice as a certified yoga instructor and practitioner. Additionally, Lydia has deep expertise in HR Talent & Culture and has consulted with companies ranging from Global Fortune 500 companies to start-ups across over a dozen industries.
John Plating
John Plating leads Covenant College’s Center for Calling & Career by serving as the office’s director, working with corporations, agencies, & organizations both locally and nationally to establish internships and vocational opportunities for Covenant students. He has a profound esteem for the value and strength of a liberal arts education, and sees it as his chief mandate to convince possible hiring authorities of the same.
Prior to coming to Covenant he worked as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the academic component at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He also served there as an associate professor of history, with specialties in military history and the history of technology. John was a senior pilot in the US Air Force, where he flew as an instructor as well as a C-130 transport pilot, logging combat flying time during military operations in the Balkans in the late 1990s. While stationed in Germany, he directed the airlift of nuclear weapons throughout the European theater. He and his wife, Paula have five children and one grandchild.
Krista Vaught
Krista is a life design coach who supports people in exploring and articulating their strengths, generating ideas for what could be next, and then creating a tangible plan to move forward. Several times in her career, Krista felt stuck - although successful on paper, it felt like something was missing. Designing Your Life helped Krista to discover what truly energized her and aligned with her values - and then to figure out how to get there in a way that felt less like a big leap. Krista holds an Ed.D., M.Ed., and B.S. from the University of Florida, a J.D., and a professional certification in trauma and resilience. She infuses elements of strengths coaching, mindfulness and somatic awareness, and positive psychology, into her coaching.
John Honeycutt
John is the founder and CEO of Highest Life Design, a transformation-focused coaching and training company based in Nashville, TN. John brings over 30 years of high-tech corporate experience combined with decades of personal development, leadership, performance, and transformational training and coaching. As a professional performance coach, John helps people who are struggling to live their best lives create life-altering transformation of their personal and professional trajectory.
Dr. Joy Patton, PCC
Dr. Joy Patton is a Certified Professional Career Coach and graduate of Georgetown University's Executive Leadership Coaching program. She specializes in career transition coaching for Department of Defense and federal government employees and is owner of Silver Hair Confidence Coach, a small business dedicated to helping people change careers with confidence. Joy brings 23 years of expertise as a senior leader in the U.S. Air Force and is a published author of ``Predicting Leader Survival in Covert Operations from Congo to Cuba.`` Her mission is to help people go from merely surviving to thriving in their careers. She is a highly sought-after coach who is known for taking great care of her clients and helping them gain clarity on difficult transitions. Her foundation is in her faith and her philosophy is based on Thich Nhat Hanh's words, “Because you are alive, everything is possible.
Nancy Burkett
I believe our careers are essential elements of our identities. If developed with thoughtful consideration of our values, interests, skills and personal missions, our careers can be the key to happiness and fulfillment in our lives. As a career coach, my mission is to help others design careers of personal meaning and purpose. As we envision possibilities together, we will explore principles of life design to determine how to learn and grow within your current role and envision opportunities for your professional development and advancement. My experience includes over 30 years of progressively responsible roles within higher education career development, beginning at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, continuing as Dean of Career Development at Wagner College, Director of Career Services at Swarthmore College and Director of Career Development at Berry College, culminating in my current position as the inaugural Career Development Coach within Human Resources at my alma mater, the University of Tennessee Knoxville, supporting UT staff in their career development and life design.
