Connect
To Top

Meet Jodi Low of U & Improved in Scottsdale

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodi Low.

Jodi, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My passion has always been, and I am certain will always be, people. I love people. And what I love even more than people are specifically those individuals who are learners, who have open minds and open hearts, and who want to live their best lives. I have been a student of personal and professional development since I was a college student. I was always fascinated with human communication and interaction…human success and achievement. When I began reading personal development books and attending seminars and trainings, I fell in love with the challenge of constantly pushing myself to live big. I adopted the mindset of positivity and growth and when my life, as I knew it, came to a screeching halt in October of 2008, I relied on that mindset, not knowing nearly how valuable it was until the moments I needed it the most. Through that turbulent time of a sudden, overnight end to my marriage, and becoming an instantaneous single mother to my two infant daughters, I quickly realized that there was no way I could have come through that horrible time without the tools I had gathered and practiced along the way. In realizing this firsthand I made the decision to share it with others, knowing that there must be millions of people like me who were going through the “downs” of life and could completely change the trajectory of their future by thinking differently. That was how my company, U & Improved, was born. From its infancy, my desire was to dramatically shift people’s lives in a powerful and meaningful way…in a way where it would never be the same…it could only be better. From there I realized that businesses, just like individuals, needed and deserved the ability to create cultures based on collaboration, connection, passion and heart. Our curriculum expanded to be able to serve businesses and individuals who shared this desire to lead from the heart, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Has it been a smooth road?
On October 15, 2008, my life took an unbelievable turn. My husband and I had been together for about nine years at that point and we owned two businesses together. We were able to work from home and were in the process of building our dream home. We were blessed with two healthy and beautiful baby girls who were one and three years old at the time. We spent all of our time together…working together all day and night, raising our darling girls and dreaming of what was to come. We had weekly date nights and made sure we made time for each other. Life, as I was experiencing it, was seemingly great! And then, it all changed…just like that. Never in a million years could I have seen this coming. On that calm October night I had put my oldest daughter down to sleep and as I walked into the kitchen I saw my husband on the couch, working on his laptop, per usual. His phone was charging in the kitchen and it buzzed alerting that he had a message, so I unplugged it from the charger to take it over to him. I don’t know what possessed me to glance at the screen as I walked over to him, but the text message appeared on the screen that said, “I love you, baby. I can’t wait to be with you!” I distinctly remember the shock and horror that came rushing over me. I was absolutely dumbfounded and so confused. Was this a bad dream? I read it again. “I love you! I can’t wait to be with you!” How? We were together all of the time…literally all day, every day. I walked over to my husband, my hand shaking and gave him the phone. After a short conversation he stormed out and took off to California, where she lived. Within moments, reality hit. I had just become a single mom of our two young daughters. It was overwhelming to think about. I knew our businesses would be gone, I knew that there would be no way we could finish the home we were building so all of those monies would vanish, I knew I would inherit half of our business debt, which my portion alone was $40,000. I quickly realized that I was no longer going to be a wife to my husband, but rather a single mother to my daughters. It was an intense and deeply internal time of sorting out my purpose and mission in life, and it was also one of the best gifts that life has dealt me. I stepped into my new position as “role model” to my young girls, and decided then and there that they would see me exemplify to them that you can be, do and have anything you want in this world as long as you work hard, believe in yourself and are kind and compassionate toward yourself and other people. For the last 10 years, I have repeated that exact phrase to each of my daughters as I have tucked them into bed at night. It’s been as much of an anchor to bravery for myself as I hope it will be to them.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the U & Improved story. Tell us more about the business.
As the Founder and CEO of U & Improved, I lead my training and support team in our mission to improve people’s lives through heart-based leadership development and impact the world on a global scale. Our core classes, U the Leader and U the Communicator, empower our graduates with the hands-on experience and skills to immediately lead and communicate with confidence in all areas of their lives. Our advanced leadership classes, U the Warrior and U the Samurai, are designed for high-functioning individuals who seek to challenge their inner strength and take actionable steps toward a life of purpose and passion. We also offer U the Teen Leader — a must for instilling focus, effective communication skills, a sense of teamwork and self-confidence in teens transitioning in adulthood.

Unlike other professional and personal development training companies, U & Improved classes are small, intimate and lead students through experiential processes that give them the knowledge to immediately implement improvements in all areas of their lives. Our highly skilled trainers give each student individual attention, feedback and coaching. From Fortune 500 professionals to small business owners, our graduates emerge from our classes with the knowledge, tools and experience to immediately be more effective and responsive leaders.

We also offer workshops, fast-track courses and custom corporate training.

What am I most proud of? I am extremely proud of each and every one of our graduates who care enough about themselves and those around them to take the steps toward living their best lives.

I am also overcome with gratitude for the success of our teen program. We launched our teen leadership program in 2014 to empower young adults to become more confident, motivated and focused. The class, U the Teen Leader, was so overwhelmingly embraced by the community that individuals and businesses alike stepped up to pay for teen scholarships. This led us to create a nonprofit arm of the company—the U & Improved Leadership Foundation—to make the program more accessible to deserving teens. With only two years under our belts, the Foundation has provided scholarships to more than 30 outstanding teenagers.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
As more and more companies embrace an employee-centric approach to their daily operations, they will see the need for cultivating leadership on an individual level. Leadership development is not just for upper management and the more businesses that view each employee as an individual and a leader in their own right, the more they will inspire collaboration and loyalty. We see the heart-based approach to leadership development as a growing and vital part of the future.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in