Community Highlights: Meet Valerie of Flowing River Conflict Solutions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie.

Hi Valerie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Flowing River Conflict Solutions exists because I’ve seen how unresolved conflict breaks trust, teams, and entire workplaces, and I’ve also seen what’s possible when teams learn how to navigate it with confidence.

I grew up hearing “love thy neighbor” a lot, but I also grew up in a home where conflict was avoided and resentment built. Then, I entered the workplace and experienced environments full of gossip, silos, distrust, cliques, burnout, and turnover. I watched each workplace slowly fall apart. I realized I couldn’t keep contributing to systems that were breaking people down.

I decided to build something of my own, something that would give me the flexibility I need to care for my family, while also doing meaningful work, so I started Flowing River Conflict Solutions LLC with a simple mission: empower people to navigate conflict with confidence. My vision is a world where conflict isn’t feared or avoided, but embraced as a gateway to discovery, connection, and transformation.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I submitted the paperwork to make my business official, I had that feeling you get when you make a large purchase for something like a car or a home. I was filled with excitement, but also fear, because I knew this road would be bumpy, and I’d only have myself to lean on as a solopreneur.

I’ve dealt with some pretty normal entrepreneurial bumps: collabs that didn’t go as expected, having to wear several ‘hats’ at once, the steep learning curve that comes with business knowledge and skills shortcomings, and having to pivot due to forces outside my control, but the one big area of struggle for me is balancing startup and small business demands with caregiving responsibilities. Networking events typically take place during the evenings, so I have to coordinate care or miss the event. I can’t always give the 70+ hours many entrepreneurs spend in the early years, so I have to be strategic with how I use my available time. I have to be smart with the risks I take, because I have other humans depending on me.

Fortunately, caregiving has made me so much more strategic about how I spend my time and where I put my energy, so I think it makes me better at focusing on what’s most important and impactful for the business. I am choosy about where I place my outreach efforts and to which organizations I belong. I say ‘no’ to opportunities that are misaligned with my mission.

While it can be a struggle, I wouldn’t trade this life for something more traditional or stable, because I get to do what I love and have a positive impact.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Flowing River Conflict Solutions?
Our destructive political and social climate is spilling into work, home, and community. People are polarized, lonely, and disengaged, and lack the skills and mindset to disagree better. Workplaces in particular are becoming increasingly uncivil, and it’s unacceptable to me for people to be miserable for the better part of their day. When I tell people what I do, they always say, “That is so needed,” or “I know a team dealing with that right now.”

My business, Flowing River Conflict Solutions empowers leaders, their teams, and their organizations to navigate conflict with confidence, and I do that by delivering conflict management and prevention training design, facilitation, and coaching solutions that fix relationship and communication breakdowns where they actually live, inside teams and systems. I specialize in helping mission-driven organizations and work closely with HR/people leaders, project managers, and operations leaders to support the folks doing the substantial, day-to-day work in their organizations. Past clients include higher education program managers, a non-profit leadership team, an employee-driven resource group at a for-profit company, and startup co-founders focused on de-escalating situations in healthcare environments.

I’m proud of the work I’ve done and continue to do. Clients trust me, because I am willing to “sit in the fire” with them, create and maintain a psychologically safe environment, deeply explore what’s really going on from multiple perspectives, make things practical and easy to apply, and incorporate engagement and fun. Most importantly, I don’t prescribe. I leave the creativity and decision-making where it belongs – in the client’s hands.

While it’s true there are many coaches and training providers to choose from, there are far fewer that work with whole teams and systems to change patterns and make an impact. Having come from the trenches as a middle manager, I know there’s a great need beyond just the executive level, so I don’t limit my work to the C-Suite. Plus, when it comes to navigating conflict, I know the real value is in getting teams together to hash things out, rather than sticking to separate, one-on-one engagements.

I admit, I might have the worst business model ever: My whole approach is to give folks the means to change their own lives and continue doing it long after they’ve worked with me. I essentially aim to work myself out of business, but I think it’s worth it if it means the world is a little easier to navigate and people have a greater comfort level living and operating with difference.

If you or someone you know is tired of avoiding conversations, hardened assumptions, rework, delay, or turnover, consider working with Flowing River Conflict Solutions. Together, we’ll assess your current situation and create a targeted intervention customized to your context and anchored in your desired outcomes. There are a range of solutions, including webinars, one-day offsites, 1:1 coaching, and four to twelve-month team or organization coaching engagements. I know we can develop a solution that helps you navigate conflict with confidence.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I would say I have a love/hate relationship with risk. I have experienced the major payoffs risk-taking can provide, but I have also dealt with the consequences of risks not working out, so I prefer to take calculated risks. When I made the decision to start my business, I chose something I’ve known and practiced for over two decades. I sought the advice of trusted experts early and often. I even kept a full-time job for the first six months, just to make sure there was some income during that early stage. I regularly develop my knowledge and skills and do research to stay relevant. I keep a good read on cash flow, and I am frugal to stretch that as far as I can. When things haven’t gone according to expectation, I do a thorough post-mortem and bank lessons learned.

For example, I started out my business working on a product, a game focused on explaining how we’ve become so polarized and what we can do to change our circumstances. I made amazing progress on the design, but when it came to the prototyping/testing phase, I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought about how to do that process well. I also was out of my depth with the manufacturing and distribution parts of the process. Then, global tariffs came into play and really scuttled my plans. I’ve since put that project on hold until things shift in the market and the business has greater funds to outsource the areas with which I’m not as familiar. That risk took time and effort away from other parts of the business that might have been easier to jumpstart early in the life of the business, but I am glad I took the risk, because I learned a lot about what keeps us polarized, which informs the work I do, and I learned so much about product development, which I think will come in handy down the road.

It’s important for anyone considering starting their own business to know that it inherently involves a lot of risk, no matter how much you prepare. You have to have the mental stamina and a solid support network to help you through the ups and downs that come with it. And, truthfully, it helps to have a decent amount of seed money to see you through the first few years. It really is a rollercoaster ride, so be ready for it, no matter how risk-tolerant you may be.

Pricing:

• Pricing varies depending on the scope of the engagement.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://flowingrivercs.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-polunas/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FlowingRiverConflictSolutions
• Other: https://share.google/fMjQnn5tDLHjRCfcX