Kylie Rowe - 2020 Executive of the Year

By Brenda Damian

Living Large Las Vegas frst chatted with entrepreneur and 2020 Executive of The Year award winner, Kylie Rowe, in December 2019. Like many, Kylie looked forward to what a new year would bring. With much excitement, she spoke about her nomination for the Executive of the Year Award, her recent partnership with the Healthy Nevada Project, her company Kylie Rowe Co., formerly Outline, LLC, and her new ventures. At the time, no one could anticipate what was to come and how dramatically COVID-19 would alter everyone’s plans, goals, and lives.

However, Kylie shares a common trait of great leaders that helps her look to the future—optimism.

One of the great ones

It’s no surprise that taking risks and venturing to new projects is something Kylie feels more than comfortable doing. At the same time, she is confdent and vulnerable enough to speak about her fears of stepping into the unknown. Great leaders know that the true goal of their position is not to gain power or admiration. The real purpose of being a great leader is to advance a cause larger than yourself. And how is this done? By inspiring others to be leaders. To pass along the knowledge you have gained. To mentor. To care. To have passion. To be humble. To be authentic. Understanding all this makes it undeniable: Kylie is one of the great ones.

Kylie embodies the qualities that the world needs more of to create more great leaders. As such, it is also no surprise that she was nominated and won the Executive of the Year award from the Silver State Awards.

“The Silver State Awards is a fantastic group that has recognized the accomplishments of women in business for a couple of decades,” Kylie says. “I’m truly grateful. Recognition like this is critical for aspiring and inspiring leaders to keep lifting others up. This award gives me the confdence to keep going hard in the direction of my dreams.”

Not afraid of being afraid

Kylie is not afraid of being afraid. More than a year ago, she stepped into the unknown, followed her true passion for entrepreneurship, and went all in to create her company, Kylie Rowe Co. With her company and as a speaker and consultant, Kylie helps others frst answer the questions they need to follow their passion and then take a leap of faith as she did.

As a keynote speaker in a space dominated mainly by men, Kylie relates how her experiences on her entrepreneurship journey can help other women aspiring toward leadership roles. At the heart of her message is personal leadership. Kylie believes that when you can be the best leader of yourself, you can then become a great leader of others. She also shares this message in board rooms and conference rooms with a variety of organizations.

“I love talking about personal leadership and working with companies to help their executives to become the best leaders of themselves and ultimately the best leader for their company,” Kylie says.

Making personal discoveries

What exactly led Kylie to discover what makes her feel alive? Kylie says giving a keynote speech at the University of Nevada, Reno pushed her to dig deeper to fnd what fulflls her. As a result, she now shares the same approach with people who listen to her speak. She takes her audience through a series of questions to identify who they are and what they value.

“Then, we prioritize those things so that you can be the best leader of yourself,” Kylie says. “Ultimately, when you have that, the next question is, how do you lead online and ofine? And, moving forward, how do you build on that and integrate that into your business?”

To build this method, Kylie asked herself these same questions, which helped her discover what truly fulflls her.

“This path that I’ve started with entrepreneurship is more fulflling than anything that I’ve experienced,” Kylie says. “To build something and rely on yourself to create wealth, create your vision, your future, and live that every day has been so awesome.”

A True Nevadan

Although Kylie has lived in many places, including six diferent states, she calls Nevada home. She primarily resided in northern Nevada while attending the University of Nevada, Reno where she earned three degrees, including a bachelor’s in economics, a master’s in social work and a master’s in business administration. As the assistant director for the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship, she launched and oversaw the organization’s curriculum development, marketing, communications, events, fundraising, and the $250,000 annual budget. After creating an initiative to promote women in business with the Center, she then took the next step in her career to become the vice president of relocation and corporate services for northern Nevada’s largest real estate frm, Dickson Realty. During that time, she sat on the board of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the northern Nevada counterpart of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. Through her work with EDAWN, Kylie became even more passionate about economic development. She took that energy for building the state’s economy, moved down south, and became the vice president of communications and public afairs for the LVGEA.

Getting accustomed to Las Vegas wasn’t hard for Kylie. She fell in love with the hidden gem that is Red Rock and the array of food, entertainment, and business opportunities the city ofers. A big fan of the Vegas Golden Knights, she regularly attends games and describes them as, “very entertaining and thrilling.” As a self-described foodie, Kylie loves the abundance of culinary options, from Mexican cuisine to Asian cuisine. She lives within a few miles of China Town and says she has never eaten more types of Asian food in her life.

As for the economic opportunities Las Vegas has to ofer, Kylie understands the value the city brings to businesses.

“The business opportunities here are amazing,” she says. “There are a lot of global business experiences that happen here. There really truly is something here for everyone.”

She has also found the community to be quite welcoming.

“You can make some great connections,” Kylie says. “People want to support people who they know, like, and trust. It’s really easy to do that if you’re a good person, and you show up, and you give more than you can take.”

Entrepreneurial Spirit

While she enjoyed attracting new businesses to the Las Vegas econo-

my and lobbying for economic policy development, Kylie knew that she was an entrepreneur at heart. So, about one year ago, Kylie decided to take a leap and start on the path of her current journey and company: Kylie Rowe Co. Her strategy frm designs actionable plans for teams and individual contributors to become the best leaders of themselves and guides organizations to establish a leadership position in their industry through business development, strategy advancement, and reputation enhancement.

In this venture, and even before the new coronavirus came to Ne- vada, Kylie helped the state improve health outcomes and fnd cures diseases with the Healthy Nevada Project. As part of a partnership with Renown Health, Kylie served as the business relations and engagement partner for the project, which is a clinical study ofering free genetic testing, ancestry, and diet insights to participants. The state uses the data to draw new conclusions about how to improve the health of the entire Nevada population. In addition to learning about diet and well- ness, the study is also searching for specifc genetic markers that lead to cancer and heart disease. The study is specifcally looking to identify BRCA one and two, which lead to breast cancer, ovarian cancer, Lynch syndrome, and familial hypercholesterolemia.

It frst launched in September of 2016. Within 48 hours, 10,000 par- ticipants joined the study, and now almost four years later, more than

This path that I’ve started with entrepreneurships is more fulflling than anything I’ve ever experienced. To build something and rely on yourself to create wealth, create your vision, your future, and live that every day has been so awesome. Kylie Rowe “ “

50,000 Nevadans signed up. After Kylie joined the project, 50 diferent companies signed on to host events where their employ- ees, friends, and family could participate in the study. It was a major accomplishment, and one of her frst large clients with Kylie Rowe Co.

However, Kylie Rowe Co. is just one of three businesses that Kylie has created. She started her frst company, a real estate investment frm, in 2009, while partnered with her former husband. Although no longer together, she and her ex-husband successfully created passive income with their investments.

“I’m so thankful for that relationship that I had with my former hus- band because we really set ourselves up for success,” Kylie says.

Coping and Thriving During COVID-19

So much changed in the world between the time when Living Large Las Vegas frst spoke with Kylie and when the frst cases of the COVID-19 virus touched the city. However, Kylie’s foundation of maintaining a healthy mental space stayed constant, even during these difcult moments.

“As a leader, you have to take care of yourself frst so that you can lift and support others,” Kylie says.

To stay positive and grounded, Kylie recommends taking a step

back and doing a self- check.

“Taking care of your needs frst and foremost is important so that you can come from a place of kindness, strength, and peace so that you can successfully lead your tribe, family, and friends,” Kylie says.

What does Kylie think businesses should do to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in a better position?

In a word, “Innovate.”

She fundamentally believes in innovation. While earning her economics degree, she learned about Joseph Schumpeter’s theory on creative destruction.

“It boils down to, if you’re not willing to innovate, you’ll destruct,” she says.

Now is the time for businesses to get creative, innovate, and fnd opportunities to come back stronger once the economy reopens.

“Right now is not the time to pause on business,” she says. “Now is the time to think outside the box and create something in anticipation that the economy is going to come back. Business is going to start again because our world thrives on the business dealings that occur.”

A new business opportunity

Kylie is now working daily on building her third business in partnership with Las Vegas auctioneer, philanthropist, real estate developer, and general contracting business owner Jef Manning. The company, Luxea Global Auctions, will connect people and properties through live and online luxury real estate auction. Jef founded the frm fve years ago and auctioned properties in multiple states.

The two met a year ago at a charity auction: Wine, Women & Shoes, which beneftted St. Jude’s Ranch for Children. Jef was the auctioneer and Kylie was a winning bidder. At the time, they were both doing public service and hadn’t imagined it would lead to a partnership in a space where they both share a mutual passion and expertise–real estate. Kylie surrounds herself with people who are positive and uplifting, who work hard, and who have integrity, honesty, and creativity. Jef is all those things, she says.

Their luxury auction business model will partner with Relators, instead of competing with them, and that is one of the things that Kylie loves most. The frm prioritizes philanthropy and putting people frst, which resonates with both Kylie and Jef’s core values. While launching the business in the world of COVID-19, Kylie and Jef have adapted by continuing to work on opportunities in their control, such as conducting market research, rebranding company, and restructuring the business to incorporate more of Kylie’s expertise and partnership.

“Despite what’s going on around us, people are still doing business, and there are people who are forward-thinking,” she says. “If you’re looking to continue as an entrepreneur, now is the time to take advantage of innovative ideas and processes and be prepared to launch those as soon as we are ready—because the world needs us to do that.” LV

Contact Kylie Rowe at: kylie@kylierowe.com | Kylierowe.com |775-250-1152

all photos by Jeramie Lu Photography