By: Lexie Hendrickson

My name is Lexie, and I am one of the LifeCoaches here at I Pour Life. I get the joy of working with our youth every day. I get to help coach them to self-sufficiency and help them reach their goals. It is the biggest honor in my professional life, and I truly love my job. 

A Unique Perspective

I worked at I Pour Life six years ago, basically fresh out of college. I was so ready, in my overconfident early-20’s mind, to change the world and impact youth in Springfield. Back then LifeCoaching was not as accessible as technology makes it now, and we were just based in the local Springfield area. 

I met with youth one-on-one every day and worked to teach them how to be adults. What was interesting about that experience is that I loved my job, but I was also so young and did not have any concept of how to be an adult myself. I had no clue what boundaries looked like in nonprofit or how to not burn out as I LifeCoached and loved the youth from some really hard places going through hard things. 

I did my best, but eventually received an opportunity to go to a graduate school and earn a seminary degree almost completely free back in my hometown in Georgia. I decided to follow that path in life. Thankfully, the leadership at I Pour Life were my biggest cheerleaders in it and supported me so well. They kept saying, “If you ever want to come back, give us a call.” 

There is something to be said about being in the exact right place at what seems like the wrong time. I was not entirely grown up enough or ready for the job back then, though I did do well at my work and built lasting relationships with youth that I still have today. I had my own growing up to do and learned that nonprofit work means healthy boundaries and also coaching yourself before you ever coach your youth. 

Moving Back to Springfield

I worked on myself and graduated from grad school while working at a large church in Georgia and then eventually moved back to Springfield. From there I worked at a local church as a worship pastor for a few years and then worked in Kansas City as a youth and outreach pastor. Life moved on, but I never forgot the impact I Pour Life made on me. I still had contact with a lot of my youth I worked with and got to see updates from them through social media or them contacting me. 

I had youth I brought to AA meetings tell me they were four-plus years sober and had custody of their kids again. I had youth tell me they remembered when we celebrated that they were five minutes sober and now their whole life is better because they chose to fight for themselves and stuck with it. I had youth tell me they got married, had babies and finally have a healthy family because they broke generation cycles through their time with I Pour Life. 

I was so blessed to have planted seeds in my time there and to have the honor of seeing some of those seeds bloom into beautiful and healthy gardens. 

Lexie Hendrickson

So when my husband and I decided to move back to Springfield to put down roots here and reconnect with our community, I was looking for jobs and I Pour Life was hiring again. I fought with the decision because I wanted to make sure I was the healthiest version of myself before stepping into that role and had heard I Pour Life as an organization had experienced a lot of changes in the past six-plus years since I had been there. 

Returning to I Pour Life

But I decided that I loved the mission and my old job enough to submit a resume. What I learned in that interview process was while I was growing up and learning how to be my healthiest self, so was I Pour Life. They had bloomed into this organization that had seen burnt out and hardships before, but made it a goal to make sure that the LifeCoaches set boundaries and felt encouraged as they led youth to grow and break patterns. Every apprehension I had was met with kindness and clarity. So when offered the job, I said yes. 

Since saying yes, I can truly say that I love what I do, and I love this organization. On the hard days, I am met with a leadership team who sees me and leads me with such compassion and understanding. On the good days, we celebrate together and get to brag on our youth or on the way that we coached. 

This team has been everything to me, and I am so honored to be back and to get a chance to scatter more seeds. I still get to hear updates from my youth who have long since graduated from the program and grown up, but now I get new youth who I get to invest in and see them grow. 

Helping Youth Grow 

In the last nine months, I have seen youth graduate high school, get jobs, start college, save up for cars, learn healthy boundaries in relationships, learn to communicate, and build social capital. I have seen them go from anxiety and apprehension to trusting they have safe adults in their lives who believe in them. 

I get to do this and am honored I am back here again, on mission, to make Missouri a safer space for these youth who I believe can— and will — impact this world for the better as they chase their dreams, break generational cycles, and learn to believe in themselves through our program. They matter and getting to tell them that is my job as a LifeCoach — what a dream! 

To support LifeCoaches like Lexie and create positive life change, go here!