Campus Connection

Alumni speakers emphasize relationships, not rank, a key to real leadership

Misty Lown, ’00,  founder of More Than Just Great Dancing, spent nearly three decades teaching young kids and teens on the dance floor. But these days her lessons are given to adults in conference settings like Viterbo University’s 22nd Annual Servant Leadership Conference earlier this summer. 

Speaking nationally, Lown shares skills critical to thrive at work. At Viterbo’s conference she focused on one particular skill that is often overlooked in professional settings: feedback. 

Lown was one of several UWL alumni leaders who took the stage at the Viterbo conference. Others included: Jake Bowe, ’06, Ryan Crain, '18, and Carolyn Colleen Bostrack, '04. Bowe, Crain and Bostrack followed their UWL education with master’s degrees from Viterbo with a focus in Servant Leadership. Lown has received Viterbo’s highest non-academic honor, The Saint John XXIII Award for Distinguished Service. 

They each shared stories about their personal journeys as leaders building trust, taking responsibility and lifting others up. They reminded the audience of a simple truth: Leadership isn’t about rising to the top. It’s about bringing others along with you. 

This idea is at the core of Servant leadership, a leadership framework that emphasizes placing the needs of others above one’s own, empowering individuals and fostering growth within teams and communities. 

On giving feedback

As children growing up with teachers and coaches, we were all provided with a feedback-rich environment to learn, explains Lown. But as we graduated into the professional world, those sounding boards were removed, often replaced with vague or confusing messages regarding performance that leave employees feeling stressed out and unclear about what winning looks like at their organization. 

Lown earned a Master of Education: Professional Development degree from UWL. And while she never used these teaching skills to serve in a traditional classroom, she has used them in her personal and professional life.  

“We can learn a lot about how to thrive in the work setting from teachers and coaches who are great at giving feedback,” she says. “Think of the best teacher or coach you’ve ever had. What qualities did they have? Patience, honesty, the ability to listen, promoting continuously learning, empowering you, giving tough love – those are all forms of feedback!” 

Lown encouraged leaders to use feedback as a tool to build trust.  

“Trust is our rarest commodity,” she said. “You build it by asking, speaking and responding. If you see something, say something. Don’t let things fester. The workplace should be a space where people can flourish. You can do it with clarity and kindness.” 

A cultural tradition of responsibility and support

Three weeks before Viterbo’s conference, Ryan Crain, ’18, reached out to Thomas Thibodeau, Viterbo associate professor of servant leadership. Crain had been scheduled to speak alongside Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer, but Greendeer had just suffered a heart attack. 

Crain’s message was simple: Please pray for him. 

A week before the conference, Crain responded to Thibodeau’s question about what would happen if Greendeer couldn't make it to the conference.

“In Ho-Chunk, we don’t have a plan B. We believe in the power of the spirit to bring us together.” 

And so they did. On the Friday morning of the conference, Crain and Greendeer stood together on stage to share the story of the Ho-Chunk people —“the people of the sacred voice.” 

“Servant leadership is ingrained in our culture,” Greendeer said. “You don’t rise above those you serve. True leadership comes from within — never as a symbol of power, but as a commitment to responsibility.” 

Crain, executive director of education at Ho-Chunk Nation, echoed that sentiment: 
 “We are raised to support our families and communities. This is modeled by our grandparents... they teach us so that we can one day have a purpose within our nation." 

From surviving to empowering others

Decades ago, Carolyn Colleen Bostrack, ’04, stood in line at The Salvation Army with her young daughter. With a new restraining order against her husband and an immobilizing fear about her future, Bostrack wasn’t sure how she would survive – even taking it “one day at time.” 

But that moment in line became a turning point when Bostrack realized although she couldn’t take it one day at a time, she could handle five minutes at a time. And, in those five minutes, she could in breathe, focus and take fierce action toward improving her life. 

During the Servant Leadership Conference, she stood before the crowd as a doctoral degree holder, author, entrepreneur, humanitarian and founder of the F.I.E.R.C.E. Foundation. Her organization helps others find resourceful resilience through mentorship, entrepreneurial spirit and community.  

“My purpose was founded in a fire. My passion is to make sure no one else has to walk through the fire alone. What came of it is a foundation – F.I.E.R.C.E. Foundation,” she said. “We are smashing generational curses and creating generational self-sufficiency.” 

F.I.E.R.C.E. Foundation offers a 20-week, trauma-informed program for women, helping them create a roadmap based on their vision and goals. To date, the organization has supported 65 women-launched businesses or side hustles.  

The F.I.E.R.C.E. method she teaches is: 

• Focused breath 
• Identify one goal 
• Examine barriers 
• Reflect and visualize 
• Courage 
• Engage 

Sometimes, she says, people just need to “borrow someone else’s light until their own light ignites.”