"To re-inspire your team you have to be a very high-energy leader that truly believes in your mission, and your team. As a commander in the Army, my job was to provide purpose, direction, and motivation. As a leader, you have to remember all eyes are always on you. So don't be afraid to challenge your team, and motivate your team--celebrating successes as often as possible. Finally, you're the standard bearer; if you truly want to inspire your team, be the leader you would want to follow." -- Meredith Knopp
How do you re-inspire a team?
Meredith was born and raised in Michigan and is an alumni of Michigan State University
James Madison College where she majored in International Relations. After completing a
semester abroad at Cambridge University where she studied Social Policy, Meredith went on
to be a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC program at MSU. Meredith was
commissioned as an officer in the United States Army Military Police Corps and served eight
years as a platoon leader and company commander. Her assignments included Fort Hood,
Bosnia-Herzegovina (Operation Joint Endeavor), the Republic of Korea and Fort Leonard
Wood, as well as rotations to all three Army training centers in the U.S. and abroad.
Upon leaving active duty, Meredith was recruited to participate in The Home Depot’s Store
Leadership Program where her culminating assignment was being the only participant selected
to build a new store in Chesterfield, MO. In 2005 Meredith was recruited to the Best Buy team
where she ran a store in Crestwood, MO, was a member of their Women’s Leadership Forum
(WOLF) and earned best in the Territory honors for the holiday season in 2006. During her
tenure at Best Buy, Meredith was introduced to Junior Achievement, and began hosting Job
Shadow programs for Middle and High School students to learn about the myriad of careers
available to them and correlating what they were learning in school to the skills that would best
prepare them to be valuable employees to any organization.
Meredith served as the Senior Vice President and COO for Junior Achievement of Greater St.
Louis from November 2007 until June 30, 2011 where she was responsible for growing the
organization by 16%, operating with a surplus and opening up new markets for JA to reach
students throughout Mid-Missouri. She helped create new opportunities to provide innovation
and insights to the organization, reached more students than ever before, ensuring the team
earned JA’s coveted “Summit Award” status from 2007 – 2011.
Meredith is active in Operation Home Front, where she co-founded the H.E.R.O.E.S. Care
program to network communities and organizations to assist families of deployed soldiers. She
is an avid sports fan, half-marathon runner, certified aerobics instructor and musician. She lives
in St Peters, MO with her husband Ken and their dog, Hero (born on 9/11).