Meet Jeff King of Transmuto, Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff King.

Hi Jeff, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started my nonprofit, Transmuto, Inc., in February 2019. Before starting Transmuto, I was in pastoral ministry in local church settings since 1983. I started a church in 1988 and served as its pastor until 2008. Then I did ministry through​pastoral care and guidance for several churches until 2015, when I assumed the local congregation’s pastor role.  At the onset of that church assignment, I was introduced to the Enneagram, a personality typing system that provides spiritual and psychological growth. The Enneagram has been utilized by many faith traditions to provide a map for faith development and formation. I fell in love with the Enneagram and its power to transform us at a deep level. That process helped me understand my values, convictions, and sense of calling. In the late fall of 2018, I resigned from the church I was serving and decided to form Transmuto, which is devoted to providing spiritual guidance, personal growth, and pastoral care utilizing the wisdom of the Enneagram. It allows me to continue to offer my skills and gifts to the broader world beyond the confines of a local congregation and specific church dogma. I like to consider myself as a pastor without walls.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hahaha! Smooth? I spent most of 2019 establishing the foundation of Transmuto–designing a website, creating an online presence through social media, knocking on doors to present workshops, building a coaching clientele, creating a podcast, getting professional credentials, etc. In January 2020, I was about to land a significant corporate client, and a week after having scheduled a national training event for this corporation, Covid erupted on the world scene. As we know, business as the world knew it came to a sudden halt. This forced me to reimagine what Transmuto would look like and how I could continue to offer my services to people. I shifted to an exclusively online presence, learning how to conduct Zoom workshops and coaching sessions. This became a blessing in disguise as going virtual expanded my outreach without geographical restrictions. In January 2021, an unexpected medical procedure left me with a large out-of-pocket medical bill. This necessitated me to find employment that provided additional income and benefits. I reduced my work with Transmuto to a part-time basis, seeing coaching clients in the evenings and weekends with occasional online workshops as well. To my relief, the caseload for Transmuto remained steady through this period. I was able to continue publishing my podcast. In March 2022, I decided to go part-time with my other employment and focus my full attention and energy on Transmuto.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?

• Transmuto is a nonprofit organization that aims to facilitate personal growth and spiritual formation. This mission is accomplished by training and coaching individuals, couples, and organizations to apply the wisdom of the Enneagram and by providing pastoral services to those seeking spiritual guidance and care. Transmuto empowers people to identify and overcome barriers that block happiness, hope, and wholeness. We strive to create effectiveness in personal living, relationships, and professional development.
• I am the face of Transmuto. I provide workshops, training, and coaching to assist individuals, couples, and organizations in applying the wisdom of the Enneagram in their personal and professional settings. I also offer pastoral services, including spiritual guidance, pastoral care, speaking, and officiating weddings and funerals.
• I publish a podcast, Nine Lives with Jeff King. The podcast covers the Enneagram and explores spiritual formation and faith development patterns; I interview Enneagram experts and invite people from various life experiences to tell about their faith journeys. The podcast is one of the products that I’m most proud of.
• I offer workshops and training on the Enneagram in a variety of settings. This includes businesses, helping develop more effective staff relations and increase productivity. I also provide training experiences for churches and volunteer organizations. I customize training experiences for families as well.
• I offer coaching packages for couples that are designed to help partners apply the wisdom of the Enneagram to their relationships. I also provide coaching packages for individuals who intend to use the Enneagram in their personal and professional arenas.
• One of the unique features of Transmuto is offering pastoral and spiritual care to those with limited financial resources. We make these services available on a donation basis. Our financial partners pick up the tab for those who cannot afford to donate.
•  I continue to lead an online faith community that meets weekly on Zoom. Our time together consists of a time of meditation and prayer, reading a sacred text (typically from Scripture), and open discussion. It’s a safe place to ask questions and explore new ideas. One of my favorite aspects of our community is that there are not prescribed right answers that we have to arrive at. Faith grows in the questions more than the answers.
• Transmuto is open and affirming, providing services to all regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, and faith tradition.

What makes you happy?

• I love helping people overcome the barriers that keep them from happiness, hope, and wholeness. Entering into their stories and providing wisdom and companionship as they navigate their personal and relational barriers is a great privilege.
• I love teaching and coaching the Enneagram. It’s a powerful, inciteful, and accurate system that creates self-awareness and a pathway to personal, relational, and professional growth and development.
• I find deep satisfaction in being invited into others’ life experiences and being a companion to them in their life journey.
• I love hanging out with my wife, children, and grandchildren. We value thoughtful movies, deep conversations, concerts, travel, and adventures.
• I love reading and learning, particularly in spiritual formation and personal growth. I find exploring the stages of life development to be fascinating.
• I love riding my new eBike. I have knee issues, and the eBike allows me to get out and explore the Lawrence area. Riding provides some exercise and keeps my body in motion. Lawrence has great bike trails.
• I love discovering great restaurants, microbreweries, and pubs.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.transmuto.org
• Instagram: @transmutokc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Transmuto/