Meet the Author – Kristy Busija
Kristy Busija is a best‑selling author, award‑winning organizational development executive, and the CEO and Founder of Next Conversation Consulting. She brings more than 25 years of experience in Talent Management and Organizational Development, helping leaders and organizations turn complexity into clarity, navigate change, and create cultures where people and performance can thrive.
Known for “making sense out of chaos” and “making the invisible visible,” Kristy’s work focuses on the often unseen forces that shape how people work, lead, and belong—especially when it comes to inclusion and invisible disabilities in the workplace. Her book shines a light on the hidden assumptions and structures that impact performance, accommodation, and opportunity, offering leaders practical ways to build more equitable, human‑centered organizations.
Through Next Conversation Consulting, Kristy and her team partner with mission‑driven leaders to design and deliver coaching, change, and learning solutions that translate important conversations into sustained behavior change and measurable business results. She is an ICF‑credentialed (ACC) coach, a Forbes contributor, and a trusted thought partner to executives, boards, and leadership teams who want to see—and shift—what’s really happening beneath the surface.
Hidden in plain sight
A Practical Guide to Managing Invisible Disability in the Workplace
Invisible disabilities are common in the workplace, but most people don’t realize they exist. This book examines how inclusion, accommodation, and performance are influenced by hidden assumptions in organizations. Drawing on personal experience and organizational knowledge, it reveals that invisible disabilities are a daily reality in every industry.
Hidden in Plain Sight suggests a new approach. This book urges organizations to move beyond compliance and start real conversations. With real stories, practical tools, and new frameworks, readers will learn how to create cultures that meet invisible disabilities with clarity and support.
The 2nd wind
It’s Hell in the Hallway!
People always say that when one door closes, another one opens, but what they don’t tell you is–“It’s HELL in the hallway!”
Looking back over my journey, I realize that all the things I experienced, the things I have done, and the people I have encountered, have given me a unique perspective and amazing insight into how to treat people as humans. My experience has taught me how to truly hear what they want and need in order to unlock their purpose and passion. Heck, even the worst experiences have been fertile training grounds, even if just to show me what not to do. The workplace bullying I encountered at the hand of employees, the slander that was spread about me, the two back-to-back reductions in force (layoffs), and even the colleagues that decided it was their mission to sabotage me, all revealed to me the fragility of the human condition and how important it is to protect not just the bottom line, but the people who are doing the work and making a difference. To paraphrase one of my favorite humans, my coach, my friend, Colin Callahan, “It’s not my forever, it’s just my for now.”