Kelly Hamilton, Ph.D., SPHR

Kelly Hamilton, PhD, is a leadership coach who works with leaders navigating growth, complexity, and transition. His work focuses on executive coaching and team development, supporting executives, founders, and leadership teams as they seek greater clarity, confidence, and presence in how they lead. Based in St. Louis, Kelly works across industries including technology, healthcare, construction, entertainment and hospitality, and closely held businesses.

Kelly’s approach is shaped by an early career spent leading through change. Before becoming an industrial-organizational psychologist, he spent more than fifteen years as a co-founder and business owner in the media and marketing industry—an era marked by rapid disruption, the rise of digital platforms, and the pressures of the Great Recession. That experience sharpened his ability to make sense of complexity, combining creative thinking with disciplined decision-making during periods of rapid change. Today, it informs his ability to help leaders navigate complexity with courage, creativity, and intention.

Kelly’s academic background reflects how he learned to make sense of complexity, culture, and human behavior. He earned degrees in German and Psychology from Austin College, spent a formative year studying abroad in Vienna, Austria, and completed a master’s degree in German at Washington University in St. Louis. These experiences shaped an integrative perspective that Kelly brings to his work, combining cultural awareness with the science of human behavior to help leaders translate insight into values-aligned action across contexts.

Kelly’s coaching clients describe him as grounded and insightful, noting his ability to create a warm, trusting space that invites openness and reflection. His coaching style creates a high-trust space paired with thoughtful challenge, helping leaders recognize habitual thinking patterns and move beyond constraints that limit their effectiveness and fulfillment.

Kelly holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Portland State University, has completed training through the Co-Active Training Institute, and holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification. He is an active member of the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Outside his consulting work, Kelly follows his curiosity where it leads. You might find him wandering museums with his wife, in an art workshop, or writing about creativity and leadership from a local coffee shop.

If you are ready to lead with greater clarity, confidence, and presence, Kelly welcomes the conversation.