About James Robinson:
Certified Jungian Life Coach (CreativeMind University)
Founder, Mining & Shining Idea Labs
Executive Director of Project Reflect (founded in 1992 by Sister Sandra Smithson) and Smithson Craighead Academy — Middle Tennessee’s first charter school.
I help school leaders — principals, principal-managers, and executive directors — discharge the Loyal Soldier so they can move cleanly into new roles, new organizations, or new projects and actually execute.
My current work at Project Reflect includes restructuring the nonprofit that oversees a pre-K, charter school, after-school program, and wraparound services; implementing a two-principal model focused on grade-band readiness; installing new assessment and operations systems; and achieving strong academic growth (TVAAS Level 5) in a short time.
Before Project Reflect, I spent nine years in school and network leadership and turnaround roles. During that period I:
- Led multiple schools to Reward School status
- Authored and successfully secured approval for a new charter school application
- Served as founding principal of a school that grew significantly while earning its first Reward School designation
- Designed systems, assessments, and leadership structures later adopted more broadly
- Managed cross-functional teams through growth, rebranding, and high-stakes improvement work
Those years gave me direct experience with the identity shifts, institutional patterns, and execution challenges that school leaders face when transitioning.
Combined with Jungian depth work (shadow, complexes, and the Loyal Soldier archetype), this forms the foundation of the coaching I offer.
The goal is practical and clear: leave the old role cleanly, lead the new one with focus, and get results for students and teams.