The bell has rung. Time for recess: the story behind PQ, PLAY, and a life of possibility.

The Doctor is In

Hi there! I’m KP Williams, Ph.D. — founder of Creative Recess Coaching & Consulting, LLC, and a leadership educator, certified coach and dialogue facilitator, and lifelong possibility-seeker. After years in the classroom, I’ve taken my own recess to reimagine how we learn, lead, and live.

Creative Recess is where my worlds come together: scholarship and creativity, leadership and play, rigor and imagination. It’s where I’m guided by Curiosity, Clarity, Creativity, and Community – the four pillars of the Possibility Quotient (PQ). The PQ lives within a larger frame I call PLAY (Possibility in Leadership, Arts, and You) . This framework that brings arts-based practice, authentic leadership, and critical possibility thinking together into one creative practice.

How I Knew it was Time for Recess

Creative Recess grew out of my own journey — from rural Kentucky kid in youth leadership programs, to AmeriCorps member, to professor of leadership studies, to academic exile forging a new path. Along the way, I’ve seen how grind culture, systemic inequities, and toxic workplaces strip away our dignity and imagination.

Leaving academia was my own “recess.” It gave me clarity to distill everything I had learned, taught, and lived into a new framework for coaching and leadership development: the Possibility Quotient (PQ) and for scholarship: Possibility in Leadership, Arts, and You (PLAY).

PQ and PLAY

PQ is my formula for a life of possibility. It’s built on four interdependent pillars:

• Curiosity – asking better questions, staying open.
• Clarity – naming values, boundaries, and purpose.
• Creativity – expressing ideas, solving problems, imagining alternatives.
• Community – belonging, accountability, and shared care.

These pillars are not linear steps. They cycle and reinforce one another. At their center sits critical possibility thinking – the motion between critique and imagination, between what is and what could be.

PQ lives within a larger frame I call PLAY (Possibility in Leadership, Arts, and You). PLAY brings arts-based practice, authentic leadership, and critical possibility thinking together into one creative framework.

Why It Matters

In a world polarized by partisanship, inequality, and burnout, PQ and PLAY offer a compass for possibility, adaptable across generations, sectors, and identities — helping students, professionals, teams, and communities alike imagine what’s possible. It’s a rebellion against grind culture and a haven for rigorously playful, possibility-driven work.

At the heart of it all, Creative Recess is about preparing people to be ready for school, work, and life — not just as students or employees, but as whole people capable of living a life of possibility.

Ready for School

For students and early-career professionals finding their way.

• Building resilience and confidence.
• Navigating academia (especially as first-gen).
• Preparing for grad school or career pivots.

Ready for Work

For professionals, teams, and organizations at a crossroads.

• Thriving in new roles, transitions, or promotions.
• Healing from toxic workplaces.
• Leading authentically in organizations and on boards.
• Partnering through consulting to align strategy, culture, and mission.

Ready for Life

For individuals and communities leading from their whole selves.

• Coaching for LGBTQ+ professionals, people in recovery, and those navigating health challenges.
• Retreats and spaces for healing, creativity, and redefining success.
• Dialogue and community-building that bridge divides.

My Background

I’m a first-generation college graduate whose path has spanned youth leadership programs, AmeriCorps service, and more than a decade teaching leadership in higher education. Today, I bring those experiences — alongside my journey as a gay, HIV+ man in recovery — into Creative Recess. These lived experiences taught me that true leadership begins with radical self-honesty — and grows through PQ and PLAY.

My Leadership Philosophy

For years, I recited this to students:

“Leadership is an inclusive process by which we create more desirable places to live, learn, work, and be in community.”

That still holds true. But now, Creative Recess expands the vision: leadership as a creative, critical, and collective act of possibility.