When Katrina Hutchins describes her business, she talks about evolution and transformation, but they aren’t just buzzwords. They mean something to her because she’s lived them in her personal journey. 

Hutchins (2003 master’s, social work) is president and CEO of Re-Source Solutions, a consulting company she founded in 2015 that focuses on personal and professional growth and development. 

“We help organizations recognize the value of building their greatest asset, which is their people,” says Hutchins, who – in addition to her MSW – has a doctorate in education with a concentration in organizational leadership. “An organization can have an amazing mission or strategic plan, but if they don't have strong people and leaders, then their mission is not going to function at capacity.” 

Before Hutchins started her own company, she had spent most of her career in academic and nonprofit settings. She held positions at the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina as well as Columbia College and USC, where she was an adjunct professor and a consultant for the I. DeQuincey Newman Institute for Peace and Social Justice located in the College of Social Work.  

During her time at the Sisters of Charity Foundation, she worked closely with nonprofit organizations from across South Carolina to help maximize their programs.  

“I started to recognize deficits in how they functioned, and I would take opportunities to meet with them to brainstorm about what they could do better to build their capacity,” Hutchins says.  

Her experience helped lay the foundation for the mission of Re-Source Solutions, which offers executive coaching, organizational consulting, workshops and training, and keynote speaking. She calls making the decision to create her own business a “leap of faith,” but it also was her calling. 

Even when she was growing up in Hopkins, South Carolina, Hutchins says she had a passion for teaching. 

“I was the little girl who would line her dolls up like they were in a classroom, so I could be the teacher,” she says. “It was a passion, and a teaching is fundamental to what my company does. I have literally seen transformation in organizations and watched people become equipped to lead differently, to be a member of a team differently and to manage differently.”  

At USC, as a nontraditional older student pursuing her master’s degree, she says she would convene her classmates, so they could study and learn together. 

“The college’s cohort model kept us close and united in our learning community. Because I was experiencing marital separation and had two small children, having that support was amazing,” Hutchins says. “I came in like a sponge eager to learn and draw from my professors, and I was able to build my confidence to work and to lead in the world.” 

After navigating her studies, internships, two part-time jobs and parental duties, Hutchins graduated from the 11-month Advanced Standing program with the faculty’s highest honor for academic achievement. To honor her experiences, she established the Dr. Katrina E. Hutchins Endowed Fellowship Fund. The endowment helps MSW students who are single custodial parents and facing the challenges of pursuing an education while raising a family alone. The fellowships are also intended to further the diversity and multi-cultural makeup of the student population.  

In addition to the fellowship endowment, Hutchins has remained connected to the College of Social Work as an adjunct professor in the master’s degree program and as a consultant for community engagement for the I. DeQuincey Newman Institute for Peace and Social Justice. She sees her continued involvement as a way to give back to the institutions that have been part of her personal transformation. 

As a scholar, Hutchins’s research is focused on the power of women’s voices, and she published a book titled “The Voice Positioning System: 7 Ways to Harness Your Power and Master Your Influence.” She is also the author of five inspirational books and series of children’s books focused on the power of voice. In addition, the Voice Leadership Camp – a six-week virtual program for boys and girls – is a signature program of the Re-Source Solutions Foundation, which she founded to improve the mental, physical and spiritual health of women and families. 

Hutchins credits her education at USC and other institutions for helping her find a career she loves. 

She says, “It was in those educational programs that I was able to establish passion for the work and to gain the confidence that I could be a difference in the world.”