Dorothy Vance

Dorothy Vance and her husband, Garland, co-founded AdVance Leadership in 2017. AdVance Leadership helps organizations develop the leaders they need to succeed.

Dorothy is a Certified-Gallup Strengths Coach and Lifeforming Leadership-Certified Growth Coach.

She specializes in guiding people to discover their unique giftedness through tools like StrengthsFinder, the Enneagram, and spiritual gifts to articulate their life purpose.

Dorothy met her husband, Garland, a fellow creative writing major, at Carson-Newman University. They fell in love while critiquing each other’s work and have been married, writing, and teaching together, for over twenty years. They dedicated fifteen of those years to a Chick-fil-A nonprofit. They are the parents of three beloved children, two boys with a girl in between.

Dorothy loves the outdoors and the beauty of nature, which drew them to move to the Smoky Mountains in 2018. She tries to get in a good hike at least once a week. When she’s not hiking, Dorothy stays active, training for races, practicing yoga, or finding a fun, high-energy exercise class. All that activity balances out her love of cooking and eating. Dorothy also loves good books and movies, but the sweetest mix is when a good book is turned into a good movie.