Meet Ken Odell 2
Ken Odell has been a purpose-oriented community leader, business owner, and tradesman for over 30 years. He is the Founder of Warriors Creating Safety and the Proprietor of Odell Painting, LLC, and has advanced university education in conflict resolution, trained in purpose guiding, and has apprenticed in historic home preservation. Ken’s work is defined by a sense of duty—to one’s predecessors, to personal growth and development, and to shaping healthier communities. Being a husband and father to two adult daughters, Ken is driven to lecture, write, and coach on the subjects of toxic masculinity, our culture’s definition of manhood, and the role of men in creating and upholding gender equity, a mission made possible by his successful endeavors as an entrepreneur.
Ken’s Background
In 1987, Ken embarked on what would become a three-decades-long career painting and restoring properties of historical significance in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia. There, in an area rife with history and bucolic allure, Ken honed his craft of painting. In charming stone homes, beautiful farmhouses, and sprawling estates, under the direction of a Pennsylvania-Dutch mentor, he first became attuned to the sense of purpose that’s since transcended his tradesmanship and guided his life as a community leader. Odell Painting continues to operate today as a successful specialty home painting and preservation business.
“Odell Painting was never just about painting,” Ken says. “To me, it always meant something more. It’s the mission—to seek and satisfy a sacred middle, where the home’s historical intention is honored as much as the intentions of its modern inhabitants.” Today, Ken and crew have restored or preserved hundreds of residential and historic homes, and returned ecclesiastical structures to their intended glory.
It’s about creating a safer world for women and children by inspiring men to honor them through inner work and outward action.
— Ken Odell
Ken’s Activism
Ken’s social work is rooted in the thesis that there is a path to healthy masculinity on a societal scale. He founded and facilitates Warriors Creating Safety, a group focused on helping men do their part to identify and root out the behaviors that lead to toxic masculinity. Through inner work and outward action, Ken coaches men of all ages, and from all walks of life, to create safety for marginalized groups. Alongside that mission, Ken is committed to guiding men toward self-discovery, turning inward to control the darkness and cultivate the light that exists within us all.
Ken’s community activism is inspired in no small part by the ManKind Project, a personal development and training organization for men. The same principles guide him to earning the trust of homeowners and to augment the definition of what “home” truly means. It’s all part of his purpose to achieve a world where everyone is loved and honored, respected and acknowledged — under a roof, in our neighborhoods, and beyond.
Ken’s Education & Credentials
Antioch University—McGregor
M.A., Conflict Resolution, 2001
The New School for Social Research
B.A., Liberal Arts, 1986
Landmark Education
Completed Entire Curriculum plus the Wisdom Course, 2005-10
Coaches Training International
Certification, Life Coaching, 2004
National Association of the Remodeling Industry (Bucks-Mont Chapter)
Past Community Service Committee Chair, 2011-2016
ManKind Project—New Warrior Training Adventure
Founding Member, Philadelphia Chapter, 1993
