Episode 140: Sell Faster with the Right Story | Kimjera Whittington | Evolve Global Marketing
Kimjera Whittington, founder of Evolve Global Marketing, shows how the right words can double your sales and transform your business. She breaks down the storytelling framework she’s used to help brands worldwide cut through noise, connect with the right customers, and close deals faster. From identifying what’s really holding your sales back to crafting a message that builds instant trust, Kimjera shares the exact principles that turn browsers into buyers. She also opens up about running her agency while traveling the world, why creative freedom is a business advantage, and how to balance ambition with the life you actually want.
“Words are so important. They’re the most powerful part of telling your story and connecting with your customers.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
00:00 – Why Storytelling Is the Fastest Path to Sales
02:50 – Seeing the Gaps in Your Marketing Message
05:00 – Fixing Common Mistakes That Keep Sales Stuck
08:00 – Clarity Over Cleverness: The Key to Connection
10:00 – The Framework That Transforms a Brand’s Growth
14:00 – Running a Marketing Agency from Anywhere in the World
18:00 – How Travel Fuels Creativity and Business Innovation
21:00 – Working with Clients Across Industries and Borders
25:30 – Balancing Family, Freedom, and Growth
29:00 – Keeping Creativity High While Traveling Full-Time
33:00 – The Power of Words in Building Trust
38:00 – Selling Faster by Speaking Your Customer’s Language
42:00 – Storytelling Tools and Resources That Work
46:00 – The Mindset That Keeps You Ahead of the Competition
50:00 – What’s Next for Evolve Global Marketing
That's what gets me up in the morning is just mm-hmm. Looking at somebody a, a company who's already so phenomenal and they're going, okay, I paid for marketing, or I built a website and it just doesn't work and I don't know what to do. And I go look at it and immediately I'm like, I can tell you why it's not working.
'cause it's not talking to your customer in the language that they will buy. And click the button.
That's Kim Jro Winnington and this is the Powerful Ladies podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host Kara Duffy, and in this episode I sit down with Kim Jra Winnington, founder of Evolve Global Marketing. Her company helps businesses of all sizes from around the globe go from ineffective marketing and low sales. Take clarity in their storytelling, which totally transforms their business and their sales.
We discussed in this episode how she built her business, why telling the right story is the secret to being successful in business and how she's running a marketing agency. While traveling the world with her family.
Welcome to the Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
I'm very excited to have you. Um, you have such an incredible story of how many people you've helped and how you've started your own business. Let's begin. Please tell everybody who you are, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
My name is Kim Jra Weddington, and I am in Southern California. So I'm right outside San Diego in a, uh, wine country town called Teec Hill. And what am I up to? So I run a marketing agency and am loving every minute of being able to help clients, um, create really effective marketing using the power of storytelling.
And so many people, you know, when they think of marketing, they never think of storytelling. So what is storytelling and why do businesses need it?
Oh, great question. Um, so storytelling really has been around forever. It's nothing new. Um, it's been around for centuries. Every movie that you ever watch has story happening throughout the movie.
Directors know the power of story and basically it is, you know, looking at how we interact with each other and we process information through putting it in the context of a story. How does it fit? And, um, so you have a, a basically a character of the story and they want something, but they can't achieve that on their own.
So they have a problem that needs to be solved and they meet a guide throughout the process who helps guide them, um, and provide a plan and says, do these three things and you will, um, achieve success. Mm-hmm. Or if they don't follow the plan, then obviously that's why we get engaged in storytelling, because we get excited in the movies when.
They're told to do something as a character and then they don't follow, and then it ends up in failure or tragedy, and then they're like, dang it, and I've gotta start all over. So they get called to take action, and that either ends in success or failure. It's like a seven part main framework. And in marketing specifically, it's pretty awesome because.
When you position your company as the guy, that's when the power really happens in a message. And that's what I like to help my clients do is transfer the conversation from being about them, about your own company and how great you are as a company and all your products and all the great stuff you do to instead inviting your customers into a story that's about them.
Because that's what's really gonna get sales.
And, and you and I have collaborated on a couple of clients and we work together and I always find it amazing and we've talked about this so often of. How many times people get so nervous to talk to their customers that all they do is like, list off a resume.
Yeah. And the customer's like, that's cool, but how are you gonna help me? Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Like, it's all,
it's it's human interaction, right?
Mm-hmm.
We get really excited and we're like, awesome. For amazing. And now I need to go find someone who's gonna help me solve my own problem. And we do that in networking too.
Mm-hmm. Like when someone says, what do you do? And we give our elevator pitch and we stand up and we're like, well, I'm this and I'm this, and I do that and I do that, and you can buy this and that for me. And by the end, nobody's listening. And the reason we're not listening is not because you're amazing, you're not amazing, you are.
It's just because they realize. You can't, they don't get how you help them. And so it's just flipping that conversation.
And it's something that changes businesses overnight if they can get it. And I think that's one of the most amazing powers, like superpowers that you and your business have is literally having.
A session with you, a conversation with you doing your introductory package. People can transform their business so quickly, and it's, it's a true transformation. It's not like, oh, now I'm doing this and I have a website, and it's fine. It's like, no, no, no, no. Like the entire conversation shifts because of the storytelling element.
I agree. Thank you for saying that. That's, I'm very humbled by that. Um, yeah. For me it's, that's what I, that's what gets me up in the morning is just mm-hmm. Looking at somebody a, a company who's already so phenomenal and they're going, okay, I've paid for marketing, or I've built a website and it just doesn't work and I don't know what to do.
And I go look at it and immediately I'm like, I can tell you why it's not working, because it's not talking to your customer in the language that they will buy and click the button. And you're right. Like the minute we do that, it's just so fun to watch somebody go, I wish I would've done this years ago.
You know? Mm-hmm. Because they, they, they never knew it even existed, and they never knew why the thing their marketing was, wasn't working. I don't wanna say failing, but just maybe it wasn't as effective as they wanted it to be.
Yeah. 'cause and I think today there's so many misconceptions about what marketing is.
Because so often when we see pitches about the marketing that we need, especially through social media today, it's always like step 10. Mm-hmm. It's never at the root of like, what is marketing? Why do you need it? Does this make sense for your business that yet it's always these really complex, crazy things.
Like I've had so many clients come to me like, I need a funnel, and I'm like, what is your product? And they're like, we don't have one yet. I'm like, then you do not need a funnel yet. You're right. And you and I talk about that a lot,
like mm-hmm. But like starting at the, uh, what is really the foundation, and I do think that most people skip that step.
It's the brand identity. It's even before the storytelling. Mm-hmm. Like I have a whole process that's prior to even coming up with what your story would be for your customer. It's like, like who are you, what's your vision? What's your purpose? Like, what, what's your brand about Like, we like brands and we engage with certain companies because they, they have a, an overall like identity.
Mm-hmm. And that's the piece I think that we forget sometimes. 'cause we, you're right, like products, like we're just like moving forward and like, we'll come back to that later. But that's really the foundation.
Yeah. And nobody wants to buy something. They can't understand what it is or they don't trust you.
Mm-hmm. So, so often we just run up to people and say, buy it. And they're like, okay, but who are you and why? And what am I actually buying? Like it's, it's so funny how, you know, and this is also why all of us have coaches, is because we can't even see what we have forgotten to tell people that's so obvious to us already.
That is so true. Well, we're so close to our own companies, right. And we're passionate about them. And we have a, like our genius like knowledge in us to give to the world through our products and services. And then you're right. Like we just, we think that people inevitably know this stuff. Yeah. And that's where you go.
You and I always talk about like going from step 10 back to step one and two.
Mm-hmm.
Because people really don't know. They have no idea all the stuff that's in our own head. And so as a brand, we have to figure out how to communicate that effectively. And when we do it is like, it is crazy how often people will click the button and wanna schedule a call with you or buy a product because they're like, oh, I don't need any more information.
I get it. I get why you're, I should do this right now.
Yes, yes. Yeah. Clarity helps everybody. Yeah.
I always say clarity is key.
Mm-hmm. So how did you come about starting Evolve Global Marketing?
Oh my goodness. So I was working in corporate America for 20, over 20 years. And I had started other companies with my husband on the side and, and loved, you know, all of all of that entrepreneurship.
So I knew it was in me.
Mm-hmm.
But the big thing was just really that corporate grind every day and raising three beautiful kids and getting on a plane every week, running sales and marketing for big, huge medical companies.
Mm-hmm.
And I hit a point where I just realized. There's, I had so much to give that I was never gonna be able to give in the corporate world.
And so, um, I got really passionate about just taking what I already knew and just transferring it into my own business.
Mm-hmm.
So that was kind of the stepping stone. And I started out really as a freelancer. Like, I didn't, I never, ever thought I'd have like an agency, like a, like a company. Um, I never thought I'd be a seven figure business.
Never like it. I, I, I hoped, but I didn't like go for that. Mm-hmm. I just wanted to do great work. So I started just freelancing and learning a bunch of tech programs. And you know how it is, Kara, when you start your own business, you just start like getting online and you're like, okay, I gotta build my own website first.
And so you just start doing it and you. I just learned program after program and within the first year I think I need 40 different software programs. It was insane.
It, it's amazing to me how many things I now know as entrepreneur that I never had on my, I wish I know that one day list, and it's not that I, I like, I wish I didn't know these things, but I just never expected it.
Like you said, like just so many things that were never even in my line of sight that I needed to know or needed to figure out. But it's true. Like you just start somewhere and you, and you keep figuring things out. When did you know that it was going to be more than just a freelance business? Um,
good question.
Ooh, um, lemme think about this for a second. Um, so I had, like I said, I learned 40 different programs and I think when I knew I had something bigger than what I had envisioned originally was when I. I had clients coming to me all the time, and I could build anything. I could build any sales funnel, I could build websites, I could do it all.
But they, but they never knew what the right words were to say.
Mm-hmm.
Like, they would come to me and I'd say, okay, so what do you want on the pages? And they're like, I have no idea. And when I realized how many businesses had no idea about the power of the words. Mm-hmm. And yet really the, the words were what mattered more than the design.
I could, you can make anything look pretty, but people aren't gonna buy. Mm-hmm. If they don't engage with you, if they don't read or hear words that make them wanna buy. So I think that's when I became a StoryBrand certified guide because I said I need to train myself that if my customers, my clients don't know the right words.
I need to figure out what the right words are for them to make sure that everything we build is successful and effective. So I became a guy, and I think that was when, that first year I four Xed my business in one year. And that was when I knew, like I just started hiring people and I kept growing and I'm like, oh my gosh, this was the answer.
Um, and again, for me, not for every business, but for my niche, I niched into storytelling because it was the piece that's missing from every other marketer. Like every anybody can build a sales funnel, anyone can build a website. That does marketing. Okay. But yeah, it doesn't mean it's gonna work. And so the minute I realized what works and what people needed more than even the tech mm-hmm.
They needed the words. And that was more powerful. That's when I knew that I had something.
And with that, with that piece, right? Like you saw what your customer needed, you said, I, I wanna do that, or I can do that. It's interesting. It's not like it was something that they were asking for that you didn't want.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Um, and so you were just paying attention, like you were listening to what your customers wanted. And I love this e evolution of your own business because so often people are so nervous about finding the right combination when they begin. And I keep telling people like, it's not possible. You can't, you can't nail your niche when you start because you don't know enough information yet, you haven't talked to enough people.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. And it unfold. You're right. It just happens. Like I would've, I didn't even know about StoryBrand until I started to do research. I had a client who said, Hey, I wanna hire you. I want you to do this my entire, like website, sales, sales fund, like a whole group of stuff. But I want you to do it the StoryBrand way.
And I. Okay, so tell me more about that. You know, and, and then I just took it upon myself. He's like, would you be willing to learn it? I'm like, absolutely. And within like a week I be, I signed up to become a guide. It was very, it's just an interesting process. I do think the universe brings you mm-hmm. Like what you need to take your business to the next level.
And sometimes we, what we wouldn't even know the questions to answer a year from now. You know, we just have to get there and then all of a sudden it comes up and you're like, oh, so that's the next step.
No, it's, it's so true. And we're also so good as humans of putting the cart before the horse where if we're like, okay, we wanna expand into this area, well then I'm gonna need this and this and this and this.
And I'm like, hold on. Like, let's just take the step first. Uh, people do this in relationships in their businesses. We overplan. Mm-hmm. For what? Where we wanna go and we get, either we stop ourselves or we say we can't do it, or we freeze when we don't know what's next. When you've had challenges in your business, where, what have you done, who have you relied on?
You know, do you have a, a team of people professionally, you know, socially? Do you have a squad? Like who and what are your support systems?
I mean, I have a lot of people kind of surrounding me. Um, as I built my company, I've really built it in a way that. I've got incredible people on my own team that I can bounce ideas off of, and they've all come from like starting out doing one job and then morphing into bigger roles as I, as we work together.
Um, I've got you as my business coach, which I love, and Yes. Um, being able to help, um, balance those like bigger strategy kind of ideas off of. And I think everybody needs a good coach. Um, and then I have like all my StoryBrand community, we have like mm-hmm. There's like a, a ton of us that can all talk and communicate together.
Uh, and, and again, when there's an, uh, something that's unknown, just to have a group of people that might have that answer who might have already gone through that part of the process. It's good and I can do that for other people as well. So, yeah, I mean in all, I think I have my accountant and my CPA, I mean, that's huge.
And as any business owner,
yeah.
Um, probably one of the best things I ever did last year was hire my CPA because she was not. Again, I looked for someone who could tell the story to me of solving my problem, which was not someone to just do my taxes. I don't need another tax person. I need someone who can help me with strategy on how to maximize.
My own income. Mm-hmm. And she does that. So I think in, in all parts of our business, you have to have those key people. And it's just that, I think it's a matter of when, like how big are you when you, like I didn't do that in the beginning. I did it. Mm-hmm. You know, heading into year three. So like, I think that's, you just have to look at your business and figure out what's the right team.
Mm-hmm.
If you go back to 8-year-old, you. Would she have imagined that you have the life you currently have living in Temecula, having your business being entrepreneur? Is this the life that 8-year-old you imagined?
No, I wish, no. Um, I don't know, like. I don't, I don't think, and I don't think for myself I would've ever thought of myself here.
I think what's funny is I, I would say I always wanted to be a CEO of a company that I knew from very young. I just didn't think it was gonna be my own company.
Mm-hmm. I
thought it would be somebody else's company and. And it's very interesting. I did look back at that like, I don't know, maybe like six months ago and started to think, wow, I actually achieved something.
I wanted to, maybe not at eight, maybe like at 12, 13. Mm-hmm. Um, because I was one of those kids, I was out working at that time, I was selling the Orange County Register newspaper, door to door back when they used child labor. They can't do that anymore. But I loved it. I mean, I was like. Running around winning trips to Disneyland in Hawaii and all this stuff.
And I was young. I don't know how my mom let me go without her, but she did. Um, so I was already that little like business entrepreneur salesperson at a very young age and marketer and all that. But
yeah,
I don't think I ever thought I'd have my
own company at that age. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And so did you grow up in Orange County then if you're Yeah.
In the register? Yeah. Um, and then how did you end up in Temecula?
So when, um, I had my first son, we were in Huntington Beach and we just thought, you know, we wanted to get, um, a really great quality of life for our kids. And at that time you, when you moved it to Mya, you got, it was wine country was not built up like it is now.
Mm-hmm. And so you were able to get a lot more for your money. And as a young family, we thought this would be the place to settle down. So, yeah. Here we are 20 years later.
Beautiful. Well, and you know, asking all these questions about your background and, and how you ended up in Teec it, you've been really great at cultivating the life you want with your company.
And a great example is how much time you just spent in Ireland this summer with your family. People call me all the time and say, I've never taken a vacation in five years. I, you know, I want to have kids, but I am panicking that I can't take maternity leave and have a business. How have you raised a family, had your business and taken significant amounts of time away from your company and still have it be successful?
Ooh, good question. So I love, love, love what I gotta do as a freelancer because I it from anywhere. So pre, what was that? Two and.
I was like, I took off with my family and we traveled Europe for three months and I pulled the kids outta school and said, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And that was, you know, maybe a year after I had left my corporate job. And so I built, I, what I'm passionate about is travel. Mm-hmm. And I feel like as business owners, right, there's two things that I run.
Like I built this business for, actually should say three. Number one, to help other business owners. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like that's huge. From a personal standpoint, it's to get my kids through college without them having have debt, because college has gotten absolutely out of control in this world.
Yeah. And kids can't even get started once they finish. Mm-hmm. Let alone buy a house in the United States at this point. So that was number two. And number three is for, from a selfish standpoint to travel. Yeah. Because I'm filled up by traveling. So, yeah, for me, building the business really came down to could I build something that was mobile mm-hmm.
That I could do from anywhere. So when I was a freelancer, it was pretty easy 'cause I could do the work from anywhere and I could take on as many, much or as little clients as I wanted, and I could do it any time of the day that I needed to. Um, I did have a period of time where it was a little bit harder to travel because I was, I was like.
Growing to the point that I didn't have the team 100% that I needed. Now I have it. So just recently, you're right. I mean we did spend another, I think I spent like another, almost two months, um, traveling through Germany and France and Ireland and I loved it. I mean, that's why Yeah. As business owners and so I, I was able to do it.
I would say I can't give myself credit. I have to give my team credit because it's the people.
Yeah,
it's the people that can hold it down and ans and and help with the clients and then it's setting. I guess for your business owners that you're talking about, it's setting the intention that you're gonna, you're gonna say, I can't.
I, I ha I am going to give myself this time. And ironically, the month that I took off, I was, I had more sales in that month than I had had in the previous six months. And I literally was like, I do not, I will not sign a new client until I get back. And I literally did more sales the moment I got that paid for everything.
So there's also some weird power, I think, in that of just what you put out into the universe that like, I'm gonna set this limitation for myself to enjoy life. And then sales are still there. They just come. But I think, but I don't think I would've had it had I not had my team. That's the truth. You gotta have people to help you.
Yeah. The fact that we talk about regularly on this podcast is the, you know, single member business is about 40 to 45,000 in revenue a year. A four member team is over 400.
Mm-hmm.
It's the power of team, and it's not that having more people means that everyone's selling more. It means that you can do more and delegate and stay in CEO space versus get sucked into the weeds.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and. It's, it's not easy, right? Like it's never easy to hire the right people or to trust everyone, especially at the beginning. It takes time. Mm-hmm. Um, what are some tips you would give other entrepreneurs about finding the people and also building relationships with them where you can walk away for two months and actually enjoy your trip?
Yeah. I think that was a hard lesson for me that I've had to work through for sure. Um, you know, it's that whole concept of letting people step up. Mm-hmm. That it's, that as business owners we have to learn like, will they ever do everything exactly the way we would do it? They couldn't possibly do that.
They're not us. Like, that's just unrealistic expectations. I think it's, it's giving permission for them to be their best and then allowing yourself. To, to coach more. And I think that was the, the, the skillset that I, I've always managed people, but not in the realm of my own like business where, like my livelihood, you know what I mean?
It's like when you're in a company, it's different than when you're in your own.
Mm-hmm.
And so I've had to do a lot of like trusting and letting go and letting people step up and realizing how much I'm putting on my plate that I don't need to.
Yeah. Yeah. 'cause especially creative entrepreneurs we're so good at always having the next idea and the next project and doing more.
And, and so it's, it's one of those things where it's like, okay, when is it enough? Or when can we say this is good for right now? And I think it's important to have those other things that you want in life, like the travel to be like, well, hold on. I need to have travel and I need to have this job. How do we make it work together?
Mm-hmm. Um, 'cause like you said, why have a company if you're, if it's not allowing you to live your best life.
Exactly. Like that's the whole reason we're doing it. And a lot of the things I've put in place this last year, I think have now taken us to that next step, like mm-hmm.
You
know, having my main full-time people, line managers on a call every single morning, you know?
Mm-hmm. Like, those are things I never did before. We were just kind of. When we needed to and tasking things on our project management system. But now we're talking and so then everybody's clear before the day starts, like what's supposed to happen and all then all that that they need from me, they get their answers right away.
And so it's that. And then a team call every Monday. And that took me a while to implement, but once I did it has made all the difference. 'cause again, we crossed. Push stuff out to different people and communication's. One of the things I think that breaks down most companies if you're not communicating effectively.
So I think implementing those things have really helped too.
Mm-hmm. Um, so of course you're on the Powerful Ladies Podcast and it words powerful and Ladies means so many different things to different people. So when you hear those words individually, what do they mean to you and when you hear them combined, does anything change for how you feel about them or what they mean to you?
Powerful. And then ladies separate. Um, like when I think of powerful, I, I, I, for me it's just more, I almost transfer it in my head to empowered.
Mm-hmm.
That's like my word that I like to use. I would never consider myself or anyone else, like powerful. I think empowered and being able to be your best version of yourself and be confident in that is huge.
Um. And I'm always like, when I think of women in business and just trying to, you know, do the unthinkable, you know, like, hey, you know, do things that, you know, many of us probably didn't grow up thinking, yeah, that's possibility, or, yeah, that I could do that, and yet we're doing it, right? Mm-hmm. So to me, when I put them together.
God, I just, I just think of just awesome women that are, um, saying yes. Mm-hmm. And just out putting themselves out there to try.
Yeah. How have other powerful women in your life inspired you, guided you, or helped you along your way?
Um, yeah. I've had so incredible like. Women CEOs and bosses and specific ones that have really made a difference in my career and taught me, um, like taught me to be the person that I am today.
Um, I don't think there, I, I can't, like, I don't, I don't think of like the women in my life as, um. The end all, I think you need men and women.
Mm-hmm.
Um, because they show you different things and different aspects I think of yourself. But I've had some really great mentors on both sides that have like, I think, shaped the business owner that I'm, even though probably when I worked with them, I wasn't a business owner at the time.
You know, there's so much that we have to balance being, um, more than entrepreneurs, right? Like every female entrepreneur is a list of any other things, right? Mm-hmm. Wife, mother, friend, sister, fill in the blank. What do you implement that you can be all the other things in addition to being an entrepreneur.
Um, so I've implemented a really important morning routine and I think that's made a lot of difference. Um, and I actually, um, help others kind of implement the same routine because. I, I take the time in the morning to kind of look at my, my plan for the day. But even more than that, like when I'm making decisions throughout the day, I don't want my decisions to be based on like, putting out fires, but instead on like, where's the greatest impact gonna come?
And so that, I think putting that in my morning routine to kind of look at what about my life to be so that I can think to myself, okay, when things get hard throughout the day, is that really gonna affect where I'm gonna wanna go? And it just put, it just allows me to put things in perspective. Mm-hmm.
And so I do that, um, and I drink my coffee and then I work out. I, you know, try and get myself to the gym early in the morning. I'm an early riser. Um, I dunno if that's just been later in life. I just now I wake up at like four in the morning on a regular basis. So, um, I think those two things. And then, um, I, because I wake up so early, I tend to just stop at like by four o'clock.
Mm-hmm. Vegetable. My brain is like, I talk to clients all day. I have like been in and outta technology and so I try and turn it off and then just spend time with the family and then get to bed and rest early.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I, I, um, I think it's really interesting to see trends of people who are successful and waking up early is one of them.
Organizing your day is another. Working out before you start the work phase is another. Um, and ending early tends to be one as well. And whenever I'm with a client who hates waking up early or is working at night and not during the day, in the back of my mind I'm like, okay, we have to make it work for you first, but we have to move you into this other space.
'cause it's just statistically proven to be long term success. And there's a lot of people who hear that and are like, no, I'm not gonna wake up early. Uh, so I don't think it needs to be 4:00 AM No. But I do think earlier is great, especially 'cause then you can play the game of like, what do I get done before 10:00 AM And to me that's always so empowering.
Um, 'cause if you have the three key things that are, you're committed to that day yourself, your workout, and I don't know, one, even one client call before then I know I feel better. Because then I feel like, okay, there, there's still so much time in the day to get done whatever needs to happen.
Yeah. For me, like I don't know how I would, like, I don't know how I would function if I didn't.
Um, and yeah, 4:00 AM is early. Believe me. I don't recommend that to anybody. There's times when I'm like, I just go back to sleep, but I can't. But I, I've actually forced myself from four to five. If I'm up, I will not touch work. I read a book, like I'm reading Man's Search for Meeting right now by Victor Frank.
Like I'm, I literally sit, get my coffee, read my book. Mm-hmm. And I'm trying to just like do something for myself for that short period of time. And then by like five 30 I'm at the gym.
Mm-hmm. So
I do feel like, yeah, for me. I like have lived for three hours before anybody else even starts working. Yeah.
But it's good. The other thing I do that I have, I just started doing and I didn't realize the impact it was gonna make. I highly recommend it for those of us who work from home. I get dressed up and do my makeup every day.
Mm-hmm. I
did not do that for a long time. Like, I would just be like, it's fine.
Like have my like pajama bottoms on with the cute, like with the top or whatever, like, you know what I mean? You can fake it like nobody knows. I stopped doing that like I put on a dress or I mm-hmm. Like, I literally, because it changed how I feel mm-hmm. It changed how I interact. It's like how I would've gone to work.
Yep. And so it changes
how I'm interacting with people and suddenly I feel more. Professional and just more me. And, um, anyway, that, that's been another one I just started doing probably like two months ago. And even my husband said, he's like,
I'm really liking that you're doing that
now. He's really good for you.
And I'm like, thanks.
Mm-hmm. And so I have a great question about him. Does he, is he also an entrepreneur? Does he have a corporate job? How do you balance the two of you and you getting to have the like you want? So a lot of people, their partners work situation is a, a roadblock to, Hey, I have my own job.
I have this freedom, but now you're stuck. What do we do?
Yeah, no, it's, it's kind of nice. Um, so he helps me with like, stuff on the business that he can help with, like filing and like keeping me organized. Like he was just doing that actually yesterday. He's like, I have got get you organized. I'm like, because I'm just moving like this.
So I'm like, wrote papers, like in piles. He's like, what are these piles? I'm like, how they need to be filed. I just need help. And so he'll jump in and help with that stuff. He's amazing. Um. But I, yeah, he's, he's had periods of time where he's had jobs. And I love that he doesn't right now. 'cause he mm-hmm.
Literally takes care of Braxton. He makes dinner, he keeps that, like, he's literally, even then he helps me with the business, with the things that I need to, but it does, for me, for our family, it works really well. Mm-hmm. Because when I want, when we wanna travel, he can get up and go too. Yeah. I'm not held, we're not held back with like, he's got another job and he's doing that.
And there's just so much going on every day with what we're doing. Like we're trying to shoot videos right now for a course that we're doing, and he's like putting the, the, putting the stuff together and setting it all up for me. So he's always doing stuff for the business in his own way.
Have you guys always had that team approach to, to life and blending life in business, or is that something that's happened over time?
No, it's new.
Yeah, because it wasn't really his thing, like mm-hmm. He, he has, he's very much a human services person. He has a master's degree in human services, so he's more about. You know, helping, being, doing something that can help in somebody else, like mental health issues or disabilities. Mm-hmm. Or like that's his passion, right?
So this is new for him to step in and kind of help with the business things that we need. And I just moved my office from being in an actual office. I think a lot of people during COVID kind of did that. Yeah. I had an office. I would go do it every day. And although it was great, I just realized why am I doing that?
Mm-hmm. Like I should just have my, I had plenty of space at home. I should just have my office at home. So I moved it here and since I did that. He's been able to be more a part of it when he, when he can. Mm-hmm.
There's a, a couple of shared workspaces near my house, and it's the perfect balance of when I do need to be like, get me out of the house.
I can, now they're open again, I can go. Mm-hmm. But there's no long term commitment. I don't need to be there. I can just show up and, and kind of come and go and it's perfect for me. Because I like multitasking. Yeah. So the fact that I can like put on laundry and get the dishwasher going and take a call and jump over here, like, I like trying to get all of my to-do items, business or personal, done by that, like four o'clock cutoff time.
Mm-hmm. And it just feels good to know that I have that freedom and flexibility to, to do it. Um, there's a, a, a book out, I forget the name of it right now, but they were talking about the pendulum. A workload. Like you either are super busy or then you're having total time off. And I think those of us, like you and I, who do the, who love traveling and love our jobs, like we know how to be, okay, we're gonna pack everything over here for two weeks and then we're gonna do almost nothing and then we're gonna come back.
Yeah. Um, you know, how was that always how you were designing your life, even in the corporate space? Or was that a new thing that you've also adopted since you've had your own business?
Um, God, I mean, in the corporate world it, I was able to take a vacation and to, and like actually take a vacation more so.
Mm-hmm. I think learning it as an entrepreneur has taken, has, has been a decision. It's been a very like, like, like purposeful decision to say, okay, I am taking this time off. I'm not saying when I even say I'm gonna take time off, like I never check a single email, but I set specific times to say, okay, here's where we're gonna catch up.
Mm-hmm.
Um, so for me it was very purposeful and it was, I, I still think as an entrepreneur I could, I could have, I could still say now even I don't have time to do that. And I just make the choice to say I don't have time not to do that. Mm-hmm. Like, I have to be able to sit on a beach or. You know, sit on a cobblestone street in Europe.
'cause that's my favorite thing. It's like where I'm, that's my happy place, right? Yes. And, and just people watch and not feel like I have to be anywhere else. And I know when I'm at home. That's the one thing about my personality. When I'm at home and in my office, I, I can't put it, I can't stop. Like, I just, I wanna go, go, go, go, go, go.
Go. And I fill time up with new, like you said, like high level, like, oh, well we should do that. Like I just cast like 10 things yesterday. I'm like, it's all new, new things that we could be doing. Mm-hmm. So I'm learning like when I have to take time, I have to take time.
Mm-hmm. I wish more people knew that they could have exactly the life that they want and that it's totally within their reach.
Is that a perspective that you had even as a, a child? And did your family give that gift to you? Or is that something that you learned yourself as you were growing up?
Um, no, I learned, I learned it. I think I was always taught as a kid that you have to work hard.
Mm-hmm. But he
doesn't grow on trees. Those were kind of the statements that we heard in our household.
Um. And I didn't have kind of that ideal childhood, so I had to survive and I had to like, support myself at a very young age and, um, pay for college and pay for and work full time. And, you know, I was running like, like. It's called Kinder Photo back in the day, they don't even exist anymore. But like portrait studios for little kids, like I was running like six of them at like 18, 19 years old.
Like that was like a district manager. I don't even know. Like that makes no sense to me now looking like how they hired me to do that. But I started when I was 16 and like just promoted. They're like, you're good. They promoted me. Mm-hmm. And so here I'm running around like managing all these managers and like doing all this stuff.
I think I always thought I had to work hard. Mm-hmm. That was like the philosophy that I had, so I always had that work ethic. Mm-hmm. Which I do think as entrepreneurs you have to have, right?
Yep.
I think I learned that enjoy life probably in the last like five years. Mm-hmm.
And
I think a lot of that came from, as I started to get older, I started to realize what am I doing all of this for?
Mm-hmm.
Like we build these lives and we don't understand that that what we do every day. Is great and it isn't gonna be our legacy. It isn't gonna be something that, you know, when our kids are talking about us. At our funeral, let's say. Like they're gonna be looking back and saying, yeah, I was so, she was such a gun ho, great worker.
Like, that's not gonna be what you want them saying, right? You want them to say, God, we created such great memories. Remember when we traveled to Europe, like mm-hmm. You know, she always had big ideas, but then she, you know, did great, you know, had great fun and mm-hmm. Traveling's always been something in our family, so.
I dunno. I mean, does that, I don't even, I'm rambling.
No, you're doing great. No, I think you answered it. 'cause there's some people who learn it and there's some people who right away are like mm-hmm. This like working nine to five everyday thing. Like no, it's too much. Um, because I think there's that, for me, it's all about the balancing part because I love working hard, I love doing the projects.
I love being immersed in it. And I have almost like the opposite of a DD, where I can be completely sucked into something and totally happy. But at the, then I also like to be completely sucked in when I am traveling, like mm-hmm. If I am, like you said on the cobblestone street, having that coffee and just enjoying the entire, you know, acoustics of what Europe is.
Yeah. Like I do not wanna be checking an email either. So being able to kind of put those boxes around things and have it all work out it. It takes a lot of organization, it takes a lot of being in integrity and communicating with everybody, but it's completely possible. And I love the fact that my business or your business, if we want to work from Europe, we can.
Mm-hmm.
There's, there's no, there's no limits on it. Um, when you look back at yourself through your. Your journey up to this point. Mm-hmm. What has surprised you the most and what would you tell, you know, you at 20 that, you know, what would, what advice did you give 20-year-old you?
Hmm. I still think I'm working on it, but I would say it's that you can't please every, we can't please other people.
Mm-hmm. Like I, I, I had this like insatiable. Probably all through my corporate career insatiable thing of like, I gotta be the best. And I was like, it didn't matter what sales team I was on, like managing or where they put me. I was like, I'm gonna be number one. You know? And it was, I think the drive was having to survive.
Like I had this survival instinct in me that I wanted to get the, the. You're like, I was living for other people, for pleasing other people and for saying, for people, saying, great job, you know? Mm-hmm. And I think if I were to look back now, and what I tell my kids now all the time is. You can't, you're never gonna please other people.
Mm-hmm. It's, you have to do it for yourself. You have to live for yourself. You have to be proud of yourself. You have to love yourself. Like you. Yeah. Like, it doesn't, no one's gonna care that much about it, as much as you think that they will, they don't. Mm-hmm. And really it's about it being internal and um.
And I think that's, if I knew that back then, I probably would've even had a little bit of a, I probably, my career probably would've been very different too. Yeah. Of like what I was always striving for.
Mm-hmm. Well, we ask everyone on The Powerful Ladies Podcast, where they put themselves on the Powerful Ladies scale, zero being average, everyday human, and 10 being the most powerful lady possible.
Where would you put yourself on average, and where would you put yourself today? Where
before,
where would I put myself in today? Just on a, on an a regular day. I assume it's a special day when you're on the podcast, but when would you put yourself in average day? Special
day? Okay. Um, oh my gosh. Um, I, I think I probably put myself at a seven and on a really good day when like a client's like, oh my God, this was amazing.
Like, I'm so happy. Um, or one of my employees is just so grateful and feels empowered. I think I would probably put myself at a nine. Mm-hmm. I don't know if I'd ever say I'm a 10. Maybe I'll get there one day, but, um, but I do have those nine moments or I feel like I'm making a difference in other people's businesses.
Other people's lives. Mm-hmm.
Who are some people that you look up to today that you know, you keep out in front of you, of like, okay, I, I wanna keep with that pack. Um.
I dunno, I don't like
that question.
Uh, or I guess maybe I'll, I'll rephrase it differently. Are there people in the world that you admire, that you keep like, as a source for inspiration? Like some people on the show have been like, oh, like Beyonce or Oprah, or, I really love what, you know, fill in the blanks is doing. And so like, I, they're one, they're a point of inspiration for me, so.
Is it people for you? Is it books, is it, is it ideas? What, what's, where do you get your inspiration source from?
Yeah, I don't, I don't like, I've never been that person that looks at famous people and thinks they're any different than anybody else. I think they just had a different career in life and that career turned into being in the, in on TV or in the limelight.
Um, there's a lot of people that I hear about and read about that I am like, I feel are awesome and I'm proud of them. Um, but I, I don't think that, that's never been me. I'm not mm-hmm. I'm not like a famous person junkie, like, yeah. Oh my God, I have to see that. I would never cry, like if I met somebody, ever.
I think more, I look at people just in my general day to day, like my dad went to Vietnam and mm-hmm. You know, like just an incredible man. He just went through cancer for the second time. His life is not at all what he expected right now, and yet he's getting by every single day with, you know, with that positiveness that he's, you know, living for, and living for his family.
And so, like that's, to me is more inspiring, just seeing what he's done and like how I can be a better person for that. I think my kids, I'm constantly inspired, like they're the people who I cry over. Um, two of my kids are going to college in Europe. Which just blows my mind. Um, you can see why we love it so much, but they made that choice on their own and to watch them, like most kids wouldn't even like sometimes leave, you know, a few hours from where they grew up.
Mm-hmm. And they're like 12 hours away across the world and watching them living in another culture and just mm-hmm. Like becoming these independent, vibrant, like. Good humans. Like, to me, that's what, that's my whole job in life is to create good humans and yeah, they're amazing young, um, adults. And so that inspires me.
Mm-hmm.
Those, I know that. And then I have a 13-year-old too, and he cracks me up every single day and on my toes. And he's in that typical 13-year-old, like everything is like. Really want me to do that. Why? You know, like, I'm getting that all day long. So I've got, I've got, you know, I've got that to, to play with and have fun with and my husband and I just get to joke and laugh and go, oh, here we go again.
A 13-year-old. But he's just amazing. He's so funny and he, you know, I mean like good humans. He's just a good young man. So that's probably my answer to that.
Yeah, no, I love that. Um, we give space, everybody to share if there's any books that you love and recommend or a quote that, uh, really inspires you.
Anything on that list for you?
Yeah, I,
I
quoted a lot in, like videos I create and things I do, but I do really love, um. The quote from, um, lemme just Tonys, but he, but I, I quote him all the time. He says, the path to success is taking massive determined action or massive action. And, um, and I like that a lot for my, especially in my marketing world because mm-hmm.
Many business owners, we hold ourselves back and we think, okay, like you said, I have to have it perfect. I gotta get it right. Mm-hmm. And so I try and educate them that, look, it does not have to be perfect. Yeah. It just has to be good enough. And you just have to take action. You gotta move in that direction.
You can always adjust it and make it better. Um, and so I love that quote by him. I think that keeps me constantly on my toes thinking, okay, even when I'm struggling and I'm like, ah, I wanna create this. I'm like, well just create the first version of it and then see what happens on the second version.
Mm-hmm. Um, well, what are you excited about for, as you go into the end of 2021 and into 2022?
Oh, I wanna answer the book question though. Oh, yeah, please. Mm-hmm. Okay. So, um, yeah, I've read a lot of really great books lately and, um, but one that I always recommend and it is kind of selfish, so I'm gonna say that, and that's building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller.
And the reason I always tell people, if you've never read that book and you are really kind of under wanting to understand the power of storytelling in your life, in your marketing and how you communicate with other people, I think it's, that's a huge book. Um, I read a ton of other books like. Like I mentioned, but that one I go back to all the time just 'cause I think it out of all of his books, it's the one that'll make the biggest difference for people.
Yeah. And I think anyone who has a business needs to read it as soon as possible, read it and then call you. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. What was your next
question?
Well, so now that I just gave you a little pitch, um, how can people get ahold of you, find you, and who is the perfect person to call you for support with their business?
Yeah, so you can, um, email me at hello at evolve global marketing com, and you can also go to my website, evolve global marketing com, and you can click a button on top. That'll just let you book on my, on my calendar. Like I'm very open with my time because I know that as entrepreneurs we need, we need to be able to balance an idea off someone and see if it's the right fit.
Um, for me, my ideal customer are coaches, consultants, professional service business owners that mm-hmm. Have a business and have at some point created marketing that failed or that didn't work, or that didn't give them the results that they wanted, or built a website that isn't producing leads and sales and the things they want.
You, you struggled in it and you're ready to take it to the next step, and you realize that there has to be a better way. Mm-hmm. I would love to share, um, just how storytelling and how, how the process is so different. What I do is even so much more than even that one piece. That's kind of the icing on the cake.
But we do so much more than that to get you prepared to then create marketing. So our, my doing marketing with me doesn't mean we just go build a website. Like we just don't do that. We start with the foundational elements that we talked about and then go, so anyone who, who's feeling that way, and then even if you're just getting started, I am launching right now.
A marketing circle that I'm so excited about because it's gonna change, it's, it's gonna allow you to get live coaching, um, as well as a, a new training every month for marketing. So if you're just getting started out, sometimes it's the perfect way to just dabble in, like, what are the things I need to be doing and then getting questions answered, and it's gonna be very affordable.
And then I'm launching a website course too, because I, I just saw a need, there's a lot of people that can't work with my agency mm-hmm. At the, the price points, but they still need this incredible, like, messaging strategy. And so we have a whole program now that you can kind of do it yourself type program with a little bit of virtual feedback from me, which mm-hmm.
Will make sure your story's like spot on. Yeah. Um, so I'm excited about that too. So those are launching and then, you know, by the end of this month.
Yeah, super exciting. I'm, I cannot wait for 'em to come out. Um, selfishly I know so many people who need them and they're a perfect fit for, so I'm very excited about that.
Yay. Um, and I'm excited for you to be able to have these extra tools in your toolkits. You can keep serving people. 'cause you said at the very beginning of this podcast, like, you do what you do because you wanna help. And that's, you know, part of why, how I relate to you as well. Bet. In addition to the traveling, we both do these businesses 'cause we wanna help people to, like, it doesn't need to be as hard as everybody makes it.
Mm-hmm.
Like, let's take the overwhelm and the frustration and what I call the tech rabbit hole, like outta the mix, right? Like as entrepreneurs we're Googling crap so much and we don't have the right answer and mm-hmm. You know, for you too, like coaching, it's just so huge to help. Like mine, you know, like myself, you know, figure out where, bounce ideas and figure out like, what am I doing really well and where am I not, you know?
Mm-hmm. And then how can I put something together that's gonna actually give me that life that I,
yes. How do we just make it simple so it works? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, it has been a pleasure having you on the podcast. Any final words that you wanna leave with everyone listening today?
Oh God. Just go out and be the best version of yourself and, you know, know you can do it because you can.
You're amazing. And I, you know, I'm just so proud of anybody who decides. To build a business and, um, and give of their talents and their treasures to other people because the world needs more of this. And I think it's amazing. So
that would be my advice. Just keeping you Well, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure to get to share your story.
Um, I cannot wait to hear what everyone gets out of this episode.
Yay. Thank you.
Thank you for listening to today's episode. The links to connect with Kim Jira are in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com slash podcast. So you can also leave comments and ask questions about this episode. Want more powerful ladies? Be sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Come and join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, where you can also find some free downloads to start being powerful today.
If you're looking to connect directly with me, please visit kara duffy.com or follow me on Instagram at Kara underscore Duffy. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
