Episode 46: 2019 Year in Review | Powerful Ladies Highlights, Lessons & Shoutouts
Kara Duffy closes out 2019 with a look back at the moments, guests, and lessons that shaped the year on the Powerful Ladies podcast. From inspiring conversations to unexpected life changes, Kara reflects on the growth of the Powerful Ladies community, the impact of her favorite episodes, and the personal milestones that made this year unforgettable. She shares shoutouts to friends, collaborators, and changemakers who brought their brilliance to the podcast, as well as the topics and causes that inspired her, from climate activism and Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women to the creative power of storytelling. Whether you’ve been listening from the start or just joined the Powerful Ladies family, this year-in-review is both a celebration and an invitation to take bold steps in the year ahead.
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Listen in as the Powerful Ladies team recaps our most memorable guests, the challenges of year one of a podcast and an expanded business, how we've grown and what we're excited for in 2020!
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Welcome to the 2019 Year in Review
03:50 Favorite Moments from the Year
07:40 Guest Highlights and Standout Conversations
12:15 Personal Milestones and Lessons Learned
18:30 Topics and Causes That Made an Impact
23:05 Shoutouts to Incredible Friends & Collaborators
29:45 Reflections on Growth and Gratitude
34:10 Powerful Ladies Goals for the New Year
39:20 How You Can Be Part of the Movement
Hey guys. I'm really excited today because I have in the studio with me and on the phone all of the people who have allowed powerful ladies to be everything. It's been in 2019 and what we're gonna, how we're kicking off our 2020 season is by doing a hindsight review where we share with you guys what really goes on behind the scenes from the people who are behind the scenes and making it all happen with me for you guys.
So in studio, I have Jordan Duffy, who's our co-producer, audio engineer.
Hello.
Hi. I have my amazing graphic designer, Anna Anova.
Hey there.
And then by phone we have the person who makes my website look beautiful and function and make sure that I'm not doing too much at once. And we have Toma. Hello.
Hello. So the reason I brought you guys all together is because I wanna give people like the real deal, like what's really happening behind powerful ladies. So I think that the first question I have is when I told you about this idea I had, what did you guys think and what made you be a yes?
You told me about powerful ladies, what, four, five years ago?
Yep. Or the concept of it when it first
started. Yeah.
Where we would donate money and then when you told me about the podcast, I was like, oh, I get it. You get me to move back to California, get this job. At a podcast company and then you bug me to get your own podcast. So no, that's not how it went. I was fully onboard.
Convenient.
Convenient. I was fully on board. We have the studio space. I'm able to record my own individual personal work on the weekends. And powerful Lady is one of those. And I was excited. Yeah. And I was surprised to know it's a year later.
Isn't that insane? So much has happened in one year.
Like we went from being an annual like event around, or events around the world, since. December of 2018, roughly. It's transitioned into a brand new website, a blog, a podcast, an online store, workshops, events. It's insane. And I know that I'm also a little bit aggressive with my goals. So you guys see what that's like in real life, but
sorry, I was just gonna say that like you're aggressive with your goals, but you know when you need to like shift.
Like you set the goal up and then it's is this feasible? Yeah. And then you are really good at being spontaneous and adjusting when needed. Thanks. Actually, when you contacted me about this, it was perfect timing because I had just gotten laid off of an agency job as a designer and I.
Was, it was like last minute and I didn't have any money saved, and so I was like there, like hoping for a miracle. And then you showed up. Yeah. And we'd never really worked together before in this capacity, but I know we've talked about it Yeah. In the past. And I was super stoked because I just know what type of human being you are.
And for this type of project in general, I was excited because I really, for me, it's important that my work is rewarding and contributes to something poss positive in the world. And like working at agencies, you certainly don't always get that.
Yeah.
So I was super stoked and it's been like, it's been really great having I don't know, working with you, but also having this really flexible schedule.
Yay. Tomas, what about you? We met through Nick Aroko.
Yeah, so Nick, he's the owner and good friend of mine, he actually pitched it to me first. Like he forwarded, I think like just your name and the old website.
Yep.
Which was a great introduction. And he said, oh, this is Kara.
She's a good friend of mine. And we, apparently, we were both at his wedding, but we didn't meet there. So I guess a year and a half later we met over the phone, and by, by this point you had submitted like our onboarding form, including your like 30 or 62nd elevator pitch. And what you're doing, what you wanna do, what you don't wanna do, what websites you like, and just how you explain it.
It sounded like a lot of fun and something really cool. Whereas like powerful ladies, which. I have definitely worked with and for, and I'm married to one, a powerful lady. It's 'cause I think I'm the only guy on the team, is that correct?
Yes.
Yeah it's never been weird, I, I remember one of the words you used in the original pitch was we're not a femin Nazi brand.
Yeah.
And I definitely support that, like I'm a feminist. But yeah, it I believe in equality.
Yeah.
And so it was definitely in line with my values and then just meeting you and what they've hinted at your visions and your goals. It's really inspiring And I actually shared the powerful ladies post from a few days ago, the how wonderfully you have grown since January of last year.
Yeah.
And I'm sure. You posted it as both reflective of powerful ladies as a brand and movement, but also just personal and I can definitely relate to it. And yeah, it was just, it just really resonated.
Awesome. Yeah, I mean it's a great example of how, anyone who's listened to a couple of our episodes has heard me say that.
The reason it stayed for four years in this space of events with people I knew and hadn't moved into this new space yet was 'cause I struggled with the name. Like I didn't want to launch a business called Powerful Ladies when I felt like it was exclusive, not inclusive. And it took a few of my guy friends to be like, fuck it.
We'll be on your podcast. We don't care what it's called. Like just start. And that's one of the big things, like so many entrepreneurs get stuck in the start because everything doesn't make sense yet. And I was like if we have to change the name later, like we can always change the name. Like at least I have a focus.
Otherwise it would've been like all over the place. And ultimately, you know who, if the message works. It doesn't matter what the brand name is called. So it's a perfect example. You saw my post and you were like, I get this resonates to me as well when we look back at what's been accomplished in the past year.
Like what surprises you guys the most? Like how the hell did we pull that off? Or, I can't believe this actually happened because I'm sure there are moments when you guys are like, yes, Kara, that sounds awesome. Like I'll believe it when I see it.
I think what surprised me most was those that you've had on the podcast so far have done such a beautiful job at expressing themselves and expressing how their successes and their failures and being really open about certain things. It has shocked me where I feel like you can live in a certain city and have a neighbor and not know that neighbor at all, but you have these women come on this podcast and they're like, oh yeah, this is everything I've been through and some.
And to be that open is, I think a really strong thing to do. Hence it's called Powerful Ladies, but. It's, that's what surprised me most is how willing they are to be so open. Yeah. About
it. And I'm so thankful for that. Yeah. Because I know the women I know who have been on, I know, have amazing stories and I also, they've only given us like one, 100th of the depth and variety of their story.
And then the women who I've never met before who have come on have also shared amazing things. But like you, it's so hard to tell your, the magnitude of your life's journey so far and what you've been up to in, one to two hours of time. And the fact that all of these women have come on board and come to share and not held back, like for any of the questions that I've asked.
I'm so thankful for that because it wouldn't be that much fun listening if everyone was like, I'm Jane and I'm a ceo E and small talk by my thing and thank you. Goodbye. That wouldn't be interesting. And it wouldn't really be the powerful lady's story either. And
they're all so different too.
Every single person who's come on, I've, nothing has been the same for me. Yeah. So people are fascinating. That's honestly one of my favorite things about doing this work. Yeah. Yeah. How about you guys? What surprised you or how have I surprised you, if not the company?
Yeah, care, you just came to us and to me with all these ideas and the website needs to have, this page and the blog and the bios and the online store, and of course the podcast.
And it was just a lot of stuff to put in. And as we were getting closer to the launch date I was like, okay it needs these four or five things and then we'll add stuff as we go. And we definitely have, and I love how you stick to the vision, but you also mold it as we go. Like we've revised some things and we're lean and flexible like that.
And also how you are the brand, but also your team is the brand. I've gotten to meet. A lot of people on the team. And I think I work with you and Anna the most, let's say we're creating pages for new local chapters. It's really cool where I'll draft something 'cause we talked about it, like you envision it.
I build a first draft and then we're like, oh, we need a banner photo for these. And then here I'm we talked to Anna and she already has ideas and we plug it in and it's perfect. Like it really comes to life. And it's really cool how you curate and oversee, but how we also have our input.
Yeah. I couldn't do this if I had people in my team that didn't have vision to contribute because one, that would be really boring. But two, it's like there's so many things that have to get decided and done that. There are so many moments, especially working with UTMA and Anna because we're creating visuals where I'm like. I think it should be like this. This might be a horrible idea. Please make it better. Like I like, I don't know, come back. Yeah, come back to me with something because I have a general idea, but it's so true. There are my to-do list. Like I, I tell my clients and I preach about like the due to three to five things a day rule.
Otherwise you feel overwhelmed and it focus on your done list, not your to-do list. But the realities are that my to-do list is like a novel of pages. So there's always something else that could be happening or getting done or different people to talk to. So I didn't have people like you guys who got my why.
The power of having multiple minds. Yes. Work on the same project. I don't know how else people function. Yeah. Like people who are truly doing everything by themselves. Like how are you having any fun and how is it really becoming the best thing it could be? 'cause I know that my ideas are not. All the best ones.
Like it's just not possible. And there's gaps in expertise and there's just no way. So I'm so thankful that all of you contribute ideas. Every time Jordan and I meet for a session, she has 80 million things to tell me. Now she'll tell me that I don't always listen to her suggestions.
Yes.
Yeah.
But no so if I think about things that have surprised me this year, it's the fact that holy shit, a year has gone by, like that alone is surprising. The fact that we had all of our podcasts recorded pretty much in June for the whole year. I knew that I had a lot of women I could reach out to, and then I didn't expect everyone to say yes.
And then I didn't expect, like when we scheduled five opportunities in a weekend to record. I never thought that. I did it for flexibility not to fill it up, but then they kept getting filled up and I was like, oh shit. Like maybe we just see what happens and then it got a little crazy. So we backed off so that you and I could have sanity
because we were working every Sunday
on Saturday, sometimes months in a row.
Yeah. Yeah. From like January until about April, I think we worked every weekend. I had no life. Yeah. I didn't either, but I guess
I remember we usually had our calls on Mondays and at one point your voice started getting worse every Monday. I think we started scheduling for Tuesdays.
Yeah. I had to start taking Mondays off as like a working day because it, we were doing three recordings back to back on Sunday if, and that we could have done some on Saturdays as well.
And like doing three, two hour sessions plus recording, intros, outros on top of that. And then driving back home, like I would get home and be useless. Like I didn't wanna talk, I didn't wanna do anything like. It's essentially like the, our normal days work if you work somewhere else, like eight to 10 hour day.
But I'm like, I never have been this tired at a regular day job. So yeah, I had to start moving Mondays to be like my light day or my day off because I just couldn't function, let alone talk the next day. I wasn't expecting that. So shout out to everyone who recorded and had to wait months for their episode to come out and the people that had to move around, because we had people come on that had marketing things like, just thank you to everybody who was a guest for being patient and flexible and everyone that shared their episode.
'cause that's how, that's the grassroots marketing that we need to like, keep this all going. So when I think about things that I wish I had done better in year one, I never should have had the store in year one. I'm glad we had the store, but like I, I didn't put the math in place of how many, how much traffic we needed to like, make the store as effective of as I want it to be, even though I loved what we had in the store.
So ultimately I've, like more product has been sold at events than online,
which, I don't know other podcasts, but I know that when you have a live show, you're gonna sell way more merchandise than you typically expect. So Yeah. I'm not surprised that you sold more at events than online.
Yeah. Plus people still like to touch things even though we're in a very digital world.
Yeah. Oh, I like to touch things. Yeah. Actually, when I was a kid, I used to get in trouble at museums 'cause I just wanna touch everything. Yeah.
To me the store was one of the things we were building and I don't know how you had it in mind. But, it was just powerful ladies. Like the brand is gonna be all these things.
And now I think at least how it appears to me, it's mainly a podcast. But I know there's still other things in the works.
And
yeah, like in hindsight, it's easy to say, you shouldn't have had this store. But I think w when we were building all these components, I don't know if it was ne necessarily predictable that you would say this today.
No. Maybe there's a parallel universe where you should have never had the podcast. Ooh. And you took
off as a blogger and selling things.
Yep. No, it's a really good point because I, so I know that as an entrepreneur, I have to be careful because I see things five, 10 years later it already exists and it's already working.
And I have to remember oh no, in real life we haven't started yet. Let's put the steps in place. And when I'm working with clients, like that's not an issue because I'm the person seeing the steps. But when it's my own business, like I'm out there way far in advance and I have to bring everything up to catch up with where my head's at.
And just like you're pointing out, like we had amazing events in Portland and then we had amazing events in Berlin, and then we've started the events in locally. And those have been great, but like it was supposed to be a, all of these things, we have so many parts of the business and like how they're phasing out and where they're going.
I think it's all happening in a really great organic way. So I'm just trying to be listen to the brand and listen to the guests and the people who show up and our customers and say what do they want and where do they want it and in what form? So the podcast like has been the strongest thing we've done, which is incredible because.
We've had amazing guests and it's spreading. And the secondary part has been the events and workshops. So focusing on those two things and making them the priority for 2020 and allowing the other parts to find their groove is what the plan is going forward.
I think I don't know personally, I can't really picture it without the store, but at the same time I think that the reason the store didn't take off as much as everything else is because you didn't put as much energy into that as you did into the other things. And that's just because of what matters to you, right? Yeah. The store just naturally came secondary or even tertiary as a priority.
Yes. Even though that is essentially like how you would be making money. Yeah. But that's not. That's not the number one part of the vision and Correct. You only have so much capacity to pour a hundred percent into one or two things, and then that was like a third thing.
Yeah. And if somebody asked me on that line, like why did the podcast succeed?
There's a really clear plan behind the podcast. Like how we were gonna record what the format was gonna be, how often we were gonna launch, what the consistency would be like. It's the most consistent piece. Like people know every Wednesday there's a new episode coming. It's part of the social media strategy, it's part of our brand strategy.
And the store does not have that. Yeah. And if you think
about the time and effort that you put into the podcast versus the store, a hundred percent. You could have a store that's yes, crushing it if worked on it totally every Sunday, but that's not. That's not the priority because Yes.
That's not what this is.
Yeah. Or
you would set up funnels or whatever. It is that people do to sell things, but
Yeah.
Our goal isn't just to sell things. No. We're sharing stories and that's the priority.
Yeah. Like our business is empowerment. Yeah. And does the store empower people?
Sure. Like you're supporting women's brands and women made things and
most
things have an empowering message within them. But it's definitely not it's not giving people a piece of empowerment that's, that can take and use right now to be inspired. I think the podcast can do that.
Like you can be motivated and inspired by listening to some of these amazing stories. And like the events leave you in that space too, because they're more like the communication forms are working over this other piece. So I think it's more, I think it'll come. Yeah. And we're not backing off of cool product ideas, as yeah.
I see it like expanding just Yes. There's only so many hours in a day unless, there's a te like a dedicated team person for the store.
Yeah, I agree with that. I also think that you shouldn't back off of like powerful ladies only Mer like correct merchandise.
Oh, we got it. What's in the works. Yeah. And it's coming, especially since so many guys have asked for. Okay. Powerful lady shirts.
Other things that have surprised me is that,
yeah
temas, you were one of the first to say that you want a powerful, I support powerful ladies t-shirt, and we've had more requests come in.
And so that to me is really exciting because again, it's breaking that barrier of this being a niche women's business when it really goes back to people who are awesome or up to something are relating, which makes me happy. You put these things on paper and you like, okay, it would be awesome if it did this.
And sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it doesn't. It's creating a company really is like, not having one yet, but how people talk about it, like having a kid where like you're, you have these dreams and hopes for it and like you trying to guide it in one direction, but you really have no control.
And so like, how much can you listen and maximize what is howing? That's how it feels. So when. The things that you want to happen do. It's like such a huge sense of victory. Like men responding positively is amazing. The fact that men have given me amazing contacts to have as guests and to network with is amazing.
And I just love since we've been doing the local Costa Mesa events, the monthly meetups, so many incredible women of like huge age range have been coming. Huge backgrounds, huge. How they spend their time and how they make their money is so varied. But everyone shows up because they wanna be having deeper conversation with other people that wanna have these deeper impactful conversations where they want to be curating their life versus.
Following someone else's plan. Yeah. I was
super fired up after the event. I was like, you're gonna be my best friend and you are gonna be my best friend. Yeah. That's
like literally how I feel after every episode we record and then every event I'm like, I'm keeping all of you. So from a totally selfish standpoint, like any entrepreneur out there, if you're not happy with your business, you're probably not fulfilling enough of your selfish wishes in your business.
I do this and I get to do everything I love. Should we make a Insta quote about that? Probably your best business is your selfish business. No, but you're an entrepreneur. Tomas, what do you think? Do you feel like you love your job because it satisfies a lot of what you love to do?
Yeah, for sure.
That's one reason. One, one other reason is just the lifestyle. I was listening to another podcast where. They were driving the point home that everyone can be an entrepreneur of sorts and it's definitely a struggle. Yep. But like creating the brand that's like maybe they're, you said selfish, but it's also, it is about you as a creator.
I think that's very important. Like it has to feel real to yourself first. Before you can sell it to anyone else.
Yeah. Totally. So if we think about all the episodes that have happened this year, and this might be easier for Jordan to answer is there a guess that stands out to you that really left like a, an impression or really left you inspired?
First I'm gonna say all of them. Yeah. Because I they, that's a genuine
statement. Yeah.
So the first one that pops out to me is Amber Amos, who is one of our very first ones. And I think it stands out to me because it was our first one, but because she just had so many amazing stuff to say.
Yeah. The other one, just because it was so fun and chill is Monique. Yeah. 'cause I love Monique. And then the other one, just because I really know her in real life, which is an odd statement to say, but I babysat her kid one time. Yeah. And I knew her husband that passed away. Was is Courtney?
Yeah. And that episode, not that you can hear it, but I am bawling in the background. Oh. Because it's because of knowing her and knowing Patrick it's and to hear what Courtney has been through gone through and has overcome is like really touching. And to still know her today and see how Yeah.
Good it is going is. Yep. Yeah. So those three pop out to me all the time.
And if we, I also love with Amber's episode that she like totally just took a pause 'cause like her grandma or aunt walked by. Yeah. And we have that all in the recording of her because she did the recording from her car.
'cause she only had an hour and 15 minutes be like while at work to jump out of the food truck, do the recording and jump back in. 'Cause she, yeah, she's a boss. And then of course I adore Monique and she's hilarious. And then, yeah, like Courtney, there's been so many, women that I have known well and known a little bit and then some I have never met before have come on and you expect to be like blown away by the people that you don't really know that well.
But when the people that you well drop these truth bombs on you and you're like, holy shit, you're even cooler than I remember. Like, how can you get cooler? How can I love you more than I did before we did this podcast? Like the connection that this brings is like crazy to me. It's crazy.
Yeah.
And and I get such a kick out of the reaction that they get for sharing their story.
Like to see all the feedback Courtney in particular has gotten for sharing her story that so many people in her circle like know 60%.
Wait, which one is this?
Courtney Price, Orozco. Episode 30 something like.
Yeah.
But it's just crazy to see the feedback the guests get, like when what they're sharing.
And to have so many people like, like I like bragging about people who are awesome, is one of my favorite things to do. And then to see them get all like the love and attention and all the energy sent back to them and their business, it's it's wild to me. It's wild.
The other thing that surprised me, who was the rock climber?
Oh yeah. Rachel. Rachel Lee. Lee Sorter. Lee Sorter. So the other cool part. Of our episodes is meeting people and hearing their story and knowing where they are located. And I had a coworker reach out to me and let me know that her friend would be moving to the same exact area, and they were in the same profession, which was nursing.
And I believe Rachel was a emergency helicopter NICU nurse. Yes. And we were able to connect these two ladies which is shocking to me. I believe they're in contact right now and it's been talking. So yeah, it's, if it wasn't for this podcast, I wouldn't be able to help my coworker and her friend connect with someone.
Awesome.
No and like Rachel's story is crazy as well because she was someone that I called. Called or cold reached out to through social media. 'cause I've been following her for years. Not only did you say yes to being on the podcast, she's oh yeah, I live in Ben Oregon, but I'll just make an excuse to come down to LA for the weekend and I'll come in person.
We didn't pay for her to come down like she did that. Wow. And so just such an amazing example of like when you share and you ask people for things like you really do not know what's gonna come back. And nine times out of 10 what comes back is like bigger and cooler and way more exciting than you ever expected.
Yeah.
She has since hosted bend Rock Climbing Clinic where like all these women who had never rock climbed before went. And that was an amazing experience. That was part of the One day of giving. Yeah. Yep. In June. And no, like she's such an awesome contributor and she's currently writing or about to publish like a book of poetry that she's done, so we're gonna get to talk about that in the coming year.
So I'm like, no, like these women are bad asses. Like how. Like, why aren't we all surrounding ourselves with people like this?
And that's the goal, right? The, that's that's the goal. What you're doing with your collection of a, of dope ladies and dope humans. My menagerie of awesome people.
Menagerie, I also really liked there's two that come to mind. The episode with Lacey. Yeah. From Boat. Boat. Novo Vo. Yes. Boutte. Yes. Yeah. I, because I have a similar little entrepreneurial endeavor and. With wellness products, and I was trying to make scrubs and she's been in the game for so long before it was super saturated.
And yeah, everyone's doing something like this. And she was, I remember her saying that she was just like the crazy lady oh, I'm making these organic scrubs. And everyone's what? But she just kept doing it like in her bathtub. And, a decade later she has this really beautiful company with really wonderful products.
Yes. And it was just really great to see what it takes and like the perseverance Yes. That it takes to be a product based entrepreneur. And I was like, meticulously taking notes. I'm like, chemicals, bio accumulating. So I really liked, and she's like funny too. She's no like amazing.
She's amazing. Yeah. I really liked that episode. And then I also really love a alene. Yeah. Obviously. Yeah. Our French. Yoga Princess. Yes. She really resonated with me because I feel like in the spiritual world, people can take themselves very seriously. And for Alene, she's just like herself and she's like adventurous and funny and she's not like trying to force this like high level wellness on you.
She's just like with you on your team, like on your level. Yeah. Just like pulling out what was inside you all along. And the, her whole thing about what do you value about your body? I feel like that's so compelling because women are so hard on ourselves. And I actually commented in a Facebook group recently.
I saw that it was like this woman that was like, oh, I'm afraid to be I. I don't know, like naked around my new boyfriend because I'm insecure about my body and that's so pervasive. And I remembered back to what Adeline was saying, it's like our bodies aren't for like decoration, they're for function.
And so we did an exercise this was outside of the podcast, but it's like part of her vision is just like thanking our bodies. Thanking our body parts for how they've served us. And so I shared that with the ladies in this group and like everyone was like, oh my God, that's what I wanted to hear.
I needed that.
That was what of it was part of our one day of giving events and she, again, things you never expect are gonna happen. She was coming to LA and I, and she wanted to do a workshop in the US this year 'cause she's based in Spain. And I was like do it when you're on vacation.
Like we'll organize one part of the one day of giving. We organized it and. I go, 'cause I'm like, okay, I'm hosting this event with you. So I show up, I'm participating and we do the exercise. And I got so emotional from it because I just wasn't in expecting to go through the motions. Yeah. I was just expecting to be there in create great space like for everyone else.
And then to do the exercise and like really do it. I was like, fuck yeah. This is powerful. We just wrote down one question just for everyone who didn't do it. If we just wrote down different parts of our body that we're thankful for and for the thinking about the function that they serve.
So it's like I thanked my legs. I don't have the skinniest legs, but thank you legs because they've taken me so many places. Yeah. And every once in a while I like to give them a little pat Thank you legs. Yeah. And like different parts of our bodies.
Yeah.
And like that stick that stuck with me.
And I feel like I've been so much more confident since then. And out of that, I feel like me being confident or like comfortable in my own skin allows other people to be the same way. Yeah. Because I think like we all get, it's almost like there's permission for women to be hard on ourselves, but it's like, why?
Why are we doing that? And so a lot of that is like something that I take took away from this time with Adeline.
Yeah.
100%.
Yay. Temas, do you have a favorite episode?
I forgot how to pronounce her name. Gentle GenTel, the UX designer. Yeah. You can tell. Just because we're in similar fields, but also pointing out that she is, she stands out because of gender and race.
And this actually, it made me think of when they were filming. Ooh, what's that show called Silicon Valley? There was some criticism that like they did a conference and did a shot of the audience and it's ah, there's so many guys in the audience and the show makers actually responding with that's actually what it's like.
There's very few females just anywhere in this field. And just also heard sense of pointing out that you always want to be learning. I think that's very important and goes back to what we basically what we're talking about in this episode. But yeah, it's super important.
No, it it is because there's so many, that makes me jump and think about Rosalie Fish when we did her episode because. You know her for how young she is. I was so blown away after recording that episode of what a badass she is. And she doesn't need to be representing her culture.
She doesn't need to be fighting for, missing and murdered indigenous women. She's choosing it as part of her, like honoring her tribe and where she comes from and what she cares about in the world. And to take that on so young and to. At the same time, like just be dreaming about having waffles with their family on the weekends.
Again, like I love the dichotomy that you can be you and still be making a huge impact in the world. Like it doesn't take, you literally do not need to push a rock uphill to change the world. Like you just need to do one thing. And for her it's of course this is what I would do. Like why wouldn't I?
And then like you start, she starts telling her story and she layers on not only is she a Native American and she's a great runner and she's supporting these missing emerge indigenous women. And then she's also, queer in the indigenous community. There's so many layers to this amazing woman.
I'm like, stop. Like we're going to break the podcast. There's too much to talk about. And just to be so sweet on top of it damn, like what? In, in one of our recent recordings, we were talking about how people get stuck in this like hamster wheel of not being intentional with our choices, like how we spend our day, the words we use, the things we do, what we pay attention to.
And then you see young people like Kerr and even like Greta Thornberg who are so intentional in how they're spending their time, but there's still a youthfulness to it. It's see, it doesn't need to be hard, like just wake up a little bit, make powerful choices. So yeah, it's just,
yeah.
Earlier you called it curating your life. And I actually wrote that down. I have my notebook in front of me. I think that's what we're all trying to do. Yeah. I always take notes on everything.
That's why you're part of my team. Yep. And I'm saying this because Anna has a pen and a notebook in front of her.
Yeah. And I have nothing. Jordan does nothing, but she has a keyboard. She's manning the board while participating. I'm still
engineering. What was the quote in from Dana Rambler's episode that was about, I think it was an Elizabeth Gilbert quote about creativity being like, creating your life. I don't remember it verbatim, but I have it like written on my desk.
Yeah. When I think of Dana, I think of my life isn't busy. My life is full. Yeah. And I choose it because it's like you choose the
things that are in it.
Yeah. She's amazing.
Yeah.
Like I have so many girl crushes, like I can't, like everyone that's been on the podcast, it's like, how.
You finish one and you're like, that's the best podcast we've ever recorded. It'll never, we'll never do a better one. And then you do, and you're like, shit, we did it again. I don't know, I just, I'm I feel so lucky and blessed to have you guys on my team and then to have these women saying yes and just for it to be happening like we did acknowledging in the last, in the November meetup and to acknowledge all of the changes that have happened to all of us.
Going back to what, Tomas was saying about like, how much has happened since January and how many people have been a yes and how many people like keep showing up and I don't know, it was just like. Why didn't I do this sooner?
And that's like the beauty of people being so open and vulnerable.
It's like there's such a charisma to it, hence the girl crush. But that's like inherent of people just being themselves. And like you give them permission to do that. I think like one of the big things, and this is also maybe something that's surprising that came out of working with you, is I know that in the last year, like I've been a graphic designer for almost a decade, and I feel like for the first time in my entire career this year, I'm finally only doing projects that I love.
And part of it came from the. I keep saying permission, right? I think that keeps coming up as so you gave me permission to just get creative and most jobs that I've worked at honestly haven't really allowed for that. And I remember when we were working on the, women's Day, what was it?
The International Women's Day? Yeah. Yeah. So the International Women's Day stuff, I had a vision and you're like, okay, that's fine. And I like made all this stuff and I felt like I actually got to get artistic and creative, which as a designer you'd think I would get to do more often, but that's not always the case.
And so out of that I started to believe more and more in my own strengths. And I think I remember asking you a lot of questions at the beginning oh, should it be this way or this way? And you're just like. Do it however you see fit. Like I trust you. And I'm like, oh my God, you trust me.
And so that trust has gone a long way because now I trust myself and I feel like I trust myself with all of my clients and work happens more smoothly and more efficiently. 'cause I'm not in my head like, ah, like I don't know if I should move the pixel to two spaces this way or that way. Like witch typeface.
Yeah. So it's been rewarding for me professionally to be able to work in that environment.
Awesome. Yeah. No, so we're fulfilling on our goal to empower. Yeah. Like when we, when when I work with clients, we go through the exercise of doing like visions, like what are your values? What's your vision?
And then your mission. Like it has to go in that order, in my personal opinion. And I tell people that if your value words, whatever they pick, those should be words that you can use to say am I doing my job? Is that how we hire people? Is that how we operate? Is that how customers feel? Is that how the brand shows up?
And what I hear in you're you sharing that, is that like I'm fulfilling on the empowerment part of what powerful it is not just for other people, but for my team. Yeah. And that's awesome. That makes me feel all warm inside. Yeah.
Yeah. But it's like you know who you are being, it's just inherently who you are.
And it's not like everything I've done is perfect, but if there's any sort of critique of something, it never feels like one That's a gift. 'cause
yeah. A 20 year crafted one, Uhhuh working. There's plenty of designers out there who I'm sure would be like, she was a dick one time. Talk about it.
No, because it's like, there's a, there definitely is like a how to speak designer uhhuh skillset. And we've talked about this, right? Yeah. Because how do you tell people what you want in a way that like they can translate words into visuals and then when the visuals come back, be able to again provide a round of feedback where you don't crush someone's soul, but you get what you want in the end and everyone feels satisfied.
That's hard. It's hard to do that. Yeah.
Yeah. And I
definitely have been like guilty of taking it really personally, just because, and I shouldn't but I feel as a lifelong maker, like whatever it is I make, whether it's food or a birthday card or a logo project for someone else.
It's such an extension of myself. 'cause it's literally like the gift that I share with the world. Yeah. And so if that gift isn't received well, I'm like, I feel like my whole purpose in life is missing. You know what I mean? Yeah. So that's why it's important to let people down easy. And as a, with design, it's a little different because it's essentially I'm making someone's baby for them.
Yes. You're a surrogate. Yeah. I'm their surrogate. But also I am the expert within my field, and so I should be able to guide them and there should be some pushback. But it's nice when there can be a back and forth.
Yes.
Yeah. I totally get that.
That's such great advice for just anyone freelancing or in the creative sector.
Like people say that you can't make critique or criticism personal or you can't take it personally, but I feel like that's, no one can do that on day one. Like thinking about things that. I have gotten better in the past year or that where I've grown or where people in general have grown.
It's like learning to separate those. It's not easy. Yeah. Because it's still you'll have an idea, like it's your idea,
yeah. Like
maybe someone else could have come up with it, but it felt very much, feels like your idea. And I last week just read a quote where you just can't get attached to ideas.
And that's, I think it's easier said than done, but once you get there. It's more it's easier to let go of things. Or to revise things.
Yeah. At the same time, like the g being attached to an idea, it's almost like it's just a sign of caring. It's because you care about that project and at the same time, you're right.
Like we do need to be able to get off of it and switch gears. 'cause ev sometimes the revision actually makes it better. Yeah, you
and you never wanna have a client that's bummed out.
Yeah, of course. Yeah. So it's like we do need to be flexible. No, I know. I know we need to be flexible and I think that that, that attachment and really caring about the project is because I am a good enough designer to be invested in the success of that project.
Yeah, having all of you again, it's that push pull, right? That I'm really happy with the team I have because I feel like I can tell you guys exactly what I want and how I feel about things. And you guys can do the same back and it's not, there's, I don't know, it's not like someone's gonna win and someone's not going to.
So yeah, the Jordan might feel that way about how long these episodes are. So that's a good segue, I think to I think it's important to share with people all the things that I feel like I have fucked up this year because we're talking about all the awesome things that have gone on, and I think people need to know this is the real shit that's gone on that I'm not proud of.
What do you think, Jordan? You're lacking?
No, I think it's just funny to it takes a very powerful woman to be like, yeah, I fucked up on this shit. Sorry. Yeah let's fix it. I think with any. If it's a store or if it's the podcast like you learn and you grow, like that's, yeah, of course. Yeah.
You need to make mistakes and go from there. The, I only talk about the length of the episode and not like everything is great on it. Yeah. There's never a part that I want to take out because everything I've heard on it is useful to me and or someone else in the world. I was only coming at it as a producer role.
Yeah. And saying that very important, successful podcast have a time limit. Yeah. Or a timeframe. That doesn't mean they don't go over it or under it. I want this to be as successful as possible and yeah. I also know that powerful ladies only have so much time, so including us to carve out a lot of time to do this podcast Yeah.
Is a really big commitment and I appreciate everyone taking out that time. 'cause it's, yeah, even going to di to dinner and you're like, whoa, it's been like two hours we've been chatting and eating for two hours. Like it's a long time and it's a fun time.
Yeah. So yeah, I think it's, I, what I'm committed to is striking the balance between telling like succinct versions of people's lives that leave you inspired, but also leaving room for people who are just on a roll.
Like I think about some of these podcasts like Lacey's episode. There's nothing in it. Like most episodes we are not cutting things out. Yeah. Like we have zero to five edits in every episode and usually half of those edits were me saying words over and over again like an idiot. So if I,
awesome.
Yeah. If I said that one more time, like I was gonna get fired from my own show. So like we don't really edit. So like it's really trying to get people to share where they need to and once they're in that flow state, not to stop it because of time. Because when they're in that space, that's when all the gems start showing up.
So I think it's a balance and we'll figure it out. And yeah, of course, anyone who's listening, if you have feedback email us. hello@thepowerfulladies.com. But to go back to the fucked up list, so these are not things that I'm not sleeping about, but they are things that I either learned from or like still need to close the loop on.
They just haven't made it to the top of the list yet. But one thing in particular is that there are so many people who I am in communication with that hasn't gotten complete. There are people I own, I owe phone calls to, there are people I owe emails to. There are, you guys know how long it takes me to email you back sometimes feedback like this, there's, I need an assistant to just manage communication because what I wasn't responsible for at the beginning was all the sharing and all the inviting.
And then like some people, whoever was a yes and kept moving with me got to come on the show. And people who like fell off like they didn't get on the show, right? So it's not that they fell off 'cause they weren't interested, it's just like the cycle of communication stopped. And there even be people who invited me to speak at things or do workshops that like I haven't closed a loop on yet because there just wasn't time.
So the, that's the biggest. Like burden I feel with like in the fuck up space is like people who I'm out of communication with. So if you're on that list and you know it's you, I apologize right now and we will be circling back
as
best I can in the first quarter of 2020. I
always feel that way at the end of the year, like what's incomplete And it's usually like a lot of conversations or like half started projects.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna do my best to close the loop with as many things as I can before the year ends. 'cause I just like that completeness. But I also know that I wanna be present with my family over the holidays and there's so many other things that have to get ready for January one to keep this business going at the momentum that it's getting.
That communication with everyone I want to is probably going to be a never possible like feeling of completion. Like it's never gonna get there if this is the game I'm playing. Like communication is all we're doing. So it'll just keep getting bigger and it'll get to a point where it's so big that I do need an assistant to help.
We're not there yet. We'll get there. Another thing that I have, and that'll
be a milestone to celebrate.
It'll, Kara gets an assistant. You get assistance and you get assistance. I just need to start teaching like brisket or bandit to like type emails. Help your dogs. Uhhuh the dog.
Oh, like the cat gif?
Yes. Like frantically typing. I need a frantically typing cat. Yes.
Yes. I found this pen the other day 'cause Jesse went down a YouTube black hole of like cool tech gadgets that are available. For the holidays, and the one that I want is this pen that you literally write on paper with, but as you're writing on tangible paper, it's also writing it into a Google Doc, like in your script and I want that.
I need it. I want that. I love writing
by hand.
Me too. I hate typing. So you can literally throw the piece of paper away and your whole thing is saved in Google Docs. The future's
pretty cool, huh?
That part is, are we in
the future right now?
Yes. Right now we are totally in the future. We're the
Jetsons.
Nice.
Yeah. It's not like that's the cool future, not the Black Mirror future That freaks me out. Yeah. Yeah.
I had some, I had something pop up in my phone. Like an ad? Yeah. For something that I didn't say out loud. I didn't search. It was something I just thought, and that has happened to me so
many times.
Yeah. I'm, I need to get away from phones. Yeah.
It's scary. I don't remember what it was. It was so creepy. I literally thought of an i, something like a product in my head. And then it appeared in my phone.
I minutes. I want everyone right now to think of the Powerful Ladies podcast. Oh. So that way it just comes up randomly.
I'm thinking about it right
now.
All right. We'll see who, where it shows up. If you found this podcast just sending it out into the world. Yes. So other things that I have fucked up on one of my best friends was on this podcast named Brie Osa, and I didn't realize until her episode came out that I had been spelling her name wrong.
This whole time I've known her What? Yeah. Yes. Like it's one of those like fuck up things I can laugh at myself at. But it felt like such a loser in the moment. How is
it spelled? How did you spell it and how is it really spelled?
I spelled it with a ZN an S, so Zara, Z-A-R-Z-A-R-A-G-O-S-A. And it's double Zs,
two Zs Za goes.
That's wild.
And I sent Christmas cards to like their whole family like she married into a family of four brothers. And so the four brothers have gotten Christmas cards from us and his parents. And no one, same last name. Same last name. That's funny. And no one has called me out for it.
Whoa.
And then we're releasing her episode.
She's yeah, everything looks great, but you spelled my name wrong. And I was like, fuck. Yeah, that's funny. And I, there's been quite a few moments, and Anna knows this 'cause I sent her panic text where I haven't checked that. Like the file name of the person's name matched like their real name.
It might've just been however, I typed it up quickly and I'm like, oh I need you to fix this right now. 'cause I didn't catch this until the last second. So that's happened a few times. What else have I done where I've, I totally blown it.
I like this game. This is what has Carol alone.
This is not normal. Let's play. Yes, I know. Let's play you fucked up. So what are, can you guys think of anything that I have totally messed up and you've been like, dammit, I can't even think of what I've messed up.
Yeah. Kara, how long did you take to prepare this list?
It's been, honestly, it's been running in my head.
Like every time I fuck up, it's been added to that list as the year's gone on. So it's present. I'm present to it. Ooh, I got one.
I think the only thing we fucked up is like all the t-shirts that I've started designing. Yes. And spent a lot of time designing, but then there's just something that comes up where they don't
Yeah.
Come to life. Yes. And it's
not 'cause we don't like them, it's because I get distracted.
I think it was more like the two shirts that we did that were partnered Yeah. With someone else.
Yes.
Yeah.
Oh, great example. Speaking of
Brie and Yes. Brunch. Yes. Who wants a
brunch shirt? Yeah. That's another thing that I totally blew it on because of not, when we had started off, we wanted to do all these fun colabs with our guests.
'cause there's so many creative people that have lots of collaboration opportunities. And we just didn't have the momentum or I didn't have the money anymore to keep funding these collaboration projects. So that's just not an option anymore.
That's also so much time
too. Oh, trust me.
Like I, this is part of my delusions of we're 10 years in the future and I have a team and. Everything then I start now. It's just being patient with it. 'cause I think it's great. And there've been a few people who have reached out, like, how do I get this on the store? Awesome. But I have to really focus instead on like, how do we collaborate?
Has it benefit both of us? How does it not cost me anything? Like I have to put the money where it goes. And full transparency of all my guests on this current episode, only two outta three get paid. So there's a, I'd rather use my money to pay, let's
play who gets paid,
right? So I'd rather pay everyone on my team than invest more money in other stuff.
Yeah. Yeah. Again, I think it's, I think I. Narrowing down certain stuff. Even when you told me that everyone was gonna have a collab project Yeah. I was like, oh boy. Yeah. This is a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of projects that, and I already knew you had so much going on. Yeah. And I love that idea of like having a collab with some like people. But it's a lot with Yes. With every single
one. Our asana was out of control. It was back when we actually used it, when I was using it. Yeah.
That's another thing. But I, that's one of the things that we're in process and I'm like, fuck it.
This is not enough. There's too much happening. I think too, from a personal level, like December to April was so much focused on powerful ladies, and then I had to make a transition to start focusing on the coaching and consulting business because I had to eat and like, where's the money coming in?
And so now that we're things that are getting right sized, it's easier to balance back. But I think it's good. Like again I feel my how Kara fucked up list is not something I'm not losing sleep over for the most part. But it's just me being present to all these things that like didn't happen, didn't work out like.
I dropped the ball on there's like you, your first year of entrepreneurship, like that's gonna be probably 70% of what comes out of your mouth.
Yeah. And I think, like you and I talked about in the realm of acknowledgement it's also it's acknowledging what worked and what didn't work.
And what you learn wasn't supposed to. Yeah. And like just, for the sake of learning and that's the only way that you can actually succeed as an entrepreneur really.
Yes.
Not to be like hating yourself for what didn't work. But just to learn from it.
I really like the idea of the I fucked up list.
Yeah, I'm gonna do that. It's probably I'm do that later. There's something therapeutic. Yeah. There's probably something therapeutic about like actually writing it down and or just out loud admitting to yourself or, your partner or someone that Yeah. I fucked that up. And then that's probably, just acknowledging it, just step one.
Moving past it.
Yeah. And like
at the end of the year, don't just be thankful for things, but also acknowledge what you fucked up. And if there's a, if there's a person at the, on their, at the other end of that, fucking up then, apologize to them if you haven't already.
Yes. And I think sometimes asking other people, which is like, why I'm asking you guys as well, because those are like, my list is just the stuff that I'm aware of.
Like, how have I done that to other people this year? Like I'm for sure there are people who are disappointed in something I've done this year, if not multiple things I've done this year. So that's just being human, right? So but tell people like, it's okay to tell people you're disappointed or something happened, and, because I don't, I wanna clean that up if I can. Yes. Like I think you made a great point of like, how do you clean it up and apologize to people that are, that you are aware of, but what does it look like to go ask people like, all right, who wants to contribute to the list? What? I forget.
You should host a, I fucked up Thanksgiving.
I was trying to think of a pun, but I couldn't say it out loud. I fucked up Giving
like gratitude. Yeah. Giving fucks and gratitude. Yes.
Oh no. It's like there's definitely something in there that we can work into.
Can we burn it?
Yeah. Were you at the manifesting workshop? We did. No, I
just wanna set things on fire.
Yeah. One of the first workshops we did was we did a collab with a friend of Mine's doTERRA business, and we did Manifesting with Powerful Ladies in doTERRA, and we did the whole exercise similar to the accountability or acknowledgement workshop where people literally wrote things down, like what they wanted to give up and get rid of.
And we did the burn process.
I had a little burn bucket set up at last year's New Year party. Yeah. That's good. Everyone was like, really? It was like a party. Party, yes. But I wanted to introduce some sort of like thoughtful Yes. Aspect to it. And people were into it. We just had it, like pieces of paper in the backyard next to the fire and yeah.
They would write it down, throw it like, I'm done with this. Yes. This can stay in last year. And then writing down like what you're creating
Yes.
For the new
year. Okay. Yeah. Maybe we'll have to add that to our, december event. Burn it. Burn it. But going back to Adeline, like she's so sticking and cute every time she has a workshop and she includes like giving things away to get 'em outta your space, she takes them with her and then she literally will post on Instagram a video of her burning it back at the beach in Barcelona.
Look, I did it. All your stuff is burned. And you're like, you're the only person following up like that. That's adorable. That's cute. Yeah. So anything that you guys are present to that needs to be added to my fucked up list?
Nope. I think you're perfect. Oh,
thanks. That's another reason why I keep you around all these positive accolades.
Although, gosh,
you don't pay Jordan. No. Damn. I know you fucked up. I did.
Yeah.
That's number
one on the list. That's number one on the list. That's also why we have a Patreon account. That's why we have a store. She
has an IOU account with me. I do. So how
do they support us on Patreon, Kara? They go to paton.com/powerful.
Ladies, please give money. I need food.
Give money to Patreon. Jordan's
hungry. I haven't eaten in a year.
If he Even worse, if you were like, living at my house and this, right? Yeah. I'm not even at the house. I'm like living at the studio. Yeah. Yeah. This is your cot slash table. You have a cardboard box in the alley.
Yeah.
Entrepreneur life. Am I right?
True. But that's the game, right? Of there's a mix of like people, you're paying people, you're paying hourly people, you're not paying people who are volunteering.
People don't even realize they're on your team, but they are. Yeah. I think one of the smartest things I did this year, besides having adding you guys into my team is that was pretty
smart.
It was super smart. Super smart. But like the other part was that's on the,
I didn't fuck up list. Yeah.
Things I did good this year. No, like I finally finding like my own coach has been a huge turning point. I tried a bunch of people who are awesome and either was some people, like we weren't vibing, some people were too expensive. And I finally found my person and it's changed everything.
Because you go as a, especially in year one, like this is, I've been an entrepreneur a long time, but it was never only an entrepreneur. I always had a day job to not put pressure on myself financially or whatever else, but to be year one solo entrepreneur you think you're going insane half the time.
Like every time I would do my budget, I'd have a complete nuclear breakdown. And start looking for new jobs on LinkedIn.
Yep.
And if it's scary, what am I doing?
Can be right. Yeah. But then it's like you just stay committed to
Yeah.
Your
Yes. Commitment can
relate. Yep.
Yeah. Can
relate
snaps all around.
No, like a huge thing for me this year was when a friend of mine was I was interviewing for a job in back in Europe for, to who I'd be working for one of my really good friends. And we worked so well together. Everything was awesome. I was getting like, hyped about getting to work with or be near like all of my friends whom I lived in Europe.
And then I had to call her and be like, I'm not gonna do it. I like have to lean in, like all of this stuff is working. And it was such a liberating and scary and there's a part of me being like, what the fuck you doing? Like that little voice that like just wants security. Was like, I cannot believe you're doing this.
This is so dumb. But like the bigger voice was like, no, like shit's working. Don't stop now. And like that also was a turning point. But that only happened after I got the coach I liked. Otherwise it was like hanging out. There's this 10% space of are you sure you should be doing this? 10%?
That's it. I think so what percent is it at now? Should I be doing this? Or the voice saying, get a real job. That voice the get a real job voice I think is, I genuinely gone. Wow. Since I've gotten my coach. Yeah. Fuck
a real job.
Exactly. No, but and you don't realize how much, like if nothing else, the power of having a coach is that you can turn that voice off 'cause you have somebody else like showing you what's possible or just like smacking you around and be like, quit looking for another job. Like just go make this other stuff. Like you were saying, would the store be more successful if I put a one Sunday a month into the store?
It would definitely be more successful than it was if I did that. It's the same thing, like all the time and energy I was spending wondering am I doing the right thing? Even just 10% was 10% that could have been going somewhere else.
Yeah, that's a really good point.
So the fact that it's not there at all and I'm just like clear that like I should be doing my coaching and consulting business.
I should be doing this and that's all. There's room for I've even shut businesses down this year. I shut down two businesses this year.
Yep.
I had four when we started this year. Ip.
Hello? Possibility.
Yeah. At least for now. Yeah,
that's that's a really good point about like how much energy we invest into worrying.
I know for me that's very true. We'll spend an entire day worrying and not getting things done. Yeah. Worrying about the things I have to get done. And not starting on them. Yeah. Yeah. It's just and it's also like the easiest way to drive yourself to exhaustion is like with that stress that creates
oh, yeah.
Like those days they were always, because it was, it's a, it's the financial stepping like risk. Yeah. And full transparency, when we, when I decided to do these two businesses full time, I was like, okay, this was December. And I'm like, okay, I have enough runway. If I make no money from now until then, I have enough money to get us through March.
I made it this far and I have a savings account still. Yay. It all worked. It's worked. So it's possible. But like that's all I had. That was not a long amount of time at all. Besides the financial conversation, everything else has been good.
So three months to make your dreams work or give up right?
Yeah. And then you're like, I'm gonna make it work. Yeah. Made it work. Yeah. Made it work. And couple of panic attacks later.
There have definitely been panic attacks throughout the
Yeah. Certainly had some financially related panic attacks in my life. Yeah. But I love being freelance entrepreneur person.
Yes. It's, I can't imagine it any other way. I tried it. I don't. It's, there's ups and downs to, we need
to accept that freelancing is a real job.
Yep, it is. Yes. Yeah. Did I just say that
it's not a real job like
you said it in comparison? No. Oh, I said
it's like earlier we were saying, come on.
Ah, yeah. I've considered quitting and getting a real job, yeah. Like it is a real job. Don't really, but we still say it and a lot of people say it.
Wow. Thanks for catching
me. How about that? Truth bomb from Nashville,
Kara something. 'cause yeah, most of my stress is also financial.
Something you and I have talked about over the phone, I think pretty early on in the year was just also having a partner who does have a steady income is really empowering. Not to make you financially dependent on them, but I think both Jesse, for you and Chelsea for me, have been very encouraging and.
They right now provide the steady income, but I think they see the potential where in the future we'll be fine,
yes.
And I'm really grateful for that, for Chelsea. But you also pointed that out for Jessie, and I think that's awesome.
No, it's huge. As much as I have made him very nervous about money this year as much as he supports me doing what I'm passionate about and what I'm good at he's so great at seeing me as this super powerful boss lady and knowing how successful I was in my previous career, he's like, why would you give that up?
You are making like all this money and you get to travel, like, why would you give up what you were doing? And I'm really lucky that even if it caused him stress, he was still like, okay, I'm losing hair, but go ahead. And for me, like I, spent some time last week or the week before, like cleaning up all my QuickBooks stuff and it was crazy to see that in one year, like since July, like all of my business ventures together since.
But I, I did all the cleaned out QuickBooks and saw that since July I've actually been profitable. Which is insane to me. Like insane. But, and so much of that is coming from the consulting coaching side, but who cares where it's coming from? Like together it's working. And I've talked openly on the podcast about me being uncomfortable relying on somebody else financially.
'cause I've never had to since I've been an adult. And it was really hard. So I'm really happy that I'm like back at a place where I'm like, we're moving up from ramen level to, not that we were eating ramen, but as an example. It's nice to feel a little bit more of that balance coming back and it's still, you still have to work for it, but yeah.
And that's when that like spontaneous taking action on what's not working
came in handy.
Like restructuring budgeting things and
Yeah. Yeah. And just being like anything that wasn't gonna make the boat. Had to go what is, the ship can't go down to what's going in the lifeboat.
That's it. That's all we're taking go.
Thanks for taking me in your boat.
You're welcome. Me glad we made the cut. Yeah. Just like dragging Jordan behind. Yeah. Get in the boat Jordan. She's in the little, what's the little blow up boat? Behind the boat? The dinghy. She's in the dinghy.
Perfect. Yeah. But she's not, she's really leading the charge. Yeah. Because she's a badass.
Yeah. Speaking of it, I'd like to take, she's doing all the work around here.
Yeah. I'd like to, I'd to take a moment to talk about engineer Jordan.
Jordan. Okay. Jordan.
No, because she has like her own cult following and I don't know if people know that the engineer Jordan is the engineer Jordan on this podcast.
It's on my Instagram that I talk about it. Yeah. But I don't think so. Yeah.
So do you wanna share with this audience how you became engineer Jordan?
I became engineer Jordan because I work at a company called Stitcher, and I work on that ear wolf section of the company. And because of my bubbly personality and being included into the other podcast, like Hollywood Handbook and Best Friends and Spanish Keeper Presents and Query, and Yos is racist and bitch ses, people know me as engineer Jordan because of these shows.
I love that you said My bubbly personality in the most monotone voice. Every
bubbly person. My bubbly personality.
Do you don think you're being sarcastic right now, or do they really think, I
really hope people think I'm sarcastic.
Yeah. It's weird to see, you're. Baby sister suddenly have a Reddit page.
Yeah. But I'm just hyped that like we have one of the only audio engineers that are female on the Pathways podcast. Yeah. And that wasn't like an intentional choice. Like I did not go out to hire of female team to support the company. I just picked whoever fit the best.
Yeah.
And then, obviously my sister was my first hire.
And then then you're like this badass engineer that everyone else gets too. Yeah.
Although I'm not the only female engineer in the world, you always phrase that in the world. But at my company in LA I'm the only female.
Within months of you being hired, you got asked to go to a speaking panel because you're an anomaly.
Yeah. Yeah.
I've done, I'm taking it away. I'm sorry. I've done a lot of things. I forget how much I've done already. Yeah, it'll be two years that I've worked at this company in July, and that's crazy to me. So it's a year and a half, right? Yeah. Also, I think there is something with that three month thing, because I came out in April and I officially got the job and started in July, but I, April, may, June, that's three months, and then I started in July.
So there's something about three months and like getting to where you really wanna be.
Even I have always told people when they, a new person starts at a job, like you don't know anything for three months, and then suddenly, like a shift happens and you know everything to do your job and that you get into that groove phase, but it takes three months of what am I doing?
No matter what level role you have.
I feel like it's like that in relationships too.
Yeah.
Not that you know everything after three months, but
it's like you're feeling it out and Yeah. Figuring it out.
It's just enough time to shit. Or get off the pot. Yes. Or give up, get discouraged enough to give up right before it gets better.
I think we're creating And then you go Facebook official. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm speaking in the business sense too, but Yeah. I think we've just created that, give it three months.
I have not ever changed my Facebook official status Oh wow. For any relationship
I wanna delete.
Still complicated or what?
Still nothing like radio silence. Yeah. Yeah.
None. Yo business.
Thank you for acknowledging me. Yeah. And I really appreciate that. Yeah. You're welcome. Yeah.
You are a badass. I am. So I would like to know, what are you guys most proud of that you and or powerful ladies have done this year?
I think just translating what you had in mind and then like with and inserting Anna's stuff. I was really intimidated at first when you had the, 'cause you created a lot of the wire frames. And I had to learn to tell you like it's not gonna work. There was magic, magic also a point where you told me like, people need to tell me like, yeah, that's great.
No, it's not gonna work. Or Yeah, we can do that, but at this cost or this price, and I think that was definitely a learning experience for me. But some, yeah, just someone with your background and project product engineering and things like that. Pro product design.
Sorry. Yeah. I like, I was a little intimidated at first, but then just. Creating something that you're happy with and I'm happy with and everyone's happy with. I think that's an accomplishment.
It for sure. As we're wrapping up this episode, what else do you guys think the audience needs to know about 2019 or about where we're going in 2020?
I think you should be excited for more powerful ladies to be on. Oh yeah. All the guests. All the guests. It's still continuing and trying to get even bigger and bolder names. And I really, I think I really wanna tap into those powerful ladies who I even work with. And getting them on board, but it's just expect and be excited for more powerful ladies and more episodes and more events.
Yeah. Yeah.
I love that you're, you keep using words that aren't matching your tone, like I'm finding so entertaining sitting next to you. Is
that why you keep pointing up? Yes. I'm like,
sorry,
the tools.
The tools. Oh yes.
Quick start guides. Yep. It's been on my to-do list as in like, when Kara is ready, we're gonna build this.
Yes. Or,
recreate the pages or whatever. But yeah. And when you're talking about just other entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs, or just people who wanna curate their lives I think that's a very tangible asset that I'm really excited about. When you're gonna send me the first stuff and just seeing that and reading through it, but then also just, publishing it for the world to see.
Yeah. And you have
that financial class too. Yes. And I think just in general, because I'm at a place now where combining all the overlapping areas of the coaching, consulting business and powerful ladies, it'll allow me to put more things into the powerful ladies space.
Like we have, we're building out that resource page, which Temas is talking about, where all the tools that we're using to make powerful ladies function. Like we're gonna share with you guys what those are. Like, full transparency, this is what you need to do. This is what we're doing here. And just so you guys can do it too, like we want everyone to curate the life they want and whether that's a business or their career or just being awesome.
Again, just thank you guys so much from the bottom of my heart that like we made all this stuff happen. Like it's real, it's existing. People are loving it and getting excited and sharing about it also.
Thank you to those
who do listen. Yes.
Thank you.
Oh, thank you for listening. Thank you to coming to our events.
Thank you for giving us a space to be a contribution.
And thank you for being a powerful lady or dude. Yes,
100%. All right, guys, we can't wait to share with you more in 2020, and for all of you listening and all of you here, thank you.
If you'd like to support the work that we're doing here at Powerful Ladies, there's a couple of ways you can do that. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Leave a review on any of these platforms. Share the show with all the powerful ladies and gentlemen in your life.
Join our Patreon account. Check out the website, the powerful ladies.com to hear more inspiring stories. Get practical tools to be your most powerful. Get 15% off your first order in the Powerful Ladies Shop, or donate to the Powerful Ladies one Day of Giving campaign. And of course, follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies for show notes and to get the links to the books, podcasts, and people we talk about.
Go to the powerful ladies.com. I'd like to thank our producer, composer, and audio engineer Jordan Duffy. She's one of the first female audio engineers in the podcasting world, if not the first. And she also happens to be the best. We're very lucky to have her. She's a powerful lady in her own right, in addition to taking over the podcasting world.
She's a singer songwriter working on our next album, and she's one of my sisters. So it's amazing to be creating this with her and I'm so thankful that she finds time in her crazy busy schedule to make this happen. It's a testament to her belief in what we're creating through Powerful Ladies, and I'm honored that she shares my vision.
Thank you all so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. I can't wait for you to hear it. 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
