Episode 56: How Curiosity Can Be Your Superpower | Kara Duffy | Founder of Powerful Ladies
To celebrate International Women’s Day and the one-year anniversary of the Powerful Ladies Podcast, the mic is turned around on host Kara Duffy. Interviewed by past guest Aleks Lason, Kara shares her career journey: from working with global brands like Reebok, Puma, and adidas to launching Powerful Ladies and coaching people around the world. Kara opens up about the confidence it takes to create something from nothing, why curiosity has been her greatest tool, and how she approaches challenges as opportunities. She reflects on her travels across the U.S. and Europe, building a network of inspiring women, and finding joy in helping others see possibilities they didn’t know existed. This episode is a chance to hear Kara’s story in her own words and learn how to harness curiosity to shape your own path.
“Life shows up to me as a math equation. It gives you room to theorize, experiment and play in a way that’s really unique to you. There are so many possibilities.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Kara Duffy
04:15 Growing Up in New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Massachusetts
08:30 College Years in California and Germany
12:20 Career Path Through Reebok, Puma, adidas & DC Shoes
16:45 Moving Across the U.S. and Building a Global Network
21:05 Launching Powerful Ladies and the Podcast
26:40 Coaching Entrepreneurs and Leaders Worldwide
31:15 Why Curiosity Fuels Confidence and Creativity
35:50 Seeing Possibilities Others Can’t Yet Imagine
40:10 Lessons from International Women’s Day
44:25 The Power of Turning Ideas into Action
48:15 Advice for Creating Something from Nothing
I love when I find that gap or that space. Where like even now when I talk to a new potential coaching client, if I can sit with them and see a flow of opportunities for them that they either may not be doing or don't know they should be doing, or doesn't even exist in their plane of reality, I get so excited.
That's Kara Duffy. Yes, me and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
Hi guys. It's Jordan on this episode to celebrate both International Women's Day and our one year anniversary of the podcast launch. We're flipping the script, and today we're putting our own Kara Duffy in the hot seat Past powerful ladies guest, Aleks Lason was kind enough to come in to do the interviewing.
Kara is the founder of Powerful Ladies, the host of The Powerful Ladies Podcast, a business coach and consultant and a world traveler. On this episode, they talk about Kara's career path, where she gets the confidence to create things from nothing and how you can do it too. All that and so much more coming up.
But first,
if you're interested in discovering what possibilities and businesses are available for you to create and to live your most fulfilling life, please visit the powerful ladies.com/coaching. And sign up for a free coaching consultation with me. There is no reason to wait another day to not be living your best life when you instead could be running at full speed towards your wildest dreams today.
Okay, so today we are gonna do something a little bit different. Based on demand. So I'm caving in to everyone's request and I am allowing myself to be interviewed for this podcast. And your new host for today is Aleks Lassen. Hi. Thank you for letting me turn the tables on you. We made a joke about this and now you took it seriously, so I appreciate that.
Yes. I took it seriously based on the fact that there were many comments being like, that would be a great idea. And I was like, dammit. Let's do what you always do with everybody. And who is Kara Duffy? Oh my goodness. This is like 500 layers. Should we start with like, where I grew up or Yeah.
Okay. So our family moved all the time. I was born in New Jersey. And then we just started moving and my parents still haven't stopped. If I do the full chronological. It's New Jersey, New York, la, New Jersey, la, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Allentown, Georgetown, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Parker, Colorado. Dublin, Ohio, Cambria, California back to Watertown, Massachusetts, Nuremberg, Germany, long Beach, California. Costa Mesa, California. Okay, so why all of moving? My parents were both curious and really wanted to do what was best for our family. So my dad was just really committed to, if there is a job opportunity that meant moving.
So many people don't wanna move. And he said if that allows me to get a advantage, I'll move. And so it became a thing of they also wanted to see parts of the country, their high school sweetheart. Oh, they had been in New Jersey their whole lives and when they first got married they were supposed to move to California.
It got derailed 'cause they had to take care of some family obligations and come back. So I think there's that mix of both curiosity and drive to just, have a great life and do things better. And if it meant moving, then that wasn't such a big deal. Did that give you permission to take jobs all over the world and try moving yourself?
I dunno if I if it gave me permission, I never felt like we had a core home that I felt obligated to stay in. I feel obligated to stay close to my family and try and keep us together. But where that is, I don't feel any obligation. Honestly, I grew up with a complete adventure, like calling, like I would if I could be in a different country.
Every couple of months I would be okay with that. I really feel this urge to see and do and as much as I can and meet as many people as I can. I'm just like curious to the point where maybe it's unnecessary. Yeah. I think curiosity is the best thing you can get from your parents.
So when you moved to Germany, did that because you moved around so much, did that make this transition going to Germany a little easier for you? I'm sure that there is, are things that I do not remember because it's been so long and I had such an amazing time. So some of the panic may have been like, kicked out by all the good stuff, but like I was surprised it happened.
I had always wanted to live abroad. I tried to make it happen earlier. And then a recruiter just called one day. And then next thing I knew I was moving. And it was one of those situations where they first called and the job they offered wasn't a job I wanted. It was would've been a step backwards.
And then you were already working at that time or were you still in school? I was already working. I was working at Reebok at the time, and I'd only been at that job for maybe a year. And I, it was my second job, like after school and. The recruiter called. I'm like, I don't want that. I'm not going backwards.
I'm moving forward. Like it has to be job title and money has to be moving forward, otherwise I'm not interested. Especially when there were so many options in Boston for working in footwear and apparel. So what happened after you declined the recruiter? She had a couple she had called with a couple of opportunities, and so I was like, yes to that one, no on that one.
Whatever. And she's I, it's nice to be in a position where you're able to say yes, no. Yes. No. A year out of college working for Reebok. And I think it would've been like, I was 25, so it was a couple years out. Yeah. I had first worked at Strider after school and that with the footwear company, and then I was there and then I moved to Reebok.
And it didn't occur to me as weird, I think because so many people in the industry, it was normal. Like it was normal to get these phone calls, especially when you're young and inexpensive and hungry. And there's, I don't know, 20 companies in the Boston area that. Are constantly looking for people and trying to find the right fit.
So at the time it didn't occur to me as strange. In hindsight, I realized how privileged I was, that was just the normal for the industry and the city that I was in. But eventually she said no, I think you should take. Pursue it. Like just talk to them. It's a great company.
This is an in at least go network and make friends. And I was like, okay. And so I did. And it was one of the craziest interview experiences I've ever had. Clarify, what job was that? They had initially called about like a junior product line management role, which is the one I didn't want 'cause of.
For Puma? Yes. And then as we were talking the position and the opportunity ev evolved and then I ended up moving to Germany to be like PLM for all of their kids footwear. That was my first job there. And then I stayed with Puma. No pressure. No pressure. And it didn't occur. I was really nervous because who I saw Puma as from the outside and the opportunity it was for me was huge.
Really quick. What does PLM mean? Product Line Manager. Okay. It just occurred to me as fun, and one of the things I remember most about that interview process was I had the, one of the final stages was doing this whole presentation about what would my business strategy be for this division. I spent all this time on it.
I felt really good about it, and actually one of my best friends who used be in footwear was staying with me that time. And so like I ran it by her and she's yeah, this looks really good. Go for it. And I presented it and they were like, great presentation. We like what you put together. And the like head guy at the time says, I just want you to know the chances of what you've put in this presentation happening are like slim to none.
Why? I think it was just like, I didn't have any limits on it. I also had no idea how the company worked on the inside. So I was like, we can grow like this and do this. And I just really created it from nothing. And he said that, and then I got the job and then I decided the second I said yes to that job, I was like, I'm gonna prove it wrong.
We are gonna do every one of these things. Okay. So where does this confidence come from? I don't like specifically about that? Just anything. 'cause it seems like you just walk into any situation and go, I'm gonna prove this person wrong. You don't allow people to say a half maybe, or No.
If I use that example as a starting point to answer this question. When I did the research to put that presentation together, I knew it was all possible. I knew it all was like I, I had so much confidence in the data I had done and like the gap that I saw in the marketplace. And I was like, in my mind I'm like, this presentation's gonna be so dumb.
I'm sure they're doing all of this already because I just thought like, how is nobody looking at this? And then to hear that they weren't, I went Yes. I love when I find that gap or that space where even now when I talk to a new potential coaching client, if I can sit with them and see like a flow of opportunities for them that they either may not be doing or dunno they should be doing, or doesn't even exist in their plane of reality, I get so excited.
And I don't know what that is, like how to explain that, but it's just how my brain works. Like I'll talk to someone and instantly I am like, oh, they should do okay, what about this? What about this? And it's not that we have to do them, I'm just curious are you talking about this? Are you thinking about this?
'cause if you do, it can lead to this. Yeah. You've done that to me ex. Yes. And it's not even me coming from a place of selling someone, it's just really what's there. So a client or not like that's just how it works but how is it so obvious to you? And it's not so obvious to majority of the people?
I would say that it's the probably a mix of who I am as a personality, the experience I've had, how I've been trained, like it's layers of things, which is why I think where everything's falling into place with powerful ease and coaching now makes sense to me. Like I couldn't have done this 20 years ago because I have the, 20 plus years of corporate experience and I have the MBA layered on and I have.
Starting businesses before, and I have, parents that kind of never said anything wasn't possible. I don't know, go figure it out. It was like, it was common to be like, I don't know, try or do it, or let's get curious about it. Yeah. And and they have certain phrases out in the marketing world of just do it and impossible is nothing.
And like I really get both of those phrases and totally biased by coming from the sports world where I know what's behind those messages at like other layers than marketing message. But I really, it's. Marie Folio has that, her book that came out recently. Everything is figureoutable.
And I just think it's so true. To so much of life shows up to me as a math equation like this, plus this is going to give you this, but it might give you this version 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, based on other factors. Like it's all an experiment and that just gives you so much room to theorize and play and discover what you wanna create that's really unique to you, whether you're in a traditional path or not.
There's there are so many possibilities. That's why when people are like, I can't or this won't work, I'm like, if you start there, of course it's not gonna work. And there are so many things we don't see on the flip side, if I can see the world that way, things I don't see are things like some people show up and they look glamorous and their hair is amazing all the time.
If I show up that way, like I had to work hard or pay someone else to do that. Like I, that's just not how I see things. On Friday I had no no in-person meetings, so I just put on like gym clothes. I, didn't put, do my hair or makeup. And then I forgot that one of my client sessions was a Zoom call.
I was like, oh man, sorry. Client threw on some like lip gloss, put my hair up and I'm like, all right, this is what you're getting. Let's just get back to work. I'm just more driven by creating things and getting things done than looking good, and I have to be careful about that sometimes.
Because I need to, we live in a world where you have to show up looking externally the way that you may be internally, and I need to remember to write that sometimes.
So how long how much of the presentation did you actually bring to life and how much of the proving wrong did you do? Most of it. Wow. And I don't, I have to go back and look at it to say if it was like five outta five or four outta five, one of my most, so when I first joined that company, everyone on the team was, I worked with some of the most amazing people of my life ever at that company.
Everyone is like super smart and super on top of things, and so connected to the product category that they were involved in. And there was a, they had a great internal culture on the footwear team of, until you prove to us that you can hang, like you can't hang, which I really respect and admire because you have to protect.
Like I really believe in having that equal. Not responsibility, but would you appreciate someone respect, like equal respect between people before you're allowed into a social setting? Because it can really upend your team culture if there are people on the team that you don't respect that aren't pulling their weight.
So there was a competitiveness of, I don't wanna be the loser in this group. I wanna make sure I can either hang in the middle or hang at the top, but I'm not gonna be on the losing end. So it forces you to like quickly jump into things and figure it all out. And there was so many templates and processes that they did there that I had never done before.
There was a lot of asking people like, what sounded like dumb questions. Hey could you send me your spreadsheet so that I can make sure my formulas are working? Meanwhile, I'm like, how can I copy their entire spreadsheet and just put my information in and hope that this is gonna pass?
Like my first couple of months were like, ah, and being in a new country didn't. Didn't help that at all, but it all worked. Was fine, right? But when, in that first six months, I remember having a presentation and, or it could have been the first year even, and it was all the product line managers in a room with our the head of all of us pitching our numbers for the next year.
And I, we got to meet and I was always the last, 'cause we were kids and no one cared about kids. And not, they didn't care, but obviously other adult categories, kids line. Yeah. Yeah. Were way more important. And I presented my numbers and the whole room left and I was like, fuck, I did my math wrong.
What did I do? I'm gonna be found out. And the, they were, the boss was so nice. He's still a friend of mine. And he's I think. I think that you've done these at a 10 times factor. Like you put a wrong zero in or something because the trends look right, but this, the scale of this looks crazy.
If you do this, you're gonna become like 35% of our business. And I was like, fuck, okay, all sorry, I'll fix the numbers. Like we can move on to like my strategy plan versus my numbers. And then a year later, like when those numbers would've come to life, we were 35% of the business. Wow. And I was like, yes, I'm not an idiot.
But it was simple things. And I was so proud to take it to one of the fastest growing segments that we had. And I didn't plan it to be that huge, but like at, when I left that part of the business, we were doing like 16 million pairs of shoes a year. Wow. Which is insane.
And I think what I'd started is like maybe. 500,000. So something ridiculous. But I think it was just a matter of someone getting to nerd out in a category that they liked and just like seeing opportunities and not accepting that we are gonna be the redheaded stepchild Yeah. Of the business.
I love that. Not accepting it. I love that. No and so I think it comes back to just the fact that I'm competitive. Not in a, I'm going to make you lose space, but I'm competitive in an I'm going to win and like my stuff's gonna win. I'm very protective of my product categories and my team and my people.
Like we are all gonna win and we're gonna have so much fun that you're gonna win. Wanna win with us. And it did, it became like, it became great and we became one of the first categories that people interacted with. 'cause they knew if kids was gonna take down their product, it meant that their product would get more support from the global line.
'cause you could do small to tall. And it became really fun. Like I, my experience there was incredible. And I still am friends with so many people there and I'm really proud of the alumni that were part of that like class I was in. I was there for four years where people have gone and what they've been up to.
I am so proud to have been in that space with them. Like it will by far the best job I ever had. So where did you go after and why did you decide to move after Puma? I moved to California. And I took a job at DC Shoes. They friends of mine from Strider days had come out to work at Vance and then her husband got a job at DC.
And the snowboard. Yeah. Snowboarding division. And at that point I was just known as like a kids person. If you have a kids category, like I'm in the list of people you should talk to. And they had kept calling me and I was like, I don't wanna leave. I'm having a great time. Why would I leave Europe?
You're insane. And then, when I was there living in Nuremberg, there's so many expats from all around the world, between Puma and Aidas being there, universities being there. So many of us, like my entire, all my friends either worked for Puma or Adi. I met one person that wasn't in that group the whole time there maybe two.
And it's 'cause they were roommates of someone who worked there. And when you're in that space, there's a lot of turnover because people are either moving within those companies to different global outposts. They're moving on to other companies. And it's not like you don't have any family or friends there.
It's like a weird, it's like adult uni almost. Because you're traveling all the time, you're having so much fun. You're getting to do all these cool things that you have behind the scenes access to because your company's putting them on or you're the one having to figure it out. But there's a lot of turnover and it's hard on a lot of people there because you're in the middle of Bavaria in a pretty small city where everyone else is coming from huge mega cities and they're like, there's nothing to do here.
We made most of the fun that we had. So at, it was at that time where a lot of friends had been leaving and I wasn't enjoying, who was my management structure at that time, and. I just needed to do something else. So at the time I had been interviewing with moving to Addie, basically across the street.
Going to Under Armour in Baltimore or coming here. And when I talked to the people, I actually never flew out here. I just talked to people on the phone for the DC interview. Wait, that's pretty crazy. 'cause I feel like you, it's hard to do a lot of convincing over the phone. It's the in-person interaction where you really get to know somebody.
So what did you do? Like, how did I say yes? No, how did they say yes to you over a phone interview? I really enjoyed some of the conversations I had. Like one I remembered clear as day, like having a phone call with this woman named Salem. And I was like, all right, that's a real unique name, and. We had this conversation and I was like, we spoke the same language. And I was like, okay, if this woman's on this team, like we can make things happen. And then some of the other guys I talked to it just made sense and I remember doing more of the research and honestly, one of the big things that convinced me to go was actually like Rob Eck talking about the company in some videos. And he really spoke to a part of me that, checked the boxes of being passionate about what you're up to and it really being a family environment and, bringing all the things you care about into a business and you he's obviously a very passionate guy. Like you can't, that right away when you watch any of his TV programs or anything else.
And I was like like I, and coming from the world of traditional sports, like I wanna be working with people who are. Off the charts, passionate about what they're doing and why. And like it, there needs to be a purpose. Like I've never really been drawn to the fashion side that is making things for the sake of making stuff.
And there needs to be a strong why, which is also why that's like where I start with everything today. And so hearing him and how excited he was about it, and obviously my friend that had worked there and like their perspective, I honestly just got to a place where I was like, why am I saying no to living at the beach?
Like even if it doesn't work out, I've, I am confident enough that I have enough corporate collateral and enough of a resume that I can just turn around and go somewhere else if I want to. So on top of everything you're doing for all these other brands, all these other people, you're starting to already birth this idea that you had Yes.
In 20, just with the podcast or with the consulting? There's so lots of things. I'm, the whole time I was working in. The corporate world, there was always projects on the side, not not to say that I was doing similar work for other people on the side, but there would be random things that I would take on and do.
So in 2015 Jesse and I launched Hello Possibility. Which was a coaching kind of firm for nonprofits to get started. 'cause I had tried to start a nonprofit in the action sports space, and I could not believe how hard it was. I'm like, this is stupid. This is whoever, the lack of support, the lack of clarity, like everyone making it sound so complicated.
I'm like, when I dug into it and had to figure it out all on my own, I'm like, it's not that hard. Like, why are they scaring people? People have great ideas and they're scaring everyone away. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of of all the people that we. We don't want there to be a barrier to entry to people who wanna do good and change the world.
Like why is that there? So we started doing that business, so we were coaching people. How'd you like working with Jesse? Jesse is one of the most enrolling people I've ever met, which is probably why we're still together. But when he. Is given the space to motivate people and show them opportunities.
And like he's a natural salesman, so if he believes in something, like everyone's gonna believe in it by the time he like leaves the room. And so to be able to, like I would, my role was more, here's the practical stuff. Here's your steps, here's your budget. So I was still in that space of doing a lot of the boring work of business.
Just because he was like, he's so fancy in the hype and dream and sales space. So I really enjoyed like seeing us come together to change people's lives. It was also really frustrating because he didn't do any of the boring things. Yeah. So I was now running a company by myself and then helping other people run their companies and he just got to show up and look awesome.
And I was like, this is bullshit.
Taking all the credit. And you're like,
yeah, I'm busting
my balls. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm like, I think you need to tell people like, who's really doing this work, otherwise it looks like I'm just an idiot sitting here. And so we had started doing that and then shortly after hello Possibilities started, I started Powerful Ladies already.
For myself, and that's when we were doing it as the events around the world. Like powerful ladies hosting events. Why did you wanna start doing Powerful Ladies? Coming back to how it was having reentry into the US when I moved to California, when I was in Germany, I met some of the most amazing people in my life.
And I had this group of girlfriends called the Fancy Fs. And when I was with these women, like I felt the most powerful I've ever felt in my entire life. And it wasn't that powerful in the sense of we're taking over the whole world feeling. It was just like who I was, got to shine brightly and it was okay.
Like they all, they were also shining brightly. So no one felt. Intimidated or competition or they just got the whole world of I can love glitter and I can like skateboarding. It's okay. They got the world of I can be really competitive and driven at work and I can wanna we can go and make bake cookies together and have dinner and have game night.
Like there wasn't a, this black and white of how people are and we just really loved each other and had so much fun. Like most of our nights hanging out would be us getting all dressed up, going to somebody's house and doing like sing star karaoke and drinking champagne and just like crying, laughing.
And I like you, you feel invincible when you're with girlfriends like that, where all you're doing is having fun and being awesome. And so when I moved here, I just really missed having girlfriends like that, that got all of me and. We could just like text and be like crying, laughing. And so I really just wanted to reconnect.
'cause it wasn't just them, it was like my friends from Boston and my friends from college and like at this point we've all spread around the whole world and I just wanted to be able to hang out and I think all powerful ladies want more fun, more social time, more time with their people.
And like always wanna be getting, giving back at some level. Like how can we do more of that? And so I was like, if we all have these events on the same day, we can be social with our physical community. We can, it'll be an excuse to be talking and making this all happen together.
So we'll feel connected on that day. And if we ask for donations to the event, then we get to help somebody else out at the same time. And that's how it started. And I got. I don't remember the number right now, but I know we had nine countries the first year and I was like, all right. Just made a few phone calls.
This is now it's happening. Yeah. And then the podcast came in. The podcast came March 1st, 2019. And it Happy anniversary. Yes. We're recording on March 1st. Yes. It really was just a matter of when I would call these women that I thought were powerful, most of them were like, this is awesome. Yes.
And a few were like, I'm not powerful, or I can't, or How frustrating was that for you when you saw somebody as powerful and then they would respond with, I'm not that powerful. I don, I don't think from the frustrating perspective. Yeah. I don't, honestly, at that time it was more heartbreaking. Because if what it just reinforced that not everybody had a fancy frow group that would've turned around and smacked me in the face if I had said something like that. And I was like, how do you not know that you're powerful? Like being, and it also made me really think about what is the definition of powerful and what is the definition of powerful for you?
To me, it is somebody who is like just playing the game that they want to. Being powerful doesn't mean you've achieved everything. Being powerful doesn't mean perfect. Being powerful doesn't mean every day is a great day. Being powerful means that you keep chasing things that interest you and let you up despite of whatever else is happening.
And to me, being powerful is that. You like really get that you are the hero of your own story. So even if, I'm not saying everyone has to be Oprah, there's so many degrees of people of influence and we influence people every day good and bad, and we don't even know it. So if you can be a little bit aware of your influence and just follow what interests you I know I'm powerful when I'm making an 8-year-old version of me proud.
Yeah. And there's not many expectations that an 8-year-old has. Like an eight year old's, not I need a million dollars though. I'm sure they say those things sometimes, right? What really motivates you is really different stuff. It was really heartbreaking and it's, but I saw an opportunity to be sharing these women that I know are not on tv.
And they're some of the most badass women I've ever met. Like, why are they not on tv? Like, why doesn't everyone know them? And so I just saw an opportunity to share their stories and also connect everybody. And all the people who are amazing and powerful and up to things like we all still need resources and things to take it to the next level.
Or everyone has like a bunch of doors in front of them that we're always looking for the key for. And I was like, okay, how cool would it be if I can connect these women and we can share their stories and we can provide them collectively with tools that all of us have. Because then like then that's really being helpful.
Versus just like a pep prep rally. That's not helpful. That might be, that might help get your head outta your ass, but it's not gonna help you take action and move something that actually causes something else to happen. So when did a coaching start entering? I started coaching people 2015 also.
Okay. At different levels. So I was coaching some people through. The landmark program when I was in coaching through the SLP class, they have. And then I started coaching some other people through who had spun off of that, who were trying to do different projects and things. And then we were coaching people through Hello Possibility, and it just kept going.
And I was also co I also started to realize that I was coaching people all day in things. Like I think it's just when you're leading a group, that's usually what starts happening. Yeah. And it was really through hello possibility that I got to see the opportunity to combine the coaching with all the practical business stuff.
And the packaging started coming together. Like a lot of the tools that I'm using today started there, like the 90 day checklist we have started there when our first client was like. All right. I wanna launch in 90 days. What do I need to do? And so I was like, all right, hold on, let me give you a list.
And it's changed very little since then, because there's not, it's pretty black and white. Are you and Jesse still well helping the nonprofit companies, we closed whole possibility. Was that difficult for you guys to make that decision as a couple closing it? Yeah, we talked about it for, and it wasn't just us, right?
There were other, some other people involved, but we'd probably talked about it for a year. Yeah. Only because we. Whenever we told people about what we were doing, they saw all the possibilities and the opportunity, and they also like, how do we help? How do we scale this? And we hadn't figured out a way to scale it because nobody, the people who need the help with most nonprofits have no money.
And everything that he and I were doing was unpaid. And in fact, we were paying all the bills for the company to exist. So it was a complete charity project. And yes, it made money, but all the money went back to the programs that we were supporting. And it was so much work and because it really felt like it was just me.
I'm like, I will never make a nonprofit again.
It just puts too many barriers into everything else you can do. So you both looked at it as a more of a learning experience? Yeah. We're so proud of the things that came out of that. And like they're out there and they're all living and they're doing amazing things and.
It just wasn't what we were supposed to be doing anymore now. And I felt, for me, it was easier to close it when I realized that if there was a nonprofit that wanted support, they could just go to my regular coaching website. Like it's not changing. Yeah. The whats that we can provide, you just moved into a for-profit space.
And so that felt good. And it wasn't like we, at that point, we had already graduated all of our programs and there was no need to have it. Yeah. It didn't provide us anything that we couldn't do in a different way. It was just more of okay, now I have more work, so now I have to close it.
Yeah. But it didn't, it wasn't when we made the decision, it was a relief. Yeah. Just looking at the pattern of your career, it seems like everything has happened for you to have this coaching consulting business and the podcast on the side as well. Yeah. It's crazy how it all aligns for you.
Do you ever go back and think. Wow. Things happen for a reason. Do you believe in that? When I go back, when I look in hindsight, I can 100% see like the clear river that got me to here. And there are things I forget happened that catch me off guard. One of my hardest decisions to make is always am I choosing the right thing?
'cause I really always, just like I talked about earlier, see so many possibilities both for myself and other people. And I remember, this is so silly, but there was a day that I was crying because I realized on that day the chance I most likely would never get to live in Australia. Why? There was, I was just looking at all the realities of all right, how much lifetime do people have and where are people gonna go and why would I ever end up there?
And how it impacted everything else. And I was like. Oh man. That's not gonna happen. And I was so bummed out about it and I'm like, you are ridiculous. So that's what upsets me. Like when a door gets shut and it's no longer in, in the possibility Matrix, that's when imed out has the door shut though.
Of course not. Yeah. Like it's, it was just me having a silly moment. Yeah. Just like the other, since I've gone full time into powerful ladies and coaching. Was that scary by the way? No, it was the least scary decision I've ever made. Least, which is the opposite of what most people would say. I but it wasn't scary 'cause it wasn't a new idea either.
Like for four years I'd heard this voice in my head being like, it'd be really cool if you did this full-time. It'd be really cool if you did this full-time. So did the first day doing it full-time, feel like, I don't even remember, like literally I got laid off from that last job and the next day just started I think I looked like a beautiful mind in our spare bedroom because there was like post-its everywhere and I like the little post-its that are colored plus the big white ones that you can hang up.
And literally I was just like mapping things out. Like when you see a sci-fi movie and you see the clear screens that show up with all the stuff happening. That's literally the only way I can describe what my inside of my brain looks like. So then got to put that on the outside.
And remember Jesse, Jesse walked in and was like, what is happened? Yeah. I thought you were insane and you really are insane. Tara's going through something. Yeah. And it just for me it was great when I got to see it narrow down and then be like, oh my gosh, we can just do this, and this.
And so many things fell into place. Like so many things. Jordan. Moving here, Jordan, getting this job at the studio where we record the podcast. What else all happened at the same time? It was the second she got this and I went, I wonder if this is possible. 'cause I've been thinking about a podcast for four years now, and I had done all the research before Jordan ever even moved out here.
I have my notes from back then of taking these webinars and okay, how can I start this myself? And then she moved here and I'm like, is this possible? She's lemme go figure it out. And she called me back and I was like, yes.
Kara's manifestation was so strong that I had to get this job so she could record this podcast.
Apparently I said that in
motion, the universe and everyone got swept up into it. Do you believe in that manifesting? It's really hard to say what I believe and don't believe in what, how all of this works. 'cause I have, the only proof I have is my life and the people's lives around me. And it's like when people say oh, are you lucky?
Yeah. 'cause my next question was gonna be like, is this luck or is this hard work? But I think the definition of luck really is like working your ass off and keeping your head up. So when your hard work is intersecting with an opportunity, you can see it and you can do something about it. So many people are working hard and their head's down, so you're not paying attention to what's happening or if you're working hard, this is if, okay, here's my short answer to, or not short, here's my long answer to, if you wanna have a great life, here's just some things you should be doing.
You should be working your ass off. You shouldn't, you should be chasing things that interest you and bring you joy and allow you to be learning while you're doing them. You should keep your head up so you can see when an opportunity or something fun pops by, right? Do you know how many times I've taken a job because it would allow me to check off more countries on my travel list Like that, like so many jobs are the same job and one might maybe even paid more, but I was like like the salary's not that different and this one will allow me to go to Asia.
Okay, we're going there. Like that's not, I don't think that would ever be on a guidance counselor's recommendation. And then the other part too is like you have to don't be afraid to tell people what you're excited about and oh, wouldn't it be cool if my world today exists because I share my, what sounds like ridiculous ideas with other people.
And sometimes they'll be like, oh, you should talk to my friend who says this, and this. And I'm like, great. And then I keep going. So you have to be playing on like all these levels, which can sound overwhelming, but you're to, in my opinion, you're just being human. You work hard and you talk to people and you do things that you think are fun.
And if you think that things are possible when you're doing that, like they show up. Like I have a hard time relating to people who live in a space of I can't and it's not possible. And this is it for me. And for a long time I used to think like I can, like I should be, I can evangelize on this.
I will convert them. And then I got to a point where I'm like, fuck it. If people don't want to play the game I'm playing. Awesome. It's just gonna leave more room for myself and the people that do wanna play this game. So stay, go ahead, stay small. And it can sound so mean to say it out loud that way, but there are so many people who are.
Wanting to play and who are interested in what if and how do we do this? And it like curiosity is definitely a red thread through all of it. When we were interviewing Sasha Sagan the other day, she was asking me something about like, how did this start or when have you 'cause for me it's like there's a whole thing of like just asking people and even people that scare you or that you don't know who they are, you've never met.
Just ask, you'd be surprised how many people say yes 'cause they get asked. Yeah. So I know fully, I'm fully aware that people who, like if I, I want Dolly Parton to be on the show. The only barrier between me and her is just asking. If I go out and ask and she says no, or ignores me, then at least I've done my part.
You have a clear No, I have a clear no. Rather than a what if and no one's, and of course, I'm not gonna accept no. The first time. And then we go into Kara's mentality, no is a no for now. Yes. No, but it's true. No is a no for now. Yeah. And if your intentions are really like, this is gonna be so fun and it's so awesome and it's from a pure place then like, why should you feel bad about asking again? I'm not saying, I'm not selling you knives. I just wanna invite you to have a conversation. It be so awesome. And there's this level of, this new level of commitment that I feel towards all the women in the powerful AIDS community where before when we first started, I was doing it for me, right?
I wanted to hang out with these cool people. I wanted an excuse to talk to people. I wanted to talk to, I wanted just to spend more time doing what I love. And now I really feel this responsibility to do it for the people who are listening and enjoying it. And the people who are part of the community and the people who are getting excited about it.
Like it's, we're at that curve in the life cycle of something where it already happened on an operational level last year of the momentum. But now it's happening at a, like outside of me space, which I think is really fun. Because now if I'm like having a bad day or I'm like, I'm sleep on the, I'm just going to couch it and Netflix it by myself screw work.
I don't need to work today. I'm like, no, you don't get to do that anymore because, and this is different from a wellness day, but if I'm just having a, everything sucks day. No. Like you have all these people who are so hyped on what you're creating. Go call, just go back to the source. Go call someone that you wanna talk to.
Like it doesn't this, you started this 'cause it's fun. And if you forgot that it's fun, guess what? Now you get to kick your own ass because this is actually really fun. But talking, so first full circle back to talking to Sasha. I don't know how I have forgotten this in this since Powerful Ladies started, but I got a flashback to being in high school and I don't know, I think it was maybe 11th grade and we had an assignment in English to interview someone.
I don't remember why, but I had just watched Chasing Amy, so it might have been 10th grade. Have you seen that movie? It's a Kevin Smith movie chasing Amy, one of Ben Affleck's, like breakout roles. And it was great. It really impacted me about like how you could tell these stories and it showed relationships at a way that I hadn't like raw in a way that I hadn't seen in all the other rom-com stuff.
'cause it's not, it is, but it isn't. It's like a gritty rom-com and I don't know, again, I don't know where this gumption comes from, but I was like. Ben Affleck's not that well known. And he's from Boston. I live up the road. I'll just call him. Maybe I'll try and interview him. And I went through the phone book 'cause that's when we used to have phone books still.
And I just started calling every Affleck that was in Cambridge. And I don't know, the fifth person I called, maybe answered. And I was like, Hey, I'm Kara and I'm doing this assignment for school and I have to interview somebody. And I'm really inspired by chasing Amy. So I thought I would interview Ben Affleck.
And so that's why I'm calling like so random, like at a control level. And this guy, he goes he's my cousin. I don't know if I can connect you guys, but it's like, why are you doing this? We started talking more and it turned out that he was a reporter that had just gotten back from Africa or the Middle East or somewhere.
And I was like I've got you on the phone. Can I just interview you? He is okay. And so it became this whole thing. And then I just wrote it up to finish the assignment. 'cause I was like, all right, that's done. Move on. And it got, I don't know, it just spun outta control.
I'm like, my teacher was like, who the hell are you? This is, and like I I told the whole story. I didn't just interview the guy. I started like from the what I told you. And then I ended up getting like this award and all this attention and they're like, who's this girl that thinks she can just do this and this is what happened?
And so when I was talking to her, I'm like, holy shit. Of course is what I'm doing now. Calling up strangers and asking them to have a conversation. I've been doing this much longer than I thought I was. But I didn't remember that. Yeah. Until something about what she shared prompted it. And I was like, I had been a weirdo for a very long time.
It's funny how we put limitations on ourselves and it's a simple phone call, simple ask and how your life can completely change. Yeah. Was your coaching career always like a perfect straight line or have you had definitely not a straight line. When you look at who co what is a coach?
It's such a, so many people are coaches today and every type of industry, a lot of it is hoo-ha and there are some people who like really make an impact and provide value. And, I had to dabble in it for a while to figure out like exactly what type of coach I am and what my niche was and like what I did that was different.
And honestly, like I'm a better coach because of, whole possibility of course. And my experiences and even working on powerful ladies because. Just like I work through my clients. It's the same process of why are you doing this? Who do you wanna work with? What makes you unique? What value are you adding that someone should call you versus someone else?
And when you first start, you don't know that. And I really encourage people to start and figure it out and pivot. Like it, you do not need a business plan to start a business. In fact, it usually is a waste of time because you don't know half of the answers. So I appreciate you saying that.
You are welcome. And yeah, I've done a, the, a workshop called from Creative to Entrepreneur and the first thing I tell people is stop making a business plan. Especially if you are a creative entrepreneur. It's overwhelming. It's intimidating. You can download 5 million formats on the internet and they're all are usually boring and awful.
And 99% of businesses are not pitching to a vc. You do not need a business plan. Yeah. You need a lemonade stand. Start there. Yeah, like I, so when I first started coaching, it would be just coming from a place of listening to people and use, going back on that training I had of, if you just listen and ask questions, things will show up.
And like the person will figure it out as you're talking to them and asking questions. And as I was doing that, I started seeing like the type of coaching that I can provide or can't. I am not a relationship coach. I am not a health coach. I am not a how to. I'm not, yeah. I think, like I'm not in those spaces like love and health and wellness, like the, I, they have no interest in them first, now that I have no interest in those topics.
But like I don't have any other secret formulas that other people don't have in those. There are people who, that's all they do and they should go and do it. And I started to see like what, even within the business coaching space, like what type of business coach or consultant am I?
Like, how can I change people's lives and businesses? And so when I really started extrapolating what that is I believe that if you can monetize your love language, everything's gonna work. Break down the love language for me a little bit. Perfect. There's the book about the love languages that's out there.
And when I say the love language I'm talking about is the things that you do naturally. Like things you would do, whether you get paid or not. If you're organizing your closet all the time, or if you are connecting people, or if you are the pe, the person people go to for advice. Or if you're the one that like things that frustrate you and you're like, drive you crazy.
Like pretty much if you look at how you would nitpick a relative or your partner, something in there is your love language because you see it and they don't. So what are the things that make you unique based on skills and habits and that stuff, and then plus, what is all the stuff that you've learned?
So who you are as a personality plus is the skills you've learned plus your experiences. It's going to give you a perspective that nobody else has.
And within that, just because you know how to do it, just like when I got pigeonholed into making calendars for a while, like sure, I can make calendars all day and I can make them in five minutes.
And then what? Yeah, I can do it doesn't mean that it's my love language. Do I mind getting paid to do it? No. 'Cause it doesn't take me long. So you're also looking at what can you do faster than anybody else? What do you enjoy doing to some extent? Or what do you not mind doing sometimes?
But there's a path in there of things that when you put this combination together, it reveals something that is distinctly you. And a lot of people will figure out what their thing is and then remove themselves from it completely. So if your thing is. Organizing people's homes and you just show up and organize their homes, you're not really giving someone the full benefit of working with you.
What does it mean to work with you? Do you show up and like you bring your favorite jams and like you're dancing and organizing are you, do you show up with essential oils and you're really getting the whole space to change? Not just the things like what is it about you that is unique and we get so nervous to be us and be different that we forget that's like the golden ticket we have.
And it's so if you can put obviously unicorns are a thing that follow me around and people know this, so like how can you, what is it? I want you to get into that a little bit. Perfect. So the lead in is how can you be your own unicorn because people need unicorns. And just to mention that Kara has a tattoo of a unicorn horn on her finger.
I do. And this all started from a fancy frow thing because. There was my friend Andy sent me a text one day that was like super gloomy in March in Germany. She worked on like the other side of the building and she just left me, I don't even think it was a text, I think it was a post-it. She left on my desk when I wasn't around and she's today is a great day for unicorn spotting.
Just so random, this is the random level of things that we were talking about and. She's also left me a post-it that I still have that I adore that says, I'm, you keep a lot of stuff yeah. In my brain digitally. Yeah. I am also a purge addict, so a lot of things leave, but this post that I have of her says, I'm so excited, I could spit exactly it.
Like I saw it and burst into laughter, and I'm like, this is why I love this human. Like this is the message that got left. So she sent me this thing about today's a great day for unicorn spotting, because basically the day sucked. And so the only reason it would be good for anything is if you discovered like fairies or leprechauns or unicorn.
Shut up because. This day is gross.
And then I just took that unicorn spotting and made it into a hashtag on Instagram because that's when like unicorns were like coming out of everywhere and I don't know what the trigger point was, but suddenly people around the world who were like friends of friends who were like tagging me in unicorn stuff and like using the hashtag and thought of you today, I've never met them.
I'm like, this is outta control. And so much so that my office at DC would get, 'cause this followed me from Germany over and my whole office was filled with unicorn stuff. And I don't remember who the grip tape was, but they did a whole, a purple grip tape with a scene from like a, almost like a, was it Sally?
She does all the crazy nineties, graphics.
Frank?
Yes, Frank Lisa. Frank. Yeah. Not Sally. I don't know why. I think it's Sally. So it was like it was like the scene, very girly of a unicorn in a meadow on a grip tape, which I thought was awesome. And like that just appeared in my office one day.
But the note from Jeff Taylor of course you need to have this. And people were just like, random things would show up my office that I did not have. It wasn't me hanging up unicorn stuff. It was like people making it like a unicorn shrine. Is that where your good luck comes from? Maybe just like all the, some people
have lucky charms.
You have unicorns, there's just unicorns. But it's just a great analogy that Ty goes back to don't be afraid to be your unicorn. We, I like, honestly, the world needs you to be, and if you aren't, in my humble opinion, if you aren't using your skills and abilities to. Have fun and play all out and make an impact no matter what size that is.
Then like we're not just, are you missing out, but like we're all missing out. You're here for a reason. And you don't need to know what that is. There's so many ways to discover it, but wouldn't you want to show up and be a contribution? I want you to take a second to really think about where you're at in your career right now.
All the manifestations you've made that have come to reality, the guests you get to speak with that you admire. You are a year in the podcast, over a year's worth of content from it. Where you are with your coaching, where you are with your networking events that you do, that I've attended that have changed my perspective to how I approach my daily life.
Yay. No, I, I swear, Jordan, where the hell have you been at those events? But when you look at all of that, you must be very proud of yourself. Yeah. It it doesn't do you have a pinching moment where you're like, holy shit, this is working. I made this happen very rarely. And I don't, and I think it's because when I, after that beautiful minds moment in my spare bedroom slash office, the plan that I saw, we haven't created it yet. And like the fact that I have to be patient to launch these other things that I know we have to do. That's where I'm like, oh man, like I need for me, I'm always trying to make that more stuff and just like making products or brands, like making the content and the business.
Like I love it. Like all day I get to do things that are fun. Like I would do this whether I got paid or not. And most of the time I'm not getting paid. So if you look at like how much to do and what I'm getting paid for, like I'm getting paid for 10% right now. 'Cause we're, you have to create things and then there's so many steps before they become an income stream.
And so there are moments like, I am so grateful for where I am, I'm so present to like how awesome it is that, that this is working and that I am getting paid. And that, when I was laid off from that last corporate job and I looked in my bank account. At that time, like I had, I was the breadwinner significantly, and I was like, all right, I have three, a runway of three months, and we were launching on like month three.
So I'm like, we have three months to figure this out. And so I just did it and I got so excited when I, when last year ended, and I was like, I still have a savings account. It's not as big as it used to be. But I do, but it's there. And like we had done Jesse and I being we had done so much work to get outta debt and then last year to have to go into debt.
That's heartbreaking to me. So now I'm like, ugh, like chipping away at it again. And I know that I've done it once, I can do it again besides the fact that I teach people how to do it, right? So there were sacrifices I had to make this happen. But like you, you asked if it was scary before and you hear it in some of the early podcasts, like the piece that I feel doing this.
Is awesome. The only stress I have, there's two. The biggest one is money, because I wanna myself get paid, be bringing home what I used to is like my first goal. And it's funny how the goals change because parts of the business are bringing in that income and I don't get to touch it all like I used to because now it's not just my income, it's like the business's income and it's supporting everything else we're doing.
And the other, one of the stressors is making sure that we're not letting people down with what we're creating. It's having to slow down and do it the right way so that when we do launch, people are so excited about it. Like when we had when we had. Who was it Hannah on? And we were talking about social media.
She's don't create content that you don't want yourself. And to me, that's my guiding line. If I don't like it or I don't want it, like we're not gonna release it. As if I'm satisfied, then I know that like I can check the box and move on. And so that's it. Are we doing awesome stuff?
Are we making money? Those like the only two things that if I, those are my stresses. Yeah. Because everything else I. We're doing, like it's all mapped out.
If I can say something really quick I just wanna take a pause and say that, sorry, I need to smile. I'm, because I'm getting emotional now. I want to say that I'm really proud of you.
Thank, because in the very beginning I was like, oh, I don't know about this. Or like, where it gonna,
Jordan, tell us how you really feel.
No working at a network and like having to go through all different shows and most of the time they're comedies. But then for you to be like, I wanna do this, and I'm like, okay.
Like I'm here for it. This is the first project where you creating this content has never been about yourself. It's never been about like, I need to say something here or do this here. A lot of people who either create a podcast that's more of what do I want to hear? What do I want to do on it?
And so for you to come in and be like. I don't want this to be about me at all. I want people to hear powerful people. And hear their successes, and hear their struggles. And for you to come at it at the angle it's at. Yeah. That's always impressed me and I, the o the other thing I was scared about, I was like, Kara's not a performer.
Like I don't know how she's gonna be on mic. I don't know what's gonna happen. And it's so natural because. This is your element. You like talking to people. So
I think it will be an adjustment when people are here. 'cause most of the time I have zero family obligations like on my calendar. She doesn't have to shop for anything.
No. Like I, there's no like family dinners. Like we have them once a year. What are you talking about? Yeah. Now
she's screwed. 'cause we're all here.
Yeah. But it's like a ble it's a blessing though, right? Because I've missed being able to do all the boring family things because I can't, or I could, it just wasn't affordable.
To be flying all around for things and stuff like that. And it's one of my goals to work on that, not just for our family, but for friends of mine. Like I need to spend time on the east coast. I just have to. These are people that I miss connecting with and miss seeing their faces.
And when I go, it's amazing. Like when I was in Germany last year for Web Fest Berlin I got to stay with my friend Minna, who I hadn't seen in years. And there was this big party, like cl wrap party where they did the awards for the festival. And they're like, are you coming? I'm like, yes, we're coming.
And then I went back and minute and I were getting changed, and I was like, I really just wanna hang out with you. And so we just stayed in. We kept being like, we'll go later, we'll go later. And then we were like, never showed up, we're not gonna go. And it was nothing against the people that were there who were awesome that I wanted to spend more time with.
It was simply, we were like, I'm like, no. If I have to choose what matters most right now, in this moment, it's time with her. And I came back feeling like a rock star because I really do believe that the people in your life that get you, when you get to spend time with them and you fill up again, like I, I genuinely felt filled up.
And I came back and I'm like, all right, let's go. Yeah.
I agree with the last thing I'll say to that is doing since now living in California and being near her and. Living with her and working on powerful ladies. It's, I thought I knew her, but I know her even more.
Has,
hast, has all of this inspired you to be better and.
Oh, 100% she, out of everyone is always on my back to be better. And sometimes at it's the coaching, it's, at first it was like, oh, this is so annoying. You're being such a big sister about it. And then it's oh no, she does this to everyone. So she's annoying to everybody. Yes. But it's in such a like.
Loving way. It's never in a, if you do better than I do better. Which, you do better when someone else's does better. But it's never like I know people in Hollywood that it's if we connect, that means I can move up and like I'll get this role or something. Where if it's carrots if you do better, that's all I want in your life.
I just want you to be happy.
I want my friends to be successful. Yes. And I'm the same way, my friends, and you don't have to look at it as their success is gonna gain me success's. Just I'm so happy for them.
Yes. Yeah. It's never in a, if you succeed, I succeed. It's you succeed. That's awesome.
That's all I want in your life.
Yeah. You're talking about like, when do I feel. PR proud of what we've done, like even with my clients, this Yeah. Yeah. But even like with my clients, right? Like I'm working with them and I know things are moving for them, and I don't know if they always feel them moving for them.
So like I feel the excitement when I see it move. Yeah. And then when they see it move and it comes back, it's not necessarily it's more like relief than it is pride. I'm like, oh, phew. Now they see this hard work. I am not, like I am making an impact for them. I can see the impact happening in real time, but it usually, it doesn't show up for them until there's like a pause, a delay in the end, the impact showing up for them.
So every time that they see the impact, I'm like, oh, phew. Okay. It's working. So I think it's more like relief when we get things off the to-do list and relief when other people say it's working too. And relief when like people show up to a powerful Ease meetup and they're like, this was great.
I'm like, okay, good. I had no idea how it was gonna go. Great. And after doing all those events, how are you still not confident that all those events are really beneficial? It's not that I, obviously I show up, right? So I think that they're purposeful and that they'll be there, but I think it's a combination of I'm gonna show up the best way I can and I don't know who's gonna show up on the other side.
So every event really is a new combination. It's not like we're doing a chorus where the same people show up every week. So there's we're not building that momentum. Every time it's like brand new, it's like a first date every time I do an event. Even though we're getting more and more people to be consistent with coming, it's been a lot of most of the people show up every time are different.
And so to me the success is when the other people get it. It's not like I showed up and I did it and like I kicked ass. And I'm like I only kicked ass if they said I kicked ass. That's the only way it works. If I think I did awesome, it doesn't matter.
You also drive from a place of how can it be better?
Like you, you aren't like, okay, this is it. This is the final thing. It's not like it's always how can it be better? Yeah. How can that be better? And then how can that be, it's always like, how can it be better? So that's. That's always how I feel like, yeah, like I know that you are doing the right thing, but in the back of your head it's that was great, but how could it be
better?
But you also you do a really good job taking feedback. Thank you. And not getting offended by feedback where most of us don't ask for feedback or don't like you, you definitely are open to it and figure out ways to fit that into your program. Yeah. And I think speaking to the feedback and to what Jordan just said, I know that the versions of things I'm doing right now are not the way I envision them.
It's like the first step. Shitty first draft. Exactly. Like literally, we, like I hadn't been telling people directly enough the call to actions at the events. So I literally went out and bought a glitter poster board and made it up and I'm like, this is the shitty version. But it gets the job done right now.
We can all laugh later when I actually have a poster or a handout made. But we need to get it done. So done is better than perfect. And so I'm amazed sometimes it, like my expectations going in, I'm like thinking about all the things that aren't up to caliber. Because I'm always measuring are we delivering enough?
Are we delivering it the best way? So I go into these events most of the time and I'm like, I, there's so many things that I'm like, this would never pass mustard somewhere else. And I'm like, all right, let's see if I can make people think it's a great idea again. Yeah, like I'm fully confident in the podcast 'cause we're doing it at such a high quality from the beginning, which like really mattered to me.
And everything else that's going on. It's still in its baby phases. Like I'm not working with an event coordinator expert like I have with Jordan in other areas yet. So it really is this is the best we can do right now, so we're just gonna start working with it. So what's the goal in the future?
I made a commitment in, at our powerful Ladies meetup in December that I was gonna go from, if 2019 was a level one, this year would be a five. Okay. Like for the, so that's a lot of levels to jump. Yeah. What makes it what makes that different? What's level five look like? I use level five just to say the pace of going from one to two would be so under what I and this group are capable of, based on the strides we've made in 2019.
So how to go from a one to a five, like it's really not that far apart when you look at how can we do a few things that can 10 times what we're up to. Like we're playing the game of. All right, we're gonna have 52 episodes a year minimum. We might have some bonus episodes and other things, but I want 15 people that people know on the podcast this year, just 15.
That's not a lot. And so if we can start doing that, it's, that will level things up tremendously. And if we can, be monetizing these other pillars, like that's gonna move things. 'cause the more resources we have, the more we can keep leveling everything up. Like I really do live in a, how do we keep leveling up space?
And to me, going from one to five, there's so many opportunities. So many, and you guys endurance spoke to like how powerful it isn't about me and it's not, I also realized in hindsight, for 2019. The fact that I wasn't just like I said earlier, like I wasn't putting enough of myself into it, it was a disservice.
So now like adding the coaching into powerful ladies combining all of it under one umbrella in a sense. Yeah. It's okay to be called like Kara Duffy's Powerful Ladies podcast. Like when if I leave myself outta the equation, I'm doing a disservice, not to me, but like to what, how it shows up for the customers.
There's a too much of a jump. Powerful ladies doesn't mean anything to most people. More people know me than they know, than who knows Powerful ladies. So why wouldn't I use the little, notoriety I have as a human on this planet to boost what's happening? There's more people following my personal Instagram than powerful ladies still.
It's just silly. So not being afraid, not assuming that putting my name or who I am into the powerful ladies mix is going to be egotistical and take away from it when I can just layer in just enough. To give it more clarity. Yeah. If this was my podcast, I would really hope that some of you would put your name on my site to have me interview you.
You asked me a question at the end of our episode of how are you feeling between a one and a 10? Can you answer that for us? Sure. On the Powerful Lady Scale, I would put myself today like an eight. Why an eight? I feel good and there are things that I need to like get sorted.
I'm in the worst shape of my life. I am like the least healthy physically right now. Tomorrow we kick off our whole 30 plan. Like I have, my discipline hasn't been there. Can you say that on Monday, that tomorrow you're gonna hit your Whole 30 plan too? Yes. And then Got it. Jesse had me back off because he's you're being too aggressive.
You jump into things too fast. Which is great to have a partner like that. Yes. Who can call you out on your bs. Yes. Though I think it may have been motivated by we should maybe drink the beers we have in the fridge before we go into motivation. Doesn't matter. He's there supporting you. So I, I'm just like a really pro Jesse, so like I'm a his side. I like it. He'll appreciate that. So for me, I see eight because I'm always looking for what's next. And I don't think I would ever say I was a 10, just because 10 sounds complete on a one to 10 scale and I'm not complete. And there are certainly days that I go up and down.
And I always give myself a lower rating when I'm not following the advice I give to my own clients. And like the past six weeks I've been working 14 hour days. I have haven't gone to the gym, like i've thrown everything out the window unless it was like work that had to be done. And that's like the worst way to plan a business.
I would never let my clients do this. So now I'm excited to layer it back in. And yeah, I'm just excited. Like the past week there were a few changes that happened that really were. Shifts for me to really get back to feeling confident in how I've been doing things and taking actions.
And I am really excited for that because it just gives me this peace of mind and renewed confidence of we got this, let's do this. You have an amazing team, you've got amazing people. Let's go. And just drop the bullshit. Just like I would tell someone else. What kind of advice would you give to people, whether they're in business or in their personal life?
Coming from a coach first go get a coach. It's my advice all the time too. No, it's so it's crazy. Like whatever you are up to, there is a coach out there for you. And if you wanna be living a big life and you think about, all these people who are kicking ass, who's the team? They have personal trainers, a coach, they have executive coaches, another coach.
They have advisory boards. Technically a whole bunch of coaches. Who is your, what's your coaching structure around you so that you are guaranteed to win? Just like we are not good at ma deciding who we should date. Sometimes on our own, we need our best friends and our family to be like, good idea or bad idea.
You need that for all of life. So if you wanna be playing at a caliber of your best potential, think about it like an athlete who, who's gonna help you get there? Who's gonna make you feel a little bit uncomfortable? Who's gonna call you on your shit? Who's gonna make sure you don't injure yourself because you're doing something in a way that would, could hurt you?
So your advice is get a coach. Yeah. The short answer is get a coach. And then the second answer would be like. Quit being a wimp and playing small. Just like really, like you're allowed to dream. Start there. Really think about if you could have anything you wanted, like how awesome could your life be, what would it look like?
And once you see that, go talk to your coach about how do you make it happen. Do you have a favorite quote or anything you wanna leave people with? Yes. My friend in high school, Al Bailo, gave me a birthday card when I was 16 that he drew. And it said, I have no idea where he got this from. So if someone can find the source, that'd be great.
He could have pulled out of his ass, I'm not sure. But it said let your mind be focused and your spirit free. And that's kinda my main rule in life. Be focused, get shit done and be free about like how it all shows up. I. I love it. I love it. Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity.
There you guys go. After multiple requests, I've finally caved in and agreed to turn the tables and me interviewed myself. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Aleks was an amazing host to connect, support, and follow MA and even better schedule a coaching consultation with me that can transform your life and your business.
Go to kara duffy.com and of course, you can follow us at Powerful Ladies and the powerful ladies.com. I hope you've enjoyed this new episode of The Powerful Ladies Podcast. If you're a yes to powerful ladies and want to support us, you can. Subscribe to this podcast anywhere you listen to podcast. Make sure to give us a five star rating and leave a powerful review on Apple Podcasts.
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I'd like to thank our producer and audio engineer Jordan Duffy. Without her, this wouldn't be possible. You can follow her on Instagram at Jordan K. Duffy. Thank you all so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life.
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Instagram: @kara_duffy
Website: karaduffy.com
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
