Is Your Home Stunting Your Growth? With Kim Costa

Today’s conversation is one I’ve been excited to bring you, because it speaks to something most of us don’t even think about… yet it shapes how we wake up, how we heal, how we dream, and how we grow. My guest, Kim Costa, has a rare blend of experience — realtor, construction and design expert, and longtime guide in personal development. She’s spent years watching how women’s lives change, and how their homes either rise to meet that new chapter… or quietly hold them back. 

Her work began with a moment many of us can relate to. When she won an essay contest for the Oprah Show, she actually asked them not to film her house. That pause made her realize just how deeply our spaces reflect — or sometimes clash with — who we’re becoming. And that insight sparked everything she’s built since. Kim went on to create the Wheel House Assessment and the bestselling “Live in Your Wheelhouse” framework, helping people evaluate whether their home truly supports the four big pillars of growth: Myself, Mastery, Mission, and Mate, along with the eight areas of life where we all want to thrive — from health and spirituality to finances, romance, and environment. 

Her message is simple but powerful:  Every home transition is a chance to reset, realign, and redesign the life you want next. And Kim doesn’t just teach this — she’s lived it over and over again. From a starter bungalow to a country-club remodel… from building a full showcase horse farm from scratch to downsizing into a serene minimalist condo… each home reflected the lifestyle she was intentionally creating. That personal process became the heart of her Lifestyle Foundations® method, and it’s now helping thousands of people rethink the way they choose where and how they live. 

Kim is also stepping into a brand-new chapter as a host on American Dream TV, and she’s generously offering her free Lifelong Lifestyle Lift Assessment to help you start exploring whether your home is supporting your growth — or quietly stunting it. So let’s dive into this powerful conversation with Kim Costa…  and Call IN what might be possible when your home finally matches the woman you’re becoming. Call IT in With Dar! 

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Transcript

Today’s conversation is one I’ve been excited to bring you, because it speaks to something most of us don’t even think about… yet it shapes how we wake up, how we heal, how we dream, and how we grow. My guest, Kim Costa, has a rare blend of experience — realtor, construction and design expert, and longtime guide in personal development. She’s spent years watching how women’s lives change, and how their homes either rise to meet that new chapter… or quietly hold them back. Her work began with a moment many of us can relate to. When she won an essay contest for the Oprah Show, she actually asked them not to film her house. That pause made her realize just how deeply our spaces reflect — or sometimes clash with — who we’re becoming. And that insight sparked everything she’s built since. Kim went on to create the Wheel House Assessment and the bestselling “Live in Your Wheelhouse” framework, helping people evaluate whether their home truly supports the four big pillars of growth: Myself, Mastery, Mission, and Mate, along with the eight areas of life where we all want to thrive — from health and spirituality to finances, romance, and environment. Her message is simple but powerful:  Every home transition is a chance to reset, realign, and redesign the life you want next. And Kim doesn’t just teach this — she’s lived it over and over again. From a starter bungalow to a country-club remodel… from building a full showcase horse farm from scratch to downsizing into a serene minimalist condo… each home reflected the lifestyle she was intentionally creating. That personal process became the heart of her Lifestyle Foundations® method, and it’s now helping thousands of people rethink the way they choose where and how they live. Kim is also stepping into a brand-new chapter as a host on American Dream TV, and she’s generously offering her free Lifelong Lifestyle Lift Assessment to help you start exploring whether your home is supporting your growth — or quietly stunting it. So let’s dive into this powerful conversation with Kim Costa…  and Call IN what might be possible when your home finally matches the woman you’re becoming. Call IT in With Dar! 

Speaker Dar  

Kim, welcome in, Kim. I'm ready to call in our great topic today and life changes that we all go through before we dive in. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit of the backstory of how you came to this point where you are now, 

Speaker Kim  

Sure, Darla, thanks for having me. I'm really happy to be here. So a little bit about me. I was in the residential construction business for almost 30 years. Interior Design. I have a background in human resource development and accounting and finance and marketing, so kind of a jack of all trades, but always loved the real estate, construction and design industry. So right around 2016 and 17, I got my realtor's license, and I've been a realtor ever since I caught on pretty quickly. I'm a top producer, but I was able to use my human resource development skills and my interior design background to work to help people up, level their lives and their homes, especially through life change. 

Speaker Dar 

Wow, leveling your life and your home with such a beautiful combination of construction designs and human resources that gives you such a unique way to talk about today's topic, and I'm going to have you just dive In with life changes, and should we change our house? 

Speaker Kim 

Okay, great. One of my favorite topics. I am fascinated by life change and transition and just trying to live your best life. And I'm a bit of a personality enthusiast. You know, where you're talking about people's personalities. And I think, you know, there's certain elements in homes that help you be your best self, but the inevitable each of us are unique, but the inevitable thing with everybody is we're always going to have life change, whether it's anticipated or southern sudden things happen in our lives. And what I found is, as people's lives transition, usually, something doesn't work in their home anymore, and then they're starting to think about changing their home as well. So especially through loss, I think it's really wonderful for people to have a process to follow that guides them to, you know, really be secure in the next move that they're going to make in their life. 

Speaker Dar 

Well, could you dive a little deeper and what that process might be? Sure find your wheelhouse? Yes. 

Speaker Kim   

So the name of my book and my soon to be launched podcast, is live in your wheelhouse, and the subtitle for the book is an empowering guide to stay, go or Reno. And so that's not only in your home, but also in your life. Because when your home changes, your life changes, and vice versa, and hopefully for the better. So I developed a process that digs deep into the foundation of your life, which are the four M's, myself, mastery, mission and mate. So that's like the basement of your home. And so once that's aligned, you can move up to the next level, which examines eight areas of the wheel of life, like career, finance, spirituality, romance, environment, entertainment, family and friends and health. And so you go through each one of those eight areas with specific questions that rise in your level of needs, like Maslow's hierarchy to determine how your current home fits versus what the ideal home would look like in this stage of life. 

Speaker Dar 

Fascinating, and I am aware of Maslow's hierarchy. Could you give us some? Let's see. Let's go into some practicalities, like some case studies. Of course, you're not going to use real names. We're going to protect their confidentiality. But what are some instances that you've been working with in the past?  

Speaker Kim 

Well, there are so many. And so each time that I'm working with somebody, I find that they're falling into one or two or three of the categories to move. And so for an example, say, somebody I've worked with, we'll just say they lived in Alabama, and they got a corporate promotion, and so they were moving to the Atlanta area. And so that was a career move, because they couldn't stay in their current home in Alabama. They had to move here to be close to headquarters. But then the SEC so that was a career move, but the secondary thing we really had to pay. Attention to the family, in this case, because they have school age children, the space in the home was very much geared towards, you know, the dog, the kids, the school system, the neighborhood, the space in the home, the functionality of two separate family areas. So that's entertainment. 

That's the area of entertainment. So their move turned into being not only a career move, but very high importance of fulfilling the needs of the whole family, so that that was a career family move in that case, 

Speaker Dar   

Yes, well, could you address our audience of mainly women and several going through loss. What are some considerations that we want to pay attention to with the life change or loss, whether you know, whether that be an immediate family member that was in the home, or just plain loss, we've all expressed that 

Speaker Kim 

sure it's an unfortunate fact of life, and it does change things. And I think it's important that folks experience loss. I mean, really it should. The subtitle of the book should be a plan, make a plan to stay, go to Reno or just make a plan like you don't have to do anything right away. I mean, so case study, perhaps would be a lady, you know, 60s or 70s, and she has lost, perhaps her partner, living in a larger home. And they, you know, the family home raised their children in and their, you know, had their animals, lots of great memories, and so moving from the family home while they've already just incurred the loss of their beloved partner, I mean, that's too much stress, and so I would highly recommend that they, you know, just start getting things organized and contemplate and grieve their loss and take care of themselves first of all. And then when they get, you know, a little bit further farther down the road, they can make a plan for their next place they want to go, like maybe they experience that the home is overwhelming to them. They can't take care of everything, and they want to simplify a little bit. And so I would suggest, if they do want to sell and just do something different for a while, maybe pick a temporary place where they can get their bearings again and then really do the deep dive of what does the next phase of their life look like? 

Speaker Dar 

Yeah, yes, I am so resonating with that that the first thing is self care, yes, and make a plan. Because change is overwhelming sometimes and it doesn't have to be a huge change. It can just be, you know, small steps and it still can be overwhelming. And I love, love, love the idea of a temporary place. And I personally experience that because I just rent it when I go down to Texas, and then I own it when I'm up here in Minnesota on the lake and and after my Charlie had died, I went down to Texas, still to the place I used to rent because I was comfortable. I knew people. I had a social life there. So what other things should people consider? 

Speaker Kim  

Well, I do think you know that the maintenance of the home, so it's it was quite brilliant of you to rent somewhere in Texas, because you're not making repairs and cutting the yard and you know, all the things, if something goes wrong, you just make a phone call, and that's one less, especially having two, you know, two homes so, so to speak, where you've got the one in Minnesota and then the other one that you just rent. You don't have to necessarily take care of all those things and pay the taxes and all the things that are involved with home ownership. It's kind of your respite for the winter to get away and feed your soul and focus on other things besides home maintenance, you can go out with your in the community, like you said, and that's that's helping you as a person, stay happy and joyful 

Speaker Dar 

most certainly, and walking the dog on the beach. He's happy and joyful being out of the snow too. 

Speaker Kim 

Yes, yes. And you're outside getting the sunshine. And, I mean, that's just perfect. And so here's the thing too. Moving is one of the, I know it's, it's in the one of the top five stressors of life, but, um. Obviously death of a loved one or some other type of loss. You don't want to necessarily immediately add a move on to that, because any move of someone who's, you know, had a home for quite some time and lived a life, it's going to have all kinds of memories and memory boxes and photo boxes and and things that you need to go through and keep, save or donate or give to family, and it may not be the right time to do that, right after you've had a loss you just need to digest for a while. You don't want to overwhelm yourself. 

Speaker Dar   

Absolutely, and I love your subtitles, “Stay, Go or Reno”.  So could you go a little bit more into, 

I want to say your book is coming out in the what spring 

Speaker Kim 

right in March, March 20. March 24 of 2026 

Speaker Dar 

Alright, so we'll look forward to that. But can you give us a little sneak peek, and especially that subtitle has got me. 

Speaker Kim 

Yes….So, so the wheelhouse assessment, which is in the book, you run through the eight areas of the wheel of life, and you have a diagram that's like a pie chart, you know, with the eight different areas, and you're going to rate your current home versus your ideal home from one to 10. And so say, say you rated, you know, one area of four, one area in eight, one area A one, one area nine. You really want that wheel shape to look like a wheel, not a flat tire, or not a real teeny tire. You want it to be a fully inflated wheel. So that's living in your wheelhouse. And wheelhouse is two separate words, and then the stay go or reno is if you tally up the scores from one to 10 from all of those areas. And so you potentially have 80 points, but you have a one and a three and a five, so if you have a score of, you know, 35 or 40, you've, you've pretty much got a flat tire. And so you really, it's probably the impetus to move is, is higher than if you have eights and nines and 10s and all the areas you're pretty much living in your wheelhouse already. So the shape of the wheel will say a lot about how content you are in your current home. 

Speaker Dar  

I know this is kind of a little bit of a, you know, different track. But how could you, on the other hand, say  how your house is stunting your growth? 

Speaker Kim  

Well, it could be okay. So say, say you didn't have a place in Texas, correct, right? Like, say that just you didn't, you didn't have one, you hadn't considered it, or just didn't have the place to go, or couldn't go for a while. But now you're deciding maybe you like it. In Minnesota, the weather's not so great. You can't get outside and walk the dog, and you're not able to get out as much and see your friends. You've got no one to shovel the snow for you to get out of the house, it's a little depressing. These are all like health and vitality and entertainment, and you know, dog's part of the family. Dog's sad too. So it could stunt your vitality because you're not able to get out and do the things that you find joy in, and you're not getting the sunshine, you're not seeing your friends. And so the actual environment of the home, that's one of the areas, is stunning your lifestyle, because the it's cold in the winter, and if you didn't have a place in Texas to go to you, you know winter might be something you just kind of suffer through until the sun comes back out in the spring and you can get out and live the lifestyle you'd like to live. So that's just one way. Environment is one way that your home can stunt your growth or your vitality, 

Speaker Dar   

absolutely and when you talk about the wheel, there's many other ways that your home could be stunting your growth. Correct? 

Speaker Kim 

Yes, that very much so, you know. And it could just be a matter of renovating. So say, I know that I need to stretch more, you know. And meditation helps me, you know, quite a bit. We're especially getting into the wet season here in Atlanta, and so I have a Zen Den in my home. And before I had that, I didn't really have any place in my home where I could meditate, like, meditate, or, you know, prayer, whatever, whatever is your spiritual practice, to just decompress. And so in the area of like spirit spirituality, I took a guest bedroom and. Put a little walking machine in there so that I can look out the window and get some sunshine, and then I have a little space where I can do some meditation or stretching just to decompress. And so that's just, I just kind of renovated the furniture in a room. Sometimes a renovation just involves moving some furniture around, or making an office, a living room into an office. So stay, go or Reno. And that's the Reno part, 

Speaker Dar  

beautiful examples. Thanks so much. And I hear that you have a free gift for our listeners. Could you address that a little bit? 

Speaker Kim   

Sure I do have a free gift. It's the lifelong LifeStyle Lift assessment, and it's not the full wheelhouse assessment, but you could go to my website, at lifestyle foundations.com, and there's a free gift there for anyone who wants to start to investigate living in the wheelhouse? So it's just something you can take around your home to kind of evaluate certain rooms, to see how they're working for you and what things might be more helpful in a certain area of the wheel of life. 

Speaker Dar   

That sounds great. Thank you. Very generous of you, and we'll have that address in our show notes. Everybody before we close out. Is there anything else you're called to tell our listeners today? 

Speaker Kim 

Well, I think, I think the biggest thing I'm called to tell folks is it's never too late to be the true you at your best. It does. You know, there are hobbies and new friends and new environments that we can create that help us live the rest of our years in comfort and joy and authentically. So I think it's just never too late to just think back. What did I really enjoy doing when I was younger that I might want to pick up again? For me, it's writing. I didn't write for like, about 35 years, and I always loved writing when I was younger, and so now I've picked that back up here later in life, and it's so joyful. So I would say, don't, don't. It's never too late to investigate what fills you up and to really pursue that. 

Speaker Dar 

Oh, that's beautiful. And you know that is just right on track with what we talk about. I know two of my values are authenticity and joy, that's for sure. Thank you so much for being with us today, Kim. I am just so grateful, so so grateful. 

Speaker Kim 

Well, thank you. I'm grateful for you having me on and letting me engage with your audience and engage with you. You are delightful, and I really appreciate it. Bye. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai