Entrepreneurs Survival Guide: How to Win in Business and in Life

Welcome to another episode of Making Billions, Im your host Ryan Miller and today I have my dear friend Katie Richardson.

Katie Richardson is the founder of a multi-national company where her products were sold in over 26 countries around the world.  She's been featured on Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Ray, The Today Show, and in publications such as Entrepreneur Magazine, and more.  Since her exit, she has been helping entrepreneurs and business owners to massively level up in life and business.

What this means is that Katie understands how to build a business from start-up to exit, and she's about to give you her secret sauce on not only building a business but building a powerful founder in your pursuit of Making Billions.

Subscribe on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTOe79EXLDsROQ0z3YLnu1QQ

Connect with Ryan Miller:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rcmiller1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingbillionspodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_MakingBillons
Website: https://making-billions.com/

[THE GUEST]:  Katie Richardson is the founder of a multi-national company where her products were sold in over 26 countries around the world.  She's been featured on Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Ray, The Today Show, and in publications such as

Transcript

Ryan Miller  
My name is Ryan Miller and for the past 15 years have helped hundreds of people to raise millions of dollars for their funds and for their startups. If you're serious about raising money, launching your business or taking your life to the next level, in the show will give you the answers so that you too can enjoy your pursuit of making billions. Let's get into it.

We don't launch a business without the business launching us in 100 different directions. My next guest has built a business that spanned 26 countries. She has been interviewed by some of the best celebrities in the world while still raising good kids. How did she do it all? And what was the moment where she almost quit, but found a deeper place to pull through and achieve massive success. All this and more coming right now. Here we go.

Hey, welcome to another episode of making billions. I'm your host Ryan Miller and today I have my dear friend Katie Richardson. Katie is the founder of a multinational company where her products were sold in over 26 countries around the world. She has been featured in Ellen DeGeneres, Rachael Ray, Today Show and in publications such as Entrepreneur Magazine, and more since her exit, she has been helping entrepreneurs and business owners to massively level up in life and in business. So what this means is Katie understands how to build a business from startup to exit. She's about to give you her secret sauce on building a business, but building powerful founders as well. So Katie, welcome to the show.

Katie Richardson 
Ryan Miller! Super excited to be here excited to share and be a part of the Making Billions community. Thank you so much for having me.

Ryan Miller  
Yeah, it's so good to have you. It's certainly an honor you and I've, we've known each other for years, and I gotta say, your background is so impressive to things that you've been able to do with business. And we can talk a little bit about that. But also what you're doing today, well, you're helping founders and entrepreneurs and leaders around the world, to take the lessons that you've learned by building a multinational business and helping everyone succeed. So maybe in just 30 seconds, just walk me through, what kind of things are you up to now,

Katie Richardson 
today, I coach high performing entrepreneurs, specifically people who are trying to understand how to live in integrity, whether that's at home, in their faith, in religion, in their house, and with their team, they are looking to contribute significant impact into the world. And that has pulled in so many different directions. And so I show them powerful principles and how to live those powerful principles and ultimately, achieve the goals and outcomes that they want, while living the life that they want. Right being present with their kids having a deep connection with their spouse living strong in their faith, living a strong healthy life, living in integrity, right? So that's what I do.

Ryan Miller 
I love that Katie, and, you know, you started a company way back, you know, say a few years ago, it was called Pudge, cute name. And, and you're a product designer, and you were able to generate this product you literally created with your bare hands was a family affair, and you came together and you built this business. And we're gonna get into a lot of things. Now, for entrepreneurs around the world, anybody listening to make billions has got some grit, they've got some fire, and they've got some motivation. So for the beginners out there who are just launching their business, I got two questions for you, Katie, how does it beginner, get some early points on the board? How do they win? And more importantly, after that, let's talk about how do they not lose and get wiped out in the early days. So how does an entrepreneur win?

Katie Richardson 
You have to understand how to separate yourself from the competition in whatever marketing space that you're entering? And the way that I do that is through brand. And a brand is a vehicle that's going to be a representation of your mission and your values. And it is, like I said, it's a way to really separate yourself from the competition. Like you think about you, Ryan, and how you live your life and your new unique gifts and talents and abilities. There's nobody else in the world who's Ryan Miller. And if you can understand what makes you unique and special, and what that unique perspective is that you have in the world and you understand how to then infuse that into your business, then by nature, it's different than any other company. And so without really realizing that was what I was doing. In the beginning, I just I got started because I love helping people solve problems. And I realized that entrepreneurship was a really powerful vehicle to do that at scale. And to me that was just so exhilarating to help people literally around the world that I'd never met through design. And my products. And the way that I attracted those people was through a brand that stood for something that valued certain things over other things. As a designer and somebody who relies on design thinking, I worked really intentionally to take those values, take those principles, and infuse them into every touchpoint in the business.

Ryan Miller 
Brilliant. So Design Thinking certainly goes a long way. And my friend, I've seen it just helping businesses to scale. You got to have some design, you gotta have systems, you got to have structure to these things. And Katie, you're one of the best that I've ever met, who is able to help people to do that. So when you talk about branding, what are some of the things that you do? I mean, I know your story, but i we i think the world really needs to hear this because even when I listened to it, I was like, this is a really good idea. Maybe I should do some of those. How did you get started on that? Let's talk about how how did you start Building a brand.

Katie Richardson 
I, you know, I'm tempted to tell you that I started with brand values that actually didn't become defined until about a year. And in the beginning, it was just me, right. And so I didn't have to define a lot of those things because it was just who I am. It's how I see the world. It's just how I would naturally do things. I had to start to find those things. Once I started hiring people and other people were making decisions on my behalf. Right. And so in the beginning, it was I just wanted to see just how far I could take these gifts and talents that I had. And business was the vehicle to do that. And so I just, I would, I didn't even look at the competition. It didn't, I'm just gonna be honest, I didn't even look at the competition. It was where's their problem that I'm personally running into? How can I solve that problem in a in a way that I would be excited about it. And the way that I got started is I'll be really specific. It's an the main product is an infant bathtub that hangs in stores, flat bolts, bolts into a little bucket seat that fits in your bathroom sink. And I didn't know at the time that the way I viewed the world was unique or different. And I had literally store owners stopping me when I would go shopping at their stores. And they would say, where'd you get all this stuff. And they were pointing out things that I was using as a mom, whether that's baby shoes, bag, baby carrier, literally everything that they pointed out was stuff that I had made on my mom's 1962 Bernina. And I was just trying to keep myself busy while my kids were napping. And for reference, I was I had gone to university to study product design, I'd done quite well in school and I had won National Design Awards, I'd won a scholarship from General Motors, like I was acknowledged for my design skills. But something in my head said that's where it ends. And I'd always wanted to be a mom. So I'd had kids and I had people kind of attacking me at a store, the store owner, she stopped me and said, where do you get all this stuff? And I was like, I was embarrassed because I just made it was like homemade stuff, which was embarrassing. And she said, You made this, I want you to make it for me, I want you to make it for my store. And I was like Yikes, I don't have time. Can you see I have a newborn and a two year old, like, I don't have time for this. And this woman actually really changed my life, right. And she looked me square in the eyes. And she was like 65 year old woman really wrinkly face smoker's voice working at a boutique that she owned. And she looked me square in the eyes, almost with regret. And she said, Look, I understand that you're really busy right now and you have your hands full, but you're super talented. And someday, these kids are going to be in school full time, and you will look back and you regret the fact that you didn't do something about your talents. And that's done. Big time. Now is the first time I really started to take this idea of maybe I could put something out into the world in a way where people value it. And so I did, I started making one of my first products just locally, it was a cut and sew product. And so I didn't have to do any tooling. And I could just find a local manufacturer or a local sower and I sold out of those products in like 10 days at like 20 boutiques locally. And I was like, Hmm, maybe I can do something with this. So that's definitely the advice that I would give start where you're at start small even. And this is true for I was in physical products, retail, it doesn't matter what industry you're in, I even you mentioned that got all this press and media, all of that started small, right, I would get like a local attention and local publications or regional attention. And you can leverage that into national attention. And so start where you're at and don't have any shame about the fact that it's small. Because if you have big vision, and if you're building something founded on true principles that you believe, and you infuse that into your company, and I can share examples of what that looks like, for me, you really stand out, can I just say there are so many companies out there that don't actually deliver on their promises, like so many companies, I wasn't okay doing. If I'm going to tell you I'm solving this problem, then Gosh, darn it, I'm gonna go to the ends of the earth to make sure I'm doing that at the quality and standard that I promised you.

Ryan Miller  
That's brilliant Katie, thank you for that. So as you can see folks that the value center leadership, the value center, product design, pumping in the values into your brand into your products, all of these things do matter. And this was an the DNA of your company. Now, that being said, I know that in the early days, you took advantage of different communities now dealing with products, you were able to find an affinity group, as I like to call it or I think you've told me in the past, mommy bloggers, maybe you can touch on taking advantage of these affinity groups while building a brand for new entrepreneurs.

Katie Richardson 
Everybody knows that you can pay to play. And when you're a startup, you don't have that luxury. I didn't have that asset of advertising money. But what I did have was incredible products and true values and an amazing story that was really exciting for people. And so while I didn't have the cash to get attention, I could leverage what I did have. And that's what I did. And so one of the things that was really popular at the time, I was trying to figure out how do you break into how do I get in front of my ideal customer and client in a way that is affordable for me and somebody who was already in conversation with my ideal client was mommy blogger. It was super popular in 2007, 2008, when I was getting started, and I thought, You know what I'm going to send my product to these really big popular mommy bloggers free of charge for them in exchange for a real honest review, good or bad, by the way. And I was like, Look, you don't owe me anything, I just want you to be honest with your community and give a real review on this product in exchange for the free product, because that's what I could do. It didn't have the advertising budget. And Ryan, it just exploded from there. Because everybody and what was cool is like, everybody was talking about punch, everybody was talking about Butch. And what's interesting is there even were we literally sent out like 100 of our product. So we got 100 different reviews within, you know, six weeks of each other. And there were maybe four bad ones. And those just practically destroyed me, which is so interesting. Like everyone had all these glowing reviews, but somebody complained about the price. And I can't remember what other people complained about. And it's just, it's really important to know who you are. Because when you put yourself out there, that's when people start to criticize you. You open yourself up to it. And I had to learn to get a thick skin.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah. So and you do that's that's not for the faint of heart is entrepreneurship or investing or finance or anything in business. So you went forward, I mean, you had a vision, and you have values and and when you put that much love and in your heart into your products, and someone kind of paints it with a brush, you're like, How dare you? This is my heart and soul that you're holding in your hand. You know,

Katie Richardson 
What they didn't even know is I was living on food storage, like I was literally grinding wheat to make four loaves of bread a week to feed my family because any money that I was making was going right back into the company, like we were living on rice and beans. They had no idea they had no idea. Yeah,

Ryan Miller 
not a metaphor, folks, not really living on rice and beans, milling your own wheat and making bread and, and you can do everything in in focus, I would encourage you to follow Katie, there's some phenomenal pictures when I'm at and it's pictures of you welding and there's pictures of you with your baby strapped to your back and your sewing. And I mean, it was phenomenal. If you want to talk about a renaissance woman here. Now, when it comes to branding is one of those things in the early days. Another thing that I was really impressed with is how you got PR in the early days as well. Maybe you can walk through on how did you go about in the early days and early entrepreneur, launching your business? How did you go about cultivating PR?

Katie Richardson 
Like I said, we started in 2007 2008, the product actually fully launched in 2010. And social media wasn't really around then I think Facebook was around but it was just for high school kids. And it certainly was not a marketing tool. Instagram wasn't even online yet, at least not in my world. And so we had to figure out how to get in front of people. We couldn't afford magazine ads. And so like I said, mommy bloggers was one and then another one was leveraging our incredible story. And how do you do that? It's through PR. And so even though we were barely paying ourselves, one of the first things that we invested in once we had revenue was PR, we didn't necessarily work with a big agency. I think that's that was a decision that we made one financially. But two, I knew that if I was hiring somebody who was only holding, you know, five accounts, or however many accounts like she was actively working on it, and it wasn't some intern, but I was paying a premium which can happen when you're working with an agency. So I worked with a woman who was the agency, so to speak, who had the relationships, who had proven herself with other complementary brands, I knew she had the network. And so I hired her. And it was not cheap. But we got tremendous amounts of publication, not just because we'd hired her, but we had the story. And she had the connections

Ryan Miller 
brilliant. And my understanding because I remember in the early days that you're able to get some celebrities on board and get there seen holding your product and all that. Was that. So getting celebrities, I was some good PR. Was that through that agency? Or

Katie Richardson 
yes, in fact, she seated a lot of that she had those relationships because celebrities have an agent that you can't send product directly to them, but you send it to their agent. And so we did we sent product to all of the rich and famous that were having babies, including Martha Stewart's daughter was having a baby back in those days. And I got a handwritten letter from Martha Stewart, I got a handwritten letter from Jenna, What's your last name? Pam Beesly from the office. And like that was just the coolest thing ever. What's funny is a celebrity isn't necessarily an expert on baby products, which is what my company was in. But they are a person with limited resources. And if they're choosing my product, like Bill Rancic gave his baby their first bath on his TV show, which I don't even know I don't even follow my sister flipped out. She was She watched his show and was like, Oh my gosh, they're using a punch tub. And I'm like, yeah, it's actually really popular. Like that one. You know, you do it to enough of the right people. And then pretty soon it starts to spread on its own. So we did seed it with some very hand selected people in the beginning, but then it just created this flywheel that the stores people were coming into the stores asking for it. The demand was there because they've seen so and so with it or they've seen it on the Ellen Show, which they came to us by the way, and it was because their producer had seen our product in a really high end hip, baby boutique and now They and so NPR was part of that, like, I think it was Robert Downey Jr. had our product and the hip la boutique saw that and they wanted that product. So it all it creates this flywheel that helps everything grow creates the demand,

Ryan Miller
I love that Katie, were talking about in the early days, right? So putting your story and injecting that into your brand and making sure all that happens in PR. And right. So we're painting this wonderful picture. And it's cool, right? Celebrities are using it. And you're seeing my stuff on shows. And your family's flipping out. And it's all these great momentum. But there's also some risk in there. Oh, yeah. And my friends, this is something that both Katie and I understand. And if you follow the show for a while, you know that I believe that success is an inside job, but so is failure. So Katie, I'm just curious, when you start out, this is a time where a lot of people quit before they even have liftoff, they can they run the risk of giving up. And often that can be and I'd love to get your opinion on this often that can come from the inside. So speaking, and I threatened in the beginning, we're going to talk to the beginners about how not to lose. And a big part of that is the mind game. Maybe you can talk a little bit about all of those early days before you're really having a lot of results in these confirmations that you're on the right path, the early days, it's just a vision, it's energy. Maybe you can talk a little bit about the mindset and how you went about dealing with some of those less than helpful messages in your own head in the early days.

Katie Richardson 
You know, everybody who's an entrepreneur faces these critical inflection points where you're kind of you have to decide is this a moment where I raise the white flag and I give up, or I double down on my crazy and I keep going, but maybe I find a new way to move forward. And a critical moment like that, for me was we had been living on food storage for two years, we had invested every penny that we were making on side jobs into the development of this product. And we took it to a trade show in New York, I was talking with all the big buyers. And my vision was Ryan that yeah, we're just barely making it on fumes right now. But I'm gonna come home from New York with all these credit cards and start charging cards, and then hit go at the factories and start making money. I go out there, I literally am sleeping on the friend of a friend of a friend's couch in Manhattan because I can't even afford the hotel. I'm taking the subway system to the Javits Center. I'm making to the Javits Center, and I'm talking to all the big buyers, and it's like, okay, this is gonna work, this is all going to happen. Like it's all coming together. And they're asking me all these questions, right? And they're asking things like, Do you carry insurance for this? What are your lead times? What's your case pack minimums was your wholesale price was your retail price, what does the retail package look like? And Ryan, I had what I was showing them. It was awesome and beautiful and amazing. But it was literally a prototype that I'd made at my kitchen table. Like I didn't know the answers to their questions. And so I'm doing everything that I can to keep a straight face and not blow my cover that I don't really know what I'm doing. And at the end of the day, nobody placed an order. I barely made it home from that show. And I was absolutely devastated. Because my dreams were not a reality. And I was I was at the end, there was no more money I was out, it was game over for me. And I went home totally devastated. And my husband, like, you know, my kids are just excited. The mom's home. And I was one, the one there kind of representing all of us. Because this was a family effort. Everything was and had to confess to my husband, he finally pulled me into the garage that we could talk with the kids clamoring at me, I just had to confess to him that it didn't work. And I had failed for all of us. And he wouldn't accept that. And he kept asking these questions. He's like, No, but like what they say, I'm like, You're not listening to me. They all said, No. And I'm interpreting that as like, you suck. As a designer, Katie, we don't want to work with you. Like that was my interpretation of it. And he listened to me and he said, Katie, they didn't tell you know what I'm like you say did and he was like, no, they may have said those words. But they were asking you questions like they were engaging with you. And we just don't know the answers to those questions. So answer those questions. And they'll all buy this product, answer those questions. And we'll be shipping this product all over the world. Right. And when he said that my whole body just was on fire. And I'm like, that sounds crazy and illogical. But I knew he was right. And so we did that very thing. We doubled down on our crazy, I don't know where we literally were like pulling couch cushions off the feet. The family's like, hey, there's a couple quarters here. And for the next year, we just figured it out. And we went back to the tradeshow a year later and Ryan, everybody who came into our booth placed an order that year, and you want to know what's so wild. This is going back to the head game that you were talking about. That was a moment I had been dreaming of the year prior. Right? And it didn't happen. I failed. And I worked my tail off to make it work this time. And it did. And you want to know what happened. It was so unexpected. My head was yelling and screaming at me that you're a fake. You're not a real business woman. If you say the wrong thing, you're gonna blow your cover and this whole thing's gonna fail. Because everything I dreamed up was happening in front of me but I was crumbling inside. I didn't know how to handle it.

Ryan Miller 
So what did you find Katie? This this brilliant story. And look, this is a real life of an entrepreneur. Many people go through this very inspiring story about this. I felt it too. Sometimes we call it impostor syndrome, right? You say the wrong things. People are gonna figure out you don't know what you're doing, and you're done. so hard on yourself. But I think that is just an extreme caring, and you care so much. Remember in the early days, folks, Katie said her story was injected into her products. And so to put your heart and soul into that, and and that is what entrepreneurs are, they put their heart and soul into their vision. And you did that. And now we call that impostor syndrome. What have you found to be the antidote? Let's let's come out the other side and tie up these loose ends, because I feel like you got a good answer, because you did come out the otherside.

Katie Richardson 
I do. It's actually really fast. And it might surprise you. I wasn't even aware of how much I was dying inside. My husband could see it. You can see it all over my face. He knows me really, really well. And he knows how excited I am to talk to people to engage with people to solve their problems. And he pulls me out of our booth. And he's like, Hey, where's Katie? And I give the fake smile. I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. This is awesome. wildest dreams come true. He's like, No, you're pushing everybody off onto me, and to Diana, who was my best friend, but I was calling her my global sales director. And nobody knew that she was literally bunking in our same hotel room with me and my husband, because we couldn't even afford a second hotel room. And I wasn't even paying her to be there. She was taking off time from work. It was like they had no idea. And yet, it all looks so legit. Ryan, we were the superstars of the show. And like, I knew that I made it all up. I made up the brand. I literally built that whole booth with my bare hands. I conceived of the idea. And we built it the product we made that up to and yes, we were working with attorneys to patent like, it was all made up in my mind. And all of a sudden, people were validating it and saying that it's real. And I was like, Are you guys sure? Are you sure? And so my husband sees this on me pulls me out of the booth. Where's Katie? And I'm like, I'm here. What are you talking about? You're pushing everybody off into me and Diana, and Diana. And that's when I just cracked open. And I just started crying. And I've been there believing it. And it terrifies me. Like, what if they find out that I'm not a real businesswoman? What if they find out that I don't know how I'm gonna even fund these orders that they're placing? What if they find out that I don't actually have the answers to all of these questions like I'm answering you at the best of my ability. But I don't totally know where this all goes. And he's so wise. He listens to me. And he was like, you know, Katie, they're not they're not expecting you to be a business woman or something that you're not they just, they want you to be Katie, just be Katie and ask them do you want 25 or 50 tests and tell them you take Visa, MasterCard and American Express. I was like BKT, he was giving me permission to be myself. And I was like, I know Katie, she likes people. She likes actually getting to the root of your problem, and then helping you solve it. And she's done that really incredibly well with a product. So let me tell you about it. And so all of a sudden, Ryan, I went back into the booth no longer in my mind asking people for money, because that's what it felt like. And instead it was you have somebody in front of you, Katie, who needs your help? Can you help him? Can you serve them? And all of a sudden, my eyeballs went from looking at myself, and fearing that I was going to be exposed to looking at them and saying, How can I help you? And it was like, I remember consciously thinking, I need 100% of my attention focused on him. So there's not room for that voice that's attacking me, right? And so everything in me was paying attention to the person in front of me, how can I help you? What is the problem that you're running into? Oh, guess what, like, I actually have a product that solves that problem for you and your clients. And what's so cool is I never went through any sales trainings ever. I can close anybody in front of me, right? I'm really good at it. I sell $120,000 packages with like, on one phone call. And it's because one, I'm actually trying to solve your real problem. And two, I'm there for you to serve you. And listen, I'm not perfect, I have to check in with myself quite a bit. But if you can show up with this intention of service, whether or not you're pitching investors, whether or not you're hiring somebody to bring onto your team, how can you? What is the person in front of you? What's the problem they're running into? And how can you help them solve that? Is it through your product, maybe maybe what they need isn't your product, but they need to know that guy that you know, will connect them and get really good at serving people solving their problems. And yes, getting fair exchange of value aka money in exchange, that's awesome. And it's still service, even though you're charging their American Express, especially,

Ryan Miller 
brilliant, so folks, I hope you can see, like I can see the passion in Katie's voice, but it was the authenticity, I would argue I mean, you may have a different perspective. But from an outsider listening to you, and being in that moment, I could tell it was the authenticity is what helps you to close the deal. And authenticity is what brought people to you. Now that being said, we've talked a lot about it. Let's talk about a little bit of success. Now. We've talked about PUJ and product development, and PR and branding and impostor syndrome and all of these things that the entrepreneur has to deal with. You've come out the other side and folks, you can look it up Katie's literally everywhere all over the internet, and they're in her success story. It's out there. But now, you take your time, and you help people to achieve success too. Learn the things that you learned along the way. So that being said, I'm wondering if you could help because you not only help people on the business side, but you more or less take a holistic approach. And you help people to say, It's okay to be successful in business. Yeah, absolutely get your money, right, whatever that means to you. But real success is this holistic thing of your mind, your body, your spirit, your business, whatever it is, that matters, but you take a whole approach, and you elevate the person, you've been doing it in your business, and you continue to bring those values into your consulting practice for CEOs, you, you coach, big time CEOs, entrepreneurs, and everyone in between. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about succeeding in a very balanced way? How do you help people to build success in a very balanced way in their life?

Katie Richardson 
I'll tell you where it why it even matters. And like where it comes from, because what I do in my coaching, it's really profound. It's super impactful. And it comes from the school of hard knocks, I've lived it myself. And so it allows me to go really deep with people on a level that maybe most people can't. And, you know, when my company did finally take off, Ryan, it was a rocket ship, right. And like, at first that was really exciting, and exhilarating. And then I saw how I was not showing up as the mother, as the wife, as the woman of God, even in my health. Like, I saw how all of those other things in my life were struggling because my business was demanding so much of me, it was ruthless. Like it felt like a monster. Sometimes it just didn't let up. And as I walked that forward, right, I'm a visionary. And I look into the future, and I reverse engineer. And so I walked that forward. And I was like, oh, yeah, so this ends in a divorce. And I don't have a relationship with my kids, I have poor health, because I never get sleep. And I get sick all the time. And I don't want that. And I had seen a lot of evidence of that. And I would read books and magazine. And I saw a lot of proof that that's where I was. And that terrified me. And I was like, I'm not okay with that. As I walked forward, I could feel the potential regret, I would feel someday, if I didn't do something about it today. And the beautiful thing is, I was looking into the future, I could reflect back, I could feel that regret, potential regret. But that time hadn't passed. And I could make changes. And so as I was in that moment, and I was like, this is not sustainable. I had this new thought, which was Katie, you're looking for the proof the model, the person that proves that you can navigate all of this complexity, and you don't see it, and therefore it's terrifying you but you don't need proof. Because you know, design, you know, creation. So while you might not see the woman, that's proof and evidence that this is all possible, you don't need her, you can go create her. And what's so cool is, until that point, I had been looking for the right business model, and what what's missing in a business model is you it's only about the business. And I know from my design experience that I can take incompatible variables, and I can literally bring them together with design. I physically done it with my product. But like the product that I was selling was an infant bathtub that hangs and soars flat folds into a bucket seat to hold water. So it was like a walking contradiction. It's flat, but it holds water. And like yes, design, you bring those those opposing elements together with design. And so I realized that I needed to do that with my life.

Ryan Miller 
Wow! And so how did you go about doing that? So you know, in the world of entrepreneurship, and you were talking about it, right? And folks, this is Katie's being real. And Ron, and we certainly love you for it. And thank you for bringing this real account. There's times right, you put it all on the line. And sometimes you feel like my business is succeeding, but and my house not so great, my relationships with my husband or my wife, not where I would like it to be. And it's always these moving targets. Because folks, at times, if you're launching a business, you know, if you're about to launch a business, you're about to find out, you're you always have something that you need to work on, and you're pulled in 100 different directions, right? Your kids need help. And you're you got an investor that's waiting on the call, and your husband hasn't had a date in, you know, two months, or your wife hasn't had a date and two months, whatever it might be, folks. So Katie, can you talk about how did you go about solving that from going from I'm doing well in my business, but the other stuffs not where I'd like it to be yet. How did you bring all of those back on track? How?

Katie Richardson 
You have to start by asking the right questions, and then you have to let go of your assumptions and move into a place of curiosity, which has you open. And if you're asking the right questions, and you're curious, and you're open life will show you the answer. So that's where I started. I just I wanted to know how do you do that? That's it. That's the first step. You have to ask that question. If you're not asking that question, your brain can't help you. You can't be inspired. You can't be directed and led by the Spirit. So you have to ask that question. First of all, and I'm a very visual person, so I'm going to show some visuals. Okay. All right.

Ryan Miller  
So for those of you who are listening, tune into YouTube, you can see the visual, but yeah, Katie's got some other Picasso. Yeah,

Katie Richardson 
so these are on posters. This is a post it with the person with a frowny face and a furrowed brow and they're holding a bow and arrow, and this is what I felt like Right, it was me, and I'm aiming in my day. And now I'm holding posters with lots of different targets, right. And it felt like I was trying to deepen my relationship with my husband, I was trying to be in conversation deeper in my relationship with God, I was trying to take care of my health, I was trying to take care of the very complex business I just built, that was 26 different countries. And like, right now that's being represented by one bullseye, but holy cow, it was like wholesale, retail design house distribution, it was it was so complex, you know, I was trying to be there for my kids. And it was like, all of these targets were all around me. And every time I was with my kids, all I could think about was business. So I wasn't present with them. Every time I was at work, I was thinking, Oh, I didn't say my personal scriptures. Today. Every time that I was with on a work trip, I was thinking, I'm not home with my husband, and my kids right now. And I was feeling guilty. And I started to notice I just I wasn't present. And I was constantly being pulled in so many different directions. And it was like, every time I went to do something, it was like all of a sudden had to orient myself towards a new target. And I had to determine the distance and direction. And and I was trying to dial in for with each of these new targets. And what I started to realize is, what would it look like if when I was at work? It was helping me to be a better mother, what if when I was home, doing dinner with my kids, and sitting at the dinner table and being present, that it was helping me to be a better CEO? What if I took time to say prayers and study the Scriptures that it would actually help me make better business decisions? And I started to just be curious about those things. And I started to wonder what would that potentially look like? And so right now, we've got a stick figure with targets scattered all around. And what I started to imagine was, well, what if all of those things lined up? Because this is what I do with products, right? You understand the constraints, you understand the variables, you even allow yourself to dream and imagine and then you have to ask yourself, How can I make all of these incompatible variables coexist? And that's what I started to do, what would this look like, and all of a sudden, I could see in my mind how it will all those scattered targets all of a sudden become perfectly lined up. And when I'm taking out my arrow, and aiming at my business, I'm also aimed at how I want to raise my kids. And I'm also aimed at the woman of God that I want to be. And I'm also aimed at my energy and health, and all of them line up towards a common purpose, or a Northstar. Something that drives me, that is just true for me, and it's there within me. And it's something that I want that unique to me, and it aligns all of these targets. So in concept, I started to imagine that what would it look like if this is possible?

Ryan Miller
That's brilliant. And so when you're an entrepreneur, you probably got more targets than arrows. Oh, yeah. So you always have to like, forget, you're like, I can't hit that targets by I got three arrows and nine targets, I got to pick which three, and then watch six, I'm not going to hit today. And I think what you're saying, this is brilliant when Katie has taught me this principle, and it blew my mind has so simple. And thank you for following your dream and finding this because we're all better for it is that we in the early days, if you're launching your own business, or launching your own investment fund products, it doesn't matter. When you're launching a business, you're going for your dreams, you're going to have more targets than you have arrows to hit him, and or energy to even draw back all of those times. And so what Katie figured out is to say what if I aligned all of those targets, and I shot at them. And there was one true Northstar. There was one purpose that if I could align all of these things, my marriage, my spirituality, my children, my business, my health, what if I can align all of those and the way I went about hitting those targets, all accomplished? The common thing, that my friends is the secret that Katie brings in. So by doing that, when you were able to take all of those targets, you were able to shoot? I'm guessing here, you keep me honest, you're able to shoot fewer arrows and accomplish more things, because they all accomplish the same purpose. Would you say? That's a fair analysis?

Katie Richardson 
100% Yes,

Ryan Miller  
I love that. So what else? You know, that is brilliant. So So success time, folks is is just aligning all of those things. And it's tough, especially when you're no, you're not this 18 year old entrepreneur living at your parents house and being bankrolled by your parents, right. So for the rest of us, if you started and you got a family, you got a life, we can't just walk away, I mean, or you probably would rather not. So it does, you know, good. And I know you're a woman of faith, it does, you know, good to gain the whole world, and to lose your soul, or your family, or your health or your life. And so doing all of these things doing not just because they all matter, and sometimes you can feel overwhelmed, I've been there, and I know you have and avoiding that overwhelm is not by necessarily doing less, arguably sometimes it is but I think all of those things matter. And Katie was not willing to let go of important thing You know, instead dug deep, like a true entrepreneur. And she found a way.

Katie Richardson 
Can I point one thing out? Yeah, you know, the the first imagery of the targets all over the place, one of the greatest source of sources of drag and resistance when your life is in that state is actually internal. And it's because your head, your mind, your logical thinking, is in at war with your heart and your purpose and what you actually want. And when those two things are at war, you can almost never be present. And when you're not present, you're not efficient, it takes you way longer to do anything. And so I just, I started to figure that out, if I can have internal peace, I can be really brilliant at whatever I choose to do. And so everything became about really protecting my peace, and making sure I'm in integrity with myself. And that is, that's the core of creating those efficiencies. And it's just a nice way to live. Given the options, if I could be at peace or inner turmoil, I'm gonna choose the path of peace and like, do really big fun, exciting things. It is possible.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah, you know, I had a similar thing. And when I when I turned 40, that was the whole thing. I just always I said, I just want to work on cool projects with cool people. But ultimately, my whole life from this point on is all about peace. Every decade, I see this as a theme. But for those of you out there who are 40 Plus, I would say peace has been the defining thing for for the the decade of the 43. Now, so So thank you for that moving moving along on this. I'm wondering if you could leave behind a few competitive advantages for our listeners around the world? What could you tell them, some of those cheat codes, we'll say about building success, you've been very generous so far, maybe you can talk about two or three things that you found to be absolutely critical in building success in business. And in life,

Katie Richardson 
I have four kids, they're a little bit more grown up, they were really young, when I started the company, they were like a newborn, and two and four, and now they are 19,17,15 and 10. And when they were growing up, like I said, life was really complex. And we made a decision as a couple to only have one rule in our home. We believe that when you teach your children true principles, it empowers them to govern themselves, right? It empowers them to lean into their agency to choose to create incredible things in the world. And, and so we want it to empower them to make decisions. And that's like, living by all of the rules is counter to that. And so we only had one rule in our home, which was to love God and your neighbor, who's your brother, by the way, we always had to remind him, your neighbor is your brother. And anytime there was any issue in our home, all we had to do was reminder, Hey, guys, what's the one rule in our home? And they would say, Love God, Love your neighbor? Like, were you your brother just now? No. And they would like our routine was like you had to stick your hands up at the air and show I love my brother. And it was just this reminder that all things come down to that one thing, which I'm just realizing is like how I'd set up my life, right that Northstar. And if you can align yourself with that principle, love God love your neighbor, it will literally help you make every decision in your life, right at every crossroads. And so we wanted to empower our kids to live that way. And I will say I built my business in a very unconventional way. And I had very unusual success I did. And I think living by these principles, and living from a place of love and wanting to do good in the world and to contribute and not take advantage of people and listen, I've been there like I've been face to face with the potential of doing things out of integrity, manipulating people, right? I've been at the precipice of that. And maybe I did cross that line sometimes. But I will tell you, that's when I would lose my piece. And so making a decision on who you want to be. And I want to be the woman who loved God and love my neighbor. That's a decision I've made in my life. And I actively work to live that principle. So that's the first thing I would say,

Ryan Miller 
wow. So it's comes back to what you're talking about that values centered leadership. And to you though those values were love on more than one level. And so implementing those values, you keep me honest, Katie, implementing those values not only helped you in raising your children to have that healthy home life, but also in business, would you say that making key and important values, the center of your approach, and all things that you do has been one of those success factors.

Katie Richardson 
It totally like I can tell you stories where people wanted to buy my company and pay me very richly, but then screw my investors that I'd made a deal with personally and I walked away from those deals, because I couldn't do that that would be out of integrity. I'd made a commitment and promise to those people. And I was not going to let somebody come in and compromise and like there's another time when my investors turned their back on me and I could have gone and you know, sold equity in the company and then lessened their equity by doing that, and I didn't instead what I did is I went and sold my own personal equity to raise the money and get around. So like making these moves of integrity there, it's really uncomfortable in the moment, it just is. There's a big part of the you that's like, Bill, we want to like leave this twisted story to justify personal gain in the moment, at least that's what I, my mind would tell me those stories like, well, Katie, if you do this thing, like you're totally justified and nobody would argue and you wouldn't get caught, or you wouldn't be, and like I would be face to face with those potentials, and I just couldn't do it. And it would terrify me, Ryan, sometimes to make the movement have integrity, and like, say no to those deals, knowing that I was out of runway, I was out of cash, I needed that money, right, I needed that deal. And I was just hanging out with a friend today who has a very significant business, we were having this conversation, I feel like it's one of my greatest competitive advantages is the fact that I actually live the principles that I believe, and it empowers me in my life. And it helps me, you know, today, I coach CEOs, people have a very complex business, and I support them in getting the outcomes that they want, that they haven't been able to get on their own for like 12 or 18 months. And these are super smart people. And I help them see where they're out of alignment with the values. They're telling me. They believe in. And like, oh, here it is, right here. I had a conversation today with somebody, I was like, Oh, I see it. Here's where you're out of integrity. And I showed it to her. And she was like, whoa, what? And I was like, Yeah, you just need to have a conversation with this guy on your team. And she was like, you're totally right. And what's so beautiful, is when you stay in a place of integrity, aligned with your truth aligned with your purpose, you have so much clarity, and you can make decisions really, really fast. And when you quote, make a wrong decision, you see it very quickly, and you can course correct immediately. And that's what they say at the end of my calls with them. They're like, wow, I have so much clarity right now, it just shocks them. Because in an instant, we created clarity. But previously, you're out of integrity, you're living in a lie in a delusion. And that follows your vision.

Ryan Miller 
I love that. So moving, moving with integrity, and it is hard. But let's be honest, like what Katie said, it's true. I go through it too. It's like I probably would have more money if I was willing to cut corners and compromise my values. But unfortunately for for that I'm not. I've walked away from $200 million deals because there was no integrity in the deal. I could have made life changing capital. And I walked in it wasn't hard.

Katie Richardson 
Those always go sideways, by the way, right?

Ryan Miller 
Of course they do.

Katie Richardson 
It's a lie.

Ryan Miller
Trying to sound cool. You're absolutely right. Katie is right.

Katie Richardson 
And it is hard in the beginning. But if you if you have the faith, the courage, the determination, to live in integrity, and you actually move forward, you get stronger. And it actually like it starts to no longer be a temptation. You're like, no, no, thanks. I know that road. And I know where it leads. And I'm not interested in going there. I like my peace. Thank you.

Ryan Miller
You know, it reminds me of that as you hold the line on your values, folks. It's okay to draw the line. You don't have to say yes, all the time. And that's something I learned in the early days as a young leader, that the road to success is probably paved with more no's than yeses and those noes come from you and other people. But what you're doing is you're setting up those guardrails to protect your integrity, but also your legacy. And for those of you who have followed me for a long time, and Katie, you've heard me say this to your reputation, and your relationships are the two most valuable assets in your entire career and in your life, in my opinion. And so when I say your reputation, really, what I'm really meaning is your integrity, you're building a reputation either way, folks, at least design it, see what I did there, Katie, at least design, your ethical compass, your reputation. And I would advise I mean, I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I would advise you folks is pick integrity leaves, make it the top three, and make sure that you haven't I've let employees go. I've distanced myself from partners, and I've walked away from hundreds of millions of dollars of deals. That is how hard I draw that line. And so when you see real leaders, they have something different. They inspire people. And I would argue that it is their value system that pulls people in, that brings money, it brings deals, it brings relationships, whatever your reputation is, like attracts like. So why don't you just get that moral compass that line like Katie was talking about, put that into everything you do everything you design, everything you put out in the world, you inject those values, and you watch the value in your own life soar.

Katie Richardson 
I think sometimes people can hear my story and think, wow, Katie has it all figured out? Her life must be perfect. And it's not like it's still there's still problems. There's still issues. I still have difficulties, but the key is have the clarity for what to do in those situations. And yeah, I've been married for 21 years. My husband's amazing. I'm madly in love with him. And four beautiful children. We live in Puerto Rico, like so dreamy. I'm on the hillside overlooking the ocean. I only work 20 hours a week. I have a very clear head which allows me to serve my clients at a very high level and I'm living a life that If I want, and I created very intentionally, like people used to ask me, he must be so busy. And I was like, No, I'm not question. They're just so caught off guard by it. I'm like, No, there was a time when I was super busy. And I reached my limit. And I was like, You know what? I'm done chilling every minute of my day, without any wiggle room, I'm done with that. How about I build a life where I only work from 10 till two, and I get to go hang out at the beach with my kids afterwards and go surfing or scuba diving, or spearfishing. So like, those are really awesome things. And my life is not perfect. But gosh, I love it. It's amazing. I wouldn't want to be this might sound weird, I wouldn't want to be anybody else. I like being me. I like my life. I built it, I created, I created it. And it's not perfect.

Ryan Miller  
But, you come out the other side with your values intact. And that's the part because you got to live with yourself, even with all that money, and you're done. And you're scuba diving and all that you still got to have those values in place. And folks, that's what Katie did. You know, I'm curious. In the early days, actually, in any time, you and I've talked about this offline about either providing value and becoming valuable. I'm wondering if you could speak to some of those budding entrepreneurs or seasoned executives, we got all kinds of people in over 100 countries around the world, what can you tell us about adding value and becoming a person of value?

Katie Richardson 
You know, in the beginning, when we were a startup, like I said, we didn't have money. That wasn't what we could bring to the table. But I knew that I could create value. And that became our mantra really early on, I can still remember a moment we were on the phone with some potential investors, and we had written on a piece of paper and really thick Sharpie, you create the value, because it's easy when you're taught when you don't have money, and you're talking with somebody who's just got gobs of money, it's easy to feel like you don't have value, you're not bringing something to the table. And that was my experience, like I was living in scarcity. I didn't have millions of dollars in the beginning, but other people did. And I couldn't imagine that I could add value to that person. So it took, it took a little bit of deprogramming myself in what value is. And we've brought this to our family culture to my kids, like they homeschool, and my son who's 17, he's doing a really cool design project and creating a logo for a really cool startup right now. And he's getting paid for it. It's really cool. He's 17, he's getting paid 2000 bucks to create a logo. How cool is that. And he's learned that you create the value, like you can't just move through life expecting everybody to value you, you have to create that value, you have to bring that value, you have to understand what it is about you and your skill set, and how you choose to apply that and bring that into the world. And you know, when you can really just own your gifts, without apologies without shame. And also without ego, if you just own like, for whatever reason, I'm gifted with this, and just really own it in the room with the investor with the potential partners that's really attractive. And so coming to the room, looking for ways to add value to contribute and owning your gifts and talents and abilities and how you very specifically can add value to that room. And then being willing to do whatever it takes to add that value. You know, in the beginning, my husband wanted to partner with some people. And like I said, we didn't have money. And he was like, I can design and all design a logo and a website for you. And that was the value he could add, right? So knowing what your value is valuing yourself, and then bringing that value into the room finding where their actual problem is, and how can your unique skill set add value to those people. It doesn't have to be money. But listen, people will pay very well, when you're really good at that,

Ryan Miller
you know, you remind me in the early days when I was starting out and entrepreneurship and just just HOW TO HUSTLE. And without going too much into my story. If I can tack on to what Katie is saying, because I'm feeling very inspired from this message. Katie, thank you for that. The thing about providing value, so building that skill and creating yourself into a person, the man or woman of value, and the key to unlocking that value. And I'd be curious of what you have found in your career, Katie, the key that unlocks that that ties you that plugs you in to these high net worth people and you're providing them value. The key, my friends is generosity. And possessing the value of generosity is that portal that you shoot your value through. Now, I'm not saying you know, go out and just give, give, give and receive nothing in return. That is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is being smart about it. And providing value in the right ways can be immensely valuable for yourself. Sometimes it's called being a Go Giver, instead of a go getter. And being a go giver in the right kind of circles will immensely help you in the early days of business. Would you agree with that?

Katie Richardson 
Yeah, just don't take it to the extremes. We would do that. Sometimes. That's not good either.

Ryan Miller 
I've done it too. Yeah.

Katie Richardson 
Really value yourself.

Ryan Miller 
Correct? Yes. And so there's a point where you can get you can get taken advantage of if you're a Go Giver, the odds are somebody's gonna take advantage of that. Yeah. So, I mean, it is what it is, but when you're are generous to the right person, the right one or two people. It will it can literally change the trajectory of your life, your career, whatever it might be. So I'm curious, what if we can get one more thing out of you? Because I know it's getting late in Puerto Rico? But how do you feel about a big part of business? It's one thing to have ideas, right? There's the wantrentrepreneurs out there that are always talking to their friends, or their mom, or their dad, or I got this idea, I got that idea. And everything is in their head. And they really are good ideas. But eventually, you got to start having conversations, eventually, you got to start moving things forward. How have you found in your career, the value of communication and having those kinds of conversations because you said, look, I can close anybody here, great communicator, Katie, what have you found to be helpful, and teaching someone on how to cultivate those effective communications.

Katie Richardson 
The most powerful tool when it comes to communicating ideas and principles is you don't want to just speak to their head, right? That's something like statistics and data that all speak to their head, but the more powerful component, and you have to do that piece, but the more powerful component is, can you speak to their heart, and when you can understand how to infuse the logic and the emotion, you can move anybody in any direction. And some people use that as a form of manipulation. My intention is to use that in a form of helping people get what they want. And so the way that I do that is through stories you've mentioned, I'm a woman of faith. And I learned from the best and how did Jesus Christ teach principles through stories, it's as simple as that. And so I used to say, really early on, hey, if a story works for Jesus, it'll work for me. And I started to learn that if I could tell people stories that yes, address the logic or the data that they needed, but helped them feel something, I could move them in a direction that would help and benefit them. So in the beginning, you know, I mentioned we didn't have cash. And so I would use my story to align with people and align our interests, and to get them to partner with me, in whatever capacity it was that I was needing, right, I can think of a lot of stories like when we got on the Ellen Show, it was really last minute, and we needed inventory that we didn't have. And I had to basically rally and piece together manufacturing locally, with like a casket specialist and a sower and career between the two. And, you know, I was asking these guys to basically put me in front of the line of all of their other customers. And I use my story, again, not as a form of manipulation. But I thought if if they knew what, what's happening here, and they can be a part of that story, like that's exciting for them. And so I would just share my story from a place of honesty and integrity. And I would help them see what they're becoming a part of. And so leverage the story that you have, like whoever's listening, right now, you have something unique and special about you. And rather than trying to be like your competition, or be like that guy that you knew when you were in college, like Don't be that guy. What is it about you? What's that unique perspective that you have? And how can you share that with people in honesty and sincerity in a way that it moves them to action, like when we needed to, we had outgrown a 10,000 square foot warehouse that we were in. And to do that, we needed to move into a 20,000 square foot warehouse that I my business wasn't to the size that I could afford that but I needed to be in there to grow into that. And so we made the guy some lowball offers, they all got denied. And I said to my husband, I'm like, Look, let's just set up a lunch meeting with this guy, we just need to meet him if he can see the vision of where we're going. And if he wants to be a part of that he could. And this is how he could be a part of that. So he set up lunch with this guy says sweet old timer, he had inherited the building from his father. And we're, I'm just trying to get to know him first. That's important, actually, you need to get to know them. And I wanted to know his story. Once I knew his story, I could see what mattered to him. And then I could tell my story in a way that it was like, Hey, we're the same person, we care about the same things. Again, not from a place of manipulation. It's from a place of genuine connection. And, and so he had a really cool story. And so I was really curious about him and ask him all these questions about how his father started his company from scratch, pushing a wheelbarrow through the city, collecting scrap metal, and it started as that and then he built it up into a business that he exited for, like $50 million in like 1984, which was like a really big deal. As we're having this conversation. He at one point, he like, interrupts me, and he slaps his hand down on the table. He said, darn it, Katie, what do I have to do to get you in my building, all of a sudden, he's campaigning me to be in his building, and his name was less and I said, less. We've made you three offers and you've denied all of them. And he looks at his broker, and he was like we have. And in that moment, he wants to do everything in his power to be a part of my vision and story. And he did. He gave me an amazing deal, Ryan, and he was my partner for five years, and I was in his building. And so you have to understand how to leverage story. You need to understand the person in front of you. What's the real need that they have? Too often we're looking at surface needs. That's not really what people care about. And so can you get at the core of what they really care about? I've heard you give presentations on how to pitch to investors and you talk about this, like, what do they really care about? So what this means for you is you can spend the weekends with your son, and you'll be getting a dividend check. Right? Like you can go on that trip you've always been dreaming. It's the same thing. It doesn't matter what business you're in, like, can you find out what that person in front of you needs? Can you align your interests? And can you do that in a way that they have an emotional connection to you? And you do that through stories?

Ryan Miller 
I absolutely love it. And as Yes, Katie, that's exactly what I teach people. So I guarantee there's at least a handful of people are listed show be like, yeah, he really does. So as we like to say, or as I like to say, sell the sizzle, not the steak, right. So what I mean by that is you have to not only talk to their neurology, meaning their mindset, but their biology, their nervous system, their body, their heart and their soul, and getting them all in on your idea. Not just like, as you could see EBITDA, margins increasing by 34%. Like snooze fest. I know, right. And good night. So yeah, and by the way, I used to pitch like that, because that's how they teach you in grad school, right? So you go to school, and you think you're cool. After 11 years of school, you think you're pretty good. And then you go into the real world and realize that absolutely ruins you, when you're trying to connect with people because you present like you do in grad school, which is literally the worst thing you could ever do. And so learning to tell stories, and really pull on those heartstrings, or sell the sizzle, not the steak that really does tend to tee things up and really get people to invest in as you said, perfectly, Katie, getting them invested in your story. And really, right full circle the way you said, your story reflects your values, and your values are a reflection of your story. And so you know, as we wrap things up, Katie, this has been absolutely phenomenal. And you are just wonderful. And all this experience that you've had, is there anything else that you would like to leave behind? I know you have a podcast, please let people know what it is. And go follow this show. If you want more, Katie, listen to her show. You're doing a lot of stuff. So just fill us in on how we can connect and just get more Katie in our lives.

Katie Richardson
My podcast is called what's working now I'm really interested in principles. And so the show is really on, what's the core principle? And what's the application of that principle today? Because I believe true principles are always true with the application that changes. And so I'm always looking for what's the application of that principle, that's always been true. And where I would encourage people to start in the first eight episodes, you'll hear my story, and you will learn a ton just from those stories, right? Like what we were talking about. It's a really powerful tool to teach people in a way where you remember the principles and in those moments, in those crossroads in those moments of temptation of doing the thing against your own integrity, you can remember these stories and you'll have clarity on and maybe even courage to go down the less paved road to throw away to say, I don't know,

Ryan Miller
the road less traveled.

Katie Richardson
Thank you. So horrible a cliches they come out so weird and funky for me. Yeah. So what's working now and then I'm also active on Instagram, Katie.live, send me a DM like I love hearing from people. I mean that when I say that, by the way, I respond, I do have free gifts and things like that. But I would say if if what I'm saying is really resonating with you, if you're feeling like you're in that complexity, and you've got a bow and an arrow, and you have darts and targets scattered all around you and you're feeling drained and you're feeling overwhelmed or like my, my client, my clients, I love this round, because they come to me, and they have like the most impossible situation. And I get so excited like a new puzzle to solve. I love this. Let's do it. And like they'll come to me like, well, I work 120 hours a week, and I can't separate from my business partner who's working zero hours because he's my uncle. And that would send my mom into a mental health break. And I'm actively losing my best employees, including a former employee who's suing me for a million dollars, and my wife wants to know why I'm not pregnant with our two and four year old at dinner at night. I'm like, Cool, let's do this. And so it's really about can I help you get really, really clear on what it is that you want? And then can I help you design a strategy and an internal dialogue, by the way for you to actually accomplish and achieve those things. And what's so cool is I'm like Why? Why should this take a long time? Like, can we do this in like three months. And so I've helped people do really complex things that they haven't been able to do on their own, not because they weren't super smart, they're the smartest person in the room. But we all just get stuck in our own head. And so I can help them get out of their head, see the reality of what's happening, understand the variables and rearrange them in a way that it all aligns. And then life becomes so much easier and fun. And like, all of a sudden, life's an adventure. And it's less about all of this resistance and drag and frustration and constraint. Like we can pluck you out of that. And you can be living a beautiful, adventurous life where you're aligned with truth. And again, given the option, why not live that life. That's what I always say. I mean, if you're interested in that, go on to my Instagram page, you can click I've got case studies that people can go look at some of these really complex situations that entrepreneurs have brought me and how we've been able to help them get this like parabolic success from that place of tremendous constraint. And it's fun. I love doing it. It's super meaningful for me. I love it. It's it's actually a use uses a lot of my design thinking brilliant.

Ryan Miller 
Well, thank you, Katie. This has been absolutely wonderful. So just to summarize everything that we talked about Katie, she said inject your values into your life, your business and everything that you do. The second thing was it's better to be a person of value that provides value. And third, sell the sizzle, not the steak. Learn how to communicate through stories that connect your values to your customers heart. You do these things, and YouTube will be well on your way in your pursuit of making billions.

Wow, what a show. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. Now, if you haven't done so already, be sure to leave a comment and review on new ideas and guests you want me to bring on for future episodes. Plus, why don't you head over to YouTube and see extra takes while you get to know our guests even better. And make sure to come back for our next episode where we dive even deeper into the people the process and the perspectives of both investors and founders. Until then, my friends stay hungry. Focus on your goals and keep grinding towards your dream of making billions