The Year of The Personal Brand: How to Earn and Thrive by Embracing Complexity with Kahlea Wade

Join Kara as she sits down with Kahlea Wade, an accomplished brand and influencer marketing specialist. Having grown tired of industry secrets and gatekeeping, Kahlea has vowed to share any knowledge she can to help those just starting out.

In the interview, Kahlea dives into the world of personal branding, influencer marketing, and the importance of being genuine in content creation. She sheds light on the obstacles and victories of building a niche, creating engaging content, and establishing a strong presence on social media. Kahlea shares valuable insights into the strategies she used to navigate the complex world of brand partnerships, emphasizing the shift towards genuine connections rather than just focusing on numbers and followers.

Kahlea also opens up about the personal aspects of being a content creator, addressing the challenges of dealing with misconceptions from friends and family who may not fully understand her work. She provides an honest account of her journey, highlighting the resilience and determination required to succeed in an online world.

Tune in as Kahlea explores the ever-changing landscape of brand marketing, reveals the secrets to personal branding success, and advocates for a more transparent and supportive community where aspiring content creators can thrive.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:18 The Evolution of a Personal Branding
• 4:04 From College Blog to Brand Partnerships
• 8:24 Navigating the Challenges and Building an Empire
• 13:28 The Power of Confidence
• 24:26 Empowering Others Through Personal Branding
• 26:27 Embracing the Era of Personal Brands
• 28:43 The Power of Authenticity and Resilience
• 33:57 Building a Legacy
• 40:35 The Evolution of Influencer Marketing
• 46:54 Advice for Aspiring Creators

Transcript

00:00:00.200 [Music]
00:00:14.639 welcome to this episode of the gateless
00:00:16.760 podcast today we sit down with kayia
00:00:19.320 Wade who is a Creator economy and
00:00:22.640 influencer marketing expert she shares
00:00:25.720 with us her journey of starting her
00:00:28.560 business when she was eight
00:00:30.840 slowly building to what it is now which
00:00:33.760 is absolutely thriving she teaches
00:00:36.879 people about the importance of building
00:00:39.960 a personal brand and really her drive
00:00:43.800 for what she does was sparked from
00:00:46.280 people gatekeeping her when she was
00:00:48.680 trying to make the leap and start this
00:00:51.079 business she had it found it so hard to
00:00:53.960 find anyone that would share information
00:00:56.320 with her the Playbook the how to get
00:00:58.199 started and so she vowed to figure out
00:01:02.480 how to monetize her personal brand and
00:01:04.720 develop brand Partnerships and when she
00:01:06.640 did figure that out she vowed to share
00:01:09.280 the knowledge and the how-to with
00:01:10.600 anybody that needed to know and she's
00:01:12.640 built an absolutely thriving Empire in
00:01:14.560 that realm and kayia gets very honest
00:01:17.600 and vulnerable about some of the
00:01:18.799 challenges that she went through in her
00:01:21.159 life and things that she had to overcome
00:01:24.000 to get to the other side of where she is
00:01:26.240 now which is a successful thriving happy
00:01:28.920 life but it wasn't always like that and
00:01:31.799 this episode is for you if you're
00:01:34.040 somebody that has also experienced
00:01:36.200 Gatekeepers in your life and you need a
00:01:38.920 little bit of a kick to figure out how
00:01:40.880 to get going and move beyond that this
00:01:43.240 episode is for you definitely if you're
00:01:46.600 interested in finding brand Partnerships
00:01:48.960 for yourself or if you're just TR trying
00:01:51.520 to figure out what is that thing your
00:01:54.399 secret sauce that you can wrap up in a
00:01:56.680 personal brand and monetize Kay is an
00:01:59.039 absolute expert in this so with that
00:02:01.439 kayia welcome to the gateless podcast
00:02:04.479 kayia thank you for being here yes thank
00:02:06.680 you for having me I'm so excited I
00:02:08.280 already know that this is going to be a
00:02:09.239 great conversation and I'm going to
00:02:10.360 learn a lot but I'm excited to share
00:02:12.959 share you with our listeners yay I'm
00:02:15.040 happy to be here thanks for coming over
00:02:16.319 the bridge oh yeah always always I love
00:02:18.599 coming over the bridge Drive okay so
00:02:20.640 before we get started could you just
00:02:22.319 give the listeners a little bit of
00:02:24.440 background on you what you're working on
00:02:27.480 the exciting things that you're doing
00:02:29.040 all of that y all the things so I got
00:02:32.680 into this space influencer marketing and
00:02:35.080 Creator economy related when I was 17 so
00:02:38.440 I'm going on almost a decade now which
00:02:41.080 is nuts to think about cuz I just turned
00:02:43.280 26 so I don't feel like I've been in it
00:02:45.400 for that long and I've made a lot of
00:02:48.159 Transitions and pivots over the last
00:02:50.959 specifically three years I would say of
00:02:53.920 kind of coming into my own and when you
00:02:55.800 start really really
00:02:57.280 young you kind of you grew grow up a lot
00:03:00.440 and you grow up really fast so like you
00:03:02.080 know going into early 20s and now mid
00:03:04.440 20s and so now I'm in a place where I'm
00:03:07.959 really focusing on building educational
00:03:11.959 resources for creators and education
00:03:14.720 also for Brands so kind of catering to
00:03:16.840 both sides and I started an agency a
00:03:20.159 couple years almost a couple years ago
00:03:22.080 end of 2022 oh wow so we got talent
00:03:24.799 agency now and then I do a lot of
00:03:26.319 Education just for Content creators and
00:03:28.519 influencers that are wanting to work
00:03:29.760 work with Brands and then the flip side
00:03:31.480 of influencer marketing education for
00:03:33.400 Brands so I'm going into this year now I
00:03:37.040 can't believe we're at the beginning of
00:03:38.480 2024 how did that even happen so going
00:03:41.200 into this year it's a really big focus
00:03:43.480 on just providing those resources and
00:03:45.760 providing you know information that's
00:03:47.760 not gatee kept right in the space and
00:03:52.319 just figuring out you know how can I can
00:03:54.400 continue to serve other creators and
00:03:56.319 other Professionals in this space and
00:03:58.560 really peel back the curtain of the
00:04:00.040 Creator economy and influencer marketing
00:04:01.760 so that's what this year's kind of
00:04:03.920 focused on a little bit of how I got
00:04:05.519 into it so I have heard you say a few
00:04:08.159 times that you started your business in
00:04:11.879 before you even left college but I
00:04:13.159 didn't realize it was all the way back
00:04:15.000 to 17 yeah can we go back there yes yes
00:04:18.160 so what what started at 17 and then what
00:04:21.000 was take me through what you were doing
00:04:22.960 in college too like I I cannot even
00:04:25.400 imagine I was can't fa that either I'm
00:04:28.600 like what what compelled me to think
00:04:31.479 that I could start that but I just went
00:04:33.039 for it so I ended up skipping a year in
00:04:35.720 high school so I had three years of high
00:04:37.160 school and I graduated at 17 and so I
00:04:39.280 went to USF St P to study marketing and
00:04:42.280 it was really because you know I was
00:04:44.320 very blessed and privileged that my dad
00:04:45.840 was like I will send you to college I
00:04:47.160 will cover it I didn't want to go to
00:04:48.520 college because I didn't want to follow
00:04:50.000 the corporate realm and I knew that from
00:04:51.240 a young age like I was the kid that was
00:04:54.039 you know the lemonade stands or selling
00:04:55.800 golf balls on a golf course or you know
00:04:57.840 making bracelets and then selling them
00:04:59.039 at school like from my locker like I was
00:05:00.560 always that kid M and so I had a
00:05:03.840 Intrigue for entrepreneurship and when I
00:05:05.720 got into college I had a humanities
00:05:08.039 class where the professor was going
00:05:10.000 around the room asking everyone what do
00:05:11.880 you want to do when you graduate what
00:05:13.080 are you kind of here studying for you
00:05:14.800 know why are you here and when he got to
00:05:16.320 me after everyone was like corporate
00:05:18.240 Fortune 500 companies I want to work
00:05:19.720 with startups all these things he got to
00:05:21.039 me and I was like I want to do
00:05:22.440 entrepreneurship I don't know what that
00:05:24.080 looks like but I know I want to work for
00:05:25.720 myself and so throughout that it really
00:05:28.919 got me think and I started having
00:05:30.240 conversations with other friends and
00:05:32.120 they were like what if you started a
00:05:33.280 Blog and just kind of shared about your
00:05:34.960 college Journey I'm a huge nerd and I
00:05:37.600 was really disciplined in school so I
00:05:39.360 started this blog about like how to get
00:05:40.960 straight A's and that turned into and
00:05:43.080 evolved into me sharing you know how to
00:05:45.120 decorate your dorm and what to wear to
00:05:47.319 college classes and beauty hacks and all
00:05:49.759 these different things so through
00:05:51.520 starting a blog I was like man there's
00:05:54.280 got to be a way to monetize this and I
00:05:57.120 started seeing other people do brand
00:05:58.479 Partnerships and so I was going around
00:06:01.000 asking people I was like connecting with
00:06:02.319 the these other creators because I love
00:06:03.800 building relationships I love networking
00:06:05.919 and I was like hey I love what you're
00:06:07.039 doing I think it's awesome that you're
00:06:08.240 working with Brands I would love to pay
00:06:10.039 you for your advice and feedback on how
00:06:13.360 did you get into this yeah how you know
00:06:15.880 because I saw people monetizing through
00:06:17.319 ads and I was like that's fine it was a
00:06:19.560 lot of like Mom bloggers and food
00:06:20.800 bloggers so that was very common but I
00:06:22.599 was like I just want to do something
00:06:23.720 different and at that time I didn't know
00:06:25.560 I was actually wanting to create a
00:06:26.840 personal brand I just didn't know what
00:06:28.080 it was called back then it wasn't like
00:06:29.639 what it is today and so through
00:06:32.440 conversations with people offering to
00:06:34.280 pay them for mentorship I constantly got
00:06:36.000 turned down because of my age they were
00:06:37.759 like you're way too young you don't know
00:06:39.800 what you're about yeah don't even worry
00:06:41.759 about it or you're never going to be
00:06:43.560 successful cuz you're too young and
00:06:45.280 you're not doing it the traditional way
00:06:46.759 of like food or you know uh mom you're
00:06:49.400 not a mom or anything like that and I
00:06:51.400 was like okay at first I was like really
00:06:53.840 heartbroken because that sucks and I was
00:06:55.960 just you know like you know white-eyed
00:06:58.080 and bushy tailed like young 18-year-old
00:06:59.840 being like I can do it like you know the
00:07:01.319 world is my oyster and after a minute I
00:07:05.120 was like you know what I'm just going to
00:07:06.919 figure it out myself through trial and
00:07:08.720 error and learn how to navigate brand
00:07:12.039 Partnerships and if I can figure it out
00:07:14.160 I'm a Believer and I commit I was like
00:07:15.440 Lord if you can help me figure it out
00:07:17.280 and I made a commitment to myself if I
00:07:18.879 put in the hard work and I'm disciplined
00:07:20.479 enough to figure it out I will talk to
00:07:22.680 anybody who will listen about how to be
00:07:24.720 successful with brand Partnerships and
00:07:26.000 share all my secrets mhm I just want
00:07:28.440 other people to be successful cuz it
00:07:29.919 sucks being told no I'm not going to
00:07:31.599 tell you anything or oh you're too young
00:07:32.879 or you're not going to ever make it it
00:07:34.400 sucks and so I committed to it figured
00:07:37.280 it out landed my first paid partnership
00:07:39.520 at like 600 followers 50 bucks I was
00:07:41.280 like I'm rich I'm I made it I was so
00:07:44.080 excited and I just kind of evolved from
00:07:46.800 there and through a lot of trial and
00:07:47.800 error and a lot of mistakes and then I
00:07:49.479 started getting asked how did you do it
00:07:51.159 and I was like I've been waiting for
00:07:53.199 this you know and I was like here's
00:07:54.360 everything that you need to do here's
00:07:55.479 how to get started so that's where I
00:07:57.680 began and it evolved into Ed ucation I
00:07:59.800 found my love for teaching and sharing
00:08:02.520 advice in different resources and so
00:08:04.319 then I started creating free resources
00:08:05.840 and that evolved into one-on-one
00:08:07.759 coaching and mentorship and courses and
00:08:10.120 digital products and so it just kind of
00:08:12.240 grew from there but it really came from
00:08:15.960 not ever getting that mentorship or that
00:08:18.840 advice myself and wanting to be the
00:08:20.800 person that could give that to other
00:08:22.120 people you're an OG anti-gay leer I love
00:08:25.479 it okay but so while you were in college
00:08:28.199 or maybe back to when you were finishing
00:08:30.479 college did you know what your business
00:08:32.559 was leaving that you were going to walk
00:08:33.880 into and go fulltime to work on or were
00:08:36.839 you still like what was that yeah I
00:08:39.479 thought I did okay so while I was in
00:08:41.360 college I had my blog I started really
00:08:43.039 monetizing that through brand
00:08:44.000 Partnerships then got into social media
00:08:45.360 and started doing social media brand
00:08:47.080 Partnerships loved that but then
00:08:49.880 realized how much I love community and
00:08:52.680 building relationships and connecting
00:08:54.240 other creatives together and getting
00:08:56.040 them with people that they could also
00:08:57.240 ask questions to or be like oh you just
00:08:58.920 get it
00:08:59.800 around people that were likeminded and
00:09:01.480 just it and so I started a second
00:09:04.720 company called G getaway and I was
00:09:07.160 hosting events in St Pete and Tampa in
00:09:09.079 Orlando end up expanding and doing
00:09:11.640 Retreats all around the nation from like
00:09:13.480 here all the way to Hawaii wow and I was
00:09:16.200 like oh my gosh I actually found a video
00:09:18.040 of myself uh this was a couple weeks
00:09:20.399 back of me getting ready to graduate and
00:09:22.720 I was like I'm so excited I'm going to
00:09:24.279 graduate I'm going to be doing gal
00:09:25.440 getaway full-time obviously Co was
00:09:27.800 around the corner but I took a second to
00:09:29.720 say you know what I'll kind of restart
00:09:31.120 events in 2020 but what if I could
00:09:33.839 create something that would allow
00:09:36.000 anybody to get into brand Partnerships
00:09:38.720 and also there's a community aspect and
00:09:40.440 also you know I was like how could I put
00:09:42.320 everything like virtually online so if
00:09:43.959 you weren't in person and could come out
00:09:45.399 you could get the education you know
00:09:47.240 virtually and so I created a
00:09:49.320 course and that ended up being what got
00:09:52.040 me through 2020 and what had sustained
00:09:54.200 me for the last 3 years essentially so
00:09:56.640 that was your
00:09:57.880 first buing partn yes that was like my
00:10:00.920 big first launch and then obviously 2020
00:10:03.240 happened I couldn't do events everything
00:10:05.240 shut down and so I completely focused on
00:10:07.959 my course Network to net worth and it
00:10:11.000 blew up and that's what allowed me to
00:10:12.760 hit like my first full six figures was
00:10:15.800 like a year of being full-time as an
00:10:17.680 entrepreneur was through the course and
00:10:19.959 and a year out of college yeah that's
00:10:21.760 incredible so I had four years in
00:10:23.360 college where I just spent growing and
00:10:25.519 investing and learning and educating and
00:10:28.640 then I Gra graduated and I hit my first
00:10:31.040 six figures after that how did you get
00:10:33.399 to the P space of brand Partnerships
00:10:36.240 like you shared the story of you knew
00:10:39.560 that like the blog seemed organic and
00:10:41.360 you wanted to just share what you were
00:10:42.480 doing because it was fun and you thought
00:10:44.560 you could help people and then that
00:10:46.560 evolve the way you were able to monetize
00:10:48.120 that was brand Partnerships and like
00:10:49.320 once you cracked that code that no one
00:10:51.240 really would tell you how to crack
00:10:53.440 you're like well I'm going to be the one
00:10:54.440 to share everybody share with everybody
00:10:56.160 but was there any was it so obvious to
00:10:57.920 you the whole time that it was going to
00:10:58.760 be brand Partnerships or were there
00:11:00.040 other things that you thought about
00:11:01.200 building an entire business around it
00:11:02.920 wasn't always obvious to me and I didn't
00:11:05.320 think at that time you could actually
00:11:06.839 make a full-time career from Brand
00:11:08.160 Partnerships because nobody else was
00:11:10.720 right and so I didn't know if it was
00:11:13.160 possible but I wanted to see if it was
00:11:14.839 and how much I could actually earn and
00:11:16.120 like how far I could like kind of push
00:11:17.480 the envelope and if there was also other
00:11:19.839 ways that I could make money from Brands
00:11:22.680 outside of social media and so what I
00:11:25.079 started to do in between that as I was
00:11:27.240 figuring that out with brand
00:11:28.040 Partnerships I knew that I could do
00:11:29.639 coaching and mentorship so I was
00:11:31.760 monetizing through that and creating
00:11:33.560 like digital resources which are now
00:11:34.959 like super big but this was back 2015
00:11:37.560 2016 it was like I was creating guides
00:11:39.360 and different templates and kind of like
00:11:41.279 done for you and then you would just
00:11:43.079 like take it and run with it sort of
00:11:44.880 things but through brand Partnerships I
00:11:48.120 I did a lot of trial and error figuring
00:11:49.399 out like okay if I didn't just do social
00:11:51.920 media could I actually monetize my
00:11:54.440 skills through brand Partnerships could
00:11:56.200 I get brand Partnerships for events
00:11:58.320 could I speak at events Brands were
00:12:00.800 hosting could I have them you know do a
00:12:04.519 podcast with them could I you know I was
00:12:06.519 thinking about what are what am I
00:12:08.000 inherently really good at y can I
00:12:09.880 monetize that through brand Partnerships
00:12:11.720 and that's what was unique about the way
00:12:13.360 that I approached it is it wasn't based
00:12:15.399 on my follower account and it wasn't
00:12:16.720 based on you know this many subscribers
00:12:19.480 on a YouTube channel or how many monthly
00:12:21.320 visitors I have on a Blog it was okay
00:12:24.120 I'm really great at talking I'm really
00:12:25.600 great at building relationships I'm
00:12:27.800 great at you know providing value how
00:12:30.000 could I do that in conjunction with
00:12:32.639 Brands so that's what I was playing
00:12:34.120 around with so I was like doing
00:12:35.320 profiting from coaching and then just
00:12:36.639 like reinvesting that back into making a
00:12:38.839 better blog or creating great content or
00:12:40.320 hiring a photographer and then on the
00:12:42.199 side pushing the envelope with Brands
00:12:44.199 and saying hey I'm hosting an event
00:12:46.560 would you want to pay to be a sponsor at
00:12:48.000 this event yeah or I'm going on a trip
00:12:51.240 would you want to pay me to create
00:12:52.440 content while I'm in Hawaii and I'm
00:12:55.040 wearing your clothes mhm and so that's
00:12:57.519 like this new era started to
00:13:00.519 emerge of those kinds of brand
00:13:02.600 Partnerships and now we see that all the
00:13:03.959 time but it's still not being leveraged
00:13:06.000 the way that it really could be but
00:13:07.720 that's what I was figuring out in
00:13:08.720 college and so when I graduated I was
00:13:10.040 like oh I'm going to do brand
00:13:10.760 Partnerships with events I'm going to do
00:13:12.399 speaking in Partnerships with events I'm
00:13:14.399 going to do all these different things
00:13:15.519 and I'm still going to monetize from the
00:13:17.040 education side to hear that you were
00:13:18.839 having these thoughts and you had this
00:13:20.279 type of confidence in yourself in
00:13:21.600 college is just really amazing to me and
00:13:25.079 I absolutely love it but I'm curious
00:13:26.760 where that came from have you always had
00:13:29.920 confence yeah like but really I we joke
00:13:33.720 like the Sol the culu is to just stay
00:13:35.839 dulu actually just be delusional about
00:13:38.079 what you can achieve because you really
00:13:39.120 can achieve so much more than you than
00:13:40.560 you actually think you can but yeah when
00:13:43.000 I I mean projecting a little bit like it
00:13:45.680 took me a decade of being in the
00:13:47.800 corporate world to really believe like
00:13:50.399 these people around me that have much
00:13:51.920 more power and are making much more than
00:13:53.839 me actually are not any smarter than me
00:13:55.560 and are not doing anything that I
00:13:56.680 couldn't also do to start taking leaps
00:13:58.440 and like I literally cannot fathom
00:13:59.959 having that type of confidence in
00:14:01.160 college and I just need to hear where it
00:14:03.360 came from cuz I'm so impressed by you
00:14:05.199 thank you so I grew up in I have a very
00:14:10.279 tumultuous background of how I was
00:14:12.079 raised I come from a split family my
00:14:14.079 parents were never married and I didn't
00:14:16.880 grow up in an easy home and so I knew
00:14:20.320 going into college for me my business
00:14:24.120 was a means of survival and not a lot of
00:14:26.600 people would have known that and even
00:14:27.800 seeing me now I'm very happy I'm very
00:14:30.000 joyful and that really is you know a lot
00:14:32.959 of my testimony of my relationship with
00:14:35.240 the Lord but through everything that I
00:14:38.399 grew up with and how I was raised and
00:14:40.440 how hard that was I had my own Journey
00:14:42.920 with mental health and I really
00:14:44.279 struggled with depression anxiety I
00:14:46.560 tried to take my own life when I was 14
00:14:49.199 and because of that in the way that I
00:14:52.440 ended up moving from you know Ohio down
00:14:55.360 to Florida and kind of starting over
00:14:57.880 those three years that I had had in high
00:14:59.040 school I was in Florida and then I was
00:15:00.440 transitioning into college and it was
00:15:02.480 really a fresh start for me and it was
00:15:05.040 an opportunity to reinvent myself and so
00:15:07.480 a lot of it was you know faking it until
00:15:10.079 I made it and just believing in myself
00:15:13.120 because nobody else did around me and my
00:15:16.160 family is the most supportive now but
00:15:18.040 they didn't always understand what I was
00:15:19.320 doing and they didn't understand why I
00:15:20.600 would be going to college and not
00:15:21.639 getting a steady corporate job and
00:15:23.720 instead doing my own thing and so it was
00:15:26.040 me and the Lord like that's what I had
00:15:28.240 at that time and so I had no other
00:15:30.360 choice but to believe in myself and I
00:15:32.160 knew that I wanted to have that fresh
00:15:34.199 start start over and I had a choice of I
00:15:37.759 can continue living a certain way or I
00:15:39.480 could continue living struggling with
00:15:41.360 mental health day in and day out or I
00:15:44.680 can have something that's bigger than me
00:15:47.199 we were kind of talking about this
00:15:48.000 before the interview but something that
00:15:49.480 was bigger than me and about more than
00:15:51.360 me and it's not it's not even about me
00:15:52.800 at this point but something that I could
00:15:55.800 put my time and energy and attention
00:15:58.839 into that would serve and bless other
00:16:01.240 people and so the confidence really came
00:16:04.560 in believing that number one the Lord
00:16:06.959 was leading me to do that there was a
00:16:08.480 lot of kind of backend again with my my
00:16:11.959 faith journey of knowing this is what
00:16:13.759 I'm supposed to be doing and I'm just
00:16:14.880 going to figure it out and I have
00:16:15.959 confidence in the Lord I'm going to just
00:16:17.319 trust that this is what I'm supposed to
00:16:18.440 be walking into and then just believing
00:16:20.480 in myself cuz no one else would and so
00:16:22.959 that's where my confidence grew and it
00:16:25.680 was a lot of like Tulu and just being
00:16:27.800 like figure it out you know and there
00:16:29.800 was a lot of Grace like being young and
00:16:31.279 I took a lot of that Grace knowing I was
00:16:33.399 young and I could kind of mess up and
00:16:34.959 people wouldn't say as much about it and
00:16:37.279 now being you know recently 26 this is
00:16:40.519 actually the first year and my word for
00:16:42.600 the year is actually confidence because
00:16:44.639 it's the first year I feel like I'm
00:16:45.680 actually fully owning and truly
00:16:48.279 confident without faking it in what I
00:16:51.120 know in my experiences and the journey
00:16:53.279 that I've walked through to get to this
00:16:54.800 point but a lot of it was just delusion
00:16:57.279 and believing in myself cuz no one else
00:16:58.959 would if you're not going to believe in
00:17:00.360 yourself then I mean you it's hard to
00:17:03.279 expect other people to like of course
00:17:05.079 it's amazing to have people cheering you
00:17:07.079 along the way and have people make you
00:17:09.799 feel confident that you can do anything
00:17:11.599 but like ultimately if even if you had
00:17:13.839 all of that and still didn't believe in
00:17:15.280 yourself like so you kind of you did it
00:17:18.599 you figured it out and that's amazing I
00:17:21.480 I I I mean I'm so impressed so it sounds
00:17:24.520 like it struck a nerve for you when you
00:17:27.119 did reach out to people and as for help
00:17:29.760 and really just wanted somebody to help
00:17:31.679 you understand where to start or what
00:17:33.160 the Playbook was for being an
00:17:35.160 entrepreneur and figuring out how to
00:17:37.080 monetize and aligning alignment of your
00:17:40.120 passions your skill sets and money yeah
00:17:42.720 and I'm curious if you have any like
00:17:44.880 experiences or stories around trying to
00:17:48.200 trying to get the help that you now are
00:17:49.960 giving to everybody else um like the
00:17:51.600 coffee shop story yeah that's a good one
00:17:54.960 so the coffee shop story I have a lot of
00:17:57.400 stories but one of them that really
00:18:00.320 stands out is I had reached out to a
00:18:02.440 really big Creator at the time and you
00:18:06.919 know she it was like one of the first
00:18:08.679 people that actually agreed to meet with
00:18:09.880 me and I was like I will pay you for
00:18:10.960 your time or I'll buy you a coffee or
00:18:12.240 I'll buy you lunch you know I wasn't
00:18:13.640 making much money but I was like I know
00:18:16.120 that investing in yourself is key if you
00:18:17.720 want to get to where you want to be you
00:18:18.720 should invest in yourself and also learn
00:18:20.520 from people that have gone before you
00:18:22.799 and so she agreed to meet with me and I
00:18:25.520 was jacked I'd like got my I got a like
00:18:28.520 a new notebook you know I got there
00:18:30.240 early got my coffee I'm like setting it
00:18:31.760 up and then you know getting ready and
00:18:33.679 I'm just like at the door like eagerly
00:18:35.440 awaiting you know I think I'm like 18 at
00:18:37.039 this point you know and she's probably
00:18:38.480 like later 20s and I was just like oh my
00:18:40.919 gosh I'm so excited like I'm going to
00:18:42.120 get all the secrets I'm like this is it
00:18:44.200 this is the moment finally figure it out
00:18:46.200 yeah and she comes in and sits down and
00:18:49.640 you know she was nice and um I was like
00:18:52.120 okay so where do I start you know like
00:18:54.640 where do I begin and she was like well
00:18:57.080 you know just um create good content and
00:19:00.159 be consistent and um like it'll work out
00:19:03.039 for you and something along that and I
00:19:04.919 was like I was like am I being punked
00:19:08.000 right now like and I was like okay you
00:19:10.080 know being nice and trying to give like
00:19:11.640 gracious conclusions I was like okay
00:19:13.360 like awesome like that's great to know
00:19:15.360 but what are the actual steps that I
00:19:17.919 need to take like number one you know
00:19:20.000 like how many pieces of content what is
00:19:21.720 consistency what is great content where
00:19:23.480 should I be showing up like how are you
00:19:25.240 are you pitching to brands are they just
00:19:26.480 reaching out to you or you just kind of
00:19:27.840 like wait
00:19:29.320 tell me every tell me more Devil's in
00:19:31.039 the details yeah exactly and she didn't
00:19:33.760 have much else to say she's just like no
00:19:35.840 like yeah like like brains will kind of
00:19:37.039 come to you and if you just kind of keep
00:19:39.360 keep going it'll work out and I was like
00:19:43.440 okay cool and that was really the
00:19:46.679 conversation basicly all she said was
00:19:48.480 like trust the process but didn't
00:19:49.760 actually tell you what the process was
00:19:51.000 like what is the process what am I
00:19:52.480 trusting yeah what am I doing and she
00:19:56.640 left and I just remember like sitting
00:19:58.400 back in my seat being
00:20:00.480 like my gosh like I was so frustrated I
00:20:03.360 was so frustrated cuz I really thought
00:20:04.840 that was going to be like the
00:20:05.640 Breakthrough moment and I was like if I
00:20:07.480 ever get the chance to sit down with
00:20:09.120 someone I'm going to be like block your
00:20:11.200 calendar for an hour bring a notebook
00:20:13.120 you will need it m and sit down I'll
00:20:15.000 tell you everything that you want to
00:20:16.000 know and I did that for free for like
00:20:19.360 the first I would say at least year year
00:20:21.120 and a half I would take meetings with
00:20:22.799 people and just tell them and also help
00:20:24.360 me as an educator to learn how to
00:20:25.679 communicate right and deliver but yeah
00:20:27.559 that was really frustrating I think it
00:20:29.679 just I had one of two choices in that
00:20:32.000 those scenarios no one's telling me so
00:20:34.039 screw all of you forget it like uh you
00:20:37.440 know or I could approach it and say no
00:20:40.679 one's going to tell me I'm just going to
00:20:41.720 figure it out M and that's what I chose
00:20:43.799 to do I think everything in life is a
00:20:45.200 choice the the way that we respond just
00:20:47.000 like with my own story I could have
00:20:48.559 chosen to use my past and the way that I
00:20:50.799 was raised and my mental health Journey
00:20:52.960 as a crutch as to why I couldn't do XYZ
00:20:55.280 or why I can't have a successful
00:20:56.480 business or be XYZ kind of person or I
00:21:00.120 could say you know what that sucks that
00:21:01.760 I went through that but I came on the
00:21:03.120 other side I can use it as a testimony
00:21:04.919 and opportunity to help other people and
00:21:07.159 that's how I saw you know the the
00:21:09.480 gatekeeping that constantly went I was
00:21:10.679 like okay I'll just not gatekeep yeah
00:21:12.600 and I'll just help anybody who will
00:21:13.840 listen you know and that's how I kind of
00:21:15.840 approach those things but it's
00:21:16.880 definitely super frustrating to not get
00:21:19.480 the advice that you're looking for yeah
00:21:21.159 and that we talked about this a little
00:21:22.480 bit earlier but it's got to be founded
00:21:24.880 in a scarcity mindset and being afraid
00:21:28.760 of somebody else's success which you
00:21:31.400 know when you're in a when you're in a
00:21:33.279 low and kind of insecure place it can
00:21:36.240 happen to where you're like wait I I
00:21:38.039 want that success like I don't want that
00:21:39.279 to Habit and when you're in a confident
00:21:42.000 centered like faithful place it's so
00:21:45.000 much easier to be able to share what's
00:21:48.679 working and so you know like you can
00:21:50.840 chalk it up to okay not hurt people hurt
00:21:53.679 people but like somebody that's not
00:21:55.080 confident has a hard time sharing how to
00:21:56.960 how to be successful
00:21:58.559 but many
00:22:02.559 peopley bring to the table is INF and
00:22:05.840 more of it and that's the whole reason
00:22:07.080 that this podcast exists and this
00:22:09.640 platform exist is like we want to talk
00:22:12.279 to women that are doing really cool
00:22:13.679 things like you and the purpose is that
00:22:17.159 then listeners will be inspired to go do
00:22:19.240 the big thing too that they've been
00:22:20.679 waiting for or that has been waiting for
00:22:22.200 them and confidence is a huge piece of
00:22:24.240 it but also just access to the
00:22:25.760 conversation of how to do it is what's
00:22:28.600 lacking yes and I like you bring the
00:22:31.279 exact type of mentality and thought
00:22:32.880 process to it so thank you for that yeah
00:22:35.080 thank you for having me I love what you
00:22:36.640 guys are doing it's important and
00:22:39.200 conversations like this do breed
00:22:41.600 confidence yes to be like oh my gosh
00:22:43.720 wait I can totally do that or I do have
00:22:46.120 what it takes or cuz I really believe
00:22:48.279 that every single person has what it
00:22:51.240 takes right now and they have the tools
00:22:52.559 and the skills in their tool belt right
00:22:54.480 now to be successful and then as you
00:22:56.799 grow and you skip scale you add in more
00:22:59.480 tools and more skills for that next
00:23:01.799 level of success yeah but we often sell
00:23:04.279 ourselves short to be like well you know
00:23:06.320 I haven't made this much money so I
00:23:07.600 can't really talk about it or I haven't
00:23:09.360 done this so I don't really have
00:23:10.679 anything to say we were talking about
00:23:12.000 this too of you are you know you might
00:23:15.360 be on step let's say you're just on step
00:23:16.919 three there's still someone at Step Zero
00:23:18.960 or step one that needs what you have to
00:23:21.000 say and would get value out of where
00:23:23.000 you're at and and what you've gone
00:23:24.480 through same thing I could say I'm on
00:23:26.480 step seven well there's 1 through six 0
00:23:29.159 through six that you know I could be
00:23:30.640 able to help and so we just need more of
00:23:33.760 these conversations to be like oh my
00:23:35.760 gosh no okay I actually do got this and
00:23:37.480 someone else to Believe in Us and remind
00:23:40.039 us no you can do it doesn't matter what
00:23:42.640 your past is doesn't matter what you've
00:23:43.840 gone through or what you haven't gone
00:23:44.760 through like you can't be successful and
00:23:46.600 like you absolutely can do anything I
00:23:48.360 believe anyone can do anything that they
00:23:50.120 set their mind to if they commit to
00:23:51.720 doing it and are disciplined to do it
00:23:54.159 just send it they're willing if they're
00:23:56.039 if you're willing to put in the work
00:23:58.000 stay consistent and just like keep it
00:24:00.559 going have the confidence and keep it
00:24:02.080 going you can do it so I guess there's
00:24:03.880 two things it's like there are a lot of
00:24:05.480 people that don't they don't know
00:24:08.200 exactly how to stay consistent and
00:24:10.840 that's probably more because they
00:24:12.000 haven't found the right thing for them
00:24:13.279 like if you love it you're going to keep
00:24:14.640 doing it if you think it's for you
00:24:16.120 you're going to keep doing it if it's
00:24:17.279 not for you then it's probably not going
00:24:18.640 to work out but um there's that piece of
00:24:21.520 it and then there's also the like access
00:24:23.880 to somebody that's going to make them
00:24:25.840 confident enough to give them the kick
00:24:27.000 in the butt to go do it so there's both
00:24:29.320 but I'm so I'm curious at what point you
00:24:31.960 got intentional about using your
00:24:34.200 personal brand as a tool to shed the
00:24:38.399 share the message that you have because
00:24:41.320 you package it the way you talk about it
00:24:43.159 is so clear and concise and easy to
00:24:44.679 digest like I told you I I took your
00:24:46.760 personal branding workshop and just the
00:24:48.480 way you package like your personal brand
00:24:50.320 is the digitization of your reputation
00:24:52.840 and you are best positioned to help the
00:24:54.919 person that you once were it's so clear
00:24:56.840 to me and it shifted my mindset about it
00:24:59.080 it's not just like I'm not trying to get
00:25:00.720 attention on social I'm just trying to
00:25:02.640 find the people that maybe I could help
00:25:04.679 or help them find me however you say it
00:25:07.159 but I think you have a lot of
00:25:08.520 intentionality in it and so I'm curious
00:25:10.080 at what point you started being
00:25:12.320 intentional as opposed to just like
00:25:13.919 doing your thing yeah yeah you know
00:25:15.720 that's a great question so in 2020 when
00:25:19.720 I changed
00:25:22.240 my focus from doing the events to doing
00:25:25.240 the course that's when I started to
00:25:27.840 really recognize the value of doing a
00:25:31.000 personal brand and how I could build
00:25:33.080 that and so it was the last like from
00:25:36.720 2020 to 2022 I really focused on that
00:25:40.279 but I still was stuck in oh I have to
00:25:42.880 have this one Niche this one thing that
00:25:45.360 I'm known for and at that time it was
00:25:46.760 just brand Partnerships then at the end
00:25:49.000 of 2022 to about October of last year of
00:25:52.080 23 I was in this 11th month 11mth fog
00:25:55.840 where I was like um
00:25:58.240 everything that I've ever known I feel
00:25:59.559 like I hit like 25 I had like this
00:26:01.640 quarter life crisis where I was like do
00:26:03.880 I want to just be known for brand
00:26:05.399 Partnerships and what is my personal
00:26:07.159 brand so I started asking a lot of
00:26:08.240 questions with my audience of when you
00:26:10.000 see my content how does it make you feel
00:26:12.000 when you think of Kay and Nicole or you
00:26:13.799 think of my brand what is a word that
00:26:15.760 comes to mind and I started asking these
00:26:17.760 questions and just doing market research
00:26:19.159 and also doing a lot of like internal
00:26:20.799 soul searching of what do I want to be
00:26:22.760 known for how do I want people to feel
00:26:24.960 what kind of content how do I want to
00:26:26.320 show up and how do I want that to be
00:26:27.880 perceived and so it was honestly like
00:26:30.559 the last 3 months of 2023 this is when I
00:26:32.880 did the personal brand Workshop where I
00:26:34.840 had this like lightball moment of this
00:26:37.520 is what a personal brand is this is what
00:26:39.679 it is and I was like I got to create a
00:26:41.520 workshop on this like I think this could
00:26:42.720 help a lot of people and just really
00:26:44.480 unlock and like create freedom for
00:26:46.320 people that think you have to pick one
00:26:49.120 thing and stick with one thing and be
00:26:50.520 known for one thing and then feel boxed
00:26:52.159 in and just be happy with it just be
00:26:54.080 happy you know and I'm like no no we're
00:26:56.159 not doing that anymore and I really
00:26:57.919 could see with the trend of what was
00:27:00.320 happening in the Creator economy and
00:27:01.440 influencer marketing I was like you know
00:27:03.320 what I really think 2024 is going to be
00:27:05.080 the ER of personal Brands and I stand by
00:27:07.080 that like that is this year like we're
00:27:08.960 going to see that more and more we're
00:27:10.120 already starting to I know it's only one
00:27:11.279 week in at the time of this recording
00:27:13.080 but we're going to see that like crazy
00:27:15.000 this year where people are shedding the
00:27:17.399 I need to pick one thing and be known
00:27:18.840 for one thing the whole pick a niche and
00:27:22.000 stick with it into I am the niche yeah
00:27:25.279 that is my personal brand my personal
00:27:26.600 brand is my niche and so it was at the
00:27:28.559 end of 2023 and now this year where I'm
00:27:30.600 just owning the heck out of that where
00:27:32.919 I'm like yeah I am the niche I'm like
00:27:34.360 Goofy and silly but also I can sit down
00:27:36.919 and I will give you the first 10 steps
00:27:39.039 that you need to take if you want to be
00:27:40.600 a successful content creator or you want
00:27:42.519 to build a profitable personal brand
00:27:44.960 online or you know so straight up to the
00:27:48.159 point all actionable stuff like no
00:27:51.080 fluff but it took a second to realize
00:27:54.880 what it was because we're inundated with
00:27:56.519 so much crap on social
00:27:58.279 what weed to do and all these gurus and
00:28:00.760 all these experts are like pick one
00:28:02.519 thing and theal BR needs to be and I'm
00:28:04.640 like this is a bunch of crap yeah it's a
00:28:06.760 bunch of crap but I didn't unlock that
00:28:09.000 until I kind of came out of the fog and
00:28:11.279 there was such intentionality of the fog
00:28:12.600 of like or like think of it like a
00:28:14.240 sabatical or I took a step back and I
00:28:15.799 like stopped doing the brand partnership
00:28:17.360 stopped doing all the content I just was
00:28:19.360 like traveling and like in the mountains
00:28:21.240 and just like praying and figuring out
00:28:23.399 like what the heck am I doing and what
00:28:24.880 do I want to do and what am I want to be
00:28:26.000 known for and coming out of that and it
00:28:27.720 was just like oh my gosh this massive
00:28:29.279 light bulb moment and so now I want
00:28:31.159 everyone to know like we are the niche
00:28:33.640 MH you know like it's not about picking
00:28:36.679 one thing and so it took a second but it
00:28:40.399 just came out I would say into 2023 and
00:28:42.840 now this year I love it one of the
00:28:44.840 intentions that I set for this year for
00:28:46.440 myself was live limitlessly and what I
00:28:49.080 what that means to me is not be so put
00:28:52.080 in boxes like just cuz I'm uh have
00:28:55.080 always been in Tech and I have had more
00:28:57.799 than a decade of experience successfully
00:29:00.720 running sales teams in Tech doesn't mean
00:29:03.440 I can't completely pivot doesn't mean
00:29:05.679 that because I'm a mom I can't also
00:29:09.080 start an entrepreneurial Journey yes CU
00:29:11.320 there's and and the reason I bring that
00:29:12.880 up is because I do feel and think that a
00:29:16.320 lot of others feel societal pressures to
00:29:20.320 be your thing and pick your thing and
00:29:23.159 but I but I believe that that's because
00:29:25.679 others want to know what to expect from
00:29:26.919 you and that makes them feel and
00:29:28.559 comfortable and it's scary when you
00:29:30.840 don't know what you're going to get from
00:29:32.200 somebody because they are Dynamic and
00:29:34.760 they're multifaceted and though that
00:29:36.799 feels really amazing inside I think it's
00:29:39.120 a little it rocks some people like do
00:29:41.720 you so I bring I'm I'm asking I'm
00:29:43.640 bringing that up to TI up a question
00:29:45.559 about your experience with people in
00:29:48.080 your life as you have really stepped
00:29:51.159 into your true self and you seem to very
00:29:54.240 much be living Limitless Li limitlessly
00:29:56.519 and you're like crushing many different
00:29:59.679 things not just your one thing yeah has
00:30:02.679 have you had relationships in your life
00:30:04.519 evolve or are there people that maybe
00:30:08.039 didn't support all of the transitions
00:30:10.559 that you've gone through to get to where
00:30:12.159 you are right now oh yeah oh yeah yeah
00:30:15.440 I've even had even in re recently I love
00:30:18.399 what you said about don't be afraid to
00:30:20.200 Pivot or Rebrand or even expand
00:30:23.840 sometimes it's not always like a 180
00:30:24.960 pivot but it's just an expansion of what
00:30:27.000 we
00:30:28.039 which is yeah what I feel like I've been
00:30:29.679 in the midst of but I've definitely had
00:30:32.399 thankfully my family's been extremely
00:30:34.640 extremely supportive of what I've been
00:30:36.279 doing but there are other people in the
00:30:38.440 space or strangers on the internet like
00:30:41.279 I'm no stranger to The Strangers being
00:30:43.200 up in my DMs telling me what I should
00:30:44.720 talk about or what I should do or what I
00:30:46.080 shouldn't do and you know people that
00:30:48.120 don't really understand and I don't
00:30:52.279 really care I really don't for because
00:30:56.159 I'm so confident in the decisions that
00:30:57.639 I'm making I'm so confident and what I
00:30:59.200 know is right for me and my business and
00:31:01.840 my companies that it doesn't matter what
00:31:03.799 anyone else says and even if my family
00:31:04.960 didn't support I'd be like I love you
00:31:06.399 guys so much but that's okay and it's
00:31:08.240 not meant for you and I know that anyone
00:31:10.080 that doesn't fully understand it or
00:31:11.320 doesn't support it that's fine because
00:31:12.480 it's not meant for them and if I if
00:31:14.919 everyone is super happy with what I'm
00:31:16.399 doing I'm doing something wrong in my
00:31:18.080 own perspective because I'm not pushing
00:31:20.039 the envelope enough or being bold enough
00:31:22.320 or stepping out enough and causing
00:31:24.440 people to be like wait I don't know if I
00:31:26.279 agree with that like the whole personal
00:31:27.840 brand thing and not picking one thing
00:31:29.120 people roast me for that all the time
00:31:30.840 they're like no you got to pick one
00:31:31.960 thing cuz that's strategically what you
00:31:33.600 that's fine if you want to look at it
00:31:34.639 strategically I'm not just looking at it
00:31:36.159 strategically I'm looking at it as what
00:31:38.080 do I want to show up and be consistent
00:31:39.399 about every single day and what makes
00:31:41.200 the most sense for me and it means being
00:31:43.200 me in being the personal brand and so
00:31:46.200 yeah I get people that say stuff all the
00:31:48.000 time but I just I really don't care
00:31:50.799 that's the that's the method like
00:31:52.679 whatever it's not meant for them yeah
00:31:54.039 and you got to put blinders on too like
00:31:55.960 when you are choosing to put yourself
00:31:58.039 out there on social media and choosing
00:31:59.559 to build a platform you're going to get
00:32:01.320 people that don't understand it's like
00:32:02.559 the silly Pinterest quote where you
00:32:04.159 could be the ripest juiciest peach in
00:32:05.559 the world and there's still going to be
00:32:06.480 somebody that doesn't like peaches yep
00:32:07.880 there are people that get on me all the
00:32:09.080 time because they're like well you're
00:32:10.080 too happy you have too much joy you're
00:32:12.880 too or you're too goofy or you're too
00:32:14.919 excited about I'm like sorry I'm sorry
00:32:17.639 not sorry you know that's fine like go
00:32:19.279 find somebody more serious like I have
00:32:21.120 my moments of being serious and really
00:32:23.200 in the zone but I'm silly I'm silly as
00:32:26.679 heck and if that doesn't work for you
00:32:28.720 that's fine I'm not offended by that
00:32:31.480 that's you like something else and
00:32:33.080 that's okay you know we're all entitled
00:32:34.799 to our own opinions and our own you know
00:32:36.919 preferences and that's okay if I'm not
00:32:39.120 one of them yeah uh it's very rare that
00:32:42.559 you're criticized by somebody that's
00:32:43.880 doing more than you or that's ahead of
00:32:45.519 you it's very common that you're
00:32:47.120 criticized by people that aren't doing
00:32:49.360 much or haven't started or are too
00:32:52.039 scared yeah and so I think it's also
00:32:53.880 remembering that most of those hate
00:32:56.200 comments are coming
00:32:59.679 they don't have scared they Haven done
00:33:01.960 it yet fake accounts fake bot yeah I've
00:33:06.080 had people though that I actually know
00:33:07.519 in real life that have made fake
00:33:08.880 accounts to troll me no and I figured it
00:33:11.559 out cuz I'm an FBI
00:33:13.159 agent that's so hurtful though oh yeah
00:33:16.720 yeah you just you have to build a thick
00:33:18.240 skin though and again because of the way
00:33:20.679 that I view my business where I'm like
00:33:23.639 it's so much bigger than me and it's not
00:33:24.760 even really about me like I can really
00:33:26.519 create a separation where I'm human and
00:33:29.360 like some things really suck and I'll
00:33:30.880 have to like process that with my
00:33:32.159 husband or I'm like in counseling you
00:33:33.639 know I'm super pro therapy super pro
00:33:35.320 counseling and I like work through that
00:33:36.840 and I'm like why did that bother me so
00:33:38.519 much and really have to analyze like why
00:33:40.840 something really hurt my feelings but
00:33:43.360 most of the times you just have to let
00:33:44.360 it roll off your back cuz you're just
00:33:45.600 like that's fine you're really yeah okay
00:33:48.679 that's fine and next I'm like you know
00:33:50.480 what thanks for boosting my engagement
00:33:51.840 with the hate
00:33:52.960 comments true keep keep your mouth keep
00:33:54.919 running your mouth that's fine the views
00:33:56.559 are going up it's true so you shared
00:34:00.120 that a big driver for you building a
00:34:02.080 business as even as early as in college
00:34:04.919 was because you knew it was correlated
00:34:08.000 to your survival and like you were it
00:34:10.159 like you had to make yourself successful
00:34:11.639 you were just relying on yourself and
00:34:12.719 you were just you were the one believing
00:34:14.520 in yourself are there other motivations
00:34:18.040 that you have intrinsically that keep
00:34:19.839 you going like are you trying to achieve
00:34:22.000 certain things in this lifetime do you
00:34:23.679 think about your legacy are you oh yeah
00:34:25.960 I think about
00:34:28.800 generational just value and Legacy and
00:34:31.440 and wealth every day you know I knew
00:34:33.918 when I started my business too that it
00:34:36.079 was a means for survival and it was
00:34:37.760 something that kept me going because it
00:34:39.159 was something that was bigger than me
00:34:40.679 and allowed me to invest and pour into
00:34:43.040 other people and I really value that I
00:34:44.679 really value serving other people and
00:34:47.040 blessing them and and just kind of like
00:34:48.480 passing the torch to the Next Generation
00:34:51.520 and building up the next generation of
00:34:53.280 leaders to go out and serve their
00:34:54.679 communities and and their people and I
00:34:56.918 believe like there's so much power in
00:34:58.839 the ripple effect and I recognize that
00:35:01.160 with every single post or every single
00:35:02.920 conversation you know you never know
00:35:04.280 who's going to listen and how it's going
00:35:05.440 to impact them and who they're going to
00:35:06.960 tell like even with the workshop you're
00:35:08.359 then telling you know Haley and then you
00:35:10.119 know she might tell some you never know
00:35:11.520 how things can impact you know for
00:35:12.960 generations to come or across different
00:35:15.000 communities and so in college I was
00:35:18.480 thinking even I was like I knew I wanted
00:35:20.160 to get married one day knew I wanted to
00:35:21.520 have kids I want to be a mom one day but
00:35:25.079 I I wanted to create something that my
00:35:27.520 kids could also look back on and be like
00:35:29.720 oh that was so cool that like Mom did
00:35:31.119 that like she went after her dreams and
00:35:32.640 she went after her goals like I can do
00:35:33.920 it too and it's really important to to
00:35:37.800 Leal leave a legacy of doing things with
00:35:41.040 Excellence of serving other people and
00:35:43.839 not just making it about us I think that
00:35:45.320 we can be really inherently selfish and
00:35:47.640 make it about us and the accolades that
00:35:49.400 we have and the accomplishments that we
00:35:50.839 have and what we've been able to achieve
00:35:53.680 and I think there's so much Beauty when
00:35:55.640 we don't just look at what we're able to
00:35:57.760 do I think it's great to be proud of
00:35:59.160 ourselves but we don't just look at what
00:36:00.440 we're able to do but how did that impact
00:36:03.359 the next generation of leaders and the
00:36:05.520 other communities and the other people
00:36:07.200 that didn't have access to certain
00:36:08.440 resources or didn't grow up a certain
00:36:09.920 way or never thought that they could do
00:36:11.240 something and that's what I want is I
00:36:13.040 knew that I wanted to create a brand
00:36:15.880 that would provide so much value that it
00:36:18.520 would have other people going after
00:36:20.520 their dreams and other people confident
00:36:22.599 in themselves and other people chasing
00:36:24.240 after the skills for me what I believe
00:36:26.520 like God has inherently gifted them with
00:36:28.599 mhm and so that for me is like the
00:36:31.440 biggest driving force and is it fun to
00:36:33.240 be able to wake up every day and do what
00:36:35.040 I love and make money do what I
00:36:36.520 absolutely like that's the biggest
00:36:38.200 blessing is I get to work from wherever
00:36:39.880 whenever I want and I get to profit
00:36:42.400 doing something I'm so incredibly
00:36:44.119 passionate about but my passion is
00:36:46.040 founded in serving other people and
00:36:48.280 helping them chase after their dreams
00:36:50.960 and and monetize their unique talents
00:36:52.760 and skills and so I knew whatever it
00:36:54.880 eventually evolved into you know
00:36:56.800 throughout College post colle you know
00:36:58.800 now in my 20s that that is the Legacy
00:37:02.160 that I wanted to leave behind the
00:37:04.240 inspiration to have something so much
00:37:05.760 bigger than you and to leave an impact
00:37:07.480 that's so much bigger than you means a
00:37:09.839 lot and it can keep you going through a
00:37:12.000 lot of hard times and your your the
00:37:15.359 impact that you have on people having
00:37:16.920 the confidence to go do the thing or to
00:37:19.079 have to chase their dreams is I mean
00:37:21.800 it's literally breaking like
00:37:23.119 generational cycles of I mean I my
00:37:26.880 parents are so supportive of me and love
00:37:28.640 me and all these things but like they
00:37:30.319 were like go get the big corporate job
00:37:32.200 be stable like we don't want to worry
00:37:33.800 about you it was about worry and
00:37:35.839 scarcity and that I think that just
00:37:39.520 needs to change because there's so much
00:37:41.800 more all these people especially women
00:37:44.400 like have so much inside of them like
00:37:45.839 they feel like they have more to give
00:37:47.000 and they don't know how to articulate it
00:37:48.040 and they don't know how to get it out
00:37:50.240 and you know I think like shifting your
00:37:52.920 point of one day you want to have kids
00:37:54.520 that can look at what you did and be
00:37:56.000 like she did I can do it yeah that is
00:37:58.520 the most amazing thing ever and to be
00:38:00.880 able to do that I mean you're going
00:38:02.240 you're already done it you're going to
00:38:03.640 do it when you have children but I love
00:38:05.440 that as inspiration yeah it's like so
00:38:07.560 much bigger than yourself so it is still
00:38:09.920 important to be proud of yourself though
00:38:11.119 and I'm curious what you're most proud
00:38:12.359 of that you've accomplished that's a
00:38:14.440 really good
00:38:15.760 question I would say I never when I was
00:38:18.760 13 14 really struggling with my mental
00:38:21.119 health you know and I was just at the
00:38:22.880 lowest point in my life like not even
00:38:24.400 wanting to be around anymore yeah I'm
00:38:26.880 most proud of
00:38:30.160 staying
00:38:32.680 and I really think it's just the
00:38:35.800 opportunity that the Lord has given me
00:38:37.560 to be able to serve other people and the
00:38:39.680 opportunity with a platform cuz that's
00:38:41.319 what it is yeah it like I'm going to get
00:38:43.640 emotional yeah like I really shouldn't
00:38:47.240 even be here right now but like God
00:38:49.720 saved my life and like I will live every
00:38:53.119 day one for him but
00:38:55.520 also taking every single moment every
00:38:59.079 minute like every opportunity give
00:39:02.480 it to him for honor and Glory but also
00:39:05.920 you know do everything that I can to
00:39:07.560 make the most of it and so I'm just I'm
00:39:09.280 really proud of being here and I'm proud
00:39:11.200 of what I've been able to build that
00:39:13.079 really isn't about me but it really is
00:39:14.880 focused on serving other people yeah and
00:39:17.040 just blessing other people with what God
00:39:18.800 has blessed me with whether it's
00:39:20.599 experience or knowledge or just
00:39:22.319 opportunities is just sharing that with
00:39:24.440 other people that for me is what I'm
00:39:27.240 most proud of it's not oh how much
00:39:29.839 profit I've made or how many Brands I've
00:39:31.440 gotten to work with but seeing the
00:39:33.839 impact of not gatekeeping really and
00:39:38.359 sharing experiences and being so open
00:39:41.640 about that and how other people have
00:39:43.920 been able to build businesses like
00:39:45.200 that's my favorite like it literally
00:39:47.200 blessed me so much knowing that my
00:39:49.160 workshop meant something to you like
00:39:51.920 that for me is what it's all about is
00:39:53.920 now you can go after what you are
00:39:55.920 dreaming about not just because of that
00:39:57.520 but something unlocked there for you and
00:40:00.839 it was an opportunity I was given to
00:40:02.280 share you know and so seeing other
00:40:04.880 people go after what they're called to
00:40:07.240 and going after the dreams God has
00:40:08.599 placed on their heart like that's that's
00:40:10.640 everything for me that's what I'm most
00:40:11.960 proud of it's really beautiful we're
00:40:13.880 we're all glad that you're still around
00:40:15.319 you're doing so much good in the world
00:40:17.079 and you're making an impact on people
00:40:18.880 and I I mean you're I'm glad that you're
00:40:21.920 proud of that because that is a
00:40:24.400 beautiful thing that you've done for
00:40:25.680 yourself and for the world
00:40:27.720 um lighting lightening it up a little
00:40:30.119 bit um I I want to I want to get a
00:40:33.240 little I want to get in your brain on
00:40:35.119 some of these trends that you see so
00:40:37.960 influencer marketing how do you see that
00:40:40.400 evolving and changing in the next year
00:40:43.720 or so like you me you said 2024 is a
00:40:45.920 year of personal Brands and that
00:40:47.760 obviously gives you a puts you in a
00:40:49.520 position to be paid for brand
00:40:52.400 Partnerships and influencing and all of
00:40:53.960 those things but what what more about
00:40:55.800 the evolution of influencer marketing do
00:40:57.440 you see on the horizon yeah so we're
00:40:59.760 seeing a lot more Brands finally
00:41:01.720 understanding that we know what we're
00:41:03.400 doing when it comes to creating content
00:41:05.839 and comes to knowing our audiences or
00:41:07.960 you know being able to leverage our
00:41:09.240 skills and so I'm seeing more brands
00:41:11.640 that are open to oh yeah like I would
00:41:14.119 have you speak on a panel for an event
00:41:15.880 that we're hosting or I would pay you to
00:41:17.800 host an event for us or I would you know
00:41:20.520 have you do a podcast about us or
00:41:23.000 whatever it might be do your email
00:41:24.160 newsletter or sponsor your blog or
00:41:25.880 something like like that so we're seeing
00:41:27.119 an expansion of the way that brands are
00:41:29.839 working with creators which I'm so happy
00:41:31.680 about because again I'm all about
00:41:32.720 monetizing talents and skills and that
00:41:34.920 being the inherent reason that you start
00:41:36.800 partnering with Brands we're also seeing
00:41:38.760 Brands finally understand the value of
00:41:40.640 long-term Partnerships so many Brands
00:41:42.599 were just like oh one off and let me
00:41:43.839 just test it and then they're like oh
00:41:45.319 this doesn't work and it's like well you
00:41:46.920 partner with them one time yeah it takes
00:41:49.119 time for it to grow and for also the
00:41:50.960 audience to realize oh this isn't just
00:41:52.720 for paycheck trust it yeah this is a
00:41:54.359 relationship it's not just a transaction
00:41:56.319 so we're seeing more of that we actually
00:41:58.560 just closed another deal with a really
00:42:00.440 big company that wants to do like long
00:42:03.000 form content so like a three-month
00:42:04.720 campaign or six-month or year-long
00:42:06.240 campaigns we're seeing more of that
00:42:07.920 which is huge and then brands are caring
00:42:10.480 more about working with Nano and micro
00:42:12.520 influencers versus just like the Megan
00:42:14.319 celebrity we're actually seeing this
00:42:16.240 really interesting situation where the
00:42:19.960 more followers you're getting the less
00:42:21.480 Partnerships you're getting what yeah
00:42:24.280 because Brands can't afford those rates
00:42:26.359 or they want to work on longer term
00:42:27.559 Partnerships and they want to have more
00:42:29.440 content with one person that's a little
00:42:31.760 bit smaller and has a more Niche
00:42:33.760 targeted audience than someone who you
00:42:37.480 know posts 10 brand Partnerships a month
00:42:40.160 wow you know one off all the time so
00:42:42.720 we're seeing this kind of EB and flow
00:42:44.319 and so at allur society which is my
00:42:46.520 talent agency we have a girl that has
00:42:48.440 100K she and I were just having a
00:42:49.640 conversation about this is she was like
00:42:51.040 I'm actually getting less inbounds ever
00:42:52.760 since I had 100K than I did when I had
00:42:54.800 50k wow because Brands aren't just
00:42:57.359 looking at follower account anymore
00:42:58.640 which is awesome but then it also is
00:43:00.880 leaving you know these people that have
00:43:02.559 100K 200k 300K they're like um I thought
00:43:05.599 I was supposed to grow all this time
00:43:06.920 like I thought that's what would you
00:43:08.480 know allow me to make more money and so
00:43:10.119 now they're having to okay well I'm
00:43:12.119 going to create my own products or
00:43:13.280 services and then I'm going to also
00:43:14.480 supplement with brand income or I'm
00:43:16.720 going to work with brands on more than
00:43:17.880 just social media so those are some of
00:43:19.680 the things that we're kind of seeing
00:43:21.800 right now and again I mentioned personal
00:43:23.599 brand is going to be the thing for
00:43:25.640 influen marketing and Creator economy in
00:43:27.839 general this year and Brand's just
00:43:30.440 wanting to work with creators that are
00:43:32.920 talking about more than just brand
00:43:34.839 Partnerships like they're doing content
00:43:36.720 that people really love to watch and
00:43:38.920 consume and care about yeah so how can
00:43:41.920 you share just go off a little bit on
00:43:43.520 how someone who is a good fit to work
00:43:46.119 with you in your talent agency and how
00:43:48.319 what do they what what is the
00:43:49.720 relationship like when they're working
00:43:51.000 with you yeah so we're very tight-knit
00:43:53.920 as a team and then also with our our
00:43:56.240 talent so we currently represent three
00:43:58.520 exclusive creators okay and they're
00:44:01.119 different like they're very strong
00:44:02.400 personal Brands I don't a lot of people
00:44:04.599 are like oh I I have 100 someone DM me I
00:44:06.680 have 150k and I would love to sign with
00:44:09.079 you and I'm like okay great well what
00:44:10.119 are you making from inbound
00:44:11.480 opportunities brands that are reaching
00:44:12.760 out to you because our you know
00:44:15.839 requirements aren't you have to have
00:44:17.559 this many followers I want to know are
00:44:19.240 you actually profiting from Brands
00:44:20.680 already because we make money based off
00:44:22.599 of commission right we want creators
00:44:24.640 that are at least making 70k from Brands
00:44:27.000 already and do they have a really strong
00:44:28.839 personal brand okay and so in terms of
00:44:32.200 like relationship we're very tight-knit
00:44:34.240 that's why we only have three but we've
00:44:36.040 closed almost 200k that's amazing with
00:44:38.319 two of them and we just signed the third
00:44:40.720 wow so it really goes to show like
00:44:43.119 there's so much power and personal
00:44:44.000 Brands because we're doing social
00:44:45.079 Partnerships ugc Partnerships speaking
00:44:46.800 engagement Partnerships Y and so we are
00:44:49.720 really big on mutually beneficial
00:44:51.920 Partnerships it has to make sense for
00:44:53.720 both the Creator and the brand if it
00:44:55.480 doesn't there's there's no point in the
00:44:56.440 partnership Y and we're big on long-term
00:44:58.000 relationships we want to work with you
00:44:59.720 over three six a year long we don't want
00:45:01.920 to just do one-off campaigns we're
00:45:03.280 welcome to do that but I will always we
00:45:05.240 always stay in conversations like we
00:45:06.640 just had a call with the Celtics this
00:45:07.880 past week it was the first conversation
00:45:09.720 we had with them and first paid
00:45:11.640 partnership conversation and I told her
00:45:14.480 straight up I said I know this is our
00:45:15.720 first time meeting but I want you to
00:45:17.040 know that we really value long-term
00:45:18.119 Partnerships so while we're super
00:45:19.599 excited about the opportunity for us to
00:45:21.599 work together on this one-off campaign
00:45:23.040 for this unique you know thing that
00:45:25.160 you're doing
00:45:26.839 we would love to do something again next
00:45:29.359 quarter in the quarter after we want
00:45:31.079 this to be longterm we want it to be
00:45:32.160 mutually beneficial they love that oh
00:45:34.000 good and they're all about that but I'm
00:45:35.640 always about like shooting my shot and
00:45:37.640 planting seeds and also like being very
00:45:39.599 clear about our intentions as an agency
00:45:41.920 and also our intentions with working
00:45:44.000 with them is we go in and say we want
00:45:46.200 this to be mutually beneficial we want
00:45:47.839 this to be a long-term relationship we
00:45:49.480 want it to be more than just a one-off
00:45:50.720 thing so we know we don't we have a
00:45:53.440 weight list of over 200 creators wow
00:45:56.440 which is huge blessing and really
00:45:57.640 exciting we're very I'm very picky I'm
00:46:00.000 the one I'm I co-founded it so I have a
00:46:02.440 co-founder who handles more of the
00:46:04.319 communication with Brands and the talent
00:46:06.720 and the negotiation and contracts we
00:46:08.640 kind of do together but she's mostly the
00:46:10.319 one day in and day out on emails and I'm
00:46:13.119 the one that's the face of the agency
00:46:14.760 I'm the one that hires new employees and
00:46:16.440 then also brings on Talent so we have
00:46:18.400 calls with all of our talent beforehand
00:46:19.839 it has to make sense like we have to
00:46:21.240 work well together or else it's not
00:46:23.280 going to work but I'm very very picky
00:46:25.520 because don't want to just hire someone
00:46:26.599 that's just like well I just want to
00:46:27.720 make money yeah okay long-term
00:46:30.839 Partnerships with your talent too
00:46:32.280 exactly exactly and like we've had our
00:46:34.520 first two we just signed for like a
00:46:36.079 whole another year so it's like we got
00:46:39.440 them in and and we keep working with
00:46:41.079 them it's not a hey we'll just come in
00:46:42.800 and kind of help with certain things
00:46:44.359 it's we take over all inbound we also
00:46:46.760 are releasing a pitching package because
00:46:48.520 that's kind of where I started was all
00:46:50.040 pitching but yeah we're really big on
00:46:52.400 relationships both with the talent and
00:46:54.040 then also the brands that we work with
00:46:55.559 cool so somebody that wants to get in
00:46:59.640 start a career in entrepreneurship
00:47:02.520 specifically similar to what you're
00:47:04.640 doing whether it be focused on personal
00:47:06.839 brand or marketing or you know all of
00:47:10.000 the influencer marketing in the brand
00:47:12.000 Partnerships that you do and focus on
00:47:14.079 what anti- gatekeeping advice would you
00:47:16.559 give to them at the beginning that you
00:47:19.079 wish you knew at the beginning of all of
00:47:20.880 this for you yeah oh man there's so many
00:47:23.920 like I give like 15 things
00:47:26.440 I got to pick one that is probably the
00:47:29.960 number one
00:47:33.040 thing I'm trying to think of a tangible
00:47:35.480 piece because I think a big one is
00:47:37.880 obviously you know be a little
00:47:40.359 delusional
00:47:42.040 yeah confidence is key yeah confidence
00:47:44.720 is key for
00:47:46.240 sure and I
00:47:48.440 think committing to putting yourself in
00:47:51.079 rooms with other people that get it and
00:47:53.040 are like-minded and just having
00:47:54.599 conversations there's so much that you
00:47:56.040 can learn just in networking and I think
00:47:58.920 that can feel very scary but I'm very
00:48:00.839 grateful that in college when I wouldn't
00:48:03.480 get advice directly from people I just
00:48:05.640 went to tons of events and I would just
00:48:08.400 always try and find the host in the room
00:48:10.359 and then find other people that I could
00:48:11.920 really connect with Y and just I would
00:48:13.920 start with providing value versus asking
00:48:15.880 for Value yep and I think that's a huge
00:48:18.000 way to be able to like build
00:48:20.119 relationships and also start to learn oh
00:48:23.520 you're doing this or you know someone
00:48:24.839 that's doing that and then getting to
00:48:26.520 have kind of conversations with them I
00:48:28.599 think is really great just putting
00:48:29.800 yourself like never be the smartest
00:48:31.760 person in the room and so constantly
00:48:34.240 putting yourself in rooms where other
00:48:35.280 people know more or doing different
00:48:36.839 things even if it's adjacent is really
00:48:41.319 valuable man there's just so many things
00:48:43.359 I could say because it could go
00:48:44.359 entrepreneurship side or content creator
00:48:46.880 side that's a great one yeah you also
00:48:49.200 have a lot of resources that people
00:48:50.680 could leverage too if they are
00:48:52.680 interested in getting into something
00:48:54.079 like this yeah and I do a lot of free
00:48:55.599 content too just getting started and
00:48:57.880 well where can people find you on social
00:48:59.559 to connect with you but also just follow
00:49:01.640 your journey yeah I am most consistent
00:49:04.319 on Instagram as of right now so Kay and
00:49:06.720 Nicole on Instagram and I'm also I'm
00:49:08.680 gonna get back into Tik Tok we'll get
00:49:10.920 back into that year okay but like
00:49:13.160 Instagram and threads and then I also
00:49:14.720 have an email list where I share a lot
00:49:16.119 of kind of Insider Scoops and behind the
00:49:18.520 scenes so I would say those would be the
00:49:20.319 best places to connect amazing thank you
00:49:22.839 so much for giving us some of your
00:49:24.599 afternoon trekking over that bridge this
00:49:27.400 was amazing for amazing such an
00:49:30.040 inspiring conversation thank
00:49:32.220 [Music]
00:49:48.119 you