Ep 14 - All About Kim (And Some Exciting News!)

This week’s energy update is a collective exhale—the calm after the storm. Gina shares why it feels like we’ve been white-knuckling it across a bridge (holding your breath, anyone?) and why once you’re on the other side…abundance tends to arrive all at once. Then we flip the mic and go all in on Kim—her story, her spirituality, her book, her family, and the behind-the-scenes magic that birthed this podcast.

You’ll hear the real origin story (yes, it started in a salon chair), how grief and grace moved Kim to write F Words for Your Soul, and the “F-words” she lives by—Focus, Faith, Freedom, and Flow. We get raw about shadow work, personal power, and using science to ground spirituality. 

In this episode

• Energy Update: Why the last 4–5 months surfaced your shadow—and how to let your “leaves” fall so abundance can flow.
• Don’t Get Twisted: Loving others without getting tangled in their life path (a mantra you’ll want to steal).
• How the Podcast Was Born: A spontaneous “let’s do it together” moment, instant synchronicity, and the simple tech flow that keeps us consistent.
• Kim, Unfiltered: From Catholic school to quantum physics—how personal development sparked a grounded, expansive spirituality.
• The Book Backstory: The loss that changed everything, the journal-to-manuscript journey, and writing as true healing.
• Motherhood & Mirrors: The surprising ways kids make you a better human—and a 24/7 mirror for your growth.
• Vulnerability Hangover: Sharing personal stories with care, handling pushback, and choosing truth with compassion.
• Real-World Wins (& Roadblocks): Bookstore pickups 🎉, plus the ad-policy curveball that forced a new strategy.
• The F-Word Kim’s Practicing Most: Why Faith is the daily edge—even after you “know” the work works.

Why you’ll love it

If you crave practical spirituality—where mindset meets neuroscience and manifestation meets real-life mess—this episode will light you up. It’s part origin story, part masterclass in turning pain into purpose, and part pep talk for staying in your lane while your blessings line up.

Favorite takeaways

• “Abundance often arrives after the bridge—keep walking.”
• “Love people fiercely…without getting twisted in their timeline.”
• “When you understand the why (science), the work becomes inevitable.”

Resources & links

• Book: F Words for Your Soul: A Guide to Creating the Life of Your Dreams by Kim Littrell (on Amazon or ask your local bookstore).
• Podcast: The Charmed Life Project — follow/subscribe for weekly energy updates and soul-level strategy.

If this episode moved you, share it with a friend who’s crossing their own bridge right now. And if you’ve read the book, leave a review—it helps more than you know. 💛

— Gina & Kim

Transcript

Gina 1:38

Hi guys. Gina Scapino, psychic, medium and spiritual life coach here. I'm so excited to dive into the energy update today because it is what we have all been needing and craving. It is like feeling the calm after the storm and being like, what the hell was that? Who the hell was I during that time period? And I want you to reflect on what qualities changed about yourself. What things did you see that you wanted to transform from your shadow self? Because sisters, and misters, you all were shown your shadow self during this time period. Am I right or am I right? This is about letting go and allowing your leaves to fall, reflect, and shift one step. But wait a minute, because there's abundance on the way. You've been waiting for this one, hoping for this one, and everything is gonna happen all at once. It's almost like you're holding your breath waiting to get to the other side of the bridge. You know, like we used to do as kids, you would hold your breath as you pass the cemetery or hold your breath as you go over the bridge. That is the energy right now. But as soon as you get over the bridge, everything is gonna fall into place all at once. And all of your abundance is gonna be flowing in. So you've learned the lessons the past four or five months that will carry you through to the now and into the future. Do not get twisted into someone else's life path. I'm going to repeat this. Do not get twisted into someone else's. Life path. If someone's going through a hard time, you can love them, you can support them. But honey, child do not get twisted. Okay, so we got tons of abundance coming in with a little tool. A, don't get twisted up in someone else's energy and reflect on those shadow parts of yourself. What do you want to transform? What did you take away from that time period where you were like, oh my God, what the hell is going on? What do you wanna change? What do you wanna shift? I know that I got a little taste of that myself, and I have things written down about five or six things that I'm like, all right, I'm gonna tweak this about myself. I'm gonna move forward and I'm gonna be the best version of myself moving forward. So Kim, what is today's episode all about?

Kim 4:08

I guess we're talking about me as, as much as I hate to say that I hate talking about myself. So, yeah, you're gonna have to hold my hand through this episode.

Gina 4:18

i'm gonna hold your hand but we are gonna dive a little deeper into Kim. We're gonna talk about her and her life and her business, and we're gonna dive into this amazing book that she wrote, and I'm so excited These answers are gonna go deep. They're gonna be really, really good. So let's dive in, Kim. The first thing that came up when I thought about interviewing you and wanting to know your perspective on things is I want our listeners to hear about how this podcast came about. Do you remember that day in the salon when all of this just like magically came together and we were just like, hell yes. Do you remember? I do. Yeah. It really was kind of magical. Okay. Tell me all, tell me all about it.

Kim 5:06

we always find ourselves saying something and the other person going, oh, me too. You know, we're always like so in sync. Yes. And this is kind of one of those moments. But yeah,, you were doing my hair and you've always been so supportive of my book and my journey with that, and I think you were asking me what I was doing to promote the book and um, I said nothing. I'm doing absolutely nothing to promote the book. I had actually just gotten my, like the wind knocked outta my cells recently, with something with the book. And so I had just, and we can talk about that in a bit, but I had just put it on the back burner for the moment and I was just like, yeah, I'm not doing a thing, I'm not even thinking about it right now. And I mentioned that, I had thought about maybe starting a blog at some point. That seems to be what writers do, you know, maybe that might draw some attention to it. Uh, yeah, but who, who reads blogs anymore? Like nobody has time for that. No. We want short bite-sized clips. Absolutely. And so I, I talked about podcasts, that's what I, I love to listen to podcasts to get my information, so I said, well, maybe I'll do it in tandem, you know, I'll. Write the blog and then read it on the podcast. How boring would that be? And uh, and you said, oh, I've always, wanted to do a podcast too. And then, something along the lines of, but the technical side of it, like, I just don't know. You know, it seems really complicated. The software and editing and all of that. And what's interesting is that I had already gone through all of the steps of starting a podcast. I had gotten all the equipment I had downloaded, the software needed to edit, and all of these things years earlier, not for myself, but for my husband Kyle, because it was back when, uh, we had decided I wasn't gonna go back to work. And we were kind of thinking of ways we could diversify income instead of having just the one stream of income. And I had this brilliant idea for him to start a podcast. And, and how, how long ago was this? I mean, it had to be three, at least three and a half years ago because Oh my gosh, that's so nuts during maternity leave. And so, He's not a podcast person. This was really wishful thinking on my behalf, but I was like, I'll write the script, I'll edit it. All you gotta do is get on the mic. You know? Um, so I went through the whole process, learned everything on how to do it. We even recorded his first episode. It was terrible. And I love you, God. Yeah. He's hilarious. It was fine. But like, we also just realized that we, he didn't have time for that. He was working during the day. He was busy as could be. And in the evening we have kids, you know, it's just not something that we could commit that kind of time to, uh, so it just fell off. And so that's just, it's funny how the universe works. That I had already went through all of these steps so many years ago, and I think that's really what made it so easy and so magical for us to just kind of pick up where I left off. But I had said, Hey, it's no big deal. I'll tell you all about how to do it. You know, it hadn't really like dawned on me yet about, yeah, maybe we should do it together. And then, I think I went off to go get my hair dried and, the idea just started like bubbling up inside of me, and it was a little bit scary. Thinking about what if it doesn't work, what if, you know, I'm not good at this and all of these, things. But it was more exciting than it was scary. Mm-hmm. And so I remember when I came back and, you were washing my hair and I said, let's, let's do it together. Why don't we start a podcast together? And I'll never forget, you kind of cocked your head to the side a little bit and looked at me and it took half a second. And you go, okay, let's do it. And I remember being like, so surprised by that because I mean, I just, I've always looked up to you. I think you're incredible. You're an incredible businesswoman, you've, you know, following, thank you, you're amazing on camera. You know, I have no experience with this kind thing. Um, so for you to like, be willing to do that with me, I just remember being like, oh, you know, it just, it made me feel so great. Um, but yeah, from there it was just off to the races. It came together. So seamlessly. Mm-hmm. And I mean, we had one meeting, I think yeah. An hour long meeting, where we just like hammered out everything. We, talked about music and intros and what the episodes would be about. And of course we were just always in sync on everything. Uhhuh.

Gina 9:20

Yeah. We were just spit balling and it just like magically happened.

Kim 9:24

Yeah. So quickly. And then we recorded our first episode and I remember afterwards texting you and being like, I'm just, I'm still buzzing. Like this feels so good. It feels so right. I had so much fun doing that. Mm-hmm. And it's been like that the entire time. Where Yeah, it's just felt like this magical synchronistic thing that came together and it's just fun. And that's like what, keeps me wanting to do it because it doesn't really matter. Yeah. I mean, I'm shocked at how many people are listening. It's incredible. We're almost, I was looking the other day. We're close to a thousand downloads we've got 15 countries. Like what? That's crazy. Yeah. Close to 150 cities where, there's been downloads and I keep coming back to it. I feel like it's because it's such an alignment, for both of us. Mm-hmm. You know, it just,

Gina 10:09

yeah. It's

Kim 10:10

fun.

Gina 10:10

Absolutely. And I remember caulking my head to the side and the reason why I caulked my head to the side, I was like, she would wanna work with me like. Oh my gosh, because I feel the exact same way about you. I feel like you have such a good heart, so pure hearted, so kind and giving. And we are, we're always in alignment with each other of like what we're thinking about or what we're going through. And I was just so shocked and excited that you asked me and I was like, yes. Absolutely a hundred percent. This is what we're meant to do. And we've just been, zinging together ever since.

Kim 10:49

Yeah. And

Gina 10:50

it has been so fun and effortless know. It really has.

Kim 10:53

And I remember that first meeting that we had. We were supposed to meet in person and there was like a wreck on the interstate. Yes. Or something we like couldn't get It would, it was going to take an hour for either of us to get to each other and we were like, well shoot, let's just do it on Zoom. Yeah. And I feel like that was kind of, synchronistic as well because now we do everything Yes. On Zoom. And it really makes it so easy. Easy. You know, so easy. There's no travel time,

Gina 11:18

Exactly. And you do all the heavy lifting. Like full disclosure, you guys I just show up and talk into a mic. Kim does all of the behind the, she is the one that makes this podcast happen. You guys. I am just the voice on the microphone. You are the entertainment that is much

Kim 11:37

needed every week. I'm like, okay, Kim, little bit more enthusiasm. You got this, you can do this. And then I come on the mic, I'm like, hello. How is everyone today? Yes. Still working on it. You,

Gina 11:50

there was this old saying, there was like, oh, I can't remember it, but it was to that effect of like the radio voice. But no, you're not at all whatsoever. You always bring the energy.

Kim 12:02

Well, I will tell you it's a lot easier than people might think. Editing and things. I actually had somebody reach out to me the other day saying they wanted to start their own podcast. And I was like, I will tell you everything you need to know. It is so simple, we'll do a whole episode on it. Yeah, for sure.

Gina 12:17

Yes, we hear you and we're gonna do it. And during that episode, I will probably silently support Kim in everything that she has to say because I don't know anything I can tell you how to speak into a mic and bring some energy. That's about it.

Kim 12:33

And you're great at that.

Gina 12:35

Now, a couple of episodes you shared with everyone that our first time meeting was me actually doing your hair for your wedding. Yes. And I love that I was part of that story from the very beginning and then learning about you and your family and then getting to meet Kyle and how freaking amazing and awesome he is. Mm-hmm. Like I am also crazy obsessed with love stories and you guys have been married for so long, you have two beautiful children. But I wanna know your guys' love story. What is it? Tell me everything.

Kim 13:17

Oh goodness. Um, it was many, many years ago, so let me think back. Well, we met in our college town, so we both went to EKU. Mm-hmm. But I had already graduated. So I had moved away and I was living with a boyfriend at the time. We broke up. So I moved back to move in with, a couple of my girlfriends and, Kyle was still in school. He and I are the same age. But I always joke that Kyle was kind of like the band wilder of EKU, like he was just having a good old time. I can so see

Gina 13:49

that. Yeah,

Kim 13:51

he, uh, we, we like joke around that he could have had a doctorate by the time, like with all the schooling that he had. But in his defense, he. He was working full-time for kus Moving Crew, and so he was getting his college paid, fully. So, you know. Oh, nice. He was working full time during the day and then he was also bartending at night. And so he was just kind of taking hours here and there and wasn't real. Like I said, he was having a good time. He was not too concerned. No. Yeah, it wasn't until we got together that I was like, wait, what are you doing here? What classes are you taking? When are you, are you going to graduate? When he kind of got it all together. But yeah, so we met one night, out at a bar of course. I was there with a few of my girlfriends. He was there with a few of guy friends and we just kind of all hit it off. So it was very much friendship vibes at first. Mm-hmm. But we all were just kind of inseparable and started doing a lot of things together, going to concerts and so forth. And then, like I said, I had gotten out of a bad relationship, pretty bad breakup where I was, I was having some trust issues and mm-hmm. Uh, so when he approached me and like wanted to, you know, make it romantic and go on a date, I was not real open to that. Um, and so he was pretty persuasive and we finally did, and I remember it was like the best first date I've ever been on,

Speaker 3 15:10

and we just like, love

Kim 15:11

that. Yeah. The, conversation flowed. He put a little bit of thought into it. Like, he didn't take me to the Applebee's, down the street. Like he took me to this place called Halls on the River, which was up a few exits and, um, really, you know, put his best foot forward. Mm-hmm. But even kind of after that I was still like a little bit like, I don't know, and then I'll never forget, there was one night where he was bartending. He asked me to come out to, the bar where he was bartending at. And I had done that a lot, but I just thought, I'm not gonna do that tonight. And I went somewhere else and then he ghosted me afterward, like, didn't call me. He had been calling me every day, texting me every day. And when I didn't show up there that night after I said I was going to, he. Just didn't reach out to me. And I was thinking, what is going on here? So I tried to get in touch with him and he wasn't answering. And I'll never forget, I went on like this family vacation and I was talking to my mom and I said, mom, I'm a little sick to my stomach over this. Like, I didn't realize how much I liked him until this moment. And uh, so when I got back from vacation, I finally did talk to him and he just basically was like, yeah, like I'm not messing around here. Like, if you don't wanna be with me, that's fine. I want you to be my girlfriend. You know, tell me now because I'm not gonna like keep chasing you. And I was like, okay. I love that. I do. I love a man that knows what he wants. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just hilarious.'cause we didn't meet, we went to college for four years together. We never, cross, I'm sure we did cross paths, but we didn't ever, know Yeah. We didn't see each other at bars, at any parties. We didn't have classes together that we know of. Um, and it felt kind of magical because, I don't think if we would've met earlier, would Yeah. Have worked out. You know, he was in a place where he was, amen was ready. Amen. For a relationship. He wasn't messing around and I was in a place where I could really appreciate someone like him and Yeah. Everything that he had to offer. Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, it was just been, we've been married for, oh my gosh, 11 years now. Um, together for like 16, I think. Yeah, two kids. Knox is seven, Chloe is three. And, Yeah, it's great. We, I am married to my best friend, which is like the best part of it. Aw, yeah.

Gina 17:21

Oh, I love that so much. Nick did that on our first date too. It was like the, one of the first sentences out of his mouth was. I'm not dating to date. I'm dating to find my wife. Oh. And then the second sentence was, just so you know, I don't care about looks, I care about personality. And I was like, is he telling me that I'm ugly? Like, what? What did he telling me?

Speaker 3 17:49

Hilarious.

Gina 17:50

So you talked about Knox and Chloe, and I love your little babies. They are so stinking cute. Like they look like little cherub angels, but they're pretty cute. I wanna know, as a person that you know, you know that I desperately wanna be a mother. Mm-hmm. And I get to see you and your little ones. What is your favorite unexpected thing about being a mother? Oh,

Kim 18:18

there's so many things. Um, I think the most unexpected things about being a mother is. That it just makes you a better person. Mm-hmm. you just become this all around better person. You're more productive, you are more resilient, you're stronger, you know, you really have to rise to the occasion all the time. Mm-hmm. But there's this other sense to it also where You have this little miniature you walking around in the world, and so it's like this mirror reflecting back to you 24 7.

Speaker 3 18:53

Mm-hmm. There are

Kim 18:54

traits and characteristics and things like, they're picking all of this up from you. And, and so it's that observer effect where somebody's watching you constantly and it makes you watch yourself constantly how you're reacting to things, the things that are coming out of your mouth. Yeah.'cause you don't, you know, if you don't want your kid running around yelling at people, then you need to not be yelling in the house, you know? Right. Like, you have to watch, everything you do because they're gonna just eat that up and it's gonna then become their personality. So I'd say like, that's the most unexpected thing. But the best thing really is just having two little best friends. Like, they're amazing. They're my favorite people in the world to spend time with. And it's the closest, most amazing relationship. Even more so than like you have with your parents or your siblings. Like, there's just nothing that can explain it. It's just amazing.

Gina 19:46

Oh, that sounds so powerful. I can't wait for that. I love it. I love, love it. It'll happen. I know. It's coming soon for you. Yes. So I'm a spiritual cookie and I know that you are also like, this is, this is why this podcast was, created and manifested between the two of us. Mm-hmm. But tell me a little bit about your spirituality. Like where do your beliefs lie? How have they changed from when you were little to now? If someone says oh, are you spiritual? What is your response to that? How do you respond?

Kim 20:21

Oh my gosh. Well that's always a hard question, I think to answer, not I, oh, I'm for sure spiritual. That's an easy one. Yeah. But like what is your spirituality is such a hard question, I think to answer. Mm-hmm. Um, but I think I can't talk about spirituality without first starting with religion because I grew up, In the Catholic religion. Both my mom and dad came from very Catholic backgrounds. Mm-hmm. And I even went to Catholic school as a girl, up until sixth grade. Mm-hmm. So for me, it was a very big part of my life. Yeah. Learning about Catholicism, learning about the stories in the Bible. Like I learned about that in school right alongside math and science and everything. We went to mass once a week during school hours. Yeah. I was taking classes, you know, in the evening to complete my sacraments. So it was a very big part of my life growing up.

Speaker 3 21:13

Mm-hmm.

Kim 21:14

But I'll say like, once I got a little bit older, I did have a lot of questions about things, a lot of, things that I couldn't quite rectify in my mind and I could never really seem to get like, valid answers to those questions. And, part of that was. These stories that I had learned about God and this all knowing, all loving, like all forgiving being, you know, and then the discrepancy between that and these other stories where, it was like this wrathful, kind of judgmental, um mm-hmm. Sometimes even malicious God, you know? Yeah. And I always had a really hard time with that discrepancy. Like I couldn't quite rectify that in my mind. Yeah, me too. And, um, at least not in a way that satisfied me. And so I put religion kind of on the back burner mm-hmm. After I had grown up for a while.'cause I just, uh, it just hurt my brain. Yeah. Really trying to determine what it was that I believed. Mm-hmm. And so it wasn't until I started on my personal development journey and I started reading all of these personal development books that it really kickstarted my spiritual journey as well. Because for me, the two go hand in hand, like. Belief is a very, very powerful thing. Mm-hmm. And I learned that in the personal development world, that when you really start to believe in yourself and you start believing in the people around you and in the world in general, miracles start to occur. Yeah. And things that maybe once seemed impossible, all of a sudden became possible. And pretty soon the more and more you believed, they became inevitable. Yeah. And that's when I really started going, wait a minute there is something here. You know, everything that I was learning and all of these things when I was young, like there was something to it. And maybe it's not exactly what I thought it was, but miracles are real. And there is this all knowing, all loving. Power within each and every one of us and, and everything in the world around us. I truly believe that. And there is this unity among us. And I think it's really, when it comes to spirituality, I think it's really about living in a way that honors that connection with the divine that is not only in ourselves, that's in our connection to others and our connection to this world that we live in. And then, once I started really going down. The rabbit hole of quantum physics and neuroscience and psychology. Like, it really just locked all of these puzzle pieces, in place for me. All of these questions that I once had now had these valid answers, uhhuh and answered in a way that really couldn't be disputed, like scientifically, universally. Like we talk about these universal laws, you know? Yeah. That they can't be disputed. There's so much evidence, for them. And not only that, but man, it's good. Like mm-hmm. There's nothing evil here. There's nothing to fear here. Yes, yes, yes. We can absolutely create evil. We can create fear in our lives, and I truly think that's what the Bible was trying to show us, that we do have that power within us. Yeah. When you really understand what it's all about, like there's just no reason for that. And, yeah, I don't know. I think about this book, if people haven't read it, they should. It's called Outwitting the Devil. Or listen to it actually, because on audio it's so good. The voice of the devil, like you just can't do it. Yeah. Justice. You read it for yourself. But it really like digs into this concept of the devil and the angel, like on our shoulders. Mm-hmm. And I think that that's very true. And it, it's up to us to determine who we're going to listen to. Absolutely.'cause we can create our own personal hell. We can create our own, heaven here on earth. Yes. Our mind has the capacity for both. Mm-hmm. And, um, yeah, it's that idea of polarity that we talk about. They're both there. Yes. But it's ultimately up to us. It's a choice.'cause our mind does create worlds. We're all living entirely different existences, based on what we're choosing to focus on with our mind. But yeah, I think like it's just coming back to this faith in the all knowing, all loving, power within us and among us, and that unity to mm-hmm. Everyone and everything that there is. That's, to me, that's spirituality. It's all love,

Gina 26:04

you know? All

Kim 26:04

good.

Gina 26:06

That is so beautifully said. And I've said that since I was a little girl. Even in, so we have that in common Also, I went to Catholic school as a youngster and even as a little girl, I would say, hell isn't a place hell is here. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 26:21

And my

Gina 26:22

teachers would look at me like I was crazy. And it's like in my work, you know, talking to spirit that's in heaven, so to speak. That's in the spiritual world. Mm-hmm. The bad people go to the same place as the good people. And so what I thought about was, okay, our perception of heaven and hell, hell can be here and the right here, right now through our perception, but when we cross over, we all cross over to the same place.

Kim 26:50

Yeah. It's

Gina 26:51

very interesting and I don't have anything

Kim 26:53

against religion. I think anything that gives people hope is a good thing. Oh, 1000%. Yeah. And I, I had, I mean, I had a great upbringing. I have no qualms about that. Mm-hmm. I'm, you know, I'm happy with how I was brought up. Um, but I do think, part of where religion maybe goes wrong, is, taking people's power away. The power that they do hold, over their lives. Mm-hmm. And I do think that that's important that we all realize how much power we have over mm-hmm. Our life and, our experience here.

Gina 27:26

Absolutely. And I really enjoyed the way that, that you said that because there is a time and a place for religion and, religion can help so many people. And it does. Here's the thing, I don't care how you find God. I don't care how you find your angels, I don't care if it's through organized religion, spirituality, like whatever term you wanna plug in, but just get there. Yeah. That's how I feel about it, you know? Exactly. So your book title alone, F Words for Your Soul already makes people lean in. Because as soon as I saw it, I was like, oh, F-bombs for your soul. I'm in like, Okay. So that's where I got hooked and then I was like, oh, F words for your soul. It has a little bit of a different twist, what does the F really stand for in this context? And how did the title come to you?

Kim 28:22

Oh, I honestly have no idea how the title came to me. I cannot remember for the life of me when I settled on F words or when the title came. No idea. Um, but yeah, the F word love the honesty, I don't know. I think it was just downloaded at some point, and then it was like, yes, this is it. You know? It just felt like, yeah, you just channeled it. Yeah. But, yeah, so the F words, there's four sections to the book. Each section is dedicated to an F word focus, faith, freedom, and flow. And we really dig into those concepts and how your thoughts, beliefs, actions, and feelings all come together to create the reality that you see before you. And so obviously, yeah, the F-word is attention grabbing, you know? Mm-hmm. But it's also this play on like. Things are going to happen in your life that are going to make you want to curse. Things that like just effed up things, you know? Mm-hmm. That like you can find no rhyme or reason for. And when that happens, it's really about coming back to, these concepts, these four F words. Yeah. And really on like a soul level, remembering who you are and why you're here. Like, that's how you get through those difficult parts of life. Yeah. And it's how you make, a beautiful life. How you create mm-hmm. Everything that you want,

Gina 29:41

So I wanna know about your soul nudges a little bit because you do channel. And you are so spiritual, so like what little soul nudge or life moment made you realize, oh, I have to write this book, I have to do this. There's no turning back. I'm doing it. Mm-hmm.

Kim 30:02

Um, I lost my sister in a tragic accident. And when that happened, the world stopped for me. Mm-hmm. I just, I realized how much I had taken her for granted all of those years, but it also made me realize how much I had taken my own life for granted. Mm-hmm. There was this moment of like, wait, what am I doing here? Like, what, you know, I'm just kind of, working at this job and I'm coming home and I'm scrolling my phone and I'm doing this, and I'm doing that, and all of these dreams that I once had for my life, why am I not pursuing them? And it really made me stop and like, evaluate, like why am I putting things off for another day when there might not really be another day?

Gina 30:41

Hmm. But

Kim 30:42

then there was also this other aspect to it where my sister was a mother. She had two very young children. She had, her daughter five years old, and then she had a little, a baby boy. He was seven months old. And so that obviously like adds a whole nother level to things when mm-hmm. Something like this happens. And of course that was the most heart wrenching, heartbreaking part of losing her was that mm-hmm. She wasn't going to be there for her children. But it also made me think, that could be me. I could not be here too. And I have, I had one child at the time, I had Knox, and it made me realize, like I'd always just taken for granted that I'd be able to share my story with him. I'd be able to tell him all the things that he needed to know about life and all the lessons, as he was growing up. And what if I wasn't here to do that? And that really lit a fire under my ass. Oh my gosh. I wanted to get it all down on paper.

Gina 31:38

Yeah. That like, goes straight into my soul of like, I needed to get this down on paper so that my kiddos know. Yeah. Like, oh, that's, that's so deep. And I have to say this, as you were talking about that, I was getting all over body chills. And then I got reminded as I was prepping for this interview. I can't remember if it was this past Monday or the Thursday, my hand to God. Every single appointment that I had, every single reading that I had, their name was Dana except for one. My whole entire day. And I was like, is this a joke? What is going on? Like, I'm, I'm telling you like five outta six were Dana. Wow. And I was like, Ooh, that's not a very common name either. No, no. I was like, what? That's wild. Is this? Yeah.

Kim 32:34

And you get so many signs from Dana. I love that you're always sharing with me when she's communicating with you through signs and, it makes my day every time that you tell me something like

Gina 32:43

that. I'm so glad that you enjoy that.'cause I feel like, well, obviously you're the only person that like gets it.

Speaker 3 32:50

Mm-hmm.

Gina 32:51

Um, for Dana, but it's just, I feel as though sometimes she tries to reach out to me to just get to you, you know? Yeah. And so I love that we have like a little tripod friendship going,

Kim 33:05

you know? For sure.

Gina 33:07

So who did you write this book for? Like, I know who your book is dedicated to.

Speaker 3 33:12

Mm-hmm.

Gina 33:12

But at your core, who did you write this for and who surprised you by resonating with it?

Kim 33:21

Well, yeah, I dedicated my children. I definitely wrote it for them first and foremost. Who did I publish it for though? That's kind of a different story. Um, mm-hmm. I think,, I did feel like it was something I wanted to get out there, for people that had the same thoughts and feelings as me. It's when you say, like, who did it surprise you that it resonated with? What comes to mind is this older gentleman who said to me, you put into words. I have been trying to explain my entire life, and that was just like, oh, wow. Yeah. So deeply humbling for me because I struggled to put into words everything in this book as well, and I really worked hard at it because I had these thoughts in my mind, but like getting them down on the paper and getting them precise and saying exactly what I wanted to say, it was a struggle. Mm-hmm. It was a struggle. And, uh, it made me realize like it wasn't in vain, that, you know, if I can give words to something that someone else is thinking or feeling or wanting to put words to that can't, like, that makes me feel incredible. And then also too, people who don't, that don't think that things that I do. So many people came to me and said like, your book really inspired me. You really changed the way that I look at the world. The way I perceive the world. And to me, that's incredible. Like, if I can change the way that someone perceives the world, that's, that's huge. And that is just huge. Even

Gina 34:51

if it's just one person. Yeah, yeah. To, to change their whole entire perspective on their life. Like, you are, you are a walking, living angel, like just changing one person's life. And I know you don't wanna receive that, but like that, you're like, Nope, hell no. But pull it down over there. But no, we have angels that walk amongst us, that channel and give our hearts and souls in, in various different ways. And you just change that person's perspective. It's huge. You change their whole entire life path. Yeah, angels do that shit. Okay, now I do wanna get a little bit deeper. This is a big question and this is something that I've struggled with a ton in my life. I used to be a really big blogger and one of the things that I struggled with was using my voice in and authentic way that still was totally raw, right? Mm-hmm. And so as a writer myself, there's always that fear of being too honest in someone getting upset. Mm-hmm. Okay. Did this happen during your process? Did you have, because I mean, you gave a lot of details in your book, that were vulnerable and deep and raw. Did you have backlash or did you have anybody being like, um, no, this is really upsetting. What was, what was your process? Or did any of this happen to you?

Kim 36:38

Yeah. I think that that's like the hardest part about being a writer. If you're gonna write about personal experiences of your own life, other people are going to be involved. There is no way to get around that. Everything you're experiencing, there are going to be other people right there next to you experiencing it as well. And, I did, yeah. I struggled with that. I wrote exactly how I felt. I was very raw. Mm-hmm. It wasn't until it became time to publish that I was like, oh, uhoh, you know, now I have to go and share this with certain people that maybe that it affects, you know mm-hmm. That are involved in the book, um, in the stories. And, uh, it was a very hard thing. Mm-hmm. It was just, it was emotional for me. It was scary for me. You never wanna hurt somebody that you care about ever. Yeah. And yeah. I, there was actually, um, think of how to. I definitely don't wanna piss this person off further, so I'm gonna, uh, think about how to say this, but, there was someone that I did, hurt with my words and, I knew that there was the possibility of that. I, mm-hmm. I don't think I realized to the degree, that it would be so triggering for them. Um mm-hmm. And it's interesting because people might think I'm talking about Sean here and I'm not like my sister's husband, um, you know, he was obviously a big part of the book. And I remember giving it to him and saying, read this. Let me know what you think. I'm totally open to discuss all of this with you and I, you know, I want you to tell me your true feelings here. And he told me even before he read the book, he was like, whatever you said is fine. Like, this is our reality. This is what it is. You know? Yeah. I'm never like, it just, it, it's just our reality. Kim, like, whatever was your experience, was your experience, and I'm not gonna tell you to change a thing. And, I said, okay, go ahead and read it. Yeah.

Gina 38:26

So he just like right off the bat was so loving and supportive of you. That's really beautiful. Yeah.

Kim 38:32

And then after he did read it, he still said, yes. Everything you said in here, needed to be said. You know, you said it perfectly and I wouldn't change a word of it. He allowed your words to be

Gina 38:43

healing.

Kim 38:44

Yeah, yeah.

Gina 38:46

You know, he allowed your words to be healing. I just had to say that out loud. I just felt it, so I just had to say it.

Kim 38:53

And yeah, I mean, he did, when he was reading the book at certain points, would text me and be emotional,, about it. And he did say that as well, that, you know, reading it all back was healing It was cathartic in a way. Mm-hmm. Um, and it was for me, writing it as well. Obviously. That's one thing I will say, if you go through something traumatic, if you're not willing to talk with like a therapist about it, write it down because mm-hmm. Those, that imagery, those moments in time that gets stuck in your head. They have to come out. Mm-hmm. If you just let them sit in your mind on repeat, like it will drive you crazy, but getting it out, whether it's to another person or on paper, that's how you can move through things. I mean, I obviously, cried and everything while I was writing this book, but it was the most amazing thing I could do to heal myself. Um

Speaker 3 39:48

mm-hmm.

Kim 39:49

But yeah, back to your question, I did, there was, that situation and, I, the way that you have to kind of deal with it is just knowing that you were true to yourself. You put your honest words on the paper. Yeah. And at the end of the day, is it gonna be triggering to people? Sure. It's triggering to me. Mm-hmm. These things are triggering subjects.

Gina 40:14

Yeah. Um,

Kim 40:16

and everybody in life has these moments And I think when you can talk about those experiences, that's really, that's healing for everyone because they can see themselves in those stories and they can put themselves in your shoes, and, I would say you, you just kind of have to make the decision ahead of time before you even share it with them. What are you going to do if they tell you that they, you know, don't want you to write about it? Um, make that decision ahead of time because if it does happen, just kind of know how you're going to handle that. Mm-hmm. That's all you can do, you know? Yeah.

Gina 40:54

Yeah. I just wanna say that you were so brave in the way that you were vulnerable and raw in speaking to these, various traumatic situations. And you did it with grace, and you did it with kindness and it was just beautifully written. But the bravery and the courage that your book shows is just, it's just mind blowing. The whole time I was reading it, I was like, yes, girl. Yes.

Speaker 3 41:24

And

Gina 41:24

like through the tears also. But it is, you know, you can feel your heart and soul. Writing it in such a beautiful way. Mm-hmm. So writing something so honest such as this and soulful can be vulnerable. Mm-hmm. What was the hardest f word for you to put down on paper?

Kim 41:49

It was definitely the faith section. That's where I tell the story of, losing my sister. Yeah. And so that was the most raw, vulnerable I've ever been. Um, and then I'd say the end, where I kind of brought everything back together, and told about the various tragedies, in our life that, mm-hmm we had moved through. it's just, it's tough to talk about those things. But again, at the end of the day, it is healing as well. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I'd say definitely the section on faith it was the hardest for me to write, and I think it's the hardest for people to read that, knew Dana as well.

Speaker 3 42:28

Mm-hmm.

Gina 42:29

And I'll say as a person that knew Dana, that was my favorite F word. Yeah. Like, I don't mean to get choked up, but I, um, I needed to read that mm-hmm. Chapter in the book for me. And it was very healing for me to read it. And it was an intimate moment that I shared with you that you didn't even know that we shared. Oh. You know? And so if you all have not gotten Kim's book f Words for your Soul, pick it up. If you want to go straight to the faith section, like, I dare you, but it's a good buildup to that. But yeah, like dive right in. I wanna know, after writing this book, did it change you? Are you different from the person you were pre-writing this book? To now after.

Kim 43:25

Oh, absolutely. I talk about my journey in becoming who I am today in this book. I talk about the journey from writing and publishing the book. I talk about the journey from, barely making ends meet to becoming millionaires. I talk about all of, like, I did those things as I was writing the book. And I knew all of the concepts in the book. That's why I began writing it. But I was not living them. It wasn't until I lost my sister that I said, it's time to start living and actually doing the things I know I can do. And so I took readers on that journey with me in the book of putting these things into action and making real changes in my life. But it's really different knowing these concepts and then actually living them and experiencing the failures. You know, getting held up and thinking you're never gonna accomplish something and pushing through, and actually making it happen. Once you really do that mm-hmm. There's no going back. Like, you know, now this works. You know, I really can do anything I set my mind to. It doesn't matter what it is, I can do it as long as I have the resolve, as long as I say I'm gonna do it, and I follow through and I get back up after each and every failure, it will happen. And so if it's really important to you and it has to be really important to you, or else you wouldn't, you wouldn't keep getting back up. You wouldn't keep trying, those surface level things that you might think might look cool or, you know, like those, that's not gonna happen because it takes serious perseverance. Mm-hmm. But if it's, on a soul level, something you feel like you're meant to do. You can make it happen, if it really means something to you. And actually living that and seeing that for myself, of course, it, yeah, it absolutely changed me. I just have so much more faith in myself now than I did prior to writing the book.

Gina 45:17

It sounds to me almost like during your process of writing each F word, you were instilling each f word in your body and healing yourself as you were writing the book is what it sounds like to me. It's honestly

Kim 45:32

why it took so long to write it, because that, the last chapter on flow, I hadn't gotten there yet. And so there was this waiting period of writing and deleting and writing and deleting and getting frustrated and taking a break and coming back. And because I hadn't gotten there yet, I hadn't really truly implemented it Oh, wow. Into my life. And it wasn't until I did that, it was like, oh, I can finish this book now. I truly understand it. I've truly lived it, and I have this story to tell.

Gina 46:03

Oh, I love that. And it's so humbling and grounding for you to be vulnerable in saying that of like, I struggled on this'cause I wasn't doing it yet. So for our listeners out there, if you're struggling with something, maybe you're at the beginning process of something and just be gentle in that. Yeah. So tell me, what is one story from a reader that let you know that this book was doing exactly what you hoped it would do?

Kim 46:32

Mm-hmm. Oh goodness. Well, there's, there are quite a few, but there's one that I love because it's a good friend of mine and, her daughter does dance and she competitively, she does lots of competitions and things and so she, she had just read the book and was all pumped up about it and inspired. And so she was talking to her daughter about it and they were going to a dance competition and so she was really like, alright, you know, you really gotta believe it. You you gotta visualize it and vision doing this, dance perfectly and winning and like, feel how it would feel to, and all of these things. And so she's going through it all with her uhhuh and,, the little girl, uh, got done with the competition and just said, mom, it worked. You know, it really worked. I, I visualized it and then I went out there and I did it exactly how I visualized it and I did. I won. And, um. That to me because again, I wrote the book for my children, but it, I really published it for the next generation. Mm-hmm.'cause I want them to fully understand these concepts and know how to implement them in their lives and live their lives in this way. Mm-hmm. Because that there's nothing more I could ask for out of this book than to inspire the next generation to truly go after their dreams, to believe in themselves and to make, the world around them a better place

Gina 47:58

So for people who may not think of themselves as spiritual or soulful or any of those kinds of terms, what do you hope that they take away from this?

Kim 48:10

I think that's also part of why I wrote the book, because I really use science to back up, everything that I said, and I make those connections where people might be non-believers mm-hmm. To give them the connection of, well, here's what science does and here's why. This is not just cliche, advice, but there's actually scientific evidence that backs it up. It's real. And that was the point of writing the book was, listen, I know you hear all the cliche advice out there about, laws attraction and think positively and visualize and, but if you don't know why you're doing it mm-hmm. You're not gonna really commit to doing these things. If you understand the why fully and understand the inner workings of what's actually going on in your mind mm-hmm. And in reality, then you have no choice but to go, this is the way, like this is real, and why would I not do it? Then yes, it's, of course I'm going to do it. If I know that I can make all of these things happen,

Gina 49:13

that's my favorite thing is blending spirituality with the science because it works for my, like it works for my little P brain because it backs it up and it gives it validity. Mm-hmm. You know, because in my world, nothing is concrete with doing readings and connecting into your loved ones and all of that. But then if we like really look at the science behind the energy of it, it gives it more substenance. You know, some we're a great duo. Spirituality, science. If you could only pick one F word as your mantra for today, which one would it be and why?

Kim 50:01

Oh, probably I feel like I have mastered. Focus. I know how to switch my focus in an instant I've mastered flow. My life is very flowy at this point. I'm very happy with, how I spend my time. Mm-hmm. And I, you're damn right. I'm free. I do what I wanna do and I wanna do it. I don't let other people's opinions stop me like

Speaker 3 50:24

mm-hmm.

Kim 50:25

That's for sure. Faith has always been the hardest for me. I believe in myself. Mm-hmm. I believe in the concepts that I talk about. I know,, within that I have everything in me that I need in order to accomplish the things I wanna accomplish. But it is an everyday, not struggle. It's an everyday reminder, of. Needing to keep the faith, you know? Mm-hmm. You're not just doing this for no reason, you're doing it in order to accomplish what you want to accomplish, and you are going to accomplish it. Mm-hmm. It is going to happen. That's why you're doing this, and that, I think I'm reminding myself of that every single day.

Gina 51:06

Yeah. And the reminder that you're not alone. Mm-hmm. You know, the reminder of with faith, we all have angels, we all have guides, we have our loved ones that are in spirit. We have God and universe and mm-hmm energy. And with all of that, we're never alone.

Kim 51:25

Yeah. It's not just up to you. And I talk about that in, in the last section on flow, the things that come together for you in order for you to actually accomplish the things you wanna accomplish. You could never dream them up on your own. I mean, mm-hmm. You read books of all these successful people. It's, they've all gotten that leg up in some way that they could have never imagined, where things just fell into their lap at just the right time. Yeah. After they did the work. Mm-hmm. And that's what's incredible is that it's not up to you. Yeah. You gotta think it, you gotta believe it. You gotta show up and take some steps toward it, but miracles will occur as long as you stay on track.

Gina 52:04

Oh, I totally agree with that. Is there an f word that you wanted to include but didn't?

Kim 52:12

Oh yeah. So many. Originally the book was gonna be mini chapters and they were all going to be F words, mm-hmm. But it just kind of happened that everything, fit under these four F-word even. Yeah. Though they were, I wanted to use them, but yeah. I mean, mm-hmm. Fearless, Frequency? I wanted to but that one just Oh, yeah. Completely under flow. Fearless, fit under faith. I mean, it's, obviously that is faith. Mm-hmm. Um, flawless. Which is hilarious. But I mean, you know, we are all made flawlessly. We all mm-hmm. Have different, talents and abilities and, we're all different for a reason. And authenticity I think is so important in living your life. But yeah, tons. I had tons of efforts. The f there's a lot of efforts out there that are really inspiring.

Gina 52:59

So I don't know if you've gotten this question yet, but you know, as soon as you get married, people are like, oh, when are you gonna have babies? And then as soon as you have your baby, they're like, when are you gonna have another baby? So the question lies, when are you gonna write your next book? Have you started on it? What is it gonna be about? I mean, I have a million questions.

Kim 53:21

Well, I did need a break. After writing this first one, I will say that, um. No doubt. No doubt. Yeah. It's been nice to have a little break and it's been nice to just focus my energy somewhere else. I think this podcast has just been such a breath of fresh air. But I do wanna, I agree. Yeah, I wanna write many more books. I wanted to write a children's book originally about these concepts, and I do think that might be where I go next, but it just hasn't really felt aligned to do that yet.

Gina 53:53

Mm-hmm.

Kim 53:54

And I think part of that. Is because I don't really feel like I've done efforts for your soul justice yet. Um, mm. I'm a writer. I'm obviously not a publicist, not, you know, a marketer or an influencer or anything like that. Those things do not, come easy for me. It's not a comfortable thing. But part of that is I mentioned at the beginning about like getting the wind knocked outta my cells recently with something with the book. Yeah. So, um, I chose to publish the book on Amazon because they have an advertising program for writers. It's very cost effective. You can pay for Amazon ads for your book. Mm-hmm. And it's a per click fee. And so it's very effective because Amazon obviously knows their customer base. Right? Right. They, you know, they're seeing what they're searching, what they're purchasing. They're buying books on Amazon. So it's way better than like any other kind of advertising you can do on. Yeah, that's

Gina 54:54

awesome.

Kim 54:55

Yeah, so that was always my plan. That's why I published on Amazon. And, so I submitted the book for review to begin. Amazon ads and they very quickly told me no. What? No. Yes, they said that the book violated their guidelines, that it had inappropriate content, that it was profane or vulgar in nature. And what, it's because of the title of the book, not because of anything in the book. Obviously. Like if you've read the book, you know it's not vulgar. Yeah. In anyway. Uh, but one of their specific guidelines is abbreviated terms.

Gina 55:34

Oh. So

Kim 55:35

they are seeing f words in saying that. It's an abbreviated, you know, profanity or vulgar term. Yeah. So I appealed it multiple times and I just, I keep getting the same response back. They're not gonna let me do Amazon ads, so it's been pretty devastating for me. Um, that is devastating. I'm like, girl, what are you gonna do? Yes. Yeah. So, and yeah, because with Amazon, I mean, you could search specific concepts in my book, I'm still not gonna come up on, it'll be like 30 pages in before you'd find my book. Mm-hmm. Like you actually have to. Yeah, search the title of the book to find it. Um, so yeah, it's been a little bit disheartening. If anybody out there knows anybody from Amazon headquarters, yeah, let me know. Anybody that can override this, please reach out to me. But you know, for everything there is a silver lining and, So obviously now I'm a lot more focused on getting the book and bookstores. And so I've started locally here in Louisville and mm-hmm. I'm now reaching out to other bookstores in Kentucky. Eventually, you know, I'll look at national chains, um, but it's just a slow process. It's a lot of work. Yeah, and so I did get word just, a week ago or so that Carmichael's bookstore, which is. A local store here, they've got three different stores in Louisville. Uh, they are gonna carry the book. Oh. So I'm very excited about that first. Oh my God, that's

Gina 57:05

huge. Yeah. Yay. Let's all give Kim a huge round of applause. That's amazing. Thank you. She did

Kim 57:10

not tell me this before we

Gina 57:11

were recorded.

Kim 57:13

Yay. Yeah. I'm super excited about that. And then there is another. Smaller store. It's called Main Book Hook in Shepherdsville. They're also wanting to buy it. So we're in conversation about that now. So I am You've made

Gina 57:24

it, like you've made it. Like you guys, for the people that do not live here in Louisville, Kentucky, if your book gets into Carmichaels, it's a great, you are the bee's knees. You're the bees knees sister. That's like whenever you

Kim 57:39

ask anybody what their favorite bookstore is, they say Carmichaels. So, yes. Oh my God, it's so exciting. Yeah. So between that process of reaching out to bookstores and trying to get all of that underway and then the podcast things are pretty, you know, that's pretty much where all my energy is going right now.

Gina 57:58

Oh, that's wonderful. I am excited

Kim 58:00

to write another book. And I just think, you know, I'll know when the time is right. Yeah. To start another project.

Gina 58:06

Absolutely. Oh my God, I am just like filled with so much joy right now. You have no idea. Screw Amazon ads. Like actually cut that out. Doesn't

Kim 58:18

Amazon ads, just please help me.

Gina 58:20

Yes. But in all seriousness, Amazon ads, like F-word for your soul. Come on, give her a break in this day, day in time.

Kim 58:29

In this day and time. Like come on.

Gina 58:33

I know. I'm like, seriously? That's so silly. It's a spiritual book, but also child out to Carmichaels. You all are about to get the best author in Louisville, so this is fantastic. And Maine

Kim 58:45

Book Hook, I'm very excited about them as well. They're Maine book. Store.

Gina 58:50

I have not been in there yet. I'm gonna, as soon as I'm traveling to New York tomorrow, but as soon as I get back, I'm gonna go out there and see it. I'm sure it's super cute and I love a good bookstore. This is amazing. I'm on cloud nine. I'm so pumped for you, Kim. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. All of you in this episode and getting down to the nitty gritty, talking about the good and the bad, and I just really appreciate who you are and what you have gifted the world, and creating this book and sharing with us. So thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you and adore you. Oh, guys, if you have not. Picked up f words for your soul yet jump on Amazon. Couple of clicks, it'll be delivered to your door. It's one of my favorites. It's so heartfelt, it's so moving. You won't be disappointed by it. So thank you, Kim. Thank you guys for listening. We appreciate you and we will see you next time. Bye.