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Play for Profit Podcast
🎙️ Play for Profit is the podcast for neurodiverse entrepreneurs, creatives, and multi-passionate misfits who are done with the hustle-and-grind blueprint. Hosted by Najela Carter, a creative business coach and school psychologist, this show helps you build a business that feels like play—without burning out or boxing yourself in. Whether you're dreaming up your next big idea or redefining success on your own terms, you'll find tools, mindset shifts, and playful strategies to profit from your passions your way.
✨ It’s time to ditch the rules, follow your curiosity, and build a business that actually feels good.
Play for Profit Podcast
Balancing Intuition with Strategy with Kay Sibson
Kay Sibson shares her journey as a multi-passionate entrepreneur who turned her diverse background into a strength for helping creative and event-based business owners. Her approach focuses on integrating intuition with practical business strategy to create sustainable success.
• Business consulting should be customized to the individual, not based on one-size-fits-all solutions
• Being "multi-passionate" can be a strength, not a weakness, in business
• True expertise involves continuous learning, not claiming to have all the answers
• Integration is the key to balancing practicality with passion in business
• Systems and automation create structure that allows for creative flexibility
• Defining success personally is more important than following conventional metrics
• Entrepreneurs often undervalue what comes easily to them
• Business has natural seasons, just like nature - periods of rest and action
• Taking time for clarity through meditation, nature, or spontaneous adventures helps business decision-making
• Kay's spontaneous trip to Egypt catalyzed her decision to start her business
• Community over competition creates more opportunities for everyone
Find Kay on her website to take her creative CEO quiz, which helps identify your business strengths and provides personalized strategies.
Tell me more about who you are and what you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my name is Kay Simpson and I own a company called Novapricity and I do business consulting for creatives and event-based business owners. I've been doing that for a little over a year now and, yeah, I have a really colorful background and a lot of different things. Being multi-passionate myself, I could go further.
Speaker 1:But what makes you multi-passionate? I could go further, but what makes you multi-passionate? I know I read your profile, but I want to hear from you. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I, oh man, I'm always an ideas person and I always want to try new things. I have done a little bit of everything I really dig into like self-expression stuff and creative activities, and I did theater and dance and I did. I tried so many different sports growing up I tried all the things. I'm an experimenter, so I feel like I have a ton of hobbies and I've always tried to infuse creativity in every like job I've ever had. So I feel like I've just dabbled in so much that it makes I, it helps me be like a MacGyver for business growth strategy because I can pull in all my different like background and things I've experimented with myself and let people know what works and what doesn't work and try new things.
Speaker 2:I saw that you did like theater and like wedding planning, and yeah, and then I'm also super passionate about like personal development and spiritual healing, journeys and energy work and business management has been like a big thing that I've done in my stuff that I love doing, but, yeah, it's like I can't fit into a box how did you take all of that and turn that into what you're doing now?
Speaker 2:I feel like entrepreneurship is a if you do it right, it's a personal development journey and it's you figure out a lot about yourself. So I it's taken a lot of time and a lot of work to get to where I'm at now as far as taking all of that and using it to help others. So for me, I think the biggest thing was figuring out myself more and what my strengths are, and my strengths are that I've done a little bit of everything and I don't call myself an expert, because that would mean I'm at the end of the road and I'm like an ongoing lifelong learner. I will never stop taking in more things and trying new stuff and I think that's really what I've been leading into and just taking the expertise I do have in the background I have of theater, event planning, weddings, strategic planning and all that and just tying it into kind of a pretty bow but it's very customizable for all the business owners that I work with.
Speaker 1:You said you don't call yourself an expert and, excuse me, it's interesting that you say that, because so many of the gurus say, oh, you have to be an expert. How do you balance that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was my biggest struggle with it. I was feeling so disconnected. I was like, when am I allowed to call myself an expert? Yeah, I've done X, y, z for so many years, but when do I get to say I'm an expert, and especially with my approach? It's very intuitive, it's creative, it's based on data, but it's really based on like individual and how, also like how I go about my own business. It's based on feelings, what's worked in the past, what isn't working, what feels good, what my level of success looks like, and so to say I'm an expert in anything I feel like just does a disservice to the people who are trying to help.
Speaker 2:When it's if you come in saying you're going to have all the answers, when really the answers are within, I think all of us, and sometimes we need help some pulling that out.
Speaker 2:So I like to position myself as a consultant because and not necessarily a coach because coaches are fantastic and I work with people that also work with coaches and they're meant to help guide and get you to the answers in a way of finding them yourself, whereas I come in with a little more of like actual steps and approach. So I figure out who you are and what you do, and then we create things that are custom to you, and sometimes that's a road we haven't gone down before. So to say that I'm an expert in every single situation and possibility like I, just I wouldn't want that responsibility one to say that I know everything when stuff is changing all the time. So how do you maintain being an expert when everything is changing and adapting and growing? And I like to say I'm more of an expert in like innovation, like trying something new and something that hasn't been done before.
Speaker 2:If I'm going to say I'm an expert at all, it'd be in trying it a different way. A lot of people that I work with, like creatives or people that are, you know, maybe in like energy work, or I work with a bunch of different types of people, but they normally don't know what a business consultant is. And so I'm like, okay, how can I like at least throw in something that's a little more relatable to make sense? But as far as my actual process, I really get to know the person first. So we work one-on-one and we figure out your business and the person, who you are as a person and as a business owner, and your needs, and also just get really clear on what your level and like definition of success is, because that's going to look way different for me than it does for somebody else.
Speaker 2:And so, what works for one person? What? And I also work with a lot of different types of people. So people are neurodivergent and have ADHD and different things, or they're moms and they they got different lifestyles and different things to consider. And, yes, there are strategies that work, but they're not necessarily going to work for that person. So we figure out, okay, like, how can we make what is working work better and actually create a sustainable foundation for your business. So, as far as the MacGyver aspect of it, I am a very again like intuitive and creative person and I have, with my background and my experience and the people that I know too, I leverage my network a lot too, so it is pulling in a lot of different resources. So it's not just oh like, obviously this tool works, but it doesn't work for this person because of this, so let's find another way. So, as far as the refinement, I think it's about making it like automated or scalable and so make that work. But as far as, like a set process, it doesn't always look a certain way.
Speaker 1:How do you balance? I noticed on your page that you balance practicality with passion. How do you integrate those two?
Speaker 2:That's where it gets creative right. It's the integration. I think integration is such a journey for every individual business owner. I think that's where that personal development comes in, where that healing comes in, as far as developing that self-trust and intuition and I'm not obviously an expert on intuition either, I'm just a big believer that we all obviously have our own intuition and I think it's really important that we've.
Speaker 2:I love combining like practical business strategies so creating a marketing strategy that makes sense, having systems in place so that things are working for you and you're not having to do every single step of onboarding or doing a consultation for an art piece or something, having some of that stuff automated so that it's all ready to go.
Speaker 2:But also leaning into that intuition piece is like what feels good, what is your level of success, what does that look like?
Speaker 2:And figuring out how to create that feeling in a way that reflects in business and honors like your core values and who you are.
Speaker 2:So I'm really big on pulling in strategy into that intuition.
Speaker 2:So I work with a lot of people that don't necessarily have that business strategy and corporate background or whatnot, but they need some stability and like a foundation for that flow and creativity to come in so that it actually has something to land on, because if it's not there, then you lean too much into maybe non-action or only what you're feeling when there's.
Speaker 2:We're so layered and every given day we feel like 50 emotions and if you're going off only on feelings or you just don't know what to do with your ideas on how to actually bring them forth or make them work in a way that's not adding more work, so I'm really just trying to find that balance for them within their business, with using intuition with a business lens. So that's really like where that integration comes in and that's why I'm here to help, because the integration is the hardest part and remembering like, like the imposter syndrome and mindset and all that does come into play with intuition too, because especially women are told to doubt themselves or not trust their instincts and it's hard to tap back into that.
Speaker 2:So I'm here to help remind that and help the business side of things while you do your own journey deeper.
Speaker 1:How do you help your clients really tap into that intuition and trust? How do you cultivate that self-trust in your clients?
Speaker 2:I think, generally speaking, of like mindset and whatnot, I think as being multi-passionate. Also, of course I'm taking courses, of course I'm doing the thing. I think it's important to remember that no one course, no one person, no one coach has all the answers. I think we forget that and we get so caught up as entrepreneurs, sometimes in the quick fix or it worked for this person, so it's going to work for me, and there's some great delusion that can be really helpful and you need some delusion in entrepreneurship to get the ball rolling. But I think it's really important and what I take when someone comes to me and they're like I'm trying to do blank and my coach said to do this and it could be like the perfect device for them, it actually could be in alignment for them and good, but there's just something in it that's not quite clicking for them, and so it's okay.
Speaker 2:Why don't we just take that and take that out of that strategy and replace it with something else or just keep it out altogether? And so it's like actually just giving, I think, permission to say yes to this and no to that and helping them. See, I think it's just remembering like how awesome and powerful and badass we all are honestly and that we have the right to say yes or no to something. And, yes, that grew could have some fantastic advice and I'm not here to like bash on anybody, but it might not be the right, like the right fit for you, and so it's. It's leaning into.
Speaker 2:Okay, yes, let's that strategy, but from a different approach, because of what I'm hearing about you and what you have going on in your, in your stuff, and I think that's really leading into individual strengths of what's already working for them and what they like doing. As far as the mindset, a lot of times it's just going yes, you can do that. Why don't we try that? I think we could. There's no one to like soundboard off of sometimes, and that's where my role comes in a lot too. Like I just had a client and she was saying how she was struggling with her marketing and like more getting new clients and and she's actually in marketing, which is funny and so she was like but for myself, like I don't know what, I'm missing the cobbler's children have no shoes.
Speaker 2:I feel that way in my business sometimes too, so I totally get it and it's totally normal that we go through that. We're like I can help anyone do this, but for myself I go wait what yeah, what am?
Speaker 2:I doing yeah, yeah, we forget about the basics sometimes. So I she was saying her strengths are like working one-on-one with them, or talking one-on-one she's, if I can get them in the room, if I can get in a call with them, we're good, we're golden. It's just getting them in the room. And I was like why don't you, like, host a workshop locally, like she wanted to work locally with businesses? I'm like why don't you host a workshop and people get to know, you, get to meet you? It's face-to-face, you're in the community, you're maybe helping a business by hosting it somewhere specific. And she was like why didn't I think of that? You?
Speaker 2:know what I mean and then like supporting her in that journey of putting that together, creating a strategy promoting it and that kind of stuff. So sometimes it's just like getting back to the basics, it's like clearing away all the like noise and then it's just reminding them who they are and how good they are, what they do, because she was like oh I'm, I'm nervous, I'm like, girl, you have like degrees in this, you've been doing this for years, right, yeah, you're right. So it's just like hyping someone up. I think it's a collective mind shift that I think a lot of entrepreneurs are heading and the like entrepreneurial world is heading, and I'm here for it and I think we, especially as women, we put down like what comes natural to us, and especially being multi-passionate.
Speaker 2:we're not supposed to be, like the expert on everything we ever care about, because who has time for that? No, one.
Speaker 2:You can't be an expert on everything and I find that is like a really big thing that if it's just because it's easy doesn't mean it's not valuable Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's not valuable. And I think it's also changing our relationship with money and what is valuable and how we function in society, how we show up, how we take care of and help other people with our natural gifts. I think that's the level of success thing where we redefine what that looks like for you as an individual when it comes to your business and business planning and strategy, because if you're, of course, we'd all love to be like eight figure entrepreneurs and that is possible. But also that comes with a whole different set of responsibilities, a different lifestyle, way of running a company. It's just, it's very different. And so I think breaking that down a little bit and just really figuring out what level of success looks like and then having systems and things in place that help promote that and support that.
Speaker 2:But along the way, the mindset and the money and how your relationship with money is a really big thing and we unintentionally, without doing that work, we block doors and opportunities because of our own like subconscious, money beliefs and it's something that's like a relationship. It's ongoing, it's not. Oh yeah, I'm good with that. Move on, then you'll find something else. It keeps coming up. I keep doing mindset money work as well. Like it. It's just a again a relationship and as far as working with clients and stuff, obviously we tackle the immediate out, like how it's affecting the immediate stuff, while they take their time figuring out the inner stuff.
Speaker 2:I'm definitely here to help facilitate the inner to outer what it looks like in a business, but also really taking care of, like understanding, like this person's struggling understanding this or they don't see the value in blank, and so I'm here to help remind them while they heal. You know, it doesn't have to look the same for everybody and just because it's easy doesn't mean it's valuable. But then also finding that balance between an equal exchange of energies, that makes sense. So I'm not going to charge a thousand dollars an hour doing a five-minute consultation, whatever I, that's not in alignment for me. That's not something I want to do, that's not how I want to operate.
Speaker 2:And there are people that do that and they're successful and that's awesome, but that's not necessarily like my level of success and what that looks like for me. So it's finding that what's an integrity for an individual while also helping them be financially secure. I think is a really big thing I'm about and financial planning. So I actually love I love budgeting, I love thinking ahead, I love planning and all that stuff, and so I do take that in consideration. When it comes to my clients, I'm not going to recommend the most expensive tool that's going to solve all their problems overnight. That's not going to be effective.
Speaker 1:Expensive tool, right, that's going to solve all their problems overnight.
Speaker 2:That's not going to be effective. So it's creating strategies based on a lot of different things and money mindset is a big like underlining theme, but there's a difference between sacrifice and neglect.
Speaker 1:And so how can business owners put their lives first and structure their business around that first?
Speaker 2:yeah, taking. Obviously it's like a really broad yes concept and it's hard to generalize because everyone's different. I think that's where it gets clear on what your goals are. There is a certain level of action that needs to be taken in order to get to a certain place in a certain amount of time too, because I feel like time, like I think that's one thing that's they don't share, it's they may appear to be an overnight success, but how much work actually happened on the backend and also just the work that happens internally to actually be in a place to make that happen or allow it to happen to even
Speaker 2:receive. That is, it takes a lot of effort to get there. As far as business strategy and putting a business, making a business, around your like core values and stuff, it's first establishing what those are. So I think it's getting clear on what you want, at least in a sense of feeling. So if you want to be like busy all the time, if you want, if you don't have a family, you don't want to cultivate that, then yeah, your structure, your strategy is going to look totally different.
Speaker 2:So, as far as still speaking in like a general sense, it's getting clear on those goals, getting clear on the core values of your business and who you are as a person and what your needs and strengths are, and then it's building parameters around that. I think a big thing is like automation and scaling. So let things work for you behind the scenes. Like it's batch, it's scheduling out social media, it's doing things so that you don't have to be like attached to your phone all the time or again, but if you want to be on your phone all the time, that's a different level of success or a different type of success.
Speaker 2:And so I think, thankfully, I think we're really moving away from, like hustle and glorify, and that, yes, yeah, I like. I think aligned action is definitely where we're all heading, and it's not necessarily only being in your feminine energy or only masculine energy, because there's a lot of that out there too, right, and I think it's just finding that balance for yourself. So have the structures in place so that you can adapt and be flexible and grow. But also, if you want to be busy, you just add more blank and like you can. I think there's also seasons. I think it's just honoring too that there's different seasons. So if your things are a little sober right now, like, then utilize that time, yes, to be ready for when it's faster again right, there's ebbs and flows to everything.
Speaker 2:Can you elaborate on that just a little bit and like the seasonality of business and yeah, I just think in a very simple sense because I'm this isn't my I dabble, but it's not my area. But I think in a very simple sense because this isn't my, I dabble, but it's not my area. But I think in a very simple sense. Nature is not go all the time. Yeah, there's clear seasons. Even then there is a rest. That happens to some degree.
Speaker 2:Like it's not a go-go all the time.
Speaker 2:So, as far as like tapping into your own seasons, your own feminine, masculine energy, I think that's where, if you have the goals, systems, all that in place, then you can.
Speaker 2:Also, it allows for more of that flexibility of the feminine energy so that the like, the masculine, has to be there as like the structure, I think, as far as like the framework of your business, and then the femininity can come in and just flow as it needs to and you can create as much space as you want for that, just like waiting for inspiration, or waiting until you're actually motivated, or whatnot, to do certain things. That's how I approach, just in a general sense of different seasons of business or slower times. Okay, how can we lean into that feminine side a little bit more? Because the masculine is there, it's set, set up, the system's there, but then, okay, let's lean into the feminine. I know I have a very like holistic approach to business, so I also don't, I'm also looking at the whole person. It's not just the bottom line for me like that is obviously important, but it's, are you happy?
Speaker 1:like you're not gonna want to do business if you're not happy yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So finding that, that balance between I think that's where aligned action comes in, so it's you have the get up and go for the things that make sense and then things that don't make sense. We either figure out a different way to do it, or we let it go, or we have someone else do it that is excited about it. And figuring that out within budget and reason and time, of course. And I also think it's just really important that we do things that are like, again, holistic and taking care of our bodies and it's getting out of our heads, it's getting outside and making sure that there's some sort of quote unquote balance happening, because I don't believe in a work life balance. But it's percentages, figuring out percentages okay, I have extra time, so, so I'm gonna put 80% of my time into my business and 20% 20% of my time into my life, but and figuring out what that looks like for you is gonna ebb and flow also, which is again a season, or feminine energy, or however you want to look at it.
Speaker 1:So I want to shift gears just a little bit and I saw that you took like a spontaneous trip to Egypt. So what sparked that?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I was actually working like at a nine to five and it was, you know, a good place and it was cool. I've always wanted to go to Egypt and the nine to five makes sense in a second but I've been obsessed with Egypt since I can remember. Always I wanted to be like an Egyptologist or like an archaeologist or something when I was a kid growing up and, yeah, it's been a lifelong thing and some people that I follow on Instagram, they were hosting a trip to Egypt and I I just actually they did the, did a little like teaser of like clues and I was like I bet they're going to Egypt. So then, sure enough, they announced it it was Egypt and I mentioned to my husband and I was like, oh my gosh, they're going to Egypt. I really want to go with them. Should we go?
Speaker 2:and I'm more cautious than not in my own personal life at times and really definitely used to be.
Speaker 2:I've swung the other way a little bit and my husband's like you should go, and I was like okay, so like I just hit book and went for it, and it actually spurred me starting my own business though, cause I going, coming back to the nine to five, I was sitting there at my desk and it was good people, good job, it was helping people, whatever and I was just like I can't go and have this like life-changing experience and come back and sit in this desk, at this desk, in these four walls, with no way to integrate and not to be authentically like yourself and doing what I want to do, and so I was like something's got to change. So I made a decision right then and there, like a week after booking that trip to Egypt, to start my own business, I was like I'm gonna do to change. So I made a decision right then and there, like a week after booking that trip to Egypt, to start my own business, I was like I'm going to do it, I'll figure it out. I went in March of this year.
Speaker 1:So fun yeah. So how was that?
Speaker 2:Oh, it was incredible. It was a really expanding trip for me. Like it pushed me. Yeah, I cried on the way to the airport. I'm not good, I, I straight up cried. I had a friend drop me off at the airport and I'm like just I was stressed girl.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, I was excited, but I was so nervous, yeah, and it was my first time solo traveling. I had never been anywhere international like abroad, and so I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going really hard in the whole solo trip thing and I was with a group of people but I was still alone right and so, yeah, I and I don't.
Speaker 2:I yeah I haven't gone abroad before and now I've got the gotta get. I need to go more and yeah, get out more. Now I can't not go and travel, but yeah, I it was. It was just it really expanded me and pushed me and I got to meet this incredible group of people that I got to be like myself with and really vulnerable with, and I learned so much, and the culture there is incredible and it was during Ramadan but yeah, it was beautiful.
Speaker 1:What insight did you gain from that trip? I know we touched on it a little bit, but you said, expanded you but like, how did it do that?
Speaker 2:Ooh, I think I've been in a big season, even prior to the trip on, in trust and self-trust, but also trust that in universe, god, source, whatever you want to call it and that I'm supported, that we're all supported, and so I really leaning into that. I think that was a really big thing for me, but then also stepping into my own personal power. So I, that trip, really was like oh, it's your time, girl, it is time to step in, your best time to stop hiding. I've always hid behind my work. I've always I yeah, I've just always hid behind my work or behind someone else or behind a role. It was really empowering. I think that was a really big thing I learned and gained from not only having to go alone and solo, but just that, like what we ended up doing there and the experiences I had really just were really empowering.
Speaker 1:How can business owners get that same sort of clarity in their own lives?
Speaker 2:we can practice it in little ways and, depending on who it is, obviously there's going to be different levels of what that looks like for someone and not to sound like cliche, but it's because it's true. I think meditation is like a really easy way. Even five minutes can really help people gain clarity and just slow down enough to listen and just be, I think, just being, and it's not even. You don't even have to make it about anything, it could just literally be breathing, and that's sometimes so helpful if things are stressful or again you're just needing clarity.
Speaker 2:I think that's you're allowing space for it and then in like more fun ways I it doesn't have to be like the super big, over the top thing, it could just be taking a day trip to a town nearby without a plan and just exploring and getting like curious again. I think that really helps tap into that in a very quick way. I also think getting outside in nature go for a walk without technology or very specific technology that's helping facilitate gaining that clarity. I think the more time we spend outside, the more we figure out things about ourselves.
Speaker 1:I know you were excited and nervous, but once you touched down, like, how did that feel for you, especially when you're like I've been? This is what I've been dreaming about my whole life, and now I'm here, how did that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if I felt that sense of calm right away.
Speaker 2:I think because, it was Egypt, I think, and it's just, I wouldn't say it was culture shock. Thankfully, with technology and I don't know documentaries and like TV and stuff, I feel like traveling is less like surprising than it used to be, like 20 years ago. So I think there was like all this excitement, that kind of bubbled. I think there were certain locations and things that we went to that were like I was able to tap in back into self. I think that's where it that's when it clicked in was like certain like we went to it was.
Speaker 2:I think it was in yeah, it was in Luxor there was. We were like Ramsey's section of the Carnet complex and that's where I really felt like I gained the most like grounding again coming back. But I think it was. I think it was really the people I was with that also created that sense of like. I could see like how we because we also came with all very similar intentions and so it wasn't just like a random group of people, and so I think finding that like grounding and this like peace came from the people that we I was with, more so than like Egypt itself, and then coming back home, it was like tapping back into that, but coming back to self and I think that's when that really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, started to come all together again is there anything that you wanted to talk about or any questions that I didn't ask you? That you're like darn it. I wish you had asked me that, but I really want to talk about it. Where can people find you online and what freebies do you got to share, if any?
Speaker 2:yeah, I am on mostly on Instagram. If I'm on social media, which is my handle is consulting K and just as it sounds consulting and my name K-A-Y, and then people can find me on my obviously on my website. As far as my freebie, I actually recently created a like Buzzfeed style quiz. I love a good Buzzfeed quiz.
Speaker 1:I love quizzes.
Speaker 2:They're so fun yeah it's geared for creative or even just intuitive CEOs, and I created my own five different types of creative CEOs and so it's just a fun quiz and it gives you some strengths and weaknesses and then, if you actually enter in your emails, they'll get not only their strengths and weaknesses but they'll get reflective questions for their type and actual steps they can take in their business or consider taking their business, based on their type, and the email also have all the other answers and everything in there so they can actually see what works for them. And then it's just a monthly newsletter. It's like a business oracle almost, because it's again reflection questions and actual steps, but it's not based on any one thing. As a human design projector, I don't like selling myself. Okay, yeah, I am more like. If you need help, come to me that's a nice energy.
Speaker 1:That's a nice energy to be in, not only to receive, but to give out others. It's not like you have to do this. This is an invitation. I'm here when you need me and I'll always support you whether you need me, whether you buy or not, oh, definitely yeah.
Speaker 2:I love connecting and just expanding my network and if I can play business matchmaker for people, I love it. So if I'm not, quite fit, I send them to somebody else. One of my, one of my core values for my business is community and it's from that same exact thing community over competition. So I'm never trying to compete. I feel like if an opportunity and a relationship or connection is meant for me, I won't miss it.