01 - Done is Better Than Perfect - Avoid "Paralysis by Analysis" and Just START

Whether it's talking to the hottest guy in school, applying for the thing you are "unqualified for" or literally just LAUNCHING the business already ... Brand Strategist, Kaylin Ingram unpacks what it means to start before you're ready, how to avoid analysis by paralysis and why DONE is better than PERFECT. 

If you are looking to uplevel in your personal life, or your in your own business, reach out to Kaylion today. Follow her on instagram @kay_coastal. Go to her website: www.kaycoastal.com. And be on the lookout for her SHINE & ALIGN Mastermind and Brand Workshops. 

Share this podcast with everyone you know who is building something BIG. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:05

What's up, everybody? My name is Kaylin, and I would like to be the first to officially welcome you to Being Brandworthy Podcast. Let's freaking go. Okay, so for those that don't know, I am starting a podcast because I want to. I'm interviewing amazing people, humans, brands, beings, and people who are just living in their full purpose, whatever that looks like for them. I am so freaking excited to kick this off with a little bit about me. Of course. So obviously, I um created a podcast to be the main event. Um but this podcast is being recorded live from my Mozilla CS5. Of course, I got the mic, I got the setup, I created the space in my house, and I also realized that if you don't um carve out time to make it happen, it won't happen. So this is me doing it, doing it messy, doing it from the car, doing it possibly with a horn honking in the background, and just being okay with that. I would rather share what I have to say than hold back because it's not perfect. Um, that is actually one of the first things I want to talk about is that done is better than perfect. And I say that with all love for the craft and all love for the end product. I am a graphic designer by trade. I went to University of Florida uh in the graphic design program, graduated in 2019, um, went on to receive my master's in branding from School of Visual Arts, and I used to let, and I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist by by the standard of like type A, dot the T's, cross the or dot the dot the I's cross the T's, dot the T's, cross the I, all the things. I wouldn't per se call myself a perfectionist in that sense of the term, but I would call myself in in the past, the past version of myself, I would call a perfectionist in the sense of paralyzed to put something out there in fear of it, you know, not being enough or you know, not being good enough or whatever. So um fortunately, I kind of got over that. Um, and we say get up got over that, but you know, I kind of have forced myself into situations I haven't been ready for. So um I've talked about this before, but for those who are new here, um, way, way, way back when my mom like paid me to talk to the hottest guy in middle school. And I thought that was like holy hell, like I I thought I was gonna die, but I didn't. It was fine. I just chit-chatted with this kid who was way cool at the time, and then it's like it became one of the things I was most proud, proud of. Like, I just waltzed right up to him in the gymnasium with my mom. Like, it was at a one of my sister's games. My mom was there. We were like, me and my friend were whispering about this kid, and she was like, go talk to him, and uh we were like, No, no, no. And she was like, I will pay you five bucks to go talk to him. So we did, and it just proved that like whatever scary, big, audacious thing, it's over, it's over in two seconds. So just do it. And so I kind of led a lot of my life, I have led a lot of my life that way. Um, I've applied for things I probably wasn't qualified for. I've been rejected by things, I've been accepted into things, I've and it's all just been beautiful and cool. I um applied for a TED talk um at University of Florida, which was super, super cool. It was like a very meta experience speaking, where I used to go to school, and it was in um, it was like really near the arts building, so I kind of got to see a lot of where I used to walk around and be at school. It was kind of cool. Um, but all this to say, um, I actually applied for this thing. I put together this like 30-second video of me like giving it my all. We had to do a we had to do like the spiel of our TED talk in 30 seconds on a video. And I I was like, oh my god, how do I fit all this into 30 seconds? But I did my little like soft pitch elevator launch of my TED Talk, and I like really put my energy into it, and I actually made it into they cut it from like a hundred people down to 15 people, and then from 15, they had to cut it down to six. And so when they were cutting it down to six, they told me, like, hey, so sorry about this, but you actually um you know didn't get the thing. Um, and they sent it in an email, and I responded back. I was like, no worries, if you need a pinch hitter, let me know. And like the freaking audacity, like, ask, ask, just ask. If you need a pinch hitter, I'm here. Like, I could go on, I could go on in in a week's notice for a test. That wasn't the case, but it's like who there I was thinking, like, oh, if somebody cancels, which nobody ever will cancel, you know, then I'll jump right in. Um, not really realizing it was like months and months and months of work, having to memorize a 17-minute speech, all this, all the things, and uh, and um I got an email a couple weeks later going into a birthday dinner for one of my siblings, like totally forgot about it. And it's when you're not, you know, attached to the to the having of something that it just kind of comes to. But anyway, um, so I let go of the attachment of having, and I was like, Well, that sucks, but I applied and I'm proud of myself for applying and being a little cringe and making the silly little video and just doing it. And then I got this email that was like, Hey, uh, so somebody actually can't make it on that date. Can you swing it? Like, can you make it work? And I was like, Um, yes, I would love to be there. And turns out, fast forward after the TED Talk, after girls came up to me at the TED Talk and was like, Oh my god, I needed to hear this, blah blah blah. After all is said and done, I was in Sarasota with my boyfriend's family, and his dad was wearing the TED X shirt from the from the event, and somebody came running up and they were like, Oh my god, I recognized the shirt, so I had to say hi. And it was one of the girls on the staff, and I didn't even know her name because there were like so many students who were working the the event, etc. And um they were like, Oh my god, oh my god, hey, how are have things been? We were just catching up, and then she was like, Hey, I don't know if you knew this, but I'm actually the reason you got called back. And I was like, Shut the F up. And she was like, Yeah, I really resonated with your video, and then when that one girl canceled, I was like, Hey, what about Caitlin? And I was like, Oh my god, I could just like hug you right now, and like it was just such a cool full circle moment of like meeting the person that was behind the magic of it all, and I think when we think about life and we think about what we're all going through each and every day, we're there's so many moving magic pieces. Like, I have met the coolest people on planes, you all know who you are. I have met some amazing people who I was never ever ever supposed to meet, and it's because there's this like magic thread through line through all of this universe, and so nobody to get back to to get back to the theme of today's convo is like done is better than perfect, like, don't don't let perfectionism paralyze you. Um, one of my teachers in college used to call it paralysis by analysis, and just like overthinking, overthinking. And I bet a lot of us do this with our business offerings, with our services, what our pricing should be, and should I do it like this, or should I have a certain number of spots, or should I send the email like this with bold font or italicized, or how should I sign up? Like things that just simply don't matter. Two more quick stories on this. In college, we had a graphic our graphic design program. It was about 20 students who graduated, and our junior and senior year, once you made it, once you applied and like made it into the graphic design sector of the program, um, it was only the 20 kids, and you had a stu we had a studio, and there was a giant sign in the studio that said work hard, stay humble, and I freaking loved that. But we had our dedicated like work spot in the studio, and so I was in my spot, and this was like people could see what you were creating, like people could see over your shoulder, they could see your desk, they could see your computer screen, like it was a very vulnerable thing. And for somebody who was very, very, very, very new to graphic design. I had just started two years earlier in the college program, and I didn't grow up with these programs. Adobe Photoshop Illustrator, like I didn't know how to work the programs, and it was very, very frustrating because I knew what I wanted to create, and I knew what was trendy and cool and vibey, and what like I want to make that, and I couldn't make that. I it I kept making like versions of it that were falling short, and like just felt like not enough, and it was embarrassing to have people like watching it live time, but um but we persist. No, but it it's true. I tell my I told my students that when I taught at University of Tampa, like I I then went on to teach these very programs, and I was like, hey, if you're feeling stuck, or if you're feeling like like these programs are not intuitive or they're confusing, or what like I get it, I get where you are because I was there too, and just take time, don't worry, don't worry about like people around you watching because there's always gonna be a phase when a piece of artwork is shit, like there's always gonna be a phase where something is half-baked or it's not there yet, or whatever. And if somebody's judging you by that piece, then they have bigger fish to f like then just just you wait till I finish this thing, or publish the half-baked and be like, this is the work of art, like this is the masterpiece. Um, that's actually what the whole TED talk was about was creating your life as your masterpiece, but being okay with where it is exactly right now. And I think that was a big learning curve that I had to I had to go through in college, which if you're in college or if you're graduating college and you're listening to this now, like drop whatever perfectionism or paralysis by analysis, like just drop that right now. Um, the second story I wanted to share um regarding paralysis by analysis was when I first started my business K Coastal Designs. I was working with a life coach at the time and I created these postcards, and I thought they were like the coolest shit ever. And they were like coasters, um, like circular business cards, and everybody who saw them was like, Whoa, this is so cool! And I left them in coffee shops and at bars, and I I like left them like around town, and I just thought this was fun because like when you get a business card, you just throw it in your purse or you throw it in your wallet, but you can't throw a circular thing in your wallet, it's gonna get like like fold it, like you can't help but notice it. So I made these coaster business cards, which were sick, and but I am a graphic designer, and I was like, what about my logo? What about my font? What about this? That um, I had finished the logo, which by the way, was I was paralysis by analysising that uh analysising words on the podcast that aren't real, but I was I was analyzing that so much, and I was like, people are gonna be hiring me for logos, I can't have a bad one, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And then I was like, enough is enough, and I just drew a sun and a wave in my journal, scanned it in, like digitally um digitized it, and called it a day. And I was like, This is my logo, it's something I drew, boom, done. And it was like it was so perfect, it was so perfect. So then I'm making this business card, and I had everything ready to roll. And the life coach was like, Hey, do you have your business cards yet? Because he wanted to hire me, he had people who wanted to hire me, etc. And I was like, Ah, let me show you. I'm stuck with this one font. And if if you see this, you'll understand why I haven't gotten them printed yet. And he looked at me, he looked at the font, and he was like, I don't give a shit what font this is. I don't care if you used an I a sans serif or a serif or an IT-like, he's like, I don't care. And he's like, and I would hire you yesterday. And he was like, So order the business cards, get them in your hands, and start passing them out. And if they don't change, then you're not a vi because I was like so hell bent on like, well, once I create my brand, it can't change. It can't change. I'm like thinking back to that version of myself laughing right now because of course it's gonna change, because you're gonna change. My brand is not the same as it was before. I've started a company, I've exited the company, I've I've doubled down on my original company, I've changed what I do, how I do it. I paint murals, I create logos. Like I am not a niche, I am not a niche anymore. And for anybody who tells you to niche down, which I used to tell people to do, sure, it might be great for the algorithm, but you know what's not realistic? You're one of a kind, you're as you're a beautiful being that does so many things, and no one can put you in a box. And some of the best people in the world never niched into a box, they created their own freaking box. So, all this to say, perfectionism feels real, but don't let it be real, and just the paralysis by analysis thing, just move on from that. You're gonna get so much farther creating one messy thing and launching it than by waiting for something to be perfect and then and then rolling it out when nobody really needs it anymore. Does that make sense? Like when you have a strike of inspiration to create something, create it and put it into the world. Come hella high water, and of course, take your time, get it right, make sure there's no typos, obviously. But if you find that a font selection is keeping you from doing what you were put here to do, then it's time to reevaluate. Okay, what is actually holding me up? Is it is it my own readiness? Is it a feeling of lack of self-worth? Like it's probably something deeper than the font, if that makes sense. So talk to the hottest boy in school, apply for the TED talk, print the business cards, and don't care what people think about what you're creating when it's half baked, because that is when people probably will relate to it most when you're vulnerable, when you're messy, when you're put publishing a podcast from your car. Like that is what people can probably relate to because nobody has it all together. Nobody has actually a lot of people have the mic sitting at home gathering dust and waiting, waiting, waiting to start a podcast, but never actually sitting down at their desk. Just launch the podcast from your car. It's fine, it's fine. We're human, we're human beings, we're being brandworthy, we're being humans. Thank you for joining me on this first episode of Being Brandworthy, BB dub, baby. Hopefully that catches on. And if you found this podcast remotely interesting, or if you think it could help one person who might be getting in their own way, this would be the greatest form of love to pass this off to them. Also, if you feel like you resonate with this and you see strikes of genius in somebody who you want to also see strikes of genius in themselves, please pass this podcast on. Share it on every single social media platform that exists. Text it to your mom, your aunts, your uncles, your cousins. Like, please help me reach more people. I do not want to live in a vacuum of my own bubble anymore. I want to reach the people who are meant to hear this and reach the people who are meant to connect with me and who want to live more boldly, who want to live in their purpose, and who want to live into their being and be brandworthy. Thank you so much. I am so excited for podcast two.