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The Motivated Mindset -Reinvention is a Life Skill_ Tapping into Motivators When Life Pivots · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

1:00
So that or want to not just learn, but want to.
1:06
But I think that that. Welcome to the motivated
1:19
mindset. I am your host, Jose Flores,
1:21
proud Latino, born in New York City, straight out of the Bronx,
1:25
and raised in Brooklyn. That New York City flavor, Yay,
1:28
yay. That hustle, that grit me, that
1:30
shaped me, build me and still drive everything that I do.
1:34
I am a combat veteran who served 30 years in the United States
1:38
Army. Who?
1:38
Why? If you don't know, you would ask
1:40
somebody up in hand before we get rolling.
1:42
I want to send a powerful slew to all my veterans, service
1:46
members, first responders, and everyone who puts in service
1:50
before self. Mucho repeto, much respect.
1:53
You already know you see what I'm saying?
1:55
But my journey didn't stop when I hung up that uniform, you know
1:58
what I'm saying? After I left the Army, I
2:00
continue serving through the federal government, working with
2:04
Department of Defense and later with the US Department of
2:08
Housing and Urban Development, which I love me and think.
2:13
And along that journey, I had the opportunity to work in Equal
2:17
Employment Opportunity, EEO, alternative dispute resolution,
2:21
leadership development, training, mentoring, and
2:25
organizational support. You know what I'm saying?
2:28
I've let teams, I've trained people, I've sat across the
2:32
table from people in conflict and help them find a common
2:36
ground. I've coached, mentored, and
2:39
developed leaders, and probably one of the things that I enjoyed
2:44
most was helping people recognize something in
2:48
themselves that they couldn't see yet.
2:50
And let me tell you something, there is nothing better than
2:55
watching someone who once doubted themselves suddenly
3:01
saying, quote, UN quote, wait a minute, maybe I can do this.
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That right there, Mihenta, that right there.
3:08
That's my kind of motivation. Because throughout my career,
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whether I was wearing that uniform in the Army, working in
3:15
the federal government, leading A-Team, conducting training,
3:20
mentoring someone, or just sitting down with someone going
3:23
through a difficult situation, I learned one important lessons.
3:27
Mihente leadership isn't about a title on your business card.
3:32
Como Lisa, right? It's about how you show up, how
3:35
you serve and how you impact people.
3:38
Now in this new chapter of my life, I wear very, very a lot of
3:41
a couple of hats other than the school right here, right?
3:44
You like that? I'm a motivational speaker, a
3:46
certified personal trainer, a certified mediator and yes, an
3:50
end of life death doula. Now, I know you're probably
3:53
saying you're probably thinking something like Jose, bro, how
3:58
many jobs do you have? You know what I'm saying to you.
4:01
Listen here, I'm from New York. We don't know how to sit still,
4:06
right? But here's the truth behind all
4:09
those titles, right? I do what I do because I'm
4:13
called to serve, because I know what struggle feels like.
4:18
I know what it means to start over again.
4:23
I know what it means to face how you say adversity, get knocked
4:27
down and have to find the strength to get back up me.
4:31
And because I know what it means to fight for a purpose, to help
4:35
other people find theirs, that's why this podcast exists.
4:39
The Motivated Mindset is more than just another podcast.
4:43
This is a place where we talk about resilience.
4:46
We talk about leadership. We talk about culture.
4:48
We talk about optimism, discipline, faith, purpose,
4:52
personal growth, and the courage it takes to keep pushing.
4:54
When life swings Doodle, that means hard.
4:58
We're going to talk to people who have been through some, some
5:02
things. We had things, you know, people
5:04
who who have overcome, people who are still trying to figure
5:08
it out, right? People who are leading, people
5:12
who are serving, people who are inspiring others.
5:16
And sometimes we're just going to have a good conversation and
5:21
laugh because let's be real, life is already serious enough,
5:26
right? We keep it here.
5:27
We keep it real here at New York City real if you want to, you
5:30
know, if you want to say we do straight talk Bronx humor.
5:33
Yay, Jay in the litters of Spanish come on down right when
5:38
when necessary. It's sugar coating, right?
5:40
0 sugar coating. You're going to laugh.
5:42
You're going to reflect like it'll get that by something.
5:45
You're going to get fired up. You're Jay.
5:47
May not you may even share the 10 not because you're cutting
5:49
onions. You know what I'm saying?
5:50
But here's one thing I promise you, you will leave stronger
5:53
than when when you press that play button clicked it right,
5:56
because I believe every person has a story.
6:00
Every person has a purpose. Every person has something to
6:06
give. And sometimes we all all we need
6:08
is somebody to remind us yo, you got more in you.
6:14
So wherever you are today, wherever you, whatever you're
6:16
facing me and they, whatever chapter you're in, whatever set
6:21
back you're in, whatever you're dealing with, don't count
6:24
yourself out. Your story isn't over.
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You see what I'm saying? Your best chapter might still be
6:29
waiting to be written. I need you to stay frosty, stay
6:34
faithful and stay motive because because this isn't just
6:38
motivation. This is transformation.
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We hint there and this is the motivated mindset with me, your
6:45
host, Jose Flores. So what we're about to kick off,
6:48
but there's one thing I need to I need to share with with you
6:50
guys one thing before we get kicked off right?
6:53
So if if you are vibing with with what you see right here,
6:58
right, the conversations, I'm posting something in the in the
7:01
comment box, right? If it inspires you, if you
7:04
appreciate the interviews, the energy JJ 'cause I bring it the
7:07
message. All I ask is support my YouTube
7:09
channel. Hit do that, that phone thing,
7:12
get that QR code. And you know what?
7:13
Share it with someone who could use a little motivation.
7:16
Because let me tell you something.
7:18
Your support helps keep us to bring you powerful guests,
7:21
meaningful conversations and purpose driven content straight
7:25
to you. But I would yeah, they me hinted
7:27
that means my people, right, Because this is the motivated
7:30
mindset. All right, so that's what I
7:32
asked for you. Now let's talk about today's
7:36
guests. You know, let me take this off
7:38
because today I'm excited to introduce a phenomenal leader,
7:42
mentor and a coach, Kelly Foster.
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Kelly is a retired Department of Defense leader with more than 20
7:48
OCHO. That means 38 years of service
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where she drove Army wide programs and supported senior
7:54
executive. Today she continues to lead
7:57
multiple national organizations while running motivated by
8:01
Kelly. You're Jerry.
8:02
That's what I'm talking about LLC, helping aspiring leaders
8:05
prepare for the Senior Executive service through leadership
8:09
training and coaching. But what really stands out about
8:13
Kelly is her gift for seeing the potential in people, building
8:17
their confidence and helping them exceed their own
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expectation. That's that's real.
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That's, that's, that's fine. That's wicked.
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Kelly, I want to welcome you to the Motivated mindset because
8:28
I'm excited to have you here and talk about leadership, purpose,
8:32
confidence and what it takes to become the leader you were meant
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to be mihente. So let's bring her in that MU
8:39
momento. That means give me a minute
8:41
because we're going to do this right.
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The interview of the week is brought to you by Jersey Mike's,
8:49
a sub above. Kelly, welcome.
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Hello Jose. It's awesome to be here.
8:57
Thank you for that incredible introduction it.
9:01
Is true. It is stupendous.
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You are the WOMAN. That means one more case.
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You know I'm spelling it all out for you.
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It's a pleasure to have you on here, Kelly.
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We appreciate it so much. And before we get into the
9:13
titles of career, let's see who is Kelly.
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Before all that, we want to know a little bit about you, please.
9:19
All right, well, I'll say like most people, I wear a lot of
9:23
hats. But to take you back, I have
9:27
been raised in the beautiful state of Maryland and lived here
9:31
my whole life. I have not moved out of it yet.
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And a unique fact about me is I lived in Prince George's County
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my whole life until 20/22 when I moved to Harford County.
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Now, as you'll later find out about, you know, being a
9:48
military spouse, she'll be like, wait a minute, happy to be a
9:50
military spouse and stay in the same place.
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Well, in my chapter of life, I met my military husband, second
9:58
marriage. So I had already established my
10:01
career. I had family here, I had roots
10:03
here, I had friends here. And I'm like, babe, I love you,
10:07
but we're just going to have to do this last chapter of life,
10:10
you know, live in the GO, bachelor, Bachelorette,
10:13
whatever. And that phrase is.
10:15
And so as he finished out his last five or six assignments, I
10:20
stayed put because, like I said, I had family here, I have my
10:23
career here, and just was not conducive for me to move around
10:28
and uproot everything I had for so long.
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Wow, that is some So when when you think about your childhood,
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was there one lesson your family taught you that you still carry
10:40
with you today? Have fun it it would definitely
10:47
be have fun. Some of my greatest memories are
10:51
going to the pool and one of my fondest.
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I don't know why, but it was my birthday and all of my presents
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were like a beach towel, a pool floatie, a raft and just fun
11:05
stuff like that to play, you know, pool toys.
11:07
And I don't know why. It's been one of my fondest
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childhood birthday memories. It was just, it was all about
11:12
fun. So I would say it was just have
11:14
fun. Can you still do it today as an
11:17
adult? Oh yes, I do.
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Yes, I do. I was at the pool today and in
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fact. Yeah, I think as adults we
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forget that sometimes. We got to have fun, you know,
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You know, because in the end, you know, when you're there,
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when it's time to go, you're not going to say, man, I wished I
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worked some more, you know? Exactly and.
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And and just enjoy life, you know, and when, when, when, when
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you were in your upbringing said, you know, and you would
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what made you, what was your first career job, you know, was
11:49
it right out of the high school, college?
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What was it? How?
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What was the how did that look like?
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That road? So, well, I'll say my first job
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was as fun as it sounds. It was selling bingo tickets at
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a establishment. Yes, yes, yes.
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So that's my first job at 13. And it was so much fun.
12:07
But in high school, I was fortunate enough to get in this
12:11
program. It was called Cooperative Office
12:13
Experience, and you signed up in your junior year to do it during
12:19
your senior year. And basically you went to school
12:23
at 4 hours in the morning, you left at lunchtime, and then you
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went to a place to work in the afternoon for four hours.
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And some people went in the retail space, other people went
12:33
in the office space. And I was fortunate enough to
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get placed at. At the time, it was called Harry
12:39
Diamond Laboratories in Delphi, Maryland.
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But since then, it's now the Devcom Army Research Laboratory.
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And I was 17 years old, just, you know, a little, a little
12:48
something still in school. And I would go there and it was,
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you know, led by a two star commander.
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So, you know, he's lean and tall and, you know, I'm looking up
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and his green uniform with the stars and just in all.
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But that's where it all started as AGS one, which some people
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are like, I didn't even know that existed.
13:11
And it did. And $4.21 an hour, I'll never
13:16
forget. That is my first, I guess, wage
13:19
with the federal government. And after I graduated high
13:23
school, I was fortunate enough to get selected into what was
13:26
called the summer program so that I got my first promotion.
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I was back promoted to AGS 2. All right.
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And then after that, after you completed the summer, then it
13:38
was up to you to look for a permanent position.
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And I'll never forget her name was Kelly, but she spelled her
13:45
name differently. She stopped in the lobby one day
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and said, what are you going to do after the summer?
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And I was like, well, I'm not sure.
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And she's like apply. I never wanted to do jobs in
13:53
finance and accounting just to get in.
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I'm like, OK, so I did. So I had started my GS one job
14:01
in the department, what's called DPW now Department of Public
14:04
works. I started from Paris.
14:05
I learned about how all the things get fixed.
14:08
And then I went into it was called civilian personnel at the
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time and now it's human resources office.
14:15
But same thing as my GS2. Then I went right into finance
14:19
and accounting as AGS 3. And and then I want to say I got
14:23
promoted to a four and then I was ready.
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I'm like, all right, I'm ready to go to the five.
14:28
So then I applied for a position, it was called
14:30
procurement assistant, which is now like the contracts office
14:33
acquisition. So got my GS5 over there, got
14:37
promoted to a six. And I don't know if you see a
14:40
trend here, but it's pivoting, right, Reinventing, right?
14:46
So then I went, worked there for a while and I had the
14:50
opportunity and I learned all about contracts.
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I learned about everything that, you know, the Federal
14:54
Acquisition Regulations, the D Fars, the A Fars.
14:57
So there are other regulations in the contracting space,
15:01
learned about the database and there is a form of DD350 that I
15:05
was responsible. It was like the most important
15:08
piece of information that went into the database, right?
15:11
And I was responsible for that. So it was super fun.
15:14
But then I started to learn about computers.
15:16
So in this whole job, I transitioned into kind of like
15:19
the IT space and was a PC network administrator because we
15:24
had PCs at the time, not Macintosh, but we did have a
15:27
Linux system. So I was learning all about
15:29
that. So again, more transitions, more
15:32
skill building, more development.
15:34
And then came a hiring freeze because they wanted to Take Me
15:38
Out of the admin series and put me into the IT type of series.
15:42
There was a freeze, but I still continue to work and work and
15:46
work and work. You know, I didn't, you know,
15:48
let that hold me back. I just kept performing at the,
15:50
you know, best level that I could when the freeze lifted,
15:54
and I want to say it was probably 18 months, if not
15:56
longer. It was a long time when I they
15:59
finally got the freeze lifted and my action got pushed
16:02
through. I'll never forget I was in.
16:05
I don't know if anyone remembers the head company.
16:07
It was a merchandise store, right?
16:11
Like amazing. And way back when my pager my
16:15
beeper went off. Pagers.
16:18
Oh my gosh, yeah. So I ran to the payphone and
16:22
payphone where I had to put money in to call the civilian
16:25
personnel person. And she was like, Kelly, we're
16:27
happy to offer you a position. So you know, you know that you
16:31
normally go one grade jump. And I have been working at the
16:34
6th level for so long. So I thought they'd bring me in
16:36
1/7. I went from A6 to A9 qualify me
16:41
to a nine level. I was I about cried.
16:44
I was so moved, but it was because of all of my
16:47
demonstrated experience and skills I had attained.
16:50
We'll say all I was waiting, but as I was in contracts for about
16:55
10 years, love that one of the best work family environments
17:00
that I can remember in my career.
17:02
And because you know, if you work in that space, September
17:05
30th, that's a big day, right? That's when everyone's burning
17:08
the midnight oil. You got to get all this constant
17:10
worry. You got to get all the data in
17:12
the database, the funding, all the money spent.
17:15
So sometimes we were there very late, but we always have like a
17:18
day after breakfast and everyone got together and celebrated, you
17:22
know, the new year in our world. So then after a while there, I
17:26
saw an opportunity for the special projects office and I
17:31
had applied. It was like a one year
17:33
developmental assignment. I have applied and my boss at
17:36
the time said no, that he couldn't let me go, right?
17:40
He's like, no, I can't, I can't not have you here.
17:43
So the guy who had the opportunity, he's like, well,
17:46
I'll take care of that. He says, I'll just lateral you
17:49
over into a permanent. So that's what he did and
17:52
brought me right over. And that was probably another
17:55
pivotal moment in my career because it put me in like the
17:59
director's office doing special projects.
18:02
So I got to do all kinds of things that work for the
18:05
organization. And that's where my career
18:07
really started to excel like 12 to 131415 and everything that
18:12
came along with it. So that's the fast track of how
18:16
I got from AGS one to AGS 15 and had all these opportunities that
18:24
when I look back, I'm like, I was so fortunate.
18:27
I got to lead so many different programs that are still in place
18:31
today, got to work with really great people.
18:33
I got to obtain a lot of skills. And now in my SO we'll jump
18:39
right to the early retirement. Everyone knows what was going
18:43
on. 20/20 5:00-ish and trust me, I was not planning to retire my
18:49
date because, you know, I started as AGS 1.
18:52
My date was I was going to retire when I was 62 December
18:55
31st, 2031 had it on the wall. You know, I knew I had, I had
19:00
38.8 years of service. I had service, I had good
19:05
ratings. So I'm like, I've been through
19:08
reorgs, I've been through riffs, I've been through furloughs,
19:13
I've been through it all right? I'm like, I Will Survive, right?
19:16
Been through it. I Will Survive.
19:19
So I woke up one day and literally I was like, maybe I
19:24
should apply for the viewer visa.
19:26
And it was like the last day to apply and I was like maybe you
19:30
should just put your papers in 'cause you could always pull
19:32
them. So I did them in and that was
19:35
like May 31st ish. And then mid June they told me
19:40
that I'm approved. And the deal was you had to be
19:43
off the books by June 30th. So imagine wrapping up a 38 year
19:49
career in about two weeks. Now say the only blessing there
19:54
was I was, I'll say I was one of the early adopters.
19:58
I retired June 30th. So my paperwork was processed
20:01
pretty smoothly and and really I'm going to say by October 1st,
20:06
my package had been adjudicated. So that was three months.
20:09
So I know that that is like record time, but I was one of
20:13
the first out of the gate. Compared to some, I know some
20:16
other people that went out in July and then more people in
20:19
September and October. So, yeah, so it's been quite a
20:23
ride. Wow, that is correct.
20:25
And you're right, that was quick because for a lot of people like
20:27
I, I took the, the buyout too, you know, and it was a long
20:31
process, but you know, it, I, and there's still some people
20:34
who were, you know, haven't been adjudicated yet.
20:37
They're still working through that.
20:39
So Kelly, I have a question. So after 38 years, you
20:43
transition, you're transitioning now into a new chapter, right?
20:46
And where you're leading national organizations and
20:49
running motivated by Kelly. You know, what made you say I'm
20:54
not done serving yet? You know, how did that come out
20:56
about for you? It was just a natural evolution.
21:00
I would say I, like you had mentioned, I've worked with
21:06
senior executives like the majority of my career.
21:09
Even when I was at GS2, I was supporting the SES in the human
21:14
resource office or civilian personnel at the time.
21:17
So when you are right there directly supporting, you see the
21:21
insurance and the outs, you see the how to's, you see everything
21:24
in the S in the life of ASCs and what it takes to get there.
21:29
You see, you know, and that was like I said when it's GS 2.
21:32
So by the time I was up at the GS15 level, helping to fill the
21:37
positions that were in our organization, you just know what
21:40
it takes to get there. You have a unique niche
21:43
experience that not everyone has.
21:46
Knowing what the qualifications review board would be looking
21:50
for, knowing what these ECQS are and how to transform your career
21:55
accomplishments into something that is a meaningful and shows
21:59
your impact and is quantifiable. So I think it's a unique niche
22:03
skill. So how that came about in
22:06
November 2019, I actually took the training that I teach now
22:11
and fabulous instructor, Doctor Donna Gregory, she's awesome.
22:17
She worked at OPM, she retired, retired again, retired another
22:20
time. But so then after that was 2019,
22:25
then the pandemic hit, and that kind of paralyzed a lot of
22:29
things and so forth. But I wanted to hire her to do
22:33
training at my organization. And she's like, no, Kelly, I
22:36
would love to because we stayed in touch and we've talked plenty
22:39
of times, she says. But I really, really, really
22:42
retired. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:45
Because I really, really did this time.
22:46
And I'm like, OK, And she goes, you, why don't you do it?
22:49
She says, you've been doing this for years, you know it just why
22:52
don't you do it? So I'm like, really?
22:55
So when someone like that is like, yeah, you could do it.
22:58
So I'm like, OK, so that's how that aspect of Motivated by
23:03
Kelly came about, was being able to take on this unique training
23:10
opportunity that doesn't really exist out there.
23:13
And some organizations have their own internal training, but
23:16
some of them don't. So being able to help the
23:18
aspiring leaders that want to attain the senior executive
23:21
service rank, but just aren't quite sure, you know, how to get
23:25
from the GS to the SES. And there's a lot involved in
23:28
that. It's not just submitting A2 page
23:30
resume, it's really taking a lot of time to look at your career
23:34
accomplishments and align them with the ECQS, which are the
23:38
executive corps qualifications. Because it's not just like here
23:42
you go, I qualify. This is when you are
23:44
transitioning from proving you qualify to proving that you can
23:49
lead right, that you can lead at an executive level and you can
23:53
lead a large organization and you can live, I'll say eat,
23:58
breathe, sleep. Those core competencies is that
24:01
OPM expects our leaders to have. So that's part of the mindset.
24:06
And then also, you know, changing your mindset when you
24:08
show up because when you're leading a large organization now
24:12
you're at the top. So how do you show up?
24:14
How you walk into a room, how you respond to people, all
24:17
there's so many aspects to it that you have to do a mindset
24:20
shift when you're switching from, like I said, that I'm
24:24
qualified for the next level to being able to lead at the next
24:29
level, at the executive level. And that's what that is all
24:33
about. Wow, Kelly, we're going to take
24:35
a quick break. When we come back, one of the
24:37
questions I just came and says why you started your podcast and
24:41
why you chose the name Motivated by Kelly.
24:45
You got it. We're going to take a break,
24:46
ladies and gentlemen. For those watching, please have
24:48
your questions, Post them and Kelly will answer them.
24:51
We'll be right back. The station where our veterans
28:20
voices are heard. MBR talk.
28:23
Hey, thanks for supporting our channel by watching and
28:26
listening find. Us on the web at MB Radio.
28:31
That video always motivates me. I'm sorry, Kelly.
28:33
That is the that is, that's the bomb.
28:37
It is. It is.
28:38
I'm like, Oh my word, that is an awesome song.
28:42
I was about to say another word, but I forget local podcast, but
28:46
it's it's it's stupendous. But thank you.
28:48
So we let ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Motivated
28:50
mindset Wizard Floyd. So we left off on the question,
28:52
Kelly, why you started your podcast and then why you chose
28:57
the name Motivated by Kelly. All right, so I'm going to flip
29:01
those. And because the name came first
29:03
and the name came motivated by Kelly because someone who worked
29:09
for me at the time called me up and was like, hey, my daughter
29:14
would like you to be the keynote speaker at this event.
29:16
And I was not a speaker at the time.
29:18
And I'm like, what? Why me, right.
29:20
And she said because she has watched her mother after working
29:25
under my leadership and how I motivate her and I excite her
29:30
and just inspire her. And I was like, Oh my goodness,
29:33
that's it. That's you know, when people, a
29:35
word that they tie to me is motivated.
29:37
So I started motivated by Kelly and it started with my planner,
29:42
which we'll talk about a little bit later.
29:44
But the podcast, like he says under my brand name, motivated
29:48
by Kelly, because that's why what I feel like is natural to
29:51
me. I see the potential and you said
29:54
like it. I see the potential in other
29:56
people that they might not see. And I help them to recognize or
30:01
I'm like, encourage them, motivate them that you know, you
30:03
can do this, right? Why can't you do that?
30:06
And I remember when someone asking, what would you do if you
30:09
knew you couldn't fail? And I was like, why would I
30:12
think I would fail? Why?
30:16
Why would I think I would fail? But so motivation is definitely
30:20
something that is deeply in me. So an area that I was very
30:24
passionate about was the administrative professionals
30:26
because I started as a GS1 clerk typist when we had actual
30:31
typewriters and you actually had to pass a typing test to get a
30:35
job in the federal government. But anyway, I digress.
30:38
So I was very passionate about this community and I really
30:41
wanted to help them recognize the value that they bring to the
30:46
organization. When you work in a research and
30:49
development or science and technology organization like we
30:52
did, I would say 75% were pH DS. So they're highly technical,
30:59
educated scientists and engineers, and there's just two
31:03
different populations. So you would, and that was, I'll
31:06
say, our money maker. Not that we made money because
31:08
obviously the federal government, but what we did that
31:10
was our business was producing things for the Army.
31:14
So helping them realize that. Don't say I'm just an admin.
31:20
You are an admin. You're the one that makes all
31:23
the business operations to happen.
31:26
You're the one that is pushing through the SF 50s to get
31:28
someone hired. You know, you're the one that's
31:30
putting things on USA jobs. You're the one that's allocating
31:33
the funding in budget to pay that person's salary.
31:37
You're the person that's doing the DTS so your leader can go on
31:40
travel to pitch a program that they want funding to or
31:44
whatever. So you are the oil that keeps
31:47
this engine running. So I was very passionate about
31:50
about helping them recognize their value that they bring to
31:53
the organization and don't be under this.
31:55
I'm just an admin. It's not you're just an admin.
31:58
You are a freaking admin and you do really awesome things.
32:01
So I started out with the Unforgettable admin podcast.
32:06
That's of the initial ones. And I have a funny story about
32:08
how that came about. If you've heard of the Institute
32:12
for Veterans and Military Families, IBMF, Syracuse
32:17
University. So I took the class through them
32:21
and you know, we also, I did project opportunity.
32:24
I did those at the same time because you know, I'm just crazy
32:26
like that. That one culminated in Atlanta.
32:32
So I did the weekend thing in Atlanta and they at the end of
32:36
all the sessions, they have these different round tables
32:39
where you can sit down and talk to one of the speakers and kind
32:41
of pick their brain. So I, I sat down with this one
32:44
gentleman who was there and he was really just waiting for his
32:46
wife who was one of the keynote speakers at the other table.
32:49
And you know, you know, he's just sitting there.
32:51
So I sat down, I started talking to him.
32:52
We were just yapping. He's like, so tell me about your
32:55
business. I told him about my business.
32:57
And at the end of our conversation, he was like, well,
33:00
whatever you do, you want to make sure that you have branding
33:04
that is T-shirt worthy, right? And as I turned, literally as I
33:08
spun around to say goodbye, I'm like, well, it's great meeting
33:13
you. Michael Peterson.
33:15
Do you know that he's a country singer?
33:17
What is it? Drink?
33:18
Yes. You don't lie.
33:21
Who knew, right? My wow.
33:23
That is amazing. Oh my goodness.
33:25
Yeah, so I'm like the the unforgettable admin says goodbye
33:30
or something like that. And we both turned around and
33:32
we're like, that's it. That is my so that's how the
33:38
podcast originally came about focusing on that population.
33:42
And then I pivoted and started interviewing some of the
33:46
veterans that have been through Project Opportunity just because
33:50
I wanted people to see and hear about how they have so many,
33:55
whether you're a veteran or a military spouse or you are a
33:58
federal employee transitioning, you have so many transferable
34:03
skills and just being able to take those and not RE.
34:09
I used the word reinvent, but reinvent doesn't mean as
34:12
something different or something new.
34:14
It's taking all the skills and the training and the knowledge
34:17
and the expertise that you have and using it in a different way.
34:20
And that is pretty much what I've done since I retired is,
34:25
like you said, you know, leading some national organizations.
34:28
I have my podcasts, I'm an instructor.
34:31
So I repurpose everything that I've gotten in 38 years and I
34:36
just spread it out out all over these different organizations.
34:40
That is stupendous. We have a a quick question
34:42
because today's topic is reinvention is a life skill.
34:45
And the question that we got is, what did you learn about
34:48
yourself during a season of reinvention?
34:53
Learn about myself. Well I would say probably the
34:58
biggest season of reinvention. I have two major ones. 1 was
35:04
divorce many years ago. That is a very powerful identity
35:09
switch. And then when I retired, right,
35:13
because my whole life from I was 17 years old until I think I was
35:19
5556 ish, because I wasn't. Yeah.
35:24
So around that age and that's all I knew.
35:28
I've only worked for the federal government and I loved it.
35:30
And even though I've done so many different things, it's what
35:33
I knew. So it was kind of like, well,
35:35
who am I going to be now that I don't go there every day?
35:39
So the whole reinvention was recognizing what did I still
35:43
have to offer, right? What excites me?
35:46
What do I, what would I do every day if I didn't get paid for it?
35:50
I'm sure you've heard that phrase.
35:51
Yes, ma'am. And, and that was probably,
35:54
those were probably the biggest, the biggest reinvention seasons
35:58
in my life. You know, I've had pivoting and
36:01
reinvention, as you know, when you get married, you get
36:04
divorced, you have children, empty nesters, retirements and
36:09
yeah, or health issues, you know, so when major things
36:12
happen in your life, those are pivots 'cause you have to take a
36:15
different mindset. You know, but you have, you know
36:18
what I the the first time was when I got out the military, I
36:22
was lost like last year's Easter eggs.
36:24
It was so freaking terrifying here because I didn't know what
36:28
my skill set really were. I'm so used to doing something,
36:31
working with professionals. I said, am I good enough to get
36:34
out there and be with civilian? It was just like, wow.
36:37
And I and I remember real quick, Kelly, the first time they
36:39
called me for AGS job, I knew nothing about negotiating.
36:43
I knew nothing about 'cause they 'cause they don't teach you none
36:46
of that stuff, right. And I just took it and I said
36:48
where's it located at? And it but you absolutely
36:51
correct. I said it could have been in
36:54
Wisconsin and I'm in Maryland. That's OK, but but those are the
36:58
skill set. You absolutely correct on that.
37:00
It is doing that pivoting, which brings me to a question we got
37:05
from another user, Kelly said. What do you want people to
37:08
understand about pivoting with intention, not panic?
37:15
That is a good question. I would say that it's a natural
37:21
thing that happens, right? Embrace it for what it is and
37:26
don't. There's things in life you can
37:29
control and there's things you can't control.
37:31
So don't let the things you can't control control you.
37:36
Just let them go. Just be intentional about what
37:42
things make you happy, what things bring you joy, and
37:45
finding the opportunities to be able to pursue that, whatever it
37:49
might be. You know, both of us are, you
37:52
know, recent exeters, I guess. Yeah.
37:57
Right. And, and I've just been
38:00
fortunate that I just keep finding opportunities that bring
38:03
me joy. And I invested a lot of my hours
38:07
unpaid because I'm volunteering, right?
38:09
I'm supporting the Council for Military spouse clubs.
38:13
I'm part of the APG Community spouse Clubs.
38:16
I'm part of Project Opportunity. I'm part of Oath and Oak, you
38:19
know, all these things that I do, it's because it brings me
38:23
joy because I get to use the skills that I have to help other
38:28
people see what's possible. And that's probably so exciting
38:32
when someone like in Project Opportunity, which is for
38:35
veterans and military spouses to start a business, when they come
38:39
with a business idea and they see like this much of it.
38:43
But after working with them through that 10 weeks, it's like
38:46
they can see the bigger vision. They can see the art of what is
38:50
actually possible and helping you pull that idea to fruition.
38:56
And I can relate. I and ladies and gentlemen, I
38:59
had taken project opportunity and Kelly is so it was just the
39:02
tip of the iceberg, what I thought was a business.
39:06
And when you sit and you go through them training, I'm like,
39:08
wow, who knew how much it went into it?
39:10
And because of that, it helped me tremendously.
39:13
And it still does, you know, and I'm like you, I just volunteer.
39:17
And that's something we have is the selfless service.
39:20
There's a gap. We fill it without even thinking
39:22
about it. And it's something that I'm
39:24
still working through. I love doing it.
39:28
I love doing what I, what I do. So I, I can, I totally concur
39:31
what you just said. We have another question here.
39:34
And it says, how do you stay grounded when your goals stretch
39:39
you beyond your comfort zone? Well, that's another good
39:43
question. I'm going to say I don't that
39:47
comfort zone. I don't know if I know a comfort
39:49
zone because like I said earlier, I'm like, why would I
39:53
think I would fail, right? So yes, but another phrase I
39:57
have to remember because I, I think I can do anything right.
40:01
But I have to remember, just because I can doesn't mean I
40:05
should. And a book that I read called
40:08
Essentialism by Greg McEwen. Life changing for me because I
40:14
like to do everything. If if I'm like, oh, project
40:17
management, I can do that Lean 16, I can do that.
40:20
You know, I can help organize this leadership summit.
40:23
You know I can perform all miracles I can, right?
40:27
I can. I have the skills, but should I?
40:32
And it comes with the balance of what are the things that are
40:36
going to, I'll say, move the needle forward for the goals
40:40
that I want to achieve. And sometimes you have to say, I
40:44
would love to do that. I really would, but I can't
40:47
right now. Could you call me in three
40:49
months when my schedule opens up a little bit?
40:52
So sometimes you do have to say no to stay in a manageable zone.
41:02
You absolutely could. I'm just thinking when the
41:05
saying no, it is so hard. You know, I have a sign in my
41:09
office that says become what is necessary.
41:12
And I've lived my whole life like that.
41:14
You and I have been in positions where we may not have all the
41:18
information, but it's like what you need me, hey, become what is
41:22
necessary, what you need me to do.
41:23
So you are absolutely correct. It just had me thinking what you
41:26
said and learning to say no. And and it's not always no, it's
41:32
sometimes it's not right now. And that was from that really
41:35
helped me to recognize what are the essential things.
41:38
If this is the poll that I'm trying to move forward, I need
41:42
to make sure that I am intentional about focusing on
41:45
getting that goal. And some things are not right
41:49
now. Like I would love to be able to
41:51
come and talk, but I can't right now.
41:53
Can I do it next quarter or the next opportunity that comes up.
41:57
So sometimes it's no because it's a, it's just not a fit.
42:00
But sometimes it's just a not right now, but being intentional
42:04
about focusing on those essential things that you want
42:07
to achieve. Yeah, we have another question,
42:10
but what I want to do is we're going to go into the slide up
42:13
what services you have to offer and so on.
42:16
And then we got a few other questions that you can address,
42:18
but I really want to get to this.
42:21
Here we go ma'am. And I'm it's, it's all you,
42:23
Kelly. All right, so thank you so much.
42:26
So this is my website and you can see a couple things on here
42:31
like order your 2027 planner and I think we talked about this,
42:36
but if not, but I have my planner and how that came about
42:40
was from having 1. I loved that they discontinued,
42:46
right? And it was the book that made me
42:49
the most productive I could be. And I was like, you know what, I
42:53
spent hundreds of dollars trying to get one that worked as well
42:57
as the other one. So I said I'm just going to
42:59
create my own. So it's that positive motivated
43:02
mindset, right? I'm just going to, I'm just
43:04
going to create my own. So anyway, so that's where that
43:06
came about. So if you want to go to the next
43:10
slide, So this is where it talks about my services and I am a
43:14
certified coach, I conduct training and I do do public
43:18
speaking. Now that I am a little bit more
43:21
further in my speaking career and I went to the National
43:26
Speakers Academy public, was it pro speakers pro?
43:32
No National Speakers Association, Pro Speakers
43:35
Academy, fabulous thing to do. Really enjoy that.
43:39
And so the training is unique. That's the ECQ and the
43:44
structured interview preparation.
43:46
Like I said before, it's not just a matter of putting
43:48
something on a resume and you're submitting your resume.
43:51
You need to be able to present yourself in the structured
43:55
interviews and you need to be able to tell these stories that
43:59
articulate you understand what demonstrating those executive
44:05
core qualifications are. And this also applies to people
44:08
who are applying for like GS 14 and 15 positions.
44:11
You want to be able to not only qualify yourself, but show the
44:15
impact of what you've had. What are the results?
44:18
It's great that you did. You can you can do all these
44:21
things, but what's the result? What came out of your expertise?
44:24
And then coaching? That is something that I had the
44:27
fortune of being able to complete before I retired, and
44:30
that was through the DoD coaching program.
44:33
So I do a lot of career coaching and business coaching and life
44:40
coaching if you will. So those are the three primary
44:44
services that Ioffer to individuals and organizations.
44:48
So a lot of organizations that will hire me for the training
44:51
are organizations that want to train their future executives,
44:56
people who are in the GS fourteens and fifteens that they
44:59
want to start doing some succession planning.
45:01
So they want to make sure that at that level, 1415, some
45:05
thirteens, but primarily fourteens and fifteens, that
45:08
you're starting to make sure that you have the criteria
45:11
that's needed to do those ECQS in the C car format and be able
45:15
to tell those stories about how you led this project and you
45:18
improved efficiency or you avoided.
45:21
You know, I always use $50 million.
45:23
That's my magical number. It's not real, right?
45:29
And every training you always. My examples are $50 million, but
45:32
anyway, yeah. And then.
45:35
So here's the project opportunity.
45:37
That's another thing that I proudly do for veterans and
45:40
military spouses and the veterans class up here in
45:45
Harford County. This is a program available all
45:47
across the state of Maryland. And if you went to
45:50
project-opportunity.com, you can click on the site about getting
45:56
either in the next class or getting notified when the next
45:59
class opens. But we always do the veterans in
46:01
the fall and the military spouses in the spring.
46:04
And it's just a really great opportunity that I just enjoy
46:08
being able to help people bring their business ideas to
46:11
fruition. And it's free.
46:12
That's the other thing, it's free.
46:14
Can't beat that. Bree is good.
46:16
That's right. That's right.
46:17
That's right. Yeah.
46:20
And then my Motivated by Kelly podcast, Like I said, I do it in
46:24
seasons or themes or special series, and I talked about the
46:30
admin series, the veteran series.
46:32
Right now I'm working on some different personality assessment
46:36
series, so I'm bringing on experts that can talk about the
46:39
assessments, like View, which is a problem solving one.
46:41
That was my first one out of the gate.
46:44
Myers Briggs Gallup strength send Delaney SDI, which is the
46:51
one for conflict resolution. So and another 10 resilience.
46:56
A resilience is a new one. I just met a gentleman, A
46:59
resilience assessment that I'm going to have him on.
47:02
Dean Becker is his name. So yeah.
47:05
So just that I do it in series, but ultimately I wanted to do
47:09
the podcast. The it's called What motivates
47:12
me. And it's a book and it used to
47:14
be a program. But there's 23 motivators that
47:19
23 motivators that people naturally respond to.
47:25
Like some people are motivated by money, some people are
47:28
motivated by fame, public recognition, some people are
47:32
motivated by giving back. My 3 motivators are, and you
47:38
probably won't be surprised, learning, excelling and
47:41
developing others. Those are my top.
47:44
So you can see with all the things I do it all ties in and
47:49
when you see that it just all makes sense.
47:52
It's like, Yep, I see it and everything I.
47:53
See it? Absolutely.
47:55
I want to, I want to do a series on all of the individual
47:58
motivators so people can understand what they are and
48:01
then tap into those because, well, life is going to throw us
48:05
curveballs. Can't help it.
48:07
It just happens, right? And when it does, you don't want
48:10
it to keep you down. You want it.
48:11
Yeah. What are your motivators?
48:13
Tap into those motivators and help use them to help get back
48:16
up and figure out, all right, what am I going to do now?
48:19
What am I going to do next? What's in the next season?
48:22
Absolutely. And I think this is more about
48:25
your the different podcasts you have and tune in.
48:30
And if they go to your website, Kelly, they can find this will
48:33
lead them to all the different sites, right?
48:34
The one that's swirling on the bottoms, ladies and gentlemen.
48:38
Yes, motivated by kelly.com. Yes, you can find everything on
48:42
my website and you can connect with me.
48:44
And here we're talking about the coaching where I work with
48:47
individuals that are, you know, here's all that they, and
48:50
because really people, federal employees do so much just
48:56
naturally, right? And because it's your mission,
48:59
you do it because it's your job. And when it comes time to start
49:02
identifying some of the really significant things that they've
49:05
done, they didn't think twice about it when they were doing it
49:08
like 3 or 4 years ago, they just did it.
49:11
So when you're like, OK, well, tell me about a time when you,
49:15
you know, implemented A transformative, innovative
49:19
solution and what was the impact?
49:22
They're like, Oh no. So working with them one-on-one,
49:25
I can help them, you know, pull things out.
49:27
Well, tell me more about that. What did you do?
49:29
What was the baseline numbers and what was it when you were
49:33
done? What was different or better
49:35
after you did this project or this program or your leadership?
49:39
How are you leading people? A lot of people will put on
49:42
their resume, mentored 52 people.
49:44
And again, you know that 50 number.
49:46
I don't know why it's magical for me, 50 million, but but what
49:52
was the result of mentoring those 52 people who promoted?
49:57
Where are they now? You know, how did your
49:59
mentorship help them grow? That's the impactful stuff that
50:02
you need to make sure that you can articulate.
50:04
And then the resumes with switching to A2 page resume,
50:08
whether you're going for AGS job or an SES job, it's still 2
50:12
pages and you got to use that real estate wisely.
50:16
So I work with people to help them again, scale down, you
50:21
know, get their accomplishments into nice little bullets that
50:26
use strong verbs that, you know, directed LED influence and show
50:31
the impact, the breath, you know, LED a team of, you know,
50:35
30,000 people or, you know, using those numbers that let the
50:39
reader know, oh, they have this really broad experience or if
50:43
they achieve these results. So helping people to shape up
50:48
their resume and get it, you know, make the best use of that
50:51
2 pages on the resume because if you submit more than that,
50:56
they'll reject it. Absolutely.
50:57
Yeah. And then of course, you know, I
50:59
love talking to people, as you can tell, just like.
51:02
You. We could talk all day long and I
51:04
yes. Ma'am.
51:05
Close to the hour, but if someone wants to be a guest on
51:08
the Motivated by Kelly podcast, you can reach out to me.
51:11
Let me know. Either I'll fit you into a
51:14
current series or season that I'm running, or we might even be
51:17
able to come with a whole new one that makes sense.
51:20
So. Absolutely.
51:21
And I think, oh, we talked about your products.
51:24
Yes, ma'am. Right, that's right.
51:25
That's my planner. Yeah, my planner that I just
51:28
love. I started it in 2023 and it has
51:34
8 1/2 by 11. That's important to me because I
51:36
write big, right? Your personality tells a lot
51:39
about you and you can tell I'm not shy.
51:42
So my signature is like this big.
51:44
So everyone I write is big. Those planners that are like
51:46
this big, I can't do that. I could get one word on that
51:49
page. So like I said, I created it.
51:51
You have all of the tools that I wanted and needed to include
51:55
some reflection like what went well last week, right?
51:59
What do I need to go really well into this week?
52:02
What could have been different? How can I go into this week So
52:05
and then what are the goals I achieved and some affirmations,
52:09
right, you know, yeah, affirmations.
52:12
So build all those things into it to make it a planning tool
52:17
and some time blocking tool and some motivation because I have
52:21
quotes in there, but specifically just being focused
52:25
so you can be the most productive that you can be and
52:28
building in that reflection. So and then there's my contact
52:31
page. So if you want to contact me,
52:33
you can contact me through the website at
52:35
kelly@motivatedbykelly.com. Or if they want resources or be
52:41
on a podcast, they get this is the way to get you if they OK,
52:44
like spouse resources in case somebody needs OK.
52:47
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, 'cause I think I did, I
52:50
mention another thing that's coming up is for the military
52:53
spouse is, is is through spouse Works and it is project
52:59
management professional certification that there's an
53:03
information session on August 29th.
53:07
I think it is. I have a flyer but if they're
53:08
interested in that they can reach out to me as well.
53:12
And send me that flyer and and, and I can so I can post it on my
53:16
social media too and let people know.
53:18
Oh, you got it. You got it.
53:19
Yep. And there's my LinkedIn.
53:20
You can connect with me on LinkedIn.
53:23
Message me through there and then this is my Facebook
53:29
motivated by Kelly coaching and mentoring page that I have
53:32
there. Just offering other resources,
53:35
motivational quotes and different training opportunities
53:38
that come up because like I said, my motivators learning,
53:42
excelling and developing others. I just can't help myself when I
53:45
see an opportunity I have to invite others and say hey you
53:49
should consider this. Yes.
53:52
Sometimes they're like, I'm not you, Kelly Foster, but I'm like,
53:57
but you can do it. You could totally.
53:59
Do it. You know I'll be there with you.
54:01
I swear I won't let you fall. I know, I know we're going to
54:04
take one more question because I want to give you your last
54:07
Anything you want to put out? But the question is, and this is
54:11
a little bit long, it says, it seems that throughout your
54:13
career you've had people that served as sponsors.
54:15
Do you currently have any mentors or coaches to support
54:18
your growth? If so, how to you know how have
54:21
those relationship help you advance personally or
54:24
professionally? Yes, absolutely.
54:27
So I have mentors, I've had many and I've had several in the
54:32
past. And I would say the one who was
54:36
the most impactful, her name is Doctor Lenora Gantt.
54:39
She is a retired Senior Executive Service member and now
54:43
she devotes a lot of her time at Howard University.
54:47
But I'll never forget her standing in front of me at a
54:50
conference. She was giving a presentation
54:52
about joining the Senior Executive Service and just the
54:56
the key points that I just remember her fingers like on the
54:59
table right there in front of me, right, right.
55:03
And the insightful information just made me look at the world a
55:07
little bit differently made me keep in mind how every
55:11
interaction is an interview, right.
55:15
Every time you meet someone considered an interview because
55:18
they're going to remember you. So you always want to make it be
55:21
a good professional friendly interaction.
55:24
And because you never know, especially into the days world
55:26
where everything is connected, you never know when you're going
55:29
to connect with them again. So that mentors are fantastic.
55:34
And through the National Association for Future Federal
55:37
Executives, that is a resource for federal employees or
55:41
equivalents where you can join the organization and get
55:46
mentorship where they're you're. GS 1112131415.
55:51
And. Even if you're someone who left
55:54
but you are trying to come back, so if you left at like a 13,
55:57
that's a considered equivalent and you can come back and get
56:00
some mentorship. So if you could just go to that,
56:02
it's NAF fee.org and you can sign up to be a member and join
56:09
the mentoring program that is there.
56:11
We have about one minute left. What, what?
56:14
What do you want somebody who's listening right now to take
56:17
away? You know, you hope.
56:19
What are they going to take away from listening today?
56:22
So I would hope that the take away would be, I'll say positive
56:26
mindset, right? Motivated, positive mindset.
56:29
Could you control your mind? You control your thoughts, you
56:33
control how you react. And like I said earlier, don't
56:36
worry about the things you can't control.
56:38
And for example, and I'm going to get really vulnerable and
56:41
share something quickly here that I wasn't comfortable
56:45
sharing until I got to the other side.
56:47
And I don't know if you can see my shirt.
56:50
Snip it, stitch it, and ditch it.
56:53
Snipped. It stitched it, ditched it and
56:54
what that is, is earlier in the year had some pains in my side.
57:00
Went to the emergency room. The quick addition, it ended up
57:04
there was cancer in my kidney. Biggest surprise.
57:07
I was like what? No way.
57:10
But I was like, you know what, I'm not going to let this it was
57:14
I can't control it. It's there.
57:15
There's nothing I can do about it, right?
57:17
I can't go back in time and change whatever made it happen.
57:20
So all I can do is move forward. So I refuse to let it to bring
57:24
me down. I continue to show up and do all
57:26
my things and just be motivated, be positive, have a mindset.
57:30
And that was like at the time it was snippet stitch it, ditch it.
57:34
And now that they've already, July 28th, they took out my
57:38
kidney, all the cancer's gone. So now I'm like.
57:42
Snipped. It yes Amen.
57:43
Snipped it, ditched it and I wear it proudly.
57:46
And orange is the color for kidney cancer.
57:48
I didn't know that until this, but it's that mindset and just
57:52
staying motivated and don't let the things you can't control
57:55
consume you just put that put them aside, right and have to
57:59
write it down, put it in a box and forget about it.
58:02
Focus on the things you can control and your mindset is what
58:05
you can control. So that would be the thing that
58:08
I would say is stay motivated. The.
58:11
Kelly, thank you for being here today.
58:13
We appreciate it. And make sure to tune in to a
58:17
website and everything. And before I let go, I know I
58:20
just want to say our next guest, next side is going to be, you
58:24
know, Miss Catalina Resprato. She's being a lawyer.
58:28
Allow her to understand the system and becoming a money
58:31
mindset. And I'll put more information
58:33
out on my motivated Monday. But I want to say thank you to
58:37
Kelly Gracia for being here. Any information, ladies and
58:41
gentlemen, thank you for being here.
58:42
I appreciate you all and have a blessed one.
58:45
And Kelly, we'll be in touch, ma'am.
58:47
You got it, you got it and look forward to it, you.
58:50
Said it. Yes.
58:55
I've been saying cheers. Goodbye.
58:56
Thank you. Hi, I'm Beaker with Military
58:59
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