Latest / Found-HER with Kimberley Hiebert / From "I'm Just Mom" to CEO

Transcript

From "I'm Just Mom" to CEO · Found-HER with Kimberley Hiebert

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Found Her, the podcast for women who build empires, break barriers, and blaze trails all while finding themselves.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: These are bestie level conversations from behind the scenes.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: The real work, the messy middle, and the wins that last.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Kimberly Hebert, founder, franchise builder, wife, mom, and Grammy, and a woman who has done the inner work while building the outer winds.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Here we talk business, identity, relationships, and the kind of growth that cracks you open, then puts you back together.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Stronger, better.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is your space to rise as a founder and as your truest self.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Let's dive in.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hey besties, welcome back to the Founder Podcast.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Today's guest is someone who turned a pivot into a purpose, a website into a sanctuary, and motherhood into a launch pad for her next chapter.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Meet Katie Eberman, the creative force behind Simply by Katie, a design studio that helps women entrepreneurs craft websites that feel like home and convert like machines.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Katie's path wasn't a straight line.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: She moved from the corporate world into full-time motherhood, then into single mom business ownership, learning along the way that showing up for yourself is the foundation of showing up for your brand.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now she brings her story, her strategy, and her heart to help women step out of the just posting on Instacycle and walk through the door into a digital presence that says, I'm here, I'm worthy, and I'm built to grow.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: On this episode today of Found Her, we'll dive into Katie's belief that your website isn't just a tool, it's your home base, your visibility engine, and your invitation to your next level.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Katie.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited to have this conversation.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Just offline, we were talking, and then you were dropping some gold.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, stop talking.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get hit the corpse.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we won't start with that.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just put that as a little uh cliffhanger for those listening.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to start where I said, like, stop talking, but I do want to touch base.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: I want to I want us to circle back to use some uh corporate jargon.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but Katie, tell us a little bit more about yourself, maybe a little bit about the journey between going from corporate world into uh I'm guessing you became either a stay-at-home mom, a full-time mother.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the and then into can you give us a little yeah, context to that?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I was always really proud of myself because I went to university, I graduated, was a BA in anthropology.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: I always say that.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's the exact reaction I get.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh I actually, when I took my degree, I was forced to take an anthropology course.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it was actually one of the most interesting.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was just an introduction.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't do a master's in it, but yeah, it was super interesting.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: The study of people, yeah.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, carry on.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was actually a science major, and then randomly, I never even took an anthropology class.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Randomly, I just switched.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, that's not logical at all, but I did it, and I loved every single class.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I think the last two years of school just like they just flew by and I just enjoyed it so much, and it makes so much sense.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: Looking back now, I was like, oh, I just really love interacting with people and hearing their stories and why they do things and all of it.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I was always really proud of myself for getting my BA, doing university, getting a job.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: I tried a few different like corporate roles.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say, what kind of job do you get with a BA in anthropology?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, at least you're working at a museum or what?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you could be like in a museum or traditionally like um out in the field.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't really interested in going like out in the field and doing research that way.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I I actually ended up doing like admin jobs at different businesses, which really related to my my background.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: But I actually had the opportunity to work for an archaeology firm for a little bit, and that was my favorite job by far in the corporate world.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, shortly after that, I was working there for about a year.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: I got pregnant with my first son, and then kind of that's where my whole journey just really transformed because I had to change my whole identity, but it was natural for me, you know.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Yeah, I want to be a stay-at-home mom, I love my career part, and I was and so you were really looking forward to being like having raising a family, yeah.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: I and I always thought, like, okay, I'm gonna be really hands-on, I want to raise my kids.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I remember saying to a coworker, like, no, I'm gonna be at home with them.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I like I'm gonna do it.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna have other people raise my kids.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's like remember that term, and it almost seems naive or like I don't know what the word is looking back because now I have this community helping me raise my kids, and I can't, I couldn't imagine it any other way.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, can you can you talk a little bit?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: What do you mean by having a community now?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, how many kids do you have?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: I have three kids.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so wow, okay, so then you had a few more kids, all while staying at home.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Our story is bouncing around a little bit, but yeah, now I have three kids.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: They are um three, five, and seven.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: So they're littles, they're little, little ones, so they keep busy.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I I um I guess I'll just kind of jump into this next part of the story.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of skipping a lot, but so I was a stay-at-home mom for about seven years, and then about a year and a half ago, I unexpectedly became uh a single mom.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: I won't really go too much into the story of your dad is still in the picture and everything.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be gymnastic.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, I get it.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: You can we can do this a story for another time.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I had I had to go back to work and I had to figure out how to support the kids and I.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: And like I had to, it ended up being more of this next journey of like, who am I and what do I want to do, and how am I gonna support these kids?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so can can we can we talk a little bit?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're an entrepreneur now.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, if you guys listen to her intro, um, she does websites.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm guessing we and we can expand a little bit more uh on that.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So you are an entrepreneur now, but what was that like for you?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just curious because uh a lot of my audience are women, mothers, single mothers.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was a single mom at one point.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I you know, I had a three-year-old, was he three?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: He was two, two, and um, you know, suddenly I'm responsible, wholly, like feeling like holy.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know there's a another partner or parent there, but tell me a little bit what that's like because when you've been at home for a number of years, you left your formal training, then you've been at home for a number of years.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's not that you don't have skills and transferable skills, but it's it's different.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit what that was like for you emotionally, mentally, like where were your confidence?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, to be honest, I ended up staying with family for a good nine months because I was just like in such shock, I guess, over like, wow, I have I had the same responsibility before, but the responsibility just became even more.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: It was like, yeah, I am the one that has to provide for everything for the whole family now.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was kind of at this point where it's like I don't have any practical skills, I don't know how to get a job anymore, I don't know how to present myself.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I I really did have low self-esteem at that point.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, because I think I took on really that role of like, I'm just mom.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: And that became my identity and nothing else, like literally nothing else.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: I forgot how to have fun, I forgot how to like have normal conversations with people.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: And um I remember when I got my first, uh I did go back to work a little bit as I was building my business.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I just remember uh like when I got the invite to go into this job, I was like, okay, people like I must have skills, like they want to hire me, you know what I mean?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: And like, and slowly I was able to figure out me more like what was how do I have fun?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like what what do I like to do?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that simple question.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, literally, I was like And to me, that's so powerful.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know a lot of us when we become mothers and enter into the journey of motherhood, and whether or not we choose to stay at home with the kids or work, and uh that's the one thing that we lose sight of is and then and then sometimes like I I'm just thinking of my daughter, like you're probably a little bit younger than her.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, you would be because her kids are way older than yours.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: But my daughter stayed at home for nine years, yeah.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, she was a young mom, she started off her first child, she was 19, so she's young.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and her career it wasn't a was raising the kids, was managing the home with all that, and then she wanted to go into the workforce, she wanted to contribute to the family income.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: She wanted to, she wanted to kind of build some skills, but she was so terrified.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: She didn't think she didn't think she had anything, any transferable skills.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: I uh you know, you learn to master that area, but then remembering, I guess remembering yourself to helping yourself remember that you have value and skills and you can learn things.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're smart, adaptable, and you're a leader.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: You're you lead this family, but you just forget that those are you almost live in a little bubble.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: I almost explain it when you're a stay-at-home mom, like you get in this nap land, snacks, we can't go out this tribe, you know what I mean?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: So that is your life for me, seven years, for your daughter, nine years.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Coming out of that into the real world, I would say, was like scary.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: But I think in in just moving forward and asking myself those questions, like, what do I want?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: What do I like?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: How do I have fun?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: How do I demonstrate to my kids that like I have dreams and I want to go after them and I want to show them what that looks like, even though I have no idea what I'm doing.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: I want to show them.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, how did you go?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: How did you get into entrepreneurship?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: What made you go then to entrepreneurship?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because that has an element of risk to it, being an entrepreneur.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you I I I say it all the time on here like you eat what you kill as an entrepreneur.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's true.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not hunting and you're not killing, I know it sounds aggressive.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you're not eating.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me about that.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, the guest I'm gonna Brooke Butke.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so at the time we're recording this, the episode hasn't dropped, but it's dropping tomorrow.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: I really recommend you go listen to it because she's found herself in the same space.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I asked her about navigating that piece, that risk of being an entrepreneur and a single parent.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're you're holding the space and caring for everything.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about that process.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I always knew that I didn't really want traditional nine to five.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like just the idea just turned me so off.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, can I have to be at work from this time to this time, and I have no flexibility.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And it really came down to how can I provide for my kids in a way that I can be there for them.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: If they're sick, I can be they have a month off of school, I can be there.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then suddenly another week off for fall break.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then Christmas break.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, and then Christmas, yeah.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: Totally.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: So it I really wanted that flexibility to be like, can my kids are sick?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have to choose.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: I have to choose between work and taking care of my family, and they're kind of getting used to it.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, no, mommy has to work, and they're well, you do your thing.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: They can come and ask me a question, of course.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny when I'm on calls, usually they come in.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right because they hear all the voices.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: No, I have eight grandkids and three, two, two of my kids, two of my kids work in our business, and sometimes their school schedule, the kids' school, and I say this to my kids, I'm like, I cannot run a business around your kids' school schedule.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Well, I don't know what to tell you.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're trying to have meetings and the kids are popping in Zoom, and I'm their and I'm their Grammy, so they're like making faces, and oh my god, I love them, but also yes.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like so it really came down to that.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how can I do something I love that has the flexibility that I want for my family?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it is very challenging to get like enough work done in the time frames that I have, but I feel like I can become really efficient.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, that's good.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I can I was just thinking to myself this morning, I was like, I need to put it on new freebie.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I think I'm a little obsessed with this.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm my brain has been about SEO optimization, how do I convert more people?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I did it all in two hours.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: I had this long list.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, okay, I'm gonna be on this podcast, I'm gonna get this done, and I did.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, same.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: There you go, work smarter, not harder.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I think I my brain thinks like that now.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh, I have this amount of time, how am I gonna just get it done?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't have time anymore to to like spiral, I would say, or like anxiety loop, like the way if it's whatever.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Overthink.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just have to do it, and so that's really helped me actually, and and become more visible and and want to talk to more people.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: Not that sounds bad, but put myself in a position to like talk to people, right?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because now as an entrepreneur, you're the leader, yeah.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: You have to put yourself, people need to get to know you so that they can decide whether they want to work with you, right?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to put yourself, you have to talk to people.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: I have to get so I'm a comfort zone.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta talk to people, I gotta go to events, I you know, but I'm starting to really enjoy that part because at my heart I love connecting with people.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: So when I think of it that way, it's like I get to make all these amazing connections, share my story, hear other women's stories.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and almost in the hearing other women's stories, am I seeing like, oh, what I'm feeling is normal.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: What I'm feeling is like we're all feeling this way.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: We have this whisper, like we want more, we want to achieve more.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we feel weak, even though we're strong, and just like being okay with all that, all that.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's uh you know, I love that you say that, right?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like the more you share your story, it normalizes you hear, or the more you hear other people's stories.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's really the the cat one of the catalysts for creating this podcast.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: And we talked a little bit before we press record, was around giving witness and testimony to the stories that shaping the business.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: So the business is the background, right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I know we all need business, everybody, every business owner needs visibility of every kind.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: And and I know that, but ultimately, in order for us to really build businesses that that serve us and also convert and provide for us, it's the stories behind the business that really people do business with people they know like and trust.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just the social media know like and trust, it's in person too.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, it providing the platform for women to share their stories so that they can see, oh, this is normal, right?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I the the guest I had earlier, she was like, Wow, she's like, you know, you and I have been in the same circles for a number of years.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll I've only ever seen all the success you've had.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: She was like listening to your the obstacles and some of the things and blah blah blah, like you start to realize, oh wait, like I said earlier, right?
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's ever obstacles always.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's really important to share that.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you also mentioned this is where I'm gonna bring this back in before we hit recording uh or record, is that you started to you started at first were a little afraid or shy in sharing your story into single parenthood.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: You want us to share a little bit about that?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, honestly, I had trouble telling anyone in my inner circle, like friends.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: It was really hard to tell my family because I held a lot of shame in that.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, I failed, um, I did something wrong, or like I just felt a lot of guilt.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't enough.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like all I don't even know your story.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying thinking like, yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, or like, what did I do wrong?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like all those feelings.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: So and anytime I had to interact with like other people, I felt like all I could see was the single parent, single parent.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: And look at because I when I go places, it is me and the kids.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's definitely a there's definitely still kids.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: I know people think, oh no, we're a woke society, there's no stigma, it's very normal, all the different styles of families nowadays.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I think when you're when it's your life, you probably feel that stigma.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, oh totally.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how you can do it, or I don't know.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: I for example, I'm not sure.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: You finally get a little patronizing sometimes sometimes, or it's like, um, oh, is this what you expect from other women almost?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's the standard, it's so low.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, and then my response is always like, I have to, I have no choice.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, and and just learning how to have these conversations in a way that like I'm not coming from a place of hurt, yeah, you know what I mean, or like helping people understand, like what without telling a whole story, yeah.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like I don't want to get into it every single time, right?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that's you know, I had breast cancer um eight years ago now, something like that.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Eight, yeah, 58, 50.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, 50.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: And people will say to me, Oh, you're so brave.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, uh, like I chose, like, no, that's not or you're so strong.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm not.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: It it's it's it was my journey, it was part of it's part of the path, and you you you have to choose to move forward, like to accept and walk through it and kind of process whatever it is.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so I always found it patronizing when people I don't know it's patronizing, that might be a little harsh.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: I always found it when people like, oh, you're so brave, I could never do that.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude, I didn't want to do it.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's not choice.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know what I mean?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I yeah, I know I didn't want to walk around bald either for two years.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I mean?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I didn't actually were you bald too?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, wait, but you know what I mean?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's what I mean.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I I think it's not about like, oh, you're so brave.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's like this is part of your story.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: What and your process is learning to heal through, grow through, and then learn how to share that light and that path with others who find themselves, not by choice, in a situation that they weren't expecting, blindsided or whatever, whether it's health, marriage, partnership.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think that's a beautiful story to share um without getting into the drama of what, you know, the actual breakdown, but helping other women see that the stigma really, if we stay quiet about it, not the stigma, but the sit, you know, the situation and not just like claim who you are.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about your journey into speaking.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think uh yeah, being seen, I think comes up a lot in your work.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, helping women be seen, helping yourself be seen.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, tell me a little bit about that piece.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I've been doing websites for a while now, about three, four years.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: I actually started out as a VA and then I I I transitioned into websites.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: And just over this last year and a half, not a coincidence, did I realize that like women just like they don't sh let themselves shine, they don't let their stories be seen for what they are, or like we're we're afraid to put out our offers for what they for what they are, for like the amazing benefits they they give, or like we we have a hard time saying like this is me and I'm awesome.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: So like I what helped you say that?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think just in the process of every day, I've been choosing myself.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a journaler, so I journal a lot.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, yeah, reflect a lot, um, and I just saw I would start recording my wins.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, January, what did I accomplish?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: March, what did I accomplish?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I started seeing these big things.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: I got my first place back in March.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: I've never lived on by myself.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, that was a big deal.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: Brushing it under the carpet, like, okay, cool, check done.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was like that's a big deal.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: And now just like celebrating more of these things that I'm doing.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, for example, I I've wanted to blog for four years, but and then in the summer I decided I'm just gonna do it.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna stop talking myself out of it.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: In that did I find my voice.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, this is what I want to talk about, this is how I want to help women.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and web design for me is just a tool that women can show who they are online because a lot of the women I work with are service-based, yeah, building personal brands.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: And when we're so close like that, it is so hard to be like say on a website, someone comes to you, your website, and they're like, they're like, tell me about you, basically, you know?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's so hard to have both the technical skills.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, anyone can learn it if they really want to.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: But also that storytelling piece.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like do you have is that what you do as you weave their story in the storytelling?
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably the magic.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: They probably it's almost therapeutic for them when they go through your intake, I bet.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: So we really kind of deep dive, kid, what do you want to accomplish in the next year?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what are your business goals?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: Who's who's coming to your website?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: site currently and then I design their site based on that.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like I have this I guess gift almost of hearing people's stories and I see them in the best light possible.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like I I I don't know how to say it without sounding cheesy.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like I don't have to be don't worry.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Cheesy and cliche are like that for a reason.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's because it's true.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: I guess I don't really talk about this.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a feeling I have I was like I know how amazing you are.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just want to celebrate them through their website and show everyone else what I see.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like I want to be a mirror back to what their I guess inner inness thoughts to give up this is a great attraction a great energy to put out because I you know when people are building their personal brand I just speaking from my own experience well I I know a ton of entrepreneurs that do this you have to talk about yourself in building a personal brand and getting that out like we talked about even the bio right like creating a bio like you know it's hard to build your own story.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's easy in the sense if you're sitting down and writing a snippet or like a snapshot but to really tell a story of who you are and what your values are and you know your journey your story it's really hard to do that.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah right because you're so close to your own story.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: You don't know what people need to see, need to hear.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So it's funny when you said about writing down your celebrations like getting on place or you know whatever whatever those things were writing them down and acknowledging them as celebrations.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: The other day so I work with a brand a marketing partner and every week when we have our call it starts off with celebrations, right?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have to and so I can all there's just myself and my one other team member that are on these calls every week and on Sunday night we usually have a quick phone call what are you celebrating because sometimes you get you get stuck.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then this past two weeks my daughter came on because she does our social media so she came on to the call and I forgot to tell her that she had to and so when they asked her she was like she was like I don't know what I don't know what to say.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I have no idea she could not and then I and and so I said well you you know she had been starting Pilates and gone for two months or something.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: I said that's that's a win.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah that's a win and she's like oh yeah you forget I think that's the thing is we don't we think celebrating and wins are these big huge milestones kids graduating weddings you know um birthdays uh I don't know your first million dollars ten dollars whatever it is like we have these big kind of milestones um and we forget that the small things and I think it says here oh yeah you have this quote slow growth strong strong business these are the small moving pieces that add up right so it might feel contrite or cheesy but it you're what you what I hear you saying is that in you being kind of forced into this chat journey that you weren't expecting finding these small changes has really stacked yeah built my confidence from a place where I had none to a place where now I'm like sure I'll show up on a podcast sure I'll go to like conferences where I can meet other women like I don't think I would have that confidence a year ago but now I do because that's beautiful small little things it's like you know what today I made dinner a nutritious dinner for all of us that is a win it wasn't snacks yeah sometimes it is yeah I know well sometimes my little some of my little grandkids well not so much anymore but when they're littler they didn't know the difference between lunch and a snack you're like dude well that's only my kids yeah it's like call it a snack I don't care it's lunch no it has to be a snack no it's snack kind oh my gosh yeah you get it right um okay so as a mother and a business owner what boundaries do you do you have boundaries how do you kind of create that space do you work a lot after they go to bed how do you because they're littles and you said you you have them probably the majority of the time I do yeah so I don't swer so I work when they're at school if I do work when they're home I let them know like mommy's gonna be on her computer working you can come in like I like to put parameters under it because I'll be like come into my room they're crazy they're dancing mommy mommy mommy I'll be like you can ask me a question that's good I can help you I really try and like give them like once I'm sitting at my desk I'm focused on work but for the most part I really just try and have it family time when we're together.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh okay yeah yeah and then anything like smaller I sometimes like I can do little tweaks on my own website and always tweaking it.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like okay I can do those things because I'm really comfortable with it or sometimes I answer emails.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that's not always a good idea though because then you start like writing what you're saying to your kids.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: No you can't have any more snacks.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: You're like oh because I leave your brother alone for the most part I kind of just I I really had to turn off my CEO mode yeah to go to pick up the kids or when I'm with the kids.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: I had a tendency to not do that before and it was just never present.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: I was like okay I gotta figure out this social media thing.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta get this done.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just um I actually have this document on my computer.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: I look at it every day and I was like inspire like uh what do you call it like inspiring quotes that I look at uh and then like a task list so everything lives in this document and then if I have any ideas that pop in when I'm with the kids I just pop there.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah and then I'm like okay release I don't have to think about anymore I will say that's taking a while for me to get here because yeah and that's what I find like you know you're you're not a stay-at-home mom you're working from home in the same environment so it can be distracting yeah exactly for sure that's awesome so we're gonna kind of switch gears a little bit I can't believe the time is flying by that went by so quick but I really like to do this lightning round uh kind of just some fun stuff although I think you shared a lot of I think we got a really good idea about who you are Katie um but here but here's some fun stuff yeah now you've got a mug in your hand right now so what is your what is your drink of choice coffee tea or something else okay I love coffee but I drink tea all day long usually mint or chamomile like I am always drinking tea okay uh morning person or night owl uh I'm a morning person oh yeah yeah yeah um and if you had uh if there was a um soundtrack for your life thus far what's one song that would have to be on it oh my goodness right now I don't know if you know Ellie Golding there's a song that is anything could happen I actually play it almost every night with the kids we do little dance parties we do dance parties in the kitchen after we um eat dinner and so I always put that one on I don't know why it's like my go-to I was like okay I can do anything and actually my son this is a little side story a few weeks ago we were having lunch together and he was you know how you have those conversations like when I grow up I want to do this so it's one of those conversations and then he literally looked me dead in the eye and he was like if he can do it I can do it and I was like whoa I like that right that's my that's my motto right literally how I'm building a franchise yeah I'm like if other people build franchise businesses why can't I?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly and so I loved that he was saying something that I'm like thinking in my head I must say it or like something must have inspired him to say it and I was like okay cool I love where he's gonna be an entrepreneur I can tell I love that.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well Katie thank you so much for sharing your some of your story today with us um where can people find you oh yes I almost forgot about this um I am on social media at simplybykatie okay um they can find you on the on the gram anywhere yes and then I'm most active though on my website like I do um buy or um what do you call it when you blog twice a week whatever that is I blog quite regularly on my website and that's at www.simplybykady.com okay great so I will drop the all the links will be in the episode when the episode drops so people can find you thank you so much for your time today it was a pleasure getting to know you a little bit better thank you so much thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Found her podcast if you've enjoyed it please please please leave me a review subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes and more importantly please share with your business bestie you can join our newsletter find me on Instagram all the places I would love to hear your feedback and connect with you during your journey of building your legacy