Latest / Marci talks money (and life) / Activating the Best Version of Yourself with Kisha Woods
Transcript
- Marci Grossman (00:15) Hello, I am MoneyMarci and welcome. I am thrilled to welcome today's guest, Kisha Woods. Kisha Woods, known as Coach Kay Transforms, is an award-winning Certified Life and Business coach and CEO of Upgraded MindsetZ. She equips women with strategic, supportive tools to elevate themselves personally and professionally. Since launching her business in 2020, she's created a bold ecosystem of coaching, motivating content, and a raw and unique approach that inspires women to align and activate the best versions of themselves with clarity and unapologetic confidence. Kisha launched Upgraded MindsetZ as a part-time coach in June of 2020. Stepping into full-time entrepreneurship shortly after, she co-founded UPM Suites in West Peoria, Illinois in March 2021 and has evolved it into a collaborative business and resource hub of multiple women business owners that offer a dynamic blend of product, services and supportive resources for the Kisha blends her transformational coaching approach with lived experience and is very transparent about her journey of reconditioning her beliefs, systems, and breaking generational barriers. She is also an avid advocate for mental health, a motivational speaker, an Amazon bestselling author, a two times podcast host, and active in her community through multiple organizations. Her impact has earned multiple honors, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Community Votes, and other recognitions in her local community and online. Whether coaching clients, hosting her podcasts, or collaborating to expand community resources, Kisha is not just a talker. She is an unapologetic doer who will stop at nothing to help women prioritize themselves and understand that they can be supportive to others, but not at the expense of themselves. Welcome, Kisha. Coach Kay Transforms (02:22) Hello, hello. Thank you so much for having me, Marci. Marci Grossman (02:26) I am thrilled to have you. I was on your podcast a few years ago, back when I was first promoting my book, and I am so thrilled to be able to return the favor and share everything that you are over here. Coach Kay Transforms (02:32) Yes. Thank you so much. And just having, just being back in your space and in your energy is just so dope. And to see how you've evolved and stepped into other areas and also elevating with yourself in the podcast as well. So thank you for having me. Marci Grossman (02:54) It is my pleasure. I love all the things that you talk about and while you're woman focused and I'm not, the information we're sharing goes across everything. I mean, women need to learn finances and everyone needs to learn to empower themselves, so it just is educational, informative, whatever you want to call it, and fun Coach Kay Transforms (03:04) Yeah. Absolutely. Yes. ⁓ Marci Grossman (03:21) to have you here. Coach Kay Transforms (03:22) Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I love it. Marci Grossman (03:26) So let's talk about the financial aspects of your journey that got you to where you are with the coaching and everything else. Coach Kay Transforms (03:34) Okay, so going back to like really when I was actually let go from my corporate job in 2020, I didn't have... you know, the systems in place to have six months of savings and have all that. I didn't have those things. And in the beginning, yeah, I was ashamed of that. I've, you know, obviously shaken that mindset, but that was a scary feeling to be let go from a job and not having enough to cover your expenses for six months. I didn't realize the importance of it because I wasn't taught it so much. Growing up, was just more so of the, you just take care of things how you take care of them. Nobody talked about savings. Nobody talked about anything. And a part of my personal transformation was also understanding that I could not continue to think or live like that. If I wanted to start my business, there was finances that were needed. If I wanted to begin legacy creating, there were finances that needed to be created. So I think really understanding that part of money and finances was critical for me because it also aligned with me upgrading my own mindset, which is kind of where the business name came from. Just ready to upgrade everything about my life, my mind, my spirit, and my finances for sure. So that's... So it all kind of aligned together, just really... taking on a new relationship with the conversations about money and being open to talk about it because I think we don't like to talk about money a lot. So being open to have those conversations as with you today. So. Marci Grossman (05:22) Yeah, my whole thing is about getting people to talk about money with the people that they need to be talking about their money with and learning to shake past that. Mindset and things like that are really your area. So what were things other than, I guess, initially desperation that really helped you break past those barriers? Coach Kay Transforms (05:40) again. I think first for me is to start to seek out people that were talking about it. One thing that I know that we will do is try to stay around those that may not be having those, what I call, growth-minded conversations. So I think the first step for me surrounding the finance side of it was really just starting to maybe start listening to podcasts that maybe talked about money, YouTube. I'm a big YouTuber as far as for my channel, but also where I go to be inspired and listen to other things as well, so really starting to seek out those things. Still wasn't quick to say, I'm ready to have a conversation about it, but I was ready to listen more. So starting that for myself, it then prompted me to continue to want to say, you know, I've gotta talk to somebody about this. I filed my own taxes every year up until I became self-employed because being self-employed, obviously the tax strategies are a little bit different and I'm not 100 % familiar with that, so that also prompted conversations with other people surrounding my self-employment status, but also ways that I could... really activate ways to grow my money, my money mindset and my money in the bank. And during COVID as well, I also took into stocks. I got into a couple of groups that talked about like beginner stocks and trading. And I even tried to day trade for a little while. That is definitely not my forte. Whoever else does it great for them, but it wasn't something for me. But, making sure that I was still doing the research and also being in those spaces where people were teaching me about, the charts and things like that. So really just getting yourself in spaces where money is the conversation. So you do become more comfortable with having those conversations. I think that was probably critical for me. That was 2020, 2021 was really when those shifts happened. And I still utilize those groups, those spaces, those conversations to this day . Marci Grossman (08:02) That's awesome. But now I guess you're getting to a point where you can speak up a little bit more rather than rather than sitting there and taking it all in. You've now got things to share with the group. And that's got to be nice to feel yourself moving from that learning mindset into that sharing position. Coach Kay Transforms (08:09) Yeah. Absolutely. Loving to share from personal experience is probably one of the best things, one of the satisfying moments, not just from a coaching perspective, but from a personal perspective. People want to hear real stories. They want to be able to hear things that are relatable to them. And I you're right on that Marci like being able to now speak to the ones that maybe just are coming into the spaces and who were me, you know, four or five years ago, being able to tell them, hey, I used to be where you're at, you know, here's what I gained from this. Here's the experiences that I did, but not trying to force how I did things on them, but to encourage them to want to, do their own research for themselves. And especially when we're dealing with stocks, I definitely do not tell it, hey, do your own research, you know. But being able to speak about that from a personal perspective is pretty awesome. Marci Grossman (09:21) Now, when you got laid off, that I assume you weren't saying, boy, they're gonna come through and cut people and I hope I'm not one of them, it was more sudden than that. Coach Kay Transforms (09:31) It was definitely sudden. I was literally working and was actually asked to come to the other office and I was literally walked out from there. Not to mention and I'll throw this in there, I literally had been, my identity had been compromised six weeks prior from unemployment. So mind you, I'm... fighting for my identity during the time where nothing is open. I've got to do everything online because everything's on lockdown and I literally just lost my paychecks. So I literally went six months with no income because I eventually got approved for unemployment but the uncertainty of just going week to week, knowing that there's no income coming in, all of the hangups from calling unemployment, not getting through, having to send over my ID 55 times because I'm sending it over, but nobody's taking care of it, it's just sitting. So literally from November of 2020 to May of 2021, there was no income coming into my bank accounts. So, I'm emotionally just like, what am I going to do? But really putting faith into my business because I had had my business of Upgraded Mindsetz. So really stepping up and being able to step into that more, and being able to be clear headed enough to be strategic in how I'm offering services. So it really involved me having to just like say, I can't let the fear and the worry overcome because I would have been homeless. So I just really had to put my hustle gear on. And like I said, definitely the stocks played a factor that definitely carried me over. But also too, I did receive a few donations. I had to swallow my pride and just, accept donations for what it was. That was a trying, very trying six months for me. Not knowing where your next income is coming from. Because I was getting paid from coaching true enough, but it wasn't enough to cover all of the expenses that I had. Not only did I have my home expenses, but I had my building, which I still have to this day. Those expenses. Luckily, I had partners that were able to cover that at the time. But just the uncertainty of not knowing where a steady income was coming from. Because I'll be honest Marci, before I was let go, I did not have a desire to be a full-time entrepreneur. And I know that that's probably an unpopular opinion. I did not have a desire to be a full-time entrepreneur. I was totally okay with part-time coaching and speaking, but still maintaining my corporate job. And alignments just seen otherwise, I guess. Marci Grossman (12:34) Well, yeah, it you kind of have to play the cards that are dealt. What do you think contributed to your resilience to get past this? Because it must have been overwhelming all of a sudden. You know, we're in the middle of lockdown, which was already emotionally draining on all of us. And then to have this thrown at you as a coach, if you were coaching yourself through that time period, what are the things that you would have Coach Kay Transforms (12:39) Absolutely. Woo, yes. Marci Grossman (13:01) said to to help someone in a similar situation get moving, keep moving. Coach Kay Transforms (13:05) Yeah. I think I would have had to, and I would say to this day, you've gotta really dig deep inside and figure out what your next moves are gonna be. You can't move from a level of haste, havoc, chaos, because that's not gonna get you where you need to go. Because when you're in this state, it's what you need to do at this point. Not necessarily what you want to do. That needs to be kind of right behind it. But when you're operating from a sense of urgency, then you're going to need to be strategic. And that, as hard as it is, is going to involve you having to sit back and think about what your moves are going to be. Because yes, you are definitely in this stressful situation but you making stressful moves are not gonna help you or benefit you. So I would just say and recommend you still have to sit down, take those deep breaths, be mindful with your moves and your intentions and let things work out how they're gonna work out but also be open-minded. Mindset is so big to me. We have tunnel vision when it comes to how we think sometimes. So we always assume that things are always just supposed to go this specific way and when they don't then we get frustrated and we're like you know no that's not how that's supposed to go but in all actuality it is. Because I look back five years later and understand that that me being terminated from that job was the beginning of the alignment that I have for both of my businesses, my speaking, my podcast. All of those things came into fruition because of that stressful moment. I don't take away the emotions from that and I even am a little sarcastic about it by telling my former employer, thank you, because without that, I wouldn't be where I am today. So I always go back to that. Marci Grossman (15:08) (laughs) Coach Kay Transforms (15:15) But I would just tell someone, you still have to sit with yourself. You still have to be mindful and you still gotta give yourself a little grace. Just don't move in haste because that haste is not gonna let you make the decisions that are going to benefit you long term. Marci Grossman (15:32) Right? and, I hadn't really done the math and then I guess it's not really math, the calendar math. So you had already started doing the part-time coaching when this happened a lot of time, you know, if this had happened a year earlier or at the beginning of COVID, you wouldn't have started the coaching business yet. And that would have. Coach Kay Transforms (15:50) Probably not. Probably not. Yeah, it was that decision of do I go look for another job in the middle of lockdown? I can't go anywhere and put in an application. I can file online or step into this full time. And I made that decision. Now, I won't say that I had a hundred percent faith in being a full-time coach. I'll be honest. But just something in my gut just was like, trust the process, Kisha. You know, you're going through these things. And I think that that level probably was probably the highest level of resilience stepping into this journey with Upgraded MindsetZ. That was the probably the heightened time of the level of resilience, just having faith in what I do and evolving from that. Marci Grossman (16:38) Can I ask what you did for the corporate job that had you even starting to do a part-time coaching business? Coach Kay Transforms (16:46) Well, I have always been in the customer service spaces. My last job I actually did Billing Coding and I did that for seven years. I also did customer service there as well. I helped with like charity assistance and things like that. So I have always been engaged with people. And it's funny because my last job, they called me the bone collector. And they called me that because I was always the person that people could come and talk to. I tried to give a little advice, maybe, or sometimes I'm just a sounding board letting them vent. But I never went back and said anything to anybody else. Like I didn't really partake in telling other people's business. And I always did that. So I kind of was like the unofficial coach at that point. And I think during a fast that I took for myself in March of 2020, just backtracking on that a little bit, I was on that personal transition and transformation for me. And during that 30 day fast, I realized that I wanted to like officially do that for other people because looking back in that reflective mode, I was already doing it. So not calling myself a coach, but just being that supportive person. So it was like, okay, so you really already been doing this, Kisha, so now you just gotta figure out how to incorporate it from a coaching perspective. And that's what I did. Marci Grossman (18:12) Okay, I can barely make it from meal to meal. You did a 30-day fast. Coach Kay Transforms (18:18) No, it was a social media fast. So I'll clarify that. Yeah, I definitely not doing it. So it was a 30 day social media fast. I fasted and I actually ended up journaling every day just talking about my thoughts. Because really I was just tired, Marci. I was really overwhelmed and tired and stressed out about a lot of things that were going on in life. Marci Grossman (18:22) Okay. Hahaha! Coach Kay Transforms (18:43) I spent a lot of years as a people pleaser. I spent a lot of years prioritizing everybody else's needs but myself. Even during my medical moments, I am a cancer survivor, but even during my treatments, I still was prioritizing everybody else. So. I think, and also being that unofficial coach to others, I think it was me deflecting on my own journey and deflecting on what I needed to change and shift within me. Because I had that outdated belief of, as long as I keep pouring into others, I'll get blessed that way. But I was not satisfied in life. I wasn't satisfied with what I was doing day to day. I wasn't satisfied in my job. I enjoyed being talking to customers, but I was not fulfilled. So it was just like a mixture of all of those things really just prompted me to take a 30 day fast, which I turned into the Amazon best seller, which is from Havoc to Healing 30 Days of Reconditioning. That's literally my 30 day journal talking about the moves that I was making, the thoughts that I was having, but also the shifts that I was actually doing during those 30 days. Marci Grossman (19:54) I think a lot of people found a lot of change, whether it's opportunities or situations that force them into it during the COVID lockdowns. And it sounds like you were already kind of going toward this, with everything that you've been, your whole life has been building the experiences to do the coaching that you're doing now. Coach Kay Transforms (20:08) I will. Yeah. That's facts. And I think the uncertainty of COVID at that time, I think was probably my breaking point. I just was overwhelmed too much. And I started thinking about doing damage, whether it was to myself or it to other people. I just knew that that was no longer healthy and I needed to make some shifts with that. So, but yeah. Marci Grossman (20:40) Yeah, think that might be social media makes us all kind of feel like we want to damage some people. Coach Kay Transforms (20:44) ⁓ my gosh. That is a fact. Marci Grossman (20:53) So can I talk about the breaking generational barriers, what that was like for you? Coach Kay Transforms (20:58) Yes. Absolutely. I think just to kick that off, understanding that when you're breaking generational and really emphasizing on that word generational, understanding that it is not just you, it is not just the person, the generation behind you, it is going back. Having so many set systems in place that really hindered us from a cultural perspective, from a societal perspective, but really understanding that I don't necessarily believe in the American dream anymore. That was one of the things that I began to break that generational cycle because the American dream to me is not graduating from high school, going to college, getting a degree. There are so many other variations that play into that now and understanding that was probably one of the things. Also understanding that I don't have to partake in negative, toxic behaviors with family, friends, coworkers, just because of who they are. That's also one of the generational cycles. But also surrounding finances, really understanding that it's okay to have multiple eggs in multiple baskets. I grew up believing that, you just need to have a bank account and you just need to make sure that you have a shoe box of money under your bed, you know, those type of things. And not taking away from those things, cause I know that they still apply to this day, but also understanding that I can have my eggs in eight other baskets as well because I'm wanting to build wealth, not become rich, but build wealth, create legacy. And understanding those things again, it required me being in different spaces. You can't learn new things with old people and not saying that you need to just cut everybody off. If you need to for your mental then you go ahead but understanding that you can still be in new spaces and also be in the same spaces as long as they are to the benefit of your growth. But also understanding, Marci, that you have to remove anything and everybody that is no longer aligning with who you are wanting to become as you're breaking those generational cycles. I've cut relationships, I've cut friendships, I've cut family because of how I think about things, how I look at things. And if that's not something that you're no longer aligned with, or I'll say that I'm no longer aligned with, but you're trying to talk me out of these things and trying to put the fear tactics, then I just have to remove myself from that space. So really breaking generational cycles for me really kind of involves a little bit of all of that and doing what you want to do for you. What's mentally and physically, emotionally and financially satisfying you as an individual, you as a person that may be the head of your family, really putting in policies that depict what you want and what you want to leave as a legacy. So a little bit of all of that. Marci Grossman (24:18) Yeah, that's so true. We have these cycles. This is just the way the family has always done it. And you don't know whether it was started by your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, something that happened generations ago that has now become the traditional way we deal with XYZ. And you have to take the time to say, you know, that doesn't really serve me anymore. That doesn't serve the world now. The world... Coach Kay Transforms (24:23) Yep. Right. Marci Grossman (24:43) that I grew up in is not the world my parents grew up in, is not the world my children grew up in. And taking, you know, I hate to say traditions, because traditions are a wonderful thing. There's a lot of joy in traditions, but then there's also traditions that are more of habits, that are more of expectations, and they have the negative weight of those things. So breaking that, that's hard. People can either choose that they're gonna... Coach Kay Transforms (24:46) Yes. Right. Absolutely. Yeah, and still is hard. Marci Grossman (25:11) yeah, absolutely, it's an everyday thing. People can choose, Coach Kay Transforms (25:11) Yeah, yeah. Marci Grossman (25:14) okay, this is where she's going, I wanna go with her there, or this is not where I wanna go and we've got to part ways here. That's, yeah. You're also an advocate for mental health. speak to that a little bit? Coach Kay Transforms (25:28) Absolutely. One thing that when we talk about mental health, our mental health is everyday. It's our everyday life and when people hear mental health they just automatically assume that you're talking about whether someone's diagnosed or something like that. But our mental health is just as important as our physical health. Just like people go to the gym every day and have a regimen for their physical routine, we need to make sure that we have a regimen for our mental routine. For me for example the first 30 minutes of my day mentally go to me whether it is me journaling, praying, meditating, reflecting, that first 30 minutes is for me to make sure that I am of sound mind. I am making sure that I am mentally effective to tackle the day ahead. And I think why I go so hard for it is because I see so many of us who put our mental health on the back burner because, I'm a mother, I'm a wife, I'll do this later, I'll take care of these things later. And going back to even when I got fired from my job, I was going through a mental transformation personally at that point. And I was tested like crazy. Our mental health is really just making sure that your mind, your body, your spirit, everything about you holistically is in alignment with who you wanna be and what you wanna do. For those that may have diagnosis, you are not your diagnosis. And really normalizing the conversation surrounding mental health challenges is something that I strive to do because I know people who have diagnosis that are very effective in society. They work every day, they do what they're supposed to do. and they don't let their diagnosis define them. So understanding the difference between mental health, mental health conditions, where you may have a diagnosis, but our mental health is our everyday operations when it comes to our mind, when it comes to how we move, when it comes to the things that we talk about, it's just an everyday thing and I really work to normalize those conversations. Marci Grossman (27:42) I think it's awesome all the things that you do, Kisha. I gotta say, I'm an accountant. I like being in a room all by myself and here you're this people person that's out there. Coach Kay Transforms (27:45) Thank you. ⁓ my god! ⁓ babe, I appreciate that. Marci Grossman (27:55) You So. Have you got any advice as we start wrapping up about realigning and reconditioning, working your mindset to get you where you want to go and things that maybe we haven't mentioned that you want to make sure we touch on. Coach Kay Transforms (28:16) Absolutely. I would just tell anyone, and this actually speaks from a holistic perspective, if things are not sitting well with you then you owe it to yourself to evaluate those. The values that you may have followed 10 years ago, five years ago, even a year ago, if they are no longer fitting for you, if you no longer believe and you're struggling to maintain that, you owe yourself an evaluation. If you know that you're tired of your money not being put to use from whatever perspective, If you're tired of living paycheck to paycheck, don't allow society to make you feel like you're not able to be successful in the world. I know that we have the news that tries to scare us every day and talks about, you know, the average American is this, but you do have the power and there are resources out here for you to be able to uplift yourself personally, professionally, financially, emotionally, but you owe it to yourself to have that reflection To make sure that you are aligned with who you want to be as a person, as an entrepreneur, as a finance guru, whatever it is, you owe it to yourself to evaluate that because so many times we will just sit and default to what society feels like we're supposed to be doing. You don't have to do that. We are living in current times where there is just so many resources out here for us to better ourselves. Take a chance, have the conversations, reach out, connect with the people that mentorship, guidance, anything that's going to help you be better. I really want to encourage people as someone who grew up in poverty, as someone who had the mindset of, know, I'm going to stay in poverty forever up until 2020. Please let my lived experience be a level of inspiration for you to at least begin having those conversations like I did. That one conversation could shift your whole trajectory and I really just encourage everybody to want to do better in life, wherever that looks like for you. Marci Grossman (30:37) Well, that was awesome. Kisha Woods, Coach Kay, Thank you so much for being my guest today. We appreciate your time. We appreciate you. Coach Kay Transforms (30:45) Thank you for having me. Marci Grossman (30:49) To my listeners, I will be sharing a link to Kisha's information in the show notes. Please check her out. She shares a lot of interesting information. And don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and stay tuned. I'll see you next time. This has been MoneyMarci on Marci Talks Money (and Life). You got this.