Do you believe that it’s possible to have it all? Kim Kaupe is the founder of Bright Ideas Only, as well as a sought-after keynote speaker, and she has gained attention from numerous A-list corporate clients. You may also recognize her from ABC’s Shark Tank, where she secured a deal with 4 out of 5 sharks. She joins me today to talk about why it’s not actually possible to have it all—a least, not all at the same time.
Listen in to find out why Kim is shining a light on the fallacy that we have all bought into: that it’s possible to have all the things without all the sacrifice. You’ll hear why it’s sometimes necessary to lean out and hustle less to really find happiness. Kim also shares how she got the confidence she needed to go after high-ticket clients, why it’s important to pay attention to your digital first impression, and what surprised her most about starting a podcast.
What You’ll Learn:
How Kim helps clients turn their customers into super-fans.
The importance of paying attention to your digital first impression.
What set Kim apart to gain access to super A-list clients.
What her big break was.
Why you can’t have it all (at the same time).
What it means to “lean out.”
The most surprising thing Kim has discovered about having a podcast.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“If you weren’t paying attention to it before, you should absolutely be paying attention to it now.” - Kim Kaupe
“I had 10 years of case studies before ever working with Oprah.” - Kim Kaupe
“On paper, it looks like it was all fast, but in reality, it was one step at a time.” - Kim Kaupe
Resources:
Transcript:
Molly Dare 0:07
Hello and welcome to On Air with Molly Dare. I'm your host, Molly Dare, founder of Hillenbrand, media producer of the Spotlight Series, single mom to two amazing teen girls and host of this podcast. Today, I am so excited for you guys to meet Kim Kaupe. If you don't already know her she is she's on all the platforms. But really LinkedIn is where I discovered her. And you guys just pause right there. Because if you're not on LinkedIn, you need to be you absolutely need to be on LinkedIn, I can't even tell you how many leads I have gotten, how much business I have gotten, how much networking has happened, just on LinkedIn alone. Really, really, really great app. For entrepreneurs, business owners are a great, great way to network and everyone is on there. So you definitely want to create your profile, want to be active want to be creating content. And if you're not already following Kim, please, please do so because she is a master at creating content on LinkedIn. And she does lives on LinkedIn, she's on all the platforms, which you know, I feel really, really strongly about doing and creating content for all of the platforms to be seen and have a presence on all of them in our conversation today. You know, we bring up something that she has talked about recently, which is you can't have it all. And this is a really fascinating conversation, which we dive into. And she you know, she does add the caveat. At the same time, you can't have it all at the same time. And a lot of us, you know, career minded people driven people, we want it all we want all of the things. And it's really not possible to have it all at the same time, or to be balanced with it all at the same time. And we make choices and we make sacrifices. And that's normal. And for anyone who says that they have it all and then they're doing it all and they haven't had to sacrifice any part of their life. I don't believe them. I'm sorry. I give it my best shot. For those of you who are just joining, I'm a single mom of two teen girls, I also run a company, I also travel I also have pets, all the things, I have sacrificed a relationship, I don't have time to be in a relationship with everything else that I have going on. That is a sacrifice for me. I can't have it all. It's just not possible doesn't work for me right now. I've tried, don't get me wrong. I've tried. And you know, what's what's interesting, and I'm gonna get to my conversation with Kim, is that I find that and I would love to hear other people's input on this. For driven women for career minded women, you know, I find that it's very easy to attract a lot of men find it attractive, you know, that, that I'm career minded and entrepreneurial and out there doing the damn thing. But it also turns into the thing that bothers them down the road. I could do a whole podcast on this on what initially attracts someone to me is what then becomes my undoing. So, you know, it's a double edged sword, I'm sure until until the right one comes along, I'm sure. But, you know, it's a fascinating conversation, a one that I often have with with my friends, you know, it's hard to have it all both men and women feel that way. It's hard to be all the things to the people in your life that you want you want to give your all to, and how do we balance that? How do we nurture that at what different stages in our life? Should we focus on certain parts? It's a very complex conversation. So get ready, we're going to jump right into it with Kim Kaupe
Hello, I am joined today by the amazing Kim Kaupe. Kim is a founder of bright ideas only a sought after keynote speaker from worldwide stages to her online courses Kim's mission of investing in yourself supercharging your career and building your network has garnered the praise of corporate clients such as American Express TEDx and LinkedIn among so many others. For weekly live series coffee with Kim brings in experts, founders and leaders to share tips, tricks and strategies to help them excel. You might recognize her from ABCs hit primetime show Shark Tank, you guys just she secured offers from four out of five sharks not an easy thing to do. Previously, she was named to inks 35 under 35 advertising age's 40 under 40 and Forbes 30. Under 30. Kim, welcome so thrilled to have you join me today on the podcast. I first discovered you over on LinkedIn a long time ago and anyone on LinkedIn knows you and if you don't know Kim, you're not using LinkedIn correctly. And I have to Ask because I watched you put out so much amazing content on all platforms. Once I discovered you on LinkedIn, I followed you on the all the other platforms because your content is really good and different depending on which platform you're on. Were you always this motivated and able to connect with different networks as a child?
Kim Kaupe 5:20
Yeah, I mean, I think it stems from I don't know, anybody else out there, but I was an only child. And so some people think, you know, only children are the weird, you know, smelly pee smelling kids in class that don't have any social skills. But I actually think for some only children, it's quite the opposite. Because I had to realize at the end of every week come like Thursday, Friday, if I didn't have playdates, like, lined up for myself, then all day, Saturday and Sunday, it was going to be me at home playing with my Barbies, and my little pony by myself. And so from a very young age, I was like, Okay, we gotta, we gotta make friends, we got to share, we got to, you know, get out there and help people where we can. And so I think it's a quality that I sort of grew up with, at first just to make friends, and then has kind of carried through into adulthood.
Molly Dare 6:11
You know, I think networking and relationship building is actually one of the key parts of success for any entrepreneur and working on those relationships. And it's really been a big thing for me, realizing that it takes multiple, multiple touchpoints, to really build those relationships, one phone call when meeting does not make or build that relationship. Let's talk about I want to go through your whole kind of career trajectory. Because I find it really fascinating and inspiring. Let's talk about your first company, because not many people's first company takes off with such a bang, the way that yours did describe your company and kind of what happened there.
Kim Kaupe 6:48
Sure, at the heart of it, we run a marketing agency. So most of our clients are in the music industry, although we have some clients in the startup space as well as sports. And essentially what we really hone in on is two things. Number one branding and creative. So how are you presenting yourself in this digital first world where people are googling you, before they meet you? And looking at your brand online? What does that look like? And then second of all, once they do know you, and they do understand what it is you do? How do you really transform those people into super fans? What are you doing that is really elevating your customers from Hey, I kind of like this too. Oh, my gosh, I'm obsessed with this. And I can't wait to tell my five friends about it. So I think there's a lot of businesses that say, Yeah, we have customers. And there are a lot of businesses that say, Well, let's look at out of our 100 customers, who are the five that are spending the most with us? And really, what am I doing for those five people that shows them? Hey, I see you, you're spending a lot of money with us. And we really appreciate it,
Molly Dare 7:56
you talk a lot about the first impression, as you just described, Google is the new first impression. It's no longer that handshake. And when you walk into a room with someone people are googling you before they even meet you. And you call it a digital first impression what you just said, and and I never thought about it that way until I saw you speaking about it. And how important that is that you really take note of how you come across online and how important that is.
Kim Kaupe 8:22
Yeah, I think some people, you know, listen, if you're in your 60s, and you're kind of like, I'm on my way out in the next 10 years, I'm gonna retire, I don't really care. And I'm the Senior Vice President of some fancy company, then great, maybe for you, the first impression doesn't matter online as much. But for the rest of us. You know, I think especially it was always happening, but I think COVID sort of elevated it to the next level. Yeah. And I always tell people, you know, anyone who's kind of on the fence about the concept, I always say this, especially to anybody that has kids, I said, if you're if your child got a new kindergarten teacher, or a new fifth grade teacher, or halfway through the year, your first reaction would be I'm looking this person up, who is this? Like, who am I sending my kids to every day? Is this person, you know, a crazy person? Do they have, you know, any sort of bad rap history, I want to look them up. And so I always say, you know, work has become just as much a part of our lives as our personal especially now we're working from home or living from work. I'm not quite sure. But you really do start Googling people to say, Who am I getting on this zoom with? Who am I getting on this call with? What what are we even talking about here? And so I think it's one of the things that if you weren't paying attention to it before, and you should absolutely be paying attention to it now.
Molly Dare 9:44
And it's so interesting. I never thought to google myself. I'm so busy googling everybody else, right? It's really Google themselves to see to see what comes up. It was like, Oh, really? That's really interesting. That article from seven years ago, it's one of the first thing to populate. You know, I love it. This you know the new the new agency that you have expand engagement agency bright ideas only you are working with some incredible A listers, Paul McCartney, Oprah, the New York Mets, Shawn Mendes, people dream of having even one of those clients, and you've got a whole slew of them. What do you think for people who are who are really trying to reach you know that that A list person? What do you think that set you apart to be able to gain access to them?
Kim Kaupe 10:26
I think what's I mean, I feel like it's two separate questions in order to gain access to them. You have to know somebody, I mean, flat out like you have to know a friend of a friend can put you in front of someone. So that's number one. I think just in terms of access to all of them. You know, and I talked about this sometimes when I first started the business back in 2011. Our first at that time big artists that we've worked with was Scotty McCurry, he had just won, I think it was like season 10, or something of American Idol. And you know, at no point was he like an A list artist, he was still an up and coming artists. So I always tell people, if you want to work with celebrities, if that's something that you think is interesting, go find those sort of like, I don't even want to say ABC, but like d or e list celebrities, and do a case study, hey, I worked with this artists, they're an up and coming country artists, I think they're really great. You take that case study to somebody who's a little more famous than that, you say all work for free, I'll do this for free. Just let me get a case study. Okay, now you have two case studies, with two people that are, let's say, in the sort of lower end of popularity, but you just keep doing that model over and over again. And eventually you're gonna get to a point where people are like, wow, they have five case studies, with like, bigger and bigger artists, let me you know, take a chance on on working with them. And I think that is really how we continue to start. I mean, I always tell people, we didn't work with Oprah until 10 years in, I had 10 years of case studies before ever working with Oprah. So it's not like I started my company. And six months later, Oprah is on the roster. I mean, this is like a very on paper, it looks like it was all fast. But in reality, it was it was one step at a time.
Molly Dare 12:15
You know, Forbes 30, under 30 is incredibly impressive. Was that kind of your big break? Or did you have the big break before then it kind of got Forbes to notice you what was really that moment that build that confidence in you're like, Okay, now I can go after kind of these bigger names this bigger crowd.
Kim Kaupe 12:32
I think for that it was really getting to the point where I felt like we had done some pretty amazing, amazing projects at that point. And it's a funny story, you know, people think that you get that honor bestowed on you. And that is true to an extent. But most people don't realize I actually applied for that. Myself, I did not wait for an editor to notice me, I did not wait for a client to nominate me, I did not wait for my co founder at the time to nominate me, I was like, I have fingers, I can type on a keyboard. I think that I could be in the running for this. Let me nominate myself. And, you know, that's something that I talk about a lot when I'm doing, you know, the small group coaching that I do is I have like templates and a formula that you should be applying for awards and honors all the time, you yourself not waiting for somebody else to do it, not waiting for somebody to notice you not waiting, because if you're gonna be keep waiting, good luck, because there's someone out there like me, who is putting their own hat in the ring, and they are going to get something that you may be or not
Molly Dare 13:43
such great advice, because I think it gives you such a credibility in a field where people are looking for credible sources now. And they really, really do pay attention to that. So go after yourself. Don't wait to be nominated. Really, really important. We were talking before we started recording about your newly married and you've just launched this new podcast, a lot of first a lot of big wins right now. And I think it's really it's a really great topic because a lot of us were having great moments in our life career wise or life wise. But the world is really tough right now. And I know that I struggle with what do I put out there content wise that celebrating and and celebrating myself but also cognizant of the heavier stuff going out in the world? And is it appropriate to still be putting that kind of content out? And what would you give for that advice? I know that I struggle with it and many others do.
Kim Kaupe 14:34
I actually put out a piece of content saying exactly that saying, Hey, I did just get married and I would like to post my wedding pictures and I don't know if that's appropriate. And I was shocked by how many warm wonderful comments I got underneath it saying you should absolutely share. And really just say we appreciate even this post. Because I think what it is is really saying to people I understand that it's a weird time, do you give me permission, you being kind of like this platform to share those wins? And listen, if people wrote under that saying, You know what, maybe wait on the wedding pictures for two or three weeks, I would have been like, That's good feedback too. Great. I'll wait two or three weeks. And so I think really being honest on social media as much as you can and saying, like, Hey, I do have something good to share, like, should I share it? And waiting to hear people? And if they say, Yeah, share it, or Ooh, like, you know, might not want to share that today might want to wait till later this week. I think people really appreciate it. Because then what you can always say is if you do post that happy thing, and someone says, Well, how dare you have posted that today? You can say like, Hey, you can you can look at my post two days ago, I specifically asked if I should share something like this. And as you can see, by the 96 comments underneath that post, it was an overwhelming, yes. So I'm sorry that you feel that I shouldn't have posted this today. But 96 Other people disagreed with you.
Molly Dare 16:03
And I think that's why you have so much engagement as you're very relatable in your posts, and you do involve your community. And I think that's so important. I was just hosting a I host rooms on the social audio apps that are out there right now. And we were talking about how important it is to ask your community like just to sit there and think oh, my gosh, is this what my community is going to want? Or need? Ask them? You know, someone had brought up the question like, well, I don't know why people follow me. And I go, ask them do a poll. So why don't you follow me? What is it about me in my life that you're looking to get back in speaking of your stories, and your stories, you talked recently, I think it was either today or yesterday about you can't have it all. And you said this, and I love this, this is my favorite. You said, no one wants to talk about having it all and Girlbossing your way to the top, it's not achievable. And trying to reach it will only make you feel burnt out and crazy that you keep pushing and pushing, but it's not happening. You can't hustle your way into a marriage and kids and you can't work your way to the top and still be 100% available to your family. You got a lot of feedback from that. But I would love to discuss this topic, because I'm really passionate about it, too. And it's you clarified you can't have it all at the same time.
Kim Kaupe 17:18
Yeah, I think a lot of listen, I'm 36 years old, I think a lot of my peers said our other founders, other entrepreneurs who are going through whether it's the marriage process or having kids process, and I have, you know, founder friends that are female, and I have founder friends that are male. And I feel like a lot of the conversation is talked about, honestly, it's talked about behind closed doors, and it's talked about over coffee. And and there are people that I know with millions of followers across social media, and they are not talking about the fact that they're in IVF treatments, and they are not talking about the fact that they can't find a wife or they can't find a husband. So it's sort of this taboo subject really that that is being talked about in these sort of hushed tones. And I got sort of fed up a couple of weeks ago. And just because I was having the conversation over and over again with different friends and different scenarios. And I was like, you know, why are we so apprehensive or scared to have this conversation publicly. And when I posted this Tik Tok, and then eventually on Instagram sort of saying the same thing. I can sort of see why I mean, the Tick Tock comments section is an explosion. It is a very hot topic, people have very fiery opinions on reproductive decisions, fiery decisions on work, and what that means to work as a woman. And so I sort of was like, Ooh, maybe this is why a lot of people are talking about it behind closed doors. But I also think, you know, not just sound cheesy, but we say that phrase all the time, like Be the change that you wish to see in the world. So if you sort of wish that these conversations weren't happening behind closed doors, well, why not me? And why not? Now, then I'm going to be the one to raise my hand and say, Listen, I've had incredible success over the last 10 years. But I'm also going to be the first one to say I made a lot of really hard decisions that came that how to price tag, the weddings, I missed that I will never get back the birthdays. I missed that I will never get back spending times with family members who have now passed away. I will never get that back. So yeah. Is it cool that I worked with Paul McCartney and Oprah and all these people? Yeah, it is. But that that also came at a price tag. And we can argue all day if that price tag was worth it, or not worth it or whatever. And so I think the thing that I was bringing up was really, we have to make a decision at some point. What what what are you willing to give up? And I think, especially as women we need to have the conversation around. You can't unfortunately like my male founder friends Who can hustle their way to the top until they're 45 and then impregnate their 31 year old spouse or girlfriend. We don't have that. And we can argue about it all day long. And oh, my aunt one time got pregnant at 41. Okay, you know, Trixie, that's the exception. That's not the rule. We don't we don't have, hundreds of 1000s of 41 year olds that are getting pregnant every day. You know, that's a science. So I think at some point, we have to talk about like, Listen, I love a good hustle. I love working my way to the top. I love the awards. I love the honors, I love the A list celebrities. But at some point, you have to say, I also want a family. And I also want a husband. And if that means I have to not Girlboss quite as hard, then that's that's the decision that has to be made. So it's a really interesting topic though, right now. And and listen, yeah, there's some fiery opinions on it.
Molly Dare 20:56
Oh, yes, there are as a 43 year old single mom of two, there's a lot of opinions about it. And I've chosen to put my career and my kids above, you know, a relationship for years. And people see me traveling and working and doing these incredible things with incredible people. And yes, it comes at tremendous sacrifice. But this is what I chose, these were my choices. And it's you, I am with you, you you, you can have it all, just not at the same time. And, and that's okay. And it's a matter of personal choice of what feels right to you. And for no one else to judge another great post. You can see them a big fan is you go from, you know, there was a big, big kind of debate or a few years back on the leaning in kind of movement. And you say, leaning out actually, it's better go into that a little bit.
Kim Kaupe 21:50
Yeah, I mean, I think that we have all over the last 10 years. And again, I'm 36. So I'm speaking for myself from you know, 26 to 36. But I think a lot of people can relate to this. We you know, when I first started the workforce, it was 2008 it was the recession, it was hard to find jobs, and we went through the housing crisis, then we went through COVID Like I think the last 10 years, career wise, have been hard. And if you do want to do well, you are grinding, grinding yourself out to really climb the corporate ladder or really make that startup a success or really become a six figure or seven figure entrepreneur, like you are grinding. And I know some people will be like Bitcoin, it's easy money. Okay, well, I still don't understand Bitcoin all the time. I have it relaxed, but like I don't totally understand the crypto world. And there are some people that are like I'm a crypto millions while sitting on my couch. Again, exception, not the rule. Most of us are like grinding it out for our paycheck. And I think what happens is we start to assume that that's normal, we just start to assume that like, that's the way that it's always going to be. That's the way it has been. And my question really, to myself and friends and family and and others lately has been? How do we lean out? How do we work last? How do we take it from this really high pressure grind to maybe just a regular grind? You know, me, maybe just a regular working hour. And so really, what does that mean? And it was silly, but I'll mention this because I was talking to my friend last night about this. I said to her Where do you eat lunch? Every day? Where do you eat lunch? And she said at my desk? And I said what do you eat and choose joking like a sad salad like I usually my sad salad lunch in a giant bowl sitting at my desk, either catching up on some Zoom meeting or watching a webinar or trying to answer emails with one hand while I eat the salad with the other. And I said when's the last time that you sat in another room away from your, you know, away from your computer to eat a meal, not at a restaurant? Because that's a business lunch, you know, with another with a colleague or a client or something like that by yourself? And she literally couldn't answer the question. She's like, I literally, I don't know, I have not done that in so long. And I was like, I would say your challenge for the next week. eat a meal, not at your desk, not in front of your computer, eat and be it doesn't have to be an hour, it could be 20 minutes, you know, just you yourself at a table not with a computer screen in front of you. And I think that's a small example. But it's a simple one of like, we have got to take some baby steps. This is start leaning out because this is not normal, like the grind is not and I think we recognize it's not normal, but we don't really know what to do about it because it's just it's become so natural to us that we're like, uh, do I meditate? We meditate does I fix everything. And the answer that is no, it doesn't.
Molly Dare 25:03
Yeah, there's been a definite glorification of the hustle of the entrepreneur, the I didn't sleep at all. And it's like, that's not healthy. You know, it's okay to be a little selfish. And I find in the moments and believe me, I was instantly on some time, someone who does that it without even realizing I'm doing it. And in the moments where I really stepped back and took care of myself and was selfish, which I don't think is a negative thing. I actually showed up better in all aspects of my life, I rested, I was better mentally, physically, emotionally. And it's, it's okay to be so it's actually a positive in the long run in the long game for me. And speaking of burnout, you talk a lot about content, burnout, which is something that we all face, especially because there's so many different platforms now between Tik Tok and LinkedIn, and Instagram, and we're all trying to make different reels and different videos on each of them. And you said something, which is almost like a thank God Done is better than perfect. And I think that's so important for us, you know, content creators to realize, take the pressure off a little bit.
Kim Kaupe 26:11
Totally. And I think, you know, again, sorry to the fellas, but I think as women, we're even worse with this than the guys like it has to be perfect. every T is crossed, every day is audited, the font is perfect, which perfectly matches the background. Like, you know, it's so beautiful. It's so great. And so we are our own worst enemies with that. And I think, you know, content burnout comes the point of like, I woke up today, and I knew I need to make content, but I just got nothing. I got no ideas. I don't know where to start, like, I'm tired. I'm burnout, the creative juices are not flowing. I actually did like a whole thing. I it was a list that I would send around with my friends. And then I finally I had enough friends that were like, Why don't you make this public? And I was like, that's probably a good idea. I actually did this thing. If you go to whatdoIpost.com I have like 30 content ideas on days where I'm just like, I wake up and I feel totally burnt out. And I'm like, Oh, I have to post something today. What am I supposed to post? I don't know. I you know, I just literally go to whatdoIpost.com and, and kind of steal some ideas. Because I think that they in terms of working smarter, not harder. I'm at the point now in my career, and in my life where I'm like, Listen, I don't need to be the a plus student, I don't need to be the one sitting in the front of the class. Like, I'm ready to copy some homework. You know what I mean? Just show me the answers. Let me copy them. I don't want to learn it myself. Just tell find somebody who's really smart doing that thing. And just let me copy you. I don't even want to don't even try to explain it to me. I don't want to learn it. Just let me copy you. And, and it became a big joke. I mean, to the point that I literally named my newsletter, you like if you go to copymyhomework.com and sign up for my newsletter, like it's called copying my homework because I'm like, Listen, I'm not even trying to hide it anymore. I'm just straight up copying people with no qualms about it.
Molly Dare 28:01
I love it so much. And it's so helpful. I'm always looking for another great resource. So thank you so much for that. We've all had those days where we're just like, I've got nothing, I really have gotten up and it's just empty up there. Um, I'd love to talk about your podcast, which you also just launched the coffee with Kim podcast. And I know a lot of my listeners are either launching theirs or thinking about it. And I love I'm a big proponent of everyone should have a podcast because I think everyone has an amazing voice that's original, and unique. What has been the most surprising thing that you've discovered with this podcast?
Kim Kaupe 28:40
I think I approached it in a really different unique way. So it's our it actually started as a live podcast. So it started on LinkedIn live, it's every single Wednesday at 1pm. Eastern. And what happened was, is we were doing it for about a year. And it was kind of like if you're at the party, you're at the party. And if you're not at the party, or you missed that party, then like you're kind of not at the party anymore. And while we would put the replays on YouTube, I had a ton of people reaching out to me, which by the way is true for me too. So I don't know why I didn't think about it. But they're like, Listen, if I wasn't at the party, and I'm like playing catch up, I don't necessarily want to sit in front of the YouTube screen for 45 minutes. I want to go on a walk, I want to wash dishes, I need to do laundry like I'm moving around my house, I can't like look at the screen. And I actually think you should YouTube needs to fix this. But if you're playing something on YouTube, and you put your phone in like sleep mode to like run or something, the YouTube video stops, so it doesn't keep playing so you actually can't listen to it while you're running or working out in any way which I think is a big miss on their part. So then I was like, well, I should just take these live recordings and put them into audio form, put them into a podcast form and put it out on all Apple and Spotify and Stitcher and all the major Podcast Networks. And so I just started doing that, like a month ago. But I think what's unique about it is because it is a live conversation twofold. I always say like you hear the real thoughts, not the edited ones, because people sometimes are like, Oh, I let that slip. And now I can't be edited out because it was live. And number two, I think it's also a great opportunity to ask questions. A lot of times I'm listening to podcasts, whether I'm listening to like Tim Ferriss or, or someone who's wildly popular, and I'll think of a follow up question. And I'll be like, ah, Tim, why didn't you ask them about this? And obviously, I don't know Tim Ferriss we're not besties I'm not gonna be able to email him and say you missed this follow up question, Tim. And I really wish you would have asked this. Tim Ferriss has no idea who I am. So that would work. And so what I love about the live podcast is if you have a follow up question that you feel like I didn't ask or you want to ask, then you can ask it. It's like you are your own podcast host with me. So I think it's been a fun, a fun transition for us to go from live to now live and audio.
Molly Dare 31:02
So brilliant. I love it. I what I really want to get to because you have so many amazing testimonials online about your career capital course. We'd love to hear kind of what initiated this? Where did you find the need for this? And how can people sign up for it?
Kim Kaupe 31:20
Absolutely. So you can go to careercapitalcourse.com and learn more about the course. But I think at the heart of it, what I was seeing was during COVID Especially I had a lot of friends approached me and they were experiencing what I call one of the three F's, which is they were furloughed, they were fired, or they woke up and they were saying, I will not curse here. But F ME like, that's the What am I doing? I don't like my job. I don't want my like like I'm having this like midlife crisis. What am I doing? And so I had friends coming to me saying like, can you help me? Sort of like reimagine what is my next step? Like, am I you know, going after a bigger position? Am I now starting to be featured? As a keynote speaker? Am I now wanting those awards and honors that before I would kind of shy away from but now I'm kind of saying, Well, why not? Like, why am I not on the Forbes list? And so I was helping people one by one, and really just friends. But then of course, those friends told other friends, those other friends or those other friends. And before I knew it, I was like, oh my god, I can't, I can't have this many people that I'm helping at once, because it's just too many. And so what we decided was, what if we did these small cohorts, these small groups, and we narrowed it down to like, almost like a four week boot camp, where we are going to go in and we are going to completely redo your executive narrative, like how are you talking about who you are, what you do, it's an icky subject, and everybody hates it because it makes them feel uncomfortable. And nobody wants to brag. And everyone doesn't want to feel like they're boastful about themselves. But it's a necessity. You have to be able to talk about yourself in a way that's, you know, confident and shows leadership and shows that you're an authority on that subject area. And then really, how are you networking? How are you accessing those power players in your industry? How are you becoming friends with them? I always say to people, it's no coincidence. It's not a ko Winky dank that Tony Robbins, Jenna Kutcher, Dean, Rosario, all of them. It's like a mafia, right? Like you get in the circle, you're in the circle. And so these power players have these circles. So it's like, how do you break into those, and I give you templates, and I give you a playbook. And I'm like, I know it's worked. Because I've used it, you know, I didn't get Oprah out of thin air from tooth fairy like these are, this is how it works. Like, this is how the game is played. And so we'll go over all of that. And then really going over into, like your knowledge base, like how are you investing in yourself? How are you sharing that knowledge that you have with other people to help them because that makes you a thought leader in this space. So we did a cohort back in October of 2021. It was amazing. We have our second cohort coming up here in April. It's going to be jam packed with a lot of great guest speakers. And I'm just I'm really excited about it. Because I do think it's an opportunity for founders, for executives, for leaders for people. I always say if you have that little voice inside of you, that's kind of saying, huh, I could do that. Like you see that person and you're like, how did Rachel get that position? Like I should have won that award? Or I should have been leaved on that big project, or I should have gotten that promotion or I should have gotten that honor. If you have that voice like this is the program for you. Because I'm basically saying let's listen to that voice. And let's get you to that next level that you've kind of seen other People get to but you're not quite at yet.
Molly Dare 35:03
This is a great and I think it's so important and I see this all the time. It's you can have the greatest idea, the greatest business the greatest anything, but if you don't communicate it effectively and you know, explain it correctly, then it's no one will know about it. No, you don't you need to market it's incredibly well in a way that people receive it and hear about it. There's so many friends that I had with just the most amazing ideas and businesses and nobody knows about it, because they just don't know how to put the story together and how to market it effectively. So if you're listening, and you've got that brand, that business, do something like this, because this is an amazing tool that will just take it to the next level 100% There's nothing better than honing in your story and knowing how to market it effectively. So okay, there's a few questions that I asked people at the end of every podcast, when you look back over everything you've done, which is a lot, which chapter of your life has taught you the biggest lesson?
Kim Kaupe 35:59
Oh, man, like there's so many lessons, I would honestly, I would say the season that I'm in right now, I think that really coming to terms of the fact that okay, I'm 10 years into this business. Now what, and I think when anyone gets to sort of a culminating factor, whether it's a marriage, or kids or you move cities, or any sort of thing that marks like a new chapter, you're kind of going, what do I want for this new chapter? Like, we can repeat the last chapter. And now it'd be amazing to but if we wanted to kind of switch it up, what would we be switching up? Like what is? And I think a lot of people again, in the last two years, whether they've switched cities or switched jobs, have kind of had the opportunity to say like, okay, if I'm not going to live in California anymore, if I'm gonna live in Florida, what does that look like? Who do I want to be in Florida? Do I want to be the same old? You know, Bob, that I was back in California? Or when you go to a new job, or you sort of have this new relationship? You're kind of like, who am I showing up? That's like, how, how do I want to maybe change? So I think I would say the stage I'm in right now has taught me the most because I'm asking all those like big scary questions that you know, you just kind of don't have to do until you're like in it.
Molly Dare 37:16
And which chapter are you most proud of?
Kim Kaupe 37:20
Which chapter am I most proud of? I think the easiest sort of canned answer would be like starting the company when I was 25. But even that's a little hard, because I always tell people, like if I had to start a company now, I would be so scared. And what I mean by that is, if you've ever gone skiing, and you see little kids learning to ski or little kids skiing, zero fear, there are six year olds taking moguls looking like Shaun White, like full blown catching air, no fear, like little racecar drivers, and they're like seven, so just tiny humans that are like barreling down this mountain. And then you see adults and while adults are a little more cautious, what if I tear my ACL? Oh, I have a bad meniscus. Oh my god, what if I run into this tree and break my arm? You sort of have these fears as an adult that as a kid, you don't have you're like, fearless as a kid, you just don't even think anything of it. And so I look at entrepreneurship, you know, for me anyways, in sort of the same way, like when I was 25, I was like, no problem. Of course, I can start this company. Let me just barrel down this mountain at 100 miles an hour woo And now that I'm 36 I'm like, oh my god, I can totally see why my parents freaked out like this can affect your credit score. You know, you might not be able to buy a house one day, or if you take out a loan, and you can't pay it back. I mean, like now I can see why my parents were like, oh my god, this is really scary. But at 25 I was like, so I'm most proud of that chapter. But also like, I don't think that chapter can ever be repeated now knowing all that I know. Because I'm like, Oh my God, it was so fearless. But there there were so many giant moguls that I could have hit and just wiped out.
Molly Dare 39:10
I love it so much. And I'm laughing as you're speaking because I'm looking back at certain chapters in my own life being like God that Molly was really brave and fearless like I wouldn't 43 year old Molly would never make those decisions knowing what I know now and sometimes it's nice not to have that fear. Can you kind of oblivious to the risks of certain things. I would love for people to who aren't already following you to go ahead and give you a follow and to sign up for your course where's the best place for people to follow you?
Kim Kaupe 39:40
So I'm on Instagram and Tiktok and LinkedIn probably too frequently for my own good. I would say the easiest place probably find me is Instagram and you can find me because you start typing in Kim Kardashian. So you start typing in like K-i-m-k-a and before you type in the R for Kardashian, I will actually be the second one usually under Kim Kardashian. So I always say there's two Kim K's one is going to have her clothes on, that would be me. And then there's going to be another one that's half naked. That would be Kim Kardashian. So that's not me. So I'm the second one.
Molly Dare 40:20
Great way to remember it. Oh my gosh, Kim, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing with me your incredible wealth of knowledge reminding us how important it is to invest in ourselves and in our network. And thank you to everyone for joining and see you next week with another powerful conversation
thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of On Air with Molly dare Your support means everything to me and my guests. The best way to support this podcast is with a five star review on iTunes. The best way for this podcast to keep growing is by word of mouth. So if you love this episode and got a meaningful takeaway, we'd love for you to share on social media, tag me and the guests and we will be sure to share as well. You can also head over to our new website at Mollydare.com. Check out our fun shop with fun merch along with our Spotlight Series filmed features and all of our podcasts episodes. If you do get your hands on some on air with Molly Dare swag, and of course our line of daring fear less and aggressive like our sweatshirts and hats and coffee mugs. It just gives me all the biggest smile and feels as always, please tag me when you receive your items. And I'll share on my social media as well. Nothing makes me happier than seeing all of you daring and fearless aggressive bikers out there wearing it loud and proud. Thanks again for listening and look forward to next week's episode.
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