Ep. 236 - Kathy Lawless, as a solopreneur, helps people create their life stories as their legacy. Kathy Lawless formerly served in corporate executive leadership roles for 25 years before transitioning into a creative coach helping people capture their life stories or career legacy. She helps people move their life memories from the basement to the coffee table. In this episode, Kathy shares her experience as a corporate executive and her journey to becoming a solopreneur. Listen in to learn about the difference between navigating a corporate career and entrepreneurship. You will also learn the importance of having a coach to support and help you boost your confidence in your career or business.
Key Takeaways:
- How to develop positive communication by getting to know people, their drive, and their fit
- Find leaders to advocate for you and help you get in the room to grow in your corporate career
- The importance of having a coach or an advisor to help boost your confidence
- The importance of networking and marketing to get your business out there
- Learn to be grateful for what you have and not always aspire for what you don’t have
"Who you are today is a compilation of not just what you've done, but the people you've surrounded yourself with." - Kathy Lawless
In this episode you’ll discover:
How being a middle child influenced Kathy’s now harmonious and adaptable personality [1:19]
How she developed positive communication as a leader even with her adaptable personality [4:08]
Kathy on positive communication plus the difference between having volunteers vs. paid roles [7:18]
The leadership decades she spent doing organizational work and the life after [9:56]
The difference between navigating a corporate career and being an entrepreneur [13:20]
Kathy’s struggles with worry and lack of confidence and how she learned to deal with them [16:56]
The negative impact of staying in your head and what to do about it [20:40]
Things that allowed her to step away from a corporate career and become a solopreneur [25:19]
How she helps people create and curate their life stories to bring them to the forefront [27:35]
The financial mindset she had to overcome to succeed as a solopreneur [30:47]
The main challenges of podcasting as a form of business marketing strategy today [33:55]
Kathy’s experience working with women leaders plus how she balances work and life [36:07]
The top three things that Kathy hopes you get out of the interview [38:07]
CAREER
As a small business owner and podcaster, and with over two decades of leadership experience in corporate, non-profit, and consulting roles, Kathy has successfully made several transitions in her life, reinventing herself multiple times. As a Life Story Curator, Kathy helps people to capture their life and career stories, to celebrate milestone moments like graduations, retirements, birthdays, and anniversaries. Kathy is known for finding just the right way to celebrate and recognize the achievements and contributions of others. She has created, presented and/or emceed dozens of slide shows, recognition programs, client conferences, employee town halls, retirements, toasts, and roasts.
“I believe that one of the greatest gifts you can give someone is to recognize the impact they have had on your life (as a parent, boss, friend or family member) or the difference they have made in the world (through their work, actions or just being here on this earth!).”
Kathy is intrigued by the unique qualities that each person possesses and uses this natural curiosity and her exuberant personality to discover what makes a person who they are, the events and people that influenced them, and the inner knowing that has guided them. She then finds a creative way to arrange the information with meaningful photos and artifacts to tell their story through photo books, artistic posters, or her podcast series, “How Did I Get Here?”.
AFFILIATIONS
Kathy is a board member for a small non-profit called Jessie’s Heart, the Community Chair for her Colorado Thought Leaders Forum (CTLF) Strategic Connections chapter, and most recently, she has taken on the co-leadership of CTLF’s Wise Women Advisory Board.
RESOURCES
Life Story Curator | Kathy Lawless
Colorado Thought Leaders Forum