The Hidden Mindset Blocking Your Professional Growth with Kelli Kombat

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues (formerly Career Coaching Secrets), our guest is Kelli Kombat, a career and leadership professional passionate about helping individuals navigate career transitions, personal growth, and professional reinvention with clarity and confidence. Kelli shares insights on overcoming career stagnation, building authentic leadership skills, navigating change in today’s evolving workplace, and creating a career path aligned with purpose and long-term fulfillment. We also explore the mindset challenges professionals face when stepping into new opportunities, the importance of self-awareness in career development, and practical strategies for growth, resilience, and success in both business and life. Whether you’re considering a career pivot, building your leadership presence, or searching for more meaningful work, this conversation delivers actionable advice and valuable perspective for modern professionals.

You can find her on:
https://www.kellicoach.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-kombat

Kelli's Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0ApuiGnORXknE8YlSFQ31p
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/career-kombat/id1701177644

Email:
yes@kellicoach.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

So then when I saw that it could be owning a business could be something different. It could be that quiet calm. It could be about impact behind the scenes. It could be just me as an individual making a difference with tens of thousands of people.

Davis Nguyen 0:17

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets, the podcast where we talk with successful career coaches on how they built their success and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is Davis Wynne, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, and even $100,000 weeks. Before Purple Circle, I've grown several seven and eight figure career coaching businesses myself and have been a consultant at two career coaching businesses that are doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or building your practice for the first time, go discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Pedro Stein 0:48

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today I'm joined by Callie Combat, who's a master certified coach and founder of Rich LLC, bringing over 20 years of HR leadership experience in 5,000 plus coaching hours across 20 plus countries with executives from Fortune 500 companies to high growth startups. Her work is centered on building emotionally intelligent cultures where people feel seen, heard, and genuinely motivated to grow. She specializes in executive coaching, leadership development, employee engagement and retention, culture transformation, and organizational learning and team dynamics. Across her career, she has supported over 900 professionals, led 50 plus workshops, and helped organizations improve net promoter scores by up to 40% while maintaining a 98% client satisfaction rate, reflecting a rare blend of MCC level depth and measurable business impact. Welcome to the show, Callie.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Thank you so much, Pedro. Oh happy to be here.

Pedro Stein 2:07

Yeah, it's great to have you, you know. And I love to go back to the origin story, rewind a bit, you know, because every coach has that moment where they look at their life and say, yeah, I guess this is what I'm doing now. Right, Kelly. So where was that for you?

SPEAKER_02 2:24

It was in the throes of the pandemic. Uh, I think like a lot of people, uh, the pandemic um was a make or break period. And for me, I thought about the fact that I was home and I was looking at my career, looking at where I wanted to make the most impact. And originally I said, you know, maybe I should be going back to school because I wanted to do more than just, you know, do the starter bread and all the things that we were doing during the pandemic. And so I started thinking, okay, maybe it's a PhD in industrial psychology. And instead, I ended up saying, I don't know if that's what it is. And then as I started doing more reflection, I said, it's coaching. It's coaching because I had been coaching within HR all those years, but I really wanted to be serious about it. So I said, to heck with it, and I was gonna go all the way.

Pedro Stein 3:19

Okay. So we were kind of exposed before you jumped in that boat, the coaching boat. Let's call it like that. Now I want to understand one thing, right? When the shift happened for you from, you know, I'm helping people, I'm testing waters, early days in the pandemic, even for the coaching side, to I'm building a real business around this, you know, because there's sometimes there's sometimes it's the the LLC, some the paperwork, sometimes it's the first paid client, the first invoice. You know, when you you grab that the hat and you put it on, like coaching. So when was that? When was that for you?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

That was right at the beginning because I was just so solidly serious about this work that when I, in fact, you you you don't see it in in this space that I'm in, but I still have that first check. I have it framed and it's right across from me. And I was so proud of that moment. I I still have it five years later. And I think that that moment was everything because I knew I was really putting my work out there. Because honestly, Pedro, for a lot of years, I had, I want to say maybe 15 years, I had mentors and people telling me, Kelly, you should start your own business. And I was like, nope, not for me, not for me. I I just had this one image of what having a business meant. I thought that having a business meant that I had to be extroverted and I had to be, you know, shaking hands and kissing babies. And I I just I always thought, no, that's not for me. I I thought maybe I had to be big on social media. And I knew being somebody who's more introverted in terms of my energy preference, I knew that wasn't me. So then when I saw that it could be owning a business could be something different, it could be that quiet calm, it could be about impact behind the scenes, it could be just me as an individual making a difference with tens of thousands of people. My goal is over a million. That's my goal. That that's what I set out to do right from the beginning. And so once I knew that that fingerprint of owning a business would be different for me, all everything was off to the races.

Pedro Stein 5:37

Okay. Well, first of all, good thing you didn't got that messed up, right? And not shaking the babies and kissing hands. That's one thing. Okay. Now, we're talking about the CEO hat, right? That's what that's a big one for coaching because I see a lot of coaches that they they're wearing the coaching hat, but they forget about the business development side, or they're not even you know, very comfortable with it. Now, I want to understand one thing because in the early days, especially for most coaches, I'm not saying it's your case, it's like they're trying to help everyone, right? And I was and so after you got rolling, who are the people that kept showing up, you know, Callie? The ones who realized, okay, this is my tribe, you know.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

I would say that that would be the chapter that I'm actually the president of. So I immediately, before I even finished coaching school, I joined the International Coaching Federation, uh, the chapter here in New Jersey. And I would say, still to this day, five years later, that's my group. Not because I'm on the board or any of those things, but it was when I look at every single thing that I've done, it's not social media. It's about coach networking, it's about building relationships, it's about understanding what kind of movement and impact that I can provide to people. And so that's been my safe space. Um, another person who actually I met once again through that group, uh, she was a mentor. Unfortunately, uh, we lost her a couple of years ago. Um, but this was a person, her name Coach Willa Edgerton Chisler. And Coach Chisler, I swear, she she was doing a uh a workshop, and her voice spoke to me. Something told me to reach out to her. And I was just so moved by her business model, by everything that she was doing. She had been a coach for 30 years, so she was a pioneer in this space. She was running with the best and brightest coaches out here, and I reached out to her, didn't know her from Adam. As soon as I hung up from that workshop, I reached out on LinkedIn and I said, You don't know me. I was just on your workshop. I'd like to understand your business model. How do you move? How do you, how are you a CEO? And I'd love to have a coffee chat. I didn't think she was going to respond. She responded within an hour. I was shocked. Because usually when you reach out to get a mentor, you don't know if they're going to respond. Anyway, she ended up responding back to me and she provided me a framework of how do you move as a CEO. And so that's why on my LinkedIn, I don't call myself the founder. I don't get, I call myself the CEO because that is what I do. It's a blend of yes, I'm a solopreneur, I'm a coach. I'm also somebody who has a very pragmatic way of looking at my business in terms of the investment, in terms of the education, in terms of the networking. It's a business model that I spend at least one day a week focusing on. And I learned that from Coach Willa.

Pedro Stein 8:43

So not shying away from the CEO hat, right? Not avoiding the number conversation, the numbers conversation, the the KPIs talk, you know, because that sometimes I see a lot of coaches, they they they kind of avoid it. Like, for example, sales. I see a lot of coaches that they're kind of icky about sales, you know, and they're feeling like I don't want to push people, I don't want to do it. Well, you don't have to, like, right, first of all, but sales is just part of the process, right? I'm not sure if you agree with that because you you you've you met a lot of coaches, and you just mentioned you're in the ICF board and all that. So do you see that happening for them as well?

SPEAKER_02 9:20

I do, I do, and that's why uh we were very big last year in our programming to have a business series, to have specific, you know, the specific workshops focused on things like uh sales and conversion rates and ROI and and you know financial matters, things like insurance. I mean, all the things that really roll up into you having a business. We were doing those kinds of workshops. We have a community group that focuses on business. And I do see that from some coaches where some are like just looking at it as must-have programming and they're eating it up. They're they're soaking it up all in. And then there's other coaches who are like, uh, no, that's not my jam. I don't want to do that. And so we we always are communicating what is the what is the thing that you really need to understand. Because it can be a very slippery slope when you start this LLC and you're going after all the bright and shiny objects, and you're not paying attention to what really matters and what's really going to move the needle when it comes to your business. Uh, I don't think many organizations or schools or or such are saying that in the beginning. So it's upon you as the owner of your business to sign up for those kinds of workshops so that you understand. And a lot of them are what I call free 99. A lot of them are free. So you should absolutely take advantage and understand how to run this thing because otherwise, you know, you hear the numbers about business failures, it happens pretty quickly if you don't watch it. If you don't have a plan, it absolutely falls apart.

Pedro Stein 11:00

Okay. Now I want to talk about your business a little bit and using that CEO hat, okay? On the marketing side. So uh, Kelly, how do people usually find you in the first place?

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah, a lot of times it's because I do a lot of speeches or panels. And so usually that's where they find me. And from that approach, I usually will get uh a conversion into coaching because I I it's like the drip method. I just start dripping all of the things that I am able to offer, whether it's conflict resolution or whether it's uh you know community engagement or whether it's inclusive leadership. Uh, I have a variety of niches. And I think because of that fact, I have this background in broadcasting, I have a background in public speaking. For that reason, people see the options and I can see the conversion right there in the room when I'm doing these panels. I can see the conversion right in the room because I'm big on follow-up, I'm big on what's the ROI for you and how are you going to be able to transform your team, your organization, your function. Um, and again, my my approach may not be for everybody, but because of the fact that I have a plethora of products that I'm able to convert, I think that's why people can see partnering with me. They don't see me as just, you know, focusing on only one thing. And because I think it's also the fact that I have a lot of experience in a variety of industries, that's how I'm able to weave that into my presentation and they can see how my business model can fit with theirs.

Pedro Stein 12:37

Okay. Now let's do an exercise here. Okay, let's pretend I went to one of your speeches, right? One of your workshops, whatever. I saw your content on social media, that and I that immediately resonated with me. Okay. And I'm like, hey, Kelly, I want to work with you. Okay. So we went through the sales process, whatever that looks like. Okay. There's alignment, and um, I'm like being on board it, right? I'm gonna work with you. You can pick the main offer, you can pick whatever offer you feel like you want to talk about. Okay. Now, walk me through my point of view as a client to how does it look like to work with you, Kelly?

SPEAKER_02 13:17

It's very customized. So I look at every client as just like we all have different names. Your name is Pedro, my name is Kelly, we all have different fingerprints. I'm customizing uh a package for that particular person uh that is so unique. I'm picking up on things that they said to me when I met them, and I'm I'm I'm not doing a one size fits all approach. Then I meet with them immediately, I make room on my calendar for them immediately just to show how interested I am in their business. And meeting with them is a chemistry call. It's to understand what their goals are, is to understand where the impact can be. And I'm showcasing that not only in the proposal, but in that conversation. So it's it's a trust factor that you can basically build within 30 to 45 minutes. And then from there, that same day, within one hour, I'm giving them a package of the proposal of what that's going to look like. And I like to give my clients, my potential clients, options because I think just like when we were five years old, deep down inside, I believe we're all five years old. But but what's worked for me in terms of conversion is that the fact that I give my clients options. Option one, option two, option three. And in those options, I have flexible costs, I have flexible plans, I have flexible options in terms of resources and assessments. And there, there it's almost like uh a build-a-bear or or some sort of approach that allows them to be able to see themselves in any of the packages. Um, I I don't uh attempt to think that I know what's best for them. I think the way the reason why I'm able to convert so much is because I have trust and faith that they have the answers already. I'm just here to, as a master certified coach, to help bring that along. And I think that that's what gets it. I I don't think it's the credentials that gets it. I don't think it's my personality that gets it. I think it's more about them having the ownership and the accountability to know that they can make this choice on their own and that I'm not pushing hard, I'm pushing relationships, I'm not pushing the sale.

Pedro Stein 15:30

Okay. Now, can you give me a ballpark or just an idea of what potential outcomes I could be looking at, you know, by working with you? Because I know it's like of a customized experience. So it really depends, right? But just an idea.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Yeah, I'll give you a couple of examples. The first example that I get the most is when it comes to conflict resolution, when it comes to teams that are just not getting along, whether it's a team within an organization or a team that is within a nonprofit. So I don't discriminate. It can be any kind of industry. Uh, what they will realize is within three months, they will be able to move forward with how they uh engage, uh, better net promoter scores, as you were reading earlier about my background. It's those tangible things that shift within three months. That is a guarantee. That there's a lot of things in coaching that you you you can't guarantee because it's really the onus is on them to move that needle. However, if they if all things considered, if they do all of what I I'm proposing and that they're actually doing the work because most of that responsibility in terms of coaching is on them, whether it's the actions that they take, the goals that they set, or the reflection that's needed in between the sessions, that's where most of the work is. If that happens, that needle will be moved. And the other thing that I get the most in terms of expectations is uh whether it's a group or whether it's an individual, is presenting with confidence. Presenting with confidence is they want to go from not being able to tell good stories or not being able to land a message or not being able to move the crowd or move a room or be able to do a TED talk to go from being scared to death of being able to speak and being able to move an audience to being able to own the room and actually become a public speaker. That's the difference that I make as a coach. And I'm so proud of that fact because I know that it's the number one fear in the world, public speaking. And so little by little, I'm starting to get a lot of traction when it comes to that particular impact in terms of individuals and teams.

Pedro Stein 17:43

Okay. I mean, here comes a curveball. Okay. I'm gonna prep you for it. I love curveballs. Here it goes. Your work seems pretty hands-on, right? We're talking about a customized approach, yes. So, and I see a lot of coaches advocating against burnout out there, but they're burning out themselves, right? So, how do you think about capacity? So you don't stretch yourself too thin, you know?

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Two reasons. Okay, so this is a a mistake that I made right from the beginning, just being very transparent. I I think burnout can happen when you're in love with what you do, it's not just when you hate what you do. And what ended up happening to me in the beginning was I fell hard. It's like falling in love with a person. I fell hard for coaching. And so I wanted to do it all the time. It's it's a cautionary tale because I gained a lot of hours in a very short amount of time. I was at the level of professional certified coach within six months of graduating. That's how fast I was accumulating hours. And so I have consciously looked at my schedule. I'm obsessed with my schedule. I make sure that I build in at least one to two days a week. I'll say that again. One to two days per week where I am not coaching. I am building my business, I am networking, I am that's what has helped me with burnout because burnout for me showed up in my body. What do I mean by that? What happened was again, it was going back to all that love and falling in love with coaching and the business of it, that I was booking, I was almost trying to match the work that I was doing in corporate before I said, you know, I'm leaving corporate, I'm focusing only on this business. I was trying to match that level of hours. In fact, I was doing more hours than that. I was working typically about 15 to 16 hours a day.

Pedro Stein 19:42

That's a classic.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Not good. And and I didn't it's it's was sneaking up on me in terms of the burnout because I was loving what I was doing. I always thought burnout was, oh, I hate my job. I, you know, time to make the donuts. I hate my job. No, burnout can be when you absolutely love what you do too. And what happened was my Apple Watch was going off. It kept going off saying I don't know if it was like it said uh something detected, something detected. It just kept going off. And I got scared. And I ended up saying, you know what, I've got to make some major changes. Thankfully, there was no health issue, had a stress test, did all the things, uh, you know, urgently, went to the doctor, and thankfully there were no issues, no high blood pressure, nothing like that, knock on wood. What it taught me was I needed to do two things. One, change my schedule immediately, and two, make sure that I am doing the things that ground me. Taking the, you know, I think the best coaches are coached. So I invested in getting a coach. I invested in the time. That was the second thing I was gonna mention. The time it takes to actually set goals for myself. I have to lead with intention. I have to coach with intention. And I can't do that if I'm not doing the same thing that my clients are doing.

Pedro Stein 21:10

Perfect. You know, I love the how intentionally you you time blocked. I think that's a great idea, you know. To this day, I I feel so for the coaches out there listening, I think that's and well, Kelly, you're just giving, you know, live experience, and I I really love that. Now, I wanna highlight and tap into your experience in another topic that I feel like coaches out there could really benefit, you know, from, which is pricing. Because pricing, and we're not talking about hard numbers, okay? It's a mindset about it. Um, it's like a very self worth path for the coach, right? Sometimes they're not charged enough, or sometimes they're afraid of placing themselves out of the market and all of that. Very self worth path. So, how do you think it you think about it today? Know and weren't there any lessons along the way that shaped how you landed, where you are right now?

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Lots of lessons. Um, I think that it's a lot of layers as to why we price the way that we do. We're so we're so hungry for getting for you know, for doing the conversion and landing the clients that we tend to, it could be self-worth, it could be, I just want to convert. And so then it becomes, I'll do flexible pricing, I'll do, I'll, I'll just, you know, it's okay. Uh, and then you start letting go of your ideals, you start letting go of what your intentionality is behind your pricing. So it's a caught another cautionary tale that, you know, I had some moments in the beginning where I was thinking, well, you know, I'm not at this level and I don't have a lot of years. And and then I started thinking about again the ROI. What did I invest in terms of the certifications? What did I invest in terms of the coaching school? Because a company didn't pay for me to go. I paid for it myself. So, how do I land that money back? How do I make sure that I'm gaining back all of what I'm pouring into this business? I have to be able to do my job in terms of my own self-worth. And so I did a lot of research in terms of uh people who were doing the same kinds of coaching programs that I was doing, uh, that were at the same level that I was, that had the kind of experience and background of 20 years of HR. So I started really becoming a big nerd on the data because I know the data, the devil is in the details and the data is is what's actual and factual. So once I had all that information behind me, there nobody's I can't even blink when somebody says, Oh, well, that's no, that's too far expensive. I okay, that's not the right client for me. And it's okay. I am okay with not partnering with a particular client because they say uh that's out of their range. Okay, there's plenty of coaches out here, and and you just I think as coaches, we have to stand firm to our ideals, stand firm with our approach, with our business model. It's great to have input, it's great to have advice. You have to be careful and leery as to who is giving you advice. It's it's just like in a relationship. If somebody is coming, you know, with great years of a great relationship, great, I'll take advice from that person, like my mom or whomever else in my family. However, I have to be very careful with it's no different when you have a business. You have to be very careful as to who's giving you the advice because I had lots of naysayers about my approach, my pricing, so many things.

Pedro Stein 24:49

Hmm, okay. I mean, that's a solid look into how you approach pricing and the structure itself. Now, I'm curious about where you're taking all this, you know. Looking ahead, where do you see, you know, resources and coaching happiness, LLC going, you know, the rich LLC? Are you thinking about scaling, hiring, or is there a next step you're excited about, Kelly?

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Yes, so I'm definitely looking to scale. Uh, as I said to you before, uh, my goal is a million people. So, how how I track that, I track that through groups, through teams, through uh my one-to-one private clients, through uh the mentoring that I do. Uh, so now I'm at the point where I'm focusing on um those exclusive clients that are really focused on moving the needle with their presentation and being able to move their communications expertise to be able to move their confidence that way. Uh, I'm looking to in the future write another book. Uh, I was a part of an anthology, a bestseller uh that was on Amazon a little over a year ago. Uh, and I was so excited, you know, so many things in my business I have to say, uh never say never, because in the past, if you were to ask me 10 years ago before I even started this business, at some point you're gonna be a national bestseller, at some point you're going to be a Broadway producer, at some point you're going to be an MCC. I would laugh at you. I would have laughed at you. So that's what I look forward to in the future is uh to to, you know, I look to the example of Shonda Rhimes uh from Gray's Anatomy and and and so many hit shows. She wrote a book called The Year of Yes. And that was a nice, I don't know, it was a nice image for me to look up to, to think, never say never. Don't be afraid of your future and really think about what you want to do and if it makes sense for your business. If it's if it's really supporting those million people, I'm gonna say yes, even if I'm afraid. If I'm if I'm scared, I'm doing it right.

Pedro Stein 26:53

Okay. Now let me ask you this because I got curious. Uh, do you consider a ripple effect to estimate those uh those numbers, the one million, or is it just direct contact?

SPEAKER_02 27:04

It's a ripple effect too. So I I play, I'm not a great player of golf, but I I look I look at things from either a chess move. I'm still trying to learn chess too. My son is so good at it, but I'm trying to get to his level. So I look at things in terms of if I do this, then what? So it's the ripple effect to your point. Some of it is direct, some of it is ripple effect, some of it are the is the short game, and some of it's the long game. Um, however, as I'm breaking down how I'm able to impact somebody, that's why I was explaining the the panels and the the presentations that I do. Some people might look at that model and say, I would never do that. Okay, that's great for you. I know the ripple effect that it makes when I'm in a room of 50. Because if I can get those hundred people to to go on that journey with me, I know that it's gonna pay off in the future. That's what worked for my my mentor, Lisa Nichols, and I I follow that same model.

Pedro Stein 28:06

Okay, you know, and of course, whenever we're aiming towards the next chapter, always something we're refining in the present, right? So what are you currently trying to improve or tighten up in your business right now, Callie?

SPEAKER_02 28:19

I'm trying to tighten up my my impact in terms of uh the coaches that are becoming coaches. Uh I'm becoming actually a coach for coaches as well. So I'm trying to tighten that business model up a bit, uh, leaning into the uh, you know, mentoring people at at the level of PCC and MCC. I'm I'm in the future even looking to even start my own school, start my own coaching school. So those are the some of the things that I'm looking to tighten up in the next one to two years.

Pedro Stein 28:48

Okay, you know, I want to tap into your experience again for a second. So excuse me for doing that, okay, because people listening can really benefit from this. I mean, you've been in the game long enough to hear all kinds of business advice. Some are good, some are bad, a lot of noise out there, right? So, what's one piece of business advice you hear all the time that you think Kelly is overrated or it potentially misunderstood, you know?

SPEAKER_02 29:16

Yes, um, so much. Um I'll say two of them. So, one I heard quite often in the beginning of my coaching experience. I chose the path of getting certified. It's not for everybody, and I get that. The advice I got all the time was that's not gonna matter, a row of beans at all. And I don't agree to that because I do agree that it doesn't land you or guarantee you a client conversion. It definitely doesn't do that. However, for me, I knew that for certain clients and certain contracts, I wasn't gonna get it if I didn't do that. Because there's a there's a reality out here that as as human beings, we all have brains and we are biased. And sometimes when people meet me, I have to do a lot more to be able to even get the meeting. And so that advice of that doesn't matter, you shouldn't do that. Okay, great for you. You might be able to get in because you have a friend of a friend and you are able to get the meeting. For me, if I don't have that relationship, I've got to prove my worth. And that's just my individual way of being able to prove that. And so again, it doesn't land you anything, it just gets you that foot in the door, at least for me. And the other advice that I got often uh in the beginning, that this was the one that I heard the most, and I still hear it to this day. One niche. Don't do it, one kind of client and one niche. I think it's a little overrated. And the reason why I say that is because what I kept hearing in the beginning, because I came from, you know, my work in in broadcasting and HR and DEI. Everybody said, Well, DEI, you should be a DEI coach. That's all you should do. Okay, I came from being a generalist, I came from being a radio DJ at six different kinds of formats. I did RB, I did all kinds of different kinds of radio. So I like variety. And so I knew becoming a coach and owning my business, I needed variety. I didn't want to do one niche. If I had listened to all that advice I got back then and only had been a DEI coach, I would be scrambling for business right now because of the state of what we're in right now. I would have lost contracts, I would have lost all kinds of business. And so that's why I'm so glad I didn't listen to that advice because I heard it so many times. One kind of client, one kind of niche. I don't agree.

Pedro Stein 32:01

Okay, okay, makes sense. Now, on the other side, what's a piece of advice you wish more people actually took seriously, Kelly?

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Oh, two things. I always have have multiples, and I'm sorry for that because I'm like, ooh, I've uh it's too many things for me to focus in on. Uh, and maybe there's something behind that as to why I always have options. Uh, one, I wish more people would not go after the shiny objects so much. I wish that they just would have a plan and look at their business with seriousness. Uh, that's one. And then the other is going back to the advice I shared earlier about burnout, uh, pay attention to your body, pay attention to uh pacing yourself because you know it's it's hard out in these streets. And I think that if you really are looking at your business from uh just fly by the seat of your pants and not planning and not looking at data, and I I don't want to plan and I don't want to have a serious approach to things, it's not going to go very well. I I don't want to sound doom and gloom, but I I think that I wish more coaches listen to that. Uh more business owners in general listen to that.

Pedro Stein 33:19

Okay. Yeah, I love that, you know, and if someone listening wants to connect with you or follow your work, you know, where can people find you and connect with you, Kelly? I mean, we're gonna have in the description on the links, but if there's a a better way or a faster way to connect with you, we're all yours.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Yep. So you could connect a couple of ways. One, I have my email, yes at Kellycoach.com, Y-E-S at K-E-L-L-I-C-O-A-C-H dot com. Uh, you can also reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm very active there. I'm there every day. Again, there's no there's no time that I'm not connecting with people. It's it's just part of my DNA. Uh, and then other than that, I I think if you really wanted to understand my my frame of mind on things, you could go to on anywhere you can get your podcasts, you can go to career combat, and that's combat with a K. Career Combat.

Pedro Stein 34:12

Okay, you know, there were a few things you you you said today that really stuck with me. I would put it like that. Like, first of all, I mean that first check, you're still having that, and and not just uh the fact that you you still got it, it's like I I always wonder, right? It's like it's so different to have something physical, like that you can see it from just being a wire transfer, right? It's like you have that check that it's almost like a anchor piece, right? You're looking at it like I made it, and I said my line of play right here, yes. Exactly. So I love that, okay. Also, uh, when you mentioned that you made a mistake uh in the beginning from the barnote, right? And you're coming from a different point of view, which is the love perspective. Like, this is such a I passion-driven industry, the coaching, and you're like, this is fun, this doesn't even seem like work, right? And I'm right there with you because I'm a podcast host full-time and also a coach. So sometimes I'm like, I'm just like then feel the need to set up some boundaries because or else I'm just gonna work, you know, because it's just fun and it doesn't look like work, it doesn't feel like work, but eventually your body will tell you that it is work, right? And you need some rest. So I love the reminder. And the last but not least is like gotta walk the talk, right? You have a coach, you thought, hey, I needed coach too. So that's also a powerful reminder for coaches out there that are listening. It's like you gotta someone uh helping you to see, you know, uh your own blind spots and all that. And I'm glad you did that. But this is just my long-winded way of saying, Kelly, that I appreciate what you do and I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today, okay? Great having you one.

SPEAKER_02 36:05

Absolutely, Pedro. Thank you so, so much. I had a lot of fun.

Davis Nguyen 36:09

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe to YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This conversation was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to seven and eight figures without burning out. To learn more about Purple Circle, our community, and how we can help you grow your business, visit joinpurplecircle.com.