2286 - Unleash Your Entrepreneurial Spirit by Breaking Free from Limitations with KDCC International's Kara Duffy

0:04Well, hey, Thoughtful Leader. Welcome to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur. On this show, I interview purpose-driven founders, experts, and change makers who are making a real impact in the world. Want to be a guest? Simple. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click podcast. I'd love to promote your story to our audience of over 100 ,000 and across over 2 ,300 daily episodes and counting. Want to get booked on other great shows like this? Simple. Go to podverified.com and get your free guest authority score. Thousands of hosts are looking for high quality guests and Podverified connects you the right way. Now let's dive into today's episode.

0:58With us right now, Cara Duffy. Cara, You are the founder and CEO of Cara Duffy. Your website is caraduffy.com. And you're a business coach, you're a consultant, investor, speaker, advisor. You're also the CEO and founder and podcast host of Powerful Ladies. So for our friends listening, you can do a search in your podcast app right now for Powerful Ladies. And you have been at the helm for over nine years as a podcaster. you got started back in the day. You're OG like me. I think my very first podcast, I was just taking my radio segments and I converted them into like hand coding my own RSS feeds, like uploading them to my own server.

1:45But that was, I think, back in 2007. So it's always fun to talk to someone who has kind of seen how this world has evolved over the years. But Karen, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here. All right. So before we get into your impact, your work today, I always love finding out what, what, you know, high level achievers are into in their personal lives. What has been piquing your interest as of late? I don't know if it's TV, movie shows, anything you're geeking out on hobbies, you know, anything of that sort. What, what, what are you, what are you into lately?

2:20I guess. One of the things that I love are documentary films. And every year we sponsor a mountain film festival in Telluride, the oldest documentary film festival in the world. And the two that I'm loving right now are Between the Mountain and the Sky, and then also the Beastie Boys story, which is on Apple Plus. I saw that. So that came out, I want to say early last year, maybe the year before even. That is such a great, uh like i so when when paul's and i'll tell you i felt so heard when i was watching this and i think it was um uh not odenkirk but uh the other guy uh at the very end like he's in the audience uh oh gosh it's bob uh the other guy i can't forget his name this is so embarrassing anyway like so they were talking about paul's boutique which i will just say is probably one of the greatest rap albums ever made from a production standpoint, certainly.

3:24And it's an album that will never, ever be made again. It cannot be legally made again, just because I think it has over 300 samples in it. And I consider it to be a bit of a masterpiece. And, but when it was, and I'll remember his name, like after we start talking about something else, but at the very end, he gets up and he's like you know and he just expressed what i just said you know and he's basically like how dare you only spend like five ten minutes talking about this masterpiece of an album uh but it but it truly is just it's it's art that that was created at a time so sorry you could get me talking about these people i was just at a show and i was wearing my paul's boutique t-shirt and a guy pointed at me he goes oh and i'm like brother come here and we we embrace embraced.

4:16Like you get it. You get it. Well, I think it's such a unique place because like I come from the Northeast. I grew up with the BC boys. I worked in action sports skateboarding for a long time. And there's this mindset of if you want to have it, just create it. And there aren't rules and you can break the rules that are out there to make something new. And for me, like, that's what all of that is. Like it's fun. It's great music, but also their approach to life and how they create things is so part of my DNA. And I'm like, I'm missing that. I'm like, where are the BC boys, the Regions machines?

4:52Where are those from today? Because there's, it's ripe for all the creativity that can come from that. And I'm starting to see it slowly percolating, but, um, yeah, it was just so nice to see and get re-inspired from just who they are and what they've been up to. I love it. I love it. So Kara, share with us your impact in the world, who you serve, and what you do, please. Yeah, so I help people have their dream lives and dream businesses. I work with creative heartlet entrepreneurs, everything from startup ideas to$100 million plus businesses. And I really help people get back into alignment. There's so much we do because we see it on the internet, in the media, and so many businesses get bogged down.

5:37And I have clients that call me and say, I used to love my business. It's successful. It doesn't work for me anymore. And I tend to go in and help them realign it to what they want, bring the soul of the company back in. And suddenly they're happy, their employees are happy. And we double revenue on a pretty consistent basis by doing that. Can you share just a bit, and I love this topic and I'm so grateful that this is the work that you do. One of the biggest discoveries, and I understood this cognitively, and I don't think that I really internalized this in a way until about a couple of months ago, about two and a half months ago.

6:18And that is this idea of what we should do or what does success mean. And I think it's really easy for us to intellectualize and say, well, of course, I don't believe that. That's awful. You know, I would never think about that. I would never think about myself in that way. But yet we do. And I, you know, Carl Jung referred to this as kind of this shadow work, you know, just like this underlying belief. It's like, yeah, no, no, no, no. I know you say that, and I'll let you believe that. But that's not how you're living. You know, for me, the way that it manifested, Karen, I'm sure you hear this all the time, is I just always felt, you know, and it would kind of ebb and flow, but I would feel this intense anxiety, sadness.

7:06And I'm like, I have no logical reason for feeling this way. It doesn't make sense. Like, I'm generally a good person. You know, I'm doing everything I can, you know, things are pretty, actually pretty great. Um, but yet there was something happened and, and my inner deep part of myself internalized that in a way that feels like it almost bypassed my brain. Um, and you know, and finally, you know, well, anyway, I want to give you the floor to talk about this concept. Well, you know, I, I had a new client lead call me yesterday and they have a business that is getting contracts that are in the six figures and they're chasing all this down.

7:47but they go, I'm spending so much time having to manage people and delegate and project manage. I just want to be a creative. And I was like, well, why are we doing all this stuff? Like we could simplify your business. And I call the term, like I want businesses down to their lemonade stand. What are the four core things you need? What is the basic thing you're doing? And when we're in scarcity mindset, we tend to chase any revenue opportunity that comes our way. We don't say we're not curating who our client list is and who we're working with. And when you stop being afraid and believe that you can make all the money you want doing what you know you're supposed to do, because you hear it, you hear the voice inside, whether it's, you know, butterflies in your stomach or a guiding whisper, you know what you should and shouldn't be doing if we really stop and listen to ourselves for a second.

8:38But we can streamline businesses in such a way that it's only doing your zone of genius. You don't have to do the other things. And you see this a lot in a marketing firm where they start off in doing brand direction and then they add social and then PR and then events. They hate half those things. I'm like, you don't have to. There's so many ways to only do the one thing you want. And when people doubt me about that, I have a list of examples of people making six, seven figures doing ridiculous business, like dog furniture. Like that shouldn't be a multimillion dollar business, but it is. or dog first birthday parties.

9:15Like there's so many niches where people have jumped in and gone all in on what lights them up. And we don't need to do more to make more. What do you, so obviously our mental health or emotional health is gonna improve drastically. But why do you think that that then leads to, because this, you know, you could look at it and say, well, yeah, you're gonna be happier going to work, but why do people end up making more money doing this? that sometimes we might logically look at this and say, I don't understand like how that would happen. Because what I'm suggesting here would be, you know, for someone, let's, let's say, for example, we see this a lot, right?

9:54Someone's doing founder led sales. They don't like founder led sales. Like they're doing it because they're good at it, but it's not their zone of genius. I'm very much in this. I do that. Right. And that was one of the biggest discoveries for me. Um, and so what do you think is going on here that then connects the dots to far better outcomes? Well, we know that there are basic things that make businesses work as sales pipeline. Um, you know, not even a funnel now, like a marketing circle around your business, like these basic things work, but what matters just like AI or chat GPT is what we put into it.

10:28And if we don't know where we're supposed to be, what our business should be, our why, who and what of our business, we're going to be putting more and more and more stuff into those pipelines because we don't have a very clear focus vision. So if you go from we're going to serve everyone to we're going to serve, you know, people who own dogs and spend more money on their dogs than their kids, like it's a very specific place to look. And then you get to often when you are focused on what you want to do in your zone of genius, it allows you to also only be a magnet for the dream clients you actually want.

11:05And for me, dream clients are people I would go on vacation with. And so when you're thinking about that, suddenly networking, doing sales, marketing, it all becomes way more relaxed and fun for whomever's doing it, the owner or the team, because you're starting to multitask through your business. You're thinking about who do I wanna hang out with? Who can I take on a boat to go networking versus have to go wear a suit and a name tag and hang out in some stuffy place. Well, it's like, you know, if you even subconsciously dread in some way, some aspect of your business, you're probably going to get done with work.

11:44And you're like, I don't want to think about work anymore. Like, I'm just like, I'm done with that. And I don't, you know, and I think it's wonderful to compartmentalize and truly have that time where we aren't thinking about that. But, you know, it's like what we've been, so we're in, you know, We're launching a SaaS platform and, and we are like, as of when we're recording this, oh, I'm so excited for the person who's hearing this now. Like, I can't wait to hear what, you know, life is like 30 days from now for, for how this thing went. But like next week is like our friends and family beta launch.

12:16And so like, for me, you know, I've kind of, I've, I both have been, and I've also been wanting to participate very, very heavily because I love it. and it is, you know, kind of the user experience and just being so empathic to the user journey and really like, and that experience of like, how can I truly make this impactful for our intended audience? Like Kara, I just, I love that stuff. And is that, you know, now along with that, you know, I don't mind doing all the other, you know, kind of evangelist stuff. And I'm really looking forward to that. Um, but, um, you know, I've been working probably about twice as many hours, uh, as I have in the past.

13:05Um, but I'm just, I feel so full. Like, I feel like I am, I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to. I'm sorry to turn this conversation into what might sound like a little bit of a self-serving situation, but I've just, I, I share that to echo what you're saying, that there truly is a magic to it. And when you are in that magical zone, I feel like it's almost like intention just kind of supports you in that. Well, you're able to put all of your energy into the same direction versus, you know, I'm cutting about 80 % of my clients to do list and they go, how did you do that? I'm like, well, you added a bunch of stuff that either your business didn't need, you didn't need in the phase you're in, you don't actually like or care about.

13:49like we need to get rid of the junk. Like there's a KonMari approach to business that allows you to have the freedom to actually see what you're meant to be doing this whole time in a way that like clarity goes through the roof. And when clarity does, then the marketing, the communication, the engagement also makes total sense suddenly because you're not fumbling through it. I also think that more business owners should be getting more out of their business than they're giving and not just financially. We tend to build things because it's the fastest way to make money. And I'm like, hold on, like, this is more than money.

14:23This is how you're going to spend your whole life. I love what I do. I think I'm always slightly working because everybody I meet, I'm like, Ooh, that could be a guest or I can connect them to somebody else, or maybe they should have a business or like, it never stops when you're thinking in that it becomes a 360 lifestyle that you really enjoy versus having to be like, okay, now I'm going to work. And, you know, I like it all being blended because it's a fluid thought for me. And I'm able to be like, all right, we only had to work 10 hours this week. Great. Now I'm going to go, you know, take a mini holiday.

14:58Other times like you, I'm like, all right, we're in sprint mode. We're going to work way more hours than I normally would, but it's fun and we're producing something and I'm still getting value out of it as the owner. I love it. Can you share with us a bit about how you work with people? Your website is caraduffy.com. I'm curious about both individuals and organizations. A lot of folks that listen to the show, they've got teams and they don't want to bogart all the good information. And I think that there's a lot of leaders that want to inspire their organizations, but maybe they're not the best person to, you know, to kind of to lead that.

15:43Share just a bit about your work, please. Yeah, sure. So I can work with individuals in a private coaching environment where it's one-on-one and we create whatever you need. Some clients I've worked with for eight years straight, others pop in and out as they need me. On the organizational side, it's much more custom built. I can work with the leadership team, go all the way through trainings, group coaching programs. But I think the biggest thing is that no matter what creative a leader you are, it's almost like having another – you won't listen to your parents the same way you won't listen to your managers the same way.

16:14So having someone who is neutral come in and get everyone aligned, I'm able to speak both to the employees and to upper management in a way where – like an ambassador. They're both listening. They're hearing each other in different ways than they ever have before. And suddenly things start shifting. There's so much about communication and giving each other space and where does it all go? There's so many personalities that are caught up in a business and we don't always have the skill sets to know how do we honor them, make sure they're in the right places and get everyone going in the right direction.

16:49There's so much work that has to be done to protect and maintain the soul of the business. And that's where I think I help organizations the most. How can you scale and not lose the soul of your business through it? Yeah. Well, that's exciting. I love that message. Kara, your podcast, what are the other resources that you make available for folks here? By the way, you could go to thepowerfulladies.com. You can also go to caraduffy.com. But let's talk about all of the good that you just give the world. Well, of course, the podcast is our biggest free resource. We have entrepreneurs on all the time, and we have women who have started all sorts of different businesses and nonprofits and how they have scaled and managed that.

17:35They also give deep dives about what they recommend for different tips and their areas of expertise. And we have powerful gentlemen and power couples on too. So if you are someone who is working with your spouse or partner, there's also episodes about that as well. Additionally, if you go to carrotduffy.com, there's a whole free tool section where you can find all sorts of things from my business checklist to my ebook, which is called Stop Selling, Start Sharing. It's a very quick read. But you know, it's a core philosophy of mine that if we're selling and not sharing, we're missing the whole point.

18:11100 % from your lips to God's ears. I cannot echo that. Like, and Kara, I mean, I'll just from the recipient standpoint, like it's, it's as, as someone who's, you know, probably a little bit higher empath than average when somebody, I mean, I know what they're, I know it. I know what their intentions are. And I think all of us do like, we all know when we're being sold at, but I'll share like, as someone with my personality, like I feel ripped off. I really do. When someone's like, I'm like, really? Like, that's all you see me as is just like, and that's like, you know, internally, you know, we were kind of in the facilitating high level introductions business, and we never, ever, ever refer to another human as a lead.

18:56I think that that's just really, this is very transactional and yucky. So anyway, Kara, your one last thing here, for someone who wants to reach out, have a conversation, particularly if they are interested in engaging with you personally, what do they do? If you go to care, duffy.com, there's a button in the top right corner that says book a call with me and I'll bring you my calendar and you can book something in less than five minutes. I love that. Do it. Cara Duffy, your podcast, Powerful Ladies. Also your website is thepowerfulladies.com and caraduffy.com. Cara, thank you so much for joining us.

19:34Thank you so much.

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20:23And of course, if you'd like to be a guest right here on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, just go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. Thanks for being a part of this movement. We rise by lifting others.

20:41Thank you.