Are You Hungry or Are You Hopeful with Kalena & Julie
In this week’s podcast episode, I share a fun & fire conversation with Julie and Kalena from the UNITED State of Women podcast! UNITED State of Women is a personal leadership development podcast focused on educating and elevating women's ability to have it all and teach them how to get it! The USW Podcast transforms personal and professional leadership frustrations for progress into visions for a better one.
Julie & Kalena’s Story
Julie is a massage therapist and a podcast editor; running two businesses. It wasn’t until the recent pandemic that allowed Julie to leverage her time and step into her podcast editing business more as she helps women in the business community get their voices out there on a global level. Kalena James is an award winning national motivational speaker, communication and business transitions trainer, business leadership coach, host, author and owner of LCR Coaching. Julie volunteered for one of Kalena’s events sparking their close relationship and thus the United State of Women podcast was born. It was born through Julie’s courageous ask to collaborate with Kalena and Kalena’s openness and willingness to see and cultivate her potential.
Why We All Have a Seat at The Table
It is clear that Kalena and Julie are in different stages of their entrepreneurial journey. One thing that resonated with me about these two women is how they share my value of collaboration. I am a huge advocate for bringing women along with me on this journey to our highest selves; professionally, personally, and spiritually! If there is anything you hear that sparks something in you, it’s because it’s already within you. Hearing and seeing it is just a reminder of what’s possible for you. Essentially, we’re all on the same path just at different points.
Is There an “it” Factor for Having the Mindset to Reach Our Goals?
From Kalena’s experience, she believes the “it” factor for having the mindset to reach your goals is by looking and working inward; within yourself. In her book, “I Will Live My Power-Purpose-Plan: Bigger Dreams Require Bigger Faith” she talks about how she spent a good amount of time searching for her purpose externally. It was through her journey that she discovered everything she was looking for was something internal, something she was born with and the circumstances in her life caused her to stray away from who she truly was meant to be. A lot of the work we do in life is unlearning these circumstances that prevent us from stepping into our highest selves--that is the “it” factor for having the mindset to reach your goal.
From Julie’s experience, the “it” factor came from taking action with something she’s been wanting to do. After all, what is the worst that can happen when you go after what you actually want? Her energy shifts to believing and receiving and that sparked a fire in her to get out of her comfort zone and reach out to Kalena.
What it Means to Be Hopeful vs. Hungry
Hopeful vs. Hungry comes from one of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership. The paradigm of hopeful vs. hungry is used to define individuals you would like to invest in. It’s a tool used to decide which individuals are ready to become part of your inner circle. If you are a mentor, you have to be able to understand that your mentee is in a position to want to evolve and elevate their life. You want to look for people who are hungry, not hopeful. Someone who is hopeful is someone who “wishes” they can do something and admire all the things you do rather than taking action steps to become someone who can work alongside you in your vision. Someone who is hungry is hungry for leadership, momentum, and opportunities to connect and continue to drive the message and mission forward.
Are you looking for people to sit at your feet and just be in awe of you or are you looking for people at the table who want to collaborate and amplify the greater message you believe in?
How to Nurture and Cultivate our Inner Circle
Kalena was able to cultivate Julie into her inner circle by assessing whether she was hopeful or hungry. Julie committing to the volunteer event was an investment in herself which qualified as someone who is hungry for more. In order to nurture your inner circle, it’s important to analyze the level of leaders in your community and understand what their distinctions are within the vision. Kalena analyzes leaders through a lens of Doers, Donors, and Drivers. After seeing whether someone is hopeful or hungry, she then takes a closer look at distinctions to see whether a person falls under the lens doers, donors, and drivers. Through this analysis, she is able to meet leaders where they are for who they are by not overworking their abilities. Kalena is mindful of how she can leverage someone in her inner circle for her benefit while simultaneously nurturing their needs as a person and an aspiring leader.
Julie & Kalena’s Self Care Rituals
Julie embodies what it truly means to be type A in the best way where she commits to her schedule and does what she says she’s going to do. She practices self care through positive self discipline of moving her body every morning to start her day off. With all the work she does throughout the day, committing herself to the gym at 5am everyday is a form of self care that helps her connect more with her truest and transparent self. Another part of her self care and development is her relationship with God. Her relationship with God helped allow her to not seek external validation because she knows her own worth. When it comes to self development, Julie is a huge fan of podcasts such as Brendon Burchard and Eric Thomas.
Kalena’s self care rituals consist of Faith, Family, and Fun. Faith coming from her church involvement as well as how she connects with external opportunities for learning and growth which then stimulates her overall grounding. With family, Kalena prides herself in being a grandmother to 4 grandsons and a mother to her 2 children. She loves spending time nurturing, loving, and being present for all of them and watching them embody what she has instilled in them. For fun, she loved to travel frequently to see different parts of the world. Because the pandemic has placed a hold on this fun for her, she also enjoys spending time with her koi pond. She also loves doing things around the house like home improvement projects along with creative alone time with herself; exploring and experimenting with herself and mind and whatever she can get her hands on and learn.
