Putting Yourself Out There With Kendra Perry
This week on the show I invited my friend and Health Coach Business Expert, Kendra Perry as she brings so many golden nuggets of wisdom for anyone who’s starting their own business! We talked about different parts of our journeys toward building a business and how it ultimately comes down to being able to put yourself out there regardless of fear.
Kendra’s Story
Kendra was interested in health coaching after wanting to explore different modalities of health and wellness after her experience with acne. In the past, doctors would recommend that she use different birth controls and medication to assist with her acne and it didn’t feel aligned for her body. Years later she injured herself while skiing and needed reconstructive surgery on her knee. This injury took her chances of pursuing professionally skiing away which led her to want to dive deeper into her passion of health; she began a health and wellness blog and wrote everyday. Post knee surgery was a huge trigger for Kendra as she noticed her health taking a turn from her body not wanting to sleep. It was through a podcast that helped her step into becoming a health practitioner to assist with figuring out what was going on with her body. Because she was already interested in the topic of health, it was an easy decision for her to decide to become a practitioner compared to investing money in someone else to assist her; she invested in herself so she could heal herself. After passing the course, she eventually got hired through the company she took the course from and was able to build her business on the side at the same time. She eventually was able to build a 6-figure business and left the company she was with to further pursue her business online.
How Kendra Leaned Into Her Pivot
Kendra decided to fully dive in with her business and leave the company she was working with because she felt in her mind and body that it was necessary. When things start to go out of alignment in your body and start to lose passion for whatever you may be doing, it’s necessary to pivot. As she was discovering that working for the company was not lighting her up, she felt it was unfair to her clients as we all know it’s an investment to hire and work with a coach of any capacity; she understands that in order to enhance the experience for both client and coach both would need to be all in and she was finding herself not being fully committed anymore. Her pivot was gradual, she was sustaining two niches at a time and through being gradual she was able to discover which niche she lit her up the most; ultimately making it easier for her to let go and lean into her pivot.
The Process of Turning Passion Into Business
It was clear that it was absolutely necessary for Kendra to take responsibility for her health which leads to her process of turning her passion into a business. Like most people, Kendra was very hesitant. However, she also mentions how she was ignorant and naive to what the steps were to really build a business. Kendra is a huge advocate for keeping another source of income on the side to pay your bills while you build your business. It takes a lot of time to become profitable. If you don’t have something paying for your bills while you build a business, it’s going to bring a lot of stress and desperation in your marketing and the energy will transfer to how you show up for your business and clients. Overall, as an entrepreneur, you will do so much better if you have multiple streams of income. (I myself still have personal training clients!)
Kendra’s Personal Development Journey + Tips to Keep in Mind as an Entrepreneur
When building a business, you are completely unaware that you are embarking on a personal development journey at the same time. Building a business allows you to discover more of who you are. You figure out how you fit into this world and that’s something a lot of people don’t know. Kendra spoke to how she didn’t feel confident and didn’t know who she was which made it harder to draw a line of who and what her personal brand was. It all came down to her confidence and who she was being in order for her to show up the best way she could in and for her business. Kendra’s advice to future and current entrepreneurs: hire a mentor. We don’t know what we don’t know. A lot of this stuff is just about awareness; being aware of when you have blocks. It may be difficult to see these blocks as an entrepreneur because you may experience tunnel vision of wanting to focus on solely building your business; having a mentor can help you work through reactivity and help uncover any limiting beliefs that arise through rejection. Rejection is part of the deal when you sign up for creating your own business and it’s imperative to work through it with someone who can see what you are unable to see.
If we are unable to communicate with ourselves then it’s going to be so much harder to show up as yourself online. So much of building a business requires us to know how to communicate. Authenticity is so necessary to create and sustain a business. Don’t try to be authentic, just BE authentic. The feelings of fear and imposter syndrome is completely normal; you won’t get to where you want to be without experiencing these feelings. Not everyone is going to like you and that’s okay! Especially because you don’t like everyone so be okay with it and have the awareness of when people are being mean vs. when people are being constructive. Don’t be afraid of people who disagree with you. You are worthy of showing up fully as yourself.
