Start Rising Podcast
The Start Rising Podcast, hosted by Caiti Courtier, is a show for entrepreneurs seeking personal growth and heightened positivity who are taking imperfect action. The podcast focuses on the topics of resilience and overcoming obstacles to achieve success, with an emphasis on questioning old beliefs and learning valuable lessons along the way. The podcast is aimed at entrepreneurs who may feel isolated on their journey and are looking for support during the beginning through growth stages of their business. By listening to the Start Rising Podcast, individuals can connect with like-minded individuals and gain inspiration to pursue their big audacious goals.
Start Rising Podcast
Episode 48: Venturing Into Personal Transformation: Shattering Traditional Mindsets and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
Get ready to venture into the heart of personal transformation as I sit down with my number one fan, my husband Trevor, for an intimate and profound chat. Join us as we navigate our journey, shedding light on traditional mindsets, their influences, and the shift towards entrepreneurship. We'll also share our struggles with comparison and imposter syndrome. Trevor opens up about the influence of his prior 'work hard' mentality on his life, and our shared experiences will get you thinking about your own mental frameworks.
Amidst the laughter and deep introspection, we talk about those 'aha' moments that have shaped our lives. Remember the time we tore down a wall in our house? That wasn't just a home renovation project - it was symbolic of breaking down barriers in our lives. Listen in as we discuss the power of ideation, stepping out of our comfort zones, and acknowledging accomplishments. We celebrate Trevor's exciting new podcast venture, Doing Awesome Daily, and share some words of wisdom for those embarking on a similar journey. Come along, take a seat and let's chat about growth, transformations, and the pursuit of happiness. The journey is long, but the rewards are definitely worth it.
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Welcome in everyone. My name is Katie and you are here on the very first interview with the Start Rising podcast. We have someone who's willing to be okay with any flaws, be okay with any nerves I might have as far as interviewing and maybe any bumbles You will all get to witness it at the same time but someone who's very supportive to me, my lovely husband Trevor. Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thanks, babe, for having me be your first guest, excited.
Speaker 1:Yes, i need a little gold star that says I was the first one. I was there at the beginning, when it was awkward, but anyway wanted to have you on the podcast today just to really stretch outside my comfort zone as far as interviewing people and also to have the listeners take a look, i suppose, behind the curtain, alongside the world, with the things that I've been talking about, the journey I've been on. I've been sharing basically my entrepreneurial journey and those little nuggets that might help other people as well, and you've been witness to all of that pretty much, except for the stuff that goes along inside my head. So you've probably seen some aspects of it, I suppose. What has that been like? seeing these transformations and then, in turn, having your own transformations?
Speaker 2:That is a great question. I think the very first aspect of that is there is an immediate level of comparison. That happens in my frame of mind. We are our parents now to beautiful little Ollie, and when we talk about goals and what we're attempting to try to achieve and everything else, you know, I and you know this about me I'm very competitive.
Speaker 2:So when I start to see you going through your own like changes and development, you know, with change comes hardship, because you are constantly judging yourself. You're constantly judging yourself for good and for bad, and what I mean by that is you. you are so resilient in understanding what you are comfortable with and the things that you're not comfortable with. doing this, the interview process, right, it's very noticeable that there was an element of hesitation and everything else kind of there. but you're just so resilient that you kind of do the old like Nope, i got to put my boots on, i got to get after it and just do it.
Speaker 2:So I've seen you go through that time and time again And because I've seen that it is so inspiring, because it's like I refuse to not be supportive And if she's willing to kind of go through those transformations and to excel herself in these different avenues, which is very against traditional thinking. right, to be honest, unless you come from a background that's rooted in being an entrepreneur like the whole work nine to five and just be happy with your, your house and maybe a couple of kids, that's it, you know. but then you can only have a couple of weeks of vacation or whatever. you know, that's fine for some folks, but that's not fine for us. And when you are in the aspect of changing those traditional thoughts away to try to work to something better, yeah, it comes with discomfort, it comes with going outside yourself And I see that in you every time you do this.
Speaker 1:So it's really interesting that we've now gotten to this point. When I kind of look back, one thing that really struck me towards the beginning of our relationship was your very much work hard mindset, in that the answer to getting anything you want in life was you had. No, the answer was only to work hard, and it was only to work hard as an employee. Work hard towards retirement. You came from that mindset of the employee ship is the only way to go And, interestingly enough, like I was first exposed to the idea of entrepreneurship through my mom, we went to a few like seminars about property development and that then led on to other like well, you can do stuff through web design or you can do stuff through renovation, project management and all of those pieces. So I began to start having my concept of the standard nine to five chip. That where I think it took you a little bit longer. Do you want to talk a little bit more about how you shifted from that employee mindset to now where you are?
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean, i think it kind of. Again, there are so many aspects of that that I think I could narrow on, but I think for the benefit of you know, your audience in this podcast, i think the aspect I'm going to focus on really drives home with how traditional mindsets are formed when you're being brought up, because it wasn't a concept of you know, doing different tasks that you enjoy and then finding ways to monetize those tasks. Right, that's not a that's not a normal thought process, it's a no, you went to your job but you worked, came home, got to have supper with the family, but then you do that five days out of the week And on the weekend then you try to enjoy some aspect. Right, that that was the mindset, but it wasn't like that was a bad mindset And it wasn't like it was a mindset that was meant to be grueling, right. But when you looked at all of these successful people, you know us growing up it's the 90s or 20s, you know you know the I'm sorry, the early 2000s.
Speaker 1:That kind of stings.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i know, but when you look at, you know people who were successful, you know you, it's soft, solid. I think there were times when you look at them but you don't reflect on that. It was them stepping outside of their comfort zones and them going after that. You know, i think sometimes people thought that they just worked for someone, got good at something, and then they just happened to hit it big. Right, i don't think the process was ever talked about. So when I started shifting my frame of mind, it was really the big thing that shipped away from me was our goal.
Speaker 2:Okay, and I don't know if your listeners have ever, if you've ever, dove into what our ultimate goal is, which is we have family members who are, per the diameter of the world, which is over, you know, 18,000 miles, right, we are at the basically 9000 mark between each other, literally worlds apart, it feels like. And our number one goal is to be successful to a point where those borders and boundaries whether it's land, sea, air doesn't matter. We want to be successful enough to where we will have them actively in our lives and that we aren't bound by one particular employer. Well, the only way to do that is to be your own employer, set up your own way of success, and then you dictate where you can be and how to be successful. So, doing that, you're not going to really find employers.
Speaker 2:Are they out there? Sure, there's some aspects out there, but realistically for someone who wants to go for this goal and it's not like a monetized goal, right, we're not talking about oh, we need to make X amount of dollars every single year. So our primary goal really is rooted in the ability of seeing right, will there be a monetized value to that eventually? Sure, we'll break it down and we'll find that out eventually. But at the core of it, we both know that we need to find the avenues to do that. So when I started shipping away, i'm sorry, i kind of went on a tangent, but I'll bring it back.
Speaker 1:It's relevant.
Speaker 2:When I started shipping away at the whole oh yeah, just do the nine to five. Work hard and you'll succeed. I think the thing that got me the most again was us constantly talking about our goal and realizing that the fixed value of what you get in return for your nine to five It really doesn't allow that, because 40 hours a week are devoted to this. Oh, we're a family here at this job. You know it's.
Speaker 1:No, you're not, you're a bunch of people working together.
Speaker 2:You are a bunch of people that I respect. I don't think there's many people out there who have had really incredible luck with really incredible leaders.
Speaker 2:I've had managers and I've had some really bad managers, but ultimately, a lot of my experience in the nine to five workspace, i've had incredible leaders along the way. So the aspect of over like an extra family, the reason why people stay is not because the job is good and they're ready to get after it or whatever. No, it's because those people that you work with sometimes are incredible. They really are incredible and you want to stay for them. You know So. But but that's also a false sense of security. At the end of the day, everyone's trying to make their own way. At the end of the day, everyone needs to progress in their own way as well, and everything's so competitive. So if you're willing to, you need to realize that the nine to five is not your, it's not your second family. You know, as an entrepreneur, the nine to five needs to be your means to supplement what you find is your real passion, and then that's what you need to go after, and it takes time, it's a chipping effect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's that old adage as well with the whole building up your business as an entrepreneur on the side of your full time job I've talked to the audience before about considering your entrepreneurial passion is as of the full time mindset, whereas your quote, quote nine to five is the side job, because I think too often people have that flipped. And then there's that energy, there's that draining piece and there's that oh, i can't do what I want until you want to focus more so on what your passion is. Was there a moment, like an aha moment, where you kind of realized, oh, this working towards being your own boss was something you remember, like there was an instant where you have had that aha?
Speaker 2:I think the aha man. That's a great question.
Speaker 1:It's probably one I should have alluded to earlier to give you some.
Speaker 2:It's a thinker.
Speaker 2:You know, i think that's interesting because everyone's aha moment, i think well, everyone's reaction to energy is different. So you saying aha might be like a real burst of energy, like for someone who's like me, who's very outgoing, like I probably would physically have like a movement or an action or an increase in my volume for having that. And then there's also obviously other people who are just like, oh, they kind of tilt their head and you know, that's kind of it. I think what was my aha moment was probably before we well it's going to be kind of weird for the audience who doesn't know it, but for after we bought our house here in here in Iowa And we started on the project of basically fixing this house up, my aha moment came from when I finally tore the wall down between the living room and the kitchen.
Speaker 2:And the reason why it was my aha moment is I got to see something that I've been working at, i got to do something that I was enjoying and my imagination of the possibilities immediately lit up.
Speaker 2:It was like a physical representation of tearing down the old train of thought and seeing the possibility. And so I know that sounds kind of ridiculous, but I truly had a physical representation of you know, there are these barriers that we all have to go through and only and it took me a while That that that wall took me forever. But I took my time with, you know, all of the studs that were there, the drywall, the the soft fit that was up there too, and us making sure it was ready for the support beam to go into the attic, you know. But once it was finally down and I could really see the layout, it was like you know what. There's way more things that I can do, and if I just put some time into it and if I'm really enjoying the journey of doing it, then I don't think anything's going to stop me. So that was kind of my aha moment.
Speaker 1:That's really cool And I mean, have that physical representation of it as well. I mean, i didn't know that was your moment, so that's really interesting. Yeah, and as far as I will call it the Hey Babe aspect or Hey Han or Hey Trev, basically I'm someone who has a lot of ideas and a lot of them involve me coming down to Trevor's what you're calling studio, where he works, and kind of knocking on the door and being like Hey Trev, i've got this idea And he just kind of goes all right, well, let's, let's see what happens.
Speaker 2:You gotta take Keady's ideas of you know like a very keen listening ear. You know they are common in the old household.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I have discovered, i suppose, a little tool or a tip is. I've created a Excel document, which I'm now calling like the parking lot, essentially, where I put down my ideas, that I have the date, that I thought of it, what would be involved, and I leave it there just then. That way, when I have the ability to come back to it, i have a reference of it. But essentially, i usually have a lot of ideas blooming.
Speaker 2:You know.
Speaker 2:what is interesting about the whole ideas book, though, is I think there's a lot of people who would hear that and they would go Oh, so those are just empty promises.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, but I would think what people fail to realize is that, if you're not, everything is a skill. no matter what you do in life, every single task and everything you do in life is a skill, and you have to practice at it. So, if you're someone who's like, how am I ever going to get out of the nine you know, the nine to five I don't have any ideas. Well, to be honest, you have to practice and thinking of things. You actually have to practice at it and literally writing them down, keeping a spreadsheet and going back to them, you're literally agreeing to yourself that I'm going to keep working at it, because you know what, the more often you think of finding solutions to people's problems, you are going to become that valuable thing that people are going to want, and one of your ideas is going to be the key to unlocking you from the rat race.
Speaker 1:And even with that, i've, of course, with myself. I've found that giving myself the permission to share my excited ideas with you, no matter how far fetch they might be to writing them down, you're giving, like big Katie, is giving little little Katie, little child Katie, the ability to have those ideas, and it's almost like cracking open a door, like you're saying, with the practice and allowing and by writing those down. that's probably what I'm doing. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's almost doing that. Begets more ideas, begets more ideas And those pieces. Specifically in regards to lately, i've been stepping further outside of my comfort zone and creating TikTok videos for my Amazon journals that I make, and as I was driving I just kind of had an idea of oh well, when I get enough people following on TikTok, i can go live and teach people how to make these journals And then that way, as I share my journal, workshop people who want more of a handhold experience, side by side accountability, then they've seen my work. But putting myself out there on video is very, very scary for me And that's something that I've kind of realized. At this point, after having Oli, i need to. Just basically my mindset is well, i've went through birth and I've made it through. So what if someone says something to me that is some keyboard warrior, like it doesn't matter, it's nothing in comparison to something else harder you've done, and that was my Everest.
Speaker 2:Very, very true, and I think you know your listeners are probably the type of people who also are sharing in that fear. It's the new version of public speaking, isn't it? You know, literally putting your you are, you're putting yourself out there And, unlike public speaking sometimes depending on your message and I guess where you're at right But unlike public speaking, what's even scarier to some folks, right, and it is like I said, it's a skill It's also about building kind of that harder shell for you, you know. But yeah, there are those people who they just thrive. They thrive on trying to critique, criticize and other things. But you know what? That just kind of goes to show you that their solution to the world is that of which to make you feel lower, so that way they can feel like they're they're moving up, but they're not. They're actually just trying, they're just staying on some platform and they're not actually raising themselves.
Speaker 1:And there's two ways to improve yourself. There's either the way to rise yourself up to someone's level who's doing better than you, or to. unfortunately, some people decide to try and stay at their own level and tear someone else's level down, to be at the same level as them, And unfortunately it's all too easy anonymously on the internet. But if your message is strong enough, that you wanna help someone to be able to improve their life, to better their life in some way, then that's what matters, more than some anonymous person who makes some comment and chances are you've probably already thought something about it, Like even the video. today I was looking at myself and I was like, oh my arms, oh my skin complexion. And I was like, if someone points that out, I've already thought of that, but that's not even you.
Speaker 2:With these videos, hun, you know that's a morning routine Like.
Speaker 1:Oh no, he's trying to be sweet, but I know what I saw. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:No. But you know what, though? in all fairness, look, it's only by expressing yourself and getting yourself kind of like out there in the world of everything that you create abilities for the types of people you want in your tribe and the types of people you want to really thrive within a community. It's only by you getting out there that either you find them or you now create a pathway for them to find you right. That's what it is, and guess what? Everyone's gonna have that friend, everyone's gonna have that person in their life who, unfortunately, is attached to them. That might not be the best support.
Speaker 2:So here's you know person A, who is your primary tribe person, the person that you wanna have in your community, but you know what? They're also friends with person B And unfortunately, person B, you know, is also hearing your message right, and they're hearing it at the same time with person A. Well, person B is kind of a louder person. Oh, she doesn't know what she's talking about or whatever. So then person A, unfortunately you know, being potentially an introvert, they're just like, oh yeah, i don't know, but realistically they actually do care And so.
Speaker 2:But it's only through you creating more content that you eventually block out the naysayers, and then your real tribes people, your real community will break through and then they'll show up, and then they're gonna be there for you. And what is so cool is, when you get through to those people, god, they're your biggest fans. They are just the people who support you through thick and thin, and those are the people that you know, i hope, really thrive with you, as you are, like you said, nervously kind of going to the next phase of sharing your information out there, hun.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and it's not to take advice from people who aren't in the ring with you. Don't take advice from people in the cheap seats. If they're not trying the same things you are, then they're, to be quite honest, their opinions and their critique is probably not very relevant.
Speaker 2:And do not oh, that's such a good point, That is such a good point. Do not accept someone's personal attempt as validation of being equivalent to your attempt. What I mean by that is someone might say oh, I tried that and it didn't work, So it doesn't work. No, no, no, they tried their version of attempting. But you know what? That's not your version of attempting, right?
Speaker 1:And you don't know their level of effort. That they put into attempting that. It's like that oh, i've tried a hundred things and I couldn't lose weight. Well, what did you actually do? Did you this or did you that? Well, have you tried this? Oh no, i haven't done that. Well then, you haven't done anything. Everything because you haven't gotten the outcome.
Speaker 1:And that's one thing with us where we have a big goal And it's a surrounding family. So our success will be inevitable. And that's the mindset and the mantra that I keep in my head every day, because I know that's far more important than trying and failing and trying and failing Like, at the end of the day, you're going to get there if you're driven enough, and having that big goal is the piece.
Speaker 2:You know. I do feel like it's important to recognize that last portion, though, because it does kind of go back to one of your earlier points, where the frame of mind that I maybe did have in some regards is that, oh, if you just work hard, you know it will work out. But I do feel like the attempts of working hard is different. Now, right, it's not about you working hard for a company, it's about working hard for yourself.
Speaker 1:I'm going to challenge the working hard to be working passionately.
Speaker 2:I can. I accept that Because I think as entrepreneurs, you can.
Speaker 1:Either there's a whole hustle mentality. You can either grind until there's no more time in the day or you can attempt to work smarter, and I think that's the beauty of becoming more skilled and learning more things is you can work smarter, so you're working passionately about the thing you want to. You're working smarter, and even in that in a previous episode I mentioned about us looking to bring on a virtual assistant and how that is an essence of working smarter. Since we're working with obviously conflicted time, we've now got little Oli in our lives and we're really trying to work smarter on the stuff that we're passionate about, so we can make that impact that we want.
Speaker 1:Right, yep, i'm right there with you, and on the patch gosh on the train of talking about my big scary goals that I've been working on with, like putting myself out there on TikTok. What is a what's your scary goal that you're working towards at the moment?
Speaker 2:Okay, real talk? No, in all honesty, i think the big, scary goal is fighting against like an imposter syndrome. To be honest, i think the goal in itself is to recognize that you actually have value to bring forward, and that's why, even under my own podcast, right, and even under the content that I'm creating as well, right, it is so tough to break through that belief system that it's like, oh, i don't have anything to bring forward, but in all actuality, you do. So. That's probably it in a nutshell.
Speaker 1:Yep And Total Plug, for Trevor's new podcast is called the Doing Awesome Daily podcast and it abbreviates to dad because he is a new dad and wants to continue to strive to be better for his family and himself day after day. So quick plug for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, you know, i mean I think, in short, it's just a reminder don't be perfect, because perfection in itself means that your new podcast is never learning, and the only because the only way to learn is you know, in essence, there's a, there's concepts of failure and you're going to have those things. But being awesome, it's not hard, it's actually just little things each day and you can do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's about just those. they don't have to be huge things, they just have. they can be tiny little moments where you just take a couple extra seconds to do something intentional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, very true, very true.
Speaker 1:And on the back of something scary, let's give you a chance to humble Bragg, because I think quite often we don't really acknowledge the awesome things that we are doing and get a chance to be a little braggadocious. So my Bragg is filming my TikToks and actually hitting publish What's yours.
Speaker 2:I think my Bragg is finally moving forward with even recording my first round of episodes you know like, and we will be having those go live relatively soon And it's it's just a good feeling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and at the time you're probably listening to this podcast. Trevor's doing awesome daily. It will be live and I will also be making some cameos on that podcast as well, so you'll get to listen to me over there and a little bit of his perspective here and a little bit of that balance.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And to wrap it up with one last thing If you had a time machine and could go back to your younger version of yourself to give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Speaker 2:Well, i do think there are a lot of different points in my life that I could go back to. You know, actually, probably when I got a DUI, i would go back and I would just tell myself and remind myself that, because that was kind of a darker time, i just remind myself that this is nothing. You need to understand that you have so much more things coming your way, and to be smarter about your next steps, because they are the ones that are going to define you the most.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and ultimately that negative experience became your tipping point to move forward more, in a more driven and positive way. That was the thing that kicked you out of a place where you were probably to use an Australianism. Maybe it's an Australianism, lolli gagging.
Speaker 2:That is an American term.
Speaker 1:Okay. As long as everyone understands what lolly gagging is, but essentially that was the thing that made you take things seriously.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to not mess around, to not waste time, to not be just so lazy in life. Yeah, because you know what? Actually, let me rephrase it Don't expect things to come to you. Know that if you really want them, you have to go to them. That would have probably been better, because it was really that line of thinking that changed it. It was, oh, i was just having the time of my life. then it felt like my life crashed almost realistically crashed, and no, then it was just a matter of no, it's time to go after the things I truly want.
Speaker 1:Yeah, And you're a completely different person even from the time that I've known you to now, and it's been so great to see your growth and that change and just the life that we're building together, because we're both moving towards the same goal in very different ways and just pushing and pulling each other as to what our I suppose comfort levels are and what we're achieving, how we focus each other in. It's just really great to have a partner that's on a similar path with that And with that. Is there any last thing you want to add to make this episode complete?
Speaker 2:I think the only last thing that I can kind of throw into the mix is that is, as husband, hun, babe, squail, for your partners out there who are on the sidelines, it would be beneficial for you to ask for the best gift that they could give you, which is their time.
Speaker 2:Ask for their time to understand why your next steps are important to you. I think what you will find most often is that when they understand what your why is, they will truly want to back you and they, even if they even if they're not in the same mindset as you, they will inevitably try to find little avenues to help you succeed. but they can't do that unless you open up why you are going for those things that you want to go for. So share, be open, have tough talks, make them awkward, make them fun, but just talk because at the end of the day, you never want your partner to feel like you're trying to quote, improve, to distance yourselves from them, because a lot of times that could be what they think And in reality, you actually just want to bring them up with you.
Speaker 1:And I think that's even a whole other episode that we could have about our experience with that. I'm setting it up, I think so, And I think that would be very beneficial for people because most likely my audience is mostly female and they may have partners that they may be I know a little bit further I don't use a term ahead, but like they're further on that entrepreneurial journey and the other people are just dipping their toes in. So I think that would be very good.
Speaker 2:Thank you for that setup And I know that path all too well, yes, exactly, so we have experience there, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, that's all of us today. Thank you very much for joining me, and we'll chat with you next week.
Speaker 2:Cheers. Thanks guys.