We Don’t Have Triumph Without Challenge with Jennifer Kem

Hello, everybody. I am so excited today. Because basically my favorite business coach, trainer, person, leader, I can’t even say enough good things about her is who I am interviewing today. Her name is Jennifer Kem. And as you can probably see, she is a beautiful woman. And she is beautiful inside and out and everywhere around. And I just want to start by telling you a little bit about Jen, and how she and I have worked personally together. And then I’m going to tell you about her professional bio. When I had built my training and coaching business, to $100,000 annual revenue, I got stuck there. And I was stuck there for three years. And I took other training and I took other coaching and nothing seemed to shift it. And I’m a big action taker. It wasn’t because I wasn’t taking action.  

And then I met Jennifer Kem. And my life changed. Because Jennifer was able to tap into many, many different things that were going on with me. But the biggest one was my mindset, she helped me discover that I didn’t feel like I was worth more than $100,000 a year. And until I was able to shift that no amount of action in any other level was going to help me change that. And so by working with Jen, I was able to go from $100,000 the first year I worked with her to $300,000 in just 12 months, and the next 12 months from $300,000 to $700,000. And Jen, I haven’t shared this with you yet. But this year, which is the very next year that I’ve been working with her so year three, I’m really looking at almost doubling that again. And my goal for 2021 end of year is $2 million. So, Jen, thank you!

Oh my gosh, well my mouth is opening like yes, I want to celebrate and I’m so happy for just it makes me both happy and a little emotional. Because we’ve been working together consistently for a number of years, I wanted to thank you for trusting yourself to up level and hat and start to work with me who I know that I challenged you to think bigger, to put your heart and your mind together to create these incredible results. And all the credit really goes to you because you’re open to connecting the vision to the extreme action you do take and I just want to say if that alone if we stopped the podcast now and anybody that as the takeaway, I think that we both have done our work here. So, thanks.

So, now that you know why you’re gonna want to listen to every little gem that Jennifer drops, let me give you her professional bio. You know a little bit more about her. She is a San Francisco Bay Area based brand building and leadership expert, who gets entrepreneurs seen, heard and paid for being themselves. And if you’re watching the video, you know, or if you’ve seen anything that I do, you know, she really means being themselves because I am a unique character. And she has helped me step fully into it. She’s also the creator of the Master Brand Method, which is a framework to develop powerful brands that win customers hearts, which she uses in strategic consulting for emerging entrepreneurs. Celebrity brands like, now hold on to your hats. Oprah Winfrey Network and Steve Harvey. Hold on to your crowns! And she also works with major corporations including Verizon, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Bank of Hawaii, just to name a few. Jen is a successful owner of $3 million businesses and the proud mother of three children. So welcome, Jen, thank you so much for being on my podcast.

It’s already so great. I don’t even know if I can give more. But, I’m so thrilled to be here. I should have brought my tiara. Darn it.

You look so beautiful. Yeah.

I just want everybody to know, as we open up, that what I love about Kathy is her quirky genius. She’s both, you know, you can be quirky, and you can be a genius, and you can be approachable and you can be authoritative. And she inspired me to buy a few new crowns. So literally, I have them. And when I moved from Hawaii to the Bay Area, you know, my crowns were coming with me. So, thank you, Kathy. Now I feel really upset. I don’t have it. I’m going to take and do that for next time.

Well, and I just love what you just said for next time. So that means listeners, there is going to be a next time that Jen will be on the podcast.

I hope so I didn’t need to drop that. So, you know, confidently.

Yeah, well, speaking of confidently, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today. Jen, one of the things that you obviously have helped me with is stepping further into my confidence in my leadership. Can you talk a little bit about that, about how you develop that about tips to help other people do the same?

Yeah, you know, when I came on to the what I consider, like the online scene, you know, I’ve been doing building brands, marketing, launching products and services for big corporations, as Kathy indicated for 20 plus years, I like to describe myself as a seasoned chicken, not a spring chicken, you know, so I’ve been around the bend. And, I think the word chicken is applicable here. Because when we want to show up, you know, hit that live stream button, or we’re told by our coaches to message ourselves in a different way, or just consistently period, like just to do it at least, you know, five days in a row. It’s that piece that we become chickens, right? We feel like, Ah, so scary.

And I get it, because I’ve been there. Because, again, getting back to the scene, when I jumped at what I call this kind of online marketing slash, you know, internet world, even though I had been doing things and launching things digitally, since the dawn of the digital age, right. So long ago, already we’re such dinosaurs, but, you know, I came onto the scene, and I saw a lot of trash on the internet streets. And what I mean by that, is, there were so many overwhelming, you know, it’s like when trash backs up, you know, if you don’t clear it out, it gets you discombobulated. And I noticed a lot of emerging entrepreneurs, people who were either choosing freelance type of business, want to get into coaching or consulting, want to build courses and have obviously like this, this this wave of new professions, like virtual assistants, which, I still think and I’m not just saying this, because I’m biased, because I love Kathy, personally, and professionally, obviously.

But that specific niche I knew would be an explosion eight years ago. But what I saw was so many people were nervous, and didn’t feel like they had the confidence to say, Yeah, I can be an expert in that, whatever it is. And so I made it my mission really back to getting seen, heard and paid, I really believe to get seen, heard and paid. You have to develop your confidence muscles. And when I say confidence, I’m not saying you need to be the loudest or the most provocative or the most highly performative or even wear tiaras. You have to be you.

You have to be willing to let people see not just who you are, but what you’ve accomplished in a way that lends and makes people realize that your solution is something they need because it ultimately it’s about that, you know, people are afraid of the other part I saw linked to confidence is just marketing in general right? Being able to Market Yourself is the biggest gap. In fact, if you haven’t hit seven figures in your business, your biggest gap is marketing. I’m gonna say that again. I’m gonna hit seven figures, your biggest gap is marketing. Some people will tell you it’s, you know, sales, obviously it is. But if you’re good at marketing sales become very easy. You know, Kathy knows this because she’s built some really good funnels, which we can talk about even later if we want to.

And I thought it was my sales, Jen. I did, I thought, Oh, I’m not converting well enough. Yeah, but you’re right, it was the marketing, the leads coming in. Because it’s a numbers game. And if you get that coming in, you’re going to get the sales.

It is a numbers game. And it’s a quality game, right, and you don’t get quality unless you actually do quantity. First, you have to be willing to go and get a bigger swath of people. Then with your messaging, your confident messaging comes through, it will start to help people see, Oh, I’m for you or not for you. And that’s a good thing, the faster you can get to that, the faster you’re going to make consistent money.

So marketing, for me is a mindset game. Because marketing is just a confident mindset with a machine called a sales funnel that you put on top of it. The machine is actually quite stupid. I mean, that truly, like it’s dumb, it doesn’t know anything, right? A sales funnel knows nothing into machine, yes. And until the messenger you and the message is put into the machine so we can drive. I mean, a car can’t move without the fuel and the driver. I mean, I know Tesla’s now doing these, like automatic driving things, but it’s still not even legal yet. That’s a confidence. I think that’s the gap. And if anyone listening in is, I just like would wonder if your head nodding right now as saying, gosh, you know, I wish I had more confidence to go live or let people know I can help them.

Because please write this down, I have a very simple definition of marketing. It is simply letting people know how you can help them. That’s what marketing is. And if you embrace that definition, instead of going, I need to have this technology and that thing, and it’s so overwhelming. Yes, technology plays a role. These funnels play a role. But if you make them more your helper versus like, I need to go learn this first, what you really need is to get clear on you, which is the mindset piece, and you need to get clear on your message, and then your marketing will work.

And so, for me, I’m obsessed because I was trying to find Kathy, like, what are the key things missing that’s preventing the best people can help people, especially virtual assistants. Are you kidding me? Visionaries who are completely unorganized need people to help them. This is such an important role. So, to think that you’re not needed, that’s a confidence problem, right? It’s not a real problem, because it’s actually a real solution. So that’s why confidence is so important to me.

Yeah, and I love your definition of marketing is just letting people know what you can do for them. And so when people say to you, Jen, because I know you work with a lot of women. And, you know, we, as women often have that, oh, I don’t want to bother anybody. What do you tell people when they say, I don’t want to bother people? I don’t know. If they really need me, maybe they can just find me. What tips do you have? What do you recommend for people to get out there and not wait for people to find you? Because they can’t find you when you’re hiding?

Exactly. I mean that so you know, pros and cons of an online based business as a virtual assistant, right? Pros are you can work from anywhere, you can create your entire revenue plan based on your level of effort. And, your willingness to be consistent in your level of effort. And also, you’re picking an area that people need, like let’s say it’s content marketing, or accounting, even as a virtual assistant, you know, basically, anything that supports a visionary’s dream is great for a virtual expert.

First of all, let’s get some facts straight. The problem with the internet is think about the old days, right where to have power. And to have business one of the most powerful industries is real estate. Like whoever owns the most land is the wealthiest, right that’s just a basic example. On the internet. I want you to think about it as real estate, too, except it’s infinite. Right. And by creating and carving your place in this limitless real estate, you get to build your own zip code with your virtual expert business. The problem is that it’s limitless.

So, to think that your people are going to randomly find your zip code, when literally, there is limitless real estate, you’ve got to let people know that you’re the Rodeo Drive, you know, you’re 90210, whatever your zip code is. You need to invite people to your zip code on the internet. It’s like saying, I’ve never been to Timbuktu, right? I don’t know if I ever will in my lifetime. But you don’t just stumble upon Timbuktu with people, you hear about it, you hear about Timbuktu, and you’re like, Oh, I wonder if I should ever go there. You know, but same thing with your online business, it has to be where you’re letting people know, hey, here’s my zip code, you can come here.

And when you visit this zip code, we’ve got a storefront, we’ve got a thing that can help you enjoy your time here. And so my tip is that change back to mindset, reframing your relationship with this idea of I know, I’m good at what I do, which you are. So, let’s just own that I am good at what I do. We need to own that first. And the next thing we need to say is I am worthy of being seen, heard and paid. And in order to do that I must be visible. I have to let people know where my zip code is on this real estate that I own.

It’s so exciting, because some of us who either only own one house, or maybe have never owned a home. I love that metaphor, because it’s like, oh, wow, I get to create, I get to build my home, on the internet, my office on the internet, my castle, on the internet, right? Whatever it is. And it’s a claim. And then when you start to realize like, the most prosperous empires are the ones that realize that the prosperity of the kingdom or the queendom, or the Empire is dependent upon the prosperity of the people, too.

And so, if you can build something that people want to come and they want to plant seeds to, and then more people will come. That’s the way that you think about it. So, have a visual, last tip about like, how do you start doing have a visual about how you see, your place on the internet can be simple. It doesn’t have to be fancy. But it has to be visible. People need to know about the zip code they need to know about this destination. And that simply is plugging in marketing to let people know that.

Oh my gosh, I love build your castle on the internet. I just wrote that down. Yeah. Every time I talk to you, Jen, every time I talk to you, there’s some new thing that I go. Wow. And I’m with you, that metaphor is awesome. Thank you for sharing that. One of the other things that I’ve learned a lot about from you. And I know really, that really supports you in your life, on every level, whether it’s personal, or business or whatever. Are your values. Can you talk a little bit about how your values have impacted your life in your business?

Yeah, I’ll tell you how I kind of came to developing what I call a values-driven framework for my life. People ask me a lot. How did you become so successful? Well, first of all, it’s hard to know success. If you don’t know failure, too, they’re in relationship with each other. Instead of thinking that they’re enemies, I want you to think of them as in relationship. You know, we don’t have triumph without challenge. And they are both there they are, they are connected, not separate. I’ve experienced the same as I said earlier, I’m a seasoned chicken. I didn’t become this online entrepreneur overnight. And it actually was not my chosen vocation.

I didn’t know I wanted to have my own business, not just growing up. But even in my early adulthood. I was a corporate executive similar to Kathy and I have a similar story in terms of she worked for a big telecommunications company. And my last traditional job was for a big telecommunications technology company. And I honestly thought that that was going to be my life and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled, but I felt content. There’s a difference. You can be content but not feel fulfilled. And I think a lot of people get that confused too. And that’s why they get stuck in What I call maybe decisions, or indecision. And indecision, and maybe I say are the devil in your life in business. And the way to get rid of a devil is to become value.

So, back to my corporate life, how I figured this out was I was a very successful marketing executive, I ran the business to business division of telecommunications, which I like to say is like really boring money, like cloud services, managed services, security voice, like the most boring stuff, but it made the company billions and billions of dollars, right. And it’s interesting, because business to consumer is the more sexy stuff like, Oh, they sell cell phones, all the sexy stuff, right? And I worked on the boring side, but I was pretty fancy even back then, like in terms of life, you know, I was this little spunky, Filipino leader who led big teams and I got stuff done. I was known for getting stuff done. And I was promised a promotion. And I’m sure Kathy has shared this story about her where it’s like, stop smiling, or else you’ll never get promoted, you’ll never move up. For me, it was, you’re very effective. You know, we get fives on my performance review.

But the area of my performance review that always would get like a three and a half or four was they would be like, you need to learn how to create more united front and basically play politics better. That’s what they wanted me to be. But they really liked the results I got for them, right when I could get product launches out in a big way. Well, I was promised a big promotion. And I worked literally guys, 120 hour weeks, never saw my family for two years really, like very little, I’d come in, I’d leave early, I’d come home late, I spent the weekends, I’d be in that office, in the building, if you were on the street, where the light was on, you know, if you drove by. And it was because I was like, Yes, I’m going to hit that next rung in the ladder, I’m gonna, like get promoted to senior VP. And then they’ll set me up to be a CMO of a big company, and potentially a CEO, you know, I had this vision for my life.

And I found out after I had just implemented one of the biggest projects that Verizon had ever done, that they gave my job that they promised me to my white male colleague. And while he was kicking it on the golf course, with our boss, I was working and I realized two things. One, how stupid am I, that I thought that just hard work would get me what I want. And number two, I realized what my real values were. Because up until that point, I thought my values were ambition and family I correlated, the two was like I work hard. So that I can provide right because I had two young daughters, and they were going to private school. And I thought, Oh, you know, I’m doing my job as a mother, I really actually was like, probably should have been more with them.

And these are all the things that I’ve unpacked since that moment in time. And the bottom line was, it’s what birthed this values-driven framework that I spoke of, because you don’t know what your real values are, until you know what violates them. So that’s the key takeaway is that I realized that Oh, wait, ambition, if that’s my highest value, no matter how hard I work, no matter how much I try to like, Chase up the ladder. I’m not in control of that at all. Someone else is in control of that. Right? So that was the first thing.

Second thing was what really makes it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel fair. And so, I was pissed off at the leadership. I was like, you know, and then I started to look at myself and say, Is this the life that I want to live? Is this the legacy? I want to leave just because I get paid? Well, I mean, I had no good reason to leave. I made $250,000 a year. I had a parking spot with my freaking name on it. Like that was like, my money. I was like, look at me. It’s like so special, when your nameplate is above a parking spot, these symbolic things. And anyway, I have no good reason. It was very risky to leap based on you know, the name of this podcast.

But I realized that I had one chance or I felt like I had one chance, because I was at the time, 31 years old. And I was like, Well, if I want to do something and be good all of my life, I’ve got to do it now. That’s how I felt. So, I want you to know don’t think if you’re in your 50s or 60s right now and you’re like, Oh, I lost my chance. No. For me, 31 was the time for me. And it’s just the awakening is your time. So maybe even right now, as you’re listening to Kathy and me, there’s an awakening happening, because you’re starting to realize, Oh, my God, like, what’s, what is violating my life right now. And it was that.

So anyway, I made a nine-month plan to exit. And I started my own company. First, it was in real estate and retail, which did very well, until the 2008, Great Recession happened. And, you know, at 31, I was an executive at 32, I became a millionaire. And I had an eight-figure business. And by 34, it all collapsed, because the recession, basically. I didn’t have the cash reserves to keep me alive in business. And that was another turning point, Kathy, for me to evaluate my values. I still felt like I was still applying values that did not truly mean anything to me, like ambition to build this eight figure business. And I was like, okay, success leaves clues. What am I being resistant, stubborn around, because I’m like, no matter.

Again, I’m glad I have this surge of increase. But it wasn’t sustainable. It just as fast as I grew, I failed. And the reason part of that is, is because I was good at marketing. And here, that’s why marketing is so important, because it actually will make you money faster. But if you don’t have your values under it, it’s just a leaky bucket. In fact, sometimes it’s a whole bucket that just fell through like one big man, you know, like to the 2008 hole, like, everybody was affected. But man, yes, business. It was huge, because there was no bailout. For small business, there was only a bailout for big business. At the timing of this interview, we’re in the pandemic.

And people say, you know, what would you do differently, I said, I’m so glad I learned that lesson in 2008. Back to you don’t know success until you know failure, because I learned a big lesson. And that was, I need to have more cash available. So that I can, if there’s hard times, get through it. And here’s the thing, you don’t learn that overnight, and you don’t build a cash reserve overnight, either. I just had to make a commitment to make a commitment in 2008, that I would never get myself, or I would try really hard, I would not put myself in this position again. And so over the past 12 years, I reevaluate back to values, what I needed my real values to be. And my five values are autonomy. So that’s the sovereign identity to make my own decisions and have self-responsibility of the outcome, regardless of the outcome, so even if I fail, it’s still me who made the decision.

I made the intention, no decision, and therefore, I can’t blame anybody else. And I certainly will not blame myself, either. Because I’ll say, Okay, I pushed that one. And what did I learn? And that’s the other thing is, just sometimes it never feels good to fail. It never feels good to make a decision that didn’t work out. But you should feel proud of yourself that you actually made one because back to being maybe an indecision or the devil, that’s the devil, because you’ll never really know, at least now, because then you can do something about it. Second value is justice. I wanted I realized back to my own personal experience of being a woman being a woman of color, being outspoken, you know. And also, that just, it wasn’t fair.

And then I started to notice obviously, like the rest of the world, like, who else is not being justly taken care of, you know, and I started to have a whole different view in 2006 when I got my job, like, wow, this is what my black women friends are going through. This is what my women friends who are brown, because I’m a light skinned Asian people can’t really figure me out. Sometimes they’re like, Are you Hispanic? Or, you know, I look weird. Because I actually believe that you want to get people around you who will, again, challenge you and still love you forward through it. Because this country, even if you’re listening in, I know this, you have a global community. But in the United States, our value in the United States is freedom.

And, supposedly, and but my justice value, when I link it to that it needs to be free and for all, and so every decision I make, I asked myself is this decision not just for me, but for as many people that I’m helping as possible. Third, is generosity. I grew up with a grandmother, her name was Generosa, literally has a perfect name. And she was the most generous woman, person human I’ve ever known. And still to this day, and she taught me that there is nothing that I have that cannot be shared. No one can take anything away from you by sharing what you know. I have that philosophy and approach towards my business and my life. Like there’s nothing you can take from me. Now, of course, you gotta protect your intellectual property, you got to make sure people don’t steal from you. But in terms of my willingness to share my gifts, my talents, my skills, it’s my responsibility to do that, and then you deal with the mechanics of some other stuff in other ways.

Fourth is leadership. I believe that true leadership is a function of self over others, meaning, you have to lead yourself first. You gotta have the integrity with yourself, you have to keep your word to yourself first. Because if you make a lot of promises outside, or directives outside, and you’re not keeping your word to yourself, that’s not leadership. And so modeling leadership starts with you. And it’s not an if then statement, it’s not you start leading. And then when you figure yourself out, you start leading other people that, then you’re going to wait forever, because we are a constant work in progress. Am I right? You know, just even life itself, right? Like, people are going to come for you. That’s what you need to understand a meaning in a negative way. There are going to be haters, trolls, people who will take Yes, that’s why you’re scared to why you don’t want to be visible, because you’re so afraid that you’ll come the risk is you’ll either be ignored or hurt more, and here’s my answer, I want to say this. I love Yes, that’s going to happen.

Because the more people know you, the more their own stuff is going to come up, you’re not going to just trigger people in a positive way, you’re going to trigger people’s insecurities. And so, leadership looks like even though that may happen, I will lead myself and help others lead to and then finally legacy. I really believe in leaving a legacy now, not in a far-off future. So obviously, I want to leave something behind for my children and my descendants. And obviously, like the women and even men, obviously, that work with me, I want to be able to make that impact in their lives. But I don’t want to wait till I’m dead.

To leave a legacy. I want to do it while I’m here. So bottom line is autonomy, justice, generosity, leadership and legacy. Those are my five values. And I make all of my life and business decisions through them. That’s what living a values-driven life is. I asked myself, if I’m making a big decision, Oh, I’m going to go higher, I’m going to go join a program like Kathy’s, right? If you’re sitting there asking yourself that or anything. I would ask, does this support my autonomy? This is support me having being more just this is support me in being a leader, and generous and all the things? And if the answer is yes, then I may. If it’s not a yes, the next thing I ask is, why is it a fear that’s coming up? Am I pulling up some traumatic experience from my past? That’s informing my No. And if it is, okay, so, but if it’s informing, you’re no great.

It’s Fear not danger, because there’s a difference between fear and danger. Danger is we don’t stick our fingers in sockets. We don’t go stand outside in the freeway and just go Hey, try not to hit me. You know, like, that’s danger. That’s not fear is actually fake. It’s a regulator, but it’s not real danger is real. Danger is a real thing. That’s why when people like be fearless, I’m like, actually, I’ve more would say be in relationship with your fear because your fears is informing you that okay, and you click on say, is this dangerous? Or is this just something that I’m scared of?

Danger is a real thing. So again, if Kathy were to tell you, go down a cliff, so you can be a better virtual expert, and then hang off it like, right? Like, it’s so funny to me. I’m gonna do like scared right about, yeah, there is no danger. In putting yourself, some of you there might be there might be deep seeded things, you know, an environmental issue meaning like in your house where it’s actually dangerous for you to live there. And I want to acknowledge those things. Because I know there’s a lot of unsaid things about women, because you asked about women not feeling supported by your spouse, and that might feel dangerous to you, because maybe you’re worried you’ll get divorced, or maybe that person who you’re with is not kind, maybe that and this is like just the real truth. Because your business, I like to say this, I know I’m going all over the place.

But there’s so many things I want to share. It’s like, you know, there’s no such thing as business problems, period, there’s only personal problems. That’s it. Okay, what’s calling you, we have infinite mentorship, education and information available more than any time in history has ever been. So, you don’t have a business problem, you have a personal problem that you need to work out. And that’s why the mindset piece is so important. It’s so important that you just get clear and clean about what’s gonna shift in order for you to be able to take the leap. Because you can keep the rest, like Kathy said, you can keep taking action, but then you’re only trying to get credit for effort, which is you do need effort. But if you’re only wanting to get a gold star for effort, you’re probably gonna get frustrated or burnt out. Because it’s not just effort. It’s making cleaner decisions, which means you’re living a values-driven Life.

Yeah, because when I met you, what I realized now is I was marketing. But I was hiding. Because right away, you said, If you I will cook, I asked him, I said, I would love to catch with you. Will you allow me in? Okay, she had a high level CEO circle group that I really wanted to be a member of. And the first thing you asked me was, will you do a live event? And my insides just went, I’ve been hiding for 20 years. No, you know, that’s what I wanted to say. But I wanted to work with you so badly. I was I said, if that’s what you require? I will. And you said yes. Because that’s what’s going to work for you.

And I said, okay, but then I was so afraid to remember off, right, I was you were sabotaging it. And I remember the phone call that we had where you said, Okay. I mean, you just said it’s so strange, straight, which I love. Okay, you there is no turning back at this point, you have to do this event that you are halfway towards already.

So just figure out that you’re doing it move forward and get it done. And I’m just sobbing you guys literally sobbing on the phone. And she wasn’t gonna let me play victim at all. She’s just like, now just do it. And I did. And I’m so thankful because that first event, a lot of people go their whole careers without number one doing an event or number two, having a profit of an at an event. And I sold $30,000 at that event, and most of it was profit. And then the next year, I did an event for $300,000. And that’s just in two and a half days each time. Yeah. And this year, even with COVID. I had an event planned for April. And of course, then March happened and I pivoted to an online event and earn $250,000. And you know, there’s like really no overhead when you do a virtual event.

Yeah, we’re getting ready to do our event or another virtual event in October. So, all I can say is thank you for helping me stop hiding and believing that I was doing everything I could because it was taking so much marketing action when it was really still not really supporting me confidently.

Absolutely. And I think I just want to acknowledge that Kathy, she’s all what I love about Kathy is she’s so coachable. You know, and I think it’s so important to go into a mentor coachee relationship, saying look, I Know what I know. And what I love with Kathy, what you all need to know, she’s like, I know what I know, I’m actually good at what I do I know a lot of people question that I’m like, I’m not questioning it, you know, so you can still be in that, Oh, am I good enough all that and still be very successful. That’s the other part of it. I have my own leaders and crap. You know, I like to call it next level next devil, you know, you hit one level, and then the devil comes and you need to overcome that, you know, most quote unquote successful people are dealing with a lot of demons.

They’re dealing with a lot of like, how do I how do I am I am I really good enough, like, so you’re no different. It doesn’t matter where you are, when you’re just starting and deciding that you want to pursue a virtual expert business. Or you are now six figures and you want to hit seven, you know, six figures not the same as seven. Seven is not the same as eight, you have to show up in a in a different way, each time. So, this is the journey. There’s no evading the journey. Right. It’s kind of like that’s what you’re hiding. I’m not I see you I can see it.

Yeah, I mean, I see you and your work and I want just come on Kathy, you got this right. And sometimes you need a cheerleader, sometimes you need a you need a butt kicker. Sometimes you need told I love you and you no matter what happens, you can be so proud of that. You went all the way. You know, you’re going to be so proud of the other side, and she and then Hello, juicy results. 30k 300k 250k. I love these numbers. I mean, they make me happy as a coach. But that’s the kind of opportunity you have. When and here’s the thing. Oh my god, Kathy. You didn’t die. Look at you. You’re right here talking.

Yeah. So, you know, and it helps so many people. And you know, just all those things that you kept telling me. You needed to kick my butt that day. And I’m so thankful. Because if any of you have tried to work with somebody, and they coddle you constantly, and they never really push you out of your comfort zone. Find someone like Jennifer Kem. Because I’ve learned how to do that more working with Jen and step into that leadership.

Well, I want to say something about that back to being coachable is, you know, if you hire experts, you’re an expert listening to this podcast right now you are somebody who has a skill set that can help someone else. So, don’t get also overrun with experts. Am I an expert, yet, if you have a skill that can help someone else, you are an expert in that skill, you may not be an expert in other skills that you may be wanting to learn. And then you’ll create that expertise over there. But I wanted to make the point about what Kathy said is, why would you hire a coach, a consultant, a trainer, a mentor of any type, if you were already an expert in what they do, right?

The reason you hire support, or you get a coach, or you get or even if you learn a new skill, it’s in your expertise. Let’s say you’re an accounting expert, and you know accounting, but now you actually want to start advising people on wealth strategies, which is different than accounting, that you know, accounting is different than like financial strategy, you may go and become a Certified Financial Planner. That’s an example of one type of expertise. Because it’s a gap that you have that you want to make sure you have that feather in your cap to be able to tell people, Hey, I’m an accountant. I’m a CPA, and I’m a Certified Financial Planner. That’s an example of two different routes put together. Same thing about when you hire a coach to help you to the next level to grow your business or to grow your life.

You’re missing that in some way. So, you hire them, to help you through that. So if you’re trying to fight them, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have your own discernment, you should put your own thought into it that you, you definitely don’t want to be some type of pawn where it’s like whatever they say you do it, you know if it really is coming up, and it doesn’t work for you. But it’s you being brave enough to say I’m willing to go into this conversation, and I’m resistant. And I want a coach who will tell me is it really resistance or sometimes I told Kathy, you’re like she would have ideas. Even this podcast was an idea. Remember Kathy, like, years ago, you’re like I’m thinking about doing? You think it’s a waste of time, Jen? And I said, well, let’s talk about why. What it is, is what are you going to be using it for? Because I could easily after she had that dialogue with me could have said to Kathy, honestly it’s not and she knows I would tell her not worth it.

And if she still went ahead and did it, that’s still her choice, which is great. Or she could have decided, you know what? Thanks. Because we both did, I actually told her when we were talking, I think this is a great idea for you, she’s so fun on camera, but she’s also so humble, and super smart. And all those, you know, I think it’s such an approachable show. And I was like, I think more people need to see that part of you, Kathy, this is a great idea to do that. And she did it. And now it’s like here. And she also went into very strategically, she had these live events that she needed to do for us prioritizing your time, your energy and your money around, what’s really going to build your business, like what’s worth investing in. And so, great coaches like us, will tell you and then you get the chance to decide, because ultimately, I know Kathy’s this way, and this is partly why I love her is good coaches aren’t in the business of making you codependent on them.

It’s a synergistic relationship, just like any good relationship with your spouse, or your children or your friends. It’s about, hey, we’re gonna organize, we’re gonna have little, like, tension, right? Because we’re talking about things, we’re talking about things that are making your life, like putting yourself out there, that’s a big deal. And so you need somebody that you feel like you can trust that will bring forward your confidence in a way that’s authentic to you, and on values for you and on brand for you. And trying to do it yourself. Oh, don’t do that. That’s the one thing I’ll say, oh, like, let’s get we talked about that. Because you want it yourself is definitely not a good idea.

Yeah, I listened to one of your webinars, one of your classes, and you talked about you can’t guarantee how to achieve success. But I can tell you how to guarantee to achieve failure. And it is to go this alone. I have a lot of Jen Kem quotes.

I’m a recovering Lone Ranger myself, guys, just to let you know, I am a total recovering control freak and Lone Ranger myself, right. You know, I came from a world, especially in corporate you are you have to hit these performance metrics in order to not just keep your job, but get raises and hopefully promotions, even though they plan on giving it to somebody else, you know. And whereas in the entrepreneur world, you have to put those metrics on yourself. And you have no support. Even corporate will give teams even if it’s your boss, there’s usually a few people around you. Man, when you’re first starting out, right? in entrepreneurship, you’re all alone. So, you have to be the janitor and the CEO and everything in between. And if you try to go out that alone, you’re not so you know, qualified. You’re not qualified yet to understand what you need.

And so having somebody who’s done it and you want to evaluate your mentors, to see have they actually done the work? Are they in the work? Are they doing it? Are they demonstrating bravery, and courage, while they’re building and being unapologetic about making money? I you know, Kathy, what I love too is Kathy has this way of speaking about her revenue numbers in a way that doesn’t feel braggadocious it just feels factual. Like, oh, I did this. This is great. And I had all this fear. That’s authentic. You know, I every time I make more money, I’m thrilled. But I’m like, wow, I did that. Oh, I honestly never go in fully going. I’m gonna crush it. I believe I’m worthy. That’s the part that we opened up with, I finally believe I’m worthy of this type of money. But it doesn’t mean I’m not still nervous. Is it going to work? Am I going to fail? You know?

But it’s what makes being a business owner and entrepreneur so exciting. Don’t you think, Jennifer? Yeah, I mean, I love that to me. All of this that we’re talking about here. This is like those people that love to jump out of an airplane for the adrenaline rush. I get an adrenaline rush every day in my business.

Yes, it is. Yes, me too. And I never thought that they were going to be times, right Kathy, don’t some days you feel like poop though? Like I mean around? Of course. Right? But the poops worth it. Right? That failure in the success because it’s your poop. You’re gonna clean up your own poop. You don’t have to clean up everybody else’s and wipe everybody else’s butt like we did in the corporate world. You know what I mean? I’m only gonna wipe mine.

I love that. Well, Jen, I could talk to you all day long. But I know how tight your schedule is. And so we have got to wrap it up here. I’m going to have you back as many times as I can possibly have you back and talk about different things. But I want to let everybody know how they can have more Jennifer Kem in their life.

Okay, awesome. First of all, I want to give you all a gift. And it’s what I start every business relationship with, it doesn’t matter if you’re starting or even if like Kathy, she had already hit six figures, and she wanted to work with me in a higher level. I always start out with what we call a brand archetype influence mix assessment. It’s called the aim, aim for short. And every single day, I have a funnel that runs that people pay $250 to get this report for me every day, I get a ping, ping ping in my slack that says we’ve got more sales, but I’m going to give it to Kathy’s audience, because I love Kathy.

And I also know how if you can just understand who you are, which is what this assessment helps you do. It’s the first step. It’s not all the steps, but it’s the first really deep, intensely devoted step to uncovering what you really care about. And so it’s called the aim. So, you can go to masterbrand.me/dare. And the other thing is, I love dialoguing into areas specifically one is on Instagram at Jennifer.Kem, or on LinkedIn, where you can find me if you just type in Jennifer Kem, you’ll find me on LinkedIn. And I’m also on Facebook, on my business page, if you want to check me out there. And I think Kathy will have all those links for you.

I will have all of those links in the show notes. And I really appreciate all the time you spent with us today. Jennifer, thank you for all sharing all your knowledge. You were demonstrating your value of generosity. I know your grandma’s looking down on you today going away I go. Thank you so much, Jennifer.

Thanks, everyone.