Episode 22 - Building the Future Version of You: Gut Checks, Gaining Confidence, & Taking Inventory on Your Life with Kacia Ghetmiri
Mary Harcourt
🌟 This episode features Kacia Ghetmiri on the Ready.Set.Glo! Podcast 🌟
Kacia is a life enthusiast, multi-passionate entrepreneur, speaker, and podcaster who's on a mission to help women unapologetically share their voice & message with the world.
Along with hosting her own podcast empowerHER which surpassed 6 million downloads (in only 3.5 years), she has helped over 350 women launch grow and monetize their own shows! She's also hosting her first live women's event, "EmpowerHER Live" in October 2022!
Kacia has found that what's often holding women back is the thoughts that they think about who they are & what they are capable of so she takes her knowledge from working with hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years, paired with her high energy bubbly personality and a "Come with me, let's figure this out together" approach to light a fire under their booty to get out of their own way & go!
Building the Future Version of You: Gut Checks, Gaining Confidence, & Taking Inventory on Your Life with Kacia Ghetmiri
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Transcript
Mary Harcourt 0:05 Hi and welcome to Ready Set glow, a podcast where I interview entrepreneurs, brands and idealist, people and the stories behind it all. Discover what it took to get started. Lessons learned along the way, and the advice they have for you starting on your own journey. Join me and my guests as we talk about all things business, beauty and brands. I'm your host, Mary Harcourt of Cosmo glow, as we discover the stories behind the names.
From a corporate world to a fulfilling one, today's guest is Keisha get marry, and she made it her mission and her passion to help women be their best versions of themselves. She hosts a top rated podcast called empower her. And she believes in a thriving community of real women supporting each other through transparency, empower her we'll be hosting their first live event this year. And it will talk all about what goes into putting on a live event, how we can help women pursue that inner drive and want to go after more, and what it takes to start a podcast and grow it to a large audience and make the biggest impact. Thank you for tuning in with me today. And I hope you get a lot from today's episodes.
Keisha Welcome to the show, you are a multifaceted multi passionate entrepreneur tell us all about this.
kacia ghetmiri 1:29 I feel like a lot of women listening into the show can connect with having whether it's like a visceral gut feeling or just this idea of wanting some aspect of more in your life, whether that's through entrepreneurship, more freedom, more impact, more fulfillment, more income, whatever. And I have basically built my career by listening to that gut feeling. And instead of shoving it down, when it's telling me that I want more, I'm just like listening to it, taking action, knowing that action is going to give me a lot of clarity. And I've made so many pivots in my career. But now I spend a lot of my time helping podcasters hosting women's events. My husband and I are starting a real estate company. And I have my own show empower her podcast, which is super fulfilling, and fun. But I've had a lot of twists and turns along the way. And I would be happy to share all the things about the highs and lows.
Mary Harcourt 2:24 I love that. Well, let's share all the things. First off, tell me about your women's event I was online, I checked it out. It looks awesome. So anyone listening, check it out to where can they find it? What is it all about? How did you get started in it?
kacia ghetmiri 2:36 So I started my podcast at the end of 2018, so about three and a half years ago. And I have a belief that if something's not being represented the way that you think it should, it's because you are supposed to be the representation. And so I don't know if you can connect with us, or maybe someone listening into this, like, when you see something being done. And you're like, Man, I wish that this was tweaked a little bit differently, or I wish XYZ was part of it. I'm like, Okay, that is my indication that it's my space, like I need to go for it. So when I was listening into a lot of podcasts myself, I felt as if there was a lot of people giving advice that were a few steps ahead of me. And they were giving advice in hindsight, right? Like, oh, I remember back when I was in your season of entrepreneurship. Five years ago, this is what it felt like, here's how I got through it. But there five years removed from that initial feeling. And instead, I was like, what if I created a podcast that was you know, come with me, let's figure this out together. Rather than look at me, I've got this all figured out, where I created a community of women that really valued transparency, and just being really raw and like sharing what's going on in real time. Like when you're ugly crying on your bathroom floor, and like your style, your mascara is like getting together your throat, you're not in your mouth. Like I wanted to talk about that, while you're in it, rather than just when you've gotten through it. And then you can give that perspective, like I just didn't want to be an expert. And I feel like a lot of women in particular, I mean men too, but a lot of entrepreneurs, I guess struggle with this whole idea of imposter syndrome. But a lot of it is due to the fact that we're like pretending you're you're faking it, you're pretending like you know what to do, or you want to, you know, curate this perfectly polished message or image out into the world. And I was like, I just don't want to play this game. Like being a human is like tough enough. Sometimes I'm not trying to pretend like I'm perfect. So that community built really quickly. I think there wasn't a lot of podcasts in that space that were so so open and raw. And I knew very like early on that I wanted to create a women's event because I knew there's so much power of being in the room and being in proximity with like minded women that get you and that when you tell them your vision they're like Yes girl like how can I support you in this? How can I take it to the next level with you? So we're doing empower her live. My first ever event is for 500 women in October the 21st through the 23rd in Phoenix, Arizona. We have seven keynote speakers. We're doing like a spicy Margarita night a bunch of cool sponsors a lot I podcasts, it's gonna be so cool. And it's also majorly stretching me in real time. Because it's a big vision, you
Mary Harcourt 5:08 have the energy, though you have the energy, you have the strength, you will pull this off. And it's going to be hugely successful. And think of how many lives you're going to change and how many women are gonna go there that weekend and literally either have a revelation, or an opening or a pivot. And they'll be able to go through life and experience so much more and relate it back to like, that was the weekend, it all clicked for me.
kacia ghetmiri 5:29 It's so powerful to like even you just saying that, Mary, because I am constantly tapping into what am I doing now, that is gifting a future version of me something, right. And like, if we can kind of tap into that, like in our day to day life, especially for really ambitious women listening to this podcast, it's like, we often have a big distance between where we are now and where we want to go. And we have to be so intentional about how we're labeling that space. Because even though we're like, you know, two and a half at the time that we're recording this, we're two and a half months out from the event. I'm like, Oh, baby, I got a lot of stuff I want to do. But I keep tapping into exactly what you said, were like, I am gifted this vision because I'm the person that can do this. Like, I don't actually doubt that. It's just when I feel the stretch. I'm like, whoa, whoa, okay, this is what I wanted. Like, as humans, we love growth, and we love contribution. So like, I feel proud of myself for being in the game. And it's gonna be such a cool, you know, like thing to like, look out to five women that are all connected with each other and getting inspired. And just like, Oh, I'm here for it.
Mary Harcourt 6:27 Well, I'm proud of you for pulling this. And yeah, it's gonna be a huge growth cycle. But as we've all experienced in our own lives, when you go into something and go, I don't quite know how to do it, but I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna figure it out, you gain so much confidence and skills, that then you walk out of it going, okay, it really wasn't that bad. Now I can't wait for the next one is going to be even better. And even better, even better. So this first one is going to be amazing. But like excited for year two or year three, you have a lot of things going on. And you're going to touch a lot of women's lives, which is so empowering.
kacia ghetmiri 6:58 Thank you. I'm very, very excited about it. And it's, it's like, when you're doing anything new for the first time, like maybe someone listening into this, like you're launching a new program, or product or service or whatever, it's really easy to feel like when you feel resistance at the beginning of starting something new, or you feel overwhelmed, or you're like, oh, like I kind of suck at this, right? Like, I've helped hundreds of women launch podcasts and grow their podcast. And so often women at the beginning, you're like, oh, my gosh, this is hard. But what I always remind them is we've got to be so careful not to compare ourselves to a prior version of ourselves, when the circumstances were different, because like we know not to compare ourselves to other people. But it's really like, when you're new at something, no matter what you've seen success. And previously, you don't get to skip the beginning stage where you don't know what you're doing. And you have to be really conscious of like labeling that space so that it serves you. And you have to be really intentional about the thoughts that you're thinking so that you don't make the fact that you're inexperienced mean that you're unable to do it. Like that's just not true. Like those things don't correlate, but sometimes our brain does this tricky thing, where we're trying to stay in these familiar thought patterns. And keep us in this, you know, quote unquote, comfort zone that actually isn't really that comfortable when you know, you're made to do more. And so like, it's, it's like a, you know, navigating that beginning season of being new where and not trying to rest on something from the past that you already know, you can crush, it's like I can help podcasters launch and monetize. I've been doing that for years. Like I know how to do that. But during a big event, I've never done it before. So anyway, I love this topic, because I think it's so relatable to all of us, especially as you know, I'm sure there are a lot of multi passionate women that listen into this, that it's like, you don't get to skip that stage. But that doesn't mean that you can't do it. That just means a future version of you is going to be able to look back at you now and be like, dude, like, look how far I've come.
Mary Harcourt 8:48 I love that. You mentioned that past version of you versus your future. Because it's so true. I look at when I first got into the beauty industry. Everyone that went through Beauty School has had this moment in time where you're like, Oh, I am so sorry to everyone. I touched my three years doing all clinical studies in beauty school. But I had to do that. And thank God for best friends and family members. I had to learn what was right and wrong so that I could come out and kill it in my future career. But I don't ever discredit myself. I always just say like, that was me learning. I learned and I never say like, well, I didn't know what I was doing or what a terrible person you weren't know, I just laugh at it and go, I am so glad that these people still talk to me and still want me to touch their new services because I did not have a great clue what I was doing. But I had to go through that process. And through it. I'm proud of myself. I'm glad that I came out and became an amazing service provider and since then have done such beautiful work but like you said, you don't get to skip that part. So let's go back to this. I love what you brought up before which was transparency and raw realness. I feel like that is so my vibe and 100% of who I am. That that's probably why our pals connected and we're attracted to each other because that's just the magnetism of energy. And I love that you say that because it is true. And I do agree with you, there are so many people that are looking at me look at what I've done. And I was, I'm not that person. Because I'm in the process, I'm on the journey. And I love ripping it open, like you said, like, strip it back to show how it really happens. Because this is real life. And I'm going through and I'm proud of where I am and where I have come from and where I'm going. But this is the real story. It's not pretty, it's not easy. And some days are better than others. But I think getting that story out really lets people know that third, third journey and their path is totally on point. And as long as we keep moving in a forward direction, you're doing a great job. And sometimes you go backwards and before you go forward. So don't think because you have a bad day, it's like, oh, man, I ruined it. No, we all have that. That's what we're talking about is the raw a real the tears that, hey, I don't know how to accomplish this, but I'm going to give it my best shot. And from that, I'm going to learn a whole slew of lessons.
kacia ghetmiri 11:00 It's interesting, because if you are more transparent, then it's almost like it creates this connective tissue with your community of people that you're wanting to impact and inspire and show up for that it you feel more human, and it almost gives you more readability to because it's like this person, she gets me. And that's what we all really want. I mean, at least a lot of the entrepreneurs that I talked to, it's like, how do I build an engaged community around what I'm doing? How do I feel like I'm more connected with my clients or the people that I'm most excited to serve? And my answer is almost always like be a little bit more transparent. Because being an entrepreneur means that you're going to sometimes have your best day and your worst day in the same hour. And I think if we normalize that, then it's like, I don't want people to be throwing in the towel proactively on their dreams, because they had that happened. And they think that that's not normal. It's so so normal. I would never ever go back to not being an entrepreneur, because I love it so much. But it's also because when that happens when I have a low, I know that that doesn't mean that I'm going to stay there and unpack it just like that's where you get to learn you build grit, and character and resilience. When it's not rainbows, butterflies, happy little unicorns and everything's going smooth sailing. Like, that's when you actually get to learn and build up this skill so that when life throws you a curveball or business throws you a curveball, you believe in your ability to figure this out. And so often we think we want smooth sailing, but we don't want smooth sailing, we want to feel like we're growing. And I just never want to rob myself of the opportunity to feel proud later by wanting to have a more easy path. It's like I want the bumps in the road. So I can be like, yeah, like, look how far I've come
Mary Harcourt 12:38 absolutely and great. It's so important. It's one of my favorite words to describe entrepreneurs, because you know, whether you want it or not, you will gain it and you will get it. Because grit, there's no better word that like you get smacked in the face the same time that you have to do a presentation and something is expected of you. And all of a sudden, you're like, Okay, I just have to grit down, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna knock it out of the park and you walk away. God, I pulled it off, we did it. And not every day is pretty and not every day is rosy. But going back to like those lessons you learn. I look at my beginning my career, and now Cosmo glow, the mistakes I made. So early on, I cried. And I thought I was the biggest embarrassment and the biggest failure. Now it's almost comical. Like, if I could trade my daily problems for those little D Day problems, I would do it in a heartbeat. Because that was like the early days where I felt everything. But you gain the skills and understanding of how to separate this is life. And this is part of the process. And this is painful. And I think as an entrepreneur on that journey, you kind of just learn that as part of the process. It doesn't matter if it ever hurts less, but you expect part of it to come with it. So tell me, how did you get started in all of this, like, what's your background, I want to learn more about
kacia ghetmiri 13:52 you. So I did the thing that I thought that I was supposed to do where I went to college, and I got the job and I started working my way up the corporate ladder. My last corporate job was actually working at Google and engineering recruiting. And I knew intuitively that I wasn't on the right path. But it made sense on paper. And I feel like there's a lot of people that can connect with this where like, I checked the things and it wasn't like I had bad managers or anything like that. Like actually I had really good managers I had really good career trajectory. I made a good salary. And I never had one of those stories that often people are really inspired by of this like back against the wall had to make it work overcame this overcame that. It wasn't really it's not that I haven't handled hardship. But I just wasn't in that position. I had a really good job, but something was just like, This is not your path. And I didn't know what my thing was. I knew I had entrepreneurial tendencies from like being really at a young age. But I didn't even know back then this was in 2014. I was like I don't even know like do I invent something like what I ever do like that's an entrepreneur. So I my first business was actually a network marketing that I started on the side I'm Bill, I have my full time corporate job. And then my now husband and I moved from Seattle where we lived at the time to New York City for him to go to dental school. And then that's when I went that business that was once a side business surpassed my Google income. So I decided to jump for that. And then a few years later, I got a lot of experience, I got to speak on a stage for the first time in front of like, 10,000 people where I learned that I was passionate about public speaking. And I was, I loved building communities, in particular, of women. And I learned a lot of skills. But that intuitive feeling of like, this is not the right path for you came up again. But I didn't know what was next. So I decided to start my podcasts at the end of 2018, with the intention of you know, pulling back the curtain and building this community, but also to give myself more clarity of what I wanted next, because I felt as if I could build a community around my podcast, then I could just listen to my community, and create whatever it is that they want, right, solve whatever problems they have. And I've just been co creating with them all sorts of things like memberships and courses and one on one programs and merchandise now live events. And I've just been kind of following that intuitively, which is built this very fulfilling and impactful, and also like very lucrative business that's giving me a lot a lot of optionality. But I feel like I won't be able to even answer like what's coming next in the next five years, because I look at the last five years, I'm like, I could have never expected this. But I'm just like, buckled up for the whole ride of it. And to see what what comes next.
Mary Harcourt 16:30 Well, I love that story. Because it is so true. Sometimes you don't exactly know what's in the future. I'm not a planner, I don't plan for much. I am a creative brain, I like to see where I'm feeling and what's going on. So I know where to click in. And your story I think many people can relate to because you knew that wasn't it. But it wasn't like you had a miserable life. You were doing great and things to be proud of. But you were still wanting more and just through pivot and sightseeing. Does this work all the sudden I feel more fulfilled? I love doing that. I love doing this. What if I did this brought you to your now career, which is beautiful. And like I keep saying you just kind of touched so many people's lives. And it's so empowering, that you are there for them, and to explain the journey and give them tools to get through the journey.
kacia ghetmiri 17:15 Yeah, it's, it's interesting, because sometimes people get caught up in, I need to know what step 2345 is going to be in order for me to take action. But my entire entrepreneurial journey has been take the action. And then the clarity comes from the action. It's never been waiting around till I feel ready, waiting around until I've got enough information. But I don't ever, I'm not as nervous about taking that first step. Because I'm not telling myself that the first step has to be perfect. And I'm not telling myself that I am attached to any outcome. I'm excited about any outcome, meaning I either try something, and I love it and I keep going or I try something and I don't like it. And then I don't keep going with it, right. But if I try something and I like it, even if I suck at it, that's okay. Because that's part of getting good at anything, right? Like you show up, you try you put your reps in, you get better keep going, you could get great at that thing. But it's I think a lot of us get caught up in this idea that straight out the gates like that has to be the next thing that we do for X amount of time. But my my perspective is like try it, get the clarity, and then make the decision after that. Knowing that you're also going to help yourself build a lot of confidence. And you know, when we're taking action, we get these like massive dopamine hits, that just help propel us to the next thing. And we just give ourselves an opportunity, you know, like have a little bit more fun and not have to make everything so serious and structured. And step one, step two, step three, it's like, what if this was more fun? What would that feel like?
Mary Harcourt 18:45 Oh, I'm 100% with you, I'd take action and get clarity later is one of the best sayings that can come out of it. Because I truly agree to this, most people are like, hey, I want Option A or Option B so I can pick from them. I'm more like, hey, I want to see what a through z is. But I don't want to pick anything until I figure out like what's going to work for me. So I'll just jump in and something's gonna stick. So there's multiple ways to looking at things. But I feel like you and I are similar, where it's like, I'm going to start the process and I have trust in myself to know we're going to figure it out. And it's going to work working with women entrepreneurs, what's something that you feel like a lot of women struggle with?
kacia ghetmiri 19:25 Oh, gosh, a lot of it is worrying what other people think or taking advice from people that aren't even actually in this space and making that advice, weigh a lot in terms of if they're willing to take action in their life or not. And I think it's, it's interesting, because there's a lot of this narrative of, you know, blinders on Who cares what everybody else thinks, like screw the naysayers, and I get that fundamentally, but I don't actually think it's very practical, because as humans, we're primally designed to want to belong, and we care what people think like as entrepreneurs, we do care with you Well, I think, if we didn't, then we're sociopaths, right? Like, of course we do, because we care about the impact that we're making and how we're showing up in the world. But I do think it's really important to recognize that if somebody's not in the game, their advice can't weigh as much because we can only give advice often from our own experience. And so many women get held back, because they're worried about quote, unquote, leaving someone behind, or they're worried about their sister or their mom, or their best friend from third grade, or Sally Sue to nine, three on Instagram, you know, cares about their business or their brand that they're building. And it's like, gosh, I just wish, like, my intention is always used to like shake people up and be like, Your days are numbered here. And you do not know the count. Like, that's real. So I don't want you to get to the end of your TBD amount of days here and be like, Oh, I wish I would have done this thing. I wish I would have gone for it. But instead, I chose to live my life based off of somebody else's success criteria, knowing all like all well, that it wasn't aligned for me. Because the other thing that that can result in is a lot of resentment, of like, you actually chose to live somebody else's definition of success, whether that is your mom, your sister, your cousin, your whatever. And then you do that. And then you're mad, because you didn't get to feel fulfilled or aligned in your entire life, or you're frustrated, you're stressed, and it gets projected out in different ways, because you aren't in alignment, and then you actually resent that person. But it's not really that person's fault, because you decided to take that person's advice and not take action on your own life. And I think that's honestly like one of the biggest things that I see that holds entrepreneurs back. And you know, it's really simple. Just ask yourself, like, Would I switch places with that person has that person actually done the thing that they're giving me advice on, because if you've never been an entrepreneur, and you're giving advice to a new entrepreneur, you don't understand the discomfort, but you also don't understand the fulfillment of it. And the joy of creating something that so many entrepreneurs feel this tug of like, I want to do this thing, you don't get it if you've never done it. And that's not to say, you're not important or your opinion isn't valid, but it's based off your own experience. So like, we've just got a gut check and take inventory on whose advice are we taking? And what's the weight that we're giving it? And does that actually make sense? Like, is it conducive to where we want to go? Like, and if we can take a little bit more inventory, I think that that just helps us feel a lot more supported in our journey overall.
Mary Harcourt 22:22 That is a whole truth nugget there. It's amazing. I totally agree. I have a saying, when it comes to advice, and you're so right, like, you have to coordinate your advice for what's working with you on your path and journey. And don't take it from everyone I learned this very early on, I'll share, I only take advice from three people, it's somebody I would trade places with somebody I madly respect, or somebody that's done it themselves. If you don't fall in those three categories, I'm not interested in your advice, but thank you, and there's I can be cordial. But to me, it's, if I'm madly respect you, you're you're doing something that I connect with. Or if you've done it yourself, you're going to be able to tell me, Hey, everyone's going to tell you don't do that. But I did that. And it worked for me. And I would tell everyone to do it this way. That's the advice I want. Or, you know, if somebody has, if there's a single mom raising six children, I probably might not want to trade places with you. But that woman knows how life works. And I will listen to everything that she has to say because she had to learn things in such a hard way that I might not want to be the same thing. But I she is so wise and valuable to me. So I have those three things. And if people don't fall in that category, thank you so much for your advice, but I will not be taking it.
kacia ghetmiri 23:39 Route. It's, it's well, but a lot of that to Mary comes from the confidence of putting your reps and like both of us can sit here at this stage in our businesses and in our careers at large and say like, we have the confidence to be you know, to hear somebody's advice, but we don't actually take it. And sometimes when you're new at something, it's like you don't have that evidence from your past that you can look back on and say see, last time I followed my intuition it worked out or last time I built this business, it worked out our launches program or service or whatever. So when you know that you're in, like for anyone listening to this, if you're in that very, very beginning stage, it's reminding yourself that you are now building what a future version of you will look back on and be like that is my proof. Because I feel as if I have a lot of proof from past things that I've tried, even if they weren't aligned that I saw success in but the first time that I did it, it was so much more uncomfortable. And I was so much more receptive. I was like a sponge to everybody else until I realized that does not work. So if you're in that right now you're like, gosh, I can't brush it off as much as you Keisha or Mary can. Maybe it is just because it's it's newer to you. And it's like everybody kind of starts at that stage but then you start to build up your own confidence because there is no better and I will stand by this. There is no better avenue to build confidence in yourself than being In an entrepreneur, because you have to show up and keep promises to yourself to do the things that you said that you're going to do after the feeling that you said it and is gone over and over and over again, and nobody's gonna fire you if you don't. So you don't have that like pressure from somebody else externally, it's all on you. And that's a beautiful opportunity that then transfers into every single aspect of your life where you can hear someone give feedback about your timeline, and your relationships or the move that you want to make my husband and I have moved to five different major cities, we've been together for 14 years, we don't have kids yet, and we can get feedback from people. But I'm so confident in myself and my choices that that's okay, if I get feedback doesn't mean that I have to take it like you just said, Mary. So I think that like, it's anyone that's in this stage or is in a major growth season, it's like you are building so much competence, I hope you're so freaking proud of yourself. Because you don't even recognize until you see those things pop up how much this confidence building from entrepreneurship is serving you in so many aspects of your life.
Mary Harcourt 25:56 Absolutely. And you mentioned to like gut checks. The reason you have a gut check is the people you're around are very comfortable there. They're doing their thing, but you have this internal burning to do more, you want more, you want to feel more, you want to conquer more, you want to give more, you want to do everything more, and you have to pay so much attention to that. And I think that's one of the lessons we're saying too, is Be mindful that you may have something in you pushing you forward. But if you tell everyone around you, they probably don't feel the same way. Or they're gonna give you all the reasons of why you may fail and why it's a terrible idea and why, but that's because they don't have the same drawl. So don't listen to their advice, go after what you're feeling because that internal drive will take you further than anything. Okay, so talk to me about your podcast, you have an amazing podcast, you've been doing it for 2018, which is years of experience, you'd have awesome guests. What is your like? I say those who who are your listeners, and I believe everyone here should go listen to it as well.
kacia ghetmiri 26:55 Yeah, I started empower her November of 2018. So three and a half years ago, and it's been such a fulfilling journey, because of the community around the show. It is entrepreneurs and but really, it's women that identify with what we're talking about. You have this visceral gut feeling that you want more and maybe more for you is you don't want to have a mediocre marriage, you really want to have an exceptional marriage, you want to work on yourself, and you want to take radical responsibility for how you're showing up in the world. Or you don't want to feel okay, health wise, you want to feel exceptional, like whatever area of your life it is. Empower her is about just having transparent, raw conversations about it. And I do two episodes a week Mondays are like little pep talks that a lot of people say they listen in the shower, or why they're getting ready for the day, because it's like lights, a little fire under your booty to help you take action. I have a lot of energy. So I just like to, like, put that out into the podcast. And yeah, I mean, it's honestly, it's for I mean, it's definitely geared towards women that want to just have a conversation with someone that feels like their best friend, and we're having spice margaritas together. That's how I always think of it when I'm recording episodes.
Mary Harcourt 28:02 I love it. I also love spicy Margarita. So I am in with a whole day. What are some simple advice you have for somebody that may want to start their own podcasts.
Unknown Speaker 28:11 Number one is figure out who you're most excited to serve. And we talk a lot about, you know, in the business space about like niche and marketing. And that's important. But I think about who are you going to envision like a specific person that you're going to envision every single time that you show up and record. Because for me, I do a lot of solo episodes, and I record them often literally in my closet. And often post workout because I have really high energy. So I'm in my sports bra, I'm disgusting. I don't put on YouTube, I just recorded my closet. But I have to be able to picture someone, and what it is that she's navigating through so that I can feel as if I'm talking to her. So while my podcast has, you know, 6 million plus downloads, and it reaches, you know, 100 Couple 100,000 people a month, it's, it's, I don't think about that audience I think about only Ashley, which is by avatars name. And I think about her stage of life. And I think of what she might be struggling with. And I can picture her so vividly, that it helps me show up because I'm consistent, because I feel like I've got a relationship with her. And it sounds weird. But it's been really, really powerful for a lot of the podcasters that I've even helped in this space to kind of figure out who that is. And then to remind yourself that it's a long game. And a lot of times people get caught up in Oh, I don't want to start a podcast because it's so saturated. But the actual stats are this there are 2.3 million podcasts. But in the last 90 days, less than half of those podcasters have released an episode and of that chunk. Less than half of them have released more than 10 episodes. So if you've released more than 10 episodes in the last 90 days, you're in the top 20 seconds technically 27% of podcasts that are actually active, there's only 27% of the total amount of podcasts that are active. So if you know who you want to serve, and you know why you want to serve them and you've got this long term mindset of the type of community that you want to build, or how this can funnel into your business or what type of brand you want to build. And you think about that very consciously straight out the gates. That's the separator. Most people just aren't consistent because they don't know why they're doing it or who they're doing it for. But when you know those two things, it's like, watch out world. It's the best. I mean, I'm so biased, but it's the best platform because everybody's on the go. You're like, the audio platform is huge.
Mary Harcourt 30:25 Take Me To Church. That was such great advice. I agree with everything you said, you also offer a podcast course correct?
kacia ghetmiri 30:33 Yes, I have two programs. One is for women that want to start podcasts. And it takes you from idea to launch in four weeks, we do it in a cohort, because I'm really big. Everything in my business is about community, because I just think it's better when we're together. So we do we have like self paced content. And we do zoom calls in between. So you get tons of support and like a built in hype squad. And then I also work one on one that feeds into a group with existing podcasters that want to grow, scale and monetize. And we talk a lot about sponsorship and programs and products. It's got a little bit of a business coaching aspect to it. But I do not want to be a business coach. So I keep it for just podcasters.
Mary Harcourt 31:11 So what can you say if someone's listening in because I do have a lot of listeners that have their own podcast, and it's great, we all kind of talk together and see how we can learn and grow, what are some things they can do to increase their visibility.
kacia ghetmiri 31:22 So number one that I see a lot of podcasters do and this is so simple, which is why I want to start with this is often they give so many calls to action that nobody does any of them. It's like leave a review, subscribe to my show, share it with your best friend, tag me on Instagram stories. I'm like, You just told me to do five things I'm driving, or I'm unloading the dishwasher, I'm doing zero of those things. Versus I personally think that the aspect of social proof, like share it on Instagram stories, and tag me is the most beneficial of all. But if you give a call to action in your show, and you explain why they should do it, there's so much more inclined to do it. And I've tried this I have 40 plus episodes. Now I've tried this plenty different variations. And whenever I say like just so you know, podcasting, like sounds cool, but I'm technically by myself recording this episode literally sitting in my closet. So although I picture us like we're girlfriends chatting over spicy margaritas, I actually don't know if you like it unless you tell me. So if you take this on Instagram Stories, then I can thank you. But also I can just get to connect with you. And when you give people the why behind the singular, CTA, they're so much more likely to show up. And I mean, I haven't spent $1 of advertising ever on anything I've ever done, including my podcast, it's been 100% organic reach, because of Sarah telling Mary, you know, whatever, like it just like increases like that. So I think that's huge is just that's so simple. And then on top of that, the other thing that I see a lot of podcasters don't think about is what is the community feel like for me I mentioned with empower her. The idea is it's a come with me, let's figure this out together podcast. And the positioning that I have is side by side, right. So so what is the feel of your community? And how would you want them to explain it to their girlfriends? So when I get instagram tags of people on videos, and you have to listen to indications podcasts, it's called Empower herds. It's a come with me kind of show it kind of feels like you're having a spicy Margarita with her. I'm like, use your you got it. Like that's exactly what it is. And I think sometimes we want to like specify this niche and get so granular, but it's really like, what is the feeling? And then what's the positioning? My positioning is we're girlfriends chatting over spicy margaritas. So I am assuming that you're fun, and you're social and you want to like have a chat with a girlfriend. And it feels like that on the show versus for some people listening. If you want to position yourself as an expert, that is for sure needed. Experts are needed. Teachers are needed. I'm more preacher, girlfriend style. So it's kind of knowing what do you want your audience to feel? Like? Do you want to be the one leading them giving them step by step like this is what you should do? From my experience? I'm helping you just get started or whatever. Awesome. No that so they actually know how to then explain it. And it's then organically it just grows. So well. I mean, still to this point three and a half years. And I personally answer all of my personal DMS on Instagram, when someone takes it for the first time and they're in the message request section. I'll send them a voice note and it takes like 15 seconds, you know, whatever, you know, hey, Chantal, thank you so much for taking the podcast. I appreciate you let me know like what you vibed with most about it, that goes so far. And I that would be the last thing that I ever outsource would be my own DMS because I love it so much because then I have a good pulse on my audience to
Mary Harcourt 34:41 amazing advice. It's so true. I always answer my DMs to I feel like that's like an extension of you and it's really hard to outsource an extension of you. And then I also think when I'm speaking somewhere and someone comes up and says oh my god, I can't take a picture with you. I just want to hug you I listen to your podcast. I wrote you one time and you wrote back I don't want to be like oh he Did I want to be like, Yes, you did. I remember our conversation that is so powerful.
kacia ghetmiri 35:06 And it's a way to skill intimacy too. Because as your audience and your community grows, it's figuring out, like, how can I still connect with them and feel like we're in this together, which if that's the positioning, and that's the feeling that you want your community to have you want your podcast to have, then you can't outsource this stuff that actually feels intimate. And I think a lot of people want to get that off their plate first, and to each their own of what feels aligned for you. I just want you to live in a live life, whatever that is. But for me, it's just never that would be the literally the last thing that I would ever outsource. I would never outsource it. To be honest, I just don't see myself doing that.
Mary Harcourt 35:41 I love it. Well, your name, the name is awesome. The name and power her is it's just I think that's also why you've grown so quickly. How did you come up with that?
kacia ghetmiri 35:51 I knew it was going to be for women. And I knew I wanted it to be like empowerment style. And I thought about it big picture brand. I was like, Oh, if we ever did events, we could do empower her live, which is ironically what our events called, I like to think of things that you can branch off of, because I'm so multi passionate, so I felt like it was a very good foundational name that I could then turn into a lot of different silos. And so like we have our, like, empower her podcast cord, you know, so like, we can kind of branch off of it. And I actually originally wanted to call it and power her, like, pow, like, Pat like, give her like a and then one of my girlfriends was like Keisha, I love you. But that is literally the worst name. Because it sounds like you're like punching someone. I was like, oh, yeah, that's actually what I wanted. I just wanted it to feel spicy. And so then we settled on the power.
Mary Harcourt 36:39 What are some things that you hope that the people coming to your live event? They partake in take home graphs, or other topics you talk about? Is there a theme for the entire event? How does that work?
kacia ghetmiri 36:51 So I brought in seven keynote speakers that had been super impactful in my life that I know can add a ton of value to the community, but within the whole, through so it starts on Friday night with a live podcast, spicy Margarita, welcome night, which is going to be like, it's going to be like if a carnival and a farmers market and a cocktail party had a baby. Okay? So like, there's gonna be some cool booths, like with brands that I'm obsessed with that are giving free stuff. It's really interactive. But then there's lots of opportunities for women to connect throughout the event. Because I want people to feel really inspired and really motivated and excited and leave feeling passionate about their life and that they feel like they're capable. But I also want them to feel like they met girlfriends that can support them, whether they're local to them, or even just around the country. And honestly, even like worlds, because I just think that if you've got people that can help route you on and you can support each other. That's the secret sauce. And a lot of the women that are coming, it's like some of them are even coming alone. Like I need more people like this physically around me. And I need to connect people. So I don't feel like I'm weird. Like, I don't feel like I'm not capable. Because when you have people that you can borrow, believe from and pour belief into two, I just know that that is a game changer. And so I wanted to curate an experience that's going to have people feel really connected. And I think that's what we all really crave as humans, especially after, like the last couple years have been so wild. Like we want to feel like we're seeing and we're heard and we're understood, and we're loved or supported, and we're connected, and we're excited. So it's gonna be super fun to because I'm an Enneagram seven, and I like to just dance, and
Mary Harcourt 38:26 you have more energy than all of us combined. So you're it's gonna be great. It's so interesting that you mentioned people go there by themselves. And I find it funny that people think that's even weird. I'm a loner I do a lot by myself. And I'll tell you why. If you know that's where you want to be, then in my opinion, get yourself there because everyone else may slow you down or talk you out of it. Or I never listened to those people I just showed up at the events going I'm here because I'm I know I wanted to be here. And I feel like your your grasp, you're just open to so much and the right people come in your life. And I've made lifelong friends from showing up at events or vacations or going traveling by myself showing up by myself knowing I have to get myself here the rest will work itself out. And those were some of the closest people that I've ever interacted with in my life. And it makes me so thankful that I didn't waste that time with somebody that's no longer part of my life because I had to have a buddy. It's like just get yourself there and the right people will come into your life and it's so empowering and so just a strong character build I feel like when you know you have to go do something you want to do it you can't wait to do it and you're not waiting for others. You're just showing up here like those people it's like a magical potion that happens of you know, you want to be there and everything else will just fall in place.
kacia ghetmiri 39:47 Yeah. I think like anything you don't know what you don't know until you start and I'm really grateful for that. But I also have recognized I'm really resourceful. Like and I think Like, it's like reminding yourself of the things when you're when you're doing something new, or when you're just feeling really stretched, or reminding yourself of your own strengths. It's been such an interesting reflection to my own self, of like, you can figure things out. Like, I've known that intuitively I have a lot of like inner confidence. But I'm also realizing, when I'm, when something comes up, we're like, oh, do I know a brand? Do I have a connection to someone that can help me get connected with this, because I really want them to be part of this, like, yeah, and then I can get on a zoom call, and I'm, like, pitching myself to something. And I'm like, This is why it's gonna be so awesome. Like, I it's, it's reminding me that I'm resourceful. And it also reminds me that I have to be resourceful. And that when your vision is really big, you cannot do it on your own. And I love having a vision that's really big, because I've been able to generate, you know, a substantial amount of income when I was doing even my business by myself, like I was able to, you know, get to a great point, but my vision is so much bigger. So I literally am incapable of doing that on my own. And I love that feeling. So I've gotten really freaking good at asking for help. And I've reframed it in my head. And I feel like this can be helpful for some women, that listening that maybe struggle with asking for help is, I remind myself that it feels so good to help someone or to have someone that reaches out to me like Keisha. The way that you showed up for me in this way was was so helpful, I'm so grateful for you, I felt so supportive, whatever, well, if I don't ask other people to help me that it would love to help me, I'm actually robbing them of the joy and the fulfillment that comes from getting to help someone else. And there are so many people that are in our lives right now that really do actually want to help us, but they can't help us if they don't know what we need help with. And I just like to take the responsibility of like, I'm not gonna rob people of getting to be part of something like this, that's so cool. And the the people that I've enrolled into this, from a volunteer perspective, from brand perspective, people that have reached out to me like, this is awesome. I'm so excited about it. And I'm like, enthusiasm is contagious. So I want to give that opportunity to other people. But I mean, a lot of just like, women don't often talk about the money side of things with hosting events. So what I'm actually going to do is after we launch after we do the event, and we have all the numbers of everything, how much everything cost, and what went into it in the process that was made. I'm going to do a whole podcast episode talking about the actual line items to as much degree as I can. Because how do you know how much to ask a sponsor for? Like, I have so many women that have done events? They're like, Oh, yeah, case, you could get, you know, a couple $100 You get a few 1000 that, like it's all over the place. And I just feel like transparency is always needed. So I've learned a lot about financials, and I wasn't really expecting, I don't know why I wasn't really expecting that I learned about that, but and brand partnerships and things like that. But yeah, I'm just pumped, honestly, I've just learned like, this is very aligned, you know, when you're doing something you're like, let's go. I just get excited thinking about it.
Mary Harcourt 42:51 I'm excited. I think it's great. I'm gonna back up to where you said, ask for help. Because as you said, some women have a problem asking for help, I was ready to chime in and say, let me tell you how I think of help. We've all been in a situation where something happens, you've offered help, or maybe you didn't, and then you found out later that day or after they left or whatever, that that person really needed something. And that feeling of like, I could have helped if I just would have known I would have, I would have helped. We've all had that feeling of like, I could have done something I would have done something like that would have made me feel really good. Like you mentioned, I would have connected the dots. For me. That's the feeling of when I think oh, I have to ask for help. It's like, you know what, there's someone on the other side of that, wishing they knew what I needed help with if they can be the person to help. It's connecting the dots. Sometimes it feels weird to be like, oh, I need help. But you can't look at it. Like, oh, what was me, I'm in this weird place. It's like, Hey, this is what I'm putting on the table. Because I know what it feels like when I wish I could have shown up for someone else. And I'm not going to let that what you said, I'm not going to take that away from someone. So just, it's taking all the shame away. There's no shame in asking for help. And saying, Hey, I have this positive, amazing opportunity. Would you like to do anything to join me? And people are always in to say, yes, thank you in the back of their head. They're probably like, I'm so thankful you asked me I'm so glad I could help. It makes a human feel good. When they can offer something that lightens their day, it brightens their heart, you know, it's like such a good thing. And I don't know why there's such a negative spin on asking for help sometimes, but if we can break that down and make it into a more positive thing, I am here for it. So you mentioned before this is out of your comfort zone, it's your first time I think you're gonna kill it, you're gonna do great, but what have been some of the learning lessons you've learned as you put on a live show?
kacia ghetmiri 44:40 Not in terms of things that I have. I just want to remind people that like, being you is the secret sauce of all of this because I know it sounds really fluffy. But the thing that's been most beneficial for me as an entrepreneur, is to crank up the volume constantly on just being For myself, like the person that I am behind closed doors, when I'm with my significant other, or my best friends or whatever, like being that person is, like all the time, and it feels so good. And I think often we want to hide, what we perceive is our flaws or our quirks, we want to hide them and give this perception of us being these like perfect people that perfect is completely up to interpretation. And I just don't want to see women holding themselves back and not showing up as the fully expressed version of themselves. Because I truly believe to my core, that part of the reason that we're gifted the vision that we have on our heart for our life and our businesses. And what we want to do here is to go do it, to give back to the world but to also show another woman what's possible for her to because there's someone right now, that needs to see someone in your exact situation, your exact circumstances, your you know, if you someone listening to this, you're struggling with postpartum depression, you've got two kids and you also have this beauty business or whatever it is, like, they need to see you go for it. So they can borrow, believe from you and say like, if she can do it, I sure as hell can too. And I think when you let yourself carry a little bit of that weight on your shoulders, it actually can be a really powerful like motivator and fuel source to get you going or keep you going when life throws curveballs, and it feels really hard. And I think that's something that I've always wanted to be an example of, is I want to be someone who's really passionate, and I want to normalize changing your mind. And I also want to normalize that, like, you can be messy, and it still works out because I'm like all over the place. And I don't hide that by trying to look super polished. And like I always have my ish together, because I'm not inspired by someone that's faking it. So I'm not going to be that example. And I know that like, women can look at me, and it's like, She's weird. And she's like, super awkward, and all of her videos, and she's like, wow, like, as all this energy. If she can do it, then I can do it too. So to anyone listening into this, like that can be a real powerful fuel source for you, is just to remind yourself that it's not just about you. It's about the other woman who needs to be inspired by you taking action. So you're doing it for you. But you're doing it for her to you know,
Mary Harcourt 47:07 I love that. That's so great. I, I love strong women, I love real women. And I think they are the key to everything because you are real, like your realness will inspire someone else that their day is just fine. Or that wow, they can do it. So can I or this just happened to me and I don't know how to deal but you know what, she's doing really good with it. And I'm gonna be inspired by her to keep doing better. And it's it's magnetized. I feel like everyone picks up on it and it spreads. So I love your energy. I love that you're a strong woman, you're helping other women figure things out with this, empower her with your podcast with the event. I think it's great. So congratulations on getting you to where you are and looking at how many women you've been able to help. And I think it's all just such a great roundabout community that you started. And who knows where it's gonna go from here.
kacia ghetmiri 47:55 Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I'm so happy we got to connect. Thank you for having me.
Mary Harcourt 48:01 Where can everyone go find you?
kacia ghetmiri 48:03 My favorite platform for social media is Instagram. So it's at Keisha K ACA dot get married GH ETM. IRI I have a really tricky name. So here we are. But come find me. And then yeah, empower her podcast is my my other favorite way to actually connect with people. And then everything else is at Keisha, get married.com, including the event courses, all this stuff. But thank you again, Mary, I appreciate you.
Mary Harcourt 48:28 Yeah, and I'm just gonna end it with this. What is a piece of advice you have for women who may just want to start something new and don't know how to take the first step?
kacia ghetmiri 48:36 Ask yourself, What can I do in the next 24 hours to take action, and know that even a small step still is going to get you there, because direction is actually a lot more important than speed. And my like, my perception of it is like we often get caught up in like, say it's I want to run a marathon. And people start freaking out about the marathon training. And like most people listening into this can probably not run a full marathon tomorrow. But you can find one in your city and sign up for it. So what can you do in like a tiny little bite sized 24 hour from now chunk, because you need that dopamine hit, you need that confidence deposit in your confidence bucket, you need to take that action so you can get clarity, but also so you can prove to yourself that you're the type of person who does the thing that you said that you're going to do. So let's get that that right now. Rather than waiting to collect all the information for us to feel ready, because you might never feel ready. And I don't want you to look back with regret. So like 24 hours from now, what can you do, you can reach out to someone on LinkedIn, you can reach out to them on Instagram, you can pay for the course you can sign up for the event. You can do the whatever, right? There's so many things you can do. Or am honestly maybe you can have the tough conversation that you know you need to have. Or you can enroll somebody into your vision because you feel as if they don't get it but it's because you didn't explain it to them. Right. It's like what can we do just to get that quick hit. That's the secret sauce for me at least.
Mary Harcourt 49:56 I feel like this is gonna empower a lot of women to go and take that First step you heard it is all you have to do is 24 hours and make progress. So thank you so much for being a part of today and I wish you the best of luck on all your ventures. That wraps up today's episode. For more information on our guests. You can find them at Mary harcourt.com under the episodes tab. You can always find me on Instagram at Mary Harcourt underscore and at the cosmic glow light. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and many more to come
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