Kiley Peters Explains Why A Solid Team is So Important

She shut down her first business, but when she started a new one with Rayne IX, she kept the most important part: her team. Realizing that she wasn’t going to continue her digital agency, Peters began a new journey into coaching and consulting. And, she knows that the reason she is able to now pursue her passion project - is due to her incredible staff. Listen in as Kiley Peters discusses with Be Helpful Podcast host Gboyega Adebayo all things “no I in team” - related.

Are you an entrepreneur, start-up, or business owner with a great founders story? Follow this link to get featured.

FULL AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

0:01

foreign today I have Kylie Peters uh she's a

0:07

Serial entrepreneur who's currently on a mission to help one million women Achieve Financial Freedom and build more

0:14

fulfilling lives with the 100 Collective uh she's currently she currently runs rain nine an executive consultancy for a

0:22

women's and small business owners and recently intentionally shut down her business which was a digital content

0:28

strategy agency brainchild Studios uh so I'm really interested in diving into that

0:33

um and then lastly she has her own podcast um ironically on the same topic so I was

0:39

very giddy when I met you because it's cool to meet your your kind of people um called Welcome to Aloma it's a it's a

0:46

great listen Kylie how's it going oh it's going well going real well thank

0:53

you so much for having me on the show no no problem no problem all right we're gonna we're gonna start with the fun

0:58

question um that I I got I'm pretty sure it was Adele I guess from previous season that

1:04

gave me this question but I love it what did you want to be growing up

1:09

oh my gosh uh this might be the entire uh interview

1:15

um I wanted to be everything honestly uh what did I want to be growing up

1:20

I specifically remember being in sixth grade thinking I wanted to be an architect

1:27

um I think I realized that that required way more math than I wanted in my life

1:32

um I also was like in a phase where I like doodled like I would draw I drew a lot I was

1:39

like an artistic kid but I would draw uh like these women

1:44

because I wanted to draw what they were wearing so I thought I was going to like do fashion which I'm very not a

1:51

fashionable person so that was definitely never going to be the path for me

1:57

um you know I I my mom had us always creating things and selling it so I

2:03

think entrepreneurship was in my blood before I even knew what that meant you know she used to sew for a friend of

2:10

hers and then I sewed for her for the friend of hers

2:15

um but yeah I wanted to be all kinds of things I mean I get I think

2:21

if you probably ask my mom that question she would be like oh yeah here's six more things that Kylie wanted to be

2:27

um but I can tell you that entrepreneur was never one of them mostly because I didn't have any idea what that was

2:35

um growing up and oh for a period of time uh I did what we called media

2:41

studies in high school this was before like all content was digitized I mean I

2:46

was like out there making legit music videos with a huge ass uh VHS like

2:54

camera recorder on my shoulder um with like VHS tapes and then like

2:59

digital tapes and then like and then I would be in the editing Studio edit star edit stop and like this massive like

3:07

editing board that that's the world that came from and so I remember graduating high school and I was like oh I'm going

3:14

to make a career out of making music videos because that would be super fun

3:20

um yeah I don't think I have the heart and soul for that either uh but that was

3:25

a thing that I explored for a long time I felt madly in love with advertising space which is where I thought I was

3:31

going to start my career which I didn't um but yeah lots of things I don't think I

3:37

would say like I ever wanted to be a scientist or an engineer or anything like

3:43

that um architect is probably the closest that it comes but yeah I'm uh I love

3:50

life I'm curious so I've always been interested in lots of things that's a fun question to start off with I like

3:56

that thank you I I absolutely love that question thank you shout out to Adele

4:02

um yeah mine's mine's simple I wanted to be a basketball player I always knew I wanted to be in business okay but it was

4:08

primarily I wanted to be a basketball player that then turned into Magic Johnson who would then be a Hall of

4:16

Famer with this big business Empire but I I retired at 17. so

4:22

[Music] [Laughter] um that's funny you say that because

4:28

um so I went to undergrad at Marquette University and I luckily got tuition remission because my dad worked there uh

4:36

and I bring this up because um I had the opportunity to go get my

4:42

MBA for free had I gone straight after college undergrad but at the time I was

4:48

so committed to the fact that I would never be in business and I was so

4:54

committed to like I'm gonna be a creative in an ad agency I would never need my MBA that's stupid so I like I

5:03

threw away a free MBA and I'm still now years later paying the student loans on

5:09

the MBA I did get years later but I think it's so interesting how you know

5:15

the things that we were committed to or we were so committed against I really don't hold a lot of clout in in

5:23

the long run it's just like a moment in time exactly we have we have so many things

5:30

in common it's quite funny my mom also work for a university and I also had a student where I wanted to be an

5:35

architect so we'll have to die I will eventually I think I was in ninth

5:40

grade when I realized architecture wasn't for me but um I think it was those AutoCAD classes that weren't so fun

5:47

um well you made a lot further than I did I was just like I have I think I actually still no I know I still have

5:53

this in sixth grade I think sixth grade was like pivotal pivotal architect moment for me I had mapped out what I

6:01

thought my dream house would be and I did my best to put like all of the measurements for every single room and

6:08

everything in it I also mapped out like the prospective names of all five children that I wanted to have and all

6:15

of their horses and all of their goldfish which all had names and dogs um apparently I wanted to live on a farm

6:22

um and ironically my dream house was like the house that I was living in because I had no other context

6:31

um but yeah that was like the epitome of my architecture career uh and and that's

6:37

all I've got and it was all down here from there well to wrap up our rant on architecture in

6:44

our childhood dreams I did build my my dream house in The Sims I was a very

6:49

very interesting I was like wait a second what I love that we got into Roller Coaster

6:55

Tycoon a lot as uh as kids yeah that was a good one

7:00

all right well you you at least the answer also answered the second question which is kind of uh where did this idea

7:08

of Entrepreneurship come from you know you didn't really know what it was but you were kind of entrepreneurial by

7:14

Nature so my question becomes at what point did you decide you know what I

7:19

want to start my own business at what point did I decide to be an entrepreneur once I knew there was a

7:25

name for it uh yeah no because I did I spent a lot of my

7:30

um life building things and selling it you know I think that's one of the things I love most about entrepreneurship is you build something

7:36

from nothing and it's like oh my gosh I made this thing wow that's crazy that didn't exist before

7:41

um uh when did I decide I wanted to do it so I built my career in marketing

7:50

um I started out in San Diego that I spent nearly a decade in Chicago and I worked at a lot of different places I

7:56

never actually celebrated a two-year anniversary at any job because I always moved on before then don't judge you

8:04

know don't judge I was just out there to like gather experiences um but uh in the last job that I had

8:11

working for somebody else um you know I look I had been employed

8:17

by so many different types of organizations I've been employed by agencies by ad tech companies

8:23

in-house client side large companies small companies I'd worked with a lot of you know everybody in between

8:30

um and in the work that I was doing I had this moment where I was like I need a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection

8:37

that's what I need to do my job why am I spending two hours a day commuting on

8:43

the nasty L of Chicago uh doing like nothing you know and like

8:51

wasting time and then like why does it matter what I'm wearing it doesn't I need a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection you

8:58

know like I was some of the women that I worked with were like just so beautiful and fashionable and all these things and

9:04

I was like I just want to wear yoga pants and a black T-shirt and I want that to be fine you know um so when I

9:10

realized like these were the only tools that I needed to actually do the work that I was currently doing and being

9:17

paid to do I was like well I feel like there's maybe a better way I could do this and so I've been freelancing since

9:25

I was like 18. so since I was 18 I I started like I started learning graphic

9:31

design for any graphic designers out there um on Adobe Illustrator 9

9:36

uh they're now on like Adobe Creative Suite I don't know like 47 I have no

9:43

idea what they're on now but it was like old school so I started dabbling and teaching myself graphic design and then

9:50

by the time I was 18 I got my first freelance paid gig

9:55

um and so from there it was like okay well I've been kind of doing freelance

10:00

stuff on the side for a long time and then I went corporate and I worked in all these jobs right and then it was

10:07

kind of like this perfect combination of like I just think I could do this better and

10:13

that's not to cast shade on any like past employer it was just that I

10:18

thought I could do it in a better way that would support the things that I believed in because I also found that a

10:25

lot of the entities I was working for you know like with any business and and it's fair to say that like I was in the

10:31

digital marketing space so I found that people who say new social media would

10:36

say you should buy social media because social media is important for your business and it's like okay sure that's

10:43

one part but like what about SEO and what about search engine marketing and what about uh your website and what

10:49

about this strategy and that strategy and you know it's like you're only selling the one thing that you know how to do and that's not fair and that's not

10:55

right to the that's not right you know so for me I was like I think because I

11:01

have such a holistic background in this space I can launch an agency doing the thing that I know and so I launched

11:08

brainchild studios in September of 2016. uh doing the thing that I know which is

11:13

how a lot of business owners become business owners is they ask people to

11:18

pay them to do the thing that they know and then I often tell people I'm like okay well congratulations you're a

11:24

business owner now now you get to choose if you want to continue to do the thing that you know or you want to manage people

11:30

yep and it's very difficult line to do both it's not impossible and it depends

11:38

on what you want but it's definitely a decision you have to make or at least that's been my experience so

11:44

that that was a very long-winded response I do apologize um but that's when I decided to do my

11:51

own thing I you know one thing that irks me is uh we've got kids coming out of

11:56

school right now and they're like oh well I'm gonna ask to make a hundred thousand dollars because now I have a

12:02

YouTube channel or like somebody should just pay me to do this thing so it's like with all due respect sweetheart you

12:08

have no idea what you're doing like you have no idea why should anyone pay you to do the thing that you are you

12:15

don't know what you're doing so I say that with um I say that delicately you know uh

12:22

because I spent a long time working for a lot of different types of organizations big and small Etc and I

12:29

did freelance on the side and then for me it just became a you know a certain Perfect Storm where I had the resources

12:37

I needed and the opportunity to do so and I started my own agency and it was

12:43

um virtual from day one which was actually something that I for a long time felt like I couldn't actually tell

12:49

people because at that time you know now we're postcovid or I think we're post

12:55

coven I don't know um but this was 2016. and when you said to people oh you know no I don't have a

13:01

physical brick and mortar location I have a PO Box that you can send mail to

13:07

and me and my team operate off of our laptops no matter where we are people are like oh you're not serious I can't

13:13

trust you right it's like crap I can't tell people all the things

13:19

I'll just omit pieces you know like we can still do the job we can do the job

13:24

we'll do a great job yeah so that was that was the whole thing when I first got started

13:31

well I I love it and I I love the fact that you know you had this feeling of I think

13:38

I can do it better and like I've already seen it work in freelancing so just give

13:43

it a shot like that that's that that's really cool so another one of the questions I ask every guest um I'm gonna

13:50

tailor it slightly for you um because we have two businesses that we're going to talk about today

13:55

could you compare your first actions but between brainchild and Ray nine oh

14:04

yeah for sure um brain bracelet no idea what I was doing and I

14:09

blindly followed advice from a myriad of people

14:15

um and I went all in right away you know I would generally speaking never recommend for anybody to quit their

14:21

full-time job and start entrepreneurship and like expect to pay

14:26

your bills right away but now that I'm saying that I that's exactly what I did that's exactly what I

14:33

did it was not a good idea either and I don't recommend I stick by my my do as I

14:38

say not as I do um so I I did that you know um and the very first thing that I did

14:45

there was we found the name found the name uh figured out the logo and all

14:51

that kind of stuff you know all the basics of how you get going um at the time found an attorney and an

14:57

accountant to help me get started um and it was a lot of

15:03

um I think the greatest challenge I ran into with brainchild when we first got started was

15:09

just like nobody knew who I was nobody like why would I trust you with anything which is fair like I hadn't earned that

15:16

yet you know so that caused a whole slew of issues now when I look at the first steps of starting Ray nine I actually

15:23

started rain nine in February of 2021 and I started it I had similar steps

15:30

like I had to find the name created the logo but I launched Ray nine because I

15:36

was given in the opportunity to launch a passive Revenue source and I needed it to be under this new brand not under

15:42

brain child Studios and so it was all very expedited So within Let's see we launched I started the company like

15:49

filed paperwork in February and by June I had names the company

15:57

filed the paperwork done the logo done the brand book built a website launched built a program launched a program

16:02

designed the workbook and all that was done by June so that's not a typical timeline either

16:11

but the difference is that I had so many resources available to me now you know

16:16

so I I knew who my designer was going to be I had copywriting support I had a Dev

16:22

team that could help me build it out I had my accountants I had my attorneys I had all of those people now I will say

16:27

that I did forget how much crap it takes to start the very very beginnings of a

16:34

business you know like when you have literally nothing like no infrastructure no Google Drive folders no anything set

16:41

up I was like oh this is I forgot how hard this is even though

16:47

like I've built a program like I built the starter kit to help people like launch their businesses I forgot how

16:54

much work it is to really just like get through the admin crap um but yeah I'd say you know I

17:01

definitely it was a a solid 18 month ramp up in starting Ray nine as uh

17:08

as I kind of you know wound down brainchild uh this time around and when

17:14

I started brainchild I quit my full-time job and then that that company ended up

17:20

becoming my very first client um but it was a a different ramp up

17:26

period different resources available I had somewhat of an idea of uh knowing

17:31

what to do versus relying on everybody else to tell me how to manage things

17:37

exactly and the stress of what do you what do you put a lot of your focus on

17:42

what do you spend time on whereas this time around you're just like yeah that's not actually a big deal that's that's something I need to focus on

17:49

um and I will say two we had already built a lot of systems with brainchild that I could easily copy over you know

17:56

so it was like first acknowledging okay those are the systems we need but also they like 90 already exist so let's just

18:02

bring those over here and tweak them a little bit so that was helpful yeah so so I want to

18:08

dive a little bit into the shutdown of brainchild you have this this agency

18:14

that is successful um you do want to Pivot and so my first

18:19

question really is how did you think through the decision of

18:25

actually cutting it down because that seems again you put in what four five six

18:32

years of work and you're gonna shut it down like that's terrifying what went into that

18:37

decision a lot um a lot that was that decision

18:44

definitely was not made lightly um in July of

18:50

2020 I started working with a coach and

18:55

um and for any entrepreneur out there like I absolutely recommend I mean for anybody but especially entrepreneurs

19:00

coaches can be magic makers um

19:06

but I started working with a coach and I started working with her because I wanted to level up my leadership skills I was like I think my team is asking me

19:12

to be a better stronger leader this is why I'm engaging her and uh she's

19:18

amazing and I'm still working with her now um but in that journey of working with

19:24

my coach and getting clearer on like what I wanted what I didn't want I started to realize in

19:33

um probably starting about April of 2021 like I don't want to do this anymore and

19:41

the the shitty thing as an entrepreneur like if you're working for somebody else

19:46

and you decide you don't want to do that anymore you give a two-week notice and then you leave and you go on to the next

19:52

thing when you are an entrepreneur and a business owner you don't get to give a two-week notice

19:59

like there's a lot more that goes into it um and so for me going through that

20:06

process I felt like very torn inside because I knew uh that I wanted to do

20:12

ray nine I knew I wanted to work with Women's small business owners but I also very much loved and was so

20:20

grateful for my team and my clients and and the recognition and everything that

20:26

we built with brainchild um and I felt that by making the decision to no longer continue

20:32

brainchild that I was failing everybody including myself and my family and my

20:37

team and I was just letting everybody down um and so that took a minute to get over

20:45

um and I I will also say that I had people at throughout that time that were like Kylie if if you don't want to do

20:50

this anymore that's okay and I didn't want to hear that at the time but I am grateful to them for saying it because

20:58

it did give me external permission not that I needed it but it was nice to hear

21:03

that I wasn't going to like devastate anyone which is like not that I think that my whole world not that I

21:09

think anyone's world would have come crumbling down you know upon the closure of brainchild but you know especially

21:15

when you have employees you are responsible for people's livelihoods and income and that of their family and it's

21:21

a lot of responsibility and so um it was a 2021 uh was just a

21:29

really tough year a really tough year like we had key people who um were

21:36

instrumental in the growth of the business uh not work out for various reasons

21:41

which was disappointing across the board you know um we had uh me personally I I was just

21:50

trying to figure out what I was doing in my life you know I was like what what do I want where am I going here um I said

21:56

yes to uh fractional CMO opportunity because I was like oh okay I'm building my team they're going to take it they're

22:02

going to run with it now I get to do more of the thing I want to do but I totally spread myself too thin and then

22:07

I was just like freaking out all the time working way too many hours not doing the job I wanted to across the

22:14

board um then feeling like resentful of having to justify how I was spending my time

22:21

um and I was like I'm the boss nobody gets to challenge me you know which is like that's not necessarily true

22:28

um but it was just a lot of things and uh come December of 2021

22:34

we had hired three full-time people and then I had to let two of them go because we weren't meeting the revenue numbers

22:40

that we needed to meet we operated at a loss for the first time in history because of those reasons and it was just

22:48

like a face palm moment of like what am I doing and then

22:53

um you know I went through a couple things personally and I was like I knew that so I I'm now married and my

23:00

husband and I hope to have a family and I was like okay if I'm gonna carry a baby at any point in time it's not going

23:07

to be in this body because this body is having heart palpitations and riddled with anxiety so something has to change

23:14

here because this is insane um and I actually had a pivotal moment uh with a coach of mine

23:21

who unfortunately actually just passed away um but I talked to him and I was bawling

23:28

just like I can't do this anymore it's not working like I don't want to shut it

23:35

down it's too important but I'm gonna drive myself crazy and he was like Kylie

23:41

just do the thing that you want to do it'll be fine it's like okay you know and so I took a

23:50

two-week Hiatus at the end of the year because we shot things down and like really did some soul searching and I was

23:56

like well I guess this is what we call a 12-month exit strategy

24:02

um and the first day of 2022 I told my team I was like or my employees I was

24:08

like this is my plan and I'd like you to come with me if you'll have me and there I found out

24:15

later there was like some slacking going on and some like quick text message and like are you gonna do are you gonna do

24:21

are you gonna do are you gonna go are you gonna go oh if you're gonna go I'll go you know it's like oh thanks guys

24:27

um and so we brought over the core team um

24:32

but I will say like I think the the pivotal breaking moment for me was that call with um his name is Craig

24:40

is like December I think it was like 12th maybe of 2020 whatever that Friday

24:45

was of 2021 and I got off that and I was just bawling and I was like and I have

24:50

to be done yeah that I want but it was very important to me to make sure that I did

24:56

it in quote unquote the right way or the best way that I possibly could because it was super important to me that we

25:02

made sure that one we not only needed to hit the revenue goals we needed to for

25:07

2022 so that everyone got paid and you know we could process payroll and stuff

25:13

um but I wanted to make sure that all of our clients were taken care of and that they all had transition plans in place so nobody felt like they were hung out

25:20

to dry I wanted to make sure that any contractors that were not coming with us were taken care of and like we were able

25:27

to help them supplement their revenue streams or get them new gigs Etc so it

25:32

was just really important to me that we made sure that we closed things down in the quote

25:39

unquote right way and I'm sure people can say like oh you did or didn't do a great job but I I feel looking back that

25:46

we did it the best that we could have done um and I will say that it was

25:52

it was a challenge because I did ask my team I was like you can't tell anybody about this for a couple of months because it was

25:58

just like we can't tell we can't let people know that we're closing down before we're

26:04

ready to tell them that we're closing down because we might not make payroll you know like

26:10

um and they were amazing and they I had one team member she's like can I tell my husband yet I was like oh you still

26:15

haven't told him and she's like no you said not to and I was like oh thank you you should tell him now though you know

26:22

he's like Now's the Time Now's the Time um but November 2nd of 2022 was the day

26:30

my podcast aired where we officially announced we are shutting down brainchild and that was the first I was

26:37

actually at a conference that day and as I was meeting people I was like

26:42

actually this is the first time I can say this out loud and it's been like two years in the making

26:47

I'm shutting down my agency and I'm going all in on this thing and it was this moment that like literally for

26:54

almost two years I felt like I had not been able to tell my truth

26:59

and November 2nd of 2022 was like Freedom day for me I get to finally like be totally honest

27:06

about everything that was really nice no that's that that's amazing that's amazing you bring up just so many

27:13

important and very kind of sailing points around you can't put in the two week notice especially if you got people

27:19

but you pay their salaries so that's a whole process and also a burden that

27:25

you've got to work through and and I'm as you were talking I had this image

27:30

where you're like doing the movie scene big

27:35

hey guys I'm leaving who's coming with me yeah kind of awkward pause and you're

27:42

just like yeah like Gary mcguiring it who's coming with me just kind of put you know it was

27:49

like less dramatic than that but yeah so that that that's awesome and and to

27:56

that point one of the questions that I didn't want to ask you um because you highlighted like the

28:01

importance of bringing your team with you right the core team and I want to

28:07

explore this idea or not even idea but this challenge that I think a lot of entrepreneurs have around finding

28:14

amazing talent and finding help and then nurturing that talent and growing them

28:20

so tell me a little bit about that journey of finding the right people

28:25

um and then building them up woof um I mean Buzz Buzz your girlfriend woof

28:33

uh yeah I know uh I've been like a broken record um saying that people matter most and

28:39

it's totally true uh my team is actually the biggest reason why I opted not to sell

28:45

brainchild and to shut it down instead because I knew if I were to sell I would have to sell my team and then I'd have

28:51

to find new team members which I didn't want to do because I spent six years hiring

29:00

dozens and dozens I mean I would love to go back and see how many people like I've interviewed you know

29:06

um and how many people we actually brought on whether they were a contractor or an employee like I've hired dozens and dozens and dozens

29:13

and dozens and dozens of people but I will say like right now Melissa

29:18

and Aaron are my two core employees and they've both been with me for over three years coming up in four years

29:25

and I have personal relationships with both of them Aaron used to be she was one of my very first students when I was

29:31

an Adjunct professor at Marquette and then we hired her as a contractor and then a part-time employee and then full-time employee and she's a godsend

29:39

um and then Melissa and I used to be friends when uh over a decade ago when I lived in Chicago and then

29:46

um she started off joining us as my executive assistant and then she worked her way into marketing manager and now

29:51

she's our marketing and engagement director with Ray nine and um it's just been an incredible

29:58

journey and you know it's also it's uh it goes two ways you know I think for

30:05

entrepreneurs we are challenged with being a leader and a manager because those are not the same things

30:13

um and if you build a big enough team maybe you don't have to be a manager and you're just a leader it depends

30:20

um but it also requires uh creating a psychologically safe space

30:25

for your team so that they have the freedom to voice what they need

30:32

like I I will say like multiple times over the last number of years working with both of them specifically

30:39

um like we've all been in conversations where we've been crying like

30:45

everybody but but we've created a safe space for that to be okay

30:50

you know and it was like either I was saying hey this is what I need from you or they were saying hey Kylie I need

30:57

this right now in order to keep my sanity in order to be okay like

31:03

Aaron at the beginning of last year she messaged she texted me the day the

31:08

Sunday before we like returned from break and she was like hi uh so I wanted to move to Florida but

31:17

can I keep my job it's okay if you tell me that I can't I'll totally say that's no problem I just thought I'd ask and I

31:24

was like okay well first I'd be a total if I told you no also I'd be a huge hypocrite because I built a virtual

31:30

company for this reason exactly we'll figure this out um but it was like I was so grateful

31:35

that she felt comfortable asking for what she wanted and even at the end of

31:40

last year like I ask a lot of my team I do um but I also am so grateful that they

31:46

have the strength and that we've created the space for them to step up and say

31:52

hey no I can't get that done today I can do it tomorrow but it's not going to

31:58

happen today or hey it's six o'clock and I'm I'm calling it a night okay great

32:04

good have a good night we'll see you tomorrow you know um and we've brought over a couple of

32:09

key contractors as well uh who have been with us for years

32:15

um and so and it's the same story there again it there's a lot that goes into finding

32:20

the right team members and I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on that but I think you have to well

32:27

from my experience you have to truly like each other and

32:32

um especially in a small business if you have like a family Feel Like We Do

32:37

we love each other like I freaking love my team so much and it's a giant Love

32:43

Fest and it's it's such a joy to bring any new person in and then then it's

32:50

also like you're kind of like crossing your fingers like okay two are you gonna love it are you gonna

32:57

love it we'll see you know like um because you have to love it you

33:02

really have to love it you have to love the work you're doing and I think part of um where I was going with like the

33:07

leader and the manager uh my team's roles have shifted over the

33:13

years whether that was based on what I needed them to do or based off of as we

33:19

got to learn more about what their strengths and weaknesses were it's okay to not be good at everything

33:25

but I think as a leader and a manager you're really failing yourself and your team when you don't acknowledge the

33:32

strengths of each team member and then create the opportunity for them to be

33:37

successful in their role and that will probably be uncomfortable and you'll have to have some challenging

33:44

conversations but getting really clear on what everybody's strengths are and then creating the opportunity for them

33:50

to succeed in that way is the greatest thing that you can do for yourself and your team and that's

33:56

something that we've we've talked a lot about um and I'm constantly asking the team like hey I understand you could do this

34:04

will you be happy doing this are you going to hate me for doing this like let's have the honest conversation and

34:12

I'm not always going to be able to give you the perfect job description but I'm

34:18

gonna do my very best and I we have this two-way conversation that says hey I'm

34:24

tapped out right now and I'm not the right person for this this we need somebody to fill XYZ seats you know or

34:31

take over these responsibilities it's like okay great give me some time

34:36

I'm on it just hold hold tight with me you know and I think I've done a pretty good job

34:42

I'm definitely not perfect by any means but you know we're we're getting there so uh again very long-winded answers

34:50

sorry uh but no this is the goal of your people that that would be my biggest thing is

34:56

like just take care of your people like we have gone through we've gone through weddings we've gone through deaths we've gone through babies

35:02

we've gone through houses we've gone through moves we've gone through lots of stuff

35:07

at the end of the day the thing that really matters most is the individual

35:13

so like when is hitting the fan have the honest conversation

35:19

and be a human about it set realistic expectations about like

35:25

okay but this is still a business and we still need these things to happen but I need you to be honest with me so that

35:30

ABC people can cover for you while you take the time you need you know like

35:37

just be human just be human and it goes so far

35:43

yeah you know you're you're spot on I I think um and I love the long-winded answers

35:48

unless I talk to better um we're here to learn from you

35:54

um no I I think and I think a lot of my time in the corporate world allowed me

36:00

to practice some of that leadership muscle I tell people all the time I'm a

36:05

much better leader than I am a manager it's just yeah I just know my church my no miners my strengths

36:11

um but what I've tried to consistently do with all of my teams over the years is

36:17

exactly what you said it's let's talk about what your strengths are let's talk about what you want to

36:23

develop what you want to do and what you want to get better at absolutely and then let's also acknowledge the things that it's probably not your strongest

36:29

suit okay cool can we create a team where all 10 of these tasks and

36:34

activities get done and everyone's happy because that's the balancing act and then we can create our own like look and

36:41

feel and culture and Vibe and say hey can I tap into that because I want to learn that's really the goal and

36:47

um you know thankfully throughout my career I've worked at big companies I have the resources to do that yeah now at a small startup I'm trying to figure

36:54

out okay with the three founders how are we going to do this and then when we bring on more team members how do we

36:59

keep this balance and this feel while still keeping this loving and supportive

37:06

environment at the same time it is often overlooked um challenge for entrepreneurs and it's

37:13

a huge Challenge and I think you bring up another good point you know for anybody coming from the corporate space

37:20

you're probably in small business for a reason you felt like corporate wasn't for you anymore and that's all well and

37:26

good um but the nice thing about corporate is the systems and structures that they and

37:31

resources that they do have you know so it's a very different place like the it

37:38

sounds beautiful and sexy and idealistic to build something from scratch and it is

37:43

but it's also a ton of work like it's like oh here's the you know the

37:50

plot of land now build me a mansion oh but you need a shovel

37:57

okay you have to sell something to get the shovel what do you have to sell you have to you know like

38:04

it's a barter system in a lot of ways for for a little while whereas corporate is like oh well here's the blueprint and

38:12

here is your team and here are the timelines you know you have all that and so I you know to entrepreneurs listening

38:19

I'd say just be gentle with yourselves because it is beautiful and it is sexy and it is

38:25

amazing and super rewarding but man it's a process it's a process

38:31

absolutely so so to the emotion piece and I want to talk a little bit about

38:37

um welcome to Aloma which listening to your intro I need to do an intro for the

38:42

podcast um I have to actually redo my intro but thank you but but it's it's really cool

38:49

because mine's a very I'm not creative so hey it's a be helpful podcast every book every entrepreneur's trying to help

38:56

um yours you kind of use the term for creating a space which I think is awesome and so

39:04

I'm curious as a podcast host who talks to entrepreneurs and kind of shares your

39:09

own Journey what entrepreneurial emotions that you've what entrepreneur let me

39:17

retake that one what entrepreneurial emotions do you see most common with your guests and also

39:25

within yourself entrepreneur motions

39:34

um all of them you know like I think this is an emotional Journey

39:40

I would actually be curious to talk to entrepreneurs who say that they have no feelings about entrepreneurship or like

39:46

very few I'm just curious as to how on Earth that is a thing

39:52

because I'd say the number one feeling I have probably witnessed is

40:01

um overwhelm you know everybody there's always like a thousand and one things to do and

40:07

everybody knows that and uh but the only people who really understand it are the other

40:12

entrepreneurs who also have a thousand and one things to do um yeah I'd say overwhelm is a big one

40:19

uh and the it to to go back to thank you for calling out the creating space like

40:24

the reason I did that was through my coaching what I realized I needed in order to be able to create and

40:31

build and process with space and so it's been a big very intentional

40:37

thing for me to create spaces for things to be thought through and

40:43

built and created Etc so the podcast is one space but um we talk about emotions

40:49

and the emotional space to process that

40:54

um I'd say overwhelm I'd say loneliness uh it's just so freaking lonely and I

41:02

every single entrepreneur I've talked to has echoed that um it's just lonely because nobody else

41:09

gets it except other people just like you and you're typically not like you don't live with you're not in a

41:15

relationship with other people that are doing the same thing some people are but like my mom dad sister husband best

41:23

friends they're not all entrepreneurs my sister is um some people's husbands might be but

41:30

not typically do you have like every single person surrounding you also that would be like a lot of type A

41:35

personalities like a lot um I say overwhelm loneliness

41:43

um but I'd also say hope

41:48

because I don't think we would do this work if we didn't believe that

41:55

the work we're doing mattered you know your podcast be helpful I've

42:00

never met one entrepreneur that when you ask like why did you start this thing and they were like oh well just to make

42:05

a shitload of money and I don't care who I step on in the process to get there no every single person I've talked to at

42:12

least says well I want to help people do XYZ I want to help make this thing better

42:18

you know it's always I want to help so I think you know you're spot on with it the title of this podcast

42:25

um so I think hope is a big one that we hope and we believe that the work that we're doing matters

42:32

no I those those are all spot on um my my three would also be

42:39

um lonely it's so freaking lonely um overwhelmed and then my third one

42:45

would probably say obsessed they're obsessed with it and they can't stop

42:52

until they they fix it yeah yeah and I would I would say

42:58

um you could probably Define these things but I obsessed and passionate might blur together

43:06

um I don't know what an entrepreneur that that can effectively stop thinking about their business

43:13

like it just never happened yes and you know what to be fair and compassionate to all of our significant

43:19

others and best friends out there who don't understand it's like like and I get it and you wouldn't understand

43:26

um and I don't have kids yet um but from what I hear you never stop

43:31

thinking about your children and it's like that you know you've birthed this thing that is in many ways

43:39

hopefully not forever but in many ways reliant on you to eat sleep and breathe

43:45

and it is your job to make sure that it is nourished and that it is cared for

43:51

that it is seen and it is heard and you are always thinking about how to make it better and how to improve it and how to

43:57

create a good life for it you know um and that doesn't stop because it's

44:02

five o'clock I think it just doesn't right um so yeah

44:08

I don't know where he's going to uh there's that no I know I think you're spot on because because my wife and I

44:14

joke um I had two babies in February of last year my son was born on the 8th and Yen

44:21

still launched on the 22nd okay so now it's just it's this obsessive thing and even even with you

44:29

know the podcast the podcast is a business in its own right and I am obsessed over that too it's it's

44:35

um when you when you had your post on LinkedIn about um feeling torn like it really resonated

44:41

because that's how I feel constantly I'm torn between okay it's Saturday and this

44:47

kid wants to crawl all over me and I want to play and I want to enjoy this moment yeah and I just need to grab a

44:52

pen because I'm thinking about something that I need to write down yeah

44:59

I I refund me without my phone because I

45:05

have very extensive like in the notes app of my iPhone I have very extensive folder structure

45:12

because that is where I'm like huh I have an idea but if I don't organize it

45:18

I'm never gonna find it again so I was like okay What entity does this go into and where does this go and does that

45:23

need to go into another notepad and blah blah blah okay got it you know

45:28

um I also do a lot of like verbal dictation so it's like I'm driving or something and I hold up my phone and

45:33

then you oh my favorite is when I do this when I ride my bike so for a little while I would like ride

45:39

my bike and put have in my headphones and then like have my phone like on my

45:44

handlebars and like I listen to an audiobook and then oh I get an idea so then like quick pause my audiobook I

45:51

swipe over to the notes app and then I'm riding my bike and I'm dictating I'm like these are my newest blog post ideas

46:00

and you have to like it nuts and it's like the wind is going by and then they're like people running and they're

46:06

like what is wrong with her and I'm like how do you define whatever it is you

46:12

know and it's just like I look like a crazy person um but yes gotta get those ideas out

46:18

because otherwise they're just gone yeah no I'm oh we are so similar it's

46:24

kind of terrifying I have so many folders in in Apple notes and then I mine is is pacing I'll just paste and

46:31

I'll just dictate to my phone yes it's so ridiculous yeah yeah I've been doing a lot of walks so if I'm not on my bike

46:39

and now I'm just walking and I'm like I gotta get a better dictation out because sometimes it just stops in the middle I'm like God what

46:45

were the last two sentences I said I don't remember

46:51

oh okay so I got one more question before we we dive into some of the quick hitters

46:57

um what would you say because I think this podcast journey is is an

47:02

exploration in it by itself I I call it uh I didn't get an MBA but this is my

47:07

version of the NBA this is my master class of learning from a bunch of different entrepreneurs so what would

47:13

you say was the the biggest lesson you've learned from podcasting and interviewing other business owners

47:20

um from podcasting and interviewing other business owners

47:27

um we are all just as similar as we are

47:32

different um so many people I've talked to have

47:38

similar struggles um but everybody has like a slightly

47:43

different take on things but there's situations you know it's like

47:48

the startups have the same problems that the people who have been in business for 10 years have they're just on a

47:54

different scale and the people who have been in business for 10 years just have more resources

48:02

than the startups do yeah you know so we are all just as similar

48:07

as we are different yeah so you're spot on it's it's the same problem the same challenge is just

48:14

a different perspective at a different scale you're absolutely right all right let's hit some of these these

48:21

fun ones um okay what are some what are some books that you recommend other entrepreneurs to read oh man

48:28

actually working on a list of this right now because I have so many

48:33

I want to give all my best ones I just built a library on the be helpful podcast website check it out

48:40

um but yeah it's a library of just all the books that guests have recommended

48:45

I love this okay oh man no pressure I gotta make sure I give good ones um books I've most recently been

48:53

obsessed with um who not how by Dan Sullivan the Gap

48:58

and the gain by Dan Sullivan think like a monk by Jay Shetty

49:04

um the widest net by Pamela slim also the body of work or your body of work by

49:10

Pamela Slim um

49:16

uh oh there was another one oh uh resonant leadership

49:23

was really good but I think it's Robert boyakis that one was really really good

49:30

uh oh my God I want to like I want to open my phone and look at my app right now to

49:37

tell me all the phone all the books I've read but I I feel like I want to make like a like a like a Kylie Wing like

49:44

like this is just all the books from Kylie I love it that's just the starting

49:49

point that's just the tip of the iceberg but those would be like you know what I'm gonna I'm just gonna I wanna make

49:55

sure I'm giving you all my best I got here um again in my notes app I have uh notes

50:01

from all the books that I read so I just want to make sure I'm giving you all my best ones um Alice of the heart was really good by

50:07

brene Brown not a business book but just like incredible how she breaks things down

50:12

uh uh oh for any speakers um the referable speaker by Michael port

50:19

and Andrew Davis that one's amazing if you're looking to productize your services productized by Aisha Armstrong

50:25

was really really good bye okay okay I think those are my best

50:31

oh well Greg McEwen effortless and essentialism are incredible as well

50:37

okay I'm sure I have more but I'll stop there I love it no I absolutely love that list it's amazing and you're gonna

50:43

see it in the library very soon okay um um okay what question should I ask the

50:50

next guest oh fun

50:55

um what question should you ask the next guest

51:01

ask the next guest

51:08

what their favorite vacation has been

51:14

now you have to tell us what your favorite vacation has been oh very sneaky

51:19

um oh man my favorite oh boy crap I didn't think that went through

51:25

um I'm gonna pick my uh my honeymoon which was my most recent trip

51:31

um the reason I said that I think you should ask your next person this is I think it tells a lot about people when

51:37

they talk about travel and like the experiences and what matters to them um which I don't know what this is about

51:43

to say about me but uh so I just went to the Amalfi Coast in Italy

51:49

um at the end of October of 2022 for my honeymoon and

51:54

um I definitely gained like six pounds from eating and drinking everything

52:00

um because that's one of my love languages um but it was just

52:06

beautiful like just stunning and the people were so kind

52:12

um again we ate so much uh but I loved it um and yeah we just we were on a lot of

52:19

different modes of transportation that was not my favorite part but it was just beautiful like just stunning

52:26

take to know that there are people that will never have that experience is very

52:31

humbling and to know that there are people who that's their daily experience is wild and to know that like centuries

52:39

ago there were like kings and stuff roaming around like it was just crazy

52:45

that's wild I love it I love it I love it all right and my last question

52:52

tell people all about your question more of a statement um tell people how they can learn more about you learn more about Ray nine and

52:59

also uh be part of the 100 Collective yeah

53:04

um well uh thank you for listening up until this point um you can find me on LinkedIn and

53:10

Instagram my handle is Kylie k-i-l-e-y Peters um rain9 is r-a-y-n-e-i-x.com

53:20

um that's also our handle for LinkedIn and Instagram and the 100 Collective is the period 100 period Co on Instagram uh

53:30

you can find us on LinkedIn as well um and the website will be the 100co.com

53:38

um and reach out find us and you can sign up for the wait list for the 100 Collective we are hosting a launch party

53:45

in February of 2023 and are very excited for the platform as a whole so looking

53:52

forward to building this community I love it Kylie thank you this has been

53:57

incredible and I'm sure we'll talk some more because we are um nerds of the same feather I love it

54:05

thank you so much for having me boyaga all right talk to you later all right take care