In this enlightening episode, Nika is thrilled to host Kate Kordsmeier, a dynamic and highly successful blogger. Recorded in 2020, Kate delves into her journey from the founder of Root + Revel to her current focus on Success with Soul and the 6-Figure Blog Academy.
She generously shares invaluable tips, tricks, and industry secrets that have propelled her into multi-six-figure earnings through blogging. Kate's approach is unique, emphasizing the importance of mindset work, holistic self-care, and sustainable, ethical business strategies without heavy reliance on social media. This episode is not just about where soul meets strategy, but how soul becomes the strategy in creating a profitable blog or business.
Whether you're a burned-out entrepreneur seeking to reclaim your time or someone aspiring to monetize your blog sustainably, Kate's insights offer a fresh perspective on achieving success with soul. Tune in to revolutionize your approach to business and blogging – Kate's story is a powerful testament to breaking the status quo and thriving in the digital world.
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*This podcast and its contents are for informational purposes only and are not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or a qualified health provider for any questions concerning a medical condition or health objectives. Additionally, the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every individual and are not guaranteed for business or personal success. Use discretion and seek professional counsel when necessary.
In this enlightening episode, Nika is thrilled to host Kate Kordsmeier, a dynamic and highly successful blogger. Recorded in 2020, Kate delves into her journey from the founder of Root + Revel to her current focus on Success with Soul and the 6-Figure Blog Academy.
She generously shares invaluable tips, tricks, and industry secrets that have propelled her into multi-six-figure earnings through blogging. Kate's approach is unique, emphasizing the importance of mindset work, holistic self-care, and sustainable, ethical business strategies without heavy reliance on social media. This episode is not just about where soul meets strategy, but how soul becomes the strategy in creating a profitable blog or business.
Whether you're a burned-out entrepreneur seeking to reclaim your time or someone aspiring to monetize your blog sustainably, Kate's insights offer a fresh perspective on achieving success with soul. Tune in to revolutionize your approach to business and blogging – Kate's story is a powerful testament to breaking the status quo and thriving in the digital world.
CONNECT WITH THE GUEST:
CONNECT WITH NIKA: https://mtr.bio/nika-lawrie
Instagram: instagram.com/biohacking4babes
TikTok: tiktok.com/@biohacking4babes
YouTube: youtube.com/@NikaLawrie
Facebook: facebook.com/biohacking4babes
SUBMIT A QUESTION OR REQUEST A TOPIC:
I would love to hear from you! Please record your question or topic request to be featured in a future episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/NikaLawrie
DISCLAIMER:
*This podcast and its contents are for informational purposes only and are not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or a qualified health provider for any questions concerning a medical condition or health objectives. Additionally, the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every individual and are not guaranteed for business or personal success. Use discretion and seek professional counsel when necessary.
Hey everybody, welcome to the show. I am super excited for my guest today and you are going to learn so so much because she is an amazing individual. So, Kate, welcome to the show. I'm so grateful to have you here.
Speaker 2:Thanks, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you're a writer, an educator, a creative entrepreneur, a wife, a mother. You've written for some of the biggest publications in the world, like Forbes, washington Post You'll say today Women's Health. I could go on and on. You were also the founder of Root Revel, a six-figure holistic blog, and recently you've also launched the Six-Figure Blog Academy and the Success with Soul podcast. A whole mouthful there. I have one question for you how do you do it all?
Speaker 2:Okay. So I know that this question is like women who do a lot of things are always asked this question, and I want to set the record straight that I don't do it all. I definitely don't do it all by myself. I have a team, I have an amazing partner who's incredibly supportive and helpful, and you know, I outsource everything from laundry to meal planning and like all the things. So, and you know, some days I'm a hot mess, like right now. I haven't washed my hair in a week. I'm in yoga pants. So, yeah, I feel like we need to stop celebrating women doing it all right, because it's too much. It is too much Doing all of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I think that's such a huge thing that's overlooked, so I'm actually really glad that you brought that up. Definitely, yeah. Yeah. So you started out as a writer but you kind of made a career shift a few years ago. You had some health issues come up. Do you want to tell me a little bit about that story and what happened and how that really led you down a different path?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. I was a food and travel writer for national magazines for about eight years and I spent like literally it was my job to travel around the world and report on the most delicious food.
Speaker 1:So it was a dream job.
Speaker 2:I absolutely loved it. I got to have so many experiences that I never would have been able to afford on my own, and I got to see the world on somebody else's dime. So it was incredible. But as I started entering my late 20s, I got married. I bought a house. I was kind of wanting to settle down a little bit more. I wanted to not be on the road all the time.
Speaker 2:It was really exhausting and just hard on your body and at the same time I had started having some health issues. So it was mostly digestion and hormonal stuff was going on and I was seeing a lot of conventional doctors and doing the regular things that you're supposed to do in America when you get sick and nothing was working. And I just was getting so frustrated. And I found this book called Woman Code and it was explaining how women's bodies work and what our menstrual cycle is all about and how much of everything in our bodies is affected by that. And it was sort of this tipping point for me of like, wow, first of all, I'm almost 30 and I don't even understand what my period is. There was that.
Speaker 2:And then I also felt like I've been on hormonal birth control since I was like 15 or 16. And I felt like I was never going to get to the bottom of what was going on with me until I was off of synthetic hormones and could really see what was happening in my body without any band-aids on top. So I went off medication, including the pill. My body freaked out even worse. But this book really encouraged me to seek out some holistic lifestyle changes and functional medicine instead of just taking prescription medication, and this was my first foray into this world. I did not grow up with this kind. It was like Western medicine all the way.
Speaker 2:So it was very new. Um, and to make a long story shorter, I I started healing myself naturally, and it was amazing the results that I saw from um, just some really simple lifestyle changes. And it wasn't dieting and it wasn't exercise, and it wasn't about like sacrifice or deprivation or restriction, and I just felt like I had to share this with the world. And so let me circle back now.
Speaker 2:So I had this freelance writing career and it was going well, but I just was kind of wanting to do something new. Then I was having all of these health issues and I was like going on this holistic journey, and I decided that my next step should be to start a blog as a business. And so it was never going to be just like a hobby or something that I just kind of did for fun. I was always going to be. It was a business decision. I was always planning to make money from this blog. So I started Root Revel and about a year later I quit freelancing and my journalism career to focus 100% on the blog. And a year later I was making six figures from the blog, and so I started getting questions all the time from people like how are you doing this? Yeah, so I created the Six Figure Blog Academy, which is a digital course where I teach people how to make money blogging.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Yeah, that's one of my questions is like I've watched it grow and it's been really amazing to see your success in such a short amount of time. What are some of the things that you really focused on that you think helped you kind of push it into the more profitable areas so fast?
Speaker 2:Yeah, great question. So I feel like there are a couple of things that I would say are sort of like my secret sauce in a way. The first one is that I really focused on building an email list alongside my blog, and I think a lot of traditional bloggers leave this part off because they think they're anything themselves, like they don't. They're not course creators, they're maybe, you know, not coaches, like they're, they're blogging, and so they think that they don't need an email list. But even though that was the case for me, um, I was making six figures from my blog before I launched my course, so I wasn't selling anything. I had an email list, and I think that that made a huge difference in how I was able to monetize quickly.
Speaker 2:And the second thing is that I really focused on affiliate marketing. So a lot of bloggers rely more on ads and sponsors and brand work and that kind of thing, and I did some of that too, and there's nothing wrong with that. But when I focused on affiliate marketing, my income skyrocketed. It increased by 468% in the year that I decided I'm going to really focus on this. So I went from making around $18,000 a year from affiliate marketing to like $68,000 or something like that.
Speaker 2:I can't remember the exact numbers, but um, so I think, in tandem with having a blog that's very SEO friendly and that, um, using an email list alongside it and really focusing on affiliate marketing, those are the three things that really propelled, I think, my projects.
Speaker 1:So when you did the affiliate marketing, are you more focused on things like Amazon or those kind of things, or was it more specific businesses that you would work with and partner with?
Speaker 2:Great question. So of course, I'm an Amazon affiliate and you know everybody shops on Amazon. It's a great place to get started with affiliate marketing, but you're going to get like two to 7% of the commission. So you're never unless you have a huge audience and you're playing the volume game you're never going to get um, you know huge revenue from Amazon affiliates. So I really focused more on partnering directly with brands instead, and so one of our top affiliates for sure is a brand called Butcherbox, and we make multiple thousand dollars a month just from this affiliate partner, and we have others like that. So I think going direct to a brand is a much more lucrative way to do it.
Speaker 1:So are these type topics? I'm sure these are what you're covering in the Sixth Year Academy. Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, so I teach-. What are some of the other?
Speaker 2:sorry, go ahead. Oh no, I was just going to say that's exactly what I teach is kind of how to make money blogging without a huge audience, because even at the very peak of Root Revel's traffic, I've only had about 250,000 page views a month, which is a relatively small number. I know it might seem like a lot of you're just getting started, but most bloggers who are making over six figures from their blog have millions of pages.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what I'm really teaching is how to do it without millions of followers or page views, without paid ads, without spending hours on Instagram, um, and really differentiating yourself as, like, a professional blogger this is a business and rather than being either an Instagram influencer or a hobby, hobby blogger, um. So, yeah, that's exactly what I teach in the course.
Speaker 1:How much did uh, sc or um, well, you mentioned SEO, I meant social media. How much did social media play into your, into your marketing campaigns and kind of doing that outreach?
Speaker 2:Oh, very little.
Speaker 1:Very little.
Speaker 2:Yes, I will say with two caveats. One is that Pinterest is a big traffic driver and a big part of my marketing, but Pinterest is not social media, even though it's always lumped into social media. Pinterest is really a search engine. So I treat it very similar to how I treat Google and optimizing my content with keywords and there's more to it for Pinterest because you have pins and graphics and things like that but treating it like a search engine. So I do spend a lot of effort and time and energy there. But in terms of traditional social media like Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, I have gone through phases where I have like, okay, I'm going to go all in on this and see what happens, and I'm going to take a total break and do nothing and see what happens, and what I have found is that my income is not affected by what I'm doing on social media.
Speaker 1:I've actually noticed the same thing personally too, so I was curious if you've had that same experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so that's a big part of what I'm teaching is like, I think, because blogging is obviously an online business and it feels like social media, like oh no, you have to be on social media to make money blogging, or you have to have a big following, you know, to have a successful blog, and I've just found that to not be the case at all, and it's really liberating once you figure that out, because social media is toxic right.
Speaker 1:It's absolutely toxic and really time consuming if you're planning on investing in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, exactly so. Yeah, so I'm all about spending. I have a timer on my phone to spend less than 30 minutes a day across all social media platforms, and mostly what I'm doing on there is just checking in with my friends.
Speaker 1:I'm not doing businessy stuff, so yeah, so you kind of mentioned it earlier a little bit, but maybe to build off of that for someone who's just starting out, what advice do you have for them? What are the first things other than starting their email list early on? What are some tips or advice that you'd give to them?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I think SEO is really important, and SEO not just in terms of keywords, but also in terms of making sure your site is like, let's call it Google friendly.
Speaker 2:So you want to be able to show up in the search results when somebody is searching for something and you can't do that, like if your site speed is slow or if you're, you know, using a clunky um content management system or you know, there's like lots of things on the backend that you wouldn't think about and I think bloggers often skip over that part because they don't understand it. It's not as talked about and you know like Squarespace has great marketing and it looks really super sleek and easy to use, but it's not the best thing for social I mean thing for search engine optimization. So there's a lot of things on the back end where I'm really trying to teach bloggers how to set up their blog the right way from the start, because having that solid foundation is so important. So that means being on WordPress and using a reliable host and getting the plugins that you need installed correctly, and a lot of backend things that aren't sexy, but they're so important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and in a weird way. So when I started, I learned WordPress and learned all the stuff just years ago and it was much more clunky and cumbersome then. It's a lot more user-friendly now, but it's given me so much more freedom to make changes and edits and stuff without having to hire a graphic designer or a web designer, something like that, and so I love that you're teaching that. I think that's such a powerful tool to give somebody, especially early on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, I mean, 25% of the entire internet is powered by WordPress. I know it's incredible when you think about that. Yeah, like freedom and choice of like, whether it's themes or plugins, or developers or designers or support like you will have so much more access to things on WordPress than if you go with something like Squarespace or Wix.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. You talked about partnerships and kind of you know building things, like with ButcherBox, for example. How did you go about building those relationships? What steps did you take to reach out to them? Was it just, you know, filling out applications, or did you build real relationships with them? Yeah, so let's see.
Speaker 2:I think one of the great things about affiliate marketing is that you can start monetizing with affiliates from day one. Very few affiliate programs have any kind of requirements beyond. You have to have a website and so, unlike sponsored content where they want to see like, well, how big is your following, how much traffic do you get there's a lot of rules around it. Affiliates you can usually just apply for their program. A lot of times you're not even really connecting with another person. You're just filling out an application on their website or on some of these affiliate network sites like share a sale or something like that.
Speaker 2:Um, and then you get approved and you get your special tracking link and you just start sharing it, and so I think that's such a great thing for um beginner bloggers to realize is like you don't have to have anything besides a legitimate blog and to start monetizing with it.
Speaker 2:So, um, when I first started out, it was just a lot of like applying through share a sale and some other. You know if maybe they had an in-house um software that they use, but you just applied on their website. What I found is that I thought I got the most success when I did create a relationship with their affiliate manager and that I was able to negotiate better rates and I was able to get special discount codes for my readers and do a lot of things that could increase conversions and just like be in the know about oh, they've got this sale or promotion coming up. And some of my affiliate partners, I mean, are like we're so connected and I think that that is really important when you really start monetizing beyond just a few dollars here and there each month.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, have you spent time focusing on partnering with other, like influencers or other bloggers, or building relationships in that sense as well?
Speaker 2:Yes and no. So I do think it is really important to be in community with people, and so I have joined a few courses myself or masterminds or groups where there's other bloggers or online business owners, and so my connection to others is more, in that sense, than like partnering in some way, I guess. That being said, I have done a few things like that. We did an experiment I think it was last year where we did this we had five bloggers in the wellness industry that we collaborated on, this like series where we each shared so like one of the posts in the series was our natural hair care routines, and so each of us wrote a post about our natural hair care routine, and then we linked to the other bloggers in the collaboration, and so it was kind of a fun way to like introduce each of our audiences to the others.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, so I've done a few things like that. I can't say that it was like wow, that was a huge needle mover or something, but it was fun and you got, you know, some backlinks to your site, and collaborating with like-minded people is always good. Yeah, I feel like you asked another question about this that I was going to say something about and now I'm like what was that? Let me know if I forgot to answer a part of that.
Speaker 1:No, no, you're good and we can come back to it if it comes to you too. So kind of switching mindset or switching positions a little bit, but going off of mindset. You talk about mindset being really important for having a successful blog. What kind of mindset does somebody need to be in in order to be successful? Are there certain things that they should be thinking about or doing in their life to kind of help them succeed?
Speaker 2:I'm so glad you asked this question because it sounds, I don't know, cheesy or cliche or something to like. Oh, it's all about mindset, but it is so true and we all I mean, I think, being a blogger or a business owner, an entrepreneur it is such a crash course in personal development. Oh my gosh. Yes, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've read them all and still learning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, same. I mean, I've been self-employed for over 10 years now and so, yeah, I'm, but there's still so many, you know, limiting beliefs that come up and imposter syndrome, and it's like no matter how much money you make or how much success you have. It it's still something that I think you're always going to struggle with, but we get better at it over time, hopefully. But, yeah, I think the first thing I would say about mindset is you need to treat your blog, or whatever your business is, like a business, and I see so many people, but especially bloggers or people trying to start an online business, who are unwilling to invest anything into this business, and I don't know any other business where you can create something out of nothing for $0. The great thing about an online business is it is really affordable to get started, and we're talking like, in some cases, business is it is really affordable to get started and we're talking like, in some cases, less than a couple hundred bucks a year. Right.
Speaker 2:But I would say some of the mindset things that have helped me is just treating it like a business and investing in myself and the business, whether it's with a course to learn something that I don't know how to do, or by investing my time, by actually carving out scheduled time, putting it on my calendar, making it non-negotiable. This isn't just something that I'm going to squeeze in the margins, it's something that I am dedicated and committed to doing and I have quote unquote office just like any other employee or business owner or whatever. So, and just really take taking yourself seriously, and I think it's. It's hard for, especially women, I'm not sure. Well, I know why, but I hate that.
Speaker 1:That's the case.
Speaker 2:But I think, yeah, you just really have to take yourself seriously and believe in yourself that you can do this. And I always go back to this quote from Henry Ford that says whether you think you can or think you can't you're right, yeah yeah, I've had that pinned up in my office for years because it's so, so true.
Speaker 1:It's just absolutely the truth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. And I see a lot of people, even students in my course sometimes, who are like okay, they spent a thousand bucks to be in my course and then they are like I just don't know if I can really do it, and then so they don't even try. If I can really do it, and then so they don't even try. And you know, I think it's frustrating as the coach because you're like no, you can do this and I'm giving you everything that you need to be successful. But if you don't believe it for yourself and you don't have the right mindset, you know it's, it's not going to happen, it's going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes too, I know early when I was starting on, part of it was kind of a fear of commitment in the sense that if I don't commit to something I can't fail at it because I didn't actually commit and so it's. You know, people use, I don't know what my niche is. I, you know, I'm not clear on this or that, or I don't have a specific focus, and I think ultimately those are things that we, especially as women, but I think people in general come up with as kind of ways to hold us back from really driving forward and becoming really successful.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1:So you also talk about a holistic business or a holistic approach to business. What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have my podcast that's called Success with Soul, and this is where I really get into a lot of this stuff, because I have found that there is this culture, especially in the States, where we are taught that you have to hustle for everything and that you have to work hard and that, in order to be successful, whoever's most successful is who put in the most hours and who worked the hardest, and things like that, and that is just not true and it's not helping anybody, and so I really like to approach my business from a place of rest.
Speaker 2:Instead of hustle. I like to put my body first and make sure this is something that I've learned from one of my mentors, kate Northrup of making sure that I am attuned with my body and what's happening and I'm caring for it. I mean making time for self-care, and it's amazing how, like I said, we talk about this on the podcast all the time of how things like chiropractic or therapy, or the patriarchy and going through limiting beliefs that have come from that and other kinds of oppression that women and people of color and all sorts of marginalized groups experience, and that if you ignore those things, I think you will either be hard pressed to have a successful business, or you will have to work so much harder to have a successful business. And it can be so much easier when you take this holistic approach and really look at the whole picture of who you are and what's happening in your body, in your environment, in your. What season of life are you in and work with that instead of against it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. One of the reasons I started my own business was I was working a corporate job and the typical story I worked too hard, too many hours, burnt out, got real sick, left. To find a healthier approach to living, basically, and one of the things that I really try to focus on now is not working more than maybe six hours a day and really listening to my body. If I feel exhausted on a day, I just don't work that day because my body's telling me I need rest, and so I really love that approach, but I think it's such a healthier option and you'll do better in the long run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and particularly for women you know this is a conversation I've been having a lot lately is our society operates on a 24-hour cycle, which is how men's bodies work, right?
Speaker 2:Their hormones are in a 24-hour circadian rhythm and women's bodies do not work this way. We are in a roughly 30-day cycle, with our menstrual cycle and the phases of the moon which overlap, and there's a lot of there's a lot of overlap there, and so we're not the same every day, and when we try to show up as the exact same and put in the exact same amount of effort and productivity and work every day, we're making it so much harder on ourselves. I think once I started really getting in sync with my cycle and my environment, ie the moon, I found that I was actually much more productive. I actually got more done instead of just trying to force it all the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's when I started doing kind of the more six hour. It's much more of a in the flow kind of thing, and so I go in, I'm very focused, I have my specific tasks or projects I'm working on and I knock them out and then I have the rest of the day to spend with my family or take care of myself or do what I love to do, right, yeah, I totally agree that once you get in that routine, it does change your productivity. Yeah, for sure. What are some of the things that you did to kind of help you transition into that and start focusing on that and making your health and self-care a priority?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I first started making my self-care a priority when I started having all of those health struggles that I mentioned, which was back in about 2014.
Speaker 2:So I've been doing this in different variations for the last six years and it's interesting because some things aren't actually that different than how I did them before, but it comes back to that mindset again. I've always exercised, so it's not like I went from, you know, never moving to exercising every day. But now, instead of exercising to like, punish myself for something or to lose weight or some other kind of unhealthy um, unhealthy reason, I'm just exercising to move, because it feels good and to nourish my body, and there's no goal other than to feel good. So I mean a lot of times that means like it's just taking walks around my neighborhood instead of doing some like high intensity, you know, workout. There's other things that I've definitely added into my routine. So, particularly pre COVID, when I could actually leave my house, there was a lot more of making time for things like acupuncture and chiropractic care and massage and therapy, you know, going to sound baths and Reiki sessions and whatever speaks to you, whatever feels good to you.
Speaker 2:Again, I really have lately been trying this new approach of like what would feel good, and then I love that, yeah, so, um, just making time for that, and even you know, some days like now it's it's taking a hot bath at night and lighting a candle, and sometimes I'll have a glass of wine, I have my book and just really making sure that I have at least like an hour a day where I'm just still and calm and, um, doing something that feels good, and so that's meditating to you Great. If that makes you crazy, like, don't force it, try something else. There's a million ways to care for yourself. So I think just prioritizing that in some way is so important. And then the other thing that I started doing in this.
Speaker 2:I guess I did start doing this a long time ago, but it's just my practice has evolved with it. But it is tracking my menstrual cycle, and it's not to track it to get pregnant or really even to not get pregnant. It has nothing to do with fertility. It's more about getting into my body and tuning in to what's happening and tuning in to what's happening, and so I track this. I've used apps, I have a planner that I write in. I mean, there's all different ways you can do it, but I think following something like that, if you are a woman with a menstrual cycle, or, if not, following something like the phases of the moon, is really, really powerful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I agree I loved earlier when you talked about getting off the hormonal birth control. I did that years ago and it made a profound difference in my life too, and so I definitely agree Kind of understanding where you're at in that cycle can really help you understand where you're at mentally. You know if you feel some women feel depression as they move into their or move through their mental cycle and menstrual cycle, and really understanding those places can help you kind of assess how you're feeling from day to day and help you kind of mitigate some of the issues that come from that too.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah, it sounds. It sounds kind of crazy, it sounds a little woo Like. When I first heard about it I was like wait, what? But it's just because we live in a patriarchal society and we're not taught even as women, we're not taught about our menstrual cycles and we're not taught, you know, how to work with our bodies. And yeah, I can't. I can't emphasize enough how important this practice has been for me and I do think a lot of my success has come from tuning into my body.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Totally different subject. I want to talk about your podcast and kind of. You recently launched it in April. Can you tell me you know what it's about and who it's for, and what will listeners get out of it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you for asking. So the podcast is called Success with Soul and I mean it's about what we're talking about right now, like it is for anybody. You know we focus in the online entrepreneur space, so I would say it's for online entrepreneurs or aspiring online entrepreneurs. It's it's pretty woman focused. So I know we do have some male guests from time to time and I'm sure there are some male listeners Maybe it's just my husband but it's for really female entrepreneurs who are looking to make an impact and make a difference and they want to create something for themselves.
Speaker 2:I really focus a lot on women who either want to leave their corporate careers or who are stay at home moms and want to create something just for themselves and, um, to provide them with freedom and fulfillment and the flexibility to work in a way that works for them and their lives.
Speaker 2:Um, and so it is. It's taking this holistic approach to business and talking about things like gosh, you know, like patriarchy, stress disorder and how that is actually holding you back in your business and what to do about it, and it's there's a lot of strategy. I feel like my tagline is like strategy with soul, because I'm very like I want the nitty gritty. I want the details, I want to go behind the scenes and figure out exactly how to do something in like a step by step way. But I also want to do it in a way that's not going to burn me out, that's not going to take away from time with my family or, you know, or hurt my body, and so that's the approach that we take on the podcast, and so it's not just for bloggers. A lot of what I've been doing for previous years has been pretty blog specific, and now this is kind of like blogging and beyond, and you don't have to be a blogger, but if you are, you're certainly welcome, and if you're not, you are too.
Speaker 1:I really love that you talk about strategy because I think so often I mean, I consume podcasts and courses and stuff and kind of the online entrepreneur world and a lot of times you get kind of the 10,000 foot view of things. They give you good information and here's how you do this and do Facebook ads and do you know Instagram posts, but they don't really give you like. Here's exactly what I did. Like here is the strategy. Like you know, get into the nitty gritty of how to actually implement those kinds of things and I think that's so important for people. One, it's an educational tool, but two, it saves them time and stress and anxiety of trying to figure it out for themselves as well, yeah, exactly, I mean, it's that thing of creating something that you wish you had had right.
Speaker 2:And so I feel like so many podcasts and courses even are for the beginners and they just kind of give you the surface level strategy. And I've always wanted kind of the more advanced level strategy, even if I wasn't at that level yet, just to get my brain in that headspace. And also I feel like there's something to being in the energy of other successful entrepreneurs and having that. I feel like just being in that energy. It's almost like watching, you know, like million dollar puts that show on HGTV, about like million dollar homes or something.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, yeah, I don't know, I know what you're talking about. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I think, if I watch this enough, maybe I'll one day manifest my own million dollar home.
Speaker 1:I think that's so key is, you know, mentorship and friendships in like-minded you know, with like-minded people, is so important, just to be able to bounce ideas off of and say, hey, I'm approaching this project this way. Do you have any suggestions on how to do it differently? Or, you know, just advice? And sharing that stuff is so, so important. And it can be really hard to come by, especially for women. It's hard to find friends in the industry, I think sometimes yeah, it is really hard and you know this is.
Speaker 2:It's an. It can. It can be an isolating career. You know you work from home most of the time, maybe pre-COVID, you're going to coffee shops or a coworking space or something, but generally speaking it's like you're working alone. You may be a solopreneur for a while. You know it can be scary to hire even a VA, and so it may take you a while to get to that point. And yeah, I think that I ignored the connection piece for too long and a few years ago I changed that and it changed everything. Just having somebody who knows what you're talking about too, because even still, like most of my friends and family still don't really understand what I do- yeah, yeah Mine don't either.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, they think it sounds crazy, and I think if I didn't publish income reports which I obviously don't do for this reason, but I think if I didn't, everybody I know would think that I was basically unemployed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can relate, definitely. So how did you go about bringing in those relationships? How did you connect with people?
Speaker 2:So some of the best ways I've found. I mean there's free Facebook groups and stuff you can join. So like we have the Success with Soul Facebook group and so there's right now about 1500 members in there. So it's it is like-minded people and joining things like that. I think that's a good starting place. Then it's like there's sort of different tiers of it, like how much connection do you really want? So then I think like the second thing could be just as simple as reaching out to people in your space that you either admire or you can collaborate with or something, and just trying to, you know, build a relationship with that person, whether it's just starts out in the DMs or something.
Speaker 2:And then that going to conferences has been really important conferences and live events, and I've made a lot of friends that way. I went to Amy Porterfield's entrepreneur experience last year and I met so many great people there. And then this year I joined a mastermind and I think masterminds or group coaching programs or something where it's a really curated group of people. There's sort of like a leader of it, right, and so Kate Northrup was the leader of my mastermind and there this year, where there's there was 12 of us in it and we all have very different businesses, but there's we have more in common than we don't, right? And so that has been by far the best way to really build a network and be in community with like-minded people. And same thing like joining courses and stuff. Most of them offer like a Facebook community or something like that. That's part of the course, and I've met great people and things like that too, so there's lots of ways.
Speaker 1:Well, I have one more question for you, but before I get to that question, where can my listeners connect with you? Where can they find you and and hopefully buy your program and podcast as well?
Speaker 2:Thanks, yeah, so podcast is called success with soul. So you're you know if you're listening to this right now. You're on a podcast player. Go search for it and you'll find me there. My website's katekordsmeyercom or rootandrevelcom is my blog and I'm at Kate Kordsmeyer on social media.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, kate, you have been just amazing and you're such an inspiration to so many of us. So I'm super grateful for the opportunity to connect with you and I just want to thank you for all the great information that you're putting out there, for the inspiration that you give all of us, and just everything you do. It really is amazing. Yeah, that means a lot, thank you. So my last question for you is somebody who wants to make change in the world, in their life or their community. What advice do you have for them?
Speaker 2:Do it Just start. I think that's it's like the simplest advice, but it's the one thing people don't do is just start. It doesn't have to be perfect. You can, you know, do it scared, start messy. You can perfect and refine as you go, but if you never start, you'll never finish and you'll certainly never even begin to make an impact or an income. So I think you know, work through the imposter syndrome that you have. Stop letting stop, yeah, stop letting fear hold you back and just start.
Speaker 1:I love that you say do it messy, because I think that is.
Speaker 2:Everyone always thinks it's going to be perfect right out the box, and starting a business is probably the most messy thing you can do, and so I love that, yeah, and you know what, like I even still get trapped in this sometimes, but it's like nobody is going to your business is not going to be a success or not based on your name or your logo, or like your color palette, or you know things that people can procrastinate on for so long trying to make it perfect, and it's like just put up something that's clean and easy to read and you're good to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, love it Well. Thank you, kate. I appreciate it so much. Thank you, it was fun, thanks.