Kelli Thompson | How to Develop Your Leadership Skills and Discover Your Strengths from a Women's Leadership Coach
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Today's episode is all about building confidence and developing the leadership skills needed to thrive. Kristel chats with Kelli Thompson to help you advance to the rooms where decisions are made. Learn practical strategies to cultivate your strengths, effectively negotiate, amplify your voice and trust yourself along the way. You absolutely need to hit that play button!
Key Takeaways From This Episode
Common fears as a woman leader
Solid tips on building empowerment and confidence in a room full of men
How to overcome imposter syndrome and doubt
Money talks and salary negotiation techniques
Career alignment checklist and questions to ask yourself if it’s time to leave your job
Disclaimer: All information and views shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not intended to provide medical advice or treatment recommendations. The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified health professional when you have any questions regarding your specific health, changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
About Kelli Thompson
Kelli left the security of working in corporate America to start her own leadership coaching and speaking practice.
She was busy climbing the corporate ladder, leading teams in banking and technology, and remembers so many days of meetings, filled with rooms where she was one of just a few women at the table. I grew frustrated hearing from only men in the room. The feelings of doubt and imposter syndrome were a REAL THING that held her back.
Then, a fate-filled plane ride led her to work for her mentor and best-selling author, Cy Wakeman, traveling across the country as a leadership keynote speaker, trainer, and coach.
Leadership coaching was her favorite, so she joined Martha Beck's (a Harvard Ph.D. Sociologist, also known as Oprah's Life Coach) Wayfinder coaching program to get better at it.
The coaching tools and techniques unexpectedly rocked her whole world! She learned how to trust herself and intuition, make hard choices, and live her life with more clarity & confidence. She found her voice and learned to make an impact. She learned how to overcome imposter syndrome and lead with confidence.
Connect with Kelli
Website: Kelli Thompson
LinkedIn: Kelli Thompson
Instagram: @kelliraethompson
Kristel Bauer, the Founder of Live Greatly, is on a mission to help people thrive personally and professionally. She is a corporate wellness expert, Integrative Medicine Fellow, Keynote Speaker, TEDx speaker & Physician Assistant experienced in Integrative Psychiatry and Functional Medicine.
Follow her on:
Instagram: @livegreatly_co
Clubhouse: @livegreatly
LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer
Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer
To Book Kristel as a speaker for your next event, click here.
Episode Transcript
Kelli: (Teaser)
As you're thinking about building your confidence, I don't want you to think that, oh, my competence will be here when I don't feel doubtful. You can be confident and you can do things while also feeling doubt.
Kristel (Guest Intro)
If you are looking to boost your confidence and feel empowered, you're going to love today's episode with Kelli Thompson.
Kelli is a women's leadership coach and speaker,will helps women advance to the rooms where decisions are made. She's coached and trained hundreds of women to trust themselves, lead with more confidence and create a career that they love.
So, Kelli and I are going to be talking about how to build your confidence, how to start advocating for yourself. How to get comfortable talking about money and how to feel confident in all different types of situations. We're also going to chat about building leadership skills and a quick career alignment check. I'm really, really excited about this episode. Let's jump right into it and welcome Kelli to the show.
Kelli, I'm so happy that you're here. Thank you so much for taking some time with me today.
Kelli:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm delighted to talk with you.
Kristel:
My pleasure. So to start, I would love for you to share a little bit about yourself. You've got some fun things coming up and just share a little bit about what you're currently up to.
Kelli:
Absolutely. So my name is Kelli Thompson and I'm a women's leadership coach, a speaker, and a new author. As you said, I've got my first book dropping. There'll be in the September-ish timeframe this year. So when I'm not editing my book, I have a women's leadership coach. I actually spent over 15 years in Corporate America.
And I was in human resources. I was in training and development. I spent some time in marketing and then in 2019, I decided that I was just going to take a big old, brave leap and go out and start my own business. And that's where I've been ever since. And so I coach corporate women leaders to really level up their confidence, maybe to gained some work career clarity if they're thinking, especially right now in the great resignation that they're thinking, they might want to have a career change, but they don't know what to do. And so I have group programs, I have one-on-one programs and I work with organizations too. So when I'm not doing that though, I am married to my husband Jason and I have a 16 year old daughter.
So she is navigating the roads. Yeah. Not a couple accidents, really. Those sorts of things as a mom.
Kristel:
Yeah, for sure. Okay. So you got mom, you got, this is going to be author and kudos for taking the leap in 2019. That's when I took my leap too, and I left clinical practice to go on this journey. So it takes a lot of courage, you know, to try something new.
And I would love to hear a little bit about why you did that. Like what was really standing out to you where you felt like, This is important. I've got to help women really feel empowered and step into these leadership positions.
Kelli:
Yes, absolutely. So the story is twofold. So the reason why I left Corporate America was because I was working for a leadership consulting company and I was traveling like crazy.
I was gone 50% of the time and the job I'd had before that had a lot of toruble. And I was at the point where folks who've been road warriors. My understand, I was tired. I was tired of getting on airplanes. I was tired of sitting in airports. I was tired of missing my family and I started to do more coaching in my role.
I was doing a lot of leadership training, but I started to do a lot of one-to-one coaching and I had gone to some coach certifications and I was. I really like this, like this makes me feel good, it makes me feel alive and I can do it with sweat pants on the bottom and nobody knows because we're on zoom calls.
This is great. And so I talked with my boss and she was incredibly supportive and I told her that I really want to go all in on this coaching thing. And she's like, you know, I don't need that in my business, but I'm happy to continue to support you. So I took a great leap, I took, um, a client that we shared and I started my coaching practice and that things were going great.
And then COVID hit.And when COVID hit, I would say I was that second year I was getting ready to replace my income from corporate, but I ended up losing like 80% of it and canceled speaking engagements, companies who canceled coaching contracts because, you know, they're tightening their belts. And so I was at this place where I going to have to go to government assistance. I lost all my income and a period of like three weeks. And so I really thought to myself, like, as I kind of pulled myself together from this pity party, well, if things can get any worse, what do I really want to do? Because I literally can't make less money than I am now.
So it's like, what's worse going in on. And I really thought back to when I was in Corporate America, you know, I was a woman leader. I was in financial services. I was in technology and it was not uncommon for me to be the only woman in the room. And when I went into coaching, I started to get into some of these business masterminds and it was rooms filled with women across the countr and we were talking about leadership, professional development. We were talking about our own fears as women leaders like to being the only one in the room, having the confidence to speak up, imposter syndrome, charging what we're worth having these conversations. And I remember thinking to myself there I was in COVID, I'd lost all my income and I'm having all these ahas and I'm like, this is what I needed in Corporate America. I needed a container of women from across the country, kind of doing what I'm doing so that we can talk about the things that are important to us as women leaders that we couldn't talk about in corporate women's leadership program. Corporate leadership programs that I made when I was there, didn't have this stuff and I just had this huge aha.
And I was like, oh, well, if it's not out there, then I'm just going to make it. And that's really how I came up with a lot of my coaching programs for women. Then how I ultimately pivoted was I literally created the corporate women's leadership training program that I needed as a woman leader. And I was on my own by myself.
And now that I've run, you know, uh, hundreds of women through it, the book is based on it. And so that's how I am today is just a little COVID bad luck, but some ahas of wow, like I think I really need to create that thing I craved at corporate America, and I just didn't know it at the time. So here we are.
Kristel:
Wow. Okay. So that's incredible. So you been through it and then you're sharing your insights along the way. I would love to hear some of your tips, maybe like three to five tips that you could have for women out there who want to build their confidence and are in environments where perhaps it is male dominated, how, how can they go about building their confidence?
And then on the flip side for the male listeners, what can they do to really help empower women so that women feel confident in those types of environments? Kelli:
Yeah, absolutely. So I would say the number one thing that I work on when clients come into my practice is we get very clear about what your values are because, you know, sometimes I think we look at values and you're like, oh, core values. That's so boring. And that's something that people have plastered on a website, but the reason why I want them to get very clear on what their values are, is because as a woman leader, it is so easy to just go along with what you think is expected of you. It's so easy to go along with maybe a traditionally more masculine leadership style.
And I'm speaking from my own personal experience, it was really easy for me to look around in the room and maybe compare myself to the one or two other women and think to myself. If I would just show up and speak and lead like them, then I would feel more confident and then I'll show up better or I'll get more stuff done. But like that never actually worked because I was just trying to chase and copy other people's approach. So when I really got clear about what my values were and when my clients get clear. Yeah. What are three words. So the coaching question in that is what are three words that you want people to use to describe you as a leader and how are you going to exhibit those behaviors when you make decisions when you're in the decision-making rooms, when you're talking with your teams.
So number one, get clear on what your values are. Number two, own your talents. I often say that owning your talents is the antidote to imposter syndrome. And so really think about like, what is unique about you? What lights you up? What do you seem to do better than anyone else? You know, when people come to you, what are they usually coming to you for?
And start to notice, Gosh, this just feels so easy for me. You know, this is why people tend to hire me. And when you can really claim your unique skills and abilities, you know, when you're sitting in those rooms, And you're getting really tempted to fall into that compare and despair sort of thing. Like, oh gosh, I don't know if I belong here.
Everybody else here is so talented when you can really own what's unique about you. You can stand firm in that and that's what you can contribute from and that really helps with imposter syndrome. My third piece of advice is frustrate. I think all too often, we defer what we know to be the right decision to maybe someone who has more experience or maybe we pull other people wondering what we should do and then we get into analysis paralysis and we really lose trusting that gut instinct. Your body is so trustworthy and you can use the word intuition or gut, however you want to use it. But at the end of the day, make sure you're checking in with yourself. And really trust yourself. So know your values, own your talents and trust yourself.
Kristel:
I love that. Absolutely love that. And I feel like everyone has value add to any given situation. And when you try and mimic someone else, you're really, you're, it's a disservice to everyone and it's a disservice to yourself because, you know, trying to imitate someone else's style is just taking away from that like unique value that you have.
And this was something I was thinking about too, when I was venturing into this speaking space and the podcasting space, because I was listening to a lot of speakers who had a very aggressive style and that's not me, that's not my style. And I felt like, oh gosh, do I have to do that? I don't want to, you know, and it was that kind of internal battle of just wanting to show up as myself and then giving myself the like, it's okay to do that.
That's what I should do. But it takes courage, I think, to really not allow other people's styles to impact you. Did you ever work on that?
Kelli:
All the time, you know, so I'm also an introvert. And so when I started my business, it required me to use my voice. Just like leadership requires you to use your voice. And it's really tempting to look around at everyone else.
Like you said, copy your style, but it just, you really give your power away. And so I love how, you know, you owned your own voice because it makes you powerful in your space because there's no other Kristel’s. Just like, there's going to be no other woman, like you, who leads like you do. And so when you're copying that, you're giving it away.
I know you asked about how men can support women. And when I do talk with, you know, CEOs who maybe you're signing some of their women leaders up for coaching, I often just ask them, have you talked to your women leaders and asked what they want? And listened to their answers and they often say, you know what?
No, actually I probably haven't done a good enough job of asking what they want at work, what their experience has been like and what they need. It's so simple. I would say the second thing too is just recognizing that women, there are the gender based stereotypes, so let's just be mindful of that. And sometimes when they sign women up for coaching for more executive presence. I also encourage them to ask like, well, what is your definition of executive presence? Is it always composed and stoic and no show of emotion? Well, that's one very defined way that maybe executive presence has been defined in the past. And if we want more diversity in our leadership teams, which equates to more money, we need to start thinking about how there are more styles that can be accepted in the boardroom.
And that can be sensitive, empathetic, tender. Showing more emotion than just what's been traditionally accepted. So those are just a couple of things that men can think of, but just ask.
Kristel:
Yes, it sounds so simple. And it's so powerful, just asking and listening and being open to listen. And one thing I want to go back on that you talked about was imposter syndrome.
And then you were talking about knowing your talents. So a couple of things on that, that I was thinking about one, you after talking with so many different people from like top CEOs, experts. Everyone I've met has gone through some sort of imposter syndrome at one time or another. And the more people I talk to, the more that is really shown.
And anytime you're trying something new, it's going to be uncomfortable. You're going to feel a little uneasy because you're the newbie, you know, and it's part of it. So I think embracing that is so important, but you're talking about knowing your talents and I love that. And one thing I wanted to add to that too, is like sometimes it can be hard to see clearly what your talents are, because you live with yourself all the time. You know, it's just, it is what it is. So asking people, what do you think my talents are while it might be a little awkward? I think that's a great way, you know, asking some people that you trust your loved ones, close friends or colleagues, but what are your thoughts about that?
If people are thinking, I really don't know what my top talents are.
Kelli:
Yeah. So I actually given that assignment, so I asked them lots of questions and I mentioned them earlier, when do I feel most in flow? When do I lose track of time? What sort of things am I drawn to? But that is exactly the assignment that I give my clients is we are so blind to what comes easy for us because it comes so easy.
We're like, this is not a thing, but then we go and we ask other people who know us and love us and work with us. And they're like, gosh, you are just so easy for you to just roll out a strategic plan and just connect all the dots. I mean, nobody else. That's just not a thing. And this is a thing. And so I wholeheartedly agree.
Sometimes the best thing that you can do is ask others. When you think of me, what do you think of as my best. What do you always come to me for? What do you think I do better than anyone else? And you might be shocked to have the mirror reflected on you and you'll, they'll see things you just can't see.
Kristel:
Yeah. And you're listening and you're like, Ooh, that makes me a little uncomfortable. Just say that it's an assignment you're given.
Kelli:
I go tell, I tell my clients I'm like, blame me. Kelli says I have to ask you. Kristel:
Right. Right. So it's far as building confidence. What would you suggest for the person listening who wants to build their confidence, but doesn't know how to start.
And confidence can be as far as you know in the workplace or at home or in your relationships. So I would love to hear some of just some like accessible things you would suggest for how people can get started with that.
Kelli:
Absolutely. So here's something maybe a little counterintuitive. We talked a little about a posture in syndrome, but I also want to talk about doubt.
Doubt is a normal and healthy and human emotion that everybody experiences. And you're always gonna feel a little doubt. I have been like, let me give you an example. So a lot of people say, I want to build my public speaking skills. I've been a corporate trainer and a presenter for over 15 years, and I still feel doubt.
So as you're thinking about building your confidence, I don't want you to think that, oh, my confidence will be here when I don't feel that doubt. You can be confident and you can do things while also feeling doubt. While also feeling nervous if you don't need to wait for that thing to pass.
The second thing that I often tell women is let's get some repetitions in while the stakes are low. I think sometimes, you know, we feel so much doubt, feel so much doubt. So we wait, we hesitate, you know, we don't do the thing. And then all of a sudden the stakes are really high. Like the big promotion is on the table or the big presentation is on the table.
Why haven't got my repetitions in while the stakes are low. Now the stakes are really high and I have to go and do this thing or put myself out there for the first time. So when I'm working with my clients, we sit down and we might be talking about like, well, what are your ultimate goals? Okay, well, I want to build more confidence in my executive presentation skills.
Great. We're not going to go in front of executives the first time, and let's talk about how you can build your confidence and maybe some of your speaking cadences, the stakes are really low, like in a staff meeting. You're here to lead the next staff meeting, ask about if you're involved in things organizationally outside of work, speak up a little more in maybe your volunteer groups to just kind of feel that feeling of nerves while also speaking confidently.
And the more reputations you can reputations you can get with the stakes are low or helpful, like building. Right. I can go to the gym and rip out a 50 pound dumbbell, you know, doing some curls. If you've never done that, used to go in with five pounds. And the confidence is very much the same way. It's a muscle, this built with practice.
Kristel:
So true. And the practice, the more you practice in different environments, the easier it's going to be when the stakes are high. And when I gave my TEDx talk, I hadn't given it a totally memorized talk before, without any cues. So, yeah, always normally there's like something up on a slide or, but this was just, it was kind of like, I was, I felt like an actress kind of like, you have to memorize all your lines.
Right. And I decided I was going to rehearse in uncomfortable situations. So one of them rehearsed staring at my husband in the eyes the whole time, like constant eye contact, which is just weird to make constant eye contact with anyone, you know, and obviously my husband I'm very comfortable with, but even that eye contact piece made it awkward.
So I tried to go out of my way to like, do things that were safe, you know, before the actual presentation. So I, I love that suggestion. That's great. So one thing I would love to hear a little bit about is, What would you suggest for someone who's looking to, perhaps ask for a raise or looking for a promotion.
And I know a lot of women can be uncomfortable talking about money and it's not just women. I'm sure men can be uncomfortable too, but it seems to be from what I've seen, that women have a bit of a harder time with it. So what would you suggest for how people, women specifically can really claim their worth when it comes to finances?
Kelli:
Yeah. That's such a great question. There actually is data out there by us bank that shows men just in general are more comfortable talking about money. They talk about money with their guys more than women will sit around and talk about money. And so specifically I used to be in HR and I'm going to tell you a little secret and I hope this helps women. When I was an HR person, I was making a lot of Java. I was expecting people to negotiate. I think sometimes women are so scared to negotiate or talk about money in the process, because as part of the job application process, they're going to ask. What you want to be paid and you don't me being on the other end of that.
I'm asking them, what do you want to be paid? Like, I'm ready for you to give me a number. And we can talk about that number. And or if I say a range of pay, I was ready for that person to say, well, actually I was thinking this, like I was ready. And I didn't think anything of it if we had that negotiation conversation and I can tell you that men negotiated and asked for more than women. So here's my tips. When you were going into a job situation or, or you're in your current employer and you want to go in and you want to negotiate your salary. One, I want you just to mentally prepare, I'm going to negotiate. Number two, I want you to do some research.
There are so many resources out there like LinkedIn, glass door.com, payscale.com in which you can find what the salary ranges are of people making the job that you're doing. Many states in fact require employers to post ranges now. So there's just starting to get a lot more data out there to help with pay transparency.
So go collect your data. What are other roles paying for that? And then I want you to practice your ask. And I love the advice that you gave. I want you to go to your partner, go to your animal, go to your mirror. And I want you to think about making that ask. And saying, I've done some research, and this is what I'm finding is market pay for this role.
Here are the three unique skills that I bring to this job that would benefit your organization in this way, this way, in this way. So I'm bringing value. I believe a fair rate for this job is X. And just practice that again on being on the other end, I'm ready for it. I'm ready to talk about money. And so I hope that that even just gives you just a little bit more confidence to know that us recruiters on the other end, like we're not going to make you penalize for talking about money.
We want you to talk about money cause that's part of our job too. So, do your research, prep the ask, and then make the ask and practice it. I love that eye contact that you suggested.
Kristel:
Yeah. Uncomfortable, but so worth it. Yes. So as far as the advice you just gave that is incredible and super, super helpful.
And what about the guilt sometimes that people can feel, I think, to feel like there's like this layer of like, or apologizing, you know, like, oh, I'm sorry, but, and that's, I think something, a lot of women do where this apologizing, you know, perhaps for asking for that or apologizing before you start a sentence, do you have any thoughts on that? Cause that's something I've seen a lot of people struggle.
Kelli:
For sure. So yes, a hundred percent all the time, both when I was in HR and how as a coach, I heard that. And even as an HR person, I would just kind of jump in and coach, and I would say there is no need to apologize. We're just talking data here.We're just talking money. But as a coach, I really got more in tune with just a lot of the reasons why people were apologizing. A lot of women were told growing up, Don't talk about money, so they're apologizing talking about money. They were told it's not polite to ask. They were taught messages. Like I shouldn't have to ask.Right. They should just know. They were told that, you know, asking for money, it looks greedy or that money is tight. And so I really want you to think about what messages you've been taught growing up about money. And maybe those messages were meant very well for you as a little person. But I really want you to ask yourself, is that message really helping you now? Does that message helping you getting to where you want to be, and you can ask for what you deserve without apologizing. And you know what, it's kind of like the confidence thing that you might feel a little guilty while also asking for what you deserve. You can feel a little doubtful asking what you deserve.
I've never talked to a person yet who didn't have spills some sort of way when they were asking for what they deserve. And so I just want you to know that those emotions that you're feeling are human and they're healthy and they're normal.
Kristel:
Right. And for me, having talked with people who are at different levels than where I was at.
So when I started my business and it started podcasting and these different roles. I chatted with some people who were kind of already where I wanted to be and I found out what they were asking for. And as far as the rates and I was shocked, I remember I asked for a friend or she's become a friend. I asked for her advice on, you know, what should I charge for this. And it was probably like four times what I was thinking, like no joke, and I couldn't believe it, but I would also say, you know, try and find people who are doing those things like you suggested, you know, like LinkedIn, and you might be totally shocked when you find out what people are actually getting for the value that you can bring to the table.
Kelli:
100% and you would be shocked to learn that men, there's data that supports this, not only my experience, but data by Randstad as a staffing firm, that in negotiations, men start at a higher level. They're asking for more from jump. And a lot of times women will say, oh, well, I just kind of rationalize that maybe I should get the lower end of the salary band since maybe I didn't meet all the criteria. No. Man don't think that way. I don't want to generalize, but the data shows that that's why I love what you say. Let's see, what's actually happening out there. Let's talk to people and see what they're earning and what they're asking for.
And you might be surprised that you can ask for a little bit more than you think so.
Kristel:
Yeah. That's great. So we are coming close to the end before we do that, though. I know you have some really great tips. If someone is not quite sure if their career is the right fit for them. So I'm hoping you might be able to give a little tidbit about that and then if you could share any of the current things that you're working on and I'll put all those links and stuff in the episode details.
Kelli:
Sounds awesome. So, yes, I actually have this little thing, I called a career alignment check that I developed when I was wondering about my own career. And as, as I've worked with other clients, I've refined it, but so many people, I think, especially right now, during the great resignation, they see everything in the news about people changing jobs, they watch their friends changing jobs, and then they even look internally and the’re like, is this even what I want to do? Do I even like this work? Do I want to stay here? I don't know. I've been here forever and like the rumination is real. And so I give them five questions that they can ask. The first one is, do my values align with a company's values and decisions? Like let's just see if there's a values check.
See, it goes back to that values thing. I told him to work on first, because if you are a personal value, don't align with the company's values. It might be hard to kind of rectify some of the differences. Now, if they do match, it could just maybe a bad few days and we can maybe change something, then have some conversations to, to make things a little better.
So do what values align question number two. Am I passionate about who the company serves? My passionate about what they do and who they serve? Like, can I get on board with that? Sometimes people are like, No, that's been the thing I'm just not passionate about this industry or what they do. The third question is, is I want you to think about what is your energy level on the close of most business days?
Is it kind of that good, happy I use my talents. I'm kind of tired, but it's because I did something really worthwhile today or where's my energy just in the tank 'cause I feel like I've been pushing a rock up hill and it's just exhausting and I'm teetering on the point of burnout. So notice that energy difference.
Where's that energy difference between when you use your talents and you're that happy, tired or you're the drained tired? Question number four is, does 80% of my work make me feel in flow? Does it make me feel creative? Does it use my best talents? Not every job you're always going to have those things that you don't want to do in your job.
I even have them and I'm my own boss, but does 80% of the work. And the last one is the work aligned to my career purpose and goals. Is it ultimately leading me to where I need to be? And so if the answer to maybe at least three of those is no, or the answer is low energy, then it's probably time to evaluate on if that's the career for you, at least have some conversations with your current employer to try to make things right. And if those conversations aren't producing the results that you hope and yeah, it could be time to take a look. So.
Kristel:
That was great. And so at this point, anything else you'd like to share before we go into the fun wellness, lightning round.
Kelli:
Oh, I guess you asked me where it books can find me. So I do have a book coming out. It's called a Closing the confidence gap and it should be out in September of this year, but there's a fun fact. There's something called a paper shortage because of the pandemic. So the date's a little fluid, but you can go to closingtheconfidencegap.com/forwardbook, and you can put your name on a little notification list, and it'll tell you when it's going to, when the final release date is going to be ready. So that's the fun fact.
Kristel:
Fantastic. So are you ready for the wellness lightening round? Let's do it. First question I have for you. What is a habit you're currently working on breaking or what's a habit you're trying to create at the moment? Healthy habit.
Kelli:
So I'm trying to break so much scrolling and I'm trying to introduce more reading. And so what I do is I keep a book out in the living room and my husband's watching TV in the hopes that I'm going to grab that book instead of scrolling. So I'm kind of trying to break a habit while starting a habit. So that's the big one for me right now.
Kristel:
I love it. Replacing. And what is a book that you've read recently that you would recommend?
Kelli:
Uh, my favorite book this year was My Life in Full by Indra Nooyi. So she was the CEO of Pepsi co for years, and was one of the first female CEOs, fortune 100 CEOs, her story about growing up in India and then coming to the U S is I’m getting chills. Just the storytelling and the lessons are just beautifully intertwined. I highly recommend.
Kristel:
Love it. And what is a self care technique or something you do for yourself that is a non-negotiable that you have to have squeezed in there.
Kelli:
Um, every morning I exercise, I started to do that several years ago and I'm an introvert and I just feel like I'm not usually used to moving my body.
And so I've had to get better at that. So really just making getting up and working out. First thing, my non-negotiable. Has helped my energy level. It's helped my mood. It's helped my diet habits. And it's something that I've been doing since 2008 and I'm still doing it every morning. Get up, coffee. workout.
It's just the habits.
Kristel:
Yeah, that's awesome. All right. Last question for you. So, we're not going to do the island one. We were talking about that before you're off the hook. So question is, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to yourself from 10 years ago?
Kelli:
Trust yourself. I can't emphasize it enough.
Your body is so trustworthy. Your gut, your intuition is so trustworthy. And I can't tell you how many times I had a gut knowing or a gut feeling. And my brain just got in and got in the way with all of its commentary and I didn't listen. And when I didn't listen, it just never worked out like I hoped.
And when I did listen, did tend to work out. So trust your gut. That's what I would tell myself, my younger self. Just trust your gut, even if it's hard. And it takes a lot of courage to act on it,
Kristel:
Amazing advice. Well, this has been incredible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for spending some time with me today, and I'm excited to read your book when it comes out. So thank you so much.
Kelli:
Thank you so much for having me. It's been wonderful.
Kristel (Disclaimer)
And now for a quick disclaimer, the views and opinions expressed on this podcast are purely the opinions of the authors.
They are not intended to provide medical advice or treatment recommendations. Contents of the Live Greatly podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. And make sure to always seek the guidance of your physician or qualified health professional when you have any questions regarding your specific health, any changes to diet and exercise in any medical conditions.