780 Kareen Zahr Walsh: Ask for What You Want

Have you ever struggled to ask for what you want? Or to ask someone on your team to do something? Or simply thought it would be easier just to do it yourself? Entrepreneur, investor, and startup advisor

Kareen Walsh says women’s struggle to ask – and receive – stands in the way of building scalable businesses, so listen on because today we’re going to learn how to get good, real good, at asking for what we want.

MELINDA

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m a 5-time serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Podopolo, the interactive app revolutionizing podcast discovery and discussion and making podcasting profitable for creators. I’d like to invite you to take a minute, download Podopolo from either app store, listen to the rest of this episode there, and join the conversation with your questions, perspectives, experiences, and advice … Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together.

Today we meet an inspiring serial entrepreneur, investor, and startup advisor helping founders develop their leadership skills and put processes in place to scale their businesses.

Kareen Walsh believes that if you are not growing as a person, your business won’t be growing either, and I couldn’t agree more. Kareen is the CEO and Founder of Revampologist, a 7-figure consulting and coaching company, and she also co-founded the Clevr Network. She’s also the author of the books Lead with Value and Be a Badass, and her clients range from startups to major trillion dollar companies like Blackrock and Groupon.

What is your unique zone of genius? Chances are you don’t yet know, and the clue may be the thing you find so easy and intuitive you think it’s not valuable. But it is, and today we’re going to talk about how to identify it and double down on it – and delegate the rest by getting out of your own way and building an unstoppable team.

Kareen Walsh has ‘been there and built that’, as we say, as a serial entrepreneur, and these days helping others do the same as a leadership expert, startup advisor and investor. Kareen has so many value bombs about how to become a great leader and build a truly scalable business – and take care of yourself along the way – that I’m just going to get straight to it.

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Kareen Walsh and be sure to download the podcast app Podopolo so we can keep the conversation going after the episode.

Melinda Wittstock:

Kareen, welcome to Wings.

Kareen Walsh:

So grateful to be here, Melinda. Thank you.

Melinda Wittstock:

Likewise. And I want to start with something that is a real issue for a lot of women, learning how to ask for what we want or what we need. In all your experience, what is the block to that?

Kareen Walsh:

So it’s a loaded question and I love it, because the blocks are several, I would say. I think part of it has to do with how we were raised and trained as women, especially my generation. I’m in my mid 40s, and a lot of our training as a child, at least for me, was don’t speak unless spoken to, know your place and figure out how you can navigate in, more of at that time, male dominated world. I’m loving how the women are showing up now in all their glory, but it was really an interesting conditioning, especially for me that I had in order to break that habit and start asking. I realized that I wasn’t the only woman dealing with that. I think that’s one of them.

The second thing is, as women, I feel we are so skilled, expansive, and responsible that we feel we must try it, do it, know it before we actually ask for it. And that also is a conditioning from time over time that when you break that habit and realize, you know what? I want this. It’s not necessarily my zone of genius or my gifting, so let me go ask for it, is a change in behavior. Would you agree?

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, it’s completely a change in behavior. And not only that, from an entrepreneurial standpoint, as the founder and CEO of a company, you shouldn’t be doing everything yourself. You shouldn’t really need to. I mean, that’s what teams are for.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, exactly right. Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

But I think that’s a really interesting point, that we think we have to prove it all ourselves first. And not only that, but we have to be perfect at it before we can. It’s like cleaning the house before the housekeeper comes.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah. I definitely still pick up a few things before she comes over.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. I mean, we’re [inaudible 00:02:34].

Kareen Walsh:

But I let her do the real dirty work though, because that’s her expertise, not mine.

Melinda Wittstock:

I see so many women that launch businesses but get stuck doing all of it themselves, and it’s impossible to grow a business that way. So to learn how to ask for help is perhaps the thing that’s required first to be able to learn how to build a team.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, I think exactly right. For me, what I had to learn was its rooted in trust. So a lot of the times when you’re failed by other people out there, you trust yourself the most, you end up doing everything yourself because that’s who you trust. If you don’t rebuild that trust bridge or methods to trust others in action with you, it’s very hard to build teams and lead them in the way where they will help you grow versus you stepping into a mistrusted stance and doing it all anyway, even after you hire people. I mean, have you ever experienced that, Melinda, where people get hired and then they’re not even maximized in their skillset because the leader themselves is stuck in the doing, versus the delegation, and the ask, and the tracking of performance for them to step up into the roles they got hired for.

Melinda Wittstock:

All the time. And in fact, I’m just going to cop to this because the first time I ever hired an executive assistant, I struggled with that.

Kareen Walsh:

That’s the hardest. That is one of the hardest, because they’re all up in your business.

Melinda Wittstock:

Exactly, because I didn’t have as much of a problem hiring a specialist Okay, this person’s going to do your TikTok for you, and it’s like I don’t know anything about that. Let them go run, do that. But when you get into the operational positions, executive assistants, like right now we’re hiring a chief of staff, and that whole trust issue is so critical because you can’t really accelerate the business without it. So what are some of the mechanisms for women to kind of develop that trust muscle?

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah. Well, I think we trust when we see proof. So in order to see that proof and know that it’s possible, you have the initial ask, right? You’re bringing that person in. You have to set up a method of how you’re going to continue to ask of them, track their performance against it, tweak it as you go until the trust is fully there, and then keep adding more. So almost like if you were to see at the time of a hiring someone new, how stressful it is because you’re in that training mode, you’re getting them onboarded, caught up while you’re still doing all your work. It’s like the hardest stage when you’re bringing in someone where, especially if you’re delegating a portion of your own work to that person. Upfront, you need to plan for that capacity of you being in training with them, getting them to understand how you’d like it done, and then them proving themselves and you tracking that and checking in periodically to make sure it’s actually going the way you want.

I think that’s the one thing we also struggle with, it’s the follow up and the feedback loop. It’s so critical to be in a collaborative working relationship together when you’re onboarding someone new out the gate so that it’s not becoming a frustration level in three months where you had some, what, 15 minute conversation in an interview, decided to bring in this person thinking that from that interview they know exactly what they’re doing without guidance, you know?

Melinda Wittstock:

I think you mentioned something that’s really, really important pre-planning. How much of your time as the CEO is going to be focused on onboarding that person and setting them up for success? Because I think that’s the biggest mistake, and I think men make it too, where people are hired and then they’re just left sitting there and [inaudible 00:06:58].

Kareen Walsh:

And a whole bunch of assumption.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah.

Kareen Walsh:

I have one of those tips in my book, Lead With Value, it’s like stop assuming, start asking. If you don’t start to ask, hey, how’s this going for you? Did you get that? Do you need anything in order to do your job better? Are you ready for anything else? You have to start asking versus assuming that because they’re clocking their time, it’s actually doing the work that you needed them to come in and do.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think it’s tricky though because at that stage, the certain stage of a startup where you’ve gotten used to doing it all yourself, and then it comes time to hire and there are fears around like oh god, am I going to be able to sustain this? Can I pay for this person? I tend to coach people that you really need to look at it as an investment rather than an expense. But if you’re looking at it like an investment, it prompts the question of, okay, so what kind of return are we getting from that? That in turn allows you to be able to say, “Okay, so these are the results we need from you and here’s why.” And then that person has more clarity, but that thought process often has not gone through, and then the time is not calendarized. How much time am I going to be spending onboarding our new chief of staff? If I want that person to really be my integrator or my proxy, a hell of a lot of time. So where is that in my calendar, right?

Kareen Walsh:

Right, and the consistency upfront. Sometimes I’ve onboarded senior level people onto a team that basically it’s almost a daily standup because I need their traction to be really quick so that I can step out of it. So we might have an initial onboarded strategy session together. Say, okay, this is what I am delegating to you in the long run. Here’s your role, this is what I expect. These are all the things that are needed, and for this next week, here’s where I think you should get started. So we’re going to meet every single day to see for 15 minutes, just do a daily standup. Is there anything you need from me? Are the people you need to meet with responding? Is there any obstacle from what you need to achieve? No, great. And you’re just checking in, more communication upfront, the better they will actually serve the role that they’re meant to play for you, but also free up your time.

I love that you used the word investment because I see that, especially if I’m delegating half of my role to someone else so I can expand my role to expand my business, I need to know that that return, the time I give them is giving me the return in my time to keep growing my business, and that’s the ROI I see when you’re looking to hire and when you bring new people in.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s about thinking in terms of leverage. Is this something that women struggle with more than men, do you think? That kind of like if I do this one thing, it’ll have a multiplicity of results, or if I hired this person, we’re going to go faster or we’re going to be able to increase our revenue or …

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah. Well, I think you have to really understand your why. Why are you bringing in this person? When I advise startup founders really, the CEO/founder, whenever you see that slash in any title, they’re probably doing way more than they should be.

Melinda Wittstock:

You think? I have that title.

Kareen Walsh:

There are multiple roles in there. So one of the exercises I do when I’m sitting with a CEO founder, it’s like okay, but what’s your zone of genius? What is it that actually lights you up to show up every day, that got you started in this way in the first place, that now you’re feeling bogged down because you’re trying to do everything else? Let’s get to the root of the role you want to play in your business. And I think sometimes too late people realize I’ve outgrown the role that I’ve been playing, or I’m actually really no longer needed because I hired the right people to get it done. Maybe it’s time for my exit, maybe it’s time for me to revamp my role and go play this one because this is what lights me up. I don’t think we give ourselves enough to leverage actually who we are in the whole ecosystem to then say this is what it would look like to maximize me and make sure that I am figuring out everyone else I need to get this business going, to continue it on its trajectory. Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

So true. Because gosh, when we’re operating in our zone of genius, we’re better. A lot of people use this phrase, do what you do best and hire the rest.

Melinda Wittstock:

Either delegate it, or delete it, or whatever, but you should be in your zone of genius. So how many of the founder CEOs that you work with actually know what their zone of genius is? Are they aware of it? Are they conscious as much as they should be?

Kareen Walsh:

No, most don’t. I think it’s the roles start with a passion for something not realizing that that is what their zone of genius is. I’d say that what ends up happening are a lot of aha moments in the sessions I have with them to get that clarity because they’re like, “Oh, yeah, no. I really do love sales. I love to close a deal. I love to socialize. I love to actually get new equity investors involved because I really love to talk about money.” They’re really surfacing the things that excite them, and it’s like great, so which role is that in your business? Well, that generally sounds like the CEO role. Okay, great. What are the other things you’re doing that don’t align with that? And we do an inventory on all their activities in their business to realize, oh well, this should be delegated to a COO role, or in your case, you’re bringing on a chief of staff, so you need something and people and process that needs to be refined or consistent for your business, right?

It’s the piece that helps them get the aha to be like, no, I need to stay in my zone because that’s not only best for me, but it’s actually best for my team. I’m not overstepping into their arena, their zone of genius. Go hire the people who love the operations, love to get dirty with the numbers and make sure your expenses are right in the CFO role. Love the product side and the design side. It just helps you identify where else you need to hire for, but also where you need to just stay in your lane because it’s just more fun that way.

Melinda Wittstock:

But if someone asked me what my zone of genius was when I was a 20-year-old or a 30-year-old, even a 40-year-old, I don’t know whether I had as clear an idea as I do now. I know a 100% what it is, but entrepreneurship has this interesting byproduct of helping you get to know yourself really well, because you can’t succeed if you don’t, so it kind of weirdly forces you to.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, it does. How would you describe your zone of genius?

Melinda Wittstock:

This is going to sound way woo, but a Guatemalan shaman told me.

Kareen Walsh:

Love this. I’m down. Tell me more.

Melinda Wittstock:

Told me that my zone of genius was a binder, and I didn’t understand what he meant by that word, right? What do you mean? And he said, “Well, no, not like a connector. Although you are good at connecting people, it’s more strategic. So you connect and bind concepts, people, things, cross disciplines, things like that towards a higher strategic purpose.”

Kareen Walsh:

Love it.

Melinda Wittstock:

my brain actually is very system-y. It works like a matrix, right?

Kareen Walsh:

Love it.

Melinda Wittstock:

But I was not aware that that was a zone of genius for years of my life because it was so intuitive to me that [inaudible 00:15:37] everybody thought like that.

Kareen Walsh:

No, you’re absolutely right. A big part of your zone of genius is what intuitively, naturally comes to you that lights you up. So the binder role, or the integrator role, or the connector, it’s just, yeah, I can totally see that in how you run things, but also the way you do connect in systematic ways, but then for execution you need support.

Melinda Wittstock:

But for execution though, there’s the thing, I need the integrator because I’m also a visionary and futurist. So the other zone of genius for me is being able to synthesize information super, super fast.

Kareen Walsh:

Love it.

Melinda Wittstock:

So where those roles fit really well for me in a CEO role is, say, building a team. I’m building a jazz ensemble, right? So I want ‘A players’ in the right roles, but I want them to be able to understand where they are in the context of the whole…

Melinda Wittstock:

…To be amazing individual contributors, but also to be able to collaborate. So for me, looking at the team as an organism, that draws on my unique genius. Yeah. Does that make sense?

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, it totally does. You’re creating your own ecosystem whenever you’re building a company, in bringing in your leadership team, especially those that report directly to you as a CEO founder. You’re leading the way in the sense of what’s the direction of the company as that vision futurist that you are, but you also need a team that’s going to be flexible and flow with you in and out of the challenges your company faces, but also for the growth spurts that your company is going to have.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, I know.

Kareen Walsh:

That ability to-

Melinda Wittstock:

The fun stuff.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, and you have to kind of be a maestro in identifying when the flow of the team together, that collaboration of effort and skillset is aligning and connecting and when it actually needs some love and attention to grow with you. Because I think that’s the other struggle that folks see, and I’m sure you’ve seen this several times in the multiple businesses that you’ve built, where things get outgrown. That the skillset someone came with might not be what is needed at this stage of the business, and are you clear enough.

Melinda Wittstock:

I’ve been through that the people who are with you when it was an idea in the back of the envelope aren’t necessarily the right ones to take the journey. And then like right now, and as you have money, and as you know more about what you need, I mean, there is a necessity to keep upgrading your team. Bluntly, who you could afford.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, it’s different. It’s different. Exactly right.

Melinda Wittstock:

And also you just don’t know as much, and also not everybody, a lot of people think they can take that whole journey, but they can’t. It’s not necessarily for them.

Kareen Walsh:

Right. So the culture, it’s good to build out the reapplication for the role. Meaning for those team members that are potentially no longer a fit or you haven’t exposed them to, or they haven’t shown themselves in the light that you need them in now for this stage of the business, it’s an easier conversation when you draw up here are the requirements for going forward and allow those who have been part of the ecosystem to say, “Yeah, that’s not me.” Or, “You know what? I know I could grow to that if you invest in me this way.” If we have the time for that, or it’s an exact match. But I don’t think we do that enough too. I’ve seen a lot of harsh hiring and firing practices, especially when startups start to grow up, where they feel they need all new fresh blood as opposed to truly assessing who do you actually have that maybe you’ve overlooked to step into some of these roles.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, a 100%. So some of our people are definitely on the whole journey, start to finish.

Kareen Walsh:

Amazing.

Melinda Wittstock:

Like in our case, when we were on fumes waiting for a round to close, there were certain people who just rolled up their sleeves and worked with me to build the valuation of the company regardless. We just pushed through it, some sacrificed. It was hard.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s not for everybody. And so the people that weren’t up for that kind of thing, really the ups and downs of what a startup really is, couldn’t hack it, and fair enough. But in times of challenge, I guess, or difficulty, that’s kind of where you know your entrepreneurial mettle in that case or your team, and obviously everyone has different circumstances as well. Not everybody can-

Kareen Walsh:

Extend themselves that way, yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

At the same time, it’s kind of almost like a psychological thing as well. So what’s the right kind of temperament, or attitude, or character? And you know as a founder, you start to know, at least in my experience, what it is that you need around you and the kind of energy you want to create in your business, the culture that you’re creating. Moreover, if you do have published values anywhere, how do you actually operationalize those? They’re not just some sort of PR shtick on a website.

Kareen Walsh:

Right, it’s how you actually show up. The values of the boundaries, the boundaries that you allow. What you allow in your business is what reflects your value system, and the way people treat each other, and the way they follow through in their work, and the way that they interact with your clients. It is a soft skill, I think, to identify those things, but be consistent about when it’s not correct or if it’s gone off the mark, how do you bring it back in and make sure you’re discussing it as a company, not just the top of the company, but everybody is aware so that you can continue to cultivate that culture.

Melinda Wittstock:

I love that. I mean, that’s the only way that the culture is really real, is if everybody’s understands it, has bought into it, has a hand in shaping it. Not to run a commune per se, but …

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, no, but it’s a culture. It’s a system, yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

But everybody has, everybody feels heard and seen. I think if your team is like that, I think it starts to kind of extend out to how your customers feel about you as well, because you get into that practice as a team and you treat each other that way. You’re just much more likely to have a team that treats their customers in a way where their customers feel seen, and heard, and supported and whatnot. I think this piece that we’re talking about right here is actually a huge piece of what makes companies succeed or what really grows their valuation in a significant way. I think we look at revenue and earnings and things like that, but we forget some of these things are actually the building blocks of how to create-

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, the people management and the leadership management are so critical. Unfortunately, a lot of the times in the startup world, they get taken over by financial management in the need to raise funds and also leverage financial systems for the right equity team to look at you. It needs to all be looked at with the same determination, where the people side of it is the biggest part of the heart of your business. That value exchange that you were just talking about, where if you’re able to build a culture where the values are seen internally, then you’ll have a really healthy value exchange with your client in order to serve them.

Melinda Wittstock:

100%. So we were talking about themes like trust, being able to ask for what you want and need, being in your unique genius, all of these things as you build your team. So say you’ve got your team and it’s onboarded and whatnot, and you’re still kind of like you got one foot, just trying to figure out that new role as the company’s growing and your role as a CEO and founder is kind of changing, because you have different things now that you’re doing that is more to do with making sure that your team is operating correctly, and then perhaps you’re more externally facing or whatever it is. How do you figure out your day-to-day, especially in that transition? Because most people are kind of creatures of habit and you get into a groove, or this is how I do it, or this is my daily routine, but how do you find the routines, just the daily routine, the time management, or time for self-care, or all these different things as you coach your clients through that startup to emerging growth and into a real multimillion, or seven figure, eight figure, nine figure sort of business?

Kareen Walsh:

I think the clarity on the actual strategy of what you’re all trying to achieve together and clarity on the roles you all play in that, kind of that futurist thinking, right? What’s the end goal here? You can then reverse engineer and say in order to get there right here, right now, this is what we all agree to is step one. I think that sometimes, especially as the CEO, you feel like it needs to almost be like a dictatorship, right? You’re the only one that can actually say what would happen, but if you’re actually presenting … So the way I would see it in that onboarding of your new team is being really clear on first coming together so that everyone is hearing the same exact message of where you’re headed together. I think we miss the mark that way sometimes because we’re only having these one-on-one conversations, versus who’s new and getting them into the room with who has been here and making sure that everybody’s on the same walking path is really critical.

So I would say week one of your whole new team structure is bringing the team together and reiterating where you’re all headed, and what stage you’re at in it, and who needs to be doing what in this next week. If you can break it down week over week, then you yourself can decide what’s the capacity required from you in that part of it. So is it because everybody is new? You just hired five new people, you have a whole new leadership team. Well, you’re probably meeting with them as a group at the start of the week and then probably at the end of the week to see what you accomplished. So it could be a simple 45 minute, 30 minute, 45 minute check-in by the end of the week, but you’re all, again, trying to figure out your rhythm together. The only way you can get your rhythm together is if you are actually working together more.

The second thing is making sure you’re having your one-on-ones. I personally, whenever I have a C-suite team that I’m leading, I try to meet with each leader one-on-one, especially as the CEO, to make sure that there is clarity on what are we going after, but mainly for them to have my time in case they need me with any of the questions they have to advance in what they’re trying to get done, because a lot of the times there’s this assumption of busyness. I don’t want to bother, I need to do this myself. The ego is at play versus this is what’s best for the company and this is what’s best for the work we need to get done. I think having a time slot for each individual at the beginning on a weekly basis to just make sure that they’re getting that one-on-one attention they need from you, and it’s mainly for them to be asking you questions or for you to be assigning and sharing something with them that they need to take on and report back to by the next time you meet.

The self-care part, and I love that question because as someone who has integrated the healer in me with the business strategist, I make sure that my team … I offer weekly breath work sessions, and so my clients all have access if they want to join me in breath work to really center themselves, clear any tension, get their energy back up so that they can focus. It’s really critical, I think, from a health standpoint in your schedule to have a minimum of 30 minutes, minimum, where you’re checking in with yourself and just having some quiet time, some pause time, whether that’s a walk, whether that’s sitting listening to meditation music, going to have a nice cup of tea somewhere or coffee, but truly on your own, your own individual time to recharge. Because sometimes if we’re sitting in all the noise all the time, we can’t think and we can’t solve, and we definitely struggle in the leading part because we are giving when we’re in a leading role. So we want to make sure that we’re also in a receiving energy to be able to continue to give on and on. And if you can figure out the rituals you need to fuel yourself first, you show up 10 times better for everyone else throughout that day.

Melinda Wittstock:

I couldn’t agree with you more. I think if people are really honest with themselves, their best ideas happen when they’re not working. You’re [inaudible 00:30:22]-

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah, you’re open. Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

… yoga class, you’re in the shower, I don’t know. Walking your dog, I don’t know, whatever, right?

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

But I loved how you framed it though, that as the CEO, you’re continually giving. I think that is actually true, and so if you don’t take time to receive … I love what you said there. Just being open, like when you’re sitting quietly, even if it’s a meditation, or I love that you do breath work for your clients, that’s awesome, you’re more likely to have opened your mind to actually have a divine download or some sort of inspiration or something. And moreover, you’re just physically, and emotionally, and mentally recharging.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah. Yeah. It’s such a gift that I think we forget to give ourselves, and you don’t really need much to do it, other than the time. We can busy ourselves, everybody knows how to do that. We’re masters of staying busy. But for me, in order to stand in alignment, I have to plug in those rituals that allow me to connect to that highest sense of me without all the noise. So yeah, the pause is really important, but also making it a habit. It’s critical to function at your best and to withstand the challenges, because you know they’re going to come.

Melinda Wittstock:

Totally. It’s inevitable.

Kareen Walsh:

It’s just much easier.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s inevitable. It’s kind of like you finally arrive. I guess at the point I’m at right now it’s like, oh, another challenge. Oh, another win.

Kareen Walsh:

Yeah. It’s just part of it.

Melinda Wittstock:

[inaudible 00:32:00].

Kareen Walsh:

I used to say, Melinda, that it’s not about the failure, it’s all about the recovery. It’s actually how you respond to when crisis happens or when there’s a challenge. It’s the quickness to recover that actually is the mastery of leadership, because if we’re not failing, we’re not trying, but if we can actually focus on how quickly we recover, and mobilize our team, and show up in it together, that’s the winning formula, I think, for strong leadership.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, I love that. The quickness of recovery. So Kareen, who are your ideal clients? Who do you work with mostly?

Kareen Walsh:

So I’m very fortunate that I have large clients that are corporate executives, and I do in my consulting work, we’re able to bring in expertise and build business strategy with. I really love working with women in business and helping female entrepreneurs grow and scale their business. That’s probably the most fun for me in the work that I personally do with my clients. And really any industry, I don’t know about you, Melinda, but when you’ve been in business for such a long time, you realize that the foundation of a business is the same. It’s actually who’s running it and what they’re trying to accomplish that shifts what you’re able to do. So I really have worked with all industries. I just enjoy that C-suite level founder who’s trying to align who they truly are in the work that they do and enjoy it along the way.

Melinda Wittstock:

100%. Well, that’s the other really big truth bomb here. It’s not about the destination, it’s the journey. So if you’re enjoying it, I don’t know. This idea that I think we’ve been trained to have that oh, once we get here, then we’ll be happy. Then you see all kinds of people getting to that milestone and being like, “Wait, I’m not happy.” It really has to come from just like you love to do what you do and you love the process. Good things tend to manifest from that. And so tell me, if a female founder, or executive, or a company, anyone who is listening to this podcast right now wants to work with you, Kareen, what’s the best way?

Kareen Walsh:

I mean, you can find all things Kareen Walsh at kareenwalsh.com, and then obviously you can message me directly. I play and show my lifestyle and all that I do on Instagram, so people can connect with me there, and I’m also on LinkedIn, @KareenWalsh. Truly, I mean, if I could serve your listeners in any way, I mean, don’t hesitate to reach out and connect. I’ve probably seen it, been through it, and came out on the other side.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. I know. Isn’t it funny when you feel like that? It’s like uh-huh, yeah, I remember when that happened 25 times. Yeah.

Kareen Walsh:

Right. I can be right there with you, but honestly, I am here to serve. So however I can, I appreciate any connection that reaches out.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s fantastic. I want to make sure that everybody checks out your podcast too, Your Badass Journey, which is on Podopolo, as anywhere else you listen to your podcasts as well. Kareen, I invite you when this episode drops to join us in conversation. If anyone wants to take the conversation further, they can do so on the Podopolo app, which is interactive. So inviting you to join us there and going to check out your podcast.

Kareen Walsh:

I can’t wait. That’s amazing. I’m looking to launch a new one, so you and I have to talk about that.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, wonderful. Well, I’m the podcast gal, so all things podcast.

Kareen Walsh:

I know.

Melinda Wittstock:

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Kareen Walsh:

Thank you, Melinda.