Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kate Kordsmeier, CEO of Success with Soul, Inc., located in Atlanta, GA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Success with Soul combines soul and strategy to help female online business owners embrace their feminine energy and harness it to power their businesses and get more done in less time and with less stress. We focus on content marketing and organic traffic through SEO/blogging, email and affiliate marketing, and evergreen funnels to generate passive income without working more hours (or even using social media AT ALL!). We revolutionize the way women live and work by supporting them to awaken themselves and build soul-led online businesses without social media or hustle so they can create massive wealth, power, and freedom.
Our customers are course creators, coaches, bloggers, and those offering a service or product online. They are women who want to align their values in their businesses, who don't want to hustle to achieve their goals, and who want to break free of a patriarchal work system and embrace a cyclical living model.
Tell us about yourself
I've been self-employed since 2010, and I started as a freelance journalist with bylines in over 125 magazines (including Forbes). I later went on to create a high-traffic blog that I sold in 2021 for multiple six figures. From that experience, I discovered that my real passion was teaching other women like me how to achieve similar goals in their businesses. So I launched a coaching business in 2019 and made over $300,000 in my first year. This year, I've been certified as an ICF-accredited Life and Success Coach by the Quantum Coaching Academy, with additional certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Clinical Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique, and the TIME Technique (pending). I invest my time into these certifications because I want to be as equipped as possible to support my clients in embracing a cyclical, holistic model in life and business. What really motivates me is watching women's lives (not just businesses) transform as they implement my holistic methods.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
One that comes to mind is selling my first business for multiple six figures. This legitimized the business for me, especially since it was a blog, and many people don't think about blogs being businesses. Another big accomplishment is seeing other peoples' accomplishments – watching my clients succeed in so many ways. When they show up for themselves, achieve milestones in their businesses, increase their revenue, etc.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Wearing so many hats can be hard, and sometimes you feel lonely as a business owner. Sometimes, you feel like everything is on your shoulders, and no one really gets what you go through with that pressure (except for other business owners). Also, learning how to manage your time as you try to be creative and visionary but also get things done can be a challenge. Something that WAS hard for me but has become easier was hiring a team and building a systematized business that people can be onboarded into – that was a challenge at the beginning. Also, finding the right people to hire and managing them was a learning curve.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Just do it! It's never going to feel like the right time, you'll never feel 100% ready, and it will be uncomfortable. That's all normal! You have to start to get over those humps. I believe that if something scares you, it's probably something you should do.
- Have an easy way for people to pay you. What we have seen a lot of this year especially, is people saying that they aren't making any money from their business, but they're not actually making offers or giving people an opportunity to pay them for their service or product.
- Adopt the mindset that it takes money to make money. Whether you are investing in a brick-and-mortar space, a business coach, or hiring an employee, whatever it might be – people often try to build a business in the most free and fast way possible. But sometimes, you need to invest in your business and be prepared to work hard to build a solid foundation for developing an aligned, soul-led business. And, you need to build belief and trust in yourself and that you can do this, that you and the universe have got your back. What you invest, you will see the fruit.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://katekordsmeier.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katekordsmeier/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/successwithsoul/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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