You weren't scheduled to set to five, but you're good.
We're on learning about these production stuff.
Anyway, Kelsey, we were talking about Park City population,
30,000 you said?
Something like that, but it expands and grows drastically
based on all of the tourism.
The seasons.
Yeah, absolutely.
Tracy Childers, founder of Wishlist member,
really good friend of mine.
In fact, today is his birthday.
So big shout out to Tracy, you know, Park City resident.
And I met him at a conference.
And he said something that changed the way I viewed
entrepreneurship.
We had passed each other twice in this conference hall, right?
We go to this restaurant.
And not we together.
He was there.
I happened to be there.
So I looked at him.
He looked at me.
He stood up immediately.
He came up to me, gave me this big old handshake.
And he's like, man, what's your story?
What's going on?
You know, we had this aura.
And so we became good friends.
And he said his friends, he always
sees him at conferences, right?
Entrepreneurship is so isolating, right?
Because you don't have other entrepreneurs close.
And so his best friends are those
that he meets at these conferences with,
and then he travels with and stuff.
And it gave me the permission to say, you know what?
I can value my relationships that aren't geographically
associated with me just as much as somebody who
might be a next door neighbor.
Without him, I never would have opened the door on that.
So I got to ask culture, leadership,
stuff like that for you.
Virtual, workspace, COVID changed a lot of that.
What are you seeing?
You know, it's interesting because I
started my career where I was constantly traveling.
And while, yes, we worked in an office in Madison, Wisconsin,
I was always on the road.
And so working with people in different time zones
around the world.
And I never really had necessarily a set office
where I oftentimes would work from home.
And I would manage and lead teams across continents,
in fact, at certain circumstances and times.
And so having an office was never
what was most critical and what brought us together.
Instead, it was the ability to relate to each other
and then really focus on having core opportunities
to bring everyone together.
So at different organizations, it
would be the annual meeting or an international excursion.
Or you would just really enjoy the opportunities
to get everyone together when they were at a client site
or going to pitch business to a specific organization.
And that would be when you really got the opportunity
to collaborate.
And then a lot of my business contacts
actually have all come from those type of conferences
where you're engaging in meeting.
You've known each other maybe digitally through LinkedIn
and through different forums, but you haven't gotten
to actually meet face to face.
And so actually, one of the first marketing people
I worked with in my own business, I met her digitally.
I worked with her remotely.
I never got to meet her face to face until years later
at South by Southwest.
She came and met with us.
And I actually got to meet in person.
And the same thing is true now with the current team
that I work with, Class Act Media.
They're out of Canada.
And I worked with them digitally for well over a year
before I got to actually meet with them in person.
They came to Texas and got to actually spend a day together.
So I actually have never been somebody
that only worked kind of in person with people.
I've been comfortable with those digital relationships.
And so that really made COVID very interesting
because it transitioned people's leadership
and management structures to where they were used
to seeing people face to face in an office.
And suddenly they were having to manage
these team members remotely.
And they didn't know how to do that with ease and comfort.
And so you started to see a lot of micromanagement
come into play where everyone was requiring people
to be on Zoom and at check-ins and things like that.
Remote controlling the desktops.
Yes, and that really, from my perspective-
Goodbye.
Right, I'd worked successfully for, at that point,
well over a decade and had never had to be
on video conference calls.
I'd never needed to be chained to my desk.
I do some of my best work in conference calls
when I'm walking around and pacing and suddenly,
oh, you now need to be face-forward in your computer.
That was a really interesting dynamic change.
So I think we're starting to see a healthier blend.
I think people are getting wise to the fact
that having to have your eyes and energy trained
on a computer is only two-dimensional
and that it's very fatiguing.
I mean, we've learned that Zoom fatigue is a real thing.
And so leadership has gotten a lot more comfortable
with how to manage their team members,
how to weed out the people that maybe were underperforming.
Because if you're underperforming, you're gonna do that
whether you're working in an office or at home.
And so I think that it's evening out.
People are getting used to when they wanna be on camera,
when they don't, and asserting their boundaries.
Yeah, this quote won't last,
but business owners chaining their people to their desks,
right, with those mechanics.
It's like feeding them moldy vegetables.
You know, vegetables are bad enough, but let's say all right.
Welcome in to Vision Pros Live with Jackson Calame.
I'm your show host.
We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs
and guest leaders who are building
fantastic visions out there.
Hey, what's up?
I'm welcome into another episode of Vision Pros Live.
I'm your show host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO
of First Lady, First Lady, First Lady, First Lady,
First Lady, First Lady, First Lady, First Lady, First Lady,
first class business.
I'm just gonna say, I'm like in a super happy mood right now.
I don't know if it's like the team expansion
and having Chris Chambers now as CEO of Media Productions
and Paul coming in, how well the team does.
I don't know if it's like the merry cheer of Christmas
and all that that's gotten to me, but like,
I'm wired right now.
And I know a big part of it as well as Kelsey Creveling
joining us on the show and talking about
one of my absolute favorite subjects for visionaries,
which is cultivating high performing organizations,
teams and leaders and the care that it takes to do that,
alluding to some of the truths we're gonna talk about, right?
So we'll bring her on in just a minute.
Before I bring Kelsey on, I always like to expose
some of our secret sauces, okay?
So two of those are up here in sponsorship form.
One is one of our secret sauces.
One of them is the one where I'm like,
if I had to start over, I would go there.
So let's start with ColdClick.
ColdClick is what we use for our LinkedIn automation.
I've been training team members this week
and I didn't have a lot of chance to get to my LinkedIn
for the last several days.
I usually only dive in once or twice a week.
So I got in today and waiting there was 31 messages
from people who are excited to be on the show
and wanna know about it.
I'm like, cool, awesome.
It's wonderful to have a system
that does that for me so easily.
And it's also easy to duplicate and replicate
with other people who also work for our company.
And what it does is it expands our reach
of how many people come through to us in an organic fashion.
So I highly recommend leveraging automation
in some form or fashion, tying it with your humanity.
Super important.
Make sure that your offers are intriguing
before you try to propose.
Make sure that you're attractive.
Make sure that you respect where people are at
and you look at how can I inspire people
based on what they need,
not based on what I want them to buy from me.
That's a big flip in marketing
that I see a lot of businesses need to go through.
Then there's SimplyFast websites.
Excuse me, I'm a little hoarse today too.
Shane Michael built this out
and I'm so happy to see a modern provider
who's offering websites at $179.
And I was like, man, if I can help him succeed at this,
there are so many entrepreneurs
that should shelve the website project,
put it in the hands of somebody like this and say,
you know what, I'll give you 179 bucks.
You just build it.
Here's my dream.
It's gonna come out, you know, I don't know,
maybe he builds it perfectly.
I shouldn't judge Shane's work,
but I wouldn't expect $179,000 website for 179 bucks.
But what I see so many people do
who are visionaries is they get stuck in incubation mode
and they only worry about their website.
They forget that there's other productivity things
that need to take place
in order for you to be profitable and win.
So if I could redo things
and I had found him along the way,
I wouldn't have spent so much time on Squarespace,
Wix, et cetera.
I would have tapped into this web developer
who's created something with the mindset
of not just web development, but web design as well.
And I would leverage that friendship
and see what else can I do to give back to him
for having given me so much.
So I'm doing that on behalf
of all the entrepreneurs everywhere
who should be supporting people
who are trying to give more to the market like that.
Then there's the Water Project.
Water Project is something that's near and dear to my heart.
If you're a first time listener,
then definitely check out what the Water Project is.
If you've been listening for a long time,
you know the drill.
This is where we ask you to please share this
with other people because you never know
who will find that link and share.
Speaking of, Dax Stanley, who we just hosted,
he sent me the receipt for his contribution
to the Water Project.
And I was like, dude, that's cool.
That's so inspiring.
He went and did it right away.
So with the communities here,
you get to see the community that you're gonna affect.
You get to see what life's like
before they receive your contribution.
And then look at these children dancing
and celebrating with water.
The generational impact we have to make with,
we can make with this cause is massive.
So if you're in a position to give, please do.
If you're in a position to share, awesome.
And if you have another cause, you'd like to see a support,
don't hesitate to drop that in the comments.
It's not a competition.
Life's abundant for those of us who have so much.
It's an opportunity to look and say,
okay, there's 8 billion people in this world
who may not have what we have.
Let's open our eyes and see what we can do to give back.
So let's dive into Kelsey's website real quick.
I wanna pull that up.
I'm always on the lookout when it comes to visionaries.
I'm looking for people just like her
to prove my constant point
that if you want to build great organizations,
you've got to create great teams.
You have the opportunity to recruit people around you,
learn how to lead people,
and Kelsey dedicates her full time and attention
to doing just that.
So, and originally founded in 2016 is Kelsey Consulting,
the consultant's consultant.
I'll let you guys read this.
I don't wanna go through the reading.
I wanna take the opportunity to actually talk to Kelsey
about her background and see why she feels our audience
is an audience that will benefit so much from her.
But when you look at these brands like Alvarez and Marcel
and Accenture, which Chris Chambers loves to use
as an example of an amazing company,
it becomes super clear what her depth is,
how well she's done with helping people.
And for those of you who are listening in
and not seeing on your screen what's going on,
I'm showing these brands that she's worked with
and the background she has.
Anyway, without further ado, I gotta bring her on stage.
Kelsey, I'm so honored to have you on Vision Pros Live.
Thank you.
And, Jackson, it is such a privilege to be here
with you today.
And wow, that was such an intro.
Thank you.
Well, when you come into the pre-show
and the person who took the pre-show is an entrepreneur,
by the way, his name is Sean LeChuga.
And Sean, he called me twice to talk to me about you
on two different occasions
because he's just so impressed with your personality.
I was like, oh man, we got a great person coming on.
So Kelsey, who should be listening right now
and what is it in your background that helps you know
that they should be listening to you?
Sure.
So there's a lot of information out there.
We can consume it from many different places,
but it doesn't resonate with everyone, right?
We all have a different energy that we bring to the table,
a different perspective,
and we're going to attract those that are most meant
to hear from us.
And also we're going to be attracted to those
that we're most interested in and we can learn from.
And so, you know, I generally like working with people
who are very positive in nature, not toxically so,
but that believe that there is more out there
that want to be doing more,
that hold themselves accountable,
that take responsibility for the life that they're leading
and for how they're contributing and cultivating that life
and who really are in search of how can they perform
to the best of their abilities
in kind of all things, right?
I like to take the mindset of I'm doing my best.
It may not be the best, but it's my best.
And so for anyone who also resonates with that message,
that's really who I enjoy working with,
people who have that frame of mind.
I now get why Sean's so excited
because those are core values for us,
both of those aspects.
And I love that you said positive, but not toxically so.
Right?
That takes a great degree of self-awareness
and psychology to be in tune with.
And then being my best, you know,
removing the competition, removing that sense of like,
I'm better than everybody else.
Thank you.
What's your vision for those that you serve?
What do you hope to see them accomplish, achieve, etc?
Yeah, so, you know, I have a mission and a mantra
that I've coined and it's what's possible,
with a question mark, and do more.
And the reason that's my mantra is because I believe
that the answer to that question, what's possible,
is everything.
Everything is possible when we put in the time,
energy, effort, resources, and attention towards our goals.
But often we don't think big enough.
We don't encourage ourselves to really challenge
that status quo and to consider all the things
that are possibilities for us to achieve.
And so with the people that I work with
and with the people that I wanna work with,
it's helping them to realize that their possibilities
are so much bigger than they've considered
and that they are also capable of doing so much more
than they have potentially taken on to date.
I love that.
I'm so glad you said a phrase there because one,
I think a lot of people that listen to shows like this
are like, oh, I can learn a lot from that person,
but they're off touch.
They're out, like they're not, they're off limits.
You know, I'm not gonna qualify or whatever.
But you said, and the people you want to work with,
let's dive into that.
Who else do you want to work with?
You know, it's interesting.
I really am fortunate in that I've had the privilege
of working with, as you showed,
some really phenomenal companies, brands,
entrepreneurs and executives.
And I'd love to be able to continue to do that,
but I'd love to be able to do it at scale.
Right now, I work with organizations much more one-on-one
and I'd love to be able to take that message even farther
and beyond that to where I'm getting to work from
with organizations in public speaking capacities
that are larger, getting to work with them as keynote speaker
and just really getting to work one-on-one with those
that want to advance and accelerate the opportunities
that are available to them.
So oftentimes I'm brought in to work
with a corporate organization,
work with their executive leadership teams,
and then I'll work one-on-one with those executives.
But I really enjoy it when leadership
and individuals come to me and say,
you know what, this is what I'm working towards
and I want to get even better at what I'm doing.
Not because my company that I work for is paying for this,
but because that I intrinsically now want
to launch my own direction, my own career,
my own opportunity.
So I think it's twofold.
It's one, broadening the reach that I currently have
and then also just continuing to get to work one-on-one
with those individuals on their path.
And the reason I say that is because I love the work
that I do.
I love the people that I work with
and I love the opportunity to encourage people
to remove their limiting beliefs
and to see really what is possible for them.
And I mean, I'll be selfish here.
That lights me up.
That excites me when I can help other people achieve
and realize things that they didn't realize
that they were, you know, able to accomplish.
Absolutely.
And you, let's expand even further.
Next question is, what's your vision?
You hit some of it.
Let's dive even further into that.
So you're planning on scaling.
I have to top the question
because I just love how you frame this.
I don't know if you guys are listening,
that they're listening, notice this,
but one thing about Kelsey that strikes me
and is like, oh my gosh,
I'm finding a magic person here,
is that you said what's possible.
You talked about everything is possible
and do more, but you don't have
that typical toxic attitude associated with that, right?
It goes back to that positivity without the toxic, right?
Same thing exists with that scale.
It's usually the go, go, go, let's get it.
We're gonna do it until we, you know,
like, whoa, chill the hustle a little bit.
We're in corporate, not at war.
You have this balance about you on that.
So as you envision scale,
what does that look like specifically?
What do you think it's gonna come to fruition?
What do you want it to look like?
Yeah, so Jackson, I mean, I love that question.
I love that you noticed that I don't believe
in the manic mentality of burn yourself out.
And there's a reason for that.
So I've been there.
I mean, I am classic type A perfectionist, go, go, go.
I used to be in, you know,
I traveled all the time, two to four cities a week, every week.
I mean, I worked very hard
and certainly burned myself out to a certain extent.
And I've spent probably at this point over half a decade now
working to recover my health, my wellbeing,
my mental health and my just general happiness.
And I'm a big believer that we can achieve that balance
when we're kind to ourselves
and when we are respectful
of how we have everything symbiotically work together.
I'm not somebody that believes in just killing yourself
for the outcomes because what then?
You have nothing left to give and you've burned yourself out
and that's not sustainable.
Whereas, so to your question, what is my vision?
My vision is that we can have a world
where people get to pursue their goals, their dreams
and the work that they're great at from a balanced place
where they are not constantly on call, on demand, on camera,
chained to their desk, accountable to others
and not actually getting to be satisfied and fulfilled
with the work that they do.
That is not a positive existence in my opinion for really anyone.
And I'd really love to help people realize
that there is a better way to do it.
You don't have to constantly be in meetings.
You don't have to constantly be on demand for those
that you work with.
There are ways to express and assert your own sovereignty
and establish boundaries that allow you to create
and to do a great job but also to be healthy and balanced.
And so when I take a look at kind of how I work with clients
and what I coach and support them on, yes, it's often on process
and procedure and technology and project program change management,
but it's also weaving in intrinsically those beliefs of we can do more
when we actually say no to a lot.
We're able to really parse out what's most important to us.
I actually have an exercise I have people do when they're going
through pivotal job change and when they're considering a different
career or role or position and just really working to understand
what is fulfilling to them.
And I tell them I want you to envision your ideal day.
Spend some time mapping it out.
What do you want to be doing?
Who do you want to be doing it with?
How do you want to organize your morning?
What is going to feel fulfilling to you?
You know, what do you want to be eating?
How do you want to incorporate health and well-being,
exercise, sunlight, movement into that day?
What type of work do you want to be doing?
Do you want to be spending time on podcasts?
Do you want to be spending time in meetings?
Do you want to be spending time putting out fires?
Do you want to be traveling?
I mean, there's a lot of things, but when you fully have a clear picture
of what's important to you, what's going to feel fulfilling,
it makes it much easier then as you're evaluating other positions,
other jobs, other opportunities against that ideal day.
Every day is not going to be the ideal,
but when you're clear on what that idea looks like,
instead of just having to be some far-off hypothetical of,
oh, I just hate what I'm doing, I want to be doing something else.
If you know what that something else is,
it becomes much easier to steer yourself towards it.
So many entrepreneurs find themselves, you know,
with a goal to tackle a tree, right, to get the tree down,
and they don't want to take the time to go to the store and buy the axe.
You know, I'm so guilty of that too, right?
I'm having to learn to take a step back.
The hiring process is one of those,
unfortunately, it's one of the last things I see people finally uncovering,
three, four, five years into the failure of what they've created.
I've been there many times on my entrepreneur path.
I didn't recognize it the first few times I was so stubborn.
But when we take that moment, like the assessment you talked about,
while it may sound exhausting to some of you,
like take a breath, like go over that message you're sending right now,
like try to just break, that message can wait.
But these principles of getting set on who you are and defining it,
it's not only for you, it's for your team.
How can your team respect your culture if you haven't built one?
How can your team end up with the same vibe?
You know, if you've assumed that person's going to have fun washing the dishes,
doing the laundry, and doing the things you don't want to do,
but they come from the opposite angle of like,
those are the things I want to do either,
whether it's a marriage or it's a business,
there's going to be a train wreck of toxicity that occurs from making assumptions like that.
So I'm glad that you exposed a lot of the assets,
that you know, a lot of the questions.
If you're listening, go back and write those down, you know,
and take note for yourself.
Also, I hope somebody trolls me based on your description of,
always shamed to a desk, always on camera, always like,
she's describing podcasters.
That'll be awesome.
No, but the trolls, you guys help us win.
So go ahead, troll away and get after it.
So, um,
No, but Jackson, I love that question, what you just said there though,
which was, you know, oh, I have to do all of these things.
I think one of the most pivotal things for me that I realized was when I changed that wording
and changed it from I have to, do I get to, I'm not novel
and being someone to say that, others have said that before I have.
But when I shifted that way of thinking,
it was, it completely transformed all of those have to's into blessings
and things that I'm grateful for.
Oh, I have to make my bed.
I get to make my bed.
I have a bed to be able to make, right?
I have to go grocery shopping.
I get to go grocery shopping.
I get to go choose the food I'm going to eat.
I mean, that list goes on and on, but changes your mindset completely.
It does huge mindset shift.
Thank you for sharing that.
And we're going to dive into, I want to look at one more.
No little thing here.
No, let's skip that for now because I have a feeling you're going to blow my mind
with some of these answers.
So what's your worst leadership experience ever been?
Ooh, any particular genre?
Um, I guess maybe just ponder that for a second while I fill the air.
Dig to your soul, your heart, your mind can be yours with me as a leader or me with someone
with someone as a leader.
It can be one of yours.
It can be one you've seen.
It can be one you've experienced.
The goal ultimately is that moment that, you know, it's going to lift other people up
and they're like, wow, how did she share that?
Yeah, so I can actually think something to be relevant to talk about even just right
now.
You know, I am in the midst of creating other ventures.
I like being involved in lots of different things.
I've invested in other startups and you know, I'm a very big believer in we don't
fail.
We just learn.
And so I started a venture.
Painful.
Sorry.
It's painful.
Yeah, it is painful.
But I do it too.
I get it.
We're good.
And I went into a new venture that I was really excited about.
I believed in it immensely and with two co-founders and unfortunately fast forward over a year
and that relationship did not work out.
And so they actually unexpectedly quit.
And so now I'm in the process of the next steps.
And you know, does the business what does that look like?
It can't continue.
You know, it was necessary to have that type of co-founder support and relationship to
move it forward.
And I'm having to do the really hard task of how do I wind it down and transition.
So that is certainly an experience that as a leader, I wasn't anticipating.
I wasn't thinking that that was going to be a possibility that I would have to consider
and certainly not consider on such a short time horizon.
I actually equate it to going through a divorce.
It's really easy to get married.
It's really tough to get divorced.
And I'd say the same thing holds true for starting a company.
It is very easy to go on legal zoom or you know, have your attorney fill out the paperwork
to create an LLC.
It is significantly harder to then wind down a business and to close it out.
And knowing when it's the right time to do that, knowing how to do it effectively and
to do it neatly so that you don't have loose ends that continue to come up and have to
deal with.
And it's a painful process because you're dealing with all the hardship of it while
you're also grieving the loss of that venture.
And so that would be, you know, from my perspective in a leadership capacity, I was serving as
co-founder and CEO, you know, I've got a number of lessons learned from that experience.
But I think one of the biggest ones is knowing when it's a yes and knowing when it's a this
sounds great and I'd love to and knowing when you don't have the capacity to take something
on, you know, and there's lots of different ways that we can structure and make the things
that we care about most important to us.
But I think that's something that I would encourage all entrepreneurs to really take
stock of is we like to say yes to the things that come at us if they seem to be a good
fit, but really doing your due diligence and evaluating is it the right fit?
Are these partners the right fit?
Are we going to be able to collaborate effectively and we're going to be able to succeed and
get the results that we're really seeking?
And sometimes the answer to that unfortunately is no.
Okay, you just opened a mastermind circle like a big, big important mastermind circle.
You are going to be the first invite back for the panel discussion on entrepreneurship
because the depth of what you just talked about right there, we would benefit so much
from having a panel of six to seven entrepreneurs all talking about exactly that for about two
hours, right?
So that's what my panels are going to be, they're going to be between 90 and 120 minutes
so that everybody has the mic time necessary to be able to express themselves fully and
to create a true debate, not like a fabricated one based on politics or based on like the,
oh yeah, well I would say that if I'm at 15 seconds to talk, like that doesn't work.
Anyway, so that platform, what you just talked about struck a lot of chords for me.
Yeah, you said that three years ago, I would have, PTSD would be the feeling that I would
describe that as like, oh my gosh, you're so, the grieving, losing that partner.
I'm also twice divorced by the way.
So in addition to the business losses that have existed in partnerships and you mentioned
knowing when to close it down.
There's also the agreeing on when to close it down.
You know, everybody's got a different opinion on that, you know, and whether you should
or not, right?
Not everybody believes that you should.
So it's one of those realities that if you're facing that alone as an entrepreneur, it's
so helpful to know that there's others who have perspectives that they won't push it
on you.
I'm just, like I said, I've learned some things about you, healthy boundary wise, or I'm like,
Kelsey's got it.
Like she gets these topics.
So I'm excited to explore with you further.
I love that you're offering that though, and that you are doing that because as we know,
being an entrepreneur is very lonely.
It's not something that gets talked about enough, I think, where when you're working
in a company of colleagues and coworkers and camaraderie and you're able to rally together
for the goals that you're working together to achieve.
And when you're the founder, you don't have that support.
Even if you have team members who are working with you, there's so much that you can't share.
Or you're in mastermind with a founder who's super alpha and then it's kind of helpful.
But whoa, sorry, I had to do it because that's what it feels like.
If you're listening in, if you want to be on that panel, absolutely apply by the way.
If you're listening, you're like, I got that entrepreneurial experience.
I have multiple companies.
That's what I'm talking about.
Difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur, that's one of them in my opinion,
is you got multiple ventures that you're working in and you got that three to five years of
experience and you've had some of those wars come about.
Where you've had to shut things down or go through some of these more difficult aspects
of entrepreneurship.
So super cool.
I got to drive you to the best leadership experience because I know you're going to
throw down just as much.
So what is your best leadership experience ever look like?
There's a couple that come to mind.
Honestly, I think the first one is really just that this past May, I hit the seven year
mark of staying in business with Kelsey Consulting.
And so that was just a huge milestone in general to have a business that despite original naysaying
from others, I've been able to create, cultivate and put out there.
And it was really rewarding when I put together, I did like a celebratory gift for clients
actually at the six year mark.
And I was like, wow, I've got all these clients that I can thank for being a part of this
journey.
I've got vendors I've worked with and partnered with.
I've got clients they value.
And this amount of time is only possible because that they their belief in me and my support
and what I've been able to do.
And so just from a general experience, I think being able to see something that you know
is possible, believe can happen, have it come to reality and then have it have longevity
past the typical markers of when companies ebb and flow and transition.
So that in and of itself just has meant a tremendous amount.
I'd also say just any time something that I've created has gone live into the marketplace.
So several years ago when I launched something called the Consultants Closet, a venture for
providing wardrobe guidance and attire inspiration for professionals, I actually wrote something
called The Dress Code.
It was my first book, if you will.
It's a digital book, but I actually had it printed.
When I got the actual physical copy and I was able to say, oh my gosh, I made this,
I created this, this is so cool.
And while that's not leadership of others, that is putting thought leadership out into
the world.
And as a consultant, the bulk of the work that we do is all verbal or digital.
You don't often have physical products to go along with what you're creating.
We're not building construction.
We're not creating products.
You don't have a free dessert to give away.
We don't, right?
I mean, if we have giveaways, it's product, but it's not the same as we are selling a
physical item.
And so you have to get really comfortable with the fact that your results are short
term, sometimes in nature.
You might do a ton of work with an executive leadership team and then a key resource leads
that organization and things transition.
And so now that work, while yes, now embodied in each of the individuals is no longer necessarily
part of that team.
There's a massive lack of gratitude that we have ourselves too, right?
If I show you the best landing page in the world, right?
Or I've got the best blueprint.
There is no emotional validation for the reality that that thing is valuable and it won't come
to fruition of seeing, it won't be appreciated with a, until the bridge is built.
You know, if the bridge is built and it's successful and all that and all the other
variables happen.
So there's, it's so hard to appreciate your value when it's constantly in question.
It takes a deep spirit.
And so I'm speaking from my experience, my design team.
And I saw them get praised tremendous.
I first, I had like a, that's not fair.
How can they get instant gratification and what they do?
But then I was like, oh, that's cool.
That's the heart and soul of our company right there, the design team.
But it doesn't devalue what you do.
What you do is consulting leadership culture takes, it takes quarters to see the results
of that.
It does.
And so that's why, when I actually have seen some of the physical results of intellectual
power, I've put out into the world in physical form, that's a really neat experience to actually
have something physical and tangible that you can tie to what you've created.
I'll also double down on that as somebody who I've only published something privately.
I don't have it on the market, so I don't claim to be a published author, but the intentionality
that it takes, right?
The hours that you put in it and you're not doing it for you, right?
It would be different if it was a fiction book, which again, I'm not calling fiction
authors selfish, but you're striving to gift the world with your knowledge in a way that
takes you to that fourth tier of influence, where your knowledge is available to people
whether you're here or not.
The amount of selfless service in that is pretty incredible to me.
There is some selfishness in it though, completely.
Yeah, that's fair.
And the reason we say that is, so for years, I don't know if you've felt this way, but
I had thoughts and ideas just kind of bumping around in my head where I would be constantly
thinking a whole dialogue of, okay, here's how to dress for work, or here's how to set
yourself up for an interview, or here's how to start a new job effectively, all these
different ideas.
And I go through those dialogues constantly and they're exhausting when you can't get
them out of your head.
And the moment I actually started writing and putting those thoughts into reality, my
brain opened up and I had room for more to come in.
And so it's actually been a really awesome exercise in taking those ideas, bringing them
to fruition, and then making space and room for more to come through.
Yep.
I believe that too.
That's another superpower that you mentioned there.
So let's dive into a powerful lesson.
What's a powerful lesson?
This was the last lesson you could share with visionaries.
Regarding your experience, what would the lesson be?
It's going to be so much harder than you think it's going to be.
And I say that fully believing that you have to keep going and that it's all possible and
that you are exactly where you're meant to be.
And I firmly believe that things don't happen to us.
They happen for us, but wow, is it difficult.
And you will be challenged in ways that you could never imagine from all different angles.
And so with that, the lesson there is don't believe the negativity, even in your own brain.
Instead just go for a walk, take shower, go to the gym, have lunch or dinner, coffee with
a loved one, go snuggle with the dog, go listen to good music, do something to break that
negativity cycle that sometimes feels unrelenting.
And when you are experiencing those emotions and feelings, you're likely getting much closer
than you think you are to where it is that you want to be going.
Maybe that hardship shows up right when you're kind of at the precipice of where you are
on the other side of where you want to be.
The other lesson I would share is the other thing I would share is, and I'm not the first
person to say this, but the version of you that you want to be, you only get to be that
version of you when you start being that version of you.
You might have great aspirations for where you want to go and how you want to portray
yourself and how you see yourself, but until you start showing up as that person every
day in all of your decision making, you can't transform and become that person.
There's no magical shortcut from where you are to where you want to be.
You just have to start being that person.
You have to say, okay, well, that person that I want to be, how do they travel?
How do they speak?
How do they dress?
How do they act?
How do they organize their day?
How do they interact with their loved ones?
How do they prioritize their to-do list?
And looking at it from every decision that you make, because if you're slacking in certain
areas and you're not holding yourself accountable, you're not going to be that person that you
envision for yourself, because no one else is going to intercept and coach you or whip
you into shape to hold you accountable.
You have to make those choices for yourself, and then once you do, the world responds in
kind, but it's only once you yourself decide, okay, I want to be there and I'm going to
actually start hurting myself accountable for that version of me that I want to become.
Absolutely.
So, for those of you listening in and you're so excited to learn more about cultivating
high performing organizations, teams, and leaders, this episode is a prelude of what's
also to come.
Before you get there, it gets disappointing.
You're like, well, Jackson knows, the CB know wasn't.
We've laid a massive foundation.
It starts with you as a leader, and that's what Kelsey has hit on is you as a leader
have got to look at what can I be doing better to be my best self.
I don't need to be better than the other competitors out there.
I don't need to be better than my employees.
I need to show up as my best self.
What does that look like?
That's foundation number one, which is why we call it vision pros.
It's all about you becoming a great visionary.
Foundation number two is then as you become that attractive person, how do you create
the processes and the systems that then sustain and support people who want to support you
along the way?
That's my foundation number two, but what I wanted to extend is an invitation to Kelsey.
Kelsey, I would love to see you on the Power Take, our other show.
It's a business show about business news.
You would be the news segment, and Chris Chambers, the new CEO of Media Productions at First
Class Business, would be your host.
You guys would rock out on basically a workshop style.
What do you do?
How do we go in at this at a deeper level and kind of create an instant book and video
format through that interview?
Anyway, it would be a lot of fun.
We would love to have you.
Don't feel forced to do that, but if you see the opportunity there, I think that there's
just, there's so much depth to this reality of cultivating high performing organizations,
my friends.
You just can't tackle it in a 45 minute discussion.
And you're found my foundation.
This is my humble opinion.
I've got to find out who the person is, why they care, what about, not just the theatrics
of, oh, they worked at Accenture.
There's plenty of people who worked at Accenture that I won't take advice from.
There's plenty of great leaders who on title and on paper look great.
But some of the exposed facts of how Kelsey shared her vision, I just want to honor you
to the nth degree, Kelsey.
This was awesome.
Thank you, Jackson.
Pleasure.
I will add, you received the passion pro award.
Oh, that's the wrong one.
Here we go.
Passion pro also honors you.
I see you as a passion pro.
Let me switch that there.
Your quote, it's going to be so much harder than you think it's going to be, reminds me
of what any parent would say about being a parent or any husband or wife would say about
having gotten married.
The best blessings in our lives often come from having chosen one of the toughest paths
there is.
And entrepreneurship is no different.
It is not an easy path.
And there's plenty of, if you want to look up the article, what did entrepreneurs say
about how hard it is, you will find quotes from Bill Gates and Elon Musk and Reid Hoffman,
so many people.
Kelsey has just given us that insight at a whole new level and perspective.
So that was amazing.
Thank you.
And I'm glad Kelsey, where should people reach out to you?
Sure.
Yeah.
I mean, you can find me on LinkedIn and on social media.
Kelsey.consulting is our website.
If you're looking to engage, would love to hear from you.
I also actually do have a podcast, Jackson.
I'd love to have you join us on an upcoming episode.
We have a slightly different focus.
So we are tailored at providing industry insight and guidance to those in the consulting industry
and those in entrepreneurship who deal with and interact with consultants, really helping
shed a light on that space.
And the reason for that is consultants were kind of an enigma, if you will.
We're a little bit different.
We have to travel a lot.
There's often disposable income, but not a lot of free time.
So that in and of itself just shifts and shapes our perception in a different manner.
And so there's a few that actually cater to consultants specifically.
And so the Consultants Council is really a place to be able to shed light on that and
to help others who are either in consulting and looking to pivot into entrepreneurship
or who have been in industry and are working with consultants and are engaging with them.
So we'd love to have you on, but that's another great place to engage with us.
Of course, we will have all these links in the show notes as well.
And so on the landing page, if you're listening right now and you don't see the landing page,
go to the landing page, check out the links that are there.
We'll keep those updated.
Also, if you have a comment, a question, just drop it in the comments for Kelsey.
We'll make sure to forward those to her if it's for her specifically.
And if you also would like to share your own vision with us on the show, then by all means
apply.
We would love to be able to share your vision with the world and talk to you about how you're
going about bringing that to fruition and why it matters to everybody else.
So everybody have a fantastic rest of your day and we look forward to seeing you on the
next episode.
Take care, everybody.
Thanks Jackson.
Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun.
We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We invite people to participate in the show and thank you for giving us your time and
attention.
We'll see you next time.