How to Do What You Love (Without Leaving Your Job) and Build a "Side Brand" With Kate Volman

Are you an aspiring “side brander?” That’s the term I’ve coined for someone who wants to pursue a passion project or calling while still working their job.

In this week's episode, I interview Kate Volman, CEO of Floyd Coaching and author of Do What You Love, all about helping us take action and pursuing what lights us up even while working a full-time job.

LEARN:

> The seven myths stopping people from exploring their pursuits.

> Why exploring your creative pursuits is the key to living a creative life and growing personally and professionally.

> The power of dreams to help you and your team become more fully engaged in business and life.

> Simple strategies to get out of our heads and start exploring our creativity.

LINKS
Connect with Kate Volman on LinkedIn
KateVolman.com

ABOUT KATE VOLMAN

Kate Volman is the CEO of Floyd Coaching. With over twenty years of experience developing and leading life-changing programs for entrepreneurs and leaders, she has a passion for helping people grow. In addition to serving on the leadership team for multiple organizations throughout her career, she also used her entrepreneurial skills to start and run a boutique marketing firm. 

Her enthusiasm and passion for helping people explore their creativity personally and professionally make her a sought-after speaker, trainer, and executive coach. She leverages her knowledge and experience in personal development and company culture to help people live more fulfilling lives. Kate is the author of Do What You Love: A Guide to Living Your Creative Life Without Leaving Your Job. She hosts two podcasts: Lead With Culture and Create For No Reason. 

Kate is a multi-passionate leader, fitness enthusiast, podcaster, content creator, book lover, and author.

Michelle B Griffin is a thought leadership-focused personal brand and PR strategist and founder of Standout Women Media who positions established women experts and authors into visible industry authorities.

If you're ready to up-level, a powerful personal & PR brand foundation are key. Become clear, confident, and cohesive in your branding, positioning, messaging, LinkedIn, and PR strategy in 30 days with my Visible Brand Authority Accelerator™.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hey, there, it's the brand therapist, michelle B Griffin, and welcome to your weekly personal brand therapy session. As a certified personal brand and PR strategist, speaker and author, I'm here to empower you to put yourself out there so you can find clarity, build visibility and grow your industry authority. I'm super excited you're here. Now let's get going with today's session. Welcome everybody to this week's Ask the Brand Therapist Personal Branding Talk Show. I am thrilled to have here someone who I've admired for a couple years now, when I first met her. She is Kate Fulman, the CEO of Sloe Cochin and the author of Do what you Love. Welcome to the show, kate.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 1: 0:46

Yes let's talk about. We met a couple years ago on member clubhouse right yeah, personal brand mastery show and you were in it and we just bonded back then. And then you sent me a book and, lo and behold, you have a book. Why did I have you on the show? Because there's so many of us who stay stuck on the sidelines, silent, plain, small, all the things I talk about. So let's unpack the book and really get into the question of yes, you can do what you love, pursue those creative endeavors and not even have to lead your job. So where do we start, kate? Because the book is an amazing read and I just can't shout it out enough.

Speaker 2: 1:21

Michelle, thank you so much for supporting the book and sharing the book. I know you've given some some copies out to some people that that really means the world to me. I feel like you write a book and then you put out into the world and you're like here are my ideas. I hope you like that. So it's an interesting experience.

Speaker 2: 1:36

But the whole concept of the book really was that I feel very blessed because in my career, no matter where I was whether I've worked for someone else or I've been on my own, because I've done both of those things I have always had creative pursuit, just little side projects. I was very interested in this is pre-social media when it just started coming about. I got interested in video and I had my little pink flip cam. When I worked at the Chamber of Commerce and I was exploring podcasting, there was always little side projects that I had that I got really excited about and even though it wasn't my job, it brought me so much joy and I gained so many new skills and I developed friendships and relationships of people that I wouldn't have otherwise had I not explored those creative passions.

Speaker 2: 2:26

And so I wrote this book because I recognize that there were so many people, especially today, where we feel like we have to either figure out how our passion can become a business or we're miserable in this job. There's like a blend between the two, and I work with a lot of people that they actually really like their job. They do, obviously, in every position there are some frustrations, but they like what they do, but they've lost the joy and passion of their creativity, of those creative pursuits, and that looks different for everyone. For me, and for you too, it looks like business because it's video and podcasting, it's writing and that kind of thing, but for some it's cooking, jiu-jitsu, art comedy, playing the piano, it's pottery, it's exploring all of the things that you find really interesting and fascinating, and so I really wanted to empower them to start their creative pursuit, something that they've given up, that really brings a lot of joy to their life.

Speaker 1: 3:25

I absolutely love that you're addressing this because there was a gap in that market. It's either do your side hustle and do this or quit your job. There's a lot of narratives out there and something that I threw out there about a year ago was called the concept, and I don't talk about all that much, but it's called a side brand. What is a side brand? Because you're my personal brand. It's not a side hustle, it's what you're talking about. It's something you don't necessarily have to monetize it, but maybe you lead and you talk about it In the case of your book, where you're friendly and over and says I have something important to tell you. I was made for more and he then went into the photography. But that's your side brand. That's how you connect with the world, share a message and really empower yourself. So I love the concept of what you're talking about really overlays with personal branding.

Speaker 1: 4:07

As I told you before we went live, I also say there's a lot of overlay of personal development in personal branding. Personal branding is just the vehicle to get out there, to show up in the world doing what you love and in the case we can go deeper to solve problems. In this part we're talking about what lights us up. So let's unpack this, because I wrote today a post and I'll link it. So many people leave just an average life. I quoted you so I didn't steal your things and then you talk about the training wells. Do you want to just leave training wheels on your entire life, or do you want to take them off and just fly? Let's unpack some of these concepts in that first chapter and then let's get into the seven myths so we can really inspire people to start pursuing what they love.

Speaker 2: 4:51

You're referring to the conversation that I had with my friend who, winnie, leaned into me and he said I want to tell you the secret. I haven't told anyone this before and I'm telling you. I still remember sitting at dinner with him. I'm like what is he going to tell me? And he's like I feel like I'm meant for more. And I thought, oh my gosh, doesn't he realize that so many of us feel that way? This is not really a secret, but it is. You don't talk about it.

Speaker 2: 5:16

And so when I developed the seven myths, I essentially was like wow, I recognized a lot of challenges people were going through in living their dream life, in actually pursuing what they were passionate about. Because when you get older, life gets in the way. We have more responsibilities, we have to do things. In fact, I saw someone post on your page that it's all well and good that we want to do something we love, but when we get older, you have a high paying job and you maybe don't love it, but you can't just leave. You have responsibilities and I'm not going to discount that. We have to be thinking about all of that stuff.

Speaker 2: 5:52

However, a lot of the leaders that I get to work with. They have given up some of the passions that if they incorporate back into their life, they're going to start to recognize wow, I become a better communicator, a better leader, I'm happier, I'm more fulfilled. And so that's why I developed these seven myths. The seven myths are essentially the reasons why I recognize so many of us don't pursue our passion projects and we disregard our dreams because we feel like there's just not an opportunity for us to lean into them.

Speaker 1: 6:23

So I don't know if we want to dig into the seven myths, but let's just give an overview, because there's a few that I really want to unpack and some really just hit home for me, especially my backstory. I got that itch in 2015 and it was to start my own brand consultancy, something I had at Bubbling when I was in my 20s. Back then it was a PR agency and I went down all the wrong paths and did not anything legal or weird, but I wasted time, okay, and I felt hopeless, held back. I can't even tell you that's like a book in itself, but had I found something like your book, that would have just helped me lean into what I love and that, naturally, would help me get out there. And I think it's just also a compound effect when you do like you're just saying let's get into the seven myths.

Speaker 2: 7:07

I just want to comment one thing, because I feel like what you just said is too good to pass over, because a lot of people feel this way. We feel like, when we look at our past, I should have done this, I could have done that, if only I would have done this, and obviously that leads us into no good situation. We really don't know what would have happened, and so I love this idea that everything that we've done has obviously gotten us to where we are today. And then we think about the future is bigger than our past and we can do something, starting today, to build that bigger future. And so, getting into the myths, myth number one is it's not possible. And the myths build on each other, and the first one of it's not possible, I think. So often we feel like, oh no, it's not possible. This is just life, and life is hard and I don't deserve joy and all these things. And so that was myth number one. So myth number two is you're not good enough. Oh my gosh, michelle, I'm like no matter. You can talk to the people that we look up to and they have worthiness issues. There's this like deep rooted is it enough? Are we enough? And it's like this constant thing that we have to remind ourselves.

Speaker 2: 8:17

Number three is you need permission. This stops a lot of us. Like you wanted to have a talk show and guess what, you start a talk show. You don't wait for someone to say, hey, do you want to have your own show? Like we have to go after those dreams of ours. Number four is you need a reason. Hey, this is. I get this one all the time. People feel like I'm an attorney or I'm a CEO, or I shouldn't be spending time learning to play the piano or getting the band back and doing gigs on a Saturday night. But why? The reason is because it brings you. Number five is there's not enough time, and this one is obviously that's like a whole conversation in and of itself. Myth number six I have to say, michelle, that this one I have found. So many people reach out to me and they say this is the one that hit home with them the most.

Speaker 2: 9:07

We're perfectionists because we're type A, we're driven, we have a lot of goals, a lot of dreams, a lot of things we want to do and we get ourselves stuck because we're like it has to be perfect. I can't post this video, I can't share this article, I can't write this book because it doesn't sound right yet. It's not perfect, and so if we waited for perfect, we would never do any of it. And then number seven is inspiration will strike, and this one is one of my favorites, because this is another thing. We don't always feel like it.

Speaker 2: 9:35

I didn't always feel like sitting down and writing, but I wanted to finish the book. We were waiting for this news to come and sprinkle this fairy dust over us, and we were going to feel this boost of inspiration. But the good news is that inspiration comes when we get started. Like once you start, you gain that energy. I can't tell you how many people will tell me I was exhausted when I came home and then I started working on this project and all of a sudden it was like an hour and a half goes by and I had so much more energy. And that's what your creative pursuits do for you, if you love them and you are excited about them. Once you just sit down and get started, oh my gosh, it just unleashes your energy.

Speaker 1: 10:17

It's in the flow moments really, when you forget to eat lunch, which is rare for me, but I know that of all the seven, probably the two Ps permission and perfection and probably number six for me. I'm an over thinker over analyzer, over editor over writer All the things. Then I also want to say lean into strengths too, because I'm big in assessments, eclipse and strings ideations by. Number two, strength. So it bubbles up and pops up like popcorn. For me it really helps when I work with clients, but sometimes for me it stalls me. So you've got to learn what your strengths are, where you need to work, and then you can start tackling.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Perfectionism could be a whole other book in itself. Right, we've had so many people tell you. But the permission thing, I think that we think someone magical is going to tap us on the shoulder and say, hey, that's it and that's what. One of the big reasons I got stuck for those five years and instead of getting out there, I took courses, credentials and certifications, even though it was well equipped on paper. And you're right, let me go back and give myself a little pat on the back.

Speaker 1: 11:20

During that struggle time, I would always hear this intuition saying your struggle is your story. You figured somewhere down the road that would make sense, and now it does, because it connects the right people to me. But, just as you said so well in the book everything in the past, it just brings us up to speed and dictates and demonstrates where we want to go. So we can't ignore those mistakes or where we think we fell short, because it just it helps connect us to the right people too. And then our inner selves Now I'm so passionate about. You don't need permission, you don't need perfection, like the double P's and procrastination. Can we throw that in there too?

Speaker 2: 11:55

Oh my gosh, that's an offspring of one of them.

Speaker 2: 11:59

It's all part of perfectionism, and I just posted a video about feeling left behind. When you feel left behind in your life and your career, because it is the challenge when, especially you get older, you get into like midlife and beyond and you're like, oh my gosh, I should have been at this different place. And I think it is important for us to recognize all the things that we have done and the decisions that we make, and we do believe that we make decisions in our life with the information that we have at the time that we have them. Obviously, cliches are around for a reason. Hindsight is 2020.

Speaker 2: 12:33

Of course, now all of this, you're a different person than you were, hopefully, two years ago, five years ago. You're constantly growing and developing and so obviously, the decision seems so obvious now, but you weren't that same person. And I think that people, a lot of the clients that I work with one word that I share with them at the end of the calls and it just shows up all the time is grace. Give yourself some grace. And it's also because you're so big into personal development on the side of personal branding.

Speaker 2: 13:01

This is where and I talk about journaling in the book a lot, because it's a big part of my life and it's so important is being able to journal through hey, what did I do in the past? What decisions did I make that I wish I would have made differently? And now we get to say I can't go back and do it differently, but what can I do, starting today? I will myself, five years from now, be so grateful that the me today started doing today. That's what I really focus on. It's okay, I'm not gonna think about five years ago, but I am gonna think about the me five years from now, and the me, five years from now, is gonna be so glad that I started, even when I didn't feel like it, even when I was scared, even when I didn't have the right equipment or the right certifications or all the things that we think we need in order to pursue our dreams. We don't need any of that stuff, like we literally just need to take the first, right next step and that is it, and then, once we start doing that, we'll start to build that confidence. So we've just gotta gain the momentum and then stay focused.

Speaker 1: 14:00

That is so much what I talk about, and in the LinkedIn branding book, a lot of what I write about. That's why PYOT is my mission and my mantra, because that's exactly what I should have been doing. Yes, I look back, I cherish, I give myself grace and space. But if I look back right where I was then which, by the way, during that old time I was feverishly writing in 750wordscom, my digital diary so that's a great place if someone doesn't like to hand write, because I love to type and get my thoughts all that way so I can go back now and I have going back and look where I was back then and just like, oh, wow, it's crazy. So documentation is huge to see your journey, but when you get out there, the answers come when you get out there.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Now let's talk about starting, because all this is theory stuff, empowerment, which I'm all about, but then the flip side of it is you gotta have implementation right. Ideas and implementation are the perfect marriage. Now we know the seven myths and we know which ones really we need to work on. Probably for many of us, a lot of them are almost all seven of them right, because that's what's keeping us from where we wanna be and what we love. Let's talk about the action. Where do we start? People are listening, kate. Oh my goodness, this so resonates. I'm in a job, but I don't wanna leave my job. And who knows, maybe down the road or it ends up being something you can take down and monetize, but for now, let's think about it as just pursuing creative endeavors.

Speaker 2: 15:23

A question that I've been getting that I've been so fascinated by because I didn't realize this was gonna be such a popular question is what if I don't have passions? What if I don't know what my passions are and I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't really realize that that was such a challenge for so many people, mostly just because I have so many of them. There's so many different things I'm interested in, but I love this question because I think it's really important is because we might have lost those creative pursuits, given up the things that we really love. The first thing I would tell people is okay, what did you love to do as a child? That's the first one. So what did you really love doing when you were kids? Did you love to draw? Did you love to play outside? Did you maybe play a musical instrument? So often when we're younger, we get into those creative pursuits just because they're around us, they're available to us.

Speaker 2: 16:14

Another question I would ask is what are you doing when you're in your flow state, like when that time flies by and it passes by and you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it's already been three hours Like what are some of those things that you're doing, because that's gonna give you a lot of data around. What are some things that you're really passionate about that you might want to pursue? Is it learning something new that maybe you would be curious to I would love to Start a podcast and talk about this with people or it's just getting your wheels turning. What do I really get excited to actually do that? I feel like time just flies by. And then the the other question that I love is if I were gonna pay you a thousand dollars to learn something new, to learn a new skill, what would it be? And this one people like oh, you're gonna actually pay me to learn. Because this goes back to the myth of you need a reason.

Speaker 2: 17:05

So often we feel if it's not for something, then why should I do it? Like, why should I spend time learning pottery? I'm not gonna be selling pottery or making vases or anything, and or I'm not gonna Become a pianist, so why should I learn piano? So if I were to pay you a thousand dollars, what would you be so excited to learn? Is it guitar or taking a pottery class or doing pilates or whatever it is? And when we think about it from that perspective, we're like that's so interesting because now you might decide I would learn how to dance Great, start taking dance lessons. Like you can take a dance lesson once a week, or whatever it is, and so it's like opening up our world to what are some of those creative pursuits that we Either used to be interested and have given up, or that we just haven't really thought about because we just don't make the time to think About our creativity.

Speaker 1: 17:55

I love that you talk about that, because that's actually permission. Right there too, two different myths killed there. I also like to say what do you gravitate to? Reading for fun, like magazines, when you go to the bookstore with magazines if you ever go to the bookstore anymore and look at Maggie, the magazine, right. What do you really love when you're perusing Instagram, not just our friend stuff. What are some of the topics that'll tell you because the algorithm will start serving you? I love decorating. I love mid-century modern architecture. Those are little clues that bubble up.

Speaker 1: 18:24

So I think, self-awareness, as much as we can just start realizing, give yourself grace and space. I think we need to start saying, okay, I'm really intrigued by this idea. There's a lot of different areas where you're giving yourself permission to tap into something that you love, which will feel and spill over to other areas your life. It's self-awareness. A lot of these questions you asked them. When you get the idea, I'm really leaning into XYZ. What should someone do next? Should they Jump into starting a podcast or should they start talking to people? What would you think for this show?

Speaker 2: 18:57

right here is the best no action steps to take so I love this because I talk about the passion loop in in the book, and the passion loop is Essentially when we have this idea, we're. So. Let's say we're like oh, this is so cool. You just said you like interior design. Great, so I love interior design. I would really love to maybe get into interior design. That would be really cool to not explore as a career, but just maybe you want to do it for your home or maybe your friend's home, or just like learn a little bit more about it.

Speaker 2: 19:27

Then what happens is you get excited. Maybe you're like, oh, I'll go on Pinterest or whatever, but then you immediately start creating all the excuses as to why you shouldn't. Oh, it's a waste of time. Oh, none of my friends would want that. Oh, it's not worth it, whatever it is, and then we let go of the idea. But then what happens is an hour goes by, a week, a month, however long, and automatically you're thinking I really wanted to explore interior design. So you're stuck in this loop and then you like make up the excuses again as to why you shouldn't.

Speaker 2: 19:56

So the way to break out of the passion loop is super simple. All it is the next right step. What is the smallest thing that you can do, the smallest action you can take to get you one step closer. In the book I talk about your minimum viable creation. Instead of an MVP like minimum viable product we talk about in business, minimum viable creation, what is the smallest step you can take and that could look like hey, I'm gonna start my own Pinterest board Decorating on what I want to do in my home. You could reach out to a friend and say, hey, I'm really excited to explore. You just moved into a new home. Can I do one of your rooms, whatever it is? Create a list of three things that you could do and then choose one. Just choose one. Sometimes we get so excited because we're like now I'm gonna do this and we say I'm gonna do these ten things, and then we had to do nothing, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 20:44

Yeah, and I remember when my friend moved into a new home in 2015, she had me come style like this whole bookshelf thing, and then now she always is like asking me to come do stuff. I don't lean into it a lot, but she knows now, so that that tickles the side of me that I love reading and all this. That's my real creative side is decorating, design and setting up things. So I love that you have so many outlets and creative and actionable things in the book. So, as we wrap up today, I really want to encourage my listeners, start thinking about this concept and I highly recommend you want to put the book up again to grab the books, because it's a really quick read. Audible is only two and a half hours, so you can just nail it and I read the book.

Speaker 2: 21:27

I read the audio, yes.

Speaker 1: 21:29

Even better. I absolutely love when the authors do that. I had my mom get it. I was talking to her in conversation today and she's bought the book. It's one of these pep talks we all need get out of our heads and get out of our way and get going, which is, oh, I say I do all the time, because we all have expertise, a passion, something that not only will light us up, but by doing that, you're helping others, you're going to be more productive at work and family and communities. It's a spillover effect. It's really truly what it is, and so that's the big picture thing. So, as it relates to personal brands, consider your side brand. You don't have to monetize it, you don't have to do all those things. It's just something that's part of you that's going to really empower you to be a better person, personally, professionally, all the way, okay. So, that being said, what's one quick takeaway someone can do to take that first step? What should they do today after listening to this?

Speaker 2: 22:21

I'm going to give a journaling prompt for people, because I'm a big fan of journaling and it's setting the stage for what that would potentially look like in your life. I like asking the question of what does your creative life look like? Who are you spending time with? What are you doing? How often are you engaging in those creative pursuits? Just write out everything that you can possibly think of, and what shows up might surprise you. It might surprise you where you would be so excited to spend your time.

Speaker 2: 22:52

I think it's so fascinating because oftentimes, when people write this, your dream life is a lot closer than you might think. It is those little pockets of time that you have when you can fill in with those creative pursuits would make such an impact. So write out your dream life and then absolutely think about the passion loop and figure out what is the one action step you can take. This doesn't mean researching and talking to your friends is not an action step. It's doing. It's actually doing the work. We can get bogged down thinking that we are making progress because but I'm researching and I'm just not ready yet. Nope, it's the actual doing of the work.

Speaker 1: 23:29

I love that because I'm the over researcher too. That's what got me in a hamster wheel. So, yes, I always say micro moments, micro impressions, nano steps. You know I'll take the big step. The baby step, the littlest thing forward, is going to get you. If people want to learn more, tell us everywhere they can find you the book, everything so we can start learning to do what?

Speaker 2: 23:49

we love. You can find me at KateLolmancom and the book is on Amazon if you're interested in getting a copy of the book. And yeah, I would love to hear from any of you on LinkedIn and Instagram are my two that I'm most active on the social platforms and I was telling Michelle, one of my creative pursuits is YouTube, so I'm over on YouTube, so if you're building a YouTube channel, we can be YouTube friends and connect over there as well.

Speaker 1: 24:13

Thank you so much, kate, for being on the show and sharing your wisdom in this amazing book, because it speaks to what so many of us struggle with. So thank you so much for being on the show.

Speaker 2: 24:22

Thank you. You're so kind. I'm so appreciative and thank you so much for the work that you're doing in the world. It is so necessary and needed and I love that you're supporting so many women, CEOs and leaders to help them build their brand.

Speaker 1: 24:35

That's my mission and mantra Put yourself out there, so without being said everybody, keep putting yourself out there. You have a brand to build, a message to share and people to impact. I'll be back next week. I'll catch you soon, Take care. That's a wrap for today's brand therapy session. Are you ready to get visible and build your personal brand? Then head on over to the brandtherapistio and grab my free resources to get unstuck and get going today and until next time. Thanks for listening.