In this episode...

Laura Hargrave: Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community by heading over to our website, bossitclub.com, and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it.

Okay, Sophia Noreen, let's dig into this. I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here.

Sophia Noreen: Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big-box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full-time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family, and self-care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day.

There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you

Sophia Noreen: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another fantastic episode of The Boss It Podcast. I am extremely excited to have Kalilah Hudson on the show with me today. Hello, Kalilah, how are you?  

Kalilah Hudson: I'm great. Thanks for having me.  

Sophia Noreen: Thank you for being here. And before we get into your story of how you started your entrepreneurial journey, tell us all, what is your mantra? 

Kalilah Hudson: My mantra is just that I believe in myself, and I have something to add to the world.  

Sophia Noreen: Beautiful. I love that. And, okay, I'm going to dig a little deeper. Why do you have that mantra?  

Kalilah Hudson: I think it just comes from the way I was raised as to just, I was an only child to a single parent latchkey kid. So a lot of the times, we're just being shuffled around. But what I discovered was that I had a lot to add to the world. I loved helping people. I loved being a person of service. And that was really the energy and the lifeblood within me that kept me going. And even though sometimes I did feel like I wasn't enough, I had a lot of people around me and what made me feel like I was enough was to give to others.  

Sophia Noreen: Yes. No, I love that. And having it relate to service, now, you're basically saying I am enough and you're able to serve, right?  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. 

Sophia Noreen: And I think that's gorgeous. And I think that really ties well into your journey as an entrepreneur. And now, I want you to tell everybody, what are you doing? How are you starting your business? I know you have a lot of ambitious goals and I know a lot of our listeners are in the same boat as you. So give us a little backstory and tell us how you got into entrepreneurship.  

Kalilah Hudson: Well, like I said, I've always been a person of service. My background is actually, I studied politics. But I became very disheartened for what had happened over the past few years. I felt driven to bring some positivity to the world. I felt like my path was no longer to be in the room as far as creating legislation. But it was to work from the outside, and I felt like it was to work with women because we needed more nurturing. Now, I helped create workshops and presentations for people who were overcoming debt. I am currently working in a social working field dealing with women who were dealing with domestic violence. And I've done voter registration drives. I have been awarded and recognized by my daughter's school district by my US Congressman, by my local government, by engaging other black parents in the public school system. And so I've always been driven to give back. And I wanted to encourage other coaches who are also driven to give back to their communities to have a voice and speak out. And that's why I wanted to be a public speaking coach because I also want them to understand that they are worthy as well.  

Sophia Noreen: Yeah, I love that. And I think you've hit the spot on. Women do need more nurturing. And being a person who can help them bring their voice out as a public speaking coach, because I know for myself, that's exactly what I need. I'm the girl who couldn't even go on the overhead speaker and make an announcement that my first job when I was 16 years old. I was a cashier at one of the local stores. And how sad is that? I couldn't even use my voice to basically call somebody to tell me that I need a price check on something. Like really, how am I going to ask or speak up when there are more important issues at the table? And so, as a level of service, being able to empower women to use their voice, is beautiful. So you're still working? It sounds like you still have a job in nine to five, and you are staggering two sides. You're starting your journey as an entrepreneur. When have you officially started your coaching practice? 

Kalilah Hudson: March 1st, 2021.  

Sophia Noreen: Nice. So we're coming up to one year, right? It's 11 months coming soon. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yeah, right around the corner.  

Sophia Noreen: And so how has the first year been going for you?  

Kalilah Hudson: The first year was really a journey of self-discovery. Because what's the beautiful thing about coaching is you really have to do a lot of work on yourself before you can coach others. Now, I was good at public speaking. But I had to take a deep dive into what was holding me back from being a great entrepreneur like asking for help and things like that.  

Sophia Noreen: Great. Very well said. I think being an entrepreneur, in general, I almost feel like it's a spiritual journey because you really need to trust the universe or God because you're putting yourself out there and now you're saying, hey world, I have something to offer. Please accept me, or please guide me towards the people who need my service or to the solutions I need to help so that way I can help others. Because if you don't have that trust, I feel trusting yourself, trusting the universe, trusting the process, then it can be very frustrating especially in the first few years of entrepreneurship. Even now, I've been doing the product side of the business for about coming on three years and I'm still telling myself to trust the process. I just got a message from our shipping company. They had lost 25 cartons of a product two weeks ago. And I kept telling my team member, she was freaking out, I'm like, you know what, we just have to wait and they have to find it. It was 25 cartons. It's not like one carton, it's 25 big boxes. So even now, you have to have that willpower. Help me out of here, Kalilah, I'm struggling with words. You have to have that trust. I guess, trust in the process and trust in yourself when you're making these big steps.  

Kalilah Hudson: And resiliency. I mean, that's really what it's about because you, as an entrepreneur in general, you're always running up against all these roadblocks. And I think every time you're able to overcome a roadblock, it just makes you stronger as a person. And that's how I felt as a coach. I think being a coach and being an entrepreneur has made me a better person. 

Sophia Noreen: Exactly. Do you have an obstacle or a moment you want to share with us and how you had to dig deep and become resilient over the last 11 months?  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes, I know that we both follow April Franks.  

Sophia Noreen: Yes, that's where we met. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. And I had went to her conference back in October in Atlanta. And I had a conversation with her because I am what I would call frugal. And I am trying to get over it because I do realize that as a business owner, you have to invest in yourself. You can't penny-pinch your way through everything.  

Sophia Noreen: I'm South Asian. I get the frugality and grew up with it. Okay, we had yogurt containers for a reason. We just store food in it.

Kalilah Hudson: Yes, yes, yes, for good. Forget Tupperware if you've got the old butter containers and stuff.  

Sophia Noreen: We don't need Tupperware. I won't spend a dollar on Tupperware.  

Kalilah Hudson: But if you truly, you have to invest in yourself. And so, anyway, she had built this email funneling system with Keap which is a CRM. People and I was very intimidated at first by looking at her email funneling system. And I talked to her and I said, thank you so much for working with them. I've now gotten a subscription because I was very intimidated by your system. And she looked me straight in my eye and she said, well, I'm going to calm it down a little bit, you think that you can effin' do everything, be Superman. And she says, the problem with women is we think that we can do everything. You're not an IT person so you need to hire an IT person. And instantly, I felt like I wanted to cry. But it was just because it was tapping into this hyper independence in me where I could feel like I could take on everything. And at that moment, I realized that I can't do everything. I need to ask for help and I need to hire somebody. So it wasn't just speaking to me as far as an entrepreneur, it was speaking to me as a person because I think, as women and just in general, a lot of the time we feel like we can do everything ourselves and we don't need help. And at that moment, I realized that as an entrepreneur, my business was going to survive. And I wasn't going to feel emotionally and financially depleted, I needed to get help. And I think that was really the biggest moment for me. 

Sophia Noreen: So beautiful. So well said as well. We do try to take on the world. And I think the simplest examples is even asking for help at home for anybody who hasn't dived into entrepreneurship. So many times I've had conversations with my girlfriend and they are struggling with basic things at home. And I'm like, there is a man in the house. Or there are other people in the house. There are your kids in the house. Just ask for help. And then when it comes to entrepreneurship, she said it well like, for you to do something in the tech space, even building a funnel, it's so much easier for somebody who has the knowledge set and has the skillset to build that. Yes, we have to let go of the resource of money. But in the end, we need to reframe that. The resource has been given to us for a reason. It is worthless when it's in the bank unless it's destined to help you move forward in whatever venture you want to move forward in. And so, I've had to make that reframe for myself as well that I've been provided with this resource. I'm very grateful for the resources that have been given to me. Either be it money or people or love or guidance, and I have to use it because they say, when you have the idea or you have the urge to do something, that means you have everything in your power, either physically, mentally, or from a resource perspective to make it happen. So if you have the vision to be a coach for women entrepreneurs or women public speakers, and you want to charge X amount of dollars for it, that's your vision. That can happen. Why not? So then let's just do it like something crazy, like she had to say that... She like, just met you like three seconds ago. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes, and it was like a direct shot to the heart. And I didn't realize why I was feeling that way. Until later after I had processed our conversation that, yes, I do have this hyper independence that I need to manage. And I can't serve more people if I'm just trying to do everything on my own. And it's also about letting go of control and being okay with things not being perfect. Because even if someone else does it, it's not going to be perfect. But I would not going to do it perfectly either so why does it matter?  

Sophia Noreen: That's it, that's it. I'm sure I've spoken about this as well in the past. It's better 80% done rather than not done at all because we all think that we're Superwoman or Superman. 

Kalilah Hudson: Exactly. And then going back to one of your episodes and I was actually listening to it today. It was episode 28 if anybody wants to listen to it. And it was about being perfectly imperfect. And I had actually created a workshop with the same title called Perfectly Imperfect. And it's about being okay with your flaws, being okay with the fact that everything is not going to be perfect. It's never going to be perfect. And just because it's perfect, it's still good. 

Sophia Noreen: Yes, exactly, exactly. Starting perfectly imperfect, I think is a real challenge for a lot of people. They're really afraid of judgment from others. I grew up in a household, unfortunately, was pretty judgmental. I grew up in a society where no one looked like me. And sadly, I was embarrassed for who I was. I actually don't think I've shared this story, but I feel like this could go along on the same lines that when I was four years old, I went up to a girlfriend in the neighborhood. So we were both little kids. She must've been five. And I said to her, don't tell anybody but I'm Indian. And then she looked at me and she's like, I know. You do? And I looked at myself like, oh, I guess I look different. And I think we feel this great judgment from others even at such a vulnerable young age that we are afraid of showing our imperfections. But we shouldn't. And I think having examples like yourself or me on the platform like on Instagram where I wore my sweater inside out today. I totally realized it halfway through my story. And I was like, well, this is a great example of you can start perfectly imperfect. And I think that workshop would be great for anybody who's feeling that sense of reluctance to just get started.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes, that you're good enough. And I remember sometimes even family and friends and people that are coming from a place of love could still give you bad advice. Because I know one time, when I was first starting being an entrepreneur and someone told me that I wasn't going to make money because I was overweight. And as a public speaking coach, that did set seed in my mind like, okay, I'm going to get out here anyway. But what motivated me was seeing other coaches that were overweight. And so, representation definitely matters. And it helps. It definitely helps. And when you're talking about, when you were brought up being a young age, that was actually why service became so important to me because I don't know anybody who's listening to the podcast. I am an African-American woman. I was raised predominantly in my earlier years in a predominantly white school. And so I had kids that did not want to play with me and they would alienate me. And so I found solace in volunteering in the classes were for the disabled children at eight years old. And they rescued me. They made me feel accepted and they never judged me. And I think that's why still until this day, I have been driven to be a person of service. So it's not just about you giving, me giving to other people. It's about people giving back to me. It's a mutual relationship.  

Sophia Noreen: And feeling accepted and seen. And I got chills from hearing that. I think if I dig deep, I had very similar circumstances. My mom, funny enough said, when we were in San Francisco, she was visiting something and she left me to daycare. And when she returned, it was like a mall drop-off. I think it was two, I was a toddler. So when she came back, she realized that all the minority kids are playing together. And she's like at a young age, you just feel like you belong. And I don't want to say that loosely like, you should feel accepted. But it's hard if you are the one that's different. Kids are kids. And I feel bad saying that, but I don't know where it comes from. I don't know if it's learned. I don't know what it is, but at such a young age, my mom was making a very obvious statement, or maybe...  

Kalilah Hudson: An observation. 

Sophia Noreen: I know, and it's just I'm tongue twisted there because I don't know if it's biological. I don't want to say that. But how could a small kid only go towards kids that look like them? 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes.  

Sophia Noreen: That sounds strange.  

Kalilah Hudson: No, I think that's a little bit of both. Because I think, instinctively, the boys play with the boys and the girls play with the girls even if you're not thinking about race. But I think there are these subtleties sometimes that even our parents tell us or society tells us that caused us to separate each other. Because I know, even my daughters dealt with that at three years old. Kids saying that they didn't want to play with her because of her skin color. 

Sophia Noreen: That's tragic.  

Kalilah Hudson: It really is. It really is. But all we can do as parents is just instill in our children how strong they are, how beautiful they are, and what they have to add to the world.  

Sophia Noreen: And I think going back to your entrepreneurial journey, I think you allowing women to rise and use their voice because, at such a young age, you've identified that they may have been quieted because they felt like they didn't belong and they didn't want to speak up. So it's such a beautiful act of service.  

Kalilah Hudson: It's true. And it's also about, sometimes, lack of boundaries and fear of judgment. Because in my family, you don't say no to your parents no matter how old you are.

Sophia Noreen: I hear similar things, right?  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. And sometimes it's okay to say, no, that's not right for me. Just using your voice even in that capacity can cause a lot of anxiety for people. But it's also empowering to say, no, I'm not going to do that right now or I need time for myself, and not making up an excuse for why you can't come. And just say, I don't feel like it. I need time to decompress. Or probably, when you're talking about doing the announcement as a young kid, you were probably fearful of judgment. 

Sophia Noreen: 100%. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yeah, yeah. But it's okay to say, you know what, I'm good enough. I have a good voice. I have something to say, and I'm going to get on this microphone and I'm going to earn that microphone. I'm going to own it. 

Sophia Noreen: They're like, tell me where that pillowcase price tag is.  

Kalilah Hudson: Exactly. And there's someone out there that's going to relate to you. And it's going to be inspired by what you're saying and your courage.  

Sophia Noreen: And it's crazy, right? When I think back and I wonder what was holding me back at such a young age, could have also been that I was a teenager. And teenagers go through their moments of not feeling as confident and insecure. And then you have all the other layered onions. I call it like a layered onion. It just keeps peeling back all the problems. And I wonder when you take on clients if you're going to end up having to... Oh, you did your life cert course as well, didn't you?  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. I'm a certified life coach as well. Yes.  

Sophia Noreen: So I almost feel like you're going to be using that skillset a lot.  

Kalilah Hudson: Absolutely. As a coach, I advertise as telling people how to promote, how to present, how to get on camera, but really the work that I do is mindset work. Because that's really what is preventing people from getting in front of the camera. We can give a structure and say, this is what you do from A to Z. And the comparison I use is going on a diet. Weight Watchers works. Jenny Craig works. Going to your personal trainer works. But what I want to get to is why do you keep failing at your diet? Why are you not showing up for yourself? And that's what I am as a coach. You know you can take the course, but we really need to go by thinking about why you're not finishing and why you're not doing the work that's needed in order for you to succeed because we know you really want it. What's stopping you? And that's what I want to do as a coach.

Sophia Noreen: And that's getting to the core of it right?  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes.  

Sophia Noreen: If you can overcome that obstacle for that individual to your sessions, they can conquer anything that they want to start.  

Kalilah Hudson: Absolutely. Absolutely. And the thing is, people will be good at one aspect of their life and poor in another. So it doesn't mean that they're not well-rounded or they lack in all different aspects of their life. They might be good in other areas, very organized. But in this area, you know they need some work. And so I just deal with the public speaking aspects. I think using your voice is extremely important and can really help a lot of people.  

Sophia Noreen: Rather than 10%. We're using your voice right now to connect with others. 

Kalilah Hudson: Absolutely, absolutely. Like right now, I'm good at public speaking, but what you're good at is creating systems. I'm not great at creating systems. So I love listening to you because I feel like you're making me a better entrepreneur and making me better equipped to serve other people because I need to have that in my life, is better systems in place. 

Sophia Noreen: Oh, I love that. I'm so happy that, that's what you're getting from the podcast. And really, I've looked back over the last 12 months. It's only been really 12 months where I've really nailed down the systems, and I had to. Maybe even a little bit before that, just because of the products were flowing through. Just like we said before, you cannot do everything. You do have to parcel things out to individuals. If your systems are great, you can do everything without even talking to your teams. Because they know the processes. And I don't even know if I've spoken about this in other episodes, but with this podcast production, for example, the team knows exactly what to do. So I just upload it to a cloud service and tag them. And they take care of everything else. And then, when you get to a certain stage in business, which I know everyone here will, you need systems to move forward. And it's so scary to let go. So many things we spoke about like starting perfectly imperfect, trusting yourself, trusting in the process, and then trusting others, it's so needed to move forward. I know other girlfriends who are in business and they've tried to trust other team members and you really struggle. They really struggle. But you have to let go, and you do have to invest. And it's been hard for me too, having to invest. But without that investment, I'd still be picking packing my own packages. I can't do that if there are 800 boxes going out. You're going to, either your family's going to leave you because they're going to be like, mom, get out of the basement. 

Kalilah Hudson: Exactly. 

Sophia Noreen: I need to eat. Or your business will flounder, and you can't do that. The business is an extension of yourself, and it's another baby. I don't know if you feel that way.  

Kalilah Hudson: Absolutely. I do feel that way. And one thing, I'm going to go to another episode. I have really been listening.  

Sophia Noreen: You really have been listening. You can give me a synopsis of what I've done for the last year. 

Kalilah Hudson: Episode 45.  

Sophia Noreen: Oh my goodness, you remember the episode numbers too.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes, and as a public speaking coach, I, at first, did beat myself up a little bit because I was like, why don't I know this? I've heard it so many times. I think it was just the way you articulated it. And you were talking about this, this is going to be key for anybody who wants to have podcasts or be on YouTube. And you were talking about having one video and using the audio and having it be put onto a podcast and then breaking it down and making it into Reels, and all of that. And so it was really eye-opening for me because I realized, wait, I only have to record one time. Break everything down and put it on all these different social media platforms. That was great for me because I think if I was to think about one thing that I could have improved on in the past year, it was not being a slave to social media. Because it consumed all of my time. Because if you look at what everyone's doing, you feel like you have to be posting 24/7, five times a day, different types of stuff. And I felt free by hearing that episode. Like, oh my gosh, this is a way for me to still be involved in social media but not feel tied to it. And it's depriving my business of growing, or for me learning as an entrepreneur because I feel like I have to make these constant posts all the time about all these different things. So I just want to say thank you for that as well.  

Sophia Noreen: Welcome. And have you tried it out yet? Have you put it to use?  

Kalilah Hudson: Well, right now, I'm working on a course. My course is going to be coming out, on February 7th. Right now, I'm working on that. And once I've kind of ironed out everything with the course because one thing I don't want to do is to overextend myself, that is going to be the next thing. I actually even wrote it. Even on my vision board, that's how much it was important to me.  

Sophia Noreen: I'm so happy because social media is a time suck to the next level. And I look at things as level A quality work and level B. And I hate to say it, but social media is level B. So even if you parcel that out to somebody else to do in the future, you create your one content piece. So for example, this for recording right now, you can even take it from me and then you can literally give it to somebody else to chop it all up. You can take the transcript. Stick it on your website. You can take the snippets and make them into little Reels or a little video. And I don't do that anymore. Somebody else is doing that for me. And then I still write the captions because of the copywriting part and putting it in my own words. But even that, it's been tiny and small now. So my social media, people will think this is nuts, but I spend two hours a month now on it. And I'm posting every day. And that's because the system is set up in such a way that everything is in one area. I do caption, caption, caption, caption, caption. And I do 15 posts at once. And then the Reels, that's not including Reels. So that is everything, except for Reels. And Reels get posted every fourth day. We've literally jumped so many different old topics, which I love. It's like a little talk show. I love it. But we kind of left your story behind. 

Kalilah Hudson: No, it's okay, because it's important also. I think my story is important. But to me, and it might be important to somebody else, but I think it's also important for other entrepreneurs that are listening to think of creative ways where you're not exhausting yourself doing things that are important. But what's most important is for you to have the energy to continue to think about how you can grow your business and how you can reach more people. And for me, I used so much energy trying to post on social media that I felt like my building the foundation for my business went to the back burner. And so this year I said, no, no, no, no. My foundation is what I need to survive, not being on social media. So that's going to have to wait and I could deal with that later. 

Sophia Noreen: Yes, a hundred percent. And social media, the shelf life of it is 24 hours to 48 hours on Instagram. And then they have different shelf lives for depending on where it lives. So your core course, or offering your product, you need to make that level A. And if you have solid content, you'll get solid testimonials, you get solid re-referrals from your other students. And that's where, yes, I agree. You come to social media to socialize and you can put up a funny post. Like you would take a selfie if you wanted to, and then put a funny caption. And that could take you all of 10 minutes if you wanted to. If you want it to still stay active without, you know, just do level B stuff. You don't need to write up a long storybook. They love the long captions. That used to be the way it was. But I think the younger generation coming up, like the Alphas, like my child's an alpha so I'd always joke around. She's a little bit young, she's 11. But our friends who are joining us in their early twenties, the Gen Z, they don't read captions. Because it depends on who you're trying to attract, then as well. But I'm happy, that's part of your vision board. I agree with breaking it up, reusing, repurposing, and don't do everything at once. If you're doing an Instagram play, do the Instagram play. I know it seems overwhelming that episode number 45 because I talk about all of these social media areas on the worldwide web where you can go and put your content. And I think adding one at a time is the way to do it. Get your system in play, get your structure going. And then repurpose that content, pick it up, and put it somewhere else. I don't know if I mentioned that in that episode.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. Yes, you did. And then I think what's also, I've had to understand is that this is not a sprint. This is a journey. And initially, I felt like I had to have all the systems in place. And I had to have everything all together. But now I'm like, okay, well I'm learning this right now. And then I'll move on to the next thing. I don't have to do everything all at once.  

Sophia Noreen: Yes. And it's such a journey. I, myself have to realize that. I've put it into my mind, I've put it as a discovery phase for entrepreneurs that are still trying to figure out what their offering is, either service or product. Build it, where I feel like you are and you know what you want to offer. And you're building your audience. You're building your systems, and then scale it is where you figured out what works. And now, you're going to put that gasoline on the fire. And those, when you see people like they're using ads. They're really going in and they're spreading their content on different media channels. They're looking for PR, that would be in the service space. And then for our entrepreneurs that our product, that would be where you're using different channels for selling. So you're going on your Amazon, your Shopify, your Etsy, and you're doing that. And you're scaling to big retail. That's how I've put it in my head as a journey. But even within those small parts, you're still growing as an entrepreneur. You may cycle back to the discovery phase every single time you have an idea or you knew a new product or offering because you'll have to learn. Is it, does it work? Figure it out and then build an audience for it. And then scale it. But it's such a journey and it's such a marathon.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. You're always a student. To survive, you always have to have a willingness to learn because other than I can name maybe a handful of companies, I have never had to change. And they're usually like food places like, oh, here we have In-N-Out, you have the same burger. But most places have had to evolve in order to survive. And that's what you have to do as an entrepreneur. I mean, right now, you look at Instagram and they're always changing their algorithm and how they do things. You have to learn how to grow and change and learn with it as well.  

Sophia Noreen: And I can't remember the episode number, but I'm pretty sure at one point I do talk about the Plan, Do, Study, Act- PDSA. It's a very common term that we use in Corporate. Plan, Do Study, Act, or I know Jeff Bezos calls it the flywheel. It's basically the idea that you are a scientist in your business. So don't ever marry to the process. So for example, when you start a new process out, or if you wanted to try a new offering. So for example, the course that's going to be released on February 7th. That is an experiment to see, is this going to resonate with my students? Are they going to love it? Are they going to like it? And then you're going to have a couple of key performance indicators and you're saying, okay, well, I'm going to try this and let me see what will come of it. And I'm going to use this particular indicator. So I guess for student completion rate could be one of them. Or if it's to do with enrollment, you can say, okay, well, is this promotion option driving traffic to my site? Because it might not be an ad, it might be you, like a conversation like this. It could be something like a referral source. So they say you need to run your experiment, your offer or your product through this flywheel or through this Plan, Do, Study, Act. And you have to plan it. You have to do it. So you're in the Do. Then once you're done, you get your indicators and you study it. And then once you're done studying and you have to act to change something. So I love that because it really helps you understand that entrepreneurship is an experiment and you are always learning, you're always a student. Going right back to your point, and it is a scientific adventure for people like us who are just starting out all the way to the man who has the most money in the world, Mr. Jeff Bezos who runs Amazon. And he still is doing that. That's why he has all these crazy products. I think I just saw some Amazon buds that just came out that are like competing with the Apple and all the other buds that are in my ear these days. 

Kalilah Hudson: And I remember when I was in college, all Amazon sold were books. And now you can go on Amazon and you can find anything. So if Jeff Bezos wasn't growing, he'd be selling books out of his garage still.

Sophia Noreen: Packing them on the floor wearing his knee pads.  

Kalilah Hudson: Exactly. So if Jeff Bezos can grow, we can too.  

Sophia Noreen: That's right. I love it. Okay, I'm taking so much of your time. So I'm going to jump over now... 

Kalilah Hudson: It's okay, I'm enjoying the conversation. Let's see what you got next.  

Sophia Noreen: So advice time, what is one piece of advice you'd like to share with our listeners today? Or what you wish you knew before you started your entrepreneurship journey?  

Kalilah Hudson: I could say, talk about something that I've done. What has been good for me that has nothing to do with entrepreneurship though, but helps entrepreneurs is having a gratitude journal and being grateful for every little win along the way. Because if you're able to recognize all the small wins, the big ones will be that much greater. But also, that's what keeps you going. Acknowledge every little win along the way. What's something that's happened where, let's say, I had a client that I did a discovery call and they said, you don't know. Because it happens a lot. That's just part of entrepreneurship. But when I came home from work, my husband already had the computer and everything set up for me. I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for that. Or I had all the schedule with everything I was supposed to do for the day, but I didn't get everything done. But I got four out of the five things done. I'm not going to leave the day saying, look, I'm a failure. I didn't get everything done. 

Sophia Noreen: Yes. And it's so gorgeous because you are basically saying to the universe, I am so grateful. And I find that it helps to attract more positivity. I don't know, have you seen that where people, they're negative? They just seem to always attract that negative energy and things always just don't seem to be working out in their favor. But even the smallest amount of gratitude can change that. Almost a force field. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes, it shifts your whole mindset. And when I work with clients, it has worked for them as well. So what I start out doing every morning is I write down 10 things that I was grateful for that happened the day before. And it has helped me a lot with my mindset, and it helps my clients as well. And it could be something small. At first, you're thinking 10 things. That's a lot of things. But then you start to recognize the smaller things. I didn't run into traffic on the freeway. I was able to get all my work done, things like that.  

Sophia Noreen: I mean, again, it's about reframing your entire situation. This is a bit extreme, but I went and I did some work out in a few countries that don't even have running water. So we, as entrepreneurs in North America, and I know we have a global audience. We sometimes forget that even the smallest things like having internet everywhere is such a blessing. That being born at this time in this world where we live is such a blessing because there is no way that my previous generations could do any of these, right? 

Kalilah Hudson: No. No, not at all. And when I think one thing that really keeps me going is, I study a lot of history. And to see what the people who came before me went through, I felt like what I have to go through is nothing. When you're talking about public speaking, are you afraid of a tweet, a bad comment? That's nothing compared to what the people before us came from. And so it's great for me. It helps me gain perspective to always go back and reference them. And in a way, I feel like I'm always trying to make them proud in a way.  

Sophia Noreen: Oh, my gosh. That's so deep. And I love that because every single person listening can use that. Everybody has a history. Everyone has ancestry that can help propel them forward. And I'm getting chills saying it, but they may be able to see what you're doing. And they may be saying, hey, you can do this. We're powering behind you because we weren't able to do it. You've been given the resources and the energy and the access. You've been given the right, really.  

Kalilah Hudson: They lay the foundation for us. 

Sophia Noreen: A hundred percent. And they had to do all those sacrifices.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. And then Oprah has this phrase that she used. I think she got it from my Michelangelo or something and she says, I come as one, but I stand as 10,000. And that's the way I feel is if I'm getting in front of a room and I'm experiencing any sort of anxiety because I might not have been in front of a group that big, I always remember about the people who were allowing me to be here, who have paved the way for me to be here. And I always call on them for me to speak through them.  

Sophia Noreen: I love that. And I'm going to try that as well. I'm going to take that tip. You've given us so many good tips just now.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. No, I mean if you think about what your family has went through for you to be where you are today, and just keep that in mind anytime you're afraid or hesitant to move forward.  

Sophia Noreen: Very powerful. Okay, let's go into one or two more questions for you. For our friends, they want to know how are you setting your goals and keeping yourself organized because you have two jobs, maybe even three, because I count the house as a job. So how do you keep yourself organized? 

Kalilah Hudson: To be completely honest, it's a work in progress because I am a new entrepreneur. I am very clear about the goals that I want to achieve by the end of the year. And I have it broken down by month. I do have what's called, I don't know if anybody follows Chalene Johnson, but she has, what's called a PUSH Journal. And I have that. I break down what I want to complete by the end of the week. And then I break it down into smaller goals throughout the day. And that can include things that have to do with business or things in my personal life. And that includes also time to rest and time to sit down and watch a movie with my husband, and time to spend time with my daughter at the park as well. So we have to include that in our lives as well so we continue to have balance. That's the only way I can control my schedule and feel accomplished.  

Sophia Noreen: So do you write it into a particular schedule like a nine to five or nine to nine schedule? And you say, at this time, I'm committed to getting this particular topic done or project is done, and that will help you? 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes.  

Sophia Noreen: Okay, great.  

Kalilah Hudson: And then plan the time. And like, let's say, if I'm going to have two hours to work on a certain project, two hours and that it. And that's a good enough. Because then, I don't want to get stuck in perfectionism. Because if I want to work on something for 10 hours, I could easily focus on it for 10 hours. 

Sophia Noreen: All can it's created. Perfect alignment.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. And it's good enough. They're going to get the point. So give yourself two hours and move on. And it can always be fixed later. 

Sophia Noreen: Exactly. And trust me, we spend so much energy on the small things that the big picture, we forget that no one's looking at the thought. 

Kalilah Hudson: True, and it will be used as a form of distraction as well as a way of avoidance. So I'm very aware of that. 

Sophia Noreen: Fascinating. And the busy work along people always seem to get stuck on the small things, the small hangups, because they're afraid to move forward. They're fearful. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. 

Sophia Noreen: Okay, great. And I think this ties into the previous question. You did allude to it, but how are you managing your mental health, keeping yourself active, and all that?  

Kalilah Hudson: I'm a huge advocate for therapy. I do feel like it's that that led me to coach. Also, I am aware of the energy that the people around me are carrying because when we talk about maintaining a positive attitude and a positive mindset, we can also be depleted by negativity as well. That's how I stay balanced. And I also take a lot of walks by myself. That's where a lot of the thoughts come to me about business and ideas. But yes, that's how I maintained that. And time with family, of course.  

Sophia Noreen: Yes. That's perfect. I love it. And of course, scheduling it in, like you said so that it actually happens and committing to it.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. And also remembering why I wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place. So I didn't want to become an entrepreneur so I could work 24/7.  

Sophia Noreen: Right. We usually could, but we can't.  

Kalilah Hudson: Exactly. And another thing is letting go of the small things. I'll prioritize spending time with my family over the dishes in the sink. I may not be able to get to the dishes every night, but what's important is that I spend time with my child reading a book, or spending time with my husband and nurturing those relationships as well. So letting go of some of the things that used to bother me as well.  

Sophia Noreen: Perfectly imperfect.  

Kalilah Hudson: Absolutely.  

Sophia Noreen: And that goes along with everything to do with life, business, house, just showing up authentically taking the selfie on Instagram and not having the crazy posts up all the time. And I think such great, great pieces of advice throughout this whole entire talk, not just the last 5 to 10 minutes. I feel like you were dropping those gems. So I know people are going to be wanting to re-listen and really captured it all.  

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. I hope somebody. Even if I could help one person, I feel like I've done my job. That's all I've ever wanted is to change someone.  

Sophia Noreen: Oh, I think you're going to be changing a lot more than one person. I guarantee you have no idea. Just give it a little time and you'll be like, oh my goodness. I had no idea. That so many people will come and flock because the service you're providing is so needed. Especially for women, I think women of color as well, we tend to shy back because that's the way society has asked us to be for so many years, so many generations and now, that's not needed. We don't need to. We can open up. We can talk. We can raise our heads. In our culture, we looked down was what we were taught.  

Kalilah Hudson: It's time to look up. And like I had said earlier, the people before us already paid their dues. So it's time for us to cash the check.  

Sophia Noreen: Oh, I love that. Bring in the money. Money has good energy. So okay, tell everybody where they can find you. All your socials. If there's a website, give it to me. And I will also put in the show notes for our listeners. 

Kalilah Hudson: Yes. So right now, my website's about to be launched. It's www.khudcoaching.com. So you can go on there. You can also find me on Instagram at @k.hudcoaching. You can also find me on Facebook under the same name as well, K Hud Coaching. 

Sophia Noreen: Wonderful. And I will hyperlink everything in the show notes so you guys can just click through. And when, of course, the website is launched, I will hyperlink that as well. And this was so beautiful. I am so happy, you were able to make the time to join us on the show. And guys, go check her out on Instagram. I follow her all the time. I'm a little stalker. And you can always send her a DM if you have any questions about her services. And thank you again, this was a pleasure. 

Kalilah Hudson: Thank you. I really enjoyed the conversation. This is going to keep me going for the next 10 years. 

Sophia Noreen: We'll have you back soon before the 10-year mark.  

Kalilah Hudson: Thank you very much. 

Sophia Noreen: Thank you, guys. And remember, make a plan and take action. And yes, you can have it all. We'll talk to you guys again next week. Bye for now. 

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