The Keys to Being a Heart-Centered Leader and Why it Matters -29
In this insightful episode, I sit down with Kedma Ough, a business mentor and author who has reinvented her life and career with resilience and authenticity. Dive into a deep conversation about merging personal values with business, the power of mindset, and the art of bringing innovative ideas to life. Kedma shares her unique approach to mental health through a cleaning company, the importance of protecting intellectual property, and her passion project, Leaders Love. Tune in to discover how imagination, gratitude, and perseverance can transform your entrepreneurial journey. If you're ready to learn from inspiring stories and gain practical advice for standing out in a noisy world, this episode is a must-listen!
Kedma's Bio:
Kedma is dubbed the “Small Business Superhero” after coaching more than 10,000 businesses to leverage $ 100 million in alternative financing. Ough is the bestselling author and expert on Target Funding and Innovation. She believes leaders need to love more and launched https://www.leadersloveco.com to share more love with the world. You can connect with Kedma at www.kedmaough.com or reach out to her on Linked In.
Transcript
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Marli Williams [:Everybody. What is happening? Welcome back to the Marli Williams podcast where this week I am hanging out with my good friend, Kedma Ough, who is a phenomenal business mentor, a serial entrepreneur, the author of a book called Target Funding, where she really helps creative entrepreneurs and innovators get funding for their projects and ideas. And she's just been a phenomenal mentor and friend of mine, and I cannot wait to dive into this powerful conversation with you around mindset, how to bring ideas to life, and how to really take your life and your business to the next level. So it's a epic conversation. Can't wait to share it with you. So let's dive right in. Hey, everyone. What's happening? I am super stoked to welcome you to the Marli Williams podcast, where we will explore authentic leadership, transformational facilitation, and how to create epic experiences for your audiences every single time.
Marli Williams [:I am your host, Marli Williams, bringing you thought provoking insights, expert interviews, and actionable strategies to unlock your potential as a leader, facilitator, and speaker. Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth, transformation, and impact. Let's lead together. The Marli Williams podcast begins now. Let's dive in. Alright, everybody. Welcome back to the Marli Williams podcast, where today I'm hanging out with my good friend, Kedma Ough, who's a phenomenal business mentor, a coach, trainer, an incredible motivational speaker, the author of a best selling book, target funding, really helping entrepreneurs find money for their ideas and endeavors in the world. So Kenma, so honored that you have said yes, and that you are here with us today.
Kedma [:Well, when Marli calls, it's always a yes. That's how it works in my place.
Marli Williams [:Always a yes.
Kedma [:It's always a yes.
Marli Williams [:And that is one thing that I really appreciate about you, Kenma, is that you are someone who shows up, and when you show up, you play full out. Yes. In whatever arena you are in. It's a speaking event. It's a birthday party. It's a business event. And, you know, you take it seriously, and you also know how to enjoy life and have fun. And, you know, I think as entrepreneurs and leaders who are so passionate about their work, it can feel really easy to just, like, go all in on the business and forget about the, like, having fun in your life part.
Marli Williams [:And I really appreciate your ability to balance at all, having a beautiful family, traveling, building amazing successful businesses. So, I would love for you before we dive into our conversation today just to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to the crew, the podcast crew who's listening.
Kedma [:Podcast crew. What your work is
Marli Williams [:in the world, what you're stoked about, what you're passionate about, what drives you to do the things that you do, because you do so many different things.
Kedma [:I do. I'm a serial entrepreneur. Well, one thing I wanna lean in on is why do I show up fully? We all can show up fully, but I think it's because I show up with my 4 year old or 5 year old in me. And every 4 year old and 5 year old shows up fully. They're all in. They're all in. I'm all in for Lego. Here we go.
Kedma [:They're not like, well, if they have not been jaded by our media, they are all into that experience. How many times have you seen a child just enjoying that chocolate milkshake, every part of oh, I love it. They're all in. They're all in. They're present. They're present. And you just said it. Are you present? Are you present in your relationships? Are you present for yourself? Are you intentional in what you wanna do? And so many people show up, but they're not present.
Marli Williams [:It's true. Their physical body is there, but mentally and emotionally, they're totally checked out or on to the next thing.
Kedma [:How many times have you heard someone say, I'm in a relationship and then I don't know them? I'm in a room with someone and I'm not connected. Mhmm. It's exactly that.
Marli Williams [:Right. So, yeah, where in your life are you maybe not showing up fully? And what does it look like for you to be all in and present wherever you are with whatever it is that you're doing. And I remember this is ringing a bell for me around the study that they did about happiness. Mhmm. And they would message people, send them a text message, like, every kind of hour on the hour, kind of asking them on a scale of, like, 1 to 10, how happy are you in this moment? Yeah. And the research across the board was it didn't matter what they were doing, but the factors that mattered was that they weren't thinking about doing something else or being somewhere else, that they were fully immersed, that they were fully present, that they were fully engaged. And so, like, that was essentially their definition of happiness was, like, being where you are Mhmm. Fully.
Marli Williams [:Mhmm. And not thinking about all the things I coulda, shoulda, woulda done yesterday, all the things that I have to do tomorrow. Right. It's like, I'm right here. I'm right now, and I'm fully in this moment
Kedma [:Mhmm.
Marli Williams [:Which is what we know is all we have. Right?
Kedma [:And on top of that, the other study speaks to they did a research interviewing people on their deathbed to try to understand what's the meaning, what's the connection to life, and they narrowed it to only three things. I always tell people, if you have these three things, it doesn't matter where you are in life, where you come from. Those three things are gonna be your happiness key. The first was meaningful relationships. Doesn't matter whether it's 1 or a 100. Do you have what you would consider a meaningful or meaningful relationship? That is one of the 3 keys to happiness. Yep. The second is a meaningful relationship to your own health.
Kedma [:That was actually a second clue to the happiness. So what is that relationship? Are you meditating? Are you walking? Are you going to the forest? Are you going to the gym? Whatever that is for you, what is that meaningful relation? And the third is what I practice almost daily, a sense of adventure. And that could be anything. I mean, I could walk out the door. I'm like, oh, I'm about to have an adventure. I don't know what's gonna happen, but something's gonna happen.
Marli Williams [:Yeah.
Kedma [:Because I'm seeking it. Yep. I'm seeking it. And so because of that, I'm always living in this new adventure. Right.
Marli Williams [:The phrase that I love is as we get more of what we look for.
Kedma [:Mhmm.
Marli Williams [:Right? So when we're looking for the good, when we're looking for that sense of wonder and curiosity and adventure, we're gonna find it. And when we're looking for the things that suck and are mundane and are broken and the problems, we're gonna find it. So it is kind of like our mindset and wiring our brain to see the things that we wanna see. And that's part of like it's like what antenna do we have up?
Kedma [:Yes.
Marli Williams [:And like, what is it looking for? Because again, we get more of what we look for. And so that's, like, you know, when they talk about, like, the power of gratitude, it's really rewiring and training our brain to look for things
Kedma [:that we're grateful for. And what we see is actually truth. And I wanna give this quick story, the quick moment, and it'll go on because you're gonna love this. About 15 years ago, I decided to buy my husband a trip for our anniversary to Italy. Not just Italy, Venice, Italy. And if you've never been to Venice, Italy, feel free to Google what Venice, Italy looks like. It's known for gondola. It's magical.
Kedma [:Most people put it on their bucket list. So here's what I did. I arrived with my husband, and I said to him, why don't we do a postcard? I'll send a postcard to my mother and you send a postcard to your mother about the experience and then let's share what we saw. So my postcard said, dear mom, I have just arrived in beautiful Venice, Italy. The gondola, it's so romantic. The food is delicious. The buildings are magical. I feel like I've just hit heaven.
Kedma [:And then I read his Uh-huh. And this is what it said. Dear mother, we have arrived in Venice, Italy. The stench coming from the pollution of the water and the gondolas is disgusting. As I look at the buildings, they're falling apart, Questionable whether we should stay and the food at best mediocre. Oh my god. Cameron. And I remember reading this and saying
Marli Williams [:My gosh.
Kedma [:This is the perfect example of 2 people in the same space Mhmm. Being and experiencing 2 different moments, and we are both right.
Marli Williams [:Exactly.
Kedma [:We are both right.
Marli Williams [:Mhmm.
Kedma [:So that's the power of mindset.
Marli Williams [:It is powerful. Right? And so when we think about how are we interpreting the world around us, like you said, 2 people can be having the same experience. A hundred people can be in the same room, you know, listening to a keynote speaker and one person's life could be changed. And one person might be on their phone and bored other mind and said it sucked. Exactly. Same experience, same room. So I think it's like this question of how do you choose to experience your life? Mhmm. Only, fully, completely.
Marli Williams [:And, you know, how do we interpret the world around us and the information that's coming at us all the time? So 100%. You know, I think that that that that's super important. Right? As as entrepreneurs, as leaders, as business owners, and, you know, whether you're a parent. Right? Like how you interpret, how you see things, and how that impacts and our energy and our mindset. It impacts the people around us to 100%. So you work with a lot of entrepreneurs. You work with a lot of business owners, and one of the things that you are exceptional at Okay. Is helping people, I think, 1, believe in their big crazy dreams.
Marli Williams [:Like, believe in themselves and their ideas. Right? So you're an innovation coach. You're an innovator yourself. People come to you and they're like, Kedma, I have an idea.
Kedma [:Right. And if you're out there
Marli Williams [:and listening to this podcast, you might have an idea. Right? Sure. The idea might be a book, a talk, a podcast. It might be a business, a company, a product. Yeah. So as an innovation coach, how do you help people go from idea land Mhmm. To reality land? Part 2 of that question is, like, how do you vet whether or not an idea is good enough to, like, whatever, take to market, put out there, believe in, like so yeah.
Kedma [:What is that would that would
Marli Williams [:look like
Kedma [:That's a lot.
Marli Williams [:From say someone's out there. They have something on their heart. They have something on their mind. They want to put out into the world, whether it's a service Yeah. Based business, a product based business. Yep. How can we help them achieve their dreams? What should they be thinking about? Great question. Let's coach them.
Marli Williams [:Let's coach them through it.
Kedma [:Yeah. Now I wanna step back and say that one of the reasons I'm probably really good at what I do, which will surprise you when I make this statement, is I have lost everything in my life twice. Mhmm. If you're listening and you've lost everything once, congratulations. When you lose everything twice and then you still make it to the other side, it tells your mindset that whatever comes your way, you can lose everything. But as long as you have yourself, your mind, you can recreate it. So wherever you are right now, just know that if you are struggling, it just means you're at the seed level. We just have to grow you more.
Marli Williams [:Yeah.
Kedma [:And sometimes her lessons are found in the hardest moments. K? If it was easy, you know, it'd be like, well, life is easy. You know? But it's in the heart that we get to learn. Right.
Marli Williams [:That's when we learn and grow the most. That's what we That's when we learn and grow the most. Those challenges, and we build up that capacity in ourselves, the resilience. And so it's like, you know, I've been through the worst of it no matter what. Whether this idea works or not, like, I'm gonna be okay. So why not go for it? Why not put this thing out there?
Kedma [:Right.
Marli Williams [:Right. So it's building that trust within yourself that I got this and I got me no matter what happens.
Kedma [:No matter right. How many times did you come to a place, Marli, where you were questioning your own ability to do something?
Marli Williams [:Oh, I got on the daily.
Kedma [:I mean, come on.
Marli Williams [:It's true though. It's like, can I really do this? Can I really make it? I'm gonna really cut out for that. It's just the fear and the noise and the voice, and it's like, I don't let that win if that's the thing. I think some people think that the people that are successful Yeah. Don't have the inner critic or don't have the doubt or don't have the fear. It's like, we all have it. It's just like, I get to decide who gets to win, whether that voice takes me out and I collapse. Yep.
Marli Williams [:Or I say, thanks for sharing. And I got bigger work to do, and you don't get to decide whether or not I do it. It's That's right. It's gonna be there. So if you're waiting for that voice to not be there, we're gonna wait a long time. I just wanna tell you, you know, for all everybody out there is, like, Marli's got all figured out. I'm just trying to figure it out too. Right.
Marli Williams [:We're all just trying to figure this stuff out.
Kedma [:Right. So in the world of innovation, doubt is part of the equation. However, the first clue to innovation is imagination. The problem is is that we have all been built with this wonderful gift from humanity on the power of innovation through imagination. But then as we get older, it gets taken away from us. Innocently, without realization, people will say to you, they will say to their kids, stop making things up. That's not real. That's not possible.
Kedma [:Stop dreaming. Be over the next. Okay? I never bought into that. So much so that in my 9th I right before I went into high school, my 9th grade yearbook, mister Dixon, my science teacher wrote, Kedma, keep believing in unicorns and fairy tales and leprechauns. You bring a unique perspective to people's life. I found mister Dixon about 8 years ago.
Marli Williams [:Oh, wow.
Kedma [:I tracked him down on Facebook. And I said, mister Dixon, I don't know if you remember me, but this is what you wrote. And I want you to know, I still believe in unicorns and fairy tales and leprechauns. I just happen to be the head of innovation doing it right now. Nothing has changed. So when everyone else told me to stop imagining, I refused to do it. And so the first thing I'm gonna say before you go out and think of an idea is check yourself whether you've lost some of that imagination.
Marli Williams [:Yeah.
Kedma [:It's time for you to get it back.
Marli Williams [:Yeah. The ability to dream and to see some I mean, to me, imagination is seeing something before it's real.
Kedma [:It's always that.
Marli Williams [:It's always that. And believing in it. Right? And I really think that our inspiration is our intuition coming through us. Like, it's like these ideas that you have and this ability to access our imagination. I always tell people, if you have an idea, it's not an accident. It's there for a reason. And it's what you choose to do with it. How do you appreciate it, honor it, acknowledge it, instead of like a lot of people, like you said, there's no way.
Marli Williams [:That's not possible. That's crazy.
Kedma [:And yet, every single invention that has made it to the market has had that face that. One of my favorite was Uber. See, when Uber came about, it was one of the sharks, the one who you're gonna know, the one who does all the sports.
Marli Williams [:Oh, yeah. I fired. You
Kedma [:know what I'm talking about?
Marli Williams [:Yes. He's
Kedma [:very famous. Uber came to him at the front and said, hey. We have this idea. We're thinking about taking regular people and maybe, you know, using and he said, that is the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. Nobody's gonna buy into that. I am not investing. And to this day, that shark still says he feels pain in his heart. I can't believe I did this to myself.
Kedma [:Because he never made the money, and Uber went out to become Uber. Right?
Marli Williams [:Yes. Thanks. Yeah. Sara Blakely. How many places did she go to, and how many no's she got? Right? So if you don't know Sara Blakely's story, she's the founder of Spanx. Amazing. And she would go into, like, Marshall Field
Kedma [:Marshalls, Macy's.
Marli Williams [:Macy's, all these places. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Marli Williams [:Nope. Nope. Nope. And Jamie Lee Kurna, she same thing with her makeup brand. No one's gonna buy makeup from someone who looks like you. The author Harry Potter. Oh, yeah. The author of Harry Potter.
Marli Williams [:How many nose did they get? Right?
Kedma [:So no. After times
Marli Williams [:2, when people hear that first no, the story that they make up is it's a bad idea. Nobody likes it. This isn't gonna work. How much do you have to believe in yourself, in your message, in your mission, in your idea, and like the vision you have for the future? If people had access to this product or this service, what would change? Right? And are we willing to hear no and keep going? I mean, I think that that's just such an important lesson in the land of entrepreneurship because I think it's just we want to have an idea, share it with 1 person
Kedma [:Mhmm.
Marli Williams [:Or that one person to say yes or and, like, here's the money to fund it or here's the money to create it when it's like in reality, it requires a a lot of being willing to face that face the nose, basically, rejection and keep going.
Kedma [:And keep going. And if you self identify as a visionary. Right? There's so many, oh, I'm a visionary. I never say I'm a visionary. You'll never hear me say that because I love this book, Rocket Fuel, if you haven't read it. It's a great book that basically allows you to score yourself, are you a visionary or are you an integrator? And on a score of 1 to a 100, I'm a 96 as an integrator, and I'm like a 76 as a visionary. But if you identify as a visionary, you're basically saying, I see things no one else sees yet. Therefore, I need to give them the space to see it.
Kedma [:Mhmm. And not get upset that they can't see it yet because I'm a millennials ahead of them because I see it before they see it. Mhmm.
Marli Williams [:It's so true. It's so true. And that's what innovation is. It's like That's what innovation is. Is about seeing a new reality, seeing a new future, and almost this feeling like the innovators that we've seen in the world, it's like, again, they saw a future that didn't exist right before. Beforehand. And being willing to face that kinda like people with their crooked head being like, you're crazy. There's no way that's possible.
Marli Williams [:Airbnb, similar thing. You're gonna rent out your house to who
Kedma [:for what? Airbnb is perfect.
Marli Williams [:You know, there was a comedian that said, if 10 years ago, you would have told me I'd have strangers picking me up from the airport, and then I'd be staying in their house instead of a taxi in a hotel. I thought you would be out of your mind.
Kedma [:And now that is the new normal. But the new normal at one point, people thought was crazy. If 20 years ago, I would have told you that you would pay $4.50 for bottled water, you would have thought I had gone crazy. Nobody was gonna pay for bottled water. Why would you pay for bottled water when you get free water from the tap? So that is the evolution of where people are going. And when you said, you know, you always go to the source. Is it a problem that you want to solve because it's bothering you? Mhmm.
Marli Williams [:When it comes to your idea and what you're wanting to create. 100%. Yeah. What's the problem that you solve? And is it solving a problem you have or that you see other people having? Or Yeah. Exactly.
Kedma [:Yeah. Or both. Most of the inventions and ideas are because of a frustrated problem. I mean, I swear that's probably why the robot carpet cleaner probably got set up. Someone's like, I am just too lazy to go ahead and clean my own home and I'm too frugal to actually pay some oh, I gotta put together a robot to do that for me. I know somewhere, somewhere, somehow, someone did that.
Marli Williams [:A 100%.
Kedma [:Right? So it could be for convenience. Right? So ask yourself what problem you're trying to solve. Is it convenience? Is it a better way of doing things more efficient? Is it specific to a community or a demographic? I mean, if you're developing a new cane for someone, it's not gonna be for the entire population. It's gonna be for people who use canes. Right? So that's specific to a certain population. So I have seen 1,000 upon 1,000 of inventions, and I also work with one of the top sharks so that when they look at inventions, I look at inventions. And what has been systematically the same is it's something that typically can be universal, ideally, like all people experience it.
Marli Williams [:Mhmm.
Kedma [:It doesn't have to be expensive, but something that could help people with something that is annoying, for example, and I'll give you the example. And if you're gonna go through the patent process, then ideally, it's something you can protect with your intellectual property. Meaning, this is an idea, nobody else has that idea, and I want to protect it. Now some people don't want to pay for even reviewing a search or patent search and I always say, it's not about whether or not you can patent it. It's per whether or not you've infringed on someone who has a patent.
Marli Williams [:Mhmm. Right.
Kedma [:Because if you say to me, I don't wanna do it. I don't need it. I don't care if it's a patent. And then you go ahead and do it and someone finds out you infringe on them, you're gonna get a little visit. Yeah. So 2 things I wanna share. 1 is one of my favorite inventions that actually spent was years in new seasons was a guy. He was in his sixties.
Kedma [:I'm laughing at the moment. He would argue with with his wife because his wife basically wanted to keep the toothpaste as long as possible to squeeze out every last marshal of the damn toothpaste. And he didn't care for that and wanted to just get rid of the toothpaste. And this is what they would argue about. I can't believe you're throwing into the south. There's still so what did he do? He created the first ever, basically, toothpaste roller that allowed you to roll the toothpaste. It's called roll it. If I find it, I'll check.
Marli Williams [:The way to the end.
Kedma [:All the way to the end. But he got smart. He when he developed the patent, it was a patent for any medication that required all the way to the end. So a tooth pain wouldn't matter. But if my medication cost $1,000, you bet your bottom that I'm gonna squeeze every little dime out of that because of how expensive it is.
Marli Williams [:Right. Something that drives you nuts. Drives you nuts. Yeah.
Kedma [:Yet I had known another one that I worked with, and he came up with a new technology, like, in the phone system. I kid you not. It had to about been about 2 years later, he calls me. And he's like, coach, I have a concern. I said, what's your concern? He says, I just got a requirement to go to court for an infringement case. I said, okay. Well, what are the details? I can't make this stuff up. This is why I love the work I do, Marli.
Kedma [:He says, I'm sure you're gonna help me, Cadmah. I go, well, what's the details? He goes, okay. Apple is suing me for infringement. I said, dude, you don't need me. You need a priest. I can't help you right now.
Marli Williams [:You're like, that's maybe bigger than my shoes.
Kedma [:Dude, I'm out.
Marli Williams [:Yeah.
Kedma [:You were pushed on Apple? What are you calling me for?
Marli Williams [:Right? Help you Yeah. Yeah. When someone has an idea, what are some of those things that they should maybe think about as far as, like, the patents and infringements? And so this is more for product based.
Kedma [:But even for service.
Marli Williams [:Yeah. Even for service. Okay. Because, like, first, I wanna talk product based, but I also I know a lot of, like, coaches and speakers and people Let's
Kedma [:talk about that.
Marli Williams [:They have services that they offer or an idea may and maybe it's more of like a book or a talk or
Kedma [:So that's gonna be copyright. It's still intellectual property.
Marli Williams [:Right. So it's like, oh, looking in oh, does someone else have that book title or a podcast idea? Right? Like, these are all ideas.
Kedma [:These are all ideas. When I had to do my book deal with McGraw Hill, one of our requirements is we had to do a competitive analysis, and we had to look at every possible similar business and also look at the name. And in fact, when I submitted for the publishing opportunity, I had registered Target Funding as a federal trademark. And my agent, Gary Krebs, great guy says, it's not gonna matter whether you registered or not because McGraw Hill's gonna choose their own name. And I said, that's fine, but if they choose my name, it's my name. And they came back and said, we're gonna choose Target Funding. And that's when Gary said, the author did her homework. The name is federally trademarked under her name.
Kedma [:She will release it to you for as long as the book is there, but she has all rights to it. So that allows me to do what? All rights to accessories, all rights to clothing, all rights to branding. If it wasn't my name and the book goes away, so does the name.
Marli Williams [:Yeah. So thinking through how do I protect myself and my intellectual property?
Kedma [:100%. Right? Yeah. So copyright, trademark, logo is also something that can be protected. Right? So you may not be inventing something that's merit of a patent, but you may be inventing something that you don't want someone to take your name, Marli. Right. Do you have the name, Marli Williams? Is that protected? Is that I mean, do you have your own domain? Does it say do
Marli Williams [:you have your domain? I have marleywilliams.com.
Kedma [:Okay. Cool.
Marli Williams [:The website. That's good. We got that going for us.
Kedma [:And I bring this up because before I got my book deal, my good friend, Stephen Key, who wrote another book, A One Simple Idea, he stole my name. He stole kedmao.com. And I called them, and I'm like, Stephen, why did you take my name?
Marli Williams [:You figured out who took it? Yeah. He told me.
Kedma [:What did you say? Your he well, he said, I took it. Why'd you take my he goes, I've been asking you to write a book for years. You haven't had time. So I am holding your name as hostage. And when you write the book, then I will give you back your name. Oh my gosh.
Marli Williams [:That's nuts. I mean but also kinda cool at the same time because he's like, I want you to share this with the world.
Kedma [:And he sold it back to me for a dollar.
Marli Williams [:Oh my god. I love it. I love it. That's hilarious. So as you think about all of the coaching that you've done with business leaders, with entrepreneurs, what is the advice that you give people time and time again that they come to you for or that you like to share with them as they're putting something out into the world, as they're navigating challenges? How do you support people on the entrepreneurial journey?
Kedma [:Yeah. There's so many things. And and if there's situations that come up like you have, you know, you mentioned a couple of coaching. I'd love to field it and we could brainstorm. Typically, the one commonality I say, stop worrying about what other people are doing and focus on you, and be individualized, and think about what makes you different. And I always bring that element. You know this, I started a cleaning company 6 months ago. It's nothing sexy.
Kedma [:It's a cleaning company. We clean. There's nothing magical. If we think about it's a cleaning company. Like, it's not gonna be like, I can't believe this. Right? But I made it my own magic. One of the things I did is I said to my entire team, we are gonna focus on mental health. So we do.
Kedma [:When we go in, we ask the questions like, how are you feeling? What do you need more of? Is it joy or less stress? Is there anybody in the house that has special needs? Is there any elderly? We're looking at that, and now people know that about us. So, I mean, just this last week, we serviced a family member who has dementia, stage 4 cancer with working with their daughter, someone else who had 2 special needs kids, and it gravitated because I set the intention.
Marli Williams [:Mhmm.
Kedma [:Wasn't like there was no research. It was just what was important to me.
Marli Williams [:Right. And how important, you know, like you said, you can look at something like just a cleaning company. Right. But, like, how do we innovate in a way that's like, what matters to me and how do I want to show up and what type of service do I want to provide for these people that even that goes above and beyond just cleaning a house? And what what do we stand for as an organization, as a company, as a team? Right? Mental health on the team, mental health for our clients. And I love that question of kind of like, what do you want to become known for and who are the type of people that are gonna refer you based on that epic service that you deliver. And I wanna go back to something that you said and just underline it, bold it, italicize, like, stop comparing yourself to what everyone else is doing. It's terrible. And that comparison is the thief of joy and looking for validation or what are
Kedma [:they doing and how can
Marli Williams [:I do differently versus like what you just did was, well, what matters to me? What's important to me and that we think that maybe I have to start like a mental health app or something. And it's like, no, how do we infuse this into something that people already know that they need? But then it's like the backdoor of, we also care about you as a human.
Kedma [:Right? Exactly. And, Marli, that's exactly it. And can I back it up? I can back it up for exactly what you said. We talk about mental health in our own family. I come with 2 kids who have special needs. Right? And so the community knows I'm authentic. You can't set up and do something you're not authentic with because the community will know it.
Marli Williams [:Exactly. Knowing who you are, knowing your story, knowing what matters to you 100%. And then being willing to infuse who you are, your values into anything that you do, any business you have. And that's what makes it stand out. That's what how we break through the noise and what makes it unique is when you are fully you. Love
Kedma [:that. 100%. What do you hear is the struggle? What are people facing for you when you're talking to them and you're coaching them and you're mentoring? What are they coming to you with?
Marli Williams [:Right now, what I'm hearing across the board, especially for service based entrepreneurs, is the challenge of getting people to sign up. Sign up for the mastermind, a workshop, a retreat, a program. It just feels like it's a very noisy world. How do I break through the noise and get people from what I call, like, interested to committed?
Kedma [:Yeah. And what process have they taken to get people to sign up? Because I need would need to know that. What have they done?
Marli Williams [:Right. And I think that sometimes people posting on social media, sending an email to their list, reaching out individually, voice message, text message, audio message.
Kedma [:Got it. Assuming this is their market and they've already right? They have to target the right Marli, and it can't be a blanket. But one of my favorite models for trying to get people to sign up is something that's not even in the coaching world. It's actually found in the candy world. My favorite models is See's Candy. Have you ever been to See's Candy?
Marli Williams [:Like a shop, a See's Candy shop? That's right. It's been a minute, but I'm guessing they give you a taste of something.
Kedma [:That's right. What did they give you a taste of?
Marli Williams [:Something. Whatever you want.
Kedma [:Yep. Whatever you want. Do you want the chocolate? Do you want the orange cream? Do you want the one with nuts? And they give you the taste, and then you get to choose the adventure. I'd like this. And you know what? Every time I they get me. Every damn time. I'm walking out with a $40 box. I didn't need it.
Marli Williams [:Yeah. I think that sometimes we try to give them, like, the whole cake without giving them the taste. They use this analogy of, like, taking someone on a date versus asking for a marriage proposal of, like, how are you getting to know your people? How are they getting to know you? How are you building that relationship and that trust with them? And so I think it so much of it too, as we bring it full circle is believing in you, believing in yourself, in your heart, in your voice, in your message, in your product, in your service, in your idea, and sharing it from that place. Like the candy shop isn't trying to convince anyone to buy it. They're just giving you a taste of what's possible, and then they're allowing you to, like you said, choose your own adventure. I
Kedma [:mean, they're the best chocolate drug dealers I've ever met. You know what I mean? So let's just be real here. Just a little
Marli Williams [:taste. Just a little taste. As we wrap for our conversation today, what I would love for you to share, any final thoughts that you'd love to leave people with? And then where can people find you, learn from you, learn more about you and your work in the world? Tell the people all the things.
Kedma [:1st of all, always, always give props to Marli, who is such a light in the world. Right? So she can always find me somewhere around the world. I think the adage of surrounding yourself with people who are gonna call your BS is gonna be really important. And if you're feeling that you're buying your own BS, you're not in the right room with the right people. You are sabotaging your own self actualization, and you need to set yourself up in treatment with someone who's gonna call you out on it. Yeah. Because we do this. We self sabotage.
Kedma [:We self sabotage. So I think that would be my gift to you. Find your people who are going to pull you out of that and get you to become the best version of you.
Marli Williams [:I love it.
Kedma [:There's a lot of places to find me, but my newest is I have a clothing brand called Leaders Love because I do believe, as leaders, we have to love more. We have to love more. And we have to stop thinking that leading is with difficulty and challenge and you gotta make it. No. You know what? More people need love. They need love. They need to know you care about them. So if you go on to Instagram, just leaderslove.com.
Kedma [:Leaderslove.com. Yeah. So
Marli Williams [:I will put that in the show notes for sure.
Kedma [:Yeah. And thank you, Marli, for such an amazing conversation.
Marli Williams [:Thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing your your heart, your knowledge, your wisdom. It's such an honor to have you here, and thank you for the amazing work that you do in the world. Everyone out there listening, thank you for tuning in. I always love to hear your golden nuggets and the things that really landed and resonated for you, so share them with me. Share this podcast with someone else you think could benefit. And again, we we get more of what we look for. So look for the good, find the good, be the good, create the good, and like Kedma said, lead with love.
Marli Williams [:Alright. Until next time, everybody. Take care. Peace. Thank you for joining us on another inspiring episode of the Marli Williams podcast. We hope you're leaving here with renewed energy and valuable insights to fuel your leadership, coaching, and speaking endeavors. I'd love to invite you to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast to help us reach reach more aspiring leaders and speakers like you. We have more exciting episodes and remarkable guests lined up, so make sure to tune in next time.
Marli Williams [:Until then, keep leading with purpose, coaching with heart, and speaking with conviction. This is Marli Williams signing off. See you next week.
