…Another important characteristic of resilience is having a strong social network and knowing how and when to ask for help. Having a robust social network of friends, family, and work contacts are extremely important, especially when it comes to asking for advice, support, or as an outlet to express your emotions. We all need people around us who lift us up, push us, and help us thrive.
In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Karrie Brady. Karrie is a speaker, educator, and sales expert specializing in sales and marketing. She’s worked with over 500 entrepreneurs, helping them leave their 9–5’s, and build their savings to six-figures.
Thank you so much for joining us Karrie! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?
I started this business at 19 years old after my father was in a tragic accident that left him with a broken neck, and it was up to me to take care of him during that time.
I ended up dropping out of college, where I was pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering to move home, and that’s when I dipped my toes in the entrepreneurial space as a personal trainer. Long story short, I ended up falling flat on my face because I didn’t know anything about sales or what it took to run a successful business. But what I did know was that I was knowledgeable about my craft, and I cared so deeply about my clients.
Fast forward five years, and to date, I’ve sold over $1.5 million online. I’ve worked with over 500 entrepreneurs and counting, helped my clients leave their 9–5’s, buy homes, build their savings to six figures, retire their husbands and make cumulatively over $2 million online. Long story short, my passion is helping entrepreneurs combine soul-level connection and radical profits, all coming from a place of science-based sales.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
The most pivotal piece in my career was when I left my job at a corporate gym and made a decisive choice to stop allowing myself to give in to the limiting beliefs around money and sales. That was back in 2017, and I started investing in mentors and coaches who had truly mastered the art of sales, and had the proof to back it up. What I learned was that experience was to excel and grow your business exponentially, you must invest. You have to value your problems enough to fix them.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I think my company stands out because I combine science-based-strategy with a heart-centered sales approach. Most of the time, you see a combination of either, or and never both. To be successful at sales, you must be connected to your soul, it has to come from a deeper place, but you also need to be backed by facts, not just feeling.
When my clients come to me leaning too hard on either the masculine or feminine side of sales, I will hear repeatedly, “I feel like I’m doing everything I should be, but something is still missing.”
The gap comes from the lack of balance within their strategy. The reason one of my clients sold $220k in her first year as a coach is we worked to balance her sales process with both intuition and proven methods — no one works without the other.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My husband. I had my daughter, Sienna, last year, and he’s been such a big piece of my life and business. He’s provided balance where there’s been chaos; he’s lifted me up when I felt down, and so much more. There’s something very powerful about having your number one supporter right by your side day in and day out.
We’re told by society that we’re made to do this, to be mothers. And yes I agree to a certain extent, but we’re not made to do this alone, without any support or help. Especially not when you add a growing business into the mix.
Kyle is the main reason I’ve been able to get this far, while balancing being a mom.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?
To me, resilience is the ability to recover quickly from a difficult situation and not being “ok” with getting told “no”. Resilience is the key, in my opinion, to all successful entrepreneurs. When I think of resilience, I think of people who have the persistence to help them overcome any obstacle or challenge that comes their way. To be flexible and open to change so that they can pivot and adapt. And they can do all of this quickly. They get knocked down, but they get right back up.
Another important characteristic of resilience is having a strong social network and knowing how and when to ask for help. Having a robust social network of friends, family, and work contacts are extremely important, especially when it comes to asking for advice, support, or as an outlet to express your emotions. We all need people around us who lift us up, push us, and help us thrive.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?
When I think of resilience, I think of Jenna Kutcher. Jenna is another entrepreneur I admire greatly, who struggled with fertility issues for years, is a major player in the online space (which presents its own challenges as a woman), and is constantly trying to encourage a balance within her business and life . No matter what level she was at in her business, she never let her struggles deter her from her success. I also like that she is very transparent with her audience; she’s not afraid to share a more vulnerable side because it’s what’s ultimately helped her to become just that: resilient.
Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?
Let’s just say, starting a business at 19, it’s not the easiest thing in the world. You’re surrounded by skeptics constantly reminding you that you’re young, inexperienced, etc — telling you that you should just quit now and go do something safer, easier, where you can be “stable”.
But man am I so glad I didn’t listen and kept on this journey to where I am now. Nothing beats having the freedom of being your own boss. Is it hard? Yes. But also, is it safe? YES. There’s no better hands to be in when it comes to my future than my own.
Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?
I would say when I first found out I was pregnant, I thought it was a huge setback. I had just gone full time in my business, making consistent $10k months, and started traveling Europe. It was hard being pregnant, especially in the beginning. I was sick every day, low energy, and felt isolated because I couldn’t tell anyone what was going on because I was still fearful to miscarry.
But I will say, being able to do that hard thing, and giving birth to my daughter, was a catalyst in my business. It showed me resilience, but also gave me one of the strongest driving forces in life, someone I am working to build a life around and be there for.
Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
My childhood has 100% contributed to me building my resilience because I grew up as a child of a military service member. It isn’t the “perfect” upbringing by any means, and it doesn’t give you a picture-perfect story, but it is an experience that helped shape my path.
From growing up going to 14 different schools (k-12th grade) and moving all the time, having to deal with high stress environments, fear, and loss, all of those experiences within being involved with the military as a dependent have contributed to building myself up through resilience.
Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Reframe your limiting beliefs and thoughts. The mind is extremely powerful, and one of the most important aspects of being a successful entrepreneur is having a healthy mindset. When I first started my online business as a personal trainer, one of my biggest struggles was around money and sales. And it wasn’t until much later when I made a choice to change my beliefs where I experienced a change in my business. Instead of continuing to tell myself that I was terrible at sales, I recognized my negative belief, decided to accept it and rephrase it. I decided to stop allowing myself to be bad at sales. I believed that I would master sales and that I would become an expert at it. I valued my problem enough to fix it.
- Keep an optimistic attitude. Positivity can come in many different ways, and it will only help you to become more resilient. I like to incorporate positive affirmations into my daily life through verbal affirmations and keeping post-it notes around my office as small reminders. My affirmations can vary from money to gratitude, productivity, and more — to help me feel empowered and ready for literally anything that comes my way.
- Accept and embrace the change. When my dad broke his neck, everything changed for me. I dropped out of college, moved home, and became his full-time caretaker. Instead of being inflexible and reacting negatively to the situation, I looked at this change as an opportunity to learn, grow, and start my first entrepreneurial business as a personal trainer. Remember: things are always happening FOR you, not to you.
- Be proactive. When a problem arises, don’t wait for it to go away on its own. Take quick action to resolve the issue immediately, even if it means taking baby steps to react positively. A great example of this is marketing your business and offerings during COVID-19. In the beginning, a lot of companies went silent, and some even turned off their lights permanently. But the businesses that are taking quick action to reposition their offerings, getting creative, and keeping their communication channels open — these are the ones that are resilient during these tough times.
- Practice mindfulness. This is something that should be a part of your daily routine, no matter what. Every day, I take moments to practice gratitude. I have a set time in my daily schedule, where I switch off to slow down from the go-go-go in my business to spend time with my daughter and husband. I’m strict to this time, and I don’t let anything get in the way. This helps me decompress and practice gratitude.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m a big advocate for adopting and rescuing animals. I even adopted my own three dogs. I would personally start a movement around animal advocacy. There’s something to be said about helping animals who don’t have a voice of their own; it’s so powerful and meaningful to me.
We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them :-)`
I would love to have breakfast with Jenna Kutcher. She’s an incredible entrepreneur who maintains authenticity in her business and brand. She balances work life with grace and is genuinely leading a movement for female entrepreneurs, especially those with children.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can find me on Instagram, @karriebrady or on my website.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Karrie Brady: “To develop resilience, you need a strong social network” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
