In this episode of The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast, we sit down with Kelsea Koenreich, a keynote speaker, best-selling author, and mom of three. Kelsea is dedicated to helping female founders and leaders make a positive difference with their work, without compromising their well-being or relationships. Her personal journey from self-destruction to success is not only inspiring but also full of practical tips that can benefit any audience.
5 Reasons to Listen:
1. Inspiring Personal Story: Learn how Kelsea transformed her life after facing significant challenges, including three arrests, and how she rebuilt her life with intention and purpose.
2. Practical Tips for Work-Life Balance: Kelsea shares strategies for achieving balance in high-pressure environments, offering insights that resonate with every mompreneur.
3. Using Shame as a Tool: Discover how Kelsea turned shame into a silent ally for professional achievement, and how you can leverage your own experiences to fuel success.
4. Strategic Growth Without Fluff: Kelsea specializes in helping women grow their businesses strategically, without getting lost in unnecessary details, making her advice invaluable for female entrepreneurs.
5. Empowering Female Leadership: Gain insights into Kelsea's approach to empowering female leaders to make a bigger impact in the world while maintaining their well-being and relationships.
This episode with Kelsea Koenreich is a must-listen for any mompreneur looking to find balance, purpose, and success in their personal and professional lives. Kelsea's story is a testament to the power of resilience, intention, and self-belief. Tune in to The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast to hear Kelsea's inspiring journey and gain valuable insights for your own entrepreneurial path.
Connect with Kelsea:
Website: https://www.kelseakoenreich.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseakoenreich/
Instagram: @kelseakoenreich https://www.instagram.com/kelseakoenreich/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelseamariekoenreich/
💖 If you enjoy The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast, subscribe, follow, share and
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Leave a Review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen! 🎧
Thank you for listening and keep up the great work, mama!
In this episode of The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast, we sit down with Kelsea Koenreich, a keynote speaker, best-selling author, and mom of three. Kelsea is dedicated to helping female founders and leaders make a positive difference with their work, without compromising their well-being or relationships. Her personal journey from self-destruction to success is not only inspiring but also full of practical tips that can benefit any audience.
5 Reasons to Listen:
1. Inspiring Personal Story: Learn how Kelsea transformed her life after facing significant challenges, including three arrests, and how she rebuilt her life with intention and purpose.
2. Practical Tips for Work-Life Balance: Kelsea shares strategies for achieving balance in high-pressure environments, offering insights that resonate with every mompreneur.
3. Using Shame as a Tool: Discover how Kelsea turned shame into a silent ally for professional achievement, and how you can leverage your own experiences to fuel success.
4. Strategic Growth Without Fluff: Kelsea specializes in helping women grow their businesses strategically, without getting lost in unnecessary details, making her advice invaluable for female entrepreneurs.
5. Empowering Female Leadership: Gain insights into Kelsea's approach to empowering female leaders to make a bigger impact in the world while maintaining their well-being and relationships.
This episode with Kelsea Koenreich is a must-listen for any mompreneur looking to find balance, purpose, and success in their personal and professional lives. Kelsea's story is a testament to the power of resilience, intention, and self-belief. Tune in to The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast to hear Kelsea's inspiring journey and gain valuable insights for your own entrepreneurial path.
Connect with Kelsea:
Website: https://www.kelseakoenreich.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseakoenreich/
Instagram: @kelseakoenreich https://www.instagram.com/kelseakoenreich/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelseamariekoenreich/
💖 If you enjoy The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast, subscribe, follow, share and
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Leave a Review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen! 🎧
Thank you for listening and keep up the great work, mama!
The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast featuring guest interview with Kelsea Koenreich
[00:00:00] Angela: Welcome to the podcast, Kelsey Koenreich. Thank you so much for joining us today. You have such an inspiring story and I'm going to tell listeners a little bit about you. You're the CEO of Koenreich Enterprises and you help female founders and leaders make a positive difference with their work without compromising Their wellbeing and their relationships.
[00:00:27] Angela: So I can't wait to dive into that, but you also specialize in strategic growth without the fluff so that women can make a bigger impact in the world. So welcome and thank you. And I can't wait to share your inspiring story.
[00:00:43] Kelsea: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me anytime I can help. I'm here for it.
[00:00:48] Angela: I know you have really turned.
[00:00:52] Angela: A difficult situation around and, with a podcast that is all about [00:01:00] women and moms feeling good enough. I think it's just what we need to hear to remind us that we can emerge from any situation. Why don't you give listeners a little background on yeah what brought you to wanting to motivate and inspire others?
[00:01:20] Kelsea: Yeah, it's been a beautiful evolution. I think that my story can be like really jarring for people because a lot of people meet me in the now right and they see where I am and what I built and. I am married to my best friend. I, we will be celebrating 12 years this year. I have three little kids that are seven, five, and two.
[00:01:40] Kelsea: And my life is something that I never thought it could be. And people meet me in that, when they see that I've created businesses and my husband's an entrepreneur and we have, we've created amazingness in this life, but I. Went through a 10 year period of just self destructive behaviors, a lot of [00:02:00] that stemming from my lack of feeling good enough and worthy enough, because I think that's where a lot of our choices come from, right?
[00:02:07] Kelsea: And so that landed me in jail for the third time. And after that third arrest, I had to make a choice. I had to really look at myself and take ownership that I had put myself there and the choices I was making had put me there, but with that, I could also make different choices. And so I've really leaned into the power of choice and walking through and rebuilding my life.
[00:02:32] Kelsea: Then I knew that I went through that for a reason, right? And so there is this part of me that is. Really fueled by showing women what's possible for them and showing mothers what they can do in honoring their ambition and their drive and their businesses while also not abandoning themselves or letting their identity become their work or putting their self care on the back burner because it's easy [00:03:00] to do.
[00:03:01] Kelsea: So yeah, it's been this beautiful blend of my own personal development journey. And growing businesses that I developed and then being able to help other women. And now I really specialize in working with established mom founders and entrepreneurs who are at that point of. They've checked the boxes, right?
[00:03:22] Kelsea: Like they have the financial freedom, they've got the money. Maybe they have the houses, the cars, they've got the things. And they're like, it doesn't feel like enough. I don't feel like enough. I'm still chasing something. And so I come in with this. Interesting viewpoint, because I believe in always striving for bigger and better and more potential.
[00:03:42] Kelsea: But I also believe that alongside that should live peace and contentment and presence with our Children. And so I helped them strategically restructure the business to support the life they want to live so that they can sustain and grow [00:04:00] revenue, which is what we want as business owners.
[00:04:02] Kelsea: Without them being on the backburner and their happiness being on the backburner.
[00:04:07] Angela: Yes, I feel so grateful that we live in a time that we're having a conversation like this because it has been absent for so long. So how can somebody begin to kind of balance that ambition with creating a business and not sacrificing their life.
[00:04:33] Angela: What are some of the tips that you give your clients or things that we need to begin to think about that are, signs that, Hey, you need to start creating a more healthy situation for yourself.
[00:04:47] Kelsea: Yeah. It's interesting because one of the things you just said was like, what do they need to think about?
[00:04:52] Kelsea: And truly, I think We're so smart. Like women, we are, we're problem solvers. We're solution [00:05:00] oriented. Like we're focused. We're goal oriented. Like we're the best, and so I think that we already know as women, what we need to do. We're already thinking about what we need to do.
[00:05:12] Kelsea: We need to set boundaries. We need to say no. We need to honor our capacity. We need to start, looking at how, what feels good to us and what we're doing, just because we feel like we should be doing it and how we're following the traditional path that's been laid before us. And if we're unwilling to step into the unknown, that is can I be wildly successful and build financial freedom and wealth and a legacy for my children while also Enjoying right now.
[00:05:42] Kelsea: And so I don't think that most women don't have awareness of what they need to do. I think the difficulty is holding it. And so I think. Setting a new standard is usually one of the steps that I work on with clients. Like we have to evaluate what [00:06:00] standards you're holding for yourself and for your business.
[00:06:05] Kelsea: And then are you in alignment with those standards that you're setting and are there boundaries in place to protect those standards? So let's say. If you are somebody who is, a lot of my clients are overworkers, right? So they're working a lot of hours, then they feel guilty because they're not with their kids.
[00:06:23] Kelsea: And it's like this back and forth thing. It's I want to provide for my family. That's the catch 22 that we have as moms. I want to provide this great life for my family and be a great provider. And also I want to be there. And I feel like I can't do both.
[00:06:35] Angela: Yeah.
[00:06:37] Kelsea: And that breaks my heart, right?
[00:06:39] Kelsea: That we think that way. And so we have to flip that and start thinking, what does it actually look like for me to do both? What does both look like to me? What does balance look like to me? If you want to work six hour days instead of eight hour days, then you have to set that standard. Yeah. And then set a boundary, let your team know that your clients know, [00:07:00] right?
[00:07:00] Kelsea: Clear communication and hold that boundary. We can say we want to do things all day, but really a lot of it is just like we have an awareness of what we want to do and how we want to move through the world and move through our lives and what we want the results to be. And so we have to put a. A tactical plan together to be able to facilitate that.
[00:07:21] Kelsea: And a lot of that is going to be through our how we schedule our time and our energy and having standards and boundaries to protect that.
[00:07:30] Angela: Yeah, all of that it is, and I was having a conversation with somebody yesterday who was like. Works with women in a similar capacity and women are so not used to asking themselves the question, what do I want?
[00:07:49] Angela: It's we're constantly serving others. And so are there any aha moments that the women that you work with [00:08:00] have when you're helping them create this more balanced work life situation.
[00:08:10] Kelsea: I would say the biggest recurring A moment is when they start to get the data to support how choosing them facilitates a higher quality of work, better leadership for their team and inside their homes how they start to see that what they thought was true is the opposite.
[00:08:33] Angela: Because like
[00:08:33] Kelsea: you said, we love to serve, right? We put our children before us. We put everybody around us before us. And so the fear is if I put myself first, then My business will fail. Everybody will hate me. These thought spirals that we have.
[00:08:50] Angela: And
[00:08:50] Kelsea: so it's sitting in the discomfort of doing that anyways, choosing yourself.
[00:08:55] Kelsea: And then when they start to collect the data, and we will even put together [00:09:00] scenarios. So I will ask very strategic questions of. How would getting up in the morning and moving your body and journaling and having some time for yourself, how would that make you a better body? And then it forces them to answer that question of I would be more at peace, so I'd be less likely to yell in the morning chaos.
[00:09:21] Kelsea: It's like getting ready for school or, and so we have to start that. That's the biggest aha moment. It's like when you realize. The opposite of what you thought was true is actually true.
[00:09:33] Angela: I love that. We're so conditioned to serve from an empty cup and we're just on this treadmill of continuing to do that.
[00:09:44] Angela: And we do that for our families and we do that in our businesses. And I love that point so much because it is. So true. We, once we finally get, Oh, okay. If I do set boundaries and I do take time for [00:10:00] myself, I'm more productive. I'm better to be around. Yeah. Yeah. All the things start working better. So what are other than just learning to create boundaries and asking yourself what it is that your ideal schedule is, what are some of the other things that maybe we can do to create that balance?
[00:10:28] Kelsea: Yeah. So I would say you, I always tell people look inside and outside the business. So I'm a big believer in optimizing and refining and becoming more efficient because then we can find pockets of time.
[00:10:41] Kelsea: So if we're talking about your business, We need to be looking at your systems that you have in place, your processes, your workflows also need to be looking at like your team management and your leadership. Like every leader that I've ever worked with, whether they have a team of two or 50, they're holding onto things that [00:11:00] they don't need to be holding onto because they have this thought of I'm the only one that can do it, or I'm the only one that does it right.
[00:11:05] Kelsea: Or, we, and we all have those things. And so I would say looking in the business at picture your business as, do you know the gears that interlock the player or the kid toy that are the magnet. And if one is not connected, the whole thing doesn't turn. So that's how I tell clients think about your business that way.
[00:11:26] Kelsea: And if we can optimize each gear. So that it's turning well, then there is a direct result in your personal life because then we get into all those tabs that are open in your head, like the chronic stress, the overwhelm, all of those things are result of some sort of inefficiency in the business. So you want to look at your processes, your workflows, you want to get really honest about what feels clunky.
[00:11:52] Kelsea: What are you spending too much time on, what, and what's not pouring back into you, even in the business, do you need to let go of a certain service [00:12:00] or offering that is maybe it's profitable, but you hate it, or maybe it's not profiting and you love it. But so you need to figure out a way to make it profitable.
[00:12:08] Kelsea: So you have to really peel back each area of your business and think what's clunky here? What is not making the gears work well? And then you do the same for your home. And that's where I always tell people, I'm like, it would be impossible for me to work with people and not have a conversation about what's happening in their home lives.
[00:12:28] Kelsea: Like my clients and I pride myself on depth. And I know my client's partner's names. I know their kids names. I know Everything about them because that's how I operate and if we don't look at those outer areas of like, where do we need to call on our partners for more support when we look at the way that we parent, are we enabling or stunting our children's self confidence by doing everything for them?
[00:12:53] Kelsea: Or are we elevating their self confidence by asking them to come in and help? My kids do something [00:13:00] called clean time before screen time. So I'm not cleaning their rooms. Like they're cleaning their rooms and then they can have screen time because I'm not the maid of the house. And so I think it's just implementing things like that.
[00:13:11] Kelsea: Like looking at like, where are your frustrations? Where is your resentment? Where are what doesn't feel good to you in your business and in your home or in your life in general? And what sort of solutions need to be put in place to make those things feel better?
[00:13:27] Angela: Yeah, I think working with someone like you is so important because, you hold the possibility.
[00:13:34] Angela: You hold that space that, all that we get used to all of the aggravation, all of the, we tend to think it can't ever change or no other situation is ever possible. The fact that. You can work with somebody that holds that possibility for you is so important. It is. It just really is that [00:14:00] bridge that takes you to a new level or a new way of being that is just so much more peaceful.
[00:14:06] Angela: And one of the things that I heard you touch on for a minute that I love to talk about is leadership. And I love to highlight how. Moms are inherent leaders just because of our experience in parenting. Can you talk about for a minute about some of the ways in which we don't see ourselves as being good leaders, but we can really call upon those things that we routinely do that translate well to being leaders in our businesses.
[00:14:42] Kelsea: Yeah, I am in complete agreement with you and I love that you reflected back about the possibility. I just want to touch on that because I think that's so important. So thank you for drawing that out because I think, and I know you, you do that for your clients as well. And I think there is so much so much beauty that [00:15:00] comes from.
[00:15:01] Kelsea: Somebody just reflecting back to you. Like this is possible feeling a different way, doing things a different way as possible. When it comes to leadership, like I have this it's not really a joke, but I say it quite often of if you want somebody that's going to get things done and do them well, you should hire a mom because we operate.
[00:15:20] Kelsea: Completely differently the way that we are able to problem solve in short amounts of time. I think that there is so much overlap between how we parent and then how we lead because parenting is a leadership position. As you said, there's also a lot of overlap for me in, in training. So I'm a former figure competitor and powerlifting competitor.
[00:15:44] Kelsea: And so I get up at five in the morning, I drink coffee, I journal, I read, and then I'm out to the gym. And that to me, that's my space. That's where I center myself. And there's so many parallels there too. And I think that. A lot of the times it's [00:16:00] not about not recognizing ourselves for the way that we are inherently good leaders.
[00:16:06] Kelsea: Some of it is more so us feeling important enough to qualify ourselves and say, this is important. See ourselves, there's a difference in. How we see leaders and then what we are saying we need to qualify ourselves as to be a leader. Whereas if we quantify ourselves as I am inherently a leader, because I am a mother, there is a healthy amount of pressure that comes with that.
[00:16:31] Kelsea: So knowing that you have eyes on you, knowing that everybody has the opportunity to write a legacy. What do you want to do with that? What do you, that's a, it's a big responsibility, just like parenting, but it's that healthy pressure of you have the power of choice. So you get to choose every page, every chapter you're writing this story.
[00:16:54] Kelsea: And so I think that the key here in leadership is actually recognizing yourself and accepting [00:17:00] that responsibility that you are a leader and not disqualifying yourself because. Of, your education or, your credentials. I know that for me, I'm not well educated. I barely graduated high school.
[00:17:13] Kelsea: I did not go to college. And so that imposter syndrome that I would feel as I continued to climb was so heavy for me. It's I don't, wouldn't qualify myself as a leader. It's Kelsey, you have led. Thousands of women at this point. You have three little kids like you're doing it whether you like it or not.
[00:17:30] Kelsea: So accept it. Let it be that healthy pressure and then choose what you want to do with it.
[00:17:36] Angela: That's so good. Yeah, it is. It truly is a choice. And we have such a, an obligation, honestly, I think to do the best with that, especially when you've come from a situation where you didn't have that leadership in your parents, which, was my situation [00:18:00] and, you definitely, it's such a beautiful way to rewrite your story.
[00:18:05] Angela: As a parent, as a business leader, and to really be that example that you wish you would have had,
[00:18:12] Kelsea: 100%, 100%. It's such an opportunity. It's such an opportunity. And that's where every morning, every day at some point, my, one of my easiest and quickest mindset shifts for myself. And for my clients is that I get to mentality to where it's if I don't feel like working out, it's I get to move my body if I don't feel like.
[00:18:33] Kelsea: Parenting, because let's just be really honest here. Sometimes it's not great. It's I get to be a parent. There are many people that don't like, it's a privilege to do this. Even in my work, when I'm doing, they'll have things in our business that we don't love. And I'm like, I get to do this work.
[00:18:48] Kelsea: This is a privilege. And so that I get to mentality, I think is how we lead is that what we do and how we operate and how we move this is our choice and this is a privilege. And if you don't like [00:19:00] something, change it.
[00:19:02] Angela: Yeah, and I think it's a perfect opportunity to talk about your message on how we can take those situations that we found ourselves that can lead to a lot of shame, which is a really unhealthy place to be.
[00:19:17] Angela: You can't move forward if you're feeling shame. It just puts you in this. Lower level mental state that can keep you stuck, but how can you use those situations to fuel your success?
[00:19:37] Kelsea: Yeah, this is, I love this topic. I love talking about shame and I attribute like my falling in love with this topic, obviously to Brene Brown because she is just everything.
[00:19:48] Kelsea: But, she says. We have to bring the shame to light, that's the only way to move through it. And so I think one of the best shifts that we can do if we're feeling ashamed, whether that's from a failure [00:20:00] or something didn't go as planned, or how we showed up in a way that we didn't want to, or we yelled at our kids, or we weren't great to somebody on our team or whatever it is.
[00:20:10] Kelsea: I think the best thing that you can do is Remind yourself that there was some sort of lesson in that. I'm a big believer in nothing is a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason and for a purpose. And for me, once I find clarity in what the lesson was or what the purpose was, then it's I had to go through that.
[00:20:29] Kelsea: So then I could teach this so then I could help other people not make the same mistake. So then I could. Reform or reframe that to make a lesson for the team. Or maybe it's showed me something about who I am or where I still have a gap. Like our children are such great mirrors. I know for me, like my oldest is my hardest.
[00:20:48] Kelsea: And obviously your first kid, you're like, What am I even doing? You're like, please just let me like do this 1 percent better than my parents. And he's, all of my kids are mirrors, but he is just a constant reflection to me that anytime [00:21:00] something happens, I now I'm just like, okay, what do I need to take ownership of where's the gap in my.
[00:21:05] Kelsea: intelligence or my emotional capacity here that I need to be looking at. And so I think it's just it's just that if we feel ashamed, it's because we are afraid of what people will think and what I know is that. Anytime we speak about the thing that we're ashamed of, we get a me too, right? We get somebody else and we give somebody else permission to talk about it or to not be ashamed.
[00:21:31] Kelsea: And so that's really where the leadership collides with the shame and being able to speak openly about it.
[00:21:39] Angela: I love that. Yeah, it is. There is no, we have to bring whatever it is that has happened that makes us feel that shame to absolutely reach out to those who can relate because there's somebody who just needs to hear it.
[00:21:56] Angela: I talk extensively about my childhood [00:22:00] trauma on the podcast and it's made me who I am and it's gotten so much. Resonance and it's just amazing. So I love that you're not only helping. Female business leaders, but you're also you're going back to prisons and being that example for women.
[00:22:20] Angela: And that's just incredible. So thank you so much for sharing all of your inspiring insights today. If you would like, listeners to have a takeaway or a few takeaways from our conversation today, what do you think that might be?
[00:22:39] Kelsea: I think everything comes back to the power of choice and remembering that if you feel in a position to where you've been disempowered, that you have the ability to take that back by making a different choice.
[00:22:52] Kelsea: Whatever that choice looks like, whether that's, speaking up, asking for help, getting support in areas that you're not supported in, [00:23:00] whatever it is. Like it's okay to ask for what you want. It's okay to make a different choice. It's okay to change. It's okay to pivot. It's okay to fail.
[00:23:07] Kelsea: It's okay to fall and your failures and the way that you fall is So human. And at the end of the day, we are all humans, regardless of our titles. And if we can remember that, and if we continue to honor our own humanness by taking care of ourselves emotionally and physically, and in all the ways that we know we need to, that is the true key to building sustainable success in our careers and in our businesses, and will help facilitate the lasting impact that we really want.
[00:23:42] Angela: I love that. We have agency and taking care of ourself is taking care of our business.
[00:23:49] Kelsea: Yes. Yes.
[00:23:51] Angela: So I love that. And I've loved this conversation. Where can listeners connect with you and learn more?
[00:23:59] Kelsea: Yeah. So you [00:24:00] could obviously hop over to my website kelseykenry. com. I'm sure that will be in the call notes because nobody can spell that.
[00:24:06] Angela: Yes.
[00:24:08] Kelsea: Otherwise I'm primarily on LinkedIn and Instagram and that's where I connect with my people. Obviously you're going to see behind the scenes of being a mom of three over on Instagram and over on LinkedIn. You're going to get some insightful thought leadership and ways that you can implement change into your business and your life.
[00:24:26] Angela: I love it. Thank you so much, Kelsey, for this conversation and connecting.
[00:24:32] Kelsea: Yeah. Thanks for having me.