The Prolific Hub Podcast
The Prolific Hub Podcast is a digital archive & celebration of all things creativity, purpose and alignment.
The Prolific Hub Podcast
Overcoming Fear to Unleash Your Entrepreneurial Vision ft. Kat Sterling | Ep. 56
Kat Sterling, COO of NüSpira and author of "Why They're Winning and You Are Not," joins us for an episode brimming with inspiration and practical insights into entrepreneurship. Kat's remarkable transition from the corporate healthcare world to entrepreneurship is not just a career change—it's a journey of empowerment and vision. She openly shares how spiritual insights guided her through this transformation, and her commitment to uplifting women who juggle multiple roles truly shines. This conversation unveils the strength found in resilience, the necessity of building a supportive network, and the courage to trust your vision when crafting your own path.
The episode takes a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship, revealing what it really takes to succeed. From the critical necessity of financial planning to the importance of market research, Kat provides a roadmap filled with personal anecdotes and hard-earned lessons. We explore how life challenges, like unexpected job loss, can be a catalyst for pursuing one’s passion. Kat’s emphasis on the importance of thorough preparation through detailed business planning, underscores the reality that success is often a long-term endeavor, not a quick win.
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-- Watch this episode on YouTube!
Related Episode:
-- Ep. 47 | Transforming Dissatisfaction & Disconnection into Creative Fuel [Knowing Your Why]
More from Kat:
- Grab some NüSpira Black Mushroom Coffee & more at nuspira.com!
- Get your copy of Why They Are Winning, and You Are Not: The Steps to Finding Success in Life
- Follow Kat on IG @therealkatofatlanta
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Hey friend, welcome back to the show. I'm so excited for today's episode. We have Kat Sterling on the podcast, who is the COO of New Spira and author of why they're Winning and you Are Not. And Kat has such a dynamic personality. She's so full of just wisdom and excitement and I loved our conversation. I think it's full of so many gems for budding entrepreneurs and creatives out there. So, without further ado, let's jump in. Hi everyone, welcome back to the Prolific Hub podcast. I'm your host, aaliyah Cheyenne, and I'm so excited today to be joined by Kat Sterling. Hi, kat, hey, how are you? I'm doing so good. How are you doing today?
Kat Sterling:Excited, so excited to be here.
Aliya Cheyanne:I'm so excited to have you and we had a chance to just chat a little bit before we jumped in today's interview, and it's wonderful meeting you. I know that I was so excited to see your profile come across my inbox with this platform that I use and I was just like, oh my goodness, I have to reach out to her, I have to talk to her. I'm so excited to be here chatting with you today.
Kat Sterling:Yes, absolutely. I'm so excited and I'm so excited to get to know about you and your viewers and your listeners. This is amazing. So love to see young Black entrepreneurs. This is awesome, thank you so much.
Aliya Cheyanne:So, for everyone listening, kat Sterling is the COO of New Spira and she's also an author, and I'm so excited to talk about all things business, authorship and everything else. So before we jump into our interview today, kat, I would love to kick it over to you to share a little bit more about who you are in the world today and how do you like to be known and seen.
Kat Sterling:Thank you, Thank you, leah. I am Kat Sterling. I'm the CEO of New Sphera. I worked in corporate for almost 20 years. I know I'm old. I worked in corporate America for almost 20 years corporate health care, that is to be exact and I just had a passion for some things happen. I had to leave the job, and so I just had a passion for helping and working with people, and so that's why I ended up writing a book. And then now I really wanted to go into the entrepreneurial space. You know, I figured I'm doing this for somebody else I'm doing, making them millions of dollars every year. Why can't I do it on my own? Now, it's not easy, but I'm going to do it on my own. So that's why I am here and that's why I'm in this space currently today.
Kat Sterling:And my mission is to empower women. I love stuff like this, empowering women because we are the backbone of society, we are everything to everybody and it gets so stressful sometimes, and so sometimes it's good to hear a sounding voice that can say you know what, you could persevere past those the children, the job, the husband. You can persevere past those things to still pursue what you want to pursue in life, Because a lot of times we give up our dreams for everybody else and then we suffer in the end. So this is my mission, Absolutely.
Aliya Cheyanne:And thank you so much for sharing that and for bringing that point into the room. I love women's empowerment as well. That's why I focus so much on having women thought leaders and entrepreneurs and creatives on the show sharing more about their journey. So I'm really happy to have you and to learn more about your journey, thank you. Yes, so take us back a little bit. So you were working in corporate for such a long time and said you're older, don't look it, but but yeah, so can you take us back a little bit? So I know you're working in corporate for a long time, really wanted to have to support people, had a vision for doing so and things transitioned and you wanted to pursue something for yourself. Can you tell us a little bit more about New Spira and like why sort of the wellness space in particular?
Kat Sterling:Okay, let me take you back a little bit. Let me tell you what happened at that corporate job. So, like I said, I was working for one of the largest healthcare companies on the East Coast. For almost 11 years Before that, I was a healthcare consultant where we went into cancer centers and did business and strategy consulting for all different cancer centers across the United States, and so I stayed a little bit longer in some of those places than I should have.
Kat Sterling:Because I don't know, are you a spiritual person I'm a very spiritual person and so sometimes God talks to me, right, sometimes God tells you things and you're like no, yeah, no, I don't want to do that.
Kat Sterling:I don't want to do that. You know, it goes back to all the stories in the Bible where he's asking people to do difficult things and you're like I don't want to do that because I don't trust the plan, I don't see it, because I don't trust it, and so I stayed a little too long where I shouldn't have. And then one thing I always I always tell people I'm like if God tells you to move somewhere and go do something, you better do it because it's going to happen, he's going to make you and you're not. You're not going to like the way that he makes you move, so I would rather be in a position where I moved when he said move versus me moving on some other somebody else's terms, and so what happened is I ended up having to leave that job. I actually lost my job in 2022. I lost it, and so I ended up finishing my book. I said you know what? I'm going to finish this book. This book took literally five years in the making.
Kat Sterling:Like it was literally five years. Like I said, we're women. We're so busy, it's so important sometimes just to sit down and get a moment to do the things that you want to do. And I put it off. I kept putting it off. I kept putting it off. I was like I'm going to finish it later. I'm going to finish it later.
Kat Sterling:So when I left that job, I finished it within like two weeks. I had chapters written, but I just sat down and I said you know what I'm going to execute on this, because this is something that I need to do. I've been trying to do this and I need to do it now. So I finished that and then in 2023, you know, I said you know, this is great, I love the speaking, I love the coaching, I love the book stuff. But I need something else. I need because I like to feel like I'm making an impact. You know, I like to feel like I'm doing something. In a CEO, coo realm. I just I like doing that kind of stuff. I'm an operations person by nature, so I love doing that kind of stuff.
Kat Sterling:And my husband just so happens he sold his company, you know. So we were like what are we going to do. We should do something together. Now, we've never worked together before because you get two people like, oh, you know, it's like a bull in a china shop. Because you get two people, it's like, oh, you know, it's like a bull in a china shop. So we'd never worked together before in that capacity. But we decided to do it on our own. Now. We put business cases together, we took it to investors. Everybody said no. Everybody said no. Now so we said you know what, we're just going to do it ourselves. So we sold everything to make this happen.
Kat Sterling:And so what New Spira is? And I'm in the health and wellness space. I love fitness. Like I said, I was in healthcare for 20 years. And so what New Spira is? It's a healthier alternative to some of your daily habits. So coffee, for example.
Kat Sterling:You've heard about the mushroom coffees in the industry. Now, I've tried them all, hated them. I don't know how you feel about them, but I hated them. I don't know how you feel about them, but I hated them. Can't drink dirt. In the morning I was like I don't like this and well, I'm sorry Not knocking anybody because some people love it but I was like I just can't get up and drink dirt. I have to drink my coffee. I like my coffee, I like the taste of my coffee, but you know I, and so that's why we decided to come up with New Spira, which is our own coffee mushroom coffee company, because we tied health into people's habits.
Kat Sterling:You know, coffee is a billion dollar, $30 billion industry. Mushroom coffee market is going to grow by 2030 into a billion industry, and so you always want to follow the trend. Like my husband says, the trend is your friend, so you want to tap into things that are already. You don't have to recreate the wheel, you just tap into something and make it better. That's what my husband always says. He was like he tapped into things and make it better, and so that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to find something that we liked, something that we were passionate about, and make it better. And then we also have a liquid vitamin and a detox drink mix. That is just fabulous.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah, that's incredible. I love that attention toward you, know, following the trend, and we hear that so many times about not reinventing the wheel, like there's nothing new under the sun, like those kinds of sayings, and it's just a matter of how can you improve? You can come up with innovative things, Absolutely, but are there things that can be improved and are you the person to do it, and is there anything you can tap into that can radically transform your life but also help other people and be of service to other people? So I think that's really really cool. Pivot slightly, because we keep mentioning this book, this book, this book and for anyone who's watching on video, they saw you hold it up, so can you please tell us a little bit more about your book?
Kat Sterling:Yes, it's called why they Are Winning and you Are Not, and I know the title is kind of like an in your face title, but I had to do a self evaluation. A lot of people don't like to do self evaluation, so I had to figure out why I wasn't getting the results that I wanted to do a self-evaluation A lot of people don't like to do self-evaluation, so I had to figure out why I wasn't getting the results that I wanted to get in life. So there were certain aspirations, certain goals that I want to achieve. Like I said, it took me five years to finish this book and so I had to really take an evaluation, self-evaluation, and figure out, like I saw my friends doing well and I saw, you know, all of our associates doing well, what are they doing that I'm not doing? That's, getting them results.
Kat Sterling:And so through this book, I chronicle the things that you need to do in order to get the results that you want. And it's basic stuff, it's practical stuff, it's simple stuff, it's nothing that's esoteric that you can't follow Like oh, you know, you know, believe in yourself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you need to do that. But there's still practical things. Like you need to be consistent with whatever you do. You need to have a network of people with whatever you're trying to do, because no person in this world has done anything of notoriety without having somebody or something backing them. They've always had backing All the richest people in the world. Somebody was behind them. You know they might be self-made, but somebody gave them some influence. It gave them some money, something. So you always need an influential circle to help you with whatever you want to do. And you also need to be to have perseverance, because if you can't move past those hard times and there will be hard times, especially if you're talking about being an entrepreneur Well let me tell you, yeah, the days I wake up and I'm like I just want to cry or I just want to roll over and I don't even want to think about today because it is, it is tough.
Kat Sterling:You know you got a target on your back. Most days, you know it is just you. You don't have the backing of a big company. You know, and if they, you know they'll they're going to pay you next week. Where are you going to? Where are you going to get your money? You got kids. You have a mortgage, you have bills. You got to make money, right, and so it's great to say I want to be an entrepreneur.
Kat Sterling:But you got to have a certain kind of gut instinct about you in order to be an entrepreneur, because it is not for the faint of heart I'm would have did this if I had a lot of my job. I probably would have been like, still sitting there. Yeah, I probably would have still been sitting there, but I knew I had a higher calling. I was like, ok, sometimes things happen for a reason to us, right, you got to look at life as like it doesn't happen to you, it happens for you and everything happens for a reason. So sometimes life happens to you because I wouldn't have been doing this if I hadn't moved. So this is my calling, yeah.
Aliya Cheyanne:I think that's so interesting. It's I mean, it's always hard going through that sort of transition where maybe lose your job or you get laid off or whatever the case may be, and then trying to figure out what's next. But I also think it's so interesting how and this is not every entrepreneur's story or every creative story, but for so many folks, that sort of event is what catapults them into entrepreneurship, because it's like I'm going to embrace this opportunity and create something new for myself. I'm going to use this opportunity to build my own ship, because nothing else is no longer working out for me. Absolutely yeah. And it's such a common thread. Yeah, it's a common thread for so many not all, but so many and I think that's so fascinating. And then the other side of it it's maybe less anticlimactic. Like maybe you didn't lose that job by choice. Like maybe you're choosing to walk away because time you have a conviction, like you have a conviction right, like for something else, and you know it's time to pursue that next thing. So you pivot that way. Um, absolutely yeah.
Kat Sterling:I just feel like if God puts it in your spirit and your heart and it's a passion of yours, if it's a passion of yours, I always feel like you're going to be successful. My mom used to tell me that all the time, follow what you love to do, and the money and everything else will come. Everything else that you're seeking will come. If you love it, do it, do it. Maybe not quit your job right away. A lot of, a lot of advice I give to people is you know, while you're at your current job, work your plan, work your plan. And so when you get your plan to a state that is perfected in your eyes it's perfected. Then you move, then you figure out where to go next.
Kat Sterling:But don't ever just up and pitch a job, because I'm telling you that's not easy, like when we went down from my income because I was making six figures, and when we went down from my income you still got a six-figure lifestyle or six-figure bills. But you're not bringing in six figures anymore. And when you start these businesses, it's going to take some time. You're not going to be success overnight. It's going to take maybe a year, maybe two years, maybe three, maybe four, maybe take 10. You know it could, you just never know and so it's not going to happen overnight. So you need to have some money or some reserves or something saved up for the what if something, because it does not happen immediately.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah, that's absolutely true and that's such good advice. I am someone who has taken breaks, as I've called them, in the past. So my first like career break during the pandemic, there were a lot of people just me who were re-evaluating a lot of things in life and at the time the organization I was working at was going in a different direction. So I took some time but I made sure I had a plan, like I saved up. I knew that was coming like over a year before I did it. That's very smart For that. And even in this year, like taking 2024 to really invest in my consulting work and take that off the ground I had a plan for that too. So I think I completely agree with you that having a plan and sometimes circumstances don't always allow for that this is a different kind of economy. Not everybody can save and put away the way that they would like, but I think in the event, you can do that. That's the way to do it.
Aliya Cheyanne:I would love to talk about a couple of things. One thing and you've shared some of this already some of the hardships you've experienced in trying to get this work off the ground, some of the adversity you've experienced, like having to put a plan in place for yourself and structure in place for yourself when there are so many things pulling at you while you're trying to build and grow and launch your business. So, especially as someone who cares about health and wellness and taking care of yourself and taking care of community, how did you kind of put structures in place for yourself to keep yourself grounded and focused while a million things were happening all around you? I would love to hear some of your sort of tips and practices around that, if you haven't.
Kat Sterling:Yeah, it's not. It was tough. Let me tell you that it was tough and I am a mentally strong person. You can ask anybody. My mental is just so strong. I'm just.
Kat Sterling:I don't let anything bother me, but I think it's when you have multiple things coming at you, like you said, it's like it's like an umbrella and it's raining on you and the umbrella has a hole in it. It's just like. It's like finances, family, this and that. So I really have to be grounded in my faith. That is the only thing that has carried me through all of this.
Kat Sterling:My faith has been so strong because if you don't have faith, I mean it's just you don't have anything Like. I just can't see how people make it without faith. I have to. You know, god shows me signs, god shows me things along the way. That shows me I'm on the right path. And when I feel like I'm on the right path, my faith starts to grow and I start to feel more comfortable and confident in what I'm doing.
Kat Sterling:But if I don't have faith, I'm going to quit tomorrow. I'm totally going to quit tomorrow because I'm so analytical and I'm very risk aversion. So it's like you know, if I don't feel like I am walking in something that God is putting in my path. Then I'm just going to be like I don't need to be here, I don't want to take that risk, I don't want to.
Kat Sterling:And then you have to really take care of yourself. You do have to do the self-care thing. So I tell my husband like, look, I need a, I need a moment, I need a mommy, I need to go, I need to go away and see my family in North Carolina for a weekend, or I need to go sit, walk around. I need to have me time, and a lot of times what I do in the morning is I go and I sit outside and I just sit in nature. That is like the ultimate for me is just sitting in nature and sitting outside, having a cup of coffee, being by myself and just evaluating my thoughts, because sometimes we don't slow down enough and we just got so much running through our minds. Our minds are racing all day. I like to just slow down and reevaluate my thoughts and see where I am mentally. And if I'm not okay, I let my husband know I'm not okay, like today is not okay day, like I need you to be there for me because I'm not okay and that's okay.
Kat Sterling:Some days, you're going to have those not okay moments. Like I said, it's not easy, so don't feel bad about that. Don't ever feel bad about that, but don't let it get to a point where it's broken you. That's the part that's scary when you get broken. A lot of entrepreneurs can get to that point if their business is going south or something's going wrong or they're running into financial issues. When you get that broken, that's the scary part, and I don't want to say it. Do you know what I'm alluding to, though? Where you're going to harm yourself, or something like yeah, yeah, so that's the part where some entrepreneurs get, because it can get overwhelming.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah, so yeah yeah, yeah, I completely hear and understand where you're coming from and what you're saying, so thank you for sharing that. And also something I'm hearing you say as well as something that I hear again as a common theme among entrepreneurs and creatives is just having some sense of faith and conviction, and that looks for everybody. Everyone has different spiritual practices, different beliefs, all those things, but the common thread is some semblance belief system, some semblance of spiritual or faith practice. Um, yes, and that being a guiding factor and a supportive point to help folks stay grounded and I align with you a lot in when it comes to nature as well that's something that helps to keep me grounded to to touch grass, literally right, forget to do that.
Aliya Cheyanne:Like you know, it's easy to be hunkered down working constantly on your computer in meetings, like at your desk, and we have to remember to get fresh air and get sunlight, like every other living thing needs it. So, um, absolutely a lot. So thank you for sharing that. I would love to ask you a question and this will kind of go back to your book and for folks who might be interested in grabbing their own copy what is something that you've actually seen in terms of key difference that you think or that you outlined in your book between those who succeed and those who don't. If you can think about one thing that kind of comes to mind that you wrote about in your book, God, there's so many.
Kat Sterling:all eight chapters talk about I know.
Aliya Cheyanne:Works in listening to this show.
Kat Sterling:The one thing I will, I will say. The one thing I always go back to is the fear factor. Most people are afraid. They're afraid to step out on the what if or the leap of faith. They're afraid to take that leap of faith, and I was too. I'm not knocking anybody because I was too. I get it, I understand. So your fears are just. I mean, they'll keep you paralyzed forever, and I always say this to people.
Kat Sterling:I would rather live with the fear of I didn't do something well than be 60 years old and say, oh man, I wish I would have did that, I wish I would have did this or I wish I would have did that. I never want to have regrets in life, especially when it comes to career or things that I wanted to pursue, and so I would rather feel the fear. Now, get it out the way. If I fail, oh well, it's not really a failure, it's. I tried something that most people haven't tried. I've done. I took a leap of faith. Most people haven't done this, so this is a big deal. So I would rather live with that fear than to to live with the fear of me, the fear of regret. I just don't like the regret factor.
Kat Sterling:So your fears. You got to learn to, to talk yourself. You can talk yourself into not doing stuff, but you got to learn to talk yourself into doing the things that you want to do. Yeah, you have to, yeah, you have to. Yeah, because it's going to kill your dreams. It's going to kill it and I'm telling you I've seen so many and I know so many naysayers too, a lot of people, when we started this venture.
Kat Sterling:Why do you want to do that? Oh my God, how are you going to pay your bills? And I'm like, I'm not worried about all that. This is my walk, this is my journey. I'm going to take care of all of that and it's going to fall into place, but I'm not going to live like you and I'm not going to let you impose your views on me, because that's your life. You got to live your life, I got to live mine. So you cannot let people it's going to be family members, it's gonna be whoever they're gonna say you can't, you shouldn't, don't do that, and you cannot let them impose their beliefs or their fears on you because it's gonna ruin whatever, whatever solid plan. You might have a solid plan and somebody say something it's just like okay, I can't do that.
Aliya Cheyanne:It happened to me and it hurts when that happens.
Kat Sterling:It's right because it's coming from your biggest supporters, a lot of. Did you have it with your podcast? I'm sure you probably had it from one or two people with your? Why are you gonna do that? You're gonna do that. I mean like, why, like you can't do that?
Aliya Cheyanne:all these people, yeah, yeah I, I feel like in in so many ways, and even in talking to folks on the show what they've experienced, or even people in my own life who are wanting to build their own brands and businesses. Something that's coming up for me is sharing, that is, I did an episode in the past about, you know, coming out of your comfort zone, overcoming your comfort zone and like, do it scared, doing, do it scared, do it anyway. Yes, yes, and that's a recurring theme, because this whole process is scary until you get to the part where you want to be at.
Kat Sterling:It's a scary, scary throughout. I think it's probably scary even when you get to the pinnacle where you want to get, because then you're gonna have people attacking you and you know people saying you're still not good enough or you're not as good as this person. You know it's always gonna be some fear. You just gotta figure out how you want to deal with it and move forward.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah, absolutely but it also bring and I keep going back to this hope that I'm going to butcher. But there's someone that I follow on social media and they had posted something a while back that said something along the lines of everyone doesn't have vision. So sometimes your desires, your dreams, to certain people. They can't meet you there because they can't see it, they're not meant to, it's not their vision.
Kat Sterling:It may be the same scenario if they presented their vision to you. They're not meant to. God put that in your spirit, right. So only you and him know what you saw. So they're not meant to a lot of times. So that's why it's futile to people about your dreams and your goals, because they're never going to see it and you're going to be wasting your time thinking somebody is going to be on board with you and they're not going to be on board with you ever.
Aliya Cheyanne:Exactly, exactly, and at that point like that's when it goes on to say that sometimes you have to find new waters and not stick to the rivers and lakes that you're used to like the TLC song, absolutely, you have to find people and surround yourself with the right people, like you were saying earlier the right person in your corner, the right supporter, the right or the right sponsor person in your corner, the right supporter, the right or the right sponsor, the right people who are aligned in wanting to grow and achieve a thing that comes up a lot too, like having the right people around you on this journey matters so much. Yeah, that completely aligns with you. Know what you're sharing before. I think it's so important.
Kat Sterling:Yeah, that's good. You broke that down so beautifully, amazing, just building on what you said. So, yeah, but you get down. It was like yes, yes, yes, yes and yeah.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah, yeah, I. I think that there are a couple of places I kind of want to go with that. So, as I mentioned, most of my listeners are women, mostly people who are creative or entrepreneurs or inspired to start that path, to finding their creativity or their entrepreneurial spirit, build their own journey. And you are someone who has obviously navigated a lot of different challenges, especially in building New Spira. You mentioned earlier having a bunch of no's in the beginning and deciding, you and your husband, we're going to pivot and figure it out and do it anyway. So what are some of the practical things that you both did or that you did directly in those earlier stages to kind of figure out OK, if we're not going to have the right backing at the beginning.
Aliya Cheyanne:What can we do to set ourselves up for success? What are some of the initial things we had to get in place, especially in your industry? Doing mushroom coffee and learning more about it, watching the trends, figuring out even things as small as like how do we want the packaging to look? What do we want the logo to look like? Like what are things that you kind of did in that earlier stage to set yourself up for success now?
Kat Sterling:things that you kind of did in that earlier stage to set yourself up for success. Now it's a lot when you're starting a business. It's a lot that you don't know, and you don't know what you don't know, let me tell you, because when you get in there you're going to be like, oh, I didn't think about that, or I didn't think about this, or oh crap, we need money for that too, or that's going to cost a lot of money. Oh, my God, it's a lot that you don't know. I would say you really need to have a strong business case. That's first and foremost, and that's what I used to do in my former life. Like I said, I'm all things operations, so I used to do a lot of business cases in my former life. You need to research whatever industry you're going into, see if there's a market for it, see if there's a niche for it, see if there's an opportunity for you to make money in that industry, and then research where it's projected to go, because if it's going to fizzle out in five years, then you don't want to do that necessarily. You want to get your projections. You want to do a strong business case. You also want to know how much capital you're going to need, because a lot of people, a lot of businesses, fail because they think, oh, I'm going to need $100,000. Not thinking about the okay, what if my business doesn't take off right away? Or what if COVID hits and I need some money to take me through this hard time? Or how am I going to pay for my staff? So you need to, like I said, your business case has to be all lit and you need to get people bounce ideas off of people. That's what we did. Like you said, we had a circle, we had a network that we can go back to and kind of bounce ideas off of people or see what they thought.
Kat Sterling:We did a lot of sampling in the beginning. Once we met with our food formulators and got our samples, we did a lot of sampling. Ok, you guys don't like that, ok, let's try something else. Go back to the drawing board, let's try. Let's tweak it, because we're we're appealing to the masses, we're not appealing to just ourselves. What I like may not be what the billions of people that drink coffee are like. So you know, we did a lot of sampling, a lot of like beta testing. All that stuff matters, everything matters. You can't just jump head first into something, because if you don't do your research and you're trying to figure it out on the back end, you're going to waste a lot of time, money and energy and you may not have those resources to carry you through those hard times.
Aliya Cheyanne:So you really need to do your due diligence in the beginning. Really, yeah, that's really powerful, because I think a lot of folks don't always think about that aspect of it. We get so caught up in the idea and just that we're passionate about yeah, yeah, well, yeah, just like dive head first into it, without always doing research, the proper planning, building a business, building some sort of business plan, like workshopping it with the right people and even being mentally prepared about what is going to be required for it. Share with you too.
Aliya Cheyanne:Like this podcast used to have a different name the name chain do the prolific hub podcast because it's an idea and a vision that my sister and I have for actually building a hub where creatives can come and do their work.
Aliya Cheyanne:So the idea for the podcast is to uplift entrepreneurs and creatives already doing the work, create some sort of digital footprint so that when we have this physical location, we'll have had some. But one thing that we, I guess, didn't anticipate or think about as much and I was adamant about like trying to flesh out a real business plan and like figuring some stuff out, is how hard it's going to be to raise capital, everything from you know, workshopping our idea going after, like pitching competitions, like looking into grant funds, like all kinds of, and how much labor that requires, before just seeing the idea materialize. So I think what you said is important, like you have to factor in those things and think about those things really hard and do the work and you do deal around it before you just jump into it and that's absolutely yeah, absolutely yeah, you know.
Kat Sterling:so can you just say that, jumping ahead first, um, one of my friends. She was talking about having a women's conference and so you know she's read a women's conference before she. You know, I don't know her following, I don't know what her following is like on social media, but you know, followers doesn't necessarily equate to I'm going to come out and see you, or I'm going to come out and buy your thing, or I'm going to come out and support you. You know, a lot of people are nosy. They're they're just being nosy or they don't care, they don't want to know you, they just want to see what you post. Exactly. She wanted to do a women's event and so we were thinking, okay, two, two, fifty, two hundred, right, two, no, a thousand. I'm like, yeah, have you, have you looked into this? Like, have you like really researched? Because that's a lot of money, that's a lot of money to put into a conference, especially if you are, if you don't have a big following and you're trying to get people to come out, you've got to think about the marketing, you've got to think about the location. I mean, you've got to think about some speakers If you want to get a master speaker there, you're going to have to pay that person, so it's not cheap. So it's all these things.
Kat Sterling:You know, people just have these visions that they just want to jump for and then see that's the problem. They get scared because they haven't mapped it out. I think when you have a plan I talk about this in my book too when you make a plan, the fear kind of subsides because you're like okay, this is solid, I know how I'm going to execute on this plan. So therefore, I don't feel as anxious about what I'm doing because I have a solid plan. But if you're just thinking stuff and you're just not making a plan, that's going to be scary. Duh, that's why it's scary, that's why you're never going to do it because you haven't planned it.
Kat Sterling:You have to plan it, and then when you plan it, you have to take things in sections. You cannot take on everything. So I think that's where a lot of people go wrong too. They try to. You know, I'm going to accomplish this in one night and I'm like no, if you want to write a book, you write a book chapter by chapter. You don't write a book and sit down one night and finish it. No, it takes months, weeks, days, you know. So you got to take it off in sections. It's a lot of people. Don't think about stuff like that. See, like I said, I'm, I'm, I'm a. I say in my head a lot.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah.
Kat Sterling:I think I plan, I over plan, and then I scare myself.
Aliya Cheyanne:I over plan. Yeah, I resonate with that a lot because I am a planner Like that's been me, that's my personality, but that's also been a requirement of my profession is to be a planner Mine too, yes, so sometimes I struggle with just like winging it. You overthink it a lot One percent, one thousand percent. So it's a struggle, but I also feel like it's every part of this process to like plan things. And I think what you said is so true.
Aliya Cheyanne:We had a guest on this show, donnie P, and Donnie P is an influencer and Donnie P was sharing how she wanted to have an event and she had a lot of followers so she thought it was going to be easy to have folks come out.
Aliya Cheyanne:When she did an event, all the work, the time, the money, the energy she put into planning the event and making it real, the numbers weren't there, like people didn't show up in the numbers that she thought they were going to show up and she was devastated and upset and heard about it.
Aliya Cheyanne:But it didn't stop her from trying again and that's something she stressed too in our conversation was that, like a large following doesn't always equate to people showing up for you in real life, and it's a recurring theme for her and in her businesses and in her life on social, like all these different things. So I think that's I think that just reaffirms what you're sharing now like it requires a little bit more, and I think, yeah, I think that goes back to also building a community, not just right, not just people who are just consuming things online or whatever the case may be, but who really trust you and support what you're talking about and all those things and your ability to really foster and engage and connect with that community, because those will be the people that show up and show out for you.
Kat Sterling:Yes, that you know. That's two of my prayers every morning are, you know, god, I pray for wisdom and I pray for influence, and so, you know, help me. Help me influence people in a positive way. So, therefore, when I do throw an event or when something like this comes about, I can get people to engage or watch, because if I am not connecting with people or if I am not getting people to actually watch podcasts like this that I was on, I can't make a difference. If you don't hear it, I can't make a difference. So I need wisdom and influence Wisdom to speak clearly, concisely and with authority, and some good knowledge. And also influence to move people in a positive way. So that's what I always pray for.
Kat Sterling:Yeah, it's true, and followers don't equate to, you know, move people in a positive way. So that's what I always pray for. Yeah, it's true, and followers don't equate to. I mean they can follow. You got 10,000 followers and two people show up. You're like I mean because people, you know, the internet is tricky, the internet is so tricky, I mean. They build you up, make you feel like you're, you know, somebody special, and then, when it comes time for people to show up, it's like you ain't that special.
Kat Sterling:You don't know, it's very tricky and it can be very disheartening, sometimes Very disheartening.
Aliya Cheyanne:Absolutely, and thank you for sharing, like your prayer, around that just wisdom and influence, because that matters, like that helps you to grow your brand and your business and to push your book forward as well, like all the different things that you're working on, and I think that's so true. So thank you for sharing that.
Kat Sterling:Absolutely.
Aliya Cheyanne:All right, so I would love to talk a little bit more about. You shared so many gems already. You are showing up with wisdom today, so thank you. There's so many key takeaways that folks can use for their own journey and their own path. But you can go back to the very beginning of your journey, when you're just starting out, figuring things out and you're working on your business case and all of these things. If you came across another person who you know maybe doesn't have as much experience and they're trying to figure out what to do next like, should I start this thing? Whatever it is it could be a podcast, it could be a wellness brand, it could be something in marketing, anything like that but they're just unsure about what to do. Is there a piece of advice or just wisdom that you like to share with them, to encourage them to think about it? Just something you wish you would have heard when you were starting?
Kat Sterling:What is your why? Why are you doing what you're doing? What's your why? Because if your why is not strong enough, you're not going to hang in there. So what is your why? Is your why to?
Kat Sterling:And what I tell people too, especially in my book, is success. And the reason why people do things is different. It may look different, your why may be different and my, my idea of success and my why may be different. So you have to define what success looks like to you. And what is your why? Why am I?
Kat Sterling:Mine is I want to be able to be financially free, I want to leave a legacy for my kids and I want to build a hundred million dollar company so that I can impact the world positively with whatever finances I have. And so your why has to be strong enough. And so if you don't have a strong enough why and a purpose, you're gonna quit. I promise you. You're gonna quit. I promise you, like my why is so strong, I'm gonna ride it till the wheels fall off. I don't care if they tell me I gotta shut the doors tomorrow. No, I'm still gonna pursue and I'm still gonna be passionate about x, y and z, because I know, I know, like I know this is my purpose. I know, yeah, I know. So I'm gonna keep going, because my why is so strong? I'm gonna keep going, yeah, that's so good.
Aliya Cheyanne:I love cat, can I tell you. I love that for multiple reasons because I think that's so important. But I also love it because in the past, like I had done an episode about like what is your why? Oh my god, like feels like it's so important because I did talk about that in the past and I talked about, like, what why means to me, but also figuring out what why means to you, because that's going to be the thing that helps your conviction and your why. Like, those are going to be the when nothing, when everything else is falling apart, oh my god, yes, those are going to be the goal to sustain you and propel you forward. So I, I love that. That makes it so salient. So thank you for sharing that.
Kat Sterling:Oh, no worries, no worries. And then you won't go off the deep end either, because I think you know, even if you pursue that thing, see, the thing is we get caught up in the outcome. Right, we get caught up in the outcome. So if you pursue something and God forbid it doesn't work out, ok, that's fine. What was your journey and what was the growth process through that journey? There's a lot of things I did and I learned a lot of lessons, didn't? Maybe I wasn't successful at it, but I learned a whole lot of lessons that got me to where I am today.
Kat Sterling:So, you know, don't always take things so negatively or look at life and be like, oh my God, it didn't work out, I failed, oh my God. No, the only person that says you failed is you. Who cares what everybody else says? If you're saying you failed, then you failed, but don't say that you didn't fail. You just tried something and maybe you were on that path for a reason and that's not your purpose. But that path is going to lead you to your purpose because there was some kind of growth that needed to happen in you in order to get you to your purpose. That's another thing. Okay, I'm going to go on another tangent. Okay, love it, think that they can just jump out and do stuff.
Kat Sterling:And a lot of times there is a growth that has to happen before you get to that next stage. I'll tell you that because it doesn't happen overnight. Like my growth from this has probably been going on in me for maybe 10 years. God's been pushing me to do, to grow and do other things for 10 years, like literally 10 years. So, yeah, exactly so it doesn't always happen overnight.
Kat Sterling:So I knew that this is where I wanted to be 10 years ago, but it didn't happen. 10 years ago I thought it was going to be. I was like, oh yeah, I'm God, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. No, there were so many things, so many journeys, so many paths I had to go down in order to really figure out who I was as a person, cause I didn't really know who I was as a person. Now I'm going to tell you, give you advice, and I don't really understand who I am as a person. So there was a lot of things that happened over that time period and people miss that. They miss that. They miss the journey. Don't miss the journey. There is a blessing and a lesson in that journey Always, always.
Aliya Cheyanne:Oh, that's so good. Don't miss the journey. There's a blessing and a lesson in that journey. That's so good, thank you. Yeah, that's so powerful and I completely agree with you. I was having a conversation with someone recently and they were. We were talking about a number of things because they did a complete pivot and reinvention as well, and we came to the agreement that all of those changes were required for them to grow and it helped set them up for success to where they are now. So I completely just got a little bit of a chill.
Kat Sterling:Yeah, I just got the same chill. I'm like we're on the same wavelength here. There's some synergies going on here, because I got the same exact chill just now.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yeah that's good stuff and thank you for sharing that. I just love what you shared about going back to your why as well, like the things that keep guiding you, and I think that's so powerful and so important. I feel like I could talk to you all day and I'm just like, but we are getting close to time. I feel like our conversation has been so rich. I would love to just if there's anything on your heart that you didn't get to share, that you felt like is really important to share anything about your business, anything about your book, anything like that you can share. And then I'd love to transition into where folks can support New Spira, where they can grab a copy of why they're succeeding and you're not those things. But if there's more that, if there's anything, just any last thoughts on your heart that you wanted to share, oh man, I could be here talking all day.
Kat Sterling:I would stay here all day. You don't want to hear all that, but I would just say, first of all, just pray about it. Whatever you subscribe to, follow your heart and your spiritual intuition, because that is going to lead you to your purpose and your purpose is going to lead you to your well, I'm sorry your passion, and your passion is going to lead you to your purpose, which is ultimately going to be how you impact the world. That's what it's all about. Right, it's not really about us and what we get out of it. It's about making a difference in the world, and I think we get caught up in the stuff. You know I want a new house, I want a new car, I want this. No, it's really about making an impact, a global impact. And so you know, just continue to figure out what your purpose and your passion is, and that's the. I think that's the ultimate key to life, right? Everybody wants to know that. Everybody wants.
Kat Sterling:What is my purpose, what's my passion? You got to pray about that because only God can tell you. But once you figure that out, walk in that path and walk with faith and conviction, and always keep your why in front of you. Why are you doing this? I'm not doing this because I want a new house or a new car. I'm doing this because I want to impact women all over the world and I want to make a difference in the lives of young teenage girls when they're coming up, when they're about to go to school, when they're about to go to school or you know. There's so many different paths you can take, but always keep that why, what did God put in your heart and what did he put in your spirit, and why you want to do what you want to do. So that's what I would say yeah and stay the course yeah.
Aliya Cheyanne:Stay the course. Yes, that's really powerful. I love just being in tune with your spiritual intuition, praying about it, going within, listening, and that is the ultimate question, right, because so many of us are trying to figure that out. I even have moments, too, personally, where I'm like I'm passionate about this thing, that thing and everything else, but like, is this actually my purpose? Is this actually like my? You know, we all question those kinds of things. So I love that advice of just like being still praying about it, listening to God, anything you subscribe to and your spiritual intuition and seeking the answer, because we all know, even if we don't know, we all know it's in us.
Kat Sterling:So, absolutely Absolutely. One. One more thing I would say is you know they're just saying where you are. You may not like where you are, but where you are is where you're supposed to be, right. So you may not like what's going on, or you may not like your job, or you may not like you know what's going on or how your life has turned out, but sometimes where you are is where you're supposed to be.
Kat Sterling:So always, look at you know, god, are you trying to teach me a lesson in this season in my life? Because I've been through some seasons. I've been through some seasons and I'm like are you trying to teach me a lesson? What's the ultimate lesson that God is trying to teach you in that season? What are you trying to get out of that season? And then that's when you'll start to progress to your next season. Elevate. It is when you figure out what your lesson is and then you can learn it, know it, you know, accept it and then move on to the next level. I think that's what's going to take you very far in life.
Aliya Cheyanne:Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for that. This is so good. Kat, can you let us know where to support your work, where to get some products, where to get the book, where to follow you all the?
Kat Sterling:things. Oh, you can get my book on amazoncom it is why they Are Winning and you Are Not by Kat Sterling. So you can get that on amazoncom and you can get my products. You can go to wwwnuspiracom. N-u-s-p-i-r-acom to get your products if you want to order. Or you can follow me at the Real Cat of Atlanta. I am on YouTube, I am on Instagram, I'm on TikTok and Facebook at Cat Sterling.
Aliya Cheyanne:So yeah, all of them and I will be sure to link all of those things in the show notes, in the episode description, so that I can find you easily. And I can't thank you enough. This is such a rich conversation. I know this is the first time meeting, but you're so dynamic and this is so good and I'm just honored to have had this conversation and to meet you and I'm so happy to share this with my audience.
Kat Sterling:So thank you, and I look forward to your journey too, because I know you're going places, so I look forward to your journey. You're awesome. This is an easy interview because you're an awesome host, so this is so easy. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for choosing me, thank you, I appreciate you For choosing me back and coming on the show.
Aliya Cheyanne:What a rich conversation with Kat. Oh man, Kat, thank you so much for taking a leap of faith and having a conversation with me on the podcast. It was so good and so valuable and so empowering, and I appreciate your time, your rich energy, dynamic personality and so much more. Thank you for bringing your full self to today's conversation. If you loved this episode, if you found it valuable, if you learned something, please consider sharing it with a friend.
Aliya Cheyanne:I'd love for you to challenge yourself to share this episode with at least one friend, maybe more. Drop it in the group chat, let your network know about it and have them tune in as well so that you can talk about it. You can also show your support for the show by leaving a five-star rating and review. If you're listening on Spotify, you're able to leave comments on that platform, so leave a comment, let me know what you think. Or, if you're watching this episode on YouTube, please be sure to subscribe to the channel. Like the video, share it with a friend, leave a comment there, let me know what you think. Thank you so much for your support. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I'm so thrilled that you decided to show up and tune into this episode. Thank you for lending me your time, your energy and your ears, and I will catch you on the next one. All right, friend, have a great rest of your week. Bye.
