Katie Richardson / Executive Coach & CEO

Katie Richardson helps CEO's Step Into Their Power + Achieve Greatness W/O Sacrificing Family, Faith or Health.

In this transformative episode of the Head Smacked Podcast, Katie Richardson, a trailblazing designer and entrepreneur, reveals how her journey from obscurity to international success was fueled by creativity, resilience, and an unwavering belief in her unique vision. 

Discover how Katie's innovative thinking and design expertise led to the creation of a revolutionary infant product that skyrocketed from near failure to global acclaim, transforming her from a self-described "invisible" creator into a celebrated industry leader. 

Tune in to uncover the pivotal moments and powerful insights that define Katie's inspiring quest to merge personal fulfillment with professional triumph.

Episode Summary

Katie Richardson, a successful entrepreneur and executive coach, shares her journey of self-discovery and finding her passion in industrial design.

She discusses the importance of embracing one's uniqueness and taking bold steps towards pursuing one's dreams.

Katie also talks about the creation of her multimillion-dollar company and the challenges she faced along the way. She emphasizes the power of solving problems and using one's talents to make a difference in the world.

Katie Richardson shares her journey of starting her business and the challenges she faced in balancing her personal and professional life. She talks about the importance of validation and how a chance encounter with a store owner changed the direction of her life.

Katie also discusses the challenges she faced as her business grew and how she had to redefine success and create a balanced life. She now helps executives find balance and create healthy lifestyles. Katie Richardson shares her journey of overcoming imposter syndrome and finding a new operating system for success.

She emphasizes the importance of aligning your desires, purpose, and identity to create an unstoppable business. Katie encourages entrepreneurs to pause, reflect, and answer deep questions about what they truly want and who they are. By doing so, they can build a solid foundation and overcome the overwhelm and burnout of hustle culture.

She also highlights the power of encouragement and the role it plays in transforming lives.

Link: https://katierichardson.com

Paul Povolni, the founder of Voppa Creative, has been a creative leader for over 30 years, with clients around the world. He’s led teams in creating award-winning branding and design as well as equipping his clients to lead with Clarity, Creativity and Culture.

Headsmack Website

Transcript

Hey, welcome to the Headsmack podcast. This is Paul Povolni I am so excited to have Katie Richardson with me today. A misfit, but also on a mission to create powerful leaders.

Katie Richardson (06:28.93)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (06:33.592)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Let's do this.

Paul Povolni (06:53.602)
She's got a background in design. She's built a multimillion dollar international company with distribution in 2000 stores in the US and 26 countries. Her work has been featured on Alan Degeneres, the Today Show, Rachel Ray. She's also been featured on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine. Today is an executive coach, Katie teachers, founders and CEOs, the mindset, skill sets and tool sets that you need to operate powerfully in business and in life.

so that you can live with purpose and do what you were born to do. Katie, welcome.

Katie Richardson (07:24.426)
Paul, it's so wonderful to be here. I'm super excited to be talking to you. I love conversations with misfits. Like, hello, yeah.

Paul Povolni (07:31.606)
Hello, hello. We all feel like sometimes and we sometimes feel alone and we sometimes feel that means we're broken and when we feel like a misfit, but I believe that there's also power in being a misfit sometimes and not being part of the ordinary. Well, Katie, it is exciting to have you on and I love what you do. I love the things that you talk about and I wanna hear a little bit about your origin story. Where did Katie start from?

Katie Richardson (07:34.038)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (07:40.063)
Oh, totally.

Katie Richardson (07:46.085)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (07:58.766)
Hmm. I grew up in a family of six kids. When I was three, my mom had twins, I was the fourth. And so I very quickly became the invisible child. And from a really young age, I just was really curious about the world. And I grew up in Phoenix, grew up barefoot and in my swimming suit most of the time, just running around, exploring the world, really curious about things. And creativity was a big part of my upbringing.

Paul Povolni (08:19.798)
Ha ha ha.

Katie Richardson (08:28.354)
But so was also test scores and intellectual intelligence. And my other siblings, like they ranked really high, right? Valedictorians of the school. And I did fine, I was even in accelerated classes, AP classes, but I wasn't at the very top. And so growing up, I thought I was the dumb one, which is kind of sad as I look back and I think about it. And two years into college, I was starting to feel a little bit lost.

And I had all of these passions and things that lit me up, but they weren't academic. And I started to notice that I was taking kind of the classes that I was supposed to take, but then I was also taking things like wood shop, lathing, metal foundry, welding. And it was just like, this was just kind of Katie's little hobby on the side until I discovered a program called industrial design.

Paul Povolni (09:04.227)
Hmm.

Paul Povolni (09:16.67)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (09:22.338)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (09:27.338)
which is not what it sounds like, it's product design. You're not necessarily designing factories, you're designing products that then would get manufactured. And so, as soon as I found this program, I was at a university that had 30,000 students, but the program was admitting between 15 and 20 students a year into that specific program. So it was a really elite program. And I felt like I kind of finangled my way into there because I had.

Paul Povolni (09:27.494)
Okay. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (09:48.557)
Wow.

Katie Richardson (09:55.194)
been in university for two years, but hadn't necessarily been aiming at industrial design. And when I discovered it, they actually were really excited to meet me and wanted me in the program because of my history. I had been studying furniture design and even fabrication. And I even had some art and figure drawing. So I actually had a lot of the skill sets that I would need to excel in this program. And Paul, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was good at something.

Paul Povolni (10:25.229)
Wow.

Katie Richardson (10:25.402)
And I ended up getting a scholarship from General Motors. I got national design awards. And I was like, oh, wow, okay. Maybe I can be good at something. Cause up until then, I just, I felt honestly, it's kind of sad to say, but I kind of felt like a good for nothing. So it was the first time in my life where I was like, wow, people want the thing that lights me up. And it was a really exciting, exhilarating moment for me in my life. So that's.

Paul Povolni (10:36.538)
Ha ha

Paul Povolni (10:43.595)
Yeah, wow.

Paul Povolni (10:50.497)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (10:54.178)
Well, yeah. And so, you know, it's kind of interesting in doing this podcast and the people that I'm talking to, and it's such a broad range of misfits and mavericks and ne'er-do-wells, you know. And one of the things that I've found in these conversations is this discussion of the convergence of things that happen in your life that seem unrelated.

Katie Richardson (10:54.394)
That's where I started.

Katie Richardson (11:08.454)
Sure.

Paul Povolni (11:19.974)
And you don't know what their purpose is. You don't feel that there is any purpose at all in it. You know, it's, you did woodworking as a side thing in school. And you also doodled and drew, did figure drawing and, you know, all of that stuff. And then, then when this convergence happens of finding the thing that all this works for is an amazing moment, right. And, and that's what happened to you through this.

Katie Richardson (11:25.688)
Mm-hmm.

Katie Richardson (11:44.074)
Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and some of the most sought after talented experts in their fields, they have kind of this Venn diagram of skill sets. And that's what makes them so unique and special is they're able to pull from multiple perspectives, which gives this really unique vision. And up until that point, I didn't see those things about myself.

Paul Povolni (11:55.35)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (12:09.222)
And I honestly was like really questioning myself. And there were many times in my life where I was doing what I thought I was supposed to do. And that moment of finding industrial design and starting to pursue that, I started to realize that following that list of supposed to's, it just, I could just feel it in my body. I was like, I can't keep doing this. And I don't know where this other path leads, but I know that I'm dying inside if I just keep

Paul Povolni (12:30.209)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (12:38.394)
pursuing the things that I think I'm supposed to do. And so I didn't really realize it at the time. It might look like courage, but it really just was realizing that the path that I'm on is not sustainable for me. And so in a way, it didn't really even require a lot of courage. It was just like, I can't do that anymore. And so I don't know what the right path is for me yet. I didn't, but I started to at least search and look, explore, and I was open to...

Paul Povolni (12:51.595)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (12:57.921)
Right.

Katie Richardson (13:07.734)
ideas.

Paul Povolni (13:08.894)
Right. And that's part of it is, is taking those steps in an uncertain direction sometimes that then lets you know what you like and what you don't like. But without taking those bold steps forward, you kind of, uh, what always in this place of wondering like, what, what is that next thing for me? And so, you know, after you graduated, after you found, found this, what was the next step, did you enter into the, that space immediately? Like what, what happened next for you?

Katie Richardson (13:36.61)
Well, in the process of all of that, not only did I find industrial design and start thriving as a student, but I also found a really incredible man. And so we got married my last year of school and it was awesome, Paul, because he was also a product designer. And what's interesting is a lot of people would think, well, that's potentially competitive and how do you guys create alignment and doesn't it create tension in your marriage? And what's interesting is, yes, we both,

Paul Povolni (14:02.465)
Right.

Katie Richardson (14:06.166)
learned that skill set, but were actually very, like if you looked at our personalities, we're yin and yang, we're very opposites from each other. And so that actually became kind of the recipe for what ultimately became our first success. So we ended up together, we got married, and we were working for competing design firms, and started having kids, and one Christmas break, he said, you know,

This is great that we're giving all of our best ideas to other people. What if we designed a product that allowed him to quit his job? I was doing freelance and he was working full time. What if over Christmas break we designed a product that would allow him to quit his job and we could build a company together? Neither one of us had ever done this before. We didn't have any sort of a business background, just design and design thinking. But it just lit me up inside to think that instead of him spending, you know,

Paul Povolni (14:35.948)
Ha ha.

Paul Povolni (14:58.879)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (15:02.086)
two and a half hours a day commuting to work and coming home frustrated and just feeling like he was giving his best ideas to other people. You know, what if we brought both of our perspectives and our unique skill sets together and did do something exciting? So we did. Over that Christmas break, we sketched, we designed, we ideated, and we ultimately developed what became the Puj Tub. It's an infant bathtub that hangs in stores flat and it folds into a little bucket seat that fits in your bathroom sink.

Paul Povolni (15:28.534)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (15:31.714)
If you've ever tried to bathe an infant, it's terrifying. They are squirmy and slippery, and they're scared and you're scared. And it was not a good experience for me as we were having kids. And so we ended up over that Christmas break designing the product that was solving our own problem. And so we designed this product, and I don't know which store you want, but first it failed and then it didn't.

Paul Povolni (15:37.85)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (16:01.687)
Well, both of those stories, because I think that's a couple of things already with what you just said. First of all is you were solving a problem that you had and felt that others might have as well. And I think that's, that's such a powerful thing to, to examine your life. If you're looking for the next big idea, just look at some of the problems that you're wrestling with and look at.

Could other people be wrestling with the same problem? And if I've solved it, how do I then turn that into a product or turn that into a service that could also help others with that? And so talk to me. Now, I do want to know about the story of you with your kids in the store. At what point did that happen in your journey?

Katie Richardson (16:48.286)
Yeah, so just to give you a frame of mind and a reference as to kind of what our reality looked like at that time. We were living on food storage. My husband was working full time and then when he would come home, we would kind of work together as kids were climbing on us, right? And we had two young kids at the time. I was pregnant with our third. And I mean, I was grinding wheat to make four loaves of bread a week. We were eating on...

We were eating rice and beans. And to talk about misfits and taking risks, it was too risky for us, both of us, to just live the life that everybody else was living, the nine to five, driving the minivan, getting a paycheck. Like it just didn't align with our values. And so we made a decision to have him quit his job and we were gonna double down and do all of this. But you asked about the...

the boutique that actually happened right before. So, so I, I had been, as my kids were, you know, taking naps or whatever, I had a 1962 Bernina sewing machine that had been my mother's and I kind of made sure it ended up in my house because I just, it was as a designer, as a fabricator, I need a tool and I didn't have a wood shop, but a sewing machine is also an incredible tool. And I needed a place.

to get kind of my ideas into reality, and that was the sewing machine. So as my kids were asleep, I would design and make things. And I was making baby shoes and hats and baby carriers and bags. And I did not think of myself as an entrepreneur. I didn't think of myself as somebody who was trying to make it in the world. I was just Katie in my mind. That was kind of my syndrome for many years. Just Katie, just a nobody, right? The invisible girl that I grew up feeling like. But as I was making this stuff,

Paul Povolni (18:35.519)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (18:45.334)
I would just get attacked as I was out and about. And keep in mind, we were living on food storage. My husband was making a small income and we were trying to strategize what's our way out of this, the rat race. Was putting four, no, three car seats in the back of my husband's sedan that he had as a college student. I didn't even have the minivan that all my friends had. And so, we're trying to figure out how to leap into a higher...

Paul Povolni (18:57.77)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (19:07.784)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (19:15.498)
level of life and freedom. Like ultimately that's what we were really pursuing and wanting. And yet I'm like wearing the same jeans I'd worn through two pregnancies and can't afford to shop at the malls. I'm shopping at the thrift stores and we're really not even making very much money through my husband's job. So my reality does not reflect this. Oh, we're going to make it big someday and we're going to live our dream and we're going to have freedom. Nothing in my reality reflected that.

Paul Povolni (19:43.537)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (19:44.366)
But I'm making these things and I'm at this boutique. My friend had been telling me about it. So I go to this boutique and as soon as I walked in, I really felt like I didn't deserve to be there. There were these gorgeous baby clothes and incredible baby shoes and really expensive strollers and carriers. And I was just like, oh wow, you don't deserve to be in here because I just, I didn't fit in. But I wanted to see, I was really curious. And so I'm pushing my $9 stroller. I got on clearance.

Paul Povolni (20:07.298)
Bye.

Katie Richardson (20:15.723)
I'm wearing the same clothes I'd been wearing for five plus years that had been through two pregnancies and I have my kids with me. And I have a toddler in the stroller and then I have my baby in a carrier. A carrier that I had made and he was wearing a hat that I had made, the carrier, and he was wearing some really unique shoes that I had also made. And I'm just...

Like, my skin is crawling. I just feel so uncomfortable in there because I know I don't fit in. I know I'm standing out in a really bad way. And this woman kind of sneaks up on me and she says, where did you get all this stuff? And I get really defensive and I'm like, oh, what do you mean? And she's... Because I was embarrassed, yeah. And she starts pointing to the baby carrier, the blanket, the hat, the shoes.

Paul Povolni (20:56.462)
Because you were embarrassed by it? Wow.

Katie Richardson (21:06.554)
It was everything that I had made on this 1962 Bernina. And I was shocked. And I said, oh, and I'm embarrassed, right? Cause I made this on a really old sewing machine that I confiscated from my mom. And I said, oh, do you like these? I made them. She was like them. I love them. I go to all the trade shows. This is hot. I want you to make it for me. And this is just not what she's saying.

doesn't match up with what I'm saying in my head. Like not at all. I'm like, what are you talking about lady? All this stuff in this, turns out she's the boutique owner. And so I am like, I'm backpedaling because she just asked me to make it all for her. And I'm thinking on the sewing machine and I barely had time to make all of this for my kids. And when am I gonna? So I have all of these excuses in my head and some of them are starting to spill out. And she stops me, Paul. And this is a moment that just really transformed my life.

Paul Povolni (21:54.583)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (22:05.026)
And she said, look, I understand that you have your hands full right now, but in just a couple of years, these kids are going to grow up and they'll be in school full time and you will look back and you will wish that you had done something with your gifts and talents. She spoke a language that really spoke to me. You mentioned that you're Christian. I'm Christian too. And like the scriptures very specifically call out our talents. And I knew I was talented. I didn't know how to apply.

Paul Povolni (22:20.941)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (22:30.562)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (22:33.89)
my talents necessarily. And so when she said that, suddenly it lined up with what I knew God wanted for me, which was putting my talents into the world and not burying them. And that's essentially what she was saying, like, if you don't do something with this, you're burying your talents. So I go home, such a gift, yeah. So I go home and I'm still not convinced, but I'm like,

Paul Povolni (22:42.711)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (22:51.378)
Yeah. What a gift. What a gift that was. Wow.

Katie Richardson (23:01.742)
there's something to what she's saying. And my husband comes home and I was always seeking reassurance from him because he's an incredible designer too. And he did see these things in me by the way, but I just dismissed it. So at dinner that night, he's like, hey, how was today? I'm like, well, we went to that boutique that Karen was telling me about and she was right, it's really nice. And I had this really weird moment with the owner, she said the craziest thing to me.

Paul Povolni (23:10.828)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (23:30.07)
And I'm framing it and like, isn't she crazy? And I tell him what she said to me and he puts his fork and knife down. He looks up at me and he was like, Katie, she's right.

Paul Povolni (23:33.698)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (23:44.376)
Wow. Yeah.

Katie Richardson (23:44.646)
It makes me emotional. And he was like, I know you don't have time to make all these things on your sewing machine, but that's not what you would do. And I was like, it's not? No, we would go find somebody who would make these for you. And I'm just, I have all these excuses. I'm like, well, we're living on food stores. How are we gonna afford that? And I had all of these excuses and questions and they started to come out and he was like, we'll just figure it out. Go tell her yes and ask her how many she wants. And that's how my business started.

Paul Povolni (24:14.582)
Wow, wow. You know, when it comes to, you know, creatives, I think creatives often wrestle with the need for validation for what they're creating in the world, you know? Right, and you know, until the right person validates something, we feel that it's not worthy of attention, you know, we feel that it's.

Katie Richardson (24:29.402)
Why do you think we're creating stuff?

Katie Richardson (24:37.218)
Mm-hmm.

Paul Povolni (24:42.742)
It's just something I did. It's just something I created, you know, out of necessity, out of boredom, out of desire, out of passion. But, you know, the right person validating it just makes such a big difference and, and through your husband saying, yes, I agree with her. Um, and this gift, have you talked to that lady since? I mean, was that just such a, such a random thing that you haven't seen her since?

Katie Richardson (25:08.242)
It's been a very long time since I've seen her, but she is responsible for pretty much my life from that point on. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (25:11.167)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (25:15.046)
Isn't that incredible? I mean, it's these, these moments that change. And I've had those as a creative myself of, of these moments where somebody validated something that you felt unworthy of receiving and it changed everything. I had it happen for me in, in grade school. I had a, uh, you know, we went to a state fair and the, um, you know, there was a Ferris wheel there and it was amazing. And you know, that we went back to school and

Katie Richardson (25:28.995)
Mm-hmm.

Katie Richardson (25:32.814)
Hmm.

Paul Povolni (25:42.774)
And the principal, and I can't remember the whole story. Maybe I was disruptive in class or something. I don't remember what happened, but all I remember was the principal asked me to come to her office and draw my favorite thing from the fair. And, you know, I had felt, you know, I doodled, I drew pictures, nobody cares. It doesn't matter. But she asked me to come and draw the Ferris wheel outside her office. And I thought she values my creativity. Like that for me was such an important moment.

Um, that she didn't realize the value of it. And so this, this lady at the store just had this moment with you that literally changed the direction of your life by just encouraging and validating what you were creating. And, and I think there are other people that need that as well. And so, you know, if you're in a place where you can encourage a creative, I certainly do that, um, because you don't know how much of an impact it could literally make on someone's life. And so that.

Katie Richardson (26:23.506)
Mm, yeah. Yeah.

Katie Richardson (26:35.152)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (26:41.346)
You know, started this, this journey for you. And, uh, at what point, like beyond that did Puj come about.

Katie Richardson (26:41.347)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (26:45.784)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (26:51.622)
I want to point one last thing out with this woman. There was this insistence in her voice. And when she used that word regret, it really hit me. And I think part of what she was sharing with me in that moment wasn't just a reassurance in my talents, is she was sharing her own personal regret in life. Yeah. She never shared that with me, but man, I felt it. Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (27:18.866)
Yeah, yeah. Wow.

Katie Richardson (27:20.758)
So that is when I first started my company. And for two years, I started building that company and I started out with a name called Zu. And we were about a year into that and I was in about 20 stores as Zu Modern ZU. And my husband is a very big thinker, you know, yin and yang. I'm just like looking at what's right in front of me and he's like, well, what's 10 years down the road? And so he, even though I was only in 20 stores, he started to look globally. He saw that.

Paul Povolni (27:39.393)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (27:43.12)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (27:49.57)
that brand potentially had a trademark issue in France. And he was like, we need to change the name. And I was like, what? And at that point, it was really cool because we had started on a small scale. I started with this name. And before we'd really made it big, I had a chance to really think about the name and be intentional about it. So I started looking at names and what does it mean? And this is when I came up with the name Puj. We spell it P-U-J. And at that time, this was like,

2009, 2010, if you Googled Puj, well, my thing was like the third thing on the front page of Google. So it was a really smart name. And that was part of the strategy. Plus, you know, Puj, it's very focused on your baby, your pudgy baby. And internationally, it became this really fun and cute and clever name. We own puj.com. So it just, it was a chance for us to really own that name. And...

Paul Povolni (28:28.262)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (28:36.354)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (28:42.028)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (28:46.882)
With that name, I took it to a trade show in 2009. And I didn't really have, like all the revenue I was making, it was just going right back into the business. We were living on like $3,000 a month. Paul has a family of four plus one on the way. It's kind of crazy. And so I take it to this trade show in New York, and I was in the booth of a sales rep. So she was representing other companies that would attract the right buyers.

Paul Povolni (29:00.45)
Ha ha.

Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (29:15.342)
And I had like a little small corner. And so I fly to New York. I'm sleeping on the couch of a friend of a friend. Like, I don't even know these girls. I seriously got in at 1 a.m. And they showed me how to, like they emailed me or texted me, I can't remember. And I hadn't even seen any of them. And I'm at the Javits Center. I'm at this trade show. And again, like I feel so small, so insignificant, like a nobody. I'm surrounded by brands that I personally really admire in this booth. And I'm feeling things like you don't deserve to be here. And...

Paul Povolni (29:22.626)
Wow.

Katie Richardson (29:42.306)
You know, everyone can tell you built this display in your garage and, and like, I had, I had bought clothes at forever 21. And I'm like, is, is everyone going to tell that I don't know that I'm not real designer? And you know, all the while, my husband's home with two kids. I'm pregnant with our third, by the way. And he, like, we are, we, everything is on the line at this point, Paul, like we're out of money. We've gone through our savings. This has to work. And what.

Paul Povolni (29:48.194)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (29:52.258)
Ha ha

Paul Povolni (29:56.983)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (30:12.386)
What we've done is up until then, we were selling cut and sew products, but we knew that in order for us to kind of leapfrog to the next level and like really establish ourselves, it had to be a game changer product. And we had designed this infant bathtub and you know, we didn't, we had been kind of locally sourcing it and it was, they were doing such a botched job on manufacturing the product. It was not great quality. Wasn't there. They were so slow. Plus it was expensive. And it was like, okay, we need.

Lots of purchase orders so that we can go to Asia and we can like really start up this engine. So we go to New York, everything's on the line, but nobody knows me. Nobody knows the product. And I'm just learning the industry. And I'm talking to these store buyers, Paul, and they're asking me questions like, what are your lead times? What's your wholesale price? What's your retail price? What does the retail package look like? What's your case pack minimums? And I am so out of my league. I...

Paul Povolni (31:10.842)
Wow.

Katie Richardson (31:10.95)
I got there on fumes and I just like, I'm showing them a prototype that I made on my kitchen table, which is a hand-me-down from my grandfather and using the tools that I bought at a garage sale. Like, they didn't know any of that, right? And, but they're looking at, they're taking me seriously and they're asking all of these questions and I'm doing my best to field all of their questions. But at the end of the day, I'm saying things like, well, let me write those questions down and I'll have my team email you.

Paul Povolni (31:25.984)
They had no idea.

Paul Povolni (31:31.137)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (31:40.302)
Well, guess what? I'm the team. So I'm having the conversations. And at the end of the trade show, I had multiple products, but like the one that was gonna be the game changer was the Puj Tub. So I'm looking through all the orders because I wanna know how many orders did we get for the Puj Tub? And as I leaf through all of the orders, the number was zero. Zero orders on a product that we were betting the farm on.

Paul Povolni (31:40.482)
Ha ha ha!

Paul Povolni (32:04.493)
Oh wow.

Katie Richardson (32:09.802)
zero orders on this product that was gonna be our game changer. We were out of money. We were out of runway. And this had to work. And so I leave that show terrified. I don't know what we're gonna do. What am I even gonna say to my husband? So even just to get home, I remember feeling like, well, I need to bring something home to the kids, and I couldn't afford anything, and I stopped at like a snack cart.

Paul Povolni (32:26.657)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (32:39.778)
and I ordered two giant M&M cookies, and she said it was like $6.50, and I reached into my pocket, I only had $3. And I was like, I'll take one. It was just devastating, right? So like that's the level of low that we were at. So I get home and the kids are excited to see me, my husband's excited. I had been texting him the whole time, like, hey, I'm talking to this buyer, and I'm talking to this buyer. So he's expecting me to come home and tell him how many orders we've had.

Paul Povolni (32:50.762)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (33:04.652)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (33:08.714)
And we can't even talk in the house. He pulls me into the garage. It's cold. We're surrounded by all of the prototyping, the dust. Honestly, now as I looked at it in that moment, it was kind of the shame and the embarrassment and all the evidence of my failure.

Paul Povolni (33:21.406)
Yeah. Wow.

Katie Richardson (33:23.058)
And he starts asking me the questions. And I just break down and I tell him, like, nobody bought it. We failed. They don't want it. And he pauses for a minute. My husband's very intellectual. He's actually super bright. And he sits. And he, by the way,

In a way, he'd had this kind of expert experience because he was kind of the go-to designer as an intern, student intern for OGO. And he'd spent a lot of one-on-one time with the CEO of OGO. And so he'd actually learned a lot about retail and product and distribution from that experience. And so it wasn't like I was just talking to my husband. I was actually talking to an expert in the industry. We're having this conversation. I tell him how it failed. And he said, Katie, it didn't fail. They didn't say no.

Paul Povolni (34:07.155)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (34:20.165)
And I was like, yes, they did. They all said no. Can you get this through your thick brain? He said, OK, they may have said those words, but they were asking you questions. They were engaging with you. They wanted to know more. So all we have to do is answer those questions, and they'll all buy. Answer those questions, and we'll be shipping this product all around the world. And Paul, in that moment, I was so tired and exhausted. I was tired of grinding wheat. And I was like, all my friends were

Paul Povolni (34:23.834)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (34:47.578)
They were leveling up their houses, leveling up their cars, and we were still living off this meager salary that my husband was getting. He wasn't seeking promotions because we were spending our time on this thing. And to me, it was just like, this is the end of the road. Like, there's nowhere to go from here. And, but when he said that, my body was on fire. And similar to that moment with the store buyer,

Paul Povolni (35:00.308)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (35:14.854)
who helped me feel the regret of the future, in that moment, everything in me wanted to give up. I was tired, but I looked forward and I knew that if I gave up, the Katie of the future would really regret it and she would wish that she could come back and keep going. And I couldn't live with that. And so even though everything in my reality says, you failed miserably, stop it right now. Everybody else's life is proof that the other system works.

Paul Povolni (35:30.109)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Katie Richardson (35:43.914)
I just couldn't live with that regret. And so I agreed with him and I was like, we're gonna figure this out and we're gonna take it back. And a year later, Paul, we took it back. Everybody who came into the booth placed an order. Everybody.

Paul Povolni (35:55.178)
Wow, wow, wow. And so...

Katie Richardson (35:58.498)
Yeah, it changed my life. We went from being nobody's, a brand nobody had ever heard of us, in zero stores, to literally within 12 months being in 2,000 stores in the US with distribution in 26 different countries, celebrities being caught by paparazzi with my product under their arms. In that year, we were featured in the Ellen Show, the Rachael Ray Show, and the Today Show. We were named product of the year by Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine. And so, like, I go back to that moment a lot, because what if I'd given up?

Paul Povolni (36:20.483)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (36:29.235)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (36:29.614)
What if I believed the doubts in my head? Because man, they were strong and there was a lot of proof and evidence that I was still a nobody.

Paul Povolni (36:34.284)
Right.

Paul Povolni (36:39.13)
Yeah. And it's amazing how just, just that word of encouragement from your husband and remembering back to that store owner were enough to push you to keep going, you know, to keep going to, so what changed within that year? You said, you know, you went to the next show. What, what changed for you guys within that timeframe?

Katie Richardson (36:48.814)
Yes.

Katie Richardson (37:00.682)
Everything that those store buyers were asking me, all their questions, the answer to those questions were what would move me from being a person who has a prototype to a viable company that they can then rely to supply their store shelves. The retail game is very different than just direct-to-consumer, right? The retail game is...

Paul Povolni (37:27.164)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (37:28.334)
They need to know price per square inch, how much money they're gonna make on your product. And they need to know that you can ship and that you can ship fast and that their store shelf is never going to be empty. And what they saw in the New York show was a prototype. And they did really like it, but it wasn't a viable product that had all of the systems and processes in place to ensure that they would be supplied. So that was the difference.

Paul Povolni (37:40.033)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (37:46.124)
Ryan.

Paul Povolni (37:52.934)
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And so they needed that certainty that if I, if I create a relationship with this person, they're not going to let me down. Yeah. And so, right, exactly. And so now you're, you later, it's blowing up celebrities. Carrying your stuff, you're, you're blown up, but now you're, you're facing

Katie Richardson (37:57.818)
Yes.

Katie Richardson (38:01.57)
Yes. Yeah. And I obviously now didn't have that certainty at the time. Yeah.

Katie Richardson (38:15.514)
Mm.

Paul Povolni (38:19.006)
a new issue and I think that new issue is kind of where you're at now with what you do is the balance of family and business and all that you're doing. And so what are some of the challenges that arose from that also moved you into doing what you're doing now with helping executives balance all of that and make sure it's healthy?

Katie Richardson (38:20.301)
Oh yeah.

Katie Richardson (38:25.926)
Mm-hmm.

Katie Richardson (38:39.502)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (38:43.99)
As my business started to explode, it was like a rocket ship. And you're right, it was really exciting, but what people didn't see is it was actually tearing me up inside because I was being an impatient mother. There was a lot of tension in my marriage. I struggled to be present with anybody. It was hard to sleep at night. I always chronically felt behind. And the number one priority was always the business, which meant my health.

my marriage, my spiritual, like everything else was second fiddles. Is that the right saying? And it's frequently under the belief that, you know, there's some magical place that if I get my business to that magical place, then I'll have time for all of these other things. And in my mind, that was a million dollars. Well, we got to a million dollars and my life was more stressful and chaotic and dynamic than it had ever been. Like the stress was magnified at a million dollars.

Paul Povolni (39:18.654)
Right, second place, yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (39:42.155)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (39:43.298)
And that was a terrifying moment for me because I was like, oh no, what's the solution? So there was this moment where I'm in a battle, not just internally, but with God. And I'm sweeping the kitchen and I'm just like, look, I know that you gave me a lot of gifts and talents, that's awesome and cool, I started to build this company from that, I felt really inspired to do this thing, but this is not sustainable.

and it's all gonna come crashing down. And to reference the regret, I'm gonna regret that more than anything in my life, right? If my marriage doesn't survive this, I love this man. And there's a lot of moments where I'm frustrated with him and it's because of the business. Same with my kids, like I love these kids, but I just am so impatient with them. By 10 a.m., they get mean mommy at the helm and that's not fair, that's not okay. And you know, spiritually, I did not feel grounded.

Paul Povolni (40:24.268)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (40:29.384)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (40:36.5)
Yeah, yeah.

Katie Richardson (40:41.886)
and I was not getting enough sleep. And so I just, I walked that forward and I was like, oh wow, this is not sustainable. But something that was driving me the whole time, Paul, was those gifts and talents. I was so curious how far I could take these things. And so I was in this double bind because setting the business down felt wrong. I knew that the business was stretching me in ways that the other areas of my life just weren't going to. And it was developing parts of me

Paul Povolni (40:48.895)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (40:56.607)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (41:11.874)
other parts of my life just weren't. It's not to say that not having a business is wrong or vice versa, just for me specifically, I could tell that there were parts of me that were being developed within the business that weren't happening in the other areas of my life. But I just, it all seemed so incompatible. So I'm in a wrestle with myself and with God, and I'm just like, I'm sorry, I don't see how this all works. I just see a lot of destruction personally if I keep moving forward like this. And I had been reading

Paul Povolni (41:25.538)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (41:28.884)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (41:41.27)
lots of documentaries, autobiographies, thank you. I had been reading, like literally, I was at the library constantly checking out autobiographies from other incredible brands and reading the stories of those entrepreneurs. And there was a lot of evidence to support my fears. And you know, stories in Entrepreneur and Inc Magazine, same thing, and I was just like, wow, I don't want that life. And so,

Paul Povolni (41:46.802)
Hehehehehehe

Paul Povolni (41:57.462)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (42:06.86)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (42:09.17)
I just, I don't have proof that it works. And it's too risky to keep going. So I'm in this battle and I'm telling God, and I'm just telling him how it's gonna be. Like, it's too risky, I can't handle that. And he speaks to me in that moment and it's, Katie, you're looking for the proof that this all works out. You don't need proof because you're a designer. So while you might not see the family, the brand,

Paul Povolni (42:19.777)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (42:36.078)
the person who's capable of navigating all of these things. You don't need that because you can go create the woman who's capable of this multi-dimensional life. And that was the moment, Paul, that I realized what I had done so well in my brand was kind of reverse engineering for an outcome through design and design thinking. It was time to turn that design process on myself and create, literally create myself.

Paul Povolni (42:46.626)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (43:02.465)
Yeah.

Yeah. Well, and, and go ahead.

Katie Richardson (43:06.114)
And that became enough for me to have the faith to keep going. I was like, okay, I'm going to do that and I'm going to keep going.

Paul Povolni (43:12.742)
Yeah. Well, then I think, I think, you know, hustle culture is, you know, people talk about it and we watch videos on it and sometimes they drive us, they inspire us to keep going, to keep moving. But also there's also the unhealthy side of that, um, of, of hustle culture, because, you know, one thing that I've, I've always said is that, that something pays, like something is paying for that. And, you know, whether it's your relationships, whether it's your health.

Katie Richardson (43:35.366)
Mm-hmm.

Paul Povolni (43:42.69)
whether it's your spirituality, whether it's your emotions, something's gonna pay for hustle culture if you don't have the right things in place. And the other thing you had talked about is, now you were a millionaire, you went from grinding your own wheat to make food to now you're a millionaire. And most people think, well, if I achieve, if I get to this level,

All my problems will be gone. You know, all the problems that I had before were, will go away and, and I'll be living in this, you know, beautiful state and it's like, I think somebody once said, you know, new levels, new devils, right? And so, so you, you hit this, this new place and suddenly you're, you've got million dollar problems. You've got, you know, bigger problems and different problems. Um, and so, you know, you work with executives.

Katie Richardson (44:23.166)
Oh yeah. Hello.

Katie Richardson (44:31.662)
Yep. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (44:37.102)
to balance all of that? You work with people to balance all of that. What are some of the things that, when it comes to hitting those places, to create that balance, to create that health, to not drain people, what are some of the tools that you start bringing out of your tool set, out of that wood shop that you once worked in, what are some of those tools that you bring out to start helping people with those areas?

Katie Richardson (44:37.518)
Yes.

Katie Richardson (44:40.869)
Yes.

Katie Richardson (44:48.324)
Mm-hmm.

Katie Richardson (44:58.735)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (45:03.662)
You know, you referenced hustle culture, and it was so glorified at the time. This was like 2008, 2009, 2010. And so I started doing things my own way, utilizing my own design thinking and then the subsequent systems and processes, and we'll talk about that in a second. But what's interesting is I hid it from people because it didn't fit the hustle culture narrative, and so I was embarrassed because I thought I was doing it wrong.

Paul Povolni (45:28.254)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (45:31.478)
So what started to happen though is inside Puj, I would continue to go to events, trade shows or press events, and people would meet me in person and they followed me on Instagram. And they saw the huge success of my brand and then they would meet me in person and they're like, Whoa, you're like really grounded and happy and don't seem stressed. And so as a result, I started taking on, I didn't even know what I was doing at the time, but I started taking on coaching clients.

on the side inside of that company, because people were like, what are you doing? And I was like, well, I mean, I can't say it out loud here because it's not okay. And so we would have these phone calls and I would tell them the secrets to what I was doing. And it was very anti to the hostile culture narrative. And I was embarrassed by it. And in fact, there were even things that I was hiding from my husband, which might sound weird, but I was like, if he knew this, like he would be like, you're not pushing hard enough. And so I...

Paul Povolni (46:11.29)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (46:17.516)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (46:27.645)
Mmm, wow.

Katie Richardson (46:29.586)
I hid a lot of these things. And when we sold our company, I moved into coaching full time. And I was terrified, Paul, because now I had to be more upfront about what I was doing. And it terrified me. And I was waking up in sweats, like sweaty. That's not like in cold sweats. I don't know how to describe it. But I was just like,

Paul Povolni (46:43.906)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (46:53.807)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (46:56.17)
I was afraid to face the day and it was kind of the first time in my life I was afraid to face the day because I was afraid I was going to be exposed and that I wasn't going to say, you're doing it wrong. That's not true. It needs to be like this. You need to push harder. And so I actually started taking clients on and they would come to me with all this toxic hustle culture and I would be like, well, that is one way to build your business, but here's how I've done it. And I would show them my systems and my processes.

Paul Povolni (47:17.407)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (47:25.75)
and it would make their brain explode. And it actually scared them because it was so counter to the narrative. And they would push back and I would say, listen, you don't have to trust me. Don't trust me. Just go try it. That's all you have to do. Just go try it, test it out. See if it works for you, test drive it. And so they would, and we would meet every week. And so they would test it out during the week and they would come back gobsmacked. They would, their jaw dropped

Paul Povolni (47:32.972)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (47:53.895)
Ha!

Katie Richardson (47:55.546)
Katie, I know you already know this, but it worked. And it wasn't nearly as hard. And they're coming to me and it was fun. It was exciting. I had time on the weekend to hang out with my friends. And they were just like, it's so counterintuitive. And I would tell them that when I would teach it to them. I'm like, listen, your brain's not gonna like this. And it's gonna tell you it doesn't work because it's so counter to your current operating system. But what I was teaching them, Paul,

Paul Povolni (48:13.17)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (48:22.775)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (48:25.506)
was a radically new operating system that was rooted in something totally different. And you alluded to this as you read my bio, it was rooted in power. This hustle culture, it's actually rooted in scarcity. It's rooted in fear. And when we take action from that place, we're frantic. And we actually create frantic outcomes and results. Sometimes,

Paul Povolni (48:49.366)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (48:53.326)
We're working 120 hours a week that we can kind of outpace everybody in a sense. But at some point you can't work then more than 120 hours a week. And you actually have to play the game very differently. This is what I teach entrepreneurs. And again, some people come, they like hear my message and they're like, wow, she's doing something that really works because they see client after client after client have huge successes. And then they'll come to me and they come to me with their very logical mind, by the way.

And I'm like, look, what I can teach you is really hard work, but it's not the hard work you're used to. Like, are you open to that? And some people just are not. And so some people will walk away, and they continue to use the same operating system they've used their whole life, and that's why they're stuck.

Paul Povolni (49:33.451)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (49:42.254)
Right. And for a lot of people, they feel that if they're not, even, even if they're, you know, they've got to keep going, they've got to keep moving. They've got to keep doing, they've got to keep, you know, and if they're not doing it, um, like that, they're not working hard enough, you know, and it's, you know, it's like painting graffiti on a moving train, like they're, they're super productive, but they're not creating anything, you know, they're, they're constantly hitting, you know, they're constantly hitting roadblocks that, but they're busy. They're busy. They're creating, they're doing.

Katie Richardson (49:50.502)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Katie Richardson (49:58.438)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

you

Katie Richardson (50:05.926)
What a great analogy. Yes. Yes, they're very busy. And the busy makes us feel productive. It makes us feel significant. And I had to confront that in my own life because I experienced that.

Paul Povolni (50:12.553)
Yeah, but.

Paul Povolni (50:21.858)
Yeah. And so when, when somebody does come to you with that mindset, um, with, with that, that working operating system that is telling them, keep, keep doing the graffiti on the moving train, keep going, keep, you know, keep moving, what, what does it, you know, when you bring out your toolbox, what is the first chisel that you bring out? Yeah.

Katie Richardson (50:26.565)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (50:30.639)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (50:36.389)
Uh-huh.

Katie Richardson (50:40.47)
Yeah, I have some visuals. I don't know. I'll describe these because I know a lot of people are probably listening to us, but I'm a very visual person as a designer. And sometimes if I can break it down in a way that you can see it, you actually make new connections. So when we. Yeah. So when we like I had that huge target of a million dollars, right? If we can just get to a million dollars, then things will calm down and things will start to fall into place. And that's kind of the first destination that I'm trying to get to.

Paul Povolni (50:46.753)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (50:53.618)
Yeah, this will be both visual and audio.

Katie Richardson (51:08.962)
And what happens is we get to that destination and we're like, okay, yeah, I am here. This is that place that I said that I wanted, but this is missing and I don't like that and I'm working too much and I'm angry with my kids, right? That was the place I find myself. So we have this island that we're trying to get to. We get to that destination only to realize that we actually wanna be over there at that other island. But holy cow, I just used all my time and resources to get to this island.

Paul Povolni (51:23.956)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (51:33.181)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (51:37.206)
And I feel stranded, I feel stuck. Like how do I, now that I'm at that first destination, now I see where I really want to go is that place over there. And so it's terrifying because we get there on fumes and we're just, we're burned out just to get there. And so what we do is we stand at that place and we think, okay, I guess it took everything in me to get here. So somehow magically I'm supposed to work harder.

Paul Povolni (51:46.408)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (51:55.583)
Ryan.

Katie Richardson (52:06.102)
and be even more disciplined to get to that place that now I see I really want to get to. And see, that's the problem, Paul. They're taking what they've done in the past, aka their current operating system, and they're moving it forward. But the reality is you'll never get to that actual dream place using the same things you've done in the past, your old operating system.

Paul Povolni (52:28.811)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (52:29.826)
And so what we feel in that moment is we feel so spread thin and overwhelmed. And it looks like this. Now, this is someone who's holding a bow and an arrow, right? We're aiming at different targets. There are so many targets and they're all over the place. And this is what we feel like inside. And not only does this targets all over the place represent our business because you have, I mean, my business was five businesses in one. We were a manufacturer, a wholesaler, a retailer, a design house, a distributor, right?

Paul Povolni (52:43.724)
Right.

Katie Richardson (52:59.714)
And then under each of those businesses, there's all these complexities, right? You have to work with your bookkeeper, you have a tech guy, you have a website, you're checking inventory. It's just crazy, the level of complexity that we were experiencing in our life. And this is what CEOs and entrepreneurs feel like on the inside. And this is why it's so hard for them to be present at any moment, because when he's staring at this target, well, wait a minute, what's happening over here? So even though he's at his business meeting with his team, he's also thinking,

Paul Povolni (53:08.991)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (53:23.148)
Right.

Katie Richardson (53:26.466)
Well, I have to talk with my investors. And what am I gonna say to them? Because I have a meeting after this one with my investors. And so he's never present. He's always being pulled in so many different directions. And this is what we feel like. And in that moment, when I realized I needed to play the game differently, it actually at the time was a feeling. And it took me a while to take that feeling and actually draw it out. And these are the drawings that subsequently came from that feeling. Because what I started to feel was this. And I was like, oh, I can play that game.

Paul Povolni (53:36.457)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (53:55.798)
Now this is me, the entrepreneur with my bow and arrow, and suddenly all of my targets, my targets actually have adjusted and they are now fully aligned. They're all pointing in the same direction. So rather than constantly feeling overwhelmed, spread thin, when I'm at home, I should be at work, when I'm at work, I should be home. All of a sudden, when I am at home, it's actually improving.

Paul Povolni (54:07.681)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (54:25.742)
business and it's supporting my business. And when I'm traveling and I'm at a trade show, it's actually improving my family culture. And it seems so counterintuitive, right? So these are the visuals. And when I show this to people are like, Oh my gosh, Katie, I want that I need that. How do I do that? Like when they see the lined up, aligned targets, they immediately start to feel the relief in their body, the stress level starts to go down.

Paul Povolni (54:38.612)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (54:52.062)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (54:53.858)
And they're like, how do we actually do that? And the answer is you need the new operating system. That's how you do it. And this is what I teach people, Paul. I teach them a new operating system. And it also is complete with a new strategy, which I call a compass sketch. And it supports this new operating system.

Paul Povolni (55:00.596)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:08.83)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:14.122)
So, so when it comes to, you know, most people don't want a new operating system. They just want an upgrade to the old one. Right. And so, so sometimes it is, it's a radical new way of looking at things, a new frame for what you're doing, a new way of, um, perceiving the things in front of you. So when it comes to, you know, what are some of those other targets that are kind of, and the visual was, you know, somebody with standing with a bow and arrow with, with a range, like a cloud of.

Katie Richardson (55:19.682)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:43.31)
targets around them, what are some of the other clouds that can sometimes distract people or overwhelm people when it comes to being an entrepreneur?

Katie Richardson (55:56.798)
The interesting thing is, I would say a large majority, maybe even like 85% of what's holding people back is in between their left and right ear. It's in your head. And it's, you know, something happens in life, okay? And we immediately, without realizing it, we create a story out of it, we attach all sorts of meaning behind it.

Paul Povolni (56:11.339)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (56:24.142)
We create judgment about ourselves and others. And all of that so quickly happens with the incident that we can't see any other way of framing that situation. And so we move through life in a reactionary state. React, react, react. And as entrepreneurs, when you have a multi-dimensional life and you have all of this complexity, you have to react or stuff's like not gonna move forward and you're dropping the ball.

Paul Povolni (56:35.286)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (56:53.666)
So the opportunity is to step out of that reaction mode and really design your life. And that's what we do here. So what are some of the other things? It just depends on what's going on in your life. Like, you know, I had a client who, when I met him, he had so much complexity. Okay, this is what it looked like for him, Paul. He's such an extreme example, and it's so good. Because I just, I couldn't even believe it when I uncovered it all. It took me 45 minutes to uncover this. But after we were talking for 45 minutes, I said,

Let me just make sure I'm getting this correct. You have a business with a team of 16, but you're actively losing your best employees, including a former employee who's trying to sue you for a million dollars. You're working 120 hours a week, while your business partner who's raking it in, by the way, is working zero. And you can't separate from that business partner who's taking advantage of you, by the way. You can't separate from him because, and it took so much digging to get this out of him.

Surprise, he's a family member. And if you create any sort of friction in that relationship, it will send your mom into a mental health break, which has happened before, and she'll end up in the hospital and you'll be responsible for it. And when you come home at night, your wife wants to know why you're not being present with your two and three year old. Did I get that correct? Is that what's going on in your life? And he paused and he said, "'Katy, nobody's strung it all together that way.' But yeah, that's the reality."

Paul Povolni (57:55.675)
Oh wow.

Katie Richardson (58:23.374)
And here's the deal, Paul. People who are building a significant business, they're super smart, they're hard workers, they will literally work themselves to death because they have a very high tolerance for pain. And so they're not going to stop. They won't stop until life says, you are forced to stop right now. And a lot of times it'll show up in their health.

Paul Povolni (58:39.32)
Wow.

Katie Richardson (58:49.218)
And this is what I'm committed to stopping, put a stop to, because these are brilliant men and women. We need them. We need them to lead, but lead from a place of power, not lead from a place of frantic energy. And they're pushing themselves to a point that is irreversible. And it's really terrifying and super sad. We need these people. They don't know how much we need them, by the way. And they don't know just how unique and...

Paul Povolni (59:00.916)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (59:16.518)
brilliant their brain is, they actually kind of think that they're just a regular old Joe sometimes. And I have to help them see that, no, actually you see the world really differently and you need to understand that and you need to own that and we need you to own that. And that then in turn by owning that, it actually helps them understand how to better lead. And I teach them a lot of that, but they have to understand that they're different than other people. They're a misfit.

Paul Povolni (59:38.89)
Right. They're a misfit. And so, you know, the other illustration of everything aligned, you know, for, for those, you know, this will be, this will be an audio podcast. It'd also be on YouTube. So they'll get to see the visual, but the visual was, you know, somebody shooting a target with all the targets aligned. Um, what is, what does that journey look like for somebody to get to that? Like what, how does, how does all that happen? You mentioned the operating system change over.

Katie Richardson (59:42.661)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (59:57.678)
Mm-hmm.

Katie Richardson (01:00:07.535)
Mm-hmm.

Paul Povolni (01:00:09.195)
But with the operating system, there's apps. What are some of the apps that need to be installed for that operating system to work?

Katie Richardson (01:00:13.307)
Hmm.

Katie Richardson (01:00:19.786)
I believe in the power of our inner desires. And that's actually where I start. I want to know on a really deep level, what do you want? And when I first ask somebody that question, they're super confused. Sometimes it can be really terrifying. Some people know and they've never described it to anybody because most people can't handle it. And I get that a lot from clients. They're like, oh, you have no idea what a relief it is.

to be able to spill out all of my vision and my ideas and my creativity and you can handle it. So they're not able to share it with most people. And so maybe they haven't fully externalized it. They can see it in their mind, but they're struggling to describe it. So it's what do you want? Why does that matter to you? And then the third one, which is super important is who are you? And that one's really terrifying too.

Paul Povolni (01:01:15.789)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:01:17.926)
They're not easy questions to answer. And you actually need a lot of help because we, without realizing it, we cover those things, we hide them. And so a lot of times people will be blind to certain components of that, and they don't even realize they're blind to it, but I can see past that. So what you need to do is you need to, those need to be lined up. That's the core of it. If you can line those three things up, and it effectively looks like this.

Paul Povolni (01:01:33.163)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:01:37.484)
Right.

Paul Povolni (01:01:43.101)
Right.

Katie Richardson (01:01:47.522)
what you're thinking and wanting, which is your heart, and doing and choosing, like all of that is pointed in the same direction. And when your energy, when your thoughts, when your actions, when your desires are literally all pointed at the same target, nobody can stop you.

Paul Povolni (01:01:59.362)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:02:10.47)
That's amazing. I think, I think just those three points alone are a head smacked with somebody that, and the thing is, they seem like they're so easy and you said they seem like such easy questions, but if you get really down to it, they're probably going to take you a while to answer and you're probably going to get emotional about it and you're probably going to have some surface things that you put down.

Katie Richardson (01:02:23.94)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:02:33.86)
Yes.

Katie Richardson (01:02:37.838)
Yes.

Paul Povolni (01:02:38.634)
because they are such core questions to who we are and what we're about. Understanding who you are, one thing that I've said is, identity brings clarity. And once you know who you are, you know what to do. And answering that question on a deep level is a tough question. You might come up with 10 things, 20 things, 30 things, 40 things, 50 things at first.

Katie Richardson (01:02:42.766)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:03:02.772)
Mm-hmm.

Paul Povolni (01:03:06.298)
until you actually get down to the core of... excuse me.

Paul Povolni (01:03:12.726)
the core of who you are. And so, you know, what is, you know, I'm trying to think of how to ask the question of, go ahead.

Katie Richardson (01:03:25.218)
Well, to your point, it is really difficult. I have a client who has a very significant business and he had his first level of buyout and he'll be a billion dollar business in about 18 months. And I've been asking him specifically the what do you want question for five months. He's just now starting to be able to answer that because there was so much noise covering it up. And I'm really good at...

Paul Povolni (01:03:51.724)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:03:54.054)
parsing through the noise. And even the question, who are you? I haven't even asked him that question because that one's terrifying and it's really difficult. But through our sessions, I find the evidence of that. And so we've started to put that puzzle together too, through like little clues that he drops and he leaves and we're putting it together. And like, you know, I referenced parabolic growth. He, it's interesting because he's kind of been like this.

Paul Povolni (01:04:14.398)
Right.

Katie Richardson (01:04:23.578)
But like, seriously, it's like bonk, it's just going straight up right now. And he, like, I had this experience where I was, I was taught by a triathlon coach how to swim like a dolphin. And I'd been swimming my whole life and I was a pretty fast swimmer. He teaches me how to swim like a dolphin. It's a totally new technique, right? But I'm a swimmer, it's not gonna take very long. For three weeks, Paul, I felt like I was drowning. But I stayed with the system, I stayed with the process, I trusted the expert, I kept doing it week after week after week.

Paul Povolni (01:04:28.252)
Right.

Paul Povolni (01:04:37.652)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:04:51.186)
And I wasn't getting better. In fact, I was getting slower, but three weeks in and lap 18, something happened and all of those muscles that I was developing, that I was consciously having to think about it literally all snapped into place. And I was a machine in the water and nobody could stop me. And that's what's happening for my client right now. He's having to learn a new operating system. It's awkward. It's uncomfortable. It even slows you down a little bit in the beginning. But if you want to go up hard and fast, you have to be willing to go down first.

Paul Povolni (01:05:09.569)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:05:20.554)
Right, right, right. Well, and that is the thing is, is we can get so caught up in, in the hustle, the grind, the doing that we don't take time to do the reflecting and to answer those deep questions. And I think, uh, and we think they will slow us down, but actually what they are is they're going to take us to the next level. It's kind of like, you know, using an old phone with an old operating system. Uh, you just, you just grind through it. You just keep going.

Katie Richardson (01:05:21.08)
And that's where he's at.

Katie Richardson (01:05:28.697)
Yes.

Katie Richardson (01:05:48.041)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:05:49.158)
Um, because you can't slow down, but then you realize, well, man, if I upgrade my phone and get a better operating system that I'll actually be able to do things faster, um, while I might pause for a little bit, you know? And so, um, so I do encourage those that, that are listening and watching this is, you know, take, take some time to pause, like take some time to reflect on those deep questions and you'll find that, you know, while it might slow you down as.

Katie Richardson (01:06:01.282)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:06:16.034)
the startup sound goes bing, and everything's restarting, that you'll actually find that it's way better on the other side of that when you do that.

Katie Richardson (01:06:20.134)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:06:26.146)
Yeah, yeah. And it literally, sometimes it is gradual, but so many of my clients have this like switch moment where we just flipped the switch and it's really exciting. And that's where it's just game on because you're now a new machine.

Paul Povolni (01:06:37.439)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:06:41.599)
Yeah.

Yeah. And it's, it's those head smack moments where just everything just it happens. And you're like, it all comes together, it all converges, you know, and just like we had talked about earlier, you know, all your experience, the woodworking, the, the design, it kind of had a convergence point to become who you are. And then other things happen to kind of form the next version of you. But it's, it's taken all of those and reflecting and saying, who am I? What am I about? You know, what do I want? And taking you to the next level.

Katie Richardson (01:06:48.654)
Yes, it all comes together.

Katie Richardson (01:07:11.844)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:07:14.55)
Katie, this has been amazing. Go ahead.

Katie Richardson (01:07:14.774)
And unfortunately, oh, thanks. Unfortunately, until the road or path that we're on becomes so painful, you can't take it anymore. Then we're not willing to change. Because what I've shared with you today is how to build your business from the inside out. And that is the secret to an unstoppable business. Nobody can destroy you. Because you've built a real foundation. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:07:25.753)
Mmm, yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:07:39.359)
Yeah.

Yeah, that is amazing. Thank you, Katie. This has really been encouraging, amazing, great conversation. So many good things that you've shared that I really believe that for some people, it has been some great head smacks, some moments of clarity, some moments of, yeah, I need to pause. I'm kind of heading in the wrong direction. And I think even just your story of the things that you went through and just feeling.

Katie Richardson (01:07:44.259)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:08:07.646)
uh, you know, imposter syndrome, feeling unworthy and just those words of encouragement to people. You know, maybe, maybe you're not the entrepreneur. Maybe you're listening to this and you're like, I'm not the entrepreneur, but I wanted to listen to the podcast. I found it interesting. Maybe you could be that encourager too. Like maybe your role in this story today is that you're that person that needs to encourage somebody that is that mom with kids.

Katie Richardson (01:08:24.496)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:08:34.742)
that is struggling, that you don't know that she just needs that word of encouragement, or that young person that feels like they're unworthy of any kind of success or feeling good about what they're doing. And you're just that encourager that could literally change the destiny of that person by simply being that encourager and giving them a good word and giving them a kind word and saying, keep going, keep going, keep doing what you're doing.

It's, it's, it, there is light on the other side of this. There is hope on the other side of this. And so thank you Katie so much for sharing your story as well. Um, and then just your, your abilities to help entrepreneurs with coaching and take them to the next level and get them in the right mindset. Um, I do encourage anybody, if you're needing a coach, um, do look into, um, Katie and what she offers and look into getting a coach. I think it'll really transform your life.

Katie, for people that have loved what you've had to say and want to be a part of your world, how do they connect with you?

Katie Richardson (01:09:33.616)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:09:40.258)
You mentioned my coaching. I'm known for one-on-one coaching. I also have group programs, and I even have courses and programs that you can DIY, which is awesome. So the best way to get in contact with me is katie.live on Instagram. I also have my own podcast called What's Working Now, and you can go listen there. The first eight episodes are my entrepreneurial story. And reach out, send me a DM.

Paul Povolni (01:09:49.91)
Yeah.

Katie Richardson (01:10:10.214)
I love hearing from listeners. I genuinely mean that. And thank you, Paul. This has been an incredible conversation. Really incredible. I really appreciated your perspective and the questions that you asked. And yeah, it's been amazing. So thank you. It's an incredible opportunity.

Paul Povolni (01:10:24.278)
Thank you. Thank you so much, Katie. And everybody have a great day and take some of these, put them into action. Your life can literally change and your destiny can change if you just take one idea and take bold action on it. And so if you've gotten something from this today, I do encourage you to take bold action on it and just see what happens. And thank you once again, Katie, and have a great day. Take care.

Katie Richardson (01:10:45.542)
Thanks.