Welcome back to the Grand connection podcast.

It's Susan again, and we've got an exciting podcast today,

because we're going to be having interview with Kimberley Day. So

you met nibbles, my late night business buddy, and you heard

our origin story of the Grand Canyon. Now we're going to look

at how collaboration continues to unfold inside our community.

Before we dive in, let's just revisit our Connect, create

collaborate framework. This is the heart of everything we do at

the Grand connection, and I might call it CCC framework

accidentally, but know that that's connect, create

collaborate. Connect is the beginning. It's where we meet

people, listen, learn and find alignment. It's it is curiosity,

generosity and building trust. Create is where the ideas start

to take shape. We brainstorm together, we share resources, we

support each other with clarity, messaging and the next steps.

This is where your grand intro and grand ask come alive. And

Collaborate is where the magic happens. This is where people

work together on books, workshop, podcasts, programs,

summits, launches, whatever. When connection and clarity are

strong, collaboration feels supportive, aligned and easy,

and today you're going to hear how the Connect, Create,

Collaborate framework is in action through someone who lives

it every day. Today's guest is one of the most dedicated

collaborators in our community. Kim day, I'm so excited you're

here today. Kim is a best selling author, publisher and

book to business strategist. She leads our grand authors group.

She supports our live streams. She co hosts our promo parties.

She partners with many of our members on workshops and book

projects, and she is helping me write my own book on networking

and collaboration. So I'm very excited about that. Kim. Kim is

a powerful collaborator in our community. She's a grand example

of how collaborative relationships can start small

and grow step by step. Now, Kim, I'm so excited to have you here

today. I also I'm excited to be doing this with somebody else.

I've done a couple of monologs, you know, and I really prefer to

collaborate on these things. Your involvement in the Grand

Connection has been a perfect example of Connect, create,

collaborate in action. And you know, you connected first with

me, we met. You created ideas, support relationships. The

relationship grew over time, right? I mean, we met in person

that one time when we were both driving in different directions

on a highway. And over these times, connections grew into

powerful collaborations, like with years with me, with other

people in the community. And, you know, before I get to your

story, I'd love to talk to you about the collaborations that

you've seen that happening inside the Grand Connection. You

run a group. You're talking to people all the time. Do you want

to share a little bit about that?

Yeah, I love the Grand Connection. I mean, you

know, I've been a member since that. You founded it away back

when. And I want to thank you so much as well for taking the time

to have me here today. I'm so excited for the podcast launch,

your book launch. You've got so many amazing things happening in

and around the Grand Connection community. But what really

stands out to me the most is that the people here truly

believe that connection is currency, right? When people

feel welcomed, when people feel supported, when people feel

genuinely seen and heard, they open up. And once that trust is

in place, that's when the ideas and the collaborations really

start flowing. And not only do they flow, they flow fast,

right? I've been in a lot of communities where people just

say they want to collaborate, but here at the Grand

Connection, it actually happens. People share generously. They

brainstorm together. They lift each other up. And that is

really super powerful, right? They want to see each other win.

I love that. That's rare, and that's why I fell in love with

the Grand Connection.

Oh well, and you've helped me a lot, like I I

even feel better just being here on the podcast with you. It's,

it's better doing things together, right everybody. And

you know, people come, and they arrive into the community a

little bit unsure, and then they, they start meeting other

people, and it does shift. And they they watch, and they see

what other people are doing together. They have a call with

somebody. Somebody gives them some support. Why do you think

those early, small connections make such a difference?

Oh, my God, do they ever make a difference? And

nobody starts off being a master communicator, a master

connector, a master creator, a master collaborator, a master

live stream. You know. Well, you were a massive podcaster. I

mean, those think about the small steps where we just

started doing live streaming together to support and promote

the Grand Connection, right? And I know that success, it never

starts with the huge, big opportunities, like, Sure, a

million dollar deal landing in your lap would be amazing. But

success really starts with all the small opportunities. Right?

That first conversation, that first breakout room that you get

into when you've never given a grand intro before and you have

no idea what it even is, right, that very first moment that

someone says, Hey, I see what you're building, and I can help,

or I know someone who can help. It's those micro connections

that really create the safety, that create the clarity, and by

most importantly, they create that confidence, right? And then

once people feel safe, they start creating. Once they

create, the collaborations become a natural next step. And

it's exactly what happened for me here at the Grand Connection.

I connected first, then the collaborations started unfolding

organically,

I know, and it did. And, you know. And what's

really cool is that when you have people that you built those

trusted relationships, you can just call them on a dime. You

know, it's, it's it's informal, it's friendly. They you jump

right into it. You support each other immediately. You've got

those people. People have your back once you've built that up.

And it doesn't have to start, as you said, with with big the

grandest thing, we're not getting married right away,

right? What we're doing is we're building that little

relationship. Simple thing, share a resource, like their

post on Facebook. You know, offer some tip, or get, you

know, giving a referral to somebody that is a wonderful way

to start building a relationship. Even sharing an

idea in a breakout room, people will just say, thank you. I've

gotten messages from people that have come back to me and said,

you know, you shared something for me in that in that breakout

room, and I followed up with it, and it's been a big changer in

my business. Thank you so much. That feels really good.

Also started with those same tiny interactions,

right? A resource, shared a question, asked a comment in a

breakout room. It's how Blaney and I started collaborating, a

simple conversation that led to hosting an entire book writing

retreat in Mexico. Right? Small moments can create big momentum.

And you know, I You just mentioned the retreat,

so, so you've seen the retreat. I see people appearing on each

other's podcasts. I see them writing books together. I see

them creating programs and classes right now, there's a

course going on later this week. Two members got together, and

they're doing a workshop together, and they're doing a

big promotion around it, and it's it's all about because they

met together, they each had something that complemented each

other, and they could do something bigger together, or

more grand, as we use the word grand a lot here at the

connection. So Kim, what are some collaborations that you've

seen yourself like you? Are you talked about you and Blaney,

have you seen any other ones inside the community? Well, of

course, I

mean, I've seen so many, even from the

connections and the collaborations sparking inside

of the community that you offer to members, right? We've got the

opportunities for advanced zoom platform resources at a lower

price, we've got the opportunity for the go high level platform,

the marketing all in one platform. There's chat bridge

and all sorts of tools and resources that you've

collaborated with other tech geniuses really way more

technologically genius than I ever will be but to bring these

tools and resources to the community so that our community

can thrive and can access the power of networking and all of

these referrals so much easier and so much more powerfully.

I've seen authors team up to co write chapters. I've seen people

partner on events, right even the other communities from

around the globe that you bring together, and then our community

grows because of the influence of other people from other

ecosystems joining the community, right? And the

retreat example that I shared with Blaney is a perfect

example. On my side, she had the space. I facilitated the

retreat. Her partner, Steve even jumped in and wrote a book

alongside the group while running the resort. And it's an

off grid resort, by the way, with spotty Wi Fi. So her and

Steve were both able to not only be running their own resort, but

jump in and write the book. So I mean, it was true, true, true,

collaboration in action. And the success stories that came out of

that retreat too, were also extraordinary.

No, that is a great example. And when you guys

came back, I was so jealous I wasn't there. I wanted to be

there, and you did it on a beach. Oh my gosh, that's a

lovely way to. Collaborate. I say, Kim, you you run these

regularly, I guess, don't you these retreats?

Yeah, the retreat is a once a year. Currently, I'm

looking at another location for a second time a year. But you

know what I love is that none of these collaborations are forced,

right? They grow from trust, from generosity, from alignment,

and that's what, that's the power of the Grand Connection

that I love, right? It's these natural connections that form

because you spend time with people, you connect with them,

and naturally, the relationships are going to grow and the

collaborations are going to come to life.

So anyone listening, if you're thinking

about, you want to write a book, too. I know I am. You know,

reach out to Kim. She's going to give you some comments. Contact

information at the end. It's also in the show notes, how to

get a hold of Kim too. And you can come to the Grand

Connection. She's in our our membership hub as well. And you

can find the real Kim day on on LinkedIn as well. So I'm going

to get on with this. I I'd love you to share a story, a

transformation story. Now, maybe we've already talked about this,

but somebody that's you've actually moved through the

Connect, create, collaborate, in a way that really touched you.

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, there are so many, and

we've already shared a couple already, but you know, one

transformation where I could actually see this whole, you

know, connect, create, collaborate, framework in action

was one of my clients, Deb. She actually came to that retreat,

that collaborative retreat between Blaney and I. She had

already taken my program, but she was stuck in overwhelm,

right, in uncertainty, and I don't know if you've ever been

there, right? You're trying to do something really big in your

business, whether it's a book, a podcast, launching a new

program, and she was questioning whether she could actually

finish this book on her own. And one of the, and I know we're

going to touch on that in a little bit too, about just the

power of not having to do things all by yourself. But what really

touched me is that through this you know, connection phase, she

was able to build relationships with not only other authors in

in my community, but with people at the retreat, right and in a

place and an environment where she felt safe to share her story

and her struggles. Because would you not also agree when you're

the coach or the leader of your own community, sometimes it's

hard to get vulnerable and share with your audience that you're

struggling, but when you reach out to other people who are

sharing a similar life path with you or a similar journey with

you. In this case, it was writing her book, she was able

to open up and felt safe enough to share that story, and through

doing that, she was able to gain gain clarity. She was able to

reach out for support, to get structure, which gave her that

confidence right to be able to keep going forward,

understanding that she had a really powerful message to

share, and that all she needed was a little bit of a, you know,

step forward in the right environment, with the right

community and with the right support. And we were able to

then map out her entire book in days, and through the

collaboration piece, everything took off. Not only did she

finish her book, she was able to secure some sponsorship to get

her entire book cost paid for. Don't worry, we're going to

share how to do that with you, too, for your book. So her

sponsors paid for her book launch, the party, the food, the

printing of all of the books, and she was able to actually

make $10,000 at her book launch using the strategies that I

shared at the retreat. So that's really the power right, of

connecting, of creating things that are powerful, of

participating in these collaboration opportunities,

because connection leads to clarity. Clarity leads to

collaboration. And it was just, it was so wonderful to see it

all happen.

Oh, what a great story. And I mean, a true story,

and I heard about this as well as how well she did. And that is

what it's nice to have that community around you. It almost

a place to bounce off the ideas and in a fast way, community and

collaboration help you achieve things in a much more leveraged

way. You get to go through everything a lot quicker because

you got other people to learn from and support you, and you

also are leveraging their ideas, their audience, their network as

well. Like, there's just, it's just so much more powerful than

doing it alone. Oh, that was a great story. Kim, you know, so

what we did is we talked about how they I'm just going to kind

of go through this. She connected first at the event,

right? That's the c part of Connect, create, collaborate,

see, connect, then she got the clarity and the ideas. So that's

the Create part, through the support of the people around

her. And I mean, you guys already, you've already

described this, and then she collaborated with everybody, and

including yourself. And then people at the at the event too.

And this is what happens in the community. So you see. This

framework working throughout all of the relationships you have

with your clients. And it, it's a powerful way to help them

succeed.

I love it. It's, it's a framework that works,

right? You meet people where they're at, and you help them

grow, step by step, right? So, and you were the one who just

put that into words. But really, if you think about it, in life,

this is a framework that just naturally fits.

Whether it's natural, I'm not going to say I

made it up. No, this is just, but this connect, create,

collaborate, happens to really sound good together. It's, it

works well. It suits what we do like it's, it's our underlying

way that we communicate and build relationships here at the

Grand Connection. So I love it, and we're going to be doing a

lot more about communication, because that's so powerful. In

future episodes we have our Self Mastery program coming out, and

Ray McCauley is going to be doing some talks on the power of

the neuroscience, actually, the how your brain works in

communication. So we need to know and understand ourselves

and be better and able to understand and work with other

people too. So it's really powerful. So Kim, how did you

stepping back? How did you discover that collaboration and

the power of Connect, create and collaborate was the best way to

support your authors? There must have been a place where you

learned about this firsthand.

Yeah, you could see it happening, actually,

everywhere, right? I was watching what happened when

authors were coming to me, going, Kim, I've been working on

this book for 14 years, and I just can't finish it, right? I

start and I stop and I start and I stop and this is what happens

when authors try to go it alone. And I feel like this is also

what happens when you try to go it alone in in business, when

you try to go it alone in life, right? You can't be a lone wolf

and expect you're going to get as far as you can when you go it

with other people and go it together, because when you try

to go it alone, I things get stalled. Progress slows down,

confidence dips. I know I've done it myself. Right when you

get into isolation, that's when you start second guessing

yourself, and the itty bitty, shitty committee starts

activating and saying, Are you sure that you can do this? Are

you sure your message is strong enough? Who ever is going to

want to read my book, right? But when you work together, whether

it's in groups, whether it's in retreats, whether it's in a one

on one experience with a coach, right, the speed to results is

not only unbelievable, it's undeniable, right? I've had

clients, as soon as they step into a container where you're

literally doing this framework that you talk about. So

magically, Susan, like the Connect, create, collaborate,

framework in my business allows my authors to write manuscripts,

full manuscripts in as little as 48 hours, right? I had my

client, Alana, close two deals, $6,000 total in one week, after

literally two meetings of being able to just get some clarity

around her offer. Amber wrote her book in four days, and that

was before chat GBT, by the way, so she didn't even have any

help. She literally sat down pen to paper in four days, finished

her manuscript. Liz then beat her record and did it in two

again, prior to even chat GPT being on scene, Susanna came to

the retreat Blaney at the lady and Steve's place, and then,

which was just over a year ago now, it was in October, November

of last year, and she has since gone on to become an eight time

published author. So she took the framework and all of the

resources she garnered through this whole connect, create

collaborate framework, and she was able to use it as a stepping

stone, as a catalyst for, like, unbelievable speed and success

in her business. So yeah, collaboration changes

everything.

Oh my gosh. That's some pretty amazing results for

your clients. So you've probably seen it. What happens if someone

tries to create in isolation? Can they do it? Some?

Of course, some do. It usually is slower,

though, right? And it's not as exciting. We were pack we're

pack animals. We're meant to do things together. So which is why

I love the Grand Connection so much. It's just such a community

of amazing people where you can lean on whether you're in a

winning stage of your business, whether you're kind of feeling

like you're struggling or alone, no matter what, there's a place

for you here, right? There's a place at the Grand Connection

for people to step into this framework and really find

success here.

You know, it's doing it alone is is not great.

I know I many times tried to do things alone. You guys heard my

story earlier, about me and nibbles alone spinning on our

wheels, and it's way more fun when you're collaborating and

and we're going to learn in later episodes as well as you

know, how do you set the expectations right and how do

you have clear boundaries and clear communications? Because

it's important too. Yet you can't just start, you know,

giving away everything you want. It has to be a fair relationship

when you're collaborating as well for both parties. So we're

going to talk about that later on. Kim, what lessons have you

learned from guiding so many authors through through the

through your collaborative books?

Well, I mean, I've learned that when authors

collaborate, they finish faster. Yeah, they deepen their message,

because that happens in conversation, not in isolation,

right? Your confidence expands, your impact multiplies. I've

learned that systems and frameworks and support really,

truly matter, instead of having to do it alone, and that's why,

when you do things together, you can accelerate your results,

right? Whether it's coming to a networking event or immersing

yourself in a community like that, whether it's hiring a

coach, right, whether you're helping people build websites,

whether I'm helping somebody write a book, when you get

together with others, that combination of structure and

systems plus collaboration is unstoppable, and it's why people

can get so much more done and when they work as a team and

when they work with other people,

yeah, and the systems are important too, like

we talk about that in other episodes as well. We have

February, our month. We have themes every month here at the

Grand Connection that month, February is usually, usually

systems and processes to get those in place for you planning.

We got planning, goal setting, and then we move into systems.

So that's, you know, having that I just love that you added in

the system part because if, if having the right way of doing

things can make things work a way a whole lot better. So

that's a that's a great add on for someone listening here who

has a message or story inside of them. Where can they begin?

Well, I think instead of creating this huge,

big thing, the key to starting is starting small, right? Reach

out to one person, share your story on social media or in a

reel, or if you're brave enough, do a live stream right, get some

feedback. I remember once I had a mentor to share with me that

if you ever look back on a video you did when you first started

out and you don't cringe a little, you waited too long to

start. So every right, every actor started somewhere. Every

voice coach started somewhere right. Every book starts with

writing that first page or starts with one conversation.

Every collaboration starts with one connection. Every

transformation starts with that first decision, right? Or starts

with the clarity of knowing what you'd like to accomplish. So you

just have to remember that collaboration accelerates your

results more than hustle ever will. Right? You don't have to

do it alone, and you weren't meant to. So go find somebody to

collaborate with and start the conversation. Start small.

Oh, I love it. Um, I we wouldn't be here today if

it wasn't for collaboration, because this, this podcast, is a

true collaboration. This is a little truism here. This is

definitely stepping outside of my comfort zone. I'm a

background person. I much prefer to be running things and project

managing and watching my clients do all these great things and

supporting them. And now here I am, you know, kind of hosting

this podcast. I know there's going to be a lot of other hosts

coming in as it goes along, because we've got lots of

members of the community who are going to help and participate in

this podcast. But definitely Kim you and you know Michelle, who

you're going to meet later on. You guys have been a great

support for me in my journey of stepping out of my my little

quiet, you know, office shell, and trying to do something

digitally, right? It's a different world we live in than

when we grew up and this, you know, you got to learn and

having people around you to give you comfort, to make you more

comfortable in this, to learn new skills, to to inspire you,

to support you, is is phenomenal. We just don't have

to be doing this alone. Anyone listening here, you really don't

have to do this alone. Just come, you know, come. Experience

what collaboration is about. You know, meet some wonderful people

in our community. Meet people in any place that you're going.

It's all about finding the right people that align with your

values. And Kim, I want to thank you so much for being here and

everything you bring to the community. You are a grand

example of what happens when connection leads to creation and

collaboration. So how can people get a hold of you?

Oh, that's awesome. Thanks, Susan, thanks

for being the fearless leader and having this wonderful place

where all of us entrepreneurs can come and do the connecting,

the creating and the collab writing. If you are listening

right now and you have a message inside of you, right? You have

an idea for a book or an offer, or whatever it is that you're

looking to bring to life. Come and join me, if you'd like.

Inside of my free community, the Influential Entrepreneur

Community, is completely free to join. You'll get access to our

monthly 30 day challenges. So right now, if you're listening,

it is December, and we are in the middle of our event advent

calendar. But no matter whether you're listening in December or

January or July, there is a 30 day challenge ready for you, a

powerful momentum building experience that you can take one

tiny little action every day towards your goals. Come inside,

take the first step. It's completely free to join, and if

you love it and want to stay, there's ways to do that too. So

thanks so much for having me, Susan, it's been a pleasure

being here with you today.

Aw, thanks, Kim. And to our listeners, if you

have an idea, a message or a story inside of you, take one

small step this week, reach out to one person, start a

conversation, see where it leads. In our next episode,

we're going to explore your grand intro. This is one of your

most powerful visibility tools that opens doors. It sparks

conversations, and it sets the stage for collaboration. And

remember, the next collaboration success story might be yours, so

let's connect, create and collaborate together.