Well, hello everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of the Unstoppable Success podcast.

And here we hear from amazing leaders, influential people in the world and in society who help us be unstoppable.

We will hear their stories, how they themselves have been unstoppable, and they will leave tips, information, and great insights.

So today I have an amazing guest, Kelly Ryan Bailey.

And let me give you a little information about Kelly, because she is a true rock star.

So, and I love to say this, like, literally, she has gone from the burnout to bust in her career.

So, you know, you're going to get some tips about tips and great insight.

So in.

So anyway, so Kelly is an entrepreneur, a speaker, advisor, investor, a model.

She's a mama of three.

In 2016, she experienced a debilitating burnout.

She has been, she had been working over 80 hours a week, we all know that, traveling three days a week trying to parent three children at the same time.

Her five year old was diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD and high anxiety.

So prior to this burnout experience, she had spent her professional career facilitating skills based hiring and learning through data emerge and emerging technology.

That focus was always on financial success, best return on your educational investment, and moving up the career ladder.

So no one ever talked about what hap, what makes you happy in life.

So with all of that determined to make her, you know, to make her daughter live a happy life and have a great life for herself, she has gone to bust in a new career.

Well, now it's not so new, but so welcome, Kelly.

Thank you so much, Jacqueline.

That's so kind of you.

It is wonderful to be here.

Thank you again.

You're welcome.

So, okay, so first of all, I mean, we all know, like, we all experience, I mean, at least I would think a lot of us have experience.

The overwork, the burnout.

Some of us go on vacation.

Or.

Don'T actually, because that's actually part of that whole burnout.

So, so.

And you know, what was the sign for you?

You know, that was like, oh, I am, I'm done.

Like, what was your done?

Yeah, yeah.

Surprisingly enough, it was.

I had to hit true.

What I would have said rock bottom at the time to even recognize it.

Now that I look back, I can tell you in retrospect that there were signs, but at the time, I.

One day my body just shut down.

I was like a type A personality as you, you, you know, you mentioned working way too much, the whole thing, taking care of it all.

I'm the oldest of seven in a Modern Family.

So besides being a mother, I was always, like, helping with my brothers and sisters in some way.

So all of a sudden, one day, my body just stopped and I actually couldn't get out of bed.

And I can't tell you.

I mean, someone who is like, you know, exercises, like, everything.

I was like, okay, get up.

And my body.

My body was like, no.

Like, I just couldn't function.

And it took me a while to even, like, my body was just like, you needed rest.

I told you you needed rest, and now you're.

I'm forcing you to rest.

And it just.

It felt like I was sick and, you know, all the things.

And I just felt like I could not get up and move.

And that's what happened.

Now I can look back in retrospect and say, well, I worked.

I was working way too much.

My third child had just been born.

I was traveling the entire time.

You know, I was trying to pump in airport bathrooms.

This is before all of the things, right?

Like, I was in those.

The offices with the doors that didn't lock and, like, people coming in, like, all those horrible stories.

But I was trying to do all of that.

And I think I noticed now that I was like.

I took three weeks of maternity leave.

You know, like, I just did.

And I had a C section.

I just didn't let myself recover.

And for whatever reason, that third baby knocked me sideways.

You know, it's funny, like, two.

Two parents, there's some sort of.

It feels like you can handle it.

Yeah, but the third is, like, off balance, right?

Yeah, the third just knocked it way off.

And I just didn't give myself enough time to really get used to it.

And that's where I landed.

Okay, so.

So what.

What happened after that?

I mean, where did you.

Like, so you're in bed, you're sick, whatever, you're recovering.

And then.

What?

Well, right before this all happened, I had decided.

I just.

Again, it was one of those moments where I was like, this is not the life that I want to lead.

I don't see my kids, I don't see my family.

I feel like I'm not participating.

My brain is always somewhere, even when I'm here.

I knew that I wanted to change, and I made this huge decision that I was like, I'm going to leave the job that I, at the time, I had had for 10 years.

I was like, I'm going to leave.

I had no plans in place because I couldn't even think outside of that moment.

It was just so overwhelming.

Decided to leave that role.

And it was really the first time that I hadn't been overdoing it in so long.

And so it was more just trying to rediscover how I could live a life.

Like, I wanted to wake up excited every day, not like, oh God, the email, you know, I wanted to wake up excited, I wanted to enjoy.

I wanted to create the lifestyle, but not the lifestyle where I was working a thousand hours all the time.

One that I could actually be there and do the things and have fun and.

And I just didn't know how to do that yet.

So as I was laying in bed, the number one thing was for me, you know, like I said, I mean, the burnout had a lot of other.

I had some health issues going on that, you know, autoimmunes that had developed and things.

So there was a number of reasons of why it led to this bad moment.

I always want to clarify that although I wasn't in a good mindset, I was not suicidal or anything.

I just was like, I have nothing.

Like, I just felt like, what is this about?

You know, like, how can I not figure this out?

And there was this one moment, and I say this because, you know, my mother is amazing and she's a great, like, she's always been like a tough love kind of mother.

And you know, I was just probably crying over not getting the kids to school yet again because I was barely hanging on.

And she's holding my baby on her hip and I mean I'm.

And I'm just bawling and she slapped me across the face so hard and she was like, you're A Mother, you're 35 years old at the time, right?

Like, get yourself together.

You've.

You have this whole life, like, what is your problem?

And it wasn't until that moment that I was like, all right, I gotta figure this out.

And my figure.

It was a slow process at first.

It was like the basics.

How do I take care of myself?

How do I build the life?

How do I do the things?

And then I just started slowly doing and one step at a time and one thing.

And I had always wanted to own my own business and I had actually owned my own businesses a number of times, but I just really never thought of that as my full time thing, right.

I wanted to figure out how to grow that business.

Not because I just wanted some billion dollar tech business, but because I wanted the lifestyle and I had no idea how to do that.

So it was just the little things at the beginning to say, okay, this is the Goal, this is what I want.

I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna figure it out and I'm gonna take whatever steps it will to get me there and move forward.

And I also say this because a lot of people think, although I do, I'm very lucky in life.

I wasn't in a position that I couldn't work.

You know, like I had to work, I had to help provide for the family.

And so it wasn't, I mean this was a, it was so stressful at the time.

I, I'm so glad that I did it.

But there were so many things that did not make sense.

You know, it was like, how can you stop and not work and try to figure this out?

But that's just where I was, mindset wise.

And I knew I had to change.

I had to change and I knew that I had to focus there and I, I'm so grateful that that happened again.

Silver lining of a crazy moment, right?

No, it's really great.

So did you get a sit down and like start writing what you wanted?

Kind of like create that vision and mission and purpose statement?

Yeah, it was almost that.

It was like.

It started with, I think I had been reading a lot of self help books and one, I think there was one by Mel Robbins that, that, that was the one that helped me get out of bed.

The five second rule.

And then there was, I think a book, one of the Rachel Hollis books that had a journal.

And that was, I think when I start, because I just didn't know how to write it out yet.

And that was the first guided journal.

It sort of prompted you to think through like, what's that big picture?

What is the life that you want to lead and how do you then.

And then it was like, okay, how do I like reverse steps from there and what do I do first, what do I do next?

What do I, you know, and it's.

There is a lot I've worked with, I work with a lot of coaches.

You know, I asked for help too, because it is.

Feels a little daunting when you sit down by yourself and say, okay, how do I figure this out?

Sometimes it's helpful when someone else can hear and give you their outside perspective and kind of say, oh, well, these are the things that you're really good at.

And you might not necessarily think those are the things and you start to piece it all together.

What can I do that will make me happy, make me enough money and you know, fulfill me in that way?

And that's.

But you know, key Thing that you asked, that you.

You just said.

And I listeners, I kind of really want you to hone in.

You asked for help.

Right.

And so I think that's one thing.

It's.

It's actually been a little bit of a theme in a lot of ways.

I feel like with, you know, people that I've been speaking to is that the, you know, to be that unstoppable success, you know, you can't do it just yourself.

No, that is honestly the biggest.

My one.

One of the biggest revelations for me in this process.

Again, someone who was so used to helping others, I very rarely asked for help.

And I learned, you know, almost the hard way that it's impossible to do it by yourself.

You know, it's very important to ask for help.

And now I think of all the things.

I mean, there's.

I could never do any of this without the amazing family and team around me that make it all possible.

Right, right.

And so was there a moment when you were where, you know, obviously where you said, like, before I, you know, like you said, like, I didn't ask for help.

And I'm like, ooh, like now I really.

I need to ask for help.

Was there a moment that made me think, should I ask for help?

Yeah, I wish I had this.

This shining moment.

I think it felt more.

I tried by myself.

And then it just was a moment of, I don't think I can do this by myself.

And I was afraid.

Again, not in a financially stable position at the time.

The thought of paying for anything additional at that moment felt so strange.

And now I think of it very differently.

Investing in yourself as opposed to thinking of it like an expense.

Investing in yourself, the one who needs to be able to do all of the most amazing things to make your life possible, is the best money you will ever spend.

Right on your.

Right on yourself.

Darren Hardy shares about how he had heard or sat and went to a Jim Rohn event.

And it was at that event that he.

I think Jim Rohn had said, you know, in 10 of your income needs to go into yourself.

I don't know, I mean, important, right?

Like, and that was.

That was like a number that has kind of like stuck in my head, like, you know, re.

Always be.

Always be learning and investing in yourself.

Mm.

So true.

So, and, and, and honestly, we think.

That's why I laugh all the time, because we think of education in the formal sense.

Right.

We go and we pay for our degrees, our additional certificates, but for whatever reason, it didn't resonate with me.

Until this happened that, oh, I can invest in myself in other ways.

You know, I can take acting classes after I started a podcast.

And then someone was like, oh, why don't you try singing lessons?

Because that helps you with your voice control when you're speaking at events and speaking on camera.

And so there were just little things.

So it started with little things, but coaches, by far, when you find an amazing coach.

And I've worked with all different types of coaches, so it kind of depends on where you are in your life.

At the beginning, I needed that life coach to help me build my confidence because I was just kind of in this broken state.

And now these days I'll, you know, depending on what I'm, the next step that I'm trying to take.

That will depend on the type of coach that I might reach out to.

I work with a lot of business coaches, but therapists are important.

Again, it's like that team around you to make you the strongest that you possibly can be.

Mind, body, the whole thing, right?

So, so you have this whole, you've got, you've gone on this journey.

How is it, how now that you've, you've kind of stepped out of like I'm going to say the 10 year career and you're, and you're doing your own, your own thing.

How has it transformed like your family?

Oh, it's so huge.

It's hard to put one, one thing because there's been so many different steps.

You know, I think the, the biggest trend, if you asked one of my, my kids, they might say something different, right?

But the biggest transformation from my perspective is they really see that it's important to take care of yourself first.

And I really wasn't showing them that.

And to be honest, I didn't actually grow up.

My mother was amazing, but she put us first all the time.

She didn't take care of herself.

You know, she only slept four hours a night so that she could fit all the things in.

Right.

And you hear that a lot with working moms.

And she also owned her own business.

You know, it's like all the things, but I just, I was like, that's how I broke myself.

And so I want to teach these kids and model for these kids and my husband that I am more than just these roles that I play, that it's really important to focus on yourself first, to focus on your happiness first.

And the other is a bonus and it changes the way that we all focus in the household.

So everything I never again, I didn't even ask for help at home either.

So I'm just like, you know, passive aggressively washing the dishes like at 10 o' clock at night.

And you know, never said to anyone, you know what, I don't like to do this.

Everybody's sitting there watching tv.

Yeah.

And I'm like, hey guys, like, and now it's like we're a team too.

And that truly has helped me professionally as well.

Because it's the things that you learn in a professional context actually makes so much more sense at home as well.

And so that I think was the biggest transformation.

Just the dynamic of how we were working together, how potentially maybe it's not changed their view of me.

Right.

But it's to me, I just think they'll go out into the world knowing that a lot of things are possible.

It's great to have boundaries.

It's great to say no.

It's great to take care of yourself.

And I just don't think a lot of, I mean, I just wish for every woman on the face of this earth that they have the opportunity to be able to do that for themselves and show their families that because strong women, you just, it changes everything.

So it does.

You know what?

I think that is so important.

You know, having being the role model for our family is so important.

So talk to me about how you came up with the business that you're doing now.

Like where did, where did that piece come into it?

And it's been a journey because this is actually I'm in the process of we just launching this new business and I'm a serial entrepreneur.

So I've had so many different businesses, but at the time I was, you know, I had been trying to think of it, what I was working on in the moment and what would make the most sense in that time.

And at that time I had spent the majority of my career working on facilitating skills based hiring.

And so most of the hiring, even still a little bit to this day, although I think it's changed significantly in the amount of time that I've had this great opportunity to work on it.

But people were really only measured off of their formal education and maybe the job titles they had.

And I believed that there's a lot, if you like lift the hood of the car of every person, right underneath it all, there's so much that we do that is never accounted for in a professional context.

And I really wanted to change that.

And so at the time it made sense to build the business around all of this work that I had been doing.

I'd been Working with so many companies and I realized, you know, I'm actually, even though I'm not consulting with them directly, the relationship seemed very similar.

So it seemed like an easy navigation to say, hey, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, I'll make it into my own business and we'll go from there.

And then over time, I realized I wanted to evolve from there too.

And that's the beauty of when you go and you figure out that there's no limits in the way that you live your life, right?

You have the chance to say, much like you were describing with the podcast, guess what?

I'm ready to take this next step.

I'm ready to incorporate this portion of my life or something's changed and it's opened my eyes to this new possibility.

And that's where I landed.

I just realized skills was too small.

The backbone of all of that work was really innovation and transformation.

And the way that I was able to step in and help these businesses transform and help, you know, small, like even startups and medium sized businesses look totally different than the way they looked before, that felt like a bigger, a bigger thing.

The way that I could help leaders evolve and find themselves and, you know, move on, you know, be the best they can in their life.

And how that helped those businesses just felt like there was so much more to it.

And I also wanted to bring other people in.

So at the time, the business was so focused on me as an expert in this particular space.

And not that my expertise still doesn't come into the new business, but I really wanted to invite other experts and thought leaders into the business so that we could go out and sometimes work in team efforts or just give other solopreneurs a space where they could run their businesses.

Because I know how difficult it is to run your own business and keeping up with the books and all those things.

And so that idea of an agency, you know, having an agency, an innovation agency, is really what came to that.

So the name of the business is Calimera Future.

And again, this is like when if someone looked back into my past, they'd be like, where did this come from?

But in fact, it actually makes complete sense.

It's just all the work I've been doing just, you know, skills is still there.

It's just not the main focus of the business.

That's so, I love that.

And you know, bringing people together and being able to offer things, you know, it's not just, it's not you, it's, I mean, you're part of it, but it takes the business away from, as you said, the focus off of you, but of really what you can do for so many people.

Exactly.

And bringing people in together to do that.

So what, so what is the biggest thing that you.

That you feel that the agency can do and that you like that?

You know, where do you.

Where do you want to see it?

Yeah.

So I part.

Part of the reason why the idea for this business came around is I read a book called Let.

I think it is called Let It Go.

And it's a book by a.

Well, I want to say she's a.

She's a.

She was a refugee to England during world World War II and she was also a mother that built a business.

She ended up building a tech consultancy business that she then the employees actually owned all the shares in.

And eventually when she sold the business, they all did very well, but they shared in the revenue.

And so this concept of this community, as opposed to a standard business format was part of the reason why I wanted to create the space for this.

And part of what, again mentioning, we have other thought leaders and experts that work with us and so they can go out and of course they can do their consulting work through the business.

And we continue to do that.

A lot of innovation and transformation work.

A couple of us also do fractional executive work.

But my favorite part about all of this is the workshops.

And so the workshops and I would also say, I guess the retreats, because we do a lot of innovation retreats.

It's probably not the forefront.

I love the retreats.

Don't get me wrong.

I love to get together with a group of people over a period of time and kind of create.

Build something new, birth something new at the end of it.

It's delightful.

But the workshops are my favorite part because it ingests just the right bit of, you know, transformation and innovation perspective at a bit with a business at the right time.

It's not just a one and done kind of moment.

It's a like, let's come in, let's do a se.

A series, a quick, rapid.

It's almost like a, you know, what do we call this in the.

It's almost like a sprint.

This quick little.

Yeah, this quick little sprint.

You're in this moment like a merger has happened, an acquisition has happened.

You know, you're reducing a business unit.

Like something is happening major in the business and you need to get your team ready for a major change.

And it's like.

But we're not ready to like, bring in a Whole crew to do this work.

We want our internal team to do this work.

But how do you get them ready?

Most people, when they've been working at a business, have been in an operational mindset, a change in innovation, a transformation mindset is very different.

And so it just, like I was saying, just with the coaching work that I've done, it's very similar.

I love to.

We love to just come in and give these teams this moment to go to the next level and build up these skills that they thought they probably had, but they forgot about, you know, and it's like just how to bring it into this context and take you guys to the next level.

And then they go off and they do amazing things.

I absolutely.

I absolutely love that.

I love the whole idea of creating that transformation for people and helping them, because you're also helping them almost like, rediscover their superpowers in a way to help them elevate to their greatest success.

Yes.

Kelly, you are so remarkable.

How can people connect with you?

Learn more about the retreats, the workshops.

Oh, thank you.

Well, anyone can, of course, follow me on LinkedIn or Instagram @ Kelly Ryan Bailey.

And all of my information, contact information is available on the website Kelly Ryan bailey.com.

Awesome.

Well, Kelly, thank you so much for being an amazing guest and listeners.

Please do me a favor.

Go to her, go to LinkedIn, follow her, connect with her, go to her website.

I will put all of those things in the show notes.

And then I have one more favor.

Please hit subscribe and then share this podcast with your, your business colleagues, anybody that you feel that is important in your life.

Friends again, Friends, parents, anybody.

They need to hear this message.

We want more people to go from burnout to bust in greatness.

So thank you so much, Kelly, and thank you, everyone for listening.

This is unstoppable success.