Hi there and welcome to the Everyday Entrepreneur podcast where I, Caitlin Fritz help you reach your entrepreneurial potential. Together we can build your dream social impact business so that you can leave a legacy beyond your nine-to-five. Hello, hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Everyday Entrepreneurship. I'm your host, Caitlin Fritz, and I'm an award winning entrepreneur, enterprise educator, and business coach. Since 2020, I have supported hundreds of entrepreneurs around the world build, grow, and scale their impact led businesses. And in this show, we provide practical, tried and true tips, as well as interviews from inspirations who have been there. So this is the show if you want to celebrate entrepreneurship in all of its amazing forms. If you're returning listener, thank you, and if you are new, I'm giving you the warmest welcome. Because today, we have an awesome episode with a really amazing human being, Corita Robert Green. So just a little backstory, I've gotten to know Corita now, I want to say it was around the pandemic y times? Um, with her work of Born with a Gift and Unwrap Your Gift, which are her unique methodologies we'll talk about, and she is nothing short of an inspiration. So Corita is an executive, career, and leadership coach, and she is passionate about helping leaders become bolder and more confident in their careers. So back in 2010, Corita became one of the youngest certified Black female life coaches in all of the UK. And since then, over the past 14 years, she's coached thousands of individuals, empowering them to embrace their strengths, stand out, be bold, and really elevate their professional life. And what's amazing is she has got to work with various organizations like Google and Sony, just to name a few. But she also provides her content and her methodology through her various social media. So today we're diving into not only Corita's journey to becoming a coach, but also a fantastic businesswoman. Uh, we're also going to be digging into, you know, tips and tricks for you to become bolder and more inspired in your work. So let's welcome Corita to the Everyday Entrepreneurship Podcast. So on the show today, I have Corita Robert Green, who I have known now, I don't know for how many years, I feel like it's been a while. We finally connected to make this interview happen and I'm so excited to have you here, Corita. So I know a bit about you, but I want you to share with the everyday entrepreneurship community, you know, what you're up to and how did that You're born with a gift coaching, get started fantastic. And hello, Caitlin. Hello. Thank you for having me. I am so excited to be here. I'm really grateful for you having me on your show. I've been listening to your episodes and I really love them. So it's, it's an honor to be here today. And my name's Karita obviously, and I'm the founder of born with a gift and I coach people to be mainly leaders, to be more bold and confident in their careers. And I've been coaching for over 14 years now. I can't believe it. Time has just flown by so quickly. And there's a whole story into how I got into coaching, which I'll share with you throughout today. Do you want to share with me now? Well, I mean, I think let's set the stage first. What is coaching? Cause I feel like it's a term that gets thrown around. So what exactly do you do with born with a gift? And that's a great place to start actually, because you're right. Coaching. A lot of people are really confused as to what coaching actually is. And there is a big difference between coaching, counseling, and mentoring. So coaching, I tend to describe as. It's asking powerful questions that get people to reflect and look within themselves to find the answers. So with coaching, it's not about telling people what to do. It's not about giving advice or suggestions. It's about asking very powerful questions and allowing space for somebody to discover the answers for themselves. So that's what coaching is mainly about. When it comes to counselling, it's looking at how people can tap into the past to look at things that may have happened that might be traumatic and start to work through those things that have happened in the past. So it's looking more backwards, whereas coaching tends to look at where you are now and how to get to where you want to be. And I'm going to throw mentoring into it as well because people get that mixed up and I like to describe that as Getting some advice from somebody who's probably done what you've done. And they've got, I say, they've got the t shirt and they're showing you how you can get the t shirt too. Oh, I love that analogy. I'm going to use that because I do feel like sometimes lines do get blurred when it comes to coaching. I, I think of coaching almost as like a supercharger, you know, it's very forward thinking. You have a clear goal. Um, and. I mean, I've worked with you, and it's almost like that accountability, cheerleader, and also just guide and shepherd to kind of ditch you to that next step. Before we started the call, guys, I have to be honest, I was talking to Corita, and I was like, everyone should experience coaching if they want to go to the next level. In their career or in their kind of their aspirations. But I know when you started this business, it kind of came out of a difficult place. Um, I don't know if you want to share a little bit about where this all started, because I think that's a relatable, um, and also an important part of, of your story. Absolutely, and it is always good to go back to look at where you started. And for me, I, you know, I, I done what people do. You go to school, go to university, get the good, get your degree. And then you think you're going to work your way up the corporate ladder, tick, tick, tick tick, tick ticks, right. So, you know, I checked all the boxes, done school, done university and when I graduated from university, I really struggled to get my first job. You You know, I thought there'll be employers lining up for me. Like I've got the degree, this is it. And it was really challenging getting onto that first ladder. I didn't know how to sell myself. I didn't really have the confidence. I just knew that I wanted to get into the corporate world. And then after a while, I was lucky enough to get my first role. in a big large footsie. It was a fortune 500 company actually, and it was quite a big job, and it looked like I was doing really well from the outside. I was learning lots of things, I'm really developing as a person. However, I just felt that I had more to give. And I don't know if anyone can relate to it looking like everything's going well on the outside, you've got the good job, everyone's telling you how lucky you are, but then inside it just feels like there's something missing. And I just didn't know what that was. And that was when I started to search and look for how can I find out what it is that I'm here for. And I was introduced to a life coach. Now this was back in 2009 and life coaching wasn't very popular back then and I had no idea what it was and I thought if there's anybody in the world that can help me, then it's going to be a life coach. Okay. So I found a life coach and I sat down with her and she said to me, what's your strengths? What's your weaknesses? What's your five year plan? And I had no idea. I was the person that people always came to with those questions, but I'd never thought about them for myself. And it was in that moment that I started to realize. That I need to work more on who I am as a person and free that work. I discovered that I'm actually really good naturally at doing coaching. So how can I do this as a career? Cause this is the thing that lights me up. So I found out about a company called the coaching Academy and I went on to train with them. Now back in that time coaching industry was mainly aimed at really senior corporate execs, five years experience and there I was a 24 year old rocking along saying I'm gonna be a coach. So that was, yeah, it was, it was really challenging times but I, I managed to qualify at that time and uh, that's a whole nother story that we can get into what happens after. No because I think like, You, you have that moment and I know a lot of listeners, you know, that's why you might start your side business, your solopreneur, your venture. Cause you have that Instagram versus reality difference. Everything looks perfect. You have the boxes checked, but that kind of fulfillment isn't there in your day to day. So then I guess, You know, you're in your mid twenties, how did you, obviously you became qualified and up skilled yourself. How did you turn that into a business then? Because I think that's also another layer to this whole conversation. Yeah, so back then what I was finding that most of the people that I trained with, they would certify and then after that they'll get a really big corporate contract. Now I tried to go along that route. However, I didn't have as many years experience as they did. I didn't have the networks that they did. And I was in a completely different industry in terms of, um, from what I was used to. And there weren't many young black female people that were coaching at that time. Let's be honest. So I struggled to get into those big corporates and work at a senior corporate executive level. So I said, okay, so what can I do? And I. Along that whole journey, I was using social media. I was using Facebook and I was posting my whole journey to become a coach. And through doing that, I managed to actually get quite a big audience and a lot of people were following my journey. And I must admit at the beginning it was really challenging. Because I was somebody that I just wanted to help people. I wanted to share coaching with everybody. So the minute people said to me that they had some sort of challenge, I'd automatically start coaching. Right? So I was a really bad business woman in the beginning, to be honest. And it was then I realized I needed a mentor. So I got a mentor, a business mentor, to help me to see how I can start to be more creative and be more business minded with the whole coaching. Um, and then I realized that everybody kept on asking me, when are you going to hold your own events? Because we see you on social media, right? I keep seeing you posting. I posted my whole journey of becoming a coach online. I'd post when I'd done speaking events. I post when I ran workshops. So I had a big audience of people that would follow me back then. And I didn't even know I was just sharing my journey. It wasn't to do it to try and be famous. It was before the creator industry even existed basically. And, and a lot of people became enrolled in that journey. Like, wow, what are you, what are you going to do next? That was the question. I love that. So an in person event. Yeah, I, I decided to hire my own venue. So I hired a venue. It's now the Hilton hotel in Ealing and I hired that out and I use social media to promote that. I was holding a workshop and over 90 people signed up to the first ever launch event. Yes. Free social media. That's incredible guys. And we're talking, this is before the crazy algorithm targeting. Old school social media. Mm hmm. So then, how did you grow from one event to now you've supported probably thousands of professionals and individuals? How did that process look like for you? Yeah, and one of the things that's been really key in the whole process has been utilizing social media. and building a personal brand because I realized I didn't even know back then that I was building a personal brand. But that's the thing that really got people enrolled and having a key message. Born with a gift was all about empowering people to believe that they are born with a gift and that we all have natural skills, talents and gifts that we can use to be successful. So people just naturally became enrolled in that and would always say to me, you know, what's my gift? And then I'll challenge them and say, I don't know. You tell me what's your gift. And then we'll explore through coaching what that might be. But it got people really curious. What is it about me? That's unique. That's special. That's different that I can bring to the worlds. I love that, because I think the born with a gift message is so thought provoking in such a positive way. It allows you to be introspective when, you know, we live in a world that we never slow down and reflect. And I guess, You know, some of our listeners, I've been having conversations with them, they get these bouts of imposter syndrome, of self doubt, of what makes me the right person to start this business. What advice would you give to someone who have those kind of thoughts in their head right now? Yeah, I work mainly with leaders and entrepreneurs and people who have got big goals and big dreams and one of the biggest challenges that they face is themselves. So you can have the biggest gifts in the world. You can have all the ideas, all the education, all the experience. And then when it comes down to it, there's this little voice in your head that just says that you're not good enough. It needs to be perfect. It will never work out. And on the outside you might look happy and really super successful, but on the inside there's this little voice that's just telling you it's not good enough. And that is one of the biggest challenges that I find that leaders or people who have big goals and dreams face on a daily basis, and even myself. Now this is where coaching and personal development comes into it. Because until you slow down and start to tap into your thoughts, you will never be able to access how to shift that. Because it's all about your thoughts, it's all starting in your thoughts. There's a thought saying I'm good enough and there's a thought that says I am not good enough and the difference between those two will lead to different actions. So it all starts down with slowing down and you asking yourself, why, who am I being right now? I have a business. I've got a fantastic product or a fantastic service. Nobody knows about it because I'm too scared to show up online. and share what I do. So I am prepared to not show up online and hide and let other people do what I'm better at doing because they're showing up and I'm not prepared to do the work to do it. So this is where it comes down to, I know it sounds really direct and sometimes you've got to shake people up and say what's the impact of hiding? What is the impact of hiding? And when you realize that there is ways to work on your mindset and it takes this personal development work a lot of the time behind the scenes. So when I work with leaders, we stop, we look at their thoughts, we check in, where do those thoughts come from? You know, what makes you feel that you are not good enough? Oh, because when you was 10 and you was in school, um, you raised your hand to share in the class and everybody laughed at you because you said the wrong thing. So you decided you're never going to raise your hand again. Like these are little things that happen in the past that we don't realize impact us today. So until you really stop and say, what is it that's cost? What is it that's causing me to believe that I am not good enough? And then start to work on that. You will, you'll never really be able to show up in the way that you want to show up. I think that is so true. And I, and I find this more as a female founder as well. I feel like we're incredibly hard on ourselves in a way that I've seen, you know, Male counterparts in my industry have not and I think taking those moments and, and really reflecting and sometimes you do need a direct sounding board call you out how if you were going to give like one actionable tip that someone could start doing. this very week. What would you recommend? I would say believe in yourself. And that, that is the first place to start. Cause when you start to believe in yourself, you'll trust that the actions that you take are going to be fine. And it's down to that self belief. The more you work on building up your self belief is the better you can work on your outcomes. And honestly, I feel like that, that is a muscle somehow. I feel like as kids, we were just, you know, superhuman strength in belief, you know, probably to our own detriments. I remember a couple of times thinking I could do some monkey bars that I definitely could not. But as an adult, I don't know when we lose that, that kind of gusto and belief in ourselves. And I think you're absolutely right when it comes to incorporating that. into business. Now, I definitely want to share a little bit about Born with a Gift as well. Some of your programs, I know there is a YouTube channel. Where can people, if they want to, you know, investigate more about their strengths, their gifts, overcoming these hurdles, what do you offer and where can they find you? Mm hmm. At this moment in time, I'm actually doing a lot of partnering with corporates. So there's been an evolution in the coaching industry where a lot of it is now shifted to virtual online training, online coaching. So I'm really pioneering and working with the pioneers in the industry in that field. And I'm working alongside a couple of universities as well. So in terms of my actual direct services to individuals, I'm I'm not really offering that one to one coaching that group coaching anymore. It's mainly partnering with organizations. Now I have done that in the past. I've done that a lot, but now at this phase in my career, I'm mainly partnering with corporates. And due to that, I decided to release one of my main, um, bold masterclasses for free online on YouTube. Yeah. So that is now on YouTube for anybody to access. It will take you through a seven step process of how to be more bold and confident in your career. Cause I just wanted to give something back to people where they don't have to feel they have to sign up to a program, but they can get started on a personal development journey. And it's also one of the reasons why I started the unwrap your gift podcast. which you have been an amazing guest on as well. And it's all about having conversations with people to see how they've unwrapped their gifts and how they use them to step into their power. Now, I realized that with coaching, there's a lot of barriers to entry. Not everybody can afford coaching. And with that, there's people who really could benefit from it that didn't necessarily have access to it. So now we're seeing a whole evolution in the industry where you've got companies and corporates all offering coaching as part of their employee benefits program. So you then can get a coach at any time of the day, any time of the night, like an Uber basically with some of these companies and the same of training. So I'm partnering with companies now to be a coach on some of those programs. So if you're listening and you're, you have your corporate, but you're building at night and you want Corita in your business, you know what she's doing nowadays. There's also your bold newsletter, which I find always really inspiring and thought provoking as well. So there's various ways you can get some Corita in your life, whether that's on YouTube or maybe even in your current company, which I think Is awesome. That's on LinkedIn, the bold newsletter. So you have to follow, you have to get up to date. Anytime I see it. Also, you have a lot of motivational posts and I think just to kind of shout out because, you know, I have a heart for Corita. She, beyond being a coach. You're an incredible human being. We talked about this before. Most recently, you and your mother won an award for your work in fostering children. I mean All around incredible role model. I look up to you, seeing what you're doing. Um, so you have to follow Karida if you want to learn more. Now, before we wrap up, I've been trying to incorporate a few fun facts. So I want to ask you three questions. And whatever first pops into mind, I want you to answer, okay? So, what book or podcast are you currently loving? looked after and this is about a child in care and they're talking about their journey navigating multiple foster carers and the social workers and it's a really, it's a deep insight into what it's like being a foster carer, um, being a foster child and being able to I thought it was quite interesting because obviously as a foster carer I got my view, but looking at the other side and reading what it's like as a foster child has also been really powerful. So that's one that I'm reading on. Is it fiction or non fiction? No, it's a real life story. It's an actual real life story. Yeah, so that's my kindle tonight. Yeah. Yeah. That one's really good. Um, I just found it. So that's quite good. And then another one also, is it one book? So no, no, no, you, you give it, you give your recommendation. Okay. Um, positive intelligence by Sherzod. And that's all about your mindset and shifting from negative thinking to more positive thinking. And I just completed the program as well, positive intelligence program. So it's really about tapping into your mindset, getting rid of those negative thoughts, like saboteurs and being more positive and stepping into your sage. Oh, well, guys, I'm going to have to provide the links to all of these because I knew, I knew you'd have some nuggets of wisdom. So favorite piece of advice someone has given you. Oh, gosh, that's a really good question. That is a really good question. And I think what's coming up for me is one from my, one of my coaches. I have quite a few coaches at different stages in my career, but one of them was from my coach. And it was about forgiving yourself and it was so powerful because I never thought I needed to forgive myself. But I'm always somebody there for other people. I helped so many people. And then I have a very high standard for myself. And what would happen is that when I didn't achieve something or when I thought that something wasn't good enough, I'd beat myself up really bad about it. And that was, that went down a very like negative spiral. So she was just like, well, why don't you just practice forgiving yourself? Like looking in the mirror, I forgive you. Thank you. I love you. I forgive you. I'm sorry. And really practicing that self forgiveness. Yeah. That's been very powerful. That's, that's one of those stop you in your track piece of advice. Oh, Okay, so then on the flip side, final question, what has been your favorite piece of advice you have given? My favorite piece of advice that I give is to believe that you're born with a gift and that you have special skills, talents, and gifts that you could use to be successful. I mean, that, that is true. Well, I remember I was like, I feel like I'm, I don't have any gifts and then by the end of your webinar, I was like, You know what? I'm like Santa Claus. I, I got all the gifts. But that's the kind of energy your advice really ignites in people. It is that bold. It is being able to, you know, also just be unashamed of your gifts. Quit playing small with them. I remember that's something we talked about and I was like, oh my goodness. that there are all these little, little mind, mindset shifts that absolutely needs to happen. So, uh, Corita, if people want to follow you, follow your journey, where should they find you first? I'm very active on LinkedIn, so you can find me on Corita Robert Green on LinkedIn, and also check out the YouTube channel on Born With A Gift. And yeah, my website will pop the links in below the show notes. I'm sure. Perfect. Thank you so much as always. This is an awesome conversation. I appreciate you sharing your insights and journey with everyone listening today. Thank you for having me. I've really enjoyed the session and hello everyone. And bye bye. See, I told you. Karida Robert Greene is nothing short of incredible and what I loved about our conversation today is not only how she navigated this really new and unique space, but also how she, you know, practices what she preaches. She took bold, deliberate steps in her career, and I love the tidbits she gave us. about really, you know, reframing our thoughts, taking actionable steps so that we can be bold in our own businesses or careers ourselves. So thank you guys for joining me today with Corita. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. Go find her on all of her socials, on YouTube, so that you can really learn to unwrap your gifts. And you can even start that today. If you've enjoyed this episode, please give us a like, a subscribe, or a rating wherever you listen to podcasts. I do a happy dance every single time, and these do make a big difference for, you know, all of us. Podcasts like these to get us seen to more people and shared to more everyday entrepreneurs. And look out for next week's episode, which will be some really practical and pragmatic tips for you and your business. Until next time, this is Everyday Entrepreneurship. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Everyday Entrepreneurship. To stay tuned and most up-to-date, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You can follow me Caitlin Fritz on Instagram. And if you have any questions about building your business with Impact, drop me an email with the link in the show notes.