My guest today is Kerry Kingham β Business coach and Superhero Marketing member. Sheβs sharing her story on how working her butt off has gotten her marketing to where it is now, and how much her business has grown, changed, and evolved in the process because of it. Kerry is a force with so much energy and I know you will love listening to everything she throws on the table in this episode.
Links
Kerry Kingham Instagram
Kerry Kingham Facebook
Kerry Kingham Website
Hayley Osborne Facebook
Hayley Osborne Instagram
Introduction
Hey, party people and welcome to episode 43 of the podcast of the Hayley Osborne Show. Thanks for joining me for another week guys. This episode is brought to you by a free masterclass I am running next week on Thursday, November 10 at 7pm Adelaide time to celebrate the doors opening to my membership superhero marketing doors open in eight days. I am so excited. So come along to the masterclass to learn exactly how to plan elevate and optimise your content. This is only the second free masterclass, I will run this year, and it will be the last for the whole year.
It’s going to be super fun, full of great tips you can implement straightaway into your business. If you want to come along. You can register on my website now at hayleyosborne.com to come along via zoom and learn how to plan elevate and optimise your content. Our world revolves around content. So if you can nail this with consistency and with ease, then you are on your way to increasing and up levelling so many things in your business and your life. The balance is where it’s at. So this masterclass will coincide with a week long celebration, led off those firecrackers next week to the doors opening to my membership superhero marketing. And then they will close so I can focus on giving the members all of my absolute love with the lead up to Christmas being the busiest time. So we need to make sure our business is functioning at its optimal superhero marketing is a place where I teach my members how to become the number one in their local community, both online and offline.
It is a place where an awesome community of business owners already exists, waiting to cheer you on along the way. And a place where all your questions are not silly ones. This is your go to marketing safe space to learn and implement all those awesome ideas into your own business to achieve awesome results. So remember that your learning curve becomes shorter when you surround yourself with the right tools and the right people. So let’s talk about today’s podcast today. I have a guest with me. So I would love to welcome Kerry Kingham. Kerry is a part of Superhero marketing the membership and she is the owner of Kerry Kingham coaching and hire like a boss. So Kerry would like you to call her Kazaa most people do. She is a very ambitious business owner and she helps ambitious business owners. creative business owners nail their first Perfect Fit hire, even if they have no clue what to look for what to ask her what to do. So they can build a self motivated, profitable team. She helps you reclaim up to 10 hours of CEO time each week and swap the solopreneur juggle for stress free business growth. Hello, yes, please.
She spent over 15 years building and leading teams across small business startups and corporate and it means that she’s basically seen everything when it comes to hiring people and building high performance supportive profitable teams and business culture. Kerry has an MBA, she has worked with some of the business biggest businesses across this country. And she will help you basically evolve, evolve your business as it needs to as well as give you the support that you need for strategic and effortless growth year on year. Kerry is a legend. She’s a go getter. She has so much knowledge and expertise under her belt. And without further ado
Hayley Osborne:
I would love to let’s just start the episode Hello, Kerry, and welcome to the Hayley Osborne show. I am so happy and glad that you are joining me today. I’ve wanted to get you on forever. How are you?
Kerry Kingham:
I’m fantastic. Friday, of course, not everybody will know that. But it’s a Friday, that’s always a good day of the week. And I feel like we talk about so many things outside of something like this. So it’s nice to have the opportunity to kind of do it formally.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, I know. So I have given a little bit of an intro into this podcast already. But I would like you to tell me who you are. Tell me and our audience where you are, and what you do.
Kerry Kingham:
Okay, so i’m a hiring and leadership coach. And that might sound like a really weird combination. But I help creative and online business owners hire their first team members. So to really know that perfect first hire, and then teach them the skills so that they can build a high performing team. And I suppose step into their own role as the CEO, because it’s a big change for when you go, working just by yourself to actually having to be responsible for coaching, developing, supporting other people to make your business grow. So that’s what I do.
Hayley Osborne:
Nice. So give us a little intro about what you are doing at the moment in your business.
Kerry Kingham:
At the moment, I’m working on my course called hire like a boss, which will help people do this. So I’m downloading my brain and my 15 odd years of experience around building high performing teams, leading people and teaching leadership into a really easily digestible course for business owners.
Hayley Osborne:
I feel like that is a gap in the market. Because unless you run a huge business, you know, when you are going from solo to two, or three or four, like it can be quite scary, letting someone into your IP essentially.
Kerry Kingham:
And also just learning to let go. Even for myself, I mean, I’ve done it in corporate where I’ve had big teams up to 60 people, but handing over parts of your own business and things that you’ve spent so long, building up and doing yourself, even though deep down, you know, it’s the right thing to do. You have to do it to take that next step. It’s still really challenging. And I think for a lot of small business owners, as you say, it’s a gap. Because if you’ve worked in corporate or you’ve had that support in corporate, you actually don’t realise how many moving pieces they are. And what a lot of people do is just not hire. So they actually it becomes detrimental to their business. Because instead of letting go and instead of being able to hang over to people who are better at those particular things, and yourself, they try and hang on to it for too long, and it ends up just stifling your business growth.
Hayley Osborne:
It becomes detrimental to your health as well. I know that you know, you run yourself to the ground, because you’re too scared to let anyone in your business. So for me, for example, having my full time staff member was the best thing I ever did. What’s the best advice you would give business owners in terms of everybody looks the same on paper? So essentially, you know, you’re looking for, say, a marketing assistant, for example. And everyone looks the same on paper. But what’s the number one thing that you would say in terms of looking out for that culture fit, I guess, because essentially everyone could do the job, but it’s whether you’re right fit or not? Because that’s a risk, right?
Kerry Kingham:
It is, absolutely. And I think don’t necessarily look at it as just culture fit, but look at it as culture add as well. So what are they going to bring in add to your culture, but I think the biggest thing is don’t just think I have to hire, take all those steps back and make sure that you actually know what your business values are, you know, what your business vision and mission are. Because if you can’t articulate what is special about your business, and what makes your business your business, you’ll never be able to bring the right person in because you don’t actually know. So say the biggest piece of advice I would give people is to build the foundations first. Don’t just run out and think, Oh, I’ll hire a PA and they’ll be able to do everything that I need.
Hayley Osborne:
So that’s what mainstream kind of talks about, right? Especially on socials.
Kerry Kingham:
And especially on online businesses. I think people go just hire a virtual assistant. And I must admit, you get smashed with requests via LinkedIn, Instagram. We can take all this off your hand and it sounds really appealing because it’s you know, particularly if they’re coming out of the Philippines where the cost is very low. But the thing is, they are going to have a cookie cutter approach. You’re not going to be able to build a relationship with them. You’re not going to be able to let them in and share the real I suppose intricacies of your business and about what makes it special. Because you’re never going to have that sort of connection with them. So for me, it’s about building that foundation and really being able to articulate what is my business look like? What’s important? What are the values? What are the things I won’t compromise on? And then spend the time to actually look at the skills gap across your business? So what are the things that is your zone of genius, you know, what are the things you’re really good at, and that you would generate more revenue by spending more time on and then look at all those things that either you’re not comfortable with, or, you know, you’re not as good at and take proportionately more time than they should
It might be something like social media content creation, you know we can all do that ourselves. But that was one of the first people that I hired was finding someone that I liked their work, I resonated with them, they understood my business, that sort of thing, too. I spent a lot of time getting to know that person and making sure that our values aligned. And you know, that she understood what I was trying to do. And that’s something that I can do, but it takes me hours to put together like that. So going back to that original question, get the foundations right, know what the gaps are in your business, and be really clear around what your business stands for first. And that seems really counterproductive, because you’re going back and spending time and all you really want to do is find someone to bring in.
Hayley Osborne:
But it makes it a lot easier in getting that right fit. So you and I have known each other for a while now. We met on social media. That’s how we connected originally. And then we slowly worked together in different areas. And I’ve worked on some of your clients, businesses. But I wanted to ask you in terms of your marketing, you got to a point in your business where you were like, right, I know that I need something else. And I did a marketing strategy for you. This was almost two years ago now. And you have taken that on board and come in leaps and bounds. But in your own words, why did you invest in superhero marketing? So you are a member, In my membership. So what’s important about that for you, and your marketing journey?
Kerry Kingham:
The first thing was, there’s lots of these sorts of memberships out there. And when I looked at yours, it was because I had a connection with you. So I liked your style, I liked you. And I think that’s a big part of it, you need to be able to believe and have a connection with the person that sharing this information with you. So that was the first thing. Secondly, it was the fact that I’m someone who’s a big procrastinator. And I get way too deep into the weeds worrying about things and shiny objects. With the membership, and you knowing your style, it’s really well structured, it’s not an overload.
There’s only one sort of thing you’ve got to focus on at a time. And even though that sometimes, that can frustrate me because I think I want to move ahead. It’s actually made me stop. And even though I’ve done a lot of the things that are in some of the modules previously is out a good chance to go back and go, okay, now I understand how important this is. Let’s refine it and make sure it’s still what my business is. So it’s given me that really great foundation, and it’s helping me understand why you need to do these things, why they’re important.
Hayley Osborne:
Looking at where you started four years ago to now obviously, you’ve been in business for years, chalk and cheese.
Kerry Kingham:
I found it really hard to because I’d spent so long in corporate, I kind of just translated a lot of that into my own business. And that’s not really me like I dropped the F bomb. I like a good wine. I’m an absolute gag and all the rest of it. And my corporate persona was so different to what I’m like in real life and a few people had said to me a couple of God when I meet you you’re nothing like what you look like on social media. So you know it’s been a great chance for me to I suppose feel more comfortable about showing my true self
Hayley Osborne:
Yes and now if you look on your social media there’s you holding a wine you’re chilling out, it’s actually great and honestly the your vibe attracts your tribe in that space and it is a very powerful marketing tool for your business so it’s definitely something that you know if you’re not appearing there consistently you know the you feel the weight of that through your business because it’s it’s so powerful. I think it’s the most important thing in the world for business owners. So what are your biggest fears about marketing?
Kerry Kingham:
Being on camera myself, even though I’ve done heaps of stuff online for work. It’s always different when you’re representing yourself on camera, because you think, oh how do I want people to see me and I’m getting older, I’m 56. Now. So, you know, that’s a whole different ballgame as well, your appearance changes, your confidence changes, you’re more confident in some areas, but less confident in other. So for me, it’s that getting in front of the camera and making myself do that for my own business. The other part is just having a structure around creating my content. And I suppose realising that I don’t have to do it all myself.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah the structure is important, within the membership I give you a monthly content plan of ideas and things and that is there to help you. Firstly, stay motivated. And secondly, give you thought provoking ideas. Because sometimes we get so stuck in our head. I often see a lot of business owners falling into that selling like, by my sheet. I say this so often, but selling on social media is like throwing water balloons at a porcupine, I didn’t make the quote up, but I love it so much. And I just want to keep reinforcing that. Because thatβs the worst thing you can do. But when you come back to a plan, ideas and things to talk about, it’s a nice place to feel organised.
Kerry Kingham:
And it just kind of channels your thinking. As a business owner, you have so much in your head all the time. And even if you are really well organised, I think your brain never really switches off. So having those plans and those frameworks is a big thing for me. Just gotta go. Okay, this is gonna make me focus for the next hour or two, and plan out my content.
Hayley Osborne:
What’s been your biggest aha moment when it comes to putting yourself out there?
Kerry Kingham:
That you don’t have to be polished and perfect all the time. And again, that comes from my corporate thing where the organisation I worked for had a very particular image and you had to do things a certain way. And so for me, I spend time just making myself go, okay, I’m just gonna get on camera, you know, and I’m not gonna worry if it’s not perfect. And I think that’s why things like stories are really good, certainly up there for 24 hours. And I also think I never look at someone else on a camera on socials and go, oh, my god, look at them. Why am I doing this? Why they’re doing that. And in fact, I’ve got to the point now, where if I see someone that’s using an obvious filter, it kind of switches me off because I go, oh, wow, that doesn’t really look that good.
Hayley Osborne:
Done is better than perfect. Mark, my fiance often says to me, but, you know making mistakes isn’t good, either. So, stop saying and I’m like yeah, but it is because it gets you out of your comfort zone, it gets you doing it, and then you just get better and better at the thing that you procrastinate on. And then that no longer becomes a procrastination. Like, I just do it. That’s how I get things done, because done is better than perfect. And I’ve seen books written by billionaires with typos in them.
Kerry Kingham:
Like most of us have chaos in our life or have days where we don’t shower or we just think no one’s coming today, I’ll just wear the same thing I want you to do. I’m just being really honest. Be someone that I don’t actually resonate as much with people that I think have it completely all together because I go no one’s life is really like that. Why wonβt they show me what it’s really like to run a business or do their marketing. Why don’t they say oh my god, I had to work at four o’clock this morning, because I just have not done anything. And then I’m just gonna stay in bed and slog for the rest of the day. And it’s my own fault. You know, just admit that sort of thing. And then oh my god, they’re just like me. I want to deal with them because they’ll get me.
Hayley Osborne:
I don’t share all of my life on my socials. And I can’t but you know Iβve got little children but I definitely agree with that. Because, last night I was up till midnight working and then feeding my little baby and one after the other one in the morning and it doesn’t ever stop. I think you know, when you’re passionate about something and then you realise done is better than perfect, and then you keep putting yourself out there. That’s when your procrastination kind of phases and you become more confident by showing up.
Kerry Kingham:
Because actually getting stuff done when you’re a business owner, when you’re working for somebody, you’re getting feedback, you’re getting performance reviews, you’re having people coming up to you like, Oh, that was awesome. You did a great job. When you’re a business owner, you don’t get any of that. I think that’s the other thing, too. We kind of are our own worst coaches, because we think we have to do it all a certain way, and be perfect. But we wouldn’t expect that of others.
For me being part of your membership and having that other people in the group, hearing them admit that they’re struggling with something else having sort of those conversations. I love the fact that you don’t stick to this scripted thing, and we’ll go down a tangent, and then it’s like, oh, we just covered those 10 slides, let’s come back. But that is a really important thing as well, because you’ve got people that are that the same stage as you or having similar experiences. So you build that community as well.
Hayley Osborne:
Community’s everything when you’re running a small business, because often you’re you are it, you are all. And there’s not really a place outside of when you’re part of a community to ask dumb questions. That’s right. And they’re not even dumb questions. But you’ll never ask your audience a question on your socials with the fear, around your business of doing something with the fear of being ridiculed for not knowing or whatever. It’s a safe space in a community. And what I found as well is I really encourage this from the start I see everyone supporting everyone in the social space, which I love.
Kerry Kingham:
It’s not just that they viewed it, but they’ll comment and they’ll send you a DM again, that’s the thing that you don’t get when you’re running your own business. Even when you have a team, you’re still seen as the boss, you’re supposed to have all the answers. So it’s great to have other people that go. Yeah, we were all sitting there this morning. We haven’t done our hair we still had jimmy jams on but we all turned up and we all connected and we had a really good conversation you go in feeling better than you did before.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, that’s right. And motivated. That’s the biggest thing I think that I’ve got out of the group as well. So your outward facing marketing over even the last this year 2022. It’s looking red hot. It’s looking good girl. Your messaging, the images, your clarity how you’re showing up on socials, how you’re educating everyone, I think you’ve found your groove. What’s the one thing that you’re most proud of?
Kerry Kingham:
I think just having a consistency because I was, as you know very sporadic, I’d have a big patch of stuff where I’d be really organised and schedule everything. And now I just feel like I’ve got that consistent message. And I have got real clarity around what I want to do. So I’ve had some big aha moments around that. And that was also about going out to my community, asking them and doing some research. So I think for me, it’s just about the fact that I have up levelled it, it’s consistent. And I’m really clear about what I want to say now.
Hayley Osborne:
Is there one thing that you wish you’d done sooner? It’s all really this progress, isn’t it. In one thing leads to another like opening Pandora’s box.
Kerry Kingham:
Look I suppose the biggest thing for me is, I wish I hadn’t spent so much time on my website to start off with, because it just changes so much. When you’re not a website designer, every time you want to make a change, it can be really expensive. So I went from Squarespace to WordPress, and I’m now on Kajabi. And whilst I know Kajabi is a bit more expensive. I’ve actually built a lot of confidence around doing stuff on Kajabi myself. So I think now that if I’ve done that earlier and upskilled myself around that. And I know people either like or hate Kajabi. But for me, it took away one of the big stresses because every time I wanted to change something, I had to get back to my web designer and I look, that’s fine if you’ve got the time and the money to keep on doing that. But as a small business owner, that was a skill that I’m really glad that I’ve now developed. And I wish I’d done that earlier. stuck with it because you can get into that shiny object syndrome, changing things.
Hayley Osborne:
So the last question I have for you is what’s the number one piece of advice that you would give business owners right now? What’s your golden nugget?
Kerry Kingham:
Oh, you could have told me you’re going to ask me that.
Hayley Osborne:
But there’s so many. Look, there’s a lot of advice. If I was starting up again four or five years ago, there’s so many things that I would tell myself and I mean, the website’s a big one. And I would just throw everything all in the ring because everyone dies. You’re gonna get one shot at this.
Kerry Kingham:
If there was one piece of advice, it would be spend time reflecting on what you actually want to do and make sure that it’s not just what you think you should do what you’re good at. But find something that you’re also passionate about as well. Because you’re going to spend so much time in your business, that if you’re not passionate about it will become really stressful for you. Because then you become disconnected. And I think that’s a big thing. Find that alignment between what the market wants, what you’re good at, but also what you’re passionate about.
Hayley Osborne:
But that’s all good for you if you’ve got cash flow coming in, but what if you don’t, and my message would be, it will come, it will come when you find your groove, when you get that little hot mix, right? The cash flow will come.
Kerry Kingham:
But also, I think that most people’s reality is that they have a mortgage or kids have bills to pay. I actually don’t think there’s anything wrong with starting your own business as a side hustle as well. If it means starting it as a side hustle, start it as a side hustle. But actually still treat it like a business, don’t just treat it like a hobby. So it might be that you go, Okay, I’ve got to stay working, I can afford to go four days a week, but that one day a week that I’m not in my corporate job, or whatever, I am going to be all in on my business, or every Saturday afternoon, I’m going to be all in on my business. Because if you can build that discipline from day one, and take away that financial pressure, which is a big thing.
When I left corporate, I decided overnight, my husband really lost his mind. I had an awful meeting at work, I was so stressed, I just thought I’ve had enough of this shit. And I went home that night, and I said Steve, and I think we’re going to resign tomorrow. And he was like, what are you talking about. So he was like what? I just did said I’m doing it. And, you know, if I thought about it, I could have done all of that groundwork, three to six months earlier as a side hustle, and then kind of set myself up.
Hayley Osborne:
And I think as well, early on, when you surround yourself with the right people, it helps your business to grow faster. So within a community, whether that be you know, I’m not just saying inside my membership but any members, any community or membership group that you resonate with, don’t be afraid to be a part of them, join these groups because if you want to be around like minded people, you have to pay for it. But the results are tenfold. So don’t be afraid to put yourself into those situations, because your learning curve will be so much sharper than if you go it alone.
Kerry Kingham:
Absolutely, and that’s the big thing you lose, when you step out of working for someone into your own business, you do lose that community, even if it’s just in the kitchen at morning tea time having a coffee and going out had a shitty morning. So it’s okay, it’ll be better. If you don’t find a group of people, when you’re running your own business that will do that with you, it becomes very isolating. And you’re getting your own head too much. Because again, you’ve got no one cheerleading you, you’ve got no one telling you this is normal. I would say set aside some money as an investment towards your business and stop thinking about things like that as an expense, because it’s easy to go I can’t afford it, it’s X number of $100 a month. But if you actually break that down to weekly or daily, it doesn’t become that much. And the return you’ll get on it is so much that if you need to think of those sorts of things as an investment.
Hayley Osborne:
I love chatting with you. And I’ve got like questions here. Because I think it’s important to set structure around podcasts because that’s how I like to consume podcasts. But quite often I don’t follow them because you know, the conversation just flows. It’s been awesome chatting with you. I’m conscious of everyone’s time. I like to keep these episodes to a car ride almost. So we can learn and do two things at once because that’s how most people consume them. But I’d love you to tell our listeners where they can connect with you online and learn more about what you do.
Kerry Kingham:
Okay, so on Instagram, it’s Kerry Kingham coaching or my website is kerrykingham.com.
Hayley Osborne:
It’s been so awesome to chat with you. Thanks for coming on the podcast and I will see you inside Super Hero Marketing.
