Entrepreneurship
WHY I JUST LET OVER HALF MY TEAM GO
Over the last 2 days I have let over half my team go.
This is a post about gratitude. Kindness. Love. And a hefty MF dose of reality to help you stand firm in the tough decisions and conversations that a soul-aligned life actually require.
Last year was one of the most uphill slog years I have experienced in years and maybe in decades.
At the same time it was one of the most beautiful, activating, truth-orientated and CRAZY fuck yes years I’ve experienced in … ever.
When I look back and consider the general vibe of 2022 the best way I could sum it up is in saying that I was simultaneously not REALLY being fully me the whole time, whilst also being more true to me than I’ve ever been before. I know, I know, you don’t have to tell me. #profoundAF 😉
I stripped my life back in ways which terrified me.
I tore things to the ground which not only disrupted me but others as well.
There was fallout.
There was hurt.
There was MASSIVE destabilisation.
There were additional reverberations + natural consequences from all of that.
It was painful, it was hard, it was relentless at times, and it was also just frustrating AF in the way that anything which is not instantaneously snapping itself into a new reality is frustrating for people like you and me!
I look at the woman who I was last year and think “wow. She was in so many ways cloaked with a shroud, a cloud, a heaviness, a mask, what was that? Almost as though she was playing a role. THINKING about how to be, rather than being. Ugh!”
But I also think – “wow. She incubated herself. She allowed some necessary coverage of her truest self. She tested out new possibilities. She stepped into and allowed through aspects of herself which needed to come through. She let the twisty messy bits be heard. And through it all what she was doing was ALIGNING, faster than ever, to the next iteration of ‘her'”.
Perhaps you can resonate with my feeling that for many of us, last year was a season of sowing, and that this year gets to be one of reaping. I truly believe it. And I’m witnessing it every day, in those around me. In the energy. In my soul. I feel EXPANSION vibes are coming for you. For me. For all of us!
But it takes the tough work. The tough conversations. The willingness to look what is no longer true in the eye and decide to be DONE. To admit. And to re-align.
And the thing with getting to the harvest bit is … you have to do the sowing, and you have to be patient and trust in the process, and also?
You have to be willing to burn, or release, what is no longer true to the vision.
If this also means changing the PEOPLE in your life who are on the journey with you … and if those people also happen to be amazing incredible humans who have ONLY brought good into your life … (or even if that’s not the case!) …
this is difficult as fuck.
It would be SO much easier to continue to avoid. Pretend everything is okay on the track that it’s on. Work harder to make it better!
As someone who still relinquishes the grip of perfectionism and ‘having to make everything work’ on a near daily basis I can tell you it is never a good use of your time to keep trying to make something work that’s no longer a soul yes.
You will never look back and say ‘gee, I’m so glad I pushed for all those extra years at trying to be a version of me that is just not TRUE for me’.
And? Every time you admit what needs to be admitted and then DO the damn thing of saying yes to you again, no matter the fallout or fears …
you will feel that load lighten instantaneously.
A fresh wind will flow straight through you.
And even though it may HURT,
so much
and your mind may QUESTION,
so much,
even try to backtrack …
you will know:
I did what was required.
I honoured SOUL.
Thank you JESUS.
Amen.
And you will also know:
Oh holy SHIT yes. Things are about to blow UP.
It’s just what happens when we say yes to soul. When we release what is no longer meant to be on the journey with us. And when we turn into new and NOW possibility, even if we don’t know what that looks like!
Over the last 2 days I have released over half of my staff. I have had some of the most heart-wrenching conversations of my business journey, to look into the eyes of these beautiful humans who have ONLY done good and amazing things for and with me, beyond what was required, beyond what they were hired to do, who have EXCEEDED expectations on all accounts and are absolute weapons, each and every one, and who simply,
are no longer part of the direction my soul is guiding me to take,
as I’ve told them their role, and thus their income, no longer exists.
I have avoided and resisted and fought this for months. I have wrestled with every possibility about how I can not make this move.
But my soul has been beat beat beating away the whole time, and telling me –
“Kat. The next phase is stripped back. It’s bare again. It’s just you and the art. Yes, a few people by your side. But it’s no longer scaling an empire in the way the last few years has been about. We did that thing. It’s been amazing, it’s been awesome, it’s been great.
But you, you were always going to come back to just the writing. Creating. Coaching. Mentoring. Serving. ‘Making shit up and throwing it at the internet. The ART.
And it’s no longer time to invest into building a business”.
This is not a money thing. The coaching business continues to produce its millions each year. Last year was lower than the 2 years prior, but still in the consistent multi’s of said millions. My overall portfolio of assets + companies expanded during the same time by a shocking amount. (Smart investor over here apparently! Definitely some God input there too!). Meanwhile, I worked less than I have in years last year. I was filming a TV show for 3 months. And then blowing up + recreating my personal life for 6.
If it were a decision based on numbers, yes – it would still make sense to reduce my team. The business I’ve been running simply doesn’t require all the epic peeps who have been on the bus.
But really what this decision came down to is
a) where I want to go, and
b) the energy
The energy, simply, has been heavy. Bloated. Distractive. Not because of my team. Because of ME not having my core focus being on just the art, the creating for creating’s sake. And because of that ticking soul drum reminding me that hey – you over inflated this thing. You committed to growing something which is simply no longer the vibe. Admit it!
And as for where I want to go and where I am going, well –
I sure as shit ain’t disappearing off the internet. I came to write and speak and create. To serve and to UNLEASH.
But for me it’s always at its core been about the art. THAT is the beat of my heart. What I love to do and what I was born to do is to write. Speak. Create. Sell. And to personally mentor + kick the ass of the worlds most driven soul-led entrepreneurs, leaders, creators. I am in my ONLY flow when I am with my clients. With my words. With my soul. With God.
I am NOT in my flow when I am doing any.fucking.thing. to do with growing a business.
And here is what else –
whenever I release the focus on growth, or on building, or scaling,
things blow the fuck up.
Many people responded to my ‘I don’t wanna build an empire, I just wanna do my art’ post from last week. One of my team who I let go yesterday said she felt it coming because of that post.
The thing is …
I’ve written a version of that same post every year for the last 6 and maybe even 10 years.
The thing is …
I thought that maturity in business meant scaling what I’ve already built. Leveraging my assets, my programs. Having more people get my work out in more ways.
The thing is …
All I came here to do is let it come out every day the way it comes out, and IGNORE ALL ELSE.
The thing is …
I am certain that when I now once more revert ONLY to that the empire will next level the fuck outta itself in ways it’s never yet done.
My coaching business has produced nearly 30 million $ over the past years.
I would say 29.5 mil of this came from me doing absolutely nothing at all except for waking up and pressing play on what’s inside of me.
Every time I do anything except that all I do is slow shit down. Learn some lessons again. Do GOOD work in the world, and even great. But the magic I came here to do?
Well. It just doesn’t come through,
when you refuse to be only you.
And here is what else:
When I went into these heart-wrenching conversations this week I had no idea what to expect. I nearly caved at the last minute and tried to backtrack again.
But I followed through. I honoured soul. I honoured the VOID which is now calling me as I allow myself to once more submit fully to God, to creative flow, and to being shown what is ONLY when it is.
And do you know what happened?
Every.single.person. used the word ‘gratitude’ when I told them what was happening to their role, and why.
Gratitude to me and all they’ve received from me. All that this season has been about. All that they’ve become, through their work with me.
It was … simultaneously the most heart-wrenching and the most heart-warming thing I have ever experienced in business.
And what a testament to the fact that even in all the times I have pushed outside of my deepest truth to build and to grow, what I WAS still doing was honouring soul at THAT time. For the growth and the learning needed. And for, as has always been my intention, the greater good of not only myself but also my team, my community, my clients, and everyone.
My intention as I went in was gratitude. Kindness. Love. But also truth. And that is exactly what was reflected at me.
Here’s to the beautiful humans who have walked this path with me over the season of conscious building. They will continue to walk with me in some format. I will work with them as desired / needed to help them find their new paths. And after in each case years together, in some cases nearly a decade, I also know the love and friendship isn’t going anywhere. Honestly? I can’t wait to see what lands and ONLY expands for these badasses from here, as I know it will! What a beautiful thing it is to END a thing with only love and gratitude both ways.
And now here’s to the season of who the fuck cares about building I am here to release what’s IN me.
but all of it,
and watch.it.fly.
I’m excited to see my message and my work take ITSELF to the world in ever greater and more impactful ways. I am certain the path to this is a path that is stripped back, simple, almost bare.
And I’m excited for all the additional things I continue to give of my art and my heart to, in my other businesses, investments, and more.
And finally now, a reminder, which excites me for YOU –
Being a true entrepreneur is not about continuing on with what you started.
It’s about being honest about what now is. And brave enough to strip it all away,
in order to release what’s waiting.
Maybe,
just maybe,
being a human is about that too.
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