We are so excited to have Kate on the podcast and have her share her story and inspire you to be your best self!
Kate Ferrian is a Leader & Speaker who brings 16 years of corporate experience, specializing in building robust infrastructures and nurturing high-performing teams. Holding a degree in hospitality and event management, Kate is adept at organizing complex systems and creating strong foundations for success.
Kate’s expertise includes her personal journey of navigating the emotional turmoil of divorce and breaking free from abusive relationships. After enduring years of challenging generational patterns, Kate found the strength to rediscover her authentic self and reclaim her power.
Now, she dedicates her life to helping women who have faced obstacles such as self-doubt, unhealed emotional wounds, limiting beliefs, burnout, and the pressure to meet external expectations. She guides them through a process of peeling back the layers of inherited beliefs and patterns that no longer serve them.
With Kate’s support, women can overcome the limitations of their past, build new pathways, and create lives filled with clarity, confidence, and fulfillment.
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Transcript
Speaker 1 0:00
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR and I'm Dina Simon. Our guest today is Kate Ferrian. Kate is a leader and a speaker who brings 16 years of corporate experience specializing in building robust infrastructures and nurturing high performance teams. Kate, welcome to the podcast.
Kate F. 0:33
Thanks for having me.
John Simon 0:34
Kate, why don't you take a minute or two and tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, maybe where you live and what you like to do in the spare time?
Kate F. 0:42
Sure, yeah, so I live in Edina, Minnesota. I grew up here in the Twin Cities, and kind of traveled around the different suburbs, and have landed here in Edina, in the meantime. In my spare time, when I'm not running my business, I am, I love yoga, I love strength training and just getting outside and enjoying lots of activities in the Twin Cities here.
Dina Simon 1:04
And winter sports, because we have enough of winter. Was, what are your some of your favorite things to do in the winter?
Kate F. 1:09
You know? What's funny is, being from Minnesota, I actually don't enjoy winter sports. I ice skated for the first time about two years ago with my nephew, so I'm more of the like, hunker down inside with a nice cup of hot chocolate in the winter time.
Dina Simon 1:25
Same, same. Yes.
John Simon 1:29
Oh, cuddling up with a with a comforter and a fireplace and maybe a book and you're happy.
That's about it. Yes, yeah, my bookshelf is definitely full all the time. So I love, love cuddling up in the winter and reading a good book.
Speaker 1 1:45
So I liked reading the information that Dina sent me that you forwarded to her. You know, talking about, you know your journey, and you know true values that you have, and your visionary as an entrepreneur. But tell me a little bit about Simply Become It.
Kate F. 2:02
Yeah,
I'd love to share a little bit about Simply Become It. So it's actually a new business that I started last July. I was in the corporate world for over 15 years, all in the staffing industry, really helping staffing firms build out their infrastructure. Along with that, I did a lot of coaching and mentoring and the teams that I led, and absolutely loved that career, but my business Simply Become It, ultimately came from both my corporate experience and my personal journey of going through a divorce and then a relationship that had some physical, emotional and verbal abuse, and so Simply Become It was born out of that experience, and really peeling back the layers, getting to know myself at a deeper level, and creating a space where women can truly be seen and heard for who they are. And so I started taking a couple baby steps into my business about a year ago, and got the the itch to want to do that full time, and left my corporate job as a Vice President of Operations to take that plunge last summer.
Dina Simon 3:03
A huge jump, right?
Kate F. 3:05
Huge jump.
Speaker 2 3:07
Yeah, it's, you know, it's scary, but when you go through this journey and you really get to understand yourself, you start building that trust within that says, You know what, I can do this. I've done this in the corporate world of leading teams and doing these things for other companies. I think I'm ready to do it for myself. And so it's a scary experience, but also a really empowering one.
Dina Simon 3:29
Yeah, and Kate, we talk about life, leadership and building legacies. And building legacies is the things that we're doing right now. It's not just the things that people talk about when we're gone, right? So everything that you have just explained, and this journey about your life, and all the leadership stuff that you have brought to corporate teams and continue to but also the leadership you're bringing to your own business, and then this legacy, right? So, so wrapped up in it, share with us a little bit about, you know? So we'd love to talk through Simply Become It how you started, where you're at now. But also, you know, as far as you want to talk about your true journey of what you went through, and then how you really you've done so much work. And I know this because I know you so you've done so much work that you're like you, you know how much you've grown, and then you're so inspired to help others go that might be traveling a piece of that journey. Like, how are you going to help them?
Kate F. 4:27
Yeah, absolutely. And I'll even kick it back to even in my corporate days, and I know you guys like to talk a little about, a little bit about leadership, and I used to say early in my career, like, I was a cruddy leader. I was that person who was climbing the ladder who was like, I don't have time for whoever's, you know, below me needing to teach, and we just need to get things done. And it wasn't long. It was a few years, and all of a sudden something just switched in me that said, you know, what, if I'm going to continue to grow, I need to lift others up. I need to bring them along. And I think really good leaders are actually really good educators. They take the time to really set great expectations and then teach along the way so that people have clear expectations and can actually meet those expectations and don't have to guess. And so that really was kind of a good start for me into then going through this journey to start my own business, and I ultimately really prided myself on becoming a really good leader, a leader that led teams that were empathetic and built on trust, and ultimately wanted to then take that, that same attitude into my own business. And so through my journey of divorce, a lot of lessons learned there as well, and that was, you know, I like to say I was, I was unaware for a good 35 years of my life in some of the patterns and the behaviors that were coming up, and that's why I wanted to take this journey and really start a business with it, so that I could help other women through it. So, yeah, I went through a divorce, and then I quickly jumped into another relationship, because the divorce was so easy. We didn't have kiddos, we were kind of ready to go our separate ways at the time, so I jumped into another relationship and knew that it wasn't the right thing for me, but ultimately, still was not aware of my own patterns and behaviors that were keeping me in that and so it really came to a turning point one night when there was a fight and I ended up with bruises, and it really took me being torn down to absolutely nothing. You know, you lose so much confidence. I think the only thing that was giving me any shred of confidence in that moment was my career. I was continuing to climb the ladder at that time, but that night really, really took a turn for me. And so through that experience, I knew that I needed help. I knew that I needed to ask for support. And I think too sometimes I'm gonna say, as women and just people in general, we have a really tough time asking for support and help. I was lucky enough to have a really good support system of friends around me, and ultimately, I actually started working out with a strength trainer, not even thinking that it was going to be the turning point for me on this journey of self discovery. And through that though, it really started building back my confidence. I thought, if I can push through a weight that I didn't think I could, I can. I can do hard things here. And so ultimately, through that time, I started working with other coaches and practitioners, and that is really what allowed me to keep moving forward and growing as a person, to the point where I left my corporate job not thinking I was going to I thought that I was like, that was the dream job. I was gonna grow into a COO and do all these amazing things. But through the journey of really building that trust in myself is ultimately what allowed me to take that leap. And so that experience had me build this business that took all of the strengths that I have innately as a person, it allows me to follow the values that I have, and I've really found my passion and being able to support other women regardless of what they're going through in life, but to know that it's okay to raise our hands and ask for support.
Speaker 1 8:06
I'm sure in the 16 years that you spent in corporate America, you had a lot of great leaders, and then maybe some not so great leaders, and the same with mentors that you worked under or with. Tell us a little bit about that.
Kate F. 8:19
Yeah, absolutely, it is. I've had both great leaders and not great leaders. I think actually, at one point in one of our cohort meetings, I think I asked everybody, are there good leaders out there? Right? Yeah, what does a good leader? What are those characteristics and qualities? Because I think so often, so many people get put into leadership roles because they were hard workers and good performers, but that doesn't always mean that we're going to be great leaders. So I was lucky enough early on in my career to have a couple amazing mentors, a CFO that worked at Salo at the time, and was one of those where I kept raising my hand and people were like, yes, let me show you. Let me show you more. Let me give you more, and without those, I wouldn't have been able to have the experiences that I had at a company, being able to kind of work my way through a lot of different departments and positions and get the education and knowledge to be able to then take a leap further in my career. Having mentors and coaches is so important and so important, yeah, and for me, it's, it's, that's what also, what got me out of the situation that I was in. I didn't just tap into one coach. I think it's really important to have an advisory board of coaches, practitioners and mentors around you, so that you get these different perspectives and can ultimately pick and choose what what resonates with you, but know that it's also expanding your mind in a way that might not otherwise have been.
John Simon 9:43
I can see why you and Dina get along so well, because you both worked in corporate America and you both came from the staffing industry.
Yeah, we did, exactly. So I just because I know this, I would love you, for you to touch on that then, because Simply Become It, you have curated a bunch of different practitioners. So similar to that having your advisory board, like you've curated trusted people that you have available to like, if I was working with you, like you have got this group of people that I could then pick from.
Kate F. 10:13
Yeah, I can talk a little bit about the journey, because I am so passionate about having different coaches. And I ultimately, actually don't call myself a coach. I call myself an Empowerment Strategist, because I'm here to facilitate this journey and ultimately empower women through it. And then I work with other coaches to go on that to take them further. And so the journey that I take women on, it's all about spending 5 to 10 minutes on yourself every single day for 90 days. We go through three kind of main areas. One is building confidence through our innate strengths. The next one is looking at our life holistically. And this is where the coaches come in. So we look at kind of that wheel of life, you know, career, finances, relationships, parenting, self-growth, things like that. And then we align a coach with kind of all of those different areas. And so once we get into that section, they start to get to meet the different coaches that I'm curating into what I'm calling this wellness team, or we call ourselves the Simply Synergy Squad, is our fun name for it. But then we go into a last period of limiting beliefs and tackling what are the things that are holding us back? And from there, we select one area of life that we want to focus on, and they go into a 30 day coaching program. And so then they can after that 30 day coaching program, if they're still wanting to work on different areas of life, they have trusted practitioners and coaches that they can then continue on with. And so what's helpful too, for these coaches is by building all this awareness at the beginning, they actually get to they're at a starting point that's probably almost like five or six sessions in that would normally be, you know, those first few sessions of coaching. And so in that 30 days, we're really focused on actually making some, some major changes in an area of life with one of those coaches.
Dina Simon 10:56
That's amazing. I love it.
Kate F. 12:03
Yeah, it's been, it's been so fun, so scary. But you know, when you find your passion and you truly believe in it, and you get to use your strengths every day and have amazing conversations like this, I don't know what, what's better.
Dina Simon 12:16
Right? It doesn't feel like work when you're when you're living in that.
Kate F. 12:20
No, no, it doesn't.
Dina Simon 12:22
So let's talk one more about this, and then we can talk about other things. But so who is an ideal client for you? Like, if you're looking at for people to know more about your what you're doing and the practice that you're building?
Kate F. 12:34
Yeah, absolutely. So there's three kind of main buckets that I think clients fall into. One is going to be women who are looking for more purpose, more passion, more fulfillment. You know, you've been climbing the ladder, corporate ladder for a long time, and you're starting to ask yourself, what's next? Do I keep one? Do I want to continue to climb the ladder? Do I want to take a left turn out of corporate. Where are my passions, and what do I want to follow? And so that's a great area. Another one is women looking for community. I think so often, you know, we're looking for those communities where we can really share ourselves in a way that is authentic, without feeling judged, without feeling competition, and Simply Become It is a great space for that. And then the last one is women in a period of transition. So whether that is a career transition, a relationship transition, becoming an empty nester and trying to find yourself again, and then it's it's a lot of I do only work with women at Simply Become It. I think men could definitely use this journey as well, and I would love to support that. But I'm really big on thinking that men have different ways of thinking and feeling and different experiences. And I'm I'm coming from my own experience. And so my hope someday is that there's a gentleman who wants to come in and do this journey alongside of me, but with men, so that we can really focus on their perspective. So I work with women, and it's a lot of ambitious women, I would say, corporate women and women kind of that age range of 25 to 55.
Dina Simon 14:06
Nice, nice. So John, the other thing that Kate is doing is she's throwing herself out in, like the speaker world. So she started to do some speaking. So that's another piece of area of growth and excitement for you. You want to share a little bit about that?
Kate F. 14:22
Yeah, I'd love to. So going into this business, I didn't think that I'd be speaking. It's one of those things where, you know, maybe I can remember back in corporate going to a conference and watching, you know, a speaker on stage, and I could remember sitting there going, huh? I think I could do that. Do I want to do that? I think I could, though, but it was nothing, nothing that was really in my wheelhouse at that time. And so then come to start my business. And as I was talking to people, I had a few people go, you need to speak, you need to tell your story, and get up on a stage and do that. And so I will talk about things aligning when you put yourself out there. But I met a gal who. Putting on an event in Maple Grove this last fall for 120 women, and they asked if I would tell my story of divorce and domestic violence. And so I worked with a speaking coach, and ultimately thought this is probably going to be a big part of my business and a way that I can have impact and show other women that it's safe to be vulnerable, but also that we all are going through something, and we all have a story, and we deserve to be heard. And so did that keynote, and since then, I've done it a few other times, and ultimately, I'm ready to launch that speaking career. But the one thing I want to talk about, too is this self discovery journey. And as you step into these things, it doesn't mean that there's not fear that comes with it. And so, you know, I tapped into our cohort a couple weeks ago to say, Hey, I wrote this email. I'm gonna get ready to send this out to everybody and promote my speaking. You know, can you guys give me some feedback? And, gosh, I it's some so amazing to have seven other women in your corner to step up and say, Yeah, make a tweak here, make a tweak there. And we are just so much stronger with people behind us. So . . .
Dina Simon 16:06
We are!
Kate F. 16:07
Yeah, getting ready to launch my speaking career and try and get up on more stages, because I do know that the story will have impact for other women, so that they know that they can get through whatever it is that life hands them nice. Yeah,
John Simon 16:19
That will help a lot of women down the road?
Yeah, I think so. I, you know, I, it's interesting, as scary as it is to start my own business and get out there. I keep saying I'm like, I would if I didn't have to support myself financially, like I would do this, this journey for free, and offer it to everybody, because I just am so passionate and believe that we all deserve to feel proud of ourselves, be able to say that
Dina Simon 16:45
absolutely. You know, I'm sure our family, with John and I doing your 45th podcast episode, so I'm sure our family wonders like, oh, what family secrets might be be sharing on this podcast and things of that nature. So with you out speaking similar like with your story and stuff, how does your family and people that are close to you that walk through that journey? How do they feel about you taking this to the stage?
Kate F. 17:11
Yeah, I so appreciate that question. It's been a struggle. It's been a journey to really talk about the things that are not talked about in families. And that is a big passion of mine, because I do think so many other women are facing that. So I do talk in my story. I talk about the fact that the two relationships I had, my divorce, and the relationship where there was domestic violence, well, my relationship first, when I was married, I was the person who was verbally and emotionally abusive. I was controlling. I was demanded a lot of, you know, behaviors that were probably not, you know, quite right to ask for and perfection and things like that. And so in my keynote, I talk about the fact that those two relationships didn't just all of a sudden come out of nowhere, they came out of the relationship that I saw between my parents growing up, even though there wasn't the physical abuse, there was emotional and verbal abuse in that relationship. And so when you see those things for a good majority of your life, subconsciously, without even knowing it, we're picking up all of those things. And so a big part of my keynote is talking about peeling back these layers. And I refer to as an artichoke, because there's like this outer layer, then there's like that choke. That is the toughest part to get through before we actually get to the heart of who we are. It's the icky stuff it is. It's our childhood trauma, it's the limiting beliefs that's like things that we're trying to kind of hide and choke down, that we don't want to talk about. But ultimately, when you look at the statistics out there of what happens in our bodies, in our minds, when we don't allow these traumas to come out and we don't talk about these things, they impact us for a really long time, and so it's really important for me that I share that, and I as a leader, I've always considered myself like I have to go first, and so if I have to go first and talk about these things, so that it can open other people up to be able to share their experiences and know that there's other people going through it, and there's support out there to get through it, then that's what I'll do. So it has caused definitely some strife in my family and some relationship dynamics, but I couldn't be happier in my life and know that the impact that I'm going to make, and I think I also want to say too. It doesn't mean that we come from places that are horrible, like there are so many amazing things that happen in our childhood and how our parents have raised us, and all the good and so this isn't a journey about like, hey, let's blame somebody and and that kind of thing, but and there's good and bad that comes out of it, and it's really just creating the awareness around the different behaviors that are ultimately keeping us stuck in life and holding us back.
John Simon 20:06
As you talk about it, you can tell how it's going to affect other people, because you're, you're very passionate about it, and I'm sure whenever you are talking about it, they can, they sense that passion, and they feel, they feel that passion. And I like what you talk about building new pathways with clarity, confidence and fulfillment. And that's so important for people.
Dina Simon 20:29
It is. And you know what, Kate, so your family has to be also so proud, really, of everything that you've gone through and how you've come out on this end, and then to pick yourselves up and and charge forward to impact the world in a positive way. I mean, you know our listeners will hear this without maybe knowing you. And those of that do listen and that know you, we just know that your authenticity, your passion, you know, your drive to just move forward in a really positive way, it just exudes from everything you just talked about.
Kate F. 21:03
Yeah, thank you. I hope so. I you know it is I know I am passionate about all these topics because it's women. Again. I'm not going to say men aren't amazing, but women are incredible. Women, really, we hold a lot of support, emotionally and mentally, and to have women in your corner and behind you, I think is, is a pretty incredible thing. And so so often. And again, I think men come from this too, is that we don't lean into our into the confidence. We don't lean into who we truly are, and can say that we're proud of it, because it sounds like it's egotistical if we say those things. And I just want us all to get to a point where we can come from a really knowing place of that we're enough and that we are valuable, just as we are.
Dina Simon 21:51
Yeah, and John, does it surprise you if we told you that like finding like so we've had the lovely ability in kicking off the season that you've got to meet some people that are in this collective group that I have, and obviously you know our relationship and supporting each other. We care about each other as people, as business people. You know we lean in both personal and professional. But does it surprise you that to hear that women have a hard time supporting each other.
John Simon 22:19
Well, not supporting each other, the hardest time to me is, as we talked about last week in the conversation we had, is that glass ceiling that you have to fight in order to just because I I was shocked that it's still there as much as it is, and I've been out of the workforce for over 25 years now, and it's probably better than it was then, but it's still not where it should be.
Dina Simon 22:43
Yeah, this was probably three years ago, and I'll share, I'll show it to you, John, but Mandy, my daughter for Christmas, you know, she does her wish list of all the things on a Google Doc that she wants, and puts her links in there. There is a necklace that is actually like a circle, and it's glass, and it shows like a shatter. And it talks about, like breaking through the glass ceiling, but it's something that she wanted. And so even at Mandy, probably at 19 years of age, at that point in time, you know, just felt like, yeah, this is, this is something I know that I'm going to be faced with, and how to, you know, have people around me.
Kate F. 23:17
And I think some of that also, I was getting ready to write a post the other day for International Women's Day. And you know, you're seeing so many posts out there. Women are supporting women. They're calling each other out. They're saying, Hey, we're, you know, like, I couldn't do it without her. And I wanted to take a little bit different approach on my post, because last week in my business, I mean, I am talking to a lot of women, but the conversations just happen kind of organically. And so last week alone, I talked to four other women who had either been physically or sexually abused, and I was getting ready to write this post, and then I was watching the Morning Show, and it had said something like, every 10 minutes a woman is killed by an intimate partner or family member around the world, and I just was on this like spot of like, are you kidding me? Like we have to have on International Women's Day. And yet, all of this is still happening. And as I was writing the post, I was actually going to write it to like our male allies, and say, here are the things that you can do to help in these areas of the glass ceilings and things like that. And as I was writing it, I was like, Ooh, this is already, this is starting to sound negative against men. And that's not my goal here at all. Because the thing is, again, I come back to the awareness of all of it. And so I actually went back into chat GPT, and I said, What are the things that women how do women discriminate against men that we're not aware of, and vice versa? And that's the conversation I want us all to be having. Are, what are the what are the things that we're doing that we're not even understanding are,actually the things that are discriminatory against, you know, either sex or anybody, because that's, that's the piece that we have to work on, is actually understanding what the behaviors are that are not okay.
Dina Simon 25:14
Yeah, yeah. Actually, that conversation right there. So obviously, I'm doing a podcast with my father in law, somebody who I worked with in my early 20s. So I had a very positive, good experience. And we love to talk about leadership and business and all of that. And I was surrounded by a lot of really great men. I actually had better men leaders, probably in my career than I had female leaders, because it was that, well, you know that some of my female leaders, like, I'm not going to help you, because I had to figure it out on my own. So you get to figure it out on your own, and so totally hear what you're saying, and then I think it's also we've made it more confusing because they're afraid to ask, you know, like, Should I be worried about you? Like, what's going on at home because you're coming in with bruises? Or, you know, they don't know what to say because they're afraid to say things. So I think there's a huge education around, like our male allies in our business and life, like, how to, how to, how to have that conversation on how they can support us.
Kate F. 26:14
Yeah, Yep, absolutely. I know I had a male leader one time, and I was going through, I think it was during my divorce, and he found out or whatever. And he was like, Can I give you a hug? Is that? Oh, and it is. It makes it really hard if we're not open and talking about these things and what's appropriate and what's not, and giving each other some grace in that too.
Dina Simon 26:35
Yeah, yeah. So life, leadership and building legacies, as I talked about legacies, is what we're doing now. So talk to us a little bit anything else that you would like to share with our listeners on either of those topics.
Kate F. 26:47
You know, I think the legacy part for me is so I don't have kiddos right now, and I think that's I can look back at my journey and understand why I don't up until this point, and I'm not throwing it off the table yet. But I think the legacy piece of it for me is that the work that I am doing here and the impact that I can have for I have, I actually have two nephews, 14, 11, and then I just had a third nephew who is who was just born. And so this work for me is important for that as well, because I am trying to stop some of this generational behavior and show them and give them a good role model for what relationships you know should be. And so that's the legacy. Part of it too, for me, is just also impacting any of the kids that are growing up around me and and doing that in a way that gives them a different foundation, for sure.
Dina Simon 27:41
Yeah, and John, I told Kate. I think I told you, Kate the other like, two weeks ago when we talked, when you were working on your email about your speaking, and I think I shared that that week I had done a presentation, and a lady showed up who said, I'm here because I saw that you were speaking and I saw you 10 years ago, like you, you won't even know the impact with what you're doing right now, like you'll see it with those that you're around you and are telling you, but for years to come, people are it's that ripple effect, and people will come back and and tell you stories. And so that's that's a huge piece of that legacy that you're building on a much larger scale outside of just also your family.
Kate F. 27:41
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's it's so fun. What better way to be proud of yourself, too? I think this journey has allowed me to be the most authentic version, the truest version of who I actually am. And that's part in my keynote too, that I say how to have impact on those around you, because you are who you are is a pretty amazing thing.
John Simon 28:45
And when you take a look at it, in spite of everything that you went through, look how successful you are now.
Kate F. 28:46
Yeah, yep, I always say, like there is not a thing that I've gone through that I regret. I wouldn't be where I'm standing where I am today if I haven't gone through those things. And I think that is my hope for other other women and people too, is that we can, we have two choices. We can either look at the things that happen to us and think, oh my gosh, poor me, and go into kind of that victim mentality, or we can say, You know what, what am I going to learn from this? And how am I going to move forward?
John Simon 29:18
Well said.
Dina Simon 29:19
Well said, oh my gosh. Well, Kate has been so much fun having you on.
Kate F. 29:24
This is such a fun conversation. Thank you.
Dina Simon 29:27
You are welcome.
John Simon 29:29
Kate. Thank you for joining our podcast today.
Kate F. 29:32
Yeah, thank you.
Dina Simon 29:35
I would like to thank Kate Ferrian for joining us. She is the founder of Simply Become It, and as you heard, just a powerhouse in working through everything she's gone through in her personal journey and how she would like to help other women as they're going through, really any transition in life, she has curated wonderful people around her in her business to just be that board of advisors and coaches that her customers clients can work with. And just, we'll make sure you know how to get in touch with her and check her out in our show notes. But Kate, just so proud of everything that you are doing out in the world, and I will continue to be your cheerleader and support you in any way that I can. And just, thank you for sharing your story and being on the podcast with us. As always, I thank my father in law, John Simon, for co-hosting with me, and our podcast is a part of the C-Suite radio. And until we talk again.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR and I'm Dina Simon. Our guest today is Kate Ferrian. Kate is a leader and a speaker who brings 16 years of corporate experience specializing in building robust infrastructures and nurturing high performance teams. Kate, welcome to the podcast.
Kate F. 0:33
Thanks for having me.
John Simon 0:34
Kate, why don't you take a minute or two and tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, maybe where you live and what you like to do in the spare time?
Kate F. 0:42
Sure, yeah, so I live in Edina, Minnesota. I grew up here in the Twin Cities, and kind of traveled around the different suburbs, and have landed here in Edina, in the meantime. In my spare time, when I'm not running my business, I am, I love yoga, I love strength training and just getting outside and enjoying lots of activities in the Twin Cities here.
Dina Simon 1:04
And winter sports, because we have enough of winter. Was, what are your some of your favorite things to do in the winter?
Kate F. 1:09
You know? What's funny is, being from Minnesota, I actually don't enjoy winter sports. I ice skated for the first time about two years ago with my nephew, so I'm more of the like, hunker down inside with a nice cup of hot chocolate in the winter time.
Dina Simon 1:25
Same, same. Yes.
John Simon 1:29
Oh, cuddling up with a with a comforter and a fireplace and maybe a book and you're happy.
That's about it. Yes, yeah, my bookshelf is definitely full all the time. So I love, love cuddling up in the winter and reading a good book.
Speaker 1 1:45
So I liked reading the information that Dina sent me that you forwarded to her. You know, talking about, you know your journey, and you know true values that you have, and your visionary as an entrepreneur. But tell me a little bit about Simply Become It.
Kate F. 2:02
Yeah,
I'd love to share a little bit about Simply Become It. So it's actually a new business that I started last July. I was in the corporate world for over 15 years, all in the staffing industry, really helping staffing firms build out their infrastructure. Along with that, I did a lot of coaching and mentoring and the teams that I led, and absolutely loved that career, but my business Simply Become It, ultimately came from both my corporate experience and my personal journey of going through a divorce and then a relationship that had some physical, emotional and verbal abuse, and so Simply Become It was born out of that experience, and really peeling back the layers, getting to know myself at a deeper level, and creating a space where women can truly be seen and heard for who they are. And so I started taking a couple baby steps into my business about a year ago, and got the the itch to want to do that full time, and left my corporate job as a Vice President of Operations to take that plunge last summer.
Dina Simon 3:03
A huge jump, right?
Kate F. 3:05
Huge jump.
Speaker 2 3:07
Yeah, it's, you know, it's scary, but when you go through this journey and you really get to understand yourself, you start building that trust within that says, You know what, I can do this. I've done this in the corporate world of leading teams and doing these things for other companies. I think I'm ready to do it for myself. And so it's a scary experience, but also a really empowering one.
Dina Simon 3:29
Yeah, and Kate, we talk about life, leadership and building legacies. And building legacies is the things that we're doing right now. It's not just the things that people talk about when we're gone, right? So everything that you have just explained, and this journey about your life, and all the leadership stuff that you have brought to corporate teams and continue to but also the leadership you're bringing to your own business, and then this legacy, right? So, so wrapped up in it, share with us a little bit about, you know? So we'd love to talk through Simply Become It how you started, where you're at now. But also, you know, as far as you want to talk about your true journey of what you went through, and then how you really you've done so much work. And I know this because I know you so you've done so much work that you're like you, you know how much you've grown, and then you're so inspired to help others go that might be traveling a piece of that journey. Like, how are you going to help them?
Kate F. 4:27
Yeah, absolutely. And I'll even kick it back to even in my corporate days, and I know you guys like to talk a little about, a little bit about leadership, and I used to say early in my career, like, I was a cruddy leader. I was that person who was climbing the ladder who was like, I don't have time for whoever's, you know, below me needing to teach, and we just need to get things done. And it wasn't long. It was a few years, and all of a sudden something just switched in me that said, you know, what, if I'm going to continue to grow, I need to lift others up. I need to bring them along. And I think really good leaders are actually really good educators. They take the time to really set great expectations and then teach along the way so that people have clear expectations and can actually meet those expectations and don't have to guess. And so that really was kind of a good start for me into then going through this journey to start my own business, and I ultimately really prided myself on becoming a really good leader, a leader that led teams that were empathetic and built on trust, and ultimately wanted to then take that, that same attitude into my own business. And so through my journey of divorce, a lot of lessons learned there as well, and that was, you know, I like to say I was, I was unaware for a good 35 years of my life in some of the patterns and the behaviors that were coming up, and that's why I wanted to take this journey and really start a business with it, so that I could help other women through it. So, yeah, I went through a divorce, and then I quickly jumped into another relationship, because the divorce was so easy. We didn't have kiddos, we were kind of ready to go our separate ways at the time, so I jumped into another relationship and knew that it wasn't the right thing for me, but ultimately, still was not aware of my own patterns and behaviors that were keeping me in that and so it really came to a turning point one night when there was a fight and I ended up with bruises, and it really took me being torn down to absolutely nothing. You know, you lose so much confidence. I think the only thing that was giving me any shred of confidence in that moment was my career. I was continuing to climb the ladder at that time, but that night really, really took a turn for me. And so through that experience, I knew that I needed help. I knew that I needed to ask for support. And I think too sometimes I'm gonna say, as women and just people in general, we have a really tough time asking for support and help. I was lucky enough to have a really good support system of friends around me, and ultimately, I actually started working out with a strength trainer, not even thinking that it was going to be the turning point for me on this journey of self discovery. And through that though, it really started building back my confidence. I thought, if I can push through a weight that I didn't think I could, I can. I can do hard things here. And so ultimately, through that time, I started working with other coaches and practitioners, and that is really what allowed me to keep moving forward and growing as a person, to the point where I left my corporate job not thinking I was going to I thought that I was like, that was the dream job. I was gonna grow into a COO and do all these amazing things. But through the journey of really building that trust in myself is ultimately what allowed me to take that leap. And so that experience had me build this business that took all of the strengths that I have innately as a person, it allows me to follow the values that I have, and I've really found my passion and being able to support other women regardless of what they're going through in life, but to know that it's okay to raise our hands and ask for support.
Speaker 1 8:06
I'm sure in the 16 years that you spent in corporate America, you had a lot of great leaders, and then maybe some not so great leaders, and the same with mentors that you worked under or with. Tell us a little bit about that.
Kate F. 8:19
Yeah, absolutely, it is. I've had both great leaders and not great leaders. I think actually, at one point in one of our cohort meetings, I think I asked everybody, are there good leaders out there? Right? Yeah, what does a good leader? What are those characteristics and qualities? Because I think so often, so many people get put into leadership roles because they were hard workers and good performers, but that doesn't always mean that we're going to be great leaders. So I was lucky enough early on in my career to have a couple amazing mentors, a CFO that worked at Salo at the time, and was one of those where I kept raising my hand and people were like, yes, let me show you. Let me show you more. Let me give you more, and without those, I wouldn't have been able to have the experiences that I had at a company, being able to kind of work my way through a lot of different departments and positions and get the education and knowledge to be able to then take a leap further in my career. Having mentors and coaches is so important and so important, yeah, and for me, it's, it's, that's what also, what got me out of the situation that I was in. I didn't just tap into one coach. I think it's really important to have an advisory board of coaches, practitioners and mentors around you, so that you get these different perspectives and can ultimately pick and choose what what resonates with you, but know that it's also expanding your mind in a way that might not otherwise have been.
John Simon 9:43
I can see why you and Dina get along so well, because you both worked in corporate America and you both came from the staffing industry.
Yeah, we did, exactly. So I just because I know this, I would love you, for you to touch on that then, because Simply Become It, you have curated a bunch of different practitioners. So similar to that having your advisory board, like you've curated trusted people that you have available to like, if I was working with you, like you have got this group of people that I could then pick from.
Kate F. 10:13
Yeah, I can talk a little bit about the journey, because I am so passionate about having different coaches. And I ultimately, actually don't call myself a coach. I call myself an Empowerment Strategist, because I'm here to facilitate this journey and ultimately empower women through it. And then I work with other coaches to go on that to take them further. And so the journey that I take women on, it's all about spending 5 to 10 minutes on yourself every single day for 90 days. We go through three kind of main areas. One is building confidence through our innate strengths. The next one is looking at our life holistically. And this is where the coaches come in. So we look at kind of that wheel of life, you know, career, finances, relationships, parenting, self-growth, things like that. And then we align a coach with kind of all of those different areas. And so once we get into that section, they start to get to meet the different coaches that I'm curating into what I'm calling this wellness team, or we call ourselves the Simply Synergy Squad, is our fun name for it. But then we go into a last period of limiting beliefs and tackling what are the things that are holding us back? And from there, we select one area of life that we want to focus on, and they go into a 30 day coaching program. And so then they can after that 30 day coaching program, if they're still wanting to work on different areas of life, they have trusted practitioners and coaches that they can then continue on with. And so what's helpful too, for these coaches is by building all this awareness at the beginning, they actually get to they're at a starting point that's probably almost like five or six sessions in that would normally be, you know, those first few sessions of coaching. And so in that 30 days, we're really focused on actually making some, some major changes in an area of life with one of those coaches.
Dina Simon 10:56
That's amazing. I love it.
Kate F. 12:03
Yeah, it's been, it's been so fun, so scary. But you know, when you find your passion and you truly believe in it, and you get to use your strengths every day and have amazing conversations like this, I don't know what, what's better.
Dina Simon 12:16
Right? It doesn't feel like work when you're when you're living in that.
Kate F. 12:20
No, no, it doesn't.
Dina Simon 12:22
So let's talk one more about this, and then we can talk about other things. But so who is an ideal client for you? Like, if you're looking at for people to know more about your what you're doing and the practice that you're building?
Kate F. 12:34
Yeah, absolutely. So there's three kind of main buckets that I think clients fall into. One is going to be women who are looking for more purpose, more passion, more fulfillment. You know, you've been climbing the ladder, corporate ladder for a long time, and you're starting to ask yourself, what's next? Do I keep one? Do I want to continue to climb the ladder? Do I want to take a left turn out of corporate. Where are my passions, and what do I want to follow? And so that's a great area. Another one is women looking for community. I think so often, you know, we're looking for those communities where we can really share ourselves in a way that is authentic, without feeling judged, without feeling competition, and Simply Become It is a great space for that. And then the last one is women in a period of transition. So whether that is a career transition, a relationship transition, becoming an empty nester and trying to find yourself again, and then it's it's a lot of I do only work with women at Simply Become It. I think men could definitely use this journey as well, and I would love to support that. But I'm really big on thinking that men have different ways of thinking and feeling and different experiences. And I'm I'm coming from my own experience. And so my hope someday is that there's a gentleman who wants to come in and do this journey alongside of me, but with men, so that we can really focus on their perspective. So I work with women, and it's a lot of ambitious women, I would say, corporate women and women kind of that age range of 25 to 55.
Dina Simon 14:06
Nice, nice. So John, the other thing that Kate is doing is she's throwing herself out in, like the speaker world. So she started to do some speaking. So that's another piece of area of growth and excitement for you. You want to share a little bit about that?
Kate F. 14:22
Yeah, I'd love to. So going into this business, I didn't think that I'd be speaking. It's one of those things where, you know, maybe I can remember back in corporate going to a conference and watching, you know, a speaker on stage, and I could remember sitting there going, huh? I think I could do that. Do I want to do that? I think I could, though, but it was nothing, nothing that was really in my wheelhouse at that time. And so then come to start my business. And as I was talking to people, I had a few people go, you need to speak, you need to tell your story, and get up on a stage and do that. And so I will talk about things aligning when you put yourself out there. But I met a gal who. Putting on an event in Maple Grove this last fall for 120 women, and they asked if I would tell my story of divorce and domestic violence. And so I worked with a speaking coach, and ultimately thought this is probably going to be a big part of my business and a way that I can have impact and show other women that it's safe to be vulnerable, but also that we all are going through something, and we all have a story, and we deserve to be heard. And so did that keynote, and since then, I've done it a few other times, and ultimately, I'm ready to launch that speaking career. But the one thing I want to talk about, too is this self discovery journey. And as you step into these things, it doesn't mean that there's not fear that comes with it. And so, you know, I tapped into our cohort a couple weeks ago to say, Hey, I wrote this email. I'm gonna get ready to send this out to everybody and promote my speaking. You know, can you guys give me some feedback? And, gosh, I it's some so amazing to have seven other women in your corner to step up and say, Yeah, make a tweak here, make a tweak there. And we are just so much stronger with people behind us. So . . .
Dina Simon 16:06
We are!
Kate F. 16:07
Yeah, getting ready to launch my speaking career and try and get up on more stages, because I do know that the story will have impact for other women, so that they know that they can get through whatever it is that life hands them nice. Yeah,
John Simon 16:19
That will help a lot of women down the road?
Yeah, I think so. I, you know, I, it's interesting, as scary as it is to start my own business and get out there. I keep saying I'm like, I would if I didn't have to support myself financially, like I would do this, this journey for free, and offer it to everybody, because I just am so passionate and believe that we all deserve to feel proud of ourselves, be able to say that
Dina Simon 16:45
absolutely. You know, I'm sure our family, with John and I doing your 45th podcast episode, so I'm sure our family wonders like, oh, what family secrets might be be sharing on this podcast and things of that nature. So with you out speaking similar like with your story and stuff, how does your family and people that are close to you that walk through that journey? How do they feel about you taking this to the stage?
Kate F. 17:11
Yeah, I so appreciate that question. It's been a struggle. It's been a journey to really talk about the things that are not talked about in families. And that is a big passion of mine, because I do think so many other women are facing that. So I do talk in my story. I talk about the fact that the two relationships I had, my divorce, and the relationship where there was domestic violence, well, my relationship first, when I was married, I was the person who was verbally and emotionally abusive. I was controlling. I was demanded a lot of, you know, behaviors that were probably not, you know, quite right to ask for and perfection and things like that. And so in my keynote, I talk about the fact that those two relationships didn't just all of a sudden come out of nowhere, they came out of the relationship that I saw between my parents growing up, even though there wasn't the physical abuse, there was emotional and verbal abuse in that relationship. And so when you see those things for a good majority of your life, subconsciously, without even knowing it, we're picking up all of those things. And so a big part of my keynote is talking about peeling back these layers. And I refer to as an artichoke, because there's like this outer layer, then there's like that choke. That is the toughest part to get through before we actually get to the heart of who we are. It's the icky stuff it is. It's our childhood trauma, it's the limiting beliefs that's like things that we're trying to kind of hide and choke down, that we don't want to talk about. But ultimately, when you look at the statistics out there of what happens in our bodies, in our minds, when we don't allow these traumas to come out and we don't talk about these things, they impact us for a really long time, and so it's really important for me that I share that, and I as a leader, I've always considered myself like I have to go first, and so if I have to go first and talk about these things, so that it can open other people up to be able to share their experiences and know that there's other people going through it, and there's support out there to get through it, then that's what I'll do. So it has caused definitely some strife in my family and some relationship dynamics, but I couldn't be happier in my life and know that the impact that I'm going to make, and I think I also want to say too. It doesn't mean that we come from places that are horrible, like there are so many amazing things that happen in our childhood and how our parents have raised us, and all the good and so this isn't a journey about like, hey, let's blame somebody and and that kind of thing, but and there's good and bad that comes out of it, and it's really just creating the awareness around the different behaviors that are ultimately keeping us stuck in life and holding us back.
John Simon 20:06
As you talk about it, you can tell how it's going to affect other people, because you're, you're very passionate about it, and I'm sure whenever you are talking about it, they can, they sense that passion, and they feel, they feel that passion. And I like what you talk about building new pathways with clarity, confidence and fulfillment. And that's so important for people.
Dina Simon 20:29
It is. And you know what, Kate, so your family has to be also so proud, really, of everything that you've gone through and how you've come out on this end, and then to pick yourselves up and and charge forward to impact the world in a positive way. I mean, you know our listeners will hear this without maybe knowing you. And those of that do listen and that know you, we just know that your authenticity, your passion, you know, your drive to just move forward in a really positive way, it just exudes from everything you just talked about.
Kate F. 21:03
Yeah, thank you. I hope so. I you know it is I know I am passionate about all these topics because it's women. Again. I'm not going to say men aren't amazing, but women are incredible. Women, really, we hold a lot of support, emotionally and mentally, and to have women in your corner and behind you, I think is, is a pretty incredible thing. And so so often. And again, I think men come from this too, is that we don't lean into our into the confidence. We don't lean into who we truly are, and can say that we're proud of it, because it sounds like it's egotistical if we say those things. And I just want us all to get to a point where we can come from a really knowing place of that we're enough and that we are valuable, just as we are.
Dina Simon 21:51
Yeah, and John, does it surprise you if we told you that like finding like so we've had the lovely ability in kicking off the season that you've got to meet some people that are in this collective group that I have, and obviously you know our relationship and supporting each other. We care about each other as people, as business people. You know we lean in both personal and professional. But does it surprise you that to hear that women have a hard time supporting each other.
John Simon 22:19
Well, not supporting each other, the hardest time to me is, as we talked about last week in the conversation we had, is that glass ceiling that you have to fight in order to just because I I was shocked that it's still there as much as it is, and I've been out of the workforce for over 25 years now, and it's probably better than it was then, but it's still not where it should be.
Dina Simon 22:43
Yeah, this was probably three years ago, and I'll share, I'll show it to you, John, but Mandy, my daughter for Christmas, you know, she does her wish list of all the things on a Google Doc that she wants, and puts her links in there. There is a necklace that is actually like a circle, and it's glass, and it shows like a shatter. And it talks about, like breaking through the glass ceiling, but it's something that she wanted. And so even at Mandy, probably at 19 years of age, at that point in time, you know, just felt like, yeah, this is, this is something I know that I'm going to be faced with, and how to, you know, have people around me.
Kate F. 23:17
And I think some of that also, I was getting ready to write a post the other day for International Women's Day. And you know, you're seeing so many posts out there. Women are supporting women. They're calling each other out. They're saying, Hey, we're, you know, like, I couldn't do it without her. And I wanted to take a little bit different approach on my post, because last week in my business, I mean, I am talking to a lot of women, but the conversations just happen kind of organically. And so last week alone, I talked to four other women who had either been physically or sexually abused, and I was getting ready to write this post, and then I was watching the Morning Show, and it had said something like, every 10 minutes a woman is killed by an intimate partner or family member around the world, and I just was on this like spot of like, are you kidding me? Like we have to have on International Women's Day. And yet, all of this is still happening. And as I was writing the post, I was actually going to write it to like our male allies, and say, here are the things that you can do to help in these areas of the glass ceilings and things like that. And as I was writing it, I was like, Ooh, this is already, this is starting to sound negative against men. And that's not my goal here at all. Because the thing is, again, I come back to the awareness of all of it. And so I actually went back into chat GPT, and I said, What are the things that women how do women discriminate against men that we're not aware of, and vice versa? And that's the conversation I want us all to be having. Are, what are the what are the things that we're doing that we're not even understanding are,actually the things that are discriminatory against, you know, either sex or anybody, because that's, that's the piece that we have to work on, is actually understanding what the behaviors are that are not okay.
Dina Simon 25:14
Yeah, yeah. Actually, that conversation right there. So obviously, I'm doing a podcast with my father in law, somebody who I worked with in my early 20s. So I had a very positive, good experience. And we love to talk about leadership and business and all of that. And I was surrounded by a lot of really great men. I actually had better men leaders, probably in my career than I had female leaders, because it was that, well, you know that some of my female leaders, like, I'm not going to help you, because I had to figure it out on my own. So you get to figure it out on your own, and so totally hear what you're saying, and then I think it's also we've made it more confusing because they're afraid to ask, you know, like, Should I be worried about you? Like, what's going on at home because you're coming in with bruises? Or, you know, they don't know what to say because they're afraid to say things. So I think there's a huge education around, like our male allies in our business and life, like, how to, how to, how to have that conversation on how they can support us.
Kate F. 26:14
Yeah, Yep, absolutely. I know I had a male leader one time, and I was going through, I think it was during my divorce, and he found out or whatever. And he was like, Can I give you a hug? Is that? Oh, and it is. It makes it really hard if we're not open and talking about these things and what's appropriate and what's not, and giving each other some grace in that too.
Dina Simon 26:35
Yeah, yeah. So life, leadership and building legacies, as I talked about legacies, is what we're doing now. So talk to us a little bit anything else that you would like to share with our listeners on either of those topics.
Kate F. 26:47
You know, I think the legacy part for me is so I don't have kiddos right now, and I think that's I can look back at my journey and understand why I don't up until this point, and I'm not throwing it off the table yet. But I think the legacy piece of it for me is that the work that I am doing here and the impact that I can have for I have, I actually have two nephews, 14, 11, and then I just had a third nephew who is who was just born. And so this work for me is important for that as well, because I am trying to stop some of this generational behavior and show them and give them a good role model for what relationships you know should be. And so that's the legacy. Part of it too, for me, is just also impacting any of the kids that are growing up around me and and doing that in a way that gives them a different foundation, for sure.
Dina Simon 27:41
Yeah, and John, I told Kate. I think I told you, Kate the other like, two weeks ago when we talked, when you were working on your email about your speaking, and I think I shared that that week I had done a presentation, and a lady showed up who said, I'm here because I saw that you were speaking and I saw you 10 years ago, like you, you won't even know the impact with what you're doing right now, like you'll see it with those that you're around you and are telling you, but for years to come, people are it's that ripple effect, and people will come back and and tell you stories. And so that's that's a huge piece of that legacy that you're building on a much larger scale outside of just also your family.
Kate F. 27:41
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's it's so fun. What better way to be proud of yourself, too? I think this journey has allowed me to be the most authentic version, the truest version of who I actually am. And that's part in my keynote too, that I say how to have impact on those around you, because you are who you are is a pretty amazing thing.
John Simon 28:45
And when you take a look at it, in spite of everything that you went through, look how successful you are now.
Kate F. 28:46
Yeah, yep, I always say, like there is not a thing that I've gone through that I regret. I wouldn't be where I'm standing where I am today if I haven't gone through those things. And I think that is my hope for other other women and people too, is that we can, we have two choices. We can either look at the things that happen to us and think, oh my gosh, poor me, and go into kind of that victim mentality, or we can say, You know what, what am I going to learn from this? And how am I going to move forward?
John Simon 29:18
Well said.
Dina Simon 29:19
Well said, oh my gosh. Well, Kate has been so much fun having you on.
Kate F. 29:24
This is such a fun conversation. Thank you.
Dina Simon 29:27
You are welcome.
John Simon 29:29
Kate. Thank you for joining our podcast today.
Kate F. 29:32
Yeah, thank you.
Dina Simon 29:35
I would like to thank Kate Ferrian for joining us. She is the founder of Simply Become It, and as you heard, just a powerhouse in working through everything she's gone through in her personal journey and how she would like to help other women as they're going through, really any transition in life, she has curated wonderful people around her in her business to just be that board of advisors and coaches that her customers clients can work with. And just, we'll make sure you know how to get in touch with her and check her out in our show notes. But Kate, just so proud of everything that you are doing out in the world, and I will continue to be your cheerleader and support you in any way that I can. And just, thank you for sharing your story and being on the podcast with us. As always, I thank my father in law, John Simon, for co-hosting with me, and our podcast is a part of the C-Suite radio. And until we talk again.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai