IAM2754 – Founder Inspires and Empowers Women to See Their Value and Power

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded.

Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

Kate Bryan 00:00
Don'T be afraid to take the jump. Because the moment that I gave myself the freedom to jump and the moment that I moved back to, I said, you know what, I, I've had enough in DC. I wanna move back to Detroit to be closer to my family and also to, to create this space so I could launch One Girl Revolution. I felt like I really needed to be in Detroit or somewhere, you know, somewhere where there, there weren't as many, um, pressures or politics or different things that I saw in DC. So I really wanted to kind of be in a, a creative space. And, um, the second that I gave myself the freedom to really just jump, and it, it's scary. It's scary to jump when you have an idea or you have a dream that you're chasing. It's really scary to jump off and do it, but I would say don't be afraid to jump and just do it.

Gresham Harkless 01:11
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Kate Bryan of One Girl Revolution. Kate, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Kate Bryan 01:19
Thanks so much for having me, Gresh.

Gresham Harkless 01:21
No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Kate so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Kate is the founder and CEO of One Girl Revolution. After living away from Detroit for nearly 10 years, Kate recently returned to her roots and decided that Detroit was the ideal place to launch One Girl Revolution. One Girl Revolution is the embodiment of Detroit's two mottos: there is always hope and it will rise from the ashes. Just like for us, there is always hope and we will rise from the ashes. One Girl Revolution highlights the stories of everyday women who are changing the world through their lives, and our hope is And their hope is that we can inspire and empower every woman to see her value, her purpose, and her power, and recognize that she has the power to change the world through her life. Kate, are you ready to speak to the IMCO community?

Kate Bryan 02:04
I'm ready.

Gresham Harkless 02:05
Awesome. Let's do it. So, to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to get started with your business.

Kate Bryan 02:11
Sure. So, my, I guess my CEO story really starts when I lived in DC. I lived in DC for 6 years, not very far from where you are, Grasshopper. And, um, I lived there for 6 years and worked in PR, so public relations and media, and I felt like there there were so many stories that weren't being told, particularly stories of women, women who are changing the world through their lives. And so after being in DC for 6 years, I decided to move back to Detroit. And when I moved back, I saw those two phrases that you mentioned before. I was reading a book about Detroit and I saw those two phrases, and it was almost like this epiphany moment where everything kind of collided. And I realized, I was like, oh my gosh, I could create a platform for women to tell their stories where, you know, I don't really have an agenda. I just allow women the, the opportunity to tell their stories. So many of the women that I've interviewed over the past year, really, um, it's only been a year and I've interviewed over 75 women, um, all across the country, all different stories, whether it's going through addiction and recovery and now they're helping other, um, women through recovery, uh, victims or survivors of human trafficking who now are helping other survivors of human trafficking or helping women get out, um, all the way over to a little 5-year-old girl that creates coloring books for children in hospitals. So there's so many stories that, that need to be out there. And so it kind of was like a, a heart project that I wanted to do. And I felt like, you know, there were a lot of different ways that I could do it and, you know, run it through a different business. But then I thought, you know what, I bet I could just do it on my own. And so that's what I did.

Gresham Harkless 03:36
Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And, you know, definitely hearing, of course you were in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area, the good old DMV. But I think that what you kind of spoke to is one of the beautiful things about, you know, this day and age where, you know, if you have or you feel like something isn't focused or doesn't get enough airway, so to speak, you don't have to necessarily wait for, you know, this publication to pick it up or that publication to pick it up. We actually have the power to, to create our own podcast, create our own, whatever we want to create because we have all this technology at our fingertips.

Kate Bryan 04:03
Exactly. And social media is such a powerful force in that, that we can build a, we really have built a community through social media and podcasting. So many people are supporting one another and it's a way to connect with people that you may not get access to otherwise. So I, I think it's great.

Gresham Harkless 04:17
Yeah, absolutely. I know you spoke a lot about like the, um, when we talked offline about the, the community that, that is in Detroit, especially for like podcasters that I didn't even know of. So it's great to kind of hear that you've been able to kind of leverage that and you guys have such a strong community.

Kate Bryan 04:28
Yeah, exactly. And so many young people are moving to Detroit because there really is this revitalization and it's cheap, to be totally honest. It's cheap to live in Detroit. So a lot of people are moving here to really kind of build their businesses. There's a lot of, um, young people that are starting businesses or opening restaurants or different things. So it's a really vibrant community.

Gresham Harkless 04:45
Yeah, absolutely. There's definitely opportunity there. So I appreciate you for bringing light to that. So I know you touched on it a little bit. Can you tell us, I guess, a little bit more about your podcast and everything that you're hoping to kind of even see with the revolution? Sure.

Kate Bryan 04:56
So One Girl Revolution, you know, it started about a year ago. I kind of came up with this idea and it first started as a podcast. And so I was like, I'm just going to kind of test it and see how that goes. And it just continued to gain momentum and more and more people, more and more women wanted to do the podcast or different people would send me stories. And so. I really kind of created this network of women that were sharing their stories, all different, um, stories, all different ways, all different places across the country. Even some American— I focused on American women particularly at the moment. I'd love to get into international as well, but I, I have covered some American women that are overseas doing work in different countries cuz I think that that's really powerful. Um, but it started as a podcast and then in January I launched a website, onegirlrevolution.com. Um, and that is a platform, a bigger platform that uses the podcast, but also social media. So Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. So there's a video element as well to tell the stories of these women, or really let them tell their story. So let them tell their story through the podcast. But then I've also done a lot of video interviews. They're just one-on-one interviews where I sit down with different women and interview them about their story. So we'll see where it goes, but it's just continued to gain momentum and I'm really excited to see what the future holds.

Gresham Harkless 06:08
Yeah, I love that. And I think a lot of times, and definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but I kind of feel like when you have such a strong movement or revolution, for lack of a better term, you just kind of have to do the steps and then it kind of takes off from there. And a lot of times you just kind of have to see where it goes because it sounds like you have such a strong, um, first of all, passion for what it is that you're doing, but also such a strong mission. And it kind of sounds like it just will kind of take off from there.

Kate Bryan 06:30
Exactly. And these are the hard moments, right? It's, and I know we're going to get into this a little bit, but it's like the hard moments of starting something you have to deal with. The good, the bad, and the ugly, you know? So you kind of have to deal with even the kind of mundane stuff, which isn't great sometimes, but it's just continued to gain momentum. And I think for me, one of the driving forces is hearing these women's stories. And also a lot of these women have never told their stories before. They've never had an opportunity where somebody sat down and said, I wanna know you and I wanna know your story. And I think that that's really inspiring that these women are using this platform to tell their stories and it's inspiring other women to do good in their own communities.

Gresham Harkless 07:03
Yeah, absolutely. And bring light to, to everybody cuz everybody does have that story, but we don't all don't necessarily have that opportunity to do that. So I appreciate you for doing that. So, um, you might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And it could be for you personally or for One World Revolution, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Kate Bryan 07:19
I think that really it is creating this platform that's nonpolitical, it's non, um, divisive. You know, we try and focus on where people, people can come together. And so, I think that that's been a really powerful force and you don't often see that in the world. So I think at first some people were kind of confused by it 'cause they were like, well, is this political? Is this left? Is this right? Is it religious? Is it not? And I just had a very clear vision for it just being a platform where women can come together. ‘Cause I think that there's so many different, um, divi— there's so many divisive things in our world today and it just continues to get more and more divisive. So I focus on commonality, which I think is really important. And I, I, I love walking with these women through their stories. And I think, I know you do the same with your podcast. And it's like you kind of walk with these people through the good, the bad, and the ugly. And it's really opened my eyes to so many things. And I know it's opened other people's eyes. So yeah, I think like one of the main things that sets One Girl apart is just this space for commonality.

Gresham Harkless 08:18
Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like, you know, and I find, you know, something very similar where a lot of times when you hear people's stories, you hear why they started or why they're doing what they're doing or so on, their trials and tribulations and things like that. I think think, and I don't know if you find the same thing, that we find that we're a lot more similar than we are different. And despite all these outside influences that are trying to kind of break us apart, we're actually a lot more closely aligned than sometimes we can understand.

Kate Bryan 08:42
Exactly. And I actually, earlier today, I was on a phone call with a jail in the US. I'll tell you that, a jail in the US, and I'm in conversations with them about doing a story at the jail. And we were talking about, populations that are often forgotten about, forgotten about populations. And I think that a lot of times we forget about people that we don't see every day. And so obviously people who are in jail or in prison are forgotten about. Um, same with the homeless, same with, you know, if they're not in our own community or in our own eyesight, we just kind of forget about 'em. Addicts, you know, people that are addicted to different things. We all kind of have, in my mind, we all have addictions, whether it's social media or sugar or food or whatever our thing is, we all have something that we're struggling with. So, at the end of the day, we're all really the same, like you said. And so I think it's important to build these bridges, and I'm really excited. Hopefully this story comes through with the jail because I think that it would be really powerful to be able to build that bridge and say, who are these, who are these women? It would be a focus on women. Who are these women who are in jail and what's their story? And how do we build commonality? And how do we help women stay out of jail? How do we help people in general stay out of jail and prison? What are the things that, that we can do to be a resource for them and support one another in this crazy world?

Gresham Harkless 09:52
Yeah, absolutely. And I think sometimes when you don't, you aren't, or those things kind of get pushed to the back burner or you're not really aware of, sometimes you don't have that awareness about things that people are struggling through because we all are struggling through things. But a lot of times that gets pushed to the side or that gets avoided. And a lot of times if we have that awareness, we can start to combat those and maybe be on the offensive before they get to situations where we don't want them to get to.

Kate Bryan 10:15
Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 10:16
Nice. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what makes actually more effective and efficient.

Kate Bryan 10:25
So I, I hear a lot, and I think CEOs read a lot about, um, you know, getting up early, like if you get up at 4 AM or 5 AM. But what I've found actually is the complete opposite. I work when I, when I have something going on. So the great thing about being a CEO, or the great thing about having your own company or your own organization, is you can build your own schedule. And obviously we all have our responsibilities, but a hack that has really helped me is when I kind of let go of what worked for other people and I figured out what worked for me. And so Um, with regards to timeframe, if I, like last night I was up until 2 in the morning writing questions for, um, a podcast interview that I was doing and I just was like really passionate and I had time to actually like sit and focus. And so I stayed up and did it instead of going to bed at 9 and then getting up at 4 or whatever. Building, building my schedule around myself and when I know that I'm most productive. And so I think that that's a really important thing for people to look at their own lives and say, okay, when am I most productive? And focus on that, zero on that.

Gresham Harkless 11:20
We're all different, so. Exactly. Now I wanna ask you for a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you could hop into a time machine, would you tell your younger business self?

Kate Bryan 11:31
I would say, and really I think it's, there was a point where everything is timing, right? So like you have to be ready to take a jump, but for me it would be like, don't be afraid to take the jump because the moment that I gave myself the freedom to jump and the moment that I moved back to, I said, you know what, I, I've had enough in DC. I want to move back to Detroit to be closer to my family and also to create this space so I could launch One Girl Revolution. I felt like I really needed to be in Detroit or somewhere, you know, somewhere where there weren't as many pressures or politics or different things that I saw in D.C. So I really wanted to kind of be in a creative space. And the second that I gave myself the freedom to really just jump— and it's scary. It's scary to jump when you have an idea. Or you have a dream that you're chasing, it's really scary to jump off and do it. But I would say don't be afraid to jump and just do it. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 12:21
And I think a lot of times too, having that awareness of, um, that it is scary, you know, I think sometimes like going back to what we were kind of talking about before is that sometimes you're like, you just need to do it and not take into account that it is scary to actually do those things. I think that's when you kind of set yourself up sometimes for failure. But if you know that it's difficult and when you take that leap, you kind of know that it is going to be something that's going to be scary, but you're a little bit more aware of what's going to actually happen.

Kate Bryan 12:45
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And you're gonna have these moments where it's gonna, there are gonna be moments along the way. Once you jump, there are gonna be so many moments that really, uh, show you that what you're doing is right. And yeah, and surround yourself with good people. That's another one is like surround yourself with people. You're always gonna get even really close friends that don't really understand what you're doing or what your vision is, but then surround yourself with even a handful of people that just believe in what you're doing 100% because they'll give you the strength even, even in the moments when you're doubting yourself or doubting your choices. ‘Cause it does get hard sometimes. Um, but yeah, just jump and, and surround yourself with good people.

Gresham Harkless 13:20
Yeah, absolutely. And, and don't ignore those signs. And a lot of times those signs do come up in those good people. So when you're having that bad day and your, your friend or, or your significant other, whoever it might be in your life says, hey, you know, you can do it, then sometimes that's that sign that you need to keep going on. So I appreciate that perspective. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Kate, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Kate Bryan 13:44
Um, for me, it means— it means being a protector. I think I feel like I feel a responsibility to protect the people around me, the people that I work with, and support them. You know, it's kind of like I feel a deep responsibility to be the best that I can for all the people that are around me. And I'm human, so I'm not— I'm not perfect, um, by any means, but I really strive to be as good as I possibly can for the people that I'm working with., but also for all these women, I feel a deep responsibility to tell their stories in the way that they want. You know, I easily could go through and edit stories or cut things how I want or ask them questions that I know are kind of leading them down a particular path. But I work really, really hard to give these women a platform just to tell their story in the way that they want and give them the freedom to tell their story. So for me, there's a lot of, a lot of responsibility with being a CEO, but I think it's a really good responsibility and for us to see that as, as a positive and just You know, how can we be better people? How can we be better leaders? But also how can we make the world a better place by raising up people, raising up other people around us, whether it's people we're working with or, you know, if you're doing storytelling like what we're doing at One Girl Revolution.

Gresham Harkless 14:50
That you're raising people up. Yeah, I, I love that definition and that perspective that the idea of being that protector, because I think a lot of times when you do, you know, hear somebody's story, you hear about, you know, what their passion and what they love to do, so on and so forth. You do have to kind of protect that to some degree cuz they are opening up themselves to you and they're telling not just you, but also the world to some degree if it's on on like a podcast or something. So you have to protect that and it is an incredible responsibility. So, um, I appreciate that definition in that perspective.

Kate Bryan 15:17
Great. Thanks. Yeah. And I think there's like a vulnerability too with all of, all of us have so many vulnerabilities, whether it's telling your story or even taking a job, like you're kind of vulnerable because you're relying on other people to pay your bills and do other things. And so I think as a CEO, it's, it's really kind of, um, protecting.

Gresham Harkless 15:32
People who have been vulnerable with us. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Kate, I truly appreciate you and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak. Just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you, subscribe to the podcast and find out all the.

Kate Bryan 15:47
Awesome things you're working on. I just wanna encourage all of your listeners to find out what their purpose is. We all have a purpose, we all have a mission, and I like to talk about our fingerprints, how we are as unique as our fingerprints, and that's the fingerprint that we're gonna leave on the world. And so I encourage anybody who's listening, even in those hard moments, if you're a CEO or if you have a dream and you wanna be a CEO or you wanna start something or you wanna just quit your job and become a missionary or work at a soup kitchen, whatever your dream is, I just want to encourage you to do that because you're the only person that can do whatever has been put on your heart. Um, so I just would encourage all of your listeners and viewers to take that to heart. And then for One Girl Revolution, you can check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at One Girl Revo. So that's the number 1 girl Revo and onegirlrevolution.com. So the number 1 girl revolution.com.

Gresham Harkless 16:33
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We'll make sure to have those links and that information in the show notes. And I appreciate that, that, that perspective too. And that last thought, because a lot of times, you know, nobody can run your race like you can and you have your own race and just like your fingerprints, they are yours and they shouldn't try to be anybody else's. You try— shouldn't try to be anybody else's. So I appreciate that reminder and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Kate Bryan 16:53
Thanks so much, Crash.