Manifesting a PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE with Cat Golden [Bullpen Sessions Episode 27]

All right. I am excited. I've got the one, the only Kat golden with us. Kat, how the heck are you?

I'm good. I'm so excited to be here.

Awesome. All right, Kat, we're gonna level set right away.

Okay.

For the audience, people listening in who have no idea. And by the way, guys, this is not any acting stage name. Her name is Kat Golden.

Yes, it is.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what makes you tick? People who don't know who the heck Cat is.

Yeah. I was born and raised right outside of Detroit and had got a business degree, moved out to Colorado where you are, and then was that crazy person that moved back. So I moved back to Detroit after living in Colorado for nine years. I went back to school when I was out in Colorado, got a nursing degree and always been a hustler, though. Businesswoman at heart. I've been hustling since I've been a little girl, like, paper route, babysat, did all the things always. And then, yeah, now I own my own business. Started Nurses inspire nurses after being a nurse for about six years.

So, yeah, that's the one minute.

The one minute spiel. Well, we're going to talk a lot about today about Nurses inspire nurses because, you know, I think your story. We're going to. Let's focus on the word manifestation. Really impressive. And I think for the people listening today, they're gonna be blown away by how this all started and where literally we are today. You and I are talking on May 20, 2020. What has. How this thing has exploded. It's been absolutely unbelievable. But let's go back to the beginning.

Yep.

You know, there's a reason you started in Nurses inspired Nurses, but even before that, you were a nurse yourself.

Yep.

What were some of the struggles that you saw being a nurse in the healthcare system here in the United States?

Yeah. So I think the main thing that I saw was that I think nurses are some of the most amazing humans out there. Granted, I'm, of course, a little biased, but you want nurses in your life. Like, they're amazing friends. They always take care of you. Like, they're just these awesome humans that really don't take care of themselves well. And I know this because it was me and. And I had been on my own mindset journey for years and years. I had gotten divorced at 28, and it kind of sent me on a really different path of discovering who I was, what I believe. Went to Tony Robbins, went to mindset school, as I call it, did all the Things.

And when I started to become more aware of myself in my environment, I noticed that I worked with the most amazing humans, truly people that I'm still in contact with that I'm so grateful to know. But they were always saying things like, when I get off night shift, I'll feel better when the next schedule comes out, then I'll start taking care of myself. When X, Y and Z happens, then I'll feel better. And it was like everything was waiting on an external circumstance, not waiting on the internal to change. And it bothered me so badly because I was like, no, we're human beings. Like, just because we like helping people doesn't mean that we have to be miserable. We have to be in unsafe conditions, we have to kill ourselves basically. For at the end of the day, no matter how much you love something, it's a job, right? So I was like, what are we doing here? Like, this is so messed up. So really, to me, it was just a complete lack of self care and nurturing of ourselves as human beings. First.

Well, a couple things there, right? A little irony that nurses are in the business of taking care of everybody else, but often it's at the expense of not taking care of themselves.

Totally.

But what you said, something that was so, so important. It's the when I syndrome. In fact, it's funny because literally tomorrow, one of my. I think one of the. I was gonna post a video about literally that subject because I hear all the time about investing in yourself. Yeah, I'm going to. When I win that new account, I'm going to. When I. When I guess what happens six months from now, it's the same conversation. When I. So take us back. When you realize that it's like, man.

If I focus on the inside, I can have an impact on what's happening in my external environment. Inside a hospital. Did you see big changes in your own world?

Yeah, 100%. And I think you hit the nail on the head with that. Because I had done that after being divorced. I mean, I thought my life was over, right? And I was like, I'm 28. Which now just like makes me laugh because I'm like, oh my gosh, I was so young, like, I'm fine. But at that time it was devastating to me. So I had the advantage, I think that I had already seen an internal shift, even though my external circumstance had like, quote, gotten worse or like, I was really sad. And so I've been able to shift my mindset. And then I know, even for me personally, working at the hospital, I was in such a. Had so much resistance with it. Like working nights and being in these just really hard situations. It takes a toll on you. And I was like, man, like, I don't. I know what it's like to feel good. I don't want to feel this way. So I have already shifted myself without my external circumstance changing. So I knew it was possible.

So everybody. You always talk about that moment. You can recall where it was kind of your, aha. Did you have that as a nurse? That moment that you could recall? Go back to where you hit that point where you're like, I don't know how I can do this again or keep doing this?

Yeah, there was a couple. One actually was when I did my first mindset program.

There was a part in the program, and I cannot remember the question that they had you asked, but you had to contact someone that was really close to you in your life and ask them for feedback on yourself, like, areas that you needed to work on or improvement or change. And so I asked my best friend and she was like, who's like a sister to me? I mean, we've been best friends like 16 years. She's like, let me email you. And I was like, oh, my God, like, you can't even say.

So she sent me this, like, really thought out and long email, and I, like, really appreciated it because she really put time into thinking about it. And she said, you know, like, you live every day like an emergency, and you're already living at such a high level of stress that, like, one thing happens and you're over the edge. Which probably she was annoyed because I was, like, calling her and crying about it, but she's like, your car is going to break down, sir. My dog. She's like, sir is going to get sick. Like, you're going to miss your alarm or something. Like, you're going to spill your coffee. Like, it's okay. And I think because of my divorce and, like, the situation I had been in, I had gotten that way and then I never gotten out of it, and I didn't even realize it. And it was just impacting every area of my life. And so that was a huge one where I was like, man, like, I really have to make a change. And then also just in my nursing career, it was really affecting my relationship with my boyfriend at the time. Like, I. There was. There was one moment I'll never forget where I was like, kat, what are you doing? Like, this isn't even who you are. I was, like, freaking out. I was having A complete meltdown about. Part of it is like working nights. Just if anyone work nights, it like messes with your head so badly. But I was just becoming a person that I didn't even know and I was like, wait, what are you doing?

Yeah, I, you know, it's interesting what you just said. I wrote down live every day like it's an emergency. It's almost like it becomes a Stockholm syndrome. Right. Like that just became your norm.

Yeah.

Every day you thought that was normal, but it was. It took you to have an outside observation of a friend.

Yep.

To go, this is not normal whatsoever. Kat. Now I want to shift for a second to talking nurses at large because obviously nurses are at the forefront of media right now because they're doing amazing things. They're frontline workers trying to fight this pandemic. But I kind of view it this way. And maybe I'm a little off kilter here, but correct me if I am, we always talk about social media being a bad thing, but what really social media has done is it just exposed the bad behavior that has always existed. Right. With nurses. Right now we're really getting to see what it means to be a nurse and how tough that job is. But that job was tough long after Covid hit. Take us in for somebody who maybe doesn't know the life of a nurse, Take us deep into that life. What's it like being a nurse and what are the struggles you face as a nurse that maybe other professionals don't see in their daily lives?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we don't, we don't think about the situations that nurses have to deal with. I'll just say like some real life examples from myself. Like, so I worked in pediatrics, working with kids, I mean, taking care of. Like, I had a five year old kid with a cancer diagnosis that didn't have a parent there with him. I had like a teenage girl, well over £300, trying to escape out of her room. She had been abused, had tons of mental health issues. When we wouldn't get out of her way, like one night she started ripping her toenails off. Like, I mean, I'm just talking like really insane things. That's like two random stories I can just think of off the top of my head. I mean, just seeing like awful, like accidents that happen to people and then they're like, like there was one girl that her boyfriend broke up with her and she was this, like, beautiful. Like we had. There were pictures in her room. She was like captain of her swim Team. Her and her boyfriend gotten some argument. She, like, had jumped out of her window, fell. Wrong. You know, had a spinal cord injury. She ended up, like, passing away. But just, I mean, like, crazy things in these situations that you have to deal with, or, like, people with really scary diagnosis. Like, I know Covid is bad, but I'm thinking, like, oh, my gosh, like, you're so right. I mean, this is not. This is not new for many. Many of a nurse.

Yeah. So let's now switch. So you hit that point. You hit that point where you're like, yeah, I don't know if I can do this anymore. But you still wanted to find a way to help that industry, help nurses. So let's go back to the creation of Nurses Inspire nurses. How did it come up? What made you want to do this? Just draw us that picture of what it was like at the beginning days of this great movement. It's what it is. It's a movement.

Yeah. So I originally thought I would be a health coach. So I. Fitness and getting in really great physical condition was what helped me a lot in my mindset journey. And so originally, I thought I would be a health coach. I got into network marketing. I love coaching people. I had seen amazing results. I felt amazing, and I had actually hired a mentor to help me blow up my coaching business. What I discovered was I wasn't really aligned with health coaching, Although I loved it for myself. I truly. And this, like, sounds bad, but I don't really care about other people's fitness journey. Like, I'm not a trainer. It's truly, like, the one thing I have for myself. I'm not a teacher. I just. I just didn't like it.

Yeah.

So. But I was forcing something because I was like, man, like, I just want to have a different impact. I went into nursing because I wanted to help people. I did not go into nursing for the medicine. The things that made me a good nurse were the things that make me a great mentor, that make me great at what I do now. It was not the medicine. So. And I was always very clear on that.

So my mentor, she was like, you need to take a pause, because I was really forcing health coaching when I wasn't aligned with it. And so through the pause, what I realized when I was. Had gotten rid of that distraction that the people around me were so miserable, the nurses. So I just started doing things at work to help them, like, just purely because that's who I am and because I wanted the environment to be better. And then I started Having conversations. And now we're talking about it a lot. And I would like to think I'm one of the people that opened the store. I know I am. Nurses were not saying two years ago, I don't feel good. It was not talked about. Like I will never forget, there was one night at 2am when I walked into the break room at night and I was like, so I think I'm gonna start doing stuff for us. Like why isn't anyone helping the nurses like you guys, there is a better way. And I was like, don't you feel like this? And I started saying some of the ways I felt. The second I started that conversation literally opened up a floodgate. It was like therapy hour with cats. Like people would be texting me, hey, are you working tonight? We need to talk to you. It was like a line. I was like, I have to go hang my meds. I can't do this right now. One of my co workers made a one off comment about, you know, this is so amazing, we need this so badly. Wouldn't that be funny if Betty, our manager hired you just to take care of the nurses? And I was like, oh my gosh, that would be my dream job. Haha. It doesn't exist. I told my mentor that on a complete whim. Like she was like, well it seems like you're like really loving work all of a sudden. I'm like, oh, I only like it because I'm just like help helping all the nurses. I mean, I'm talking like I never even. People probably won't even know I was really a nurse. I never posted once about it on social media. Nothing. And then I just started talking about it. And then my mentor was like, well why couldn't you do that? I'm like, oh, it doesn't exist. Whatever. And she was like, well, why don't you make it exist? And I was like, oh, I kid you not. Talk about manifestation. I was sitting in my on a zoom like this on my kitchen table. I'll never forget the cloudy. Stay in Michigan. No surprise. Literally the sky opened up. I'm not kidding you. And a light, like the sun came, light beam came down. And I was like. And I like snapped a picture on my phone of the call and then it went away. And I was like, okay, I guess I'm doing that.

All right, I'm gonna edit this out. There's a frickin leaf blower. So I'm just gonna pause and go shut the door and come back. I'll just edit it out. So one sec.

Okay.

All right. Sorry about that.

That's okay.

Okay, so let's go right back. I'm going to go three, two, and one. Okay. So your mentor tells you, why don't you make it something?

Yeah.

And so now we're getting into manifestation.

Yep.

When did you realize that? What started as an idea, even as an idea pitched to you by your mentor, when did you realize, like, holy crap, there are so many nurses that need this help? This thing has legs. This thing could become a movement.

So I realized that there was a couple little moments. So I wanted to have a party because it really bothered me.

Like, I mentioned I worked in pediatrics, and we would have these professional athletes come to the hospital to, like, visit the kids, do all of this different stuff. And that's amazing. Like, the kids needed that. Don't get me wrong. Like, I'm so happy for them. However, the people, like, the staff at the hospital were so rude to the nurses. Like, they would be like, step aside. The athletes are here. No photos, no anything. And I'm just like, over here. Like, okay. It's like Christmas. I'm honestly trying not to cry. Like, I don't even want to be at work. I'm a human, too. This goes back to, like, we're all human. And they would, like, shove the nurses aside and everything was for the kids. And then it would be like, nurses Week. I kid you not. In my hospital in Michigan one time, I will not forget, we got Twinkies. I was like, first of all, I didn't even know people still made Twinkies. But, like, is this a joke? I was just so pissed off. So I was like, I'm having a nurse party. Only nurses can come. It's going to be so epic. Like, I just had this whole idea because this is what I'm naturally just good at. Like, I love celebrations. I love gifts. I love connecting with people. That's what I'm good at. So I had this nurse party. A lady that was local. I was helping my friend with her business. Like, completely unrelated to any of this. Just helping her on one of my days off with some product stuff. And this I was telling this lady asked me, well, what do you do? And I was like, oh, I'm a nurse, but I'm starting this new thing, like, helping nurses. She's like, oh, my gosh, I love nurses. Like, what can I do? And the fact that she was, like, so, so wanting to help nurses, I was like, oh. And then I, like, kind of started dawning on me. You know, people love nurses. It's just the nurses don't see that because when they're taking care of people, they're in so much pain. They just had this terrible event. Like, we don't ever feel that. Or the stress is so high. Yes. Someone might say thank you, but you can't even process that because of what is happening. So, long story short, I put Nurses Inspired Nurses on a T shirt for the party. And when I had posted it on social, like, my DMs blew up. Like, I didn't even know. I wasn't used to getting any DMs, I guess. So I was like, oh. Like, I might actually be onto something. And that was when I was like, okay, this is really needed. And it was so natural for me. Like, it still is. That I'm just, like, cool. Like, yes, I'm working, but it's. It's just like, a part of me, if that makes sense.

No, that makes absolute sense, because I hope people are hearing what happened here. Whether you're a nurse, you're in banking, you're in insurance. I don't care what. Who you're in or what you're in. If you know you're calling and you're being called to something bigger, it's so easy to sit there and go, but why? Like, why me? Like, why? If I, like, who's gonna follow this? Who's actually going to want to do this? And all you literally did, Kat, was take an idea, put it into action by simply putting Nurses Inspired Nurses on a T shirt and throwing a party.

Yeah.

But here's what people miss. It was step one.

It was you 100%.

You throwing the message out to the universe that you have an intention, you have an agenda. And once you do that, we all know what the universe starts doing, Right? She starts saying, cool, you want to take action? I'm going to help you make it happen. So let's fast forward a little bit, because I think the manifestation part of this is where I want to go. And we're going to get to where Nurses Inspire Nurses is today. Because given the environment, given the fact we've got a pandemic, I would tell you now, Nurses Inspired Nurses is a full fledged freaking movement. I want you to share one little story with me about manifestation because you're back in Detroit.

Yep.

And you wanted to get closer to the city. You were kind of. You were living outside the city, in the burbs. You wanted to get closer to downtown, but you're like, crap, here's where I want to live, but I don't know financially if it's gonna make sense. Manifestation to put yourself downtown. Share that story.

Yeah, so well, we were in the mastermind, same mastermind together, obviously. And I was really. I owned my house. So it was like the responsible, you know, like have your house. I'd only had my house for two years and it just, I was like, maybe I could rent it out. Starting a business. Anyone who's done anything starting their own business knows you've already taken on a lot of risk. I was like, I have everything invested in my business. I don't have a ton of cash. Like, I don't think I can rent out my house. I was just in this terrible struggle and I knew that I needed to move. I also knew I needed to get a warehouse. There was just so many. I was running my business out of my house. It was, it was a mess. Like my whole bungalow with my shop, it was, it was just taking over with such a mess. So I wanted to live downtown. I wanted to be smartly abundant. Like I wanted to have great money mindset. But I also, you know, didn't want to get in over my head or be house poor. So I got myself in the environment and I was walking around looking at these apartments and I went to several different. And then I went to this one and I was just like, nope, I'm supposed to live here. Like, I know I'm supposed to live here, but it was a lot more than I wanted to spend. Plus, living downtown in the city, that's pay a couple hundred dollars a month for a parking spot. And I was just like, this is crazy. So I didn't act on it. And I sat, I went and sat out in the park in front of the apartment. So beautiful. And I'm just like sitting there. And if anyone listening has not read Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, I highly recommend that book. But they always say, like, rich people find solutions. And I'm just like, no, I'm rich. Like, I find solutions. What are the solutions? And I just kept knowing and seeing like I'm supposed, like to me it was a vibration. Like, this is the vibration that I want to be in. This is the environment that I want to be in. And that's how I saw myself. And so I just always say, like, I have a millionaire mind. And so I was just like, you know what? I'm just going to call this lady back, tell her I want to live here. And I'm like, you know what? My apartment in Denver, they Had all different kinds of events, tours, all this stuff. I'm like, I'm just going to call her back and see if I can give tours. And this is the part I think, you know, you and I were kind of talking, like, with manifestation. You have to think the thought, but then you have to take the action. And one of my favorite quotes is, the universe sees what you're waiting on when it sees what you're working on.

And I always think about that because I'm like, you know, what if I can be waiting on something, but if I'm not working on it, then it doesn't matter. So I'm like, cool. I'm just gonna. I felt so nervous. I was like, I'm gonna call this lady back up and see if I can give tours for a discount. So I called her back and she said, no. She said, actually, we have a management company that takes care of that. But she's like, you know what? I really like you. I'm gonna see what. What I can do. And I ended up getting free rent that covered my parking spot. And so I moved. My house sold in one weekend. One buyer, full price offer. Like, I mean, one offer. Everything went fine. I was able to get a warehouse. And then right after I got the warehouse, then I got a. I was able to get an order for 50,000 T shirts, which I'm working on right now, which is. So, yeah, I did almost a million dollar deal, like, right after. It was just crazy. And I wouldn't have even had the capacity or space or anything to do that had I stayed in my house, which I thought was the smart, responsible decision.

So let's go back. And I wrote, I took notes on this. I'm going to give you my version of what you just did for the audience. You got yourself into the environment.

You made a decision. You said, I am going to live here. And you referenced the book, Secret of the Millionaire Mind. Been a huge book for Amy and I. So if you haven't read that book, you struggle with that highly recommend struggle with money mindset in any which way. Do yourself a favor, read that book. But after you made a decision, you did. You took action. You didn't sit on the decision. You didn't tell everybody about what you were going to do for months and years. You took action. And not only did you find a way to make it financially feasible to live there, what you did by putting yourself in the environment is you opened the door for the universe to bring you other stuff. All of a sudden, now you found the warehouse which gave you the capacity to take the $50,000 order? 50,000 shirt order. I hope you're listening to this. It's not about when I. When I have this money, when I get the chance, when my kids are out of the house.

Think it, do it, be it. Take action, and the universe will show you the path.

Yep. It was, like, within an hour. I mean, I called back right away. And I will say I do act quickly. Now, this is a perfect example, too, because I want to say the other side, when you. I'm someone that just now takes action very quickly because I know the benefits, the benefits forever. I will say till the day I die, outweigh the problems that come with it. But the reason we hesitate is because can things go wrong? 100%. You'll get some lessons. Like, so even with my apartment, knew I was supposed to live there. I'm dying, laughing. I act so quickly, I don't even ask questions. I'm looking around, it's starting to get warmer out. I'm like, does this apartment not have air? Like, I'm like, starting to freak out. I'm like, why can't I find the air conditioner? I text my friend who actually was my real estate agent who used to live in that building a while ago. I'm like, am I missing something? This is only heat. She's like, oh, the air is controlled by the whole building. Like, there is air, but you don't get to control it. I'm like, I gotta get a fan. So I went to Costco and got a fan. But, like, this is how quick I take action. Like, didn't even dawn on me that. And I moved in, like, October, so whatever. But I was just, like, laughing. I'm like, okay, downside of taking action quickly. I don't get to control my own air. So worth it. But it's just laughing.

But that's a really important lesson. And you referenced that you and I were in the same mastermind together. So one of the mentors we both have learned from. From that. I think one of the biggest things I took away from him, and it's the piece that has helped me grow my business is just taking action. Don't think about it. Don't whiteboard it for five months. Take action. Might you. Might it always be. Might it always be the right action?

No. No.

But take action. Pivot, tweak if you have to, and don't judge your actions. Many people sit there and contemplate and ponder and think about it. Action beats strategy. All the time.

Yeah. Because action gives you feedback.

Yes.

And so then you know what to do next.

So let's fast forward because I know we only have a few minutes left. You're a busy person here. Let's go to where nine. Excuse me. Nurses Inspiring Nurses Inspire Nurses is today.

Yeah.

Little did you know, this is one big picture of manifestation. Again, let's go back to you meeting with your mentor, your coach, and he or she is like.

Why not do this?

Yeah.

You were like, but why me? It's not going to work. And how many years ago was that?

So this is crazy. We turned 2 in July. We're a baby business.

You turned 2 in July.

Okay, we're a little less than 2.

Little did you know two years later that there'd be this thing called coronavirus.

Oh, my gosh.

That literally brought your target audience to the forefront of our country's minds.

And so all of a sudden, now Nurses Inspire Nurses is a full fledged movement. So how would you describe Nurses Inspire Nurses today versus what it was just two years ago?

Well, we're still doing a lot of the same things, honestly, just on a greater scale. So we have a ton of free resources. And I will say, and this is one thing that has not changed, and I don't think it will ever change because it's just in my blood.

We.