From $38K Teacher to Multi 7 Figure CEO w. Cait Scudder

I will never forget that moment when David Guetta came on stage and the beat dropped and like tens of thousands of people were going crazy in the stadium. And I just had this moment of like, what am I doing with my life?

All right. Welcome back to another amazing episode of the Yes And Podcast. I am thrilled today because in true Yes And fashion, I have somebody who who went from working as a teacher to a six-figure, multi-six-figure entrepreneur. And I love the way that this person just lives life out loud and also how she brings you along for the ride, whether it's photo shoots in Paris or breaking it down on, uh, living in the country, which I love that there's a fellow country girl, um, because that's where I'm in at the moment. So I'm gonna bring you this episode with as much energy as this individual deserves Kate, welcome to the Yes And Podcast.

Thanks for having me, Bunny. I'm so happy to be here.

I love it.

I love it.

So I, one of the things that I just wanna dive into first is that moment when you're a teacher and you're like, no, you know, $40K, $50K a year is not for me anymore.

$38K, Bunny.

$38K.

$38K per year working 60 hours a week. It was insane.

So you go from $38K years to $38K days.

Yeah. I mean, just an average day. Exactly. We, um, it's so wild to just look back and, you know, I reflect on these bios that we submit for podcast interviews and things like that. And yeah, it was like not that long ago. It was less than 8 years ago that I was making $38,000 to now run a multiple 7-figure company. It's just Wild.

What went through your mind? Like, I, okay, this is like my dramaticization is like you're standing at the chalkboard and you just like drop the chalk and we don't even use chalk anymore, but like, just let me have this moment. Like you drop the chalk and just like walk out and it's like a full like Breakfast Club moment where you're just like knocking over tables and chairs and everything.

Okay, so it wasn't a Breakfast Club moment, but I have to tell you the story of deciding like I can't effing do this anymore. I don't know if I can swear on your show, but absolutely. Okay. That's so great. I had kind of a similar moment. So I used to be a Spanish teacher. I was teaching at a progressive, artistic, private high school, middle school and high school. I was, I mean, I was way overloaded with prep. There's so many things I could say about how teachers, you know, aren't supported enough for the important work that they do. But I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, just out of graduate school, you know, "Sure, I'll take on the workload of 4 teachers. No problem." I don't have kids and a family yet, so I'll just work, work, work, work, work. But I, in the summertime, I used to lead Spanish culture immersion trips abroad. And so it was 2014, I was in Spain with my best friend at the time, leading this group of like young high school students on this bougie, fancy cultural language immersion experience. And one of the boys managed to talk our director, God knows how, I like still don't know how all these parents, kids' parents were like super, super, super wealthy. Um, and it was gonna be his 15th birthday and he's like, oh, Avicii is playing in Barcelona. Can we go to the concert? Well, it turns out Bunny, it wasn't just an Avicii concert, it was like the EDM rave festival that Barcelona is known for. And here's myself, I'm like 24, 23 years old with my best friend at the time. We're the adults, we're like, who the hell put us in charge? Um, responsible for taking this group of like 12 high school kids to a, an EDM rave in Barcelona. And it was this moment David Guetta was playing. And I had, just before we left to go, I was in my bathrobe, like all the kids were like going crazy in the apartment. I was in my room with my best friend. We were getting ready and I'm like, Carmela, I have to send this email. I have to send this email. And I sent my resignation and then took these kids to this rave. Like, dear God, I hope we don't lose anyone. I hope no one dies. I hope no one takes drugs. Like, let us get through this evening alive. And the e— I mean, the evening was fine, the kids were fine, but it was definitely a little stressful. But I will never forget that moment when David Guetta came on stage and the beat dropped and like tens of thousands of people were going crazy in the stadium. And I just had this moment of like, what am I doing with my life? Because I, the truth is I didn't know what was gonna come next, but I knew that I was not going to stay at that school and teaching. I knew I loved inspiring young minds. I knew I loved leading and communicating, but I knew that that wasn't the place to do it. And, you know, as such a core message of mine has been throughout the years, you've gotta take the leap, you've gotta take the risk, you've gotta be willing to find out what is waiting for you on the other side. And I preach that because I really live that. And it was through doing that that a whole series of events unfolded to lead to now, yeah, running a multiple 7-figure company and, having that be a really great story, but not a frustrating loop that I'm playing over day in and day out.

So you resigned in Spain, which I love that part of the story. I just loved it. You sent your resignation letter. I just wanna know like—

I was going to a rave. I know it was wild.

And, and if I'm reading that, like if I'm the, the principal of the school or the director of the school being like, what happened that night that like we're now getting this resignation letter? And is she just leaving the kids in the apartment or like is she you're gonna come home with them. Um, that would have been like the other part of the epic stories if you just stayed in Spain and just started the business in Spain and didn't even come home.

Well, it's not too far from what actually happened. So I did come home and I had my— I was so pumped for this era. I'm so grateful that I had this part of my journey because like I said, I, I went to a very rigorous undergraduate school. I went to Amherst College and then went immediately in to get my graduate degree, my master's in teaching immediately following that. And so I knew how to perform, I knew how to jump through the hoops. I had like a PhD track completely lined up at Columbia and just decided to go teach instead. And then upon resigning from my teaching career, I was like, I need no freaking responsibility. So I had my like waitress and freelancing era. It was so great. But then less than a year later, I was on a plane to Bali where I went to partake in a 500-hour women's leadership and yoga immersion. I'd already had my 200-hour training, and so I went to Bali. And you may or may not already know this story, but I'll share it for your listeners. I met my now husband and the father of my children after— 2 days after that training ended. I had a flight out to Thailand 2 days later, and I just ran into him. I mean, in just a true serendipitous fashion on the beach in Bali, canceled my flight out. And I mean, I lived in Northampton, Massachusetts right before this. I was like feminist AF at the time. I mean, just as a product of my environment. And but I was in this really exquisite, like, softening, heart-centered women's leadership immersion, and I really let myself be guided by what I was feeling. And I'm like, I know this sounds crazy. Me even a month ago would not have changed her plans for a guy that she met, but it was just one of one of those things where you know that this person is significant and your life is about to change. And it sure did. And within a year, less than a year from that time, I had moved to Bali where I lived for 4 years. And that's where I did start my business. So I didn't start it straight away in Spain, but it was definitely not too long after that that I wound up in Bali, which is where I started my company.

That's so awesome. So you lived in Bali for 4 years with your husband.

Yes, before launch. Well, some of it before we got married, and then we got married in 2017 and I moved in 2015.

And then launched your company in Bali as well.

Yeah.

And when you launched your company, what did you launch the company as first?

It was just under my name. I mean, I branded myself as a Radiant Living Coach, so I was really supporting women on the empowerment side of things to step into their most radiant expression, to live their light out loud. Really a lot around unlocking voice, unlocking desire and shameless, unapologetic, confident expression. And I love that work, and I mean, empowerment is such a core essence of the work that I still do. But what I found coming from— I mean, I was a yogi and sort of crunchy-ish living in Bali, but also came from, like I was sharing, a very rigorous academic and highly, um, efficient, like, member of society, if you will, back in New England. And so I found that very naturally, and this is something that I still do very well, I could speak the language of energetics and the language of the ephemeral, the spiritual world, but also put it into very clear, tangible outcomes for folks. And so, so many of my clients would move through our programs and they'd emerge like, I feel so amazing and now I want to create something new. I want to create something different. So I was like, okay, cool, we've unlocked that radiant magnetic energy. What comes next? And so I mean, we're like, how are you doing what you do? So I sort of by accident fell into business coaching like 6 months after I started my business. And then it really just took off from there, probably because in Bali there are a lot of women in like the yoga and the spiritual community who don't have those like grounded, practical tools necessarily when it comes to marketing and business acumen, um, that I am just very good at. And so that's, that is what took this off and it's just been rolling ever since.

So how did you get your first client?

Get my first, I think just word of mouth. I think I'm trying to think back to my very, very first client. I guest taught, uh, on at a friend's retreat and a few women who I met there signed up and then told their friends. It was really just a lot of word of mouth. And I'll never forget, yeah, doing my first Facebook Live. My God, it feels like decades ago. The technology was so, I mean, so different, but also very similar. But we definitely weren't doing fancy reels and transitions and all that. But, um, a lot of word of mouth and a lot of just putting myself out there and letting my gifts be seen and be witnessed.

I love that. I love that. And then, so for most of the listeners, for the Yes and Podcast, they're, they've hit their first 6 figures or maybe even multiple 6 figures. And then they've done that kind of building almost a job, like almost a professional company for themselves where they're the employee. And this is something that a lot of entrepreneurs are familiar with. It's like they love doing this thing, or maybe they're a coach and they fill their practice and their company with their clients, but then there's the scaling. And, and I often say, like, I feel like 6 figures is often harder than 7 figures in the strategic side of it because you're figuring out what works to get to that first 6 figures. But then obviously there's that pouring fire on it. So after you have filled your calendar with all the clients that you can serve and done, um, the group programs and have the group programs completely sold out, how do you then turn to more of a paid marketing strategy to really, or if it was something different, Kate, like to really take that and scale it beyond?

We are only just really starting to get into paid marketing now, like $5 million into the business later. Everything to date has been organic. We have done paid ad campaigns, but it's accounted for a very, very, I mean, less than probably $400,000, $300,000 of revenue in the company. Everything else has been organic. And so I can't really speak to paid ads now about, you know, scaling to 7 figures through paid traffic because that isn't what we've done. But, um, we launched our podcast. So launched our company in 2017, scaled to 6 figures within 12 and under 12 months, multi-6 figures in under 18 months. And, uh, the year that I had my very first 7-figure year was actually in 2020. And it was the year that I became a mother and Um, we've had 7-figure years ever since, and it has been, it's been a journey. What we've done organic is really just everything that I teach and preach and support my clients with inside of my programming. It's really, for me, building a 6-figure business or even a multiple 6-figure business, it's that. It's how do I build this business? At the 7 and multiple 7-figure level, it's how am I leading a movement? How am seeing myself as the steward of a body of work that is contributing something so meaningful and so distinct that people can't not pay attention. And I, I think embodying that energetic is one thing. And then the strategic practical application, I mean, some of the things that we've really focused on to support 7-figure years is developing relationships. Relationships are so, so key. So whether that is having podcast interviews and conversations like this, whether it is guest teaching inside of other people's masterminds, whether it is building your— just your network and the support circles that you have by virtue of being inside of a mastermind space, having mentorship, having other people that you are rubbing shoulders with. Because more people seeing you and your magic and your medicine in live time— I mean, you— I love that you asked like, where did your first client come from? And I said word of mouth because So much of our business has been word of mouth. It has been extremely happy clients who have told 5 of their friends who've joined our masterminds or who've done private coaching or who have come into our world because their people, their close friends have seen incredible results and had incredible momentum. And I think that, um, I would say for business owners looking to go from multiple 6 to 7 figures before you go down the paid ads route before, because That's a whole, I mean, as I'm getting into that world now, I feel more equipped to speak on it. But what I will say is there are so many people just want the quick fix to the millions, right? We want the, and it's not bad or wrong. It's like, who doesn't want to make more money? But rather than looking at how can I put money in this like Facebook slot machine to get more cash out, looking at your organic foundations, looking at the quality of the relationships that you are building, looking at the rooms that you are putting yourself in. That are naturally going to yield so much more revenue. I mean, I can think off the top of my head, Bunny Young, masterminds that I've joined, mentorship that I've been a part of that has yielded multiple six figures in referral-based signups of people in my program because of the women that I've met through that. Like, it is— there is so much that can be, and I think really needs to be attended on the organic front before going to throw a bunch of Facebook ad money. It's not to say— I mean, there's a million ways to build a business, but I have definitely done it organic and focusing on those principles first.

I love that because it's something that moving into an online space, like I had a similar experience in the aspect that I grew A Better Place Consulting with corporate referrals and working within corporate teams and now going onto the entrepreneur side, you know, it's just, it's so refreshing to kind of hear that, um, double down on, on what organically makes you special. And make sure you're sharing that and make sure that it's clear and that it's simple before you're just lighting piles of cash on fire. You didn't say that, I did, but that's how I feel. It's true. So one last place that I want to go in the yes and realm is that, you know, that unexpected, that yes, like, and it's kind of like what we were talking about a little bit with the highlight reels. I look back, you tell your story and I'm like, oh my gosh, and I probably have the reaction that people have when I say like, I'm a retired stuntwoman. I look at it as just like, that was my life. Like, that just— that's what happened for me. And so what is your version of like a yes and statement? And I'll ask it in two separate ways. So one is, you know, mine would be like, yes, I have multiple heart conditions and I was a professional stuntwoman. And then the other part of it is, yes, I own five of companies and like there's aspects of business that I can't stand. You know, there's, I absolutely suck at math when it doesn't have dollar signs in front of it. And I say that so that everybody listening can listen to Kate's story and listen to, you know, what I'm sharing and know that there's a level of vulnerability here and there's a level of obstacle and it's not the Instagram highlights. What are your two versions of yes and, or however you wanna, you wanna take that?

Oh yeah, totally. I mean, well, that, that would be, that's why I was like, I don't know, because I was, that's exactly what I was going to say, but I'm like, being a mom isn't a vulnerability necessarily. It's, it's just part of my life. So yes, I am a homesteading mom with goats and chickens and the most annoying guinea fowl that are just so amazing in the entire world and who, you know, goes out barefoot on the land to collect our chicken eggs every day, and I run a multiple 7-figure company. Yes, I am a, you know, I've got 2 kids under 3 and have just my bandwidth incredibly spoken for, and I feel so incredibly lit up by my work and I think that's what I really wanna say because I feel, you know, being a mother business owner, it's totally a both and. But what I am the most proud of, Bunny, is how much I love both pieces of my identity. And I, there have definitely been seasons where I have been like, well, what the fuck am I gonna do now with my business now that I'm a mom, now that I have two kids? I, I was really not expecting to feel so, to feel the identity shift again with having my second, but it just brought a whole new level. And with so many mothers that I know of multiple children, uh, they're like, oh yeah, honey, every kid it comes. And I, I'm just so grateful for that because I feel like with every new pregnancy, with every new baby, there is just such a beautiful opportunity to refine and to look at what is really wanting to come through me now. And I feel like motherhood has, and leaning all the way into that part of my identity, has made me such a better businesswoman and has sharpened my focus and deepened my conviction in ways that I am profoundly grateful for.

Yeah. Yeah, no, thank you for sharing that because it's definitely something that I think warrants being repeated and really living in that energy is, as much as this podcast is about having it all and having both, there's also a perfect like miracle in the no and where you're going to pull back and where you're going to simplify and where you're going to walk away because it no longer serves. And so even if it's not a pregnancy, even if it's just an identity shift that you're going through at this year or this portion of your life, like, here's your permission slip to do what serves you. And I think that's a great place to kind of wrap things up. So any final thoughts for our listeners before we bring this home?

Don't be afraid of the cave. Don't be afraid of the letting go. Don't be afraid, you know, in that pivot between who you were, what your company looked like, and what you are creating, there's going to be a void. There's going to be a gap. You know, babies aren't conceived and born the next day. There's a gestational process, a growing that happens in the dark, that happens before there's any external or visible result to speak for. And I think for so many, for every mother that I know, she, she knows this process in the process of birth, but she doesn't, we don't have models, enough models. So much of what I stand for is creating that, but we don't have enough models in the business world to validate and normalize this happening inside of our companies. And what I have seen to be true in my own business and in the businesses, of the clients that I've worked with, it is when we embrace the magic of the cave, the void, the fertile period where we're letting the old things crumble so the new things can rise up, that is actually where your best work is born. So you said it so beautifully, Bunny Young, whether you are a mom or you're just undergoing an identity shift or pivot in your business, give honoring space for the cave and the void because the best, richest, most nutritive growth happens from that space.

Mm. So beautiful. So beautiful. I will be listening to that again. Well, thank you so much for being on the Yes And Podcast, Kate, and making time for us.

Oh, it was a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for having me, Bunny.

And all of you listening, no matter where you have taken us, whether you're walking on the beach in Bali or listening at your desk as you're creating your next multi-seven-figure idea, we love having you here on the Yes And Podcast. Please feel free to go onto Instagram and tag @thebunnyyoung and let us know your takeaways. You can also tag Kate. I have her in Instagram in the show notes below, as well as plenty of juicy information for you to get involved in her world and keep this conversation going. Until our next episode, thank you so much for joining the Yes And Podcast.