WHY NOT Wednesday! with Dona Kappmeyer, CPA, MBB

There's a certain kind of coach who believes what we believe.

Who leads people to greatness, who gets people unstuck, who unlocks all of your passion. A coach who helps people discover what drives them to tap into their superpowers. Then knowing your why is the first step.

To untap potential.

To focus.

To breakthroughs.

A coach who's looking for a better way.

Are you that coach?

Hey, good afternoon everyone and welcome to why Not Wednesday. I am so excited to bring yet another Y Institute coach to you guys to share her expertise, to share her knowledge and talk a little bit about her business. Our guest today is Donna Kapmeier. She's a CEO, a firm owner, a certified business coach, a business consultant with Action Coach of Coastal Bend. She's the founder and CEO there. She guides successful minded business owners and executives and, and achieving the outcomes needed in order to have a high performing organization, a better quality of life. She's got vast experience. Donna spent the last 30 plus years working in several industries and large companies such as Holtcat, Rush Enterprises, Clear Channel Communications, just to name a few. Her expertise spans from accounting process improvement operations, small business ownership and executive strategy. She. She's also a cpa. She holds a CPA license in the state of Texas. And we got to talk about this. It is a Sig Sigma black belt. So without any further ado, let me welcome Donna Kapmeier. How are you, Donna?

I am fantastic. Dan, how are you?

I am so excited to have you on. You know, we've only known each other a little while, but I've learned a little bit about you and I'm so glad to have you on and feature you because I. Our coaches who come from all over the world and from different organizations span the globe also. And so we always are excited when we get a new coach and. And you're brand new to Y Institute. You're not new to coaching though. You've been doing this for, for a few years. And Action Coach, Coastal Bend. By the way, where is Coastal Bend?

In the Coastal Bend. Imagine that. It is out out the area of Corpus Christi, Texas by the water, Gulf of Mexico, which is pretty awesome. Yeah.

So beautiful. Beautiful water. And you said I saw a picture of you on a boat. So do you, do you have a boat or do you just like boating and fishing?

Yes, I, I love fishing. Grew up on the coast fishing and had a bunch of bay boats. Just bought my first offshore boat about a little bit over two years ago and got my captain's license. And I love being on the water. So when I'm not working, you'll find me on the water.

That's awesome. Some people, when you, when they're not working, you find them on the golf course. Donna, we're going to find her on the water, right?

You bet. You bet.

I love that. Well, let's, let's get started. You know, the first question I always like to ask is I like to go over your, your why operating system, your why, your how, and your what. So we know that your why is contribute. You bless. Believe that success happens when you contribute to a greater cause, make a positive impact and help others. Your how is to make sense of the complex and challenging. Help people understand things that they may not make sense of it really quickly. You're really good at it, so you help that way, and that's how you contribute to the success of others. And your what is simplify One of the rarest whys to make things simple and easy to understand. So you're here to help. You're here to help people make sense of the complex and you're here to provide simple solutions to help people move forward faster. How does that feel to you?

You know, it feels pretty phenomenal. And it just, it just makes sense about why I've done things the way I've done things my entire life and, and how I can make purpose and, and contribute even more in the future. So I'm all about contributing to a greater cause. Right. Making sense of the complex. I'm a 50,000 foot view person. Right. If I can make sense of it and then I can break it down into its layers and then put it kind of in digestible chunks that others who may not be able to figure it out can digest and understand it.

Yeah. And you got two really great whys as your how and your what. Making sense of things, figuring out the problem, coming up with a solution, and then delivering it in a simple and easy to implement way. You probably have heard that your whole life. Hey, Donna, how'd you. How did you make it so easy to understand? Have you.

Yes. Yeah. How come you're not a teacher? Right, right, right. That's always been in my kind of my DNA, just didn't know it.

Right. And you're a Six Sigma black belt now. You, you began that process when you were at Holtcat. Tell us about that story.

That is really a funny story. So you know my account, my background's been in accounting, got my accounting degree, got my cpa, and I've always been in industry. I never went to a public Accounting firm. And while I was working at Holt in the accounting department, I got approached about getting into something called Six Sigma. And the reason why I got approached about it is Caterpillar. So Holt CAT is a dealer of Caterpillar equipment, Caterpillar Manufacturing. Well, Caterpillar Manufacturing, in order. They were the first organization around the globe where in order to be either a dealer of their equipment or supplier, you needed to have Six Sigma representation. I was one of four people that they kind of tapped into and said, hey, we want you to help us launch Six Sigma. I didn't even know what Six Sigma went meant. I was like, is it Sigma 6? What is this thing? Right. And so that really was the journey. And then started my educational path that was put on by Caterpillar Incorporated up in Illinois. I started my journey and got into Six Sigma Plastic Group. That's how that started. Didn't know anything about it. You talk about life changing, right? That was life changing for me.

It's an opportunity, right? And you took advantage of it. You learned about something you never learned about before, and then you became really good at it. You're. You're a Six Sigma, a master black belt, right?

Yeah. So what does that mean? Right. Then what I had the opportunity to do is really be able to start teaching it. So there's different levels of belts, very similar to karate. And anybody I would tell about getting a black belt, they're like, what, karate, right? Well, it's very similar, but it's in the business world, right? So, yeah, so there's various levels of certifications from white belt, yellow belt, green belt, black belt on up to master bike belt. So that's just a higher level of certification where I was able to do some teaching around the Six Sigma methodology.

That's fantastic. I want to, I want to welcome Bruce Kirk. He says you are a teacher of business owners and that that is what you do. I mean, you've got. You spent 30, 30 some years in the business world and then you became a coach. What was the, what was the genesis for becoming a coach? What led you to that path?

Well, I will say Covid. So ironically, going back to before I finished college, I had actually changed my degree from being an accountant to being a coach. And then my basketball coach from high school said, donna, you need to go back into accounting and don't be a coach. So there was my first venture towards that. And then Covid hit, right? Covid affected everybody. And so, just a brief story. So when Covid hit, I was actually working for a telecom Expense management company up in Dallas. I was an empty nester. I had a daughter who was in college. My son was working for an accounting firm in Houston, And I'm like, why not, right? So I commuted weekly between Dallas and San Antonio, and Covid hit. And then everything changed. The company I was working for was a service business, so we all decided to go remote. So I came back home. My daughter, who was in college, came back home. My son, who was working in Houston, came home. So we went from being empty nesters to a full house. And my husband's a teacher. And I have to tell you, this is really funny. So imagine all that dynamic going on at the house with my husband being a teacher. He's a PE teacher. And one day I was working via Zoom, of course, and he's. I hear this music going on in the. In the dining room, and I'm like, what is going on? And I walk out and I walk in the dining room, and there is Charlie doing jumping jacks on. On a Google meeting for his kids in his class. And I. I laugh so hard, and I'm like, what have we come to? You know, we have a right. So that was. That was the highlight of it. The lowlight of it was, is we were working remote and. And we're trying to manage an organization remotely. It's a big shift when you're not in person. So I say we went to working 50% harder, and we were getting 50% fewer results. And I'll call it death by Zoom. Everything was done by Zoom to the point of. I think I had a record 17 zoom calls in one day. And I said, what am I doing here? Right? Everything had to be scheduled. And so I decided to leave the organization. And I did a lot of soul searching. And I hired, actually, a executive placement coach, because everybody's remote makes it more of a challenge to change careers. And I started looking into consulting and was going to go into business consulting and started down that path. And then I reconnected with an old acquaintance of mine, Rory shepherd, who is the owner of Action Coach in West Texas. And I reached out to him and scheduled a call.

He.

And in that one hour, Dan, he changed my life. And he told me what he was doing with Action Coach. And I said, that's what I want to do. That's who I want to be when I grow up. And then I got awarded a franchise opportunity in the Coastal Bend, and here I am today, and I haven't looked back. It's been amazing.

I love that Rory's Amazing. He's a great guy. We had a fantastic conversation a couple of weeks ago. I want to recognize Simone. She said, Dan and Donna, I find your 33,000 foot view concept to apply to your main. Makes sense how? Right. That's awesome, Donna. And. And, you know, have you. You've always done that and you started in accounting. So when. When I think of a cpa, I don't think of somebody who's done the types of things that you've done. Did you always feel like you had. You could do a little bit more even when you started an industry?

Yes, I've always had that in the back of my mind. It's like, there's got to be something more. Ironically, we talk a little bit about disc profiling. You know, your disc profile a lot of times has to do with the position that you're in.

Right.

My disc profile when I started my career was a dc. You know, I want it done right now, but I want it done right. So I always had this inherent battle with myself, and what I found is, man, the routine was not for me. And then. So I am very grateful that Sigma fell in my lap because that was a change in my career significantly. And that's really outside of teaching folks along the way in accounting. That's really where I had my opportunity to shine and really help people do better and improve. I just didn't know what my yos was. Right. And so.

So we were talking about. So your husband recently retired, right?

He just did last Friday. Absolutely.

So how is that? I mean, this is his third day in. He probably as an educator. He's probably off in the summers anyway. So you're used to seeing him around the house. How is retirement going for him?

I think he's pretty darn happy about it. You know, you're right. This is his normal time of year to be off, so he's doing some of the things that he would normally do when school's over. But I think, you know, he was 30 years in the school system as a coach, as a PE teacher, as an educator, and.

Here'S. Here's his next chapter in life. So I'm really excited to see what that unfolds for him. It's definitely going to be different.

Yeah. One of the questions I was going to ask you because you brought up the COVID Right. So you definitely turned a negative into a positive. And. And you're blessed with making the acquaintance or knowing Rory and spending some time with him and him giving you the guidance and the inspiration, and then you Taking action. And, you know, we're going to talk about that because you're an action coach, and I love that you guys have action your name. But you also took action when. When we met not too long ago, we had the opportunity to meet on a webinar where we were talking about yos, and then you and I had a conversation and. And you kind of said, why not to us and said, you know, I think I can see value in doing this now. You only finished certification not too long ago, but how. How is it? How are you seeing implementing the yos into everything that you do? I know that as an action coach, you have lots of tools.

You know, this is. We're kind of in the beginning phases of that, but I see a lot of. A lot of value. One, when we got to hear Dr. Gary Sanchez at Biz X as part of action coach, that was life changing for me. I was like, wow, this is kind of what I've been waiting for. And when I learned it, I'm like, this is really changing my direction. So.

Pretty excited about that.

As far as how we're going to incorporate that is what our language is that we use. I've got a mission statement, a vision statement, what our culture is. I'm really going to incorporate that into that messaging. Also looking at who I want to attract as clients. I want clients that have the same yos, and if they hear my language and they can resonate with the language that we use around Yoshi, I think that's going to make a great fit.

You know, one of the things that we talk about, one of the things that we talk about, Donna, is who you're looking for. So your. Your why is to contribute, right? Your how to make sense and your what is to simplify. And we talk about that. You know, you're looking for people that are looking to make a difference in the world. People like that are going to resonate with you. You're looking for people that want help making sense of stuff that's complex and challenging and business world, entrepreneurship, business, own. Going from, hey, you're nine to five and being told what to do and doing it and then getting a paycheck at the end of the week is different than being an entrepreneur and having to do it all yourself. But you're looking for people that are looking for someone to help them make sense of it, right? Because if they're looking for someone to help them make sense of it, you're the person for them. And if they're looking for someone to help them Simplify all of that, give him a simple way to implement it, then Donna's your person, right? And so I think when, when we look at that and let's see, Simone says, you have such a rich professional experience, and your yos just enriches even more what you already have to contribute and impact people's life. Simone was our guest last week, so she was in the hot seat last week, and she did a fantastic job. The other thing that, that Watson says, yes, language is a major benefit of the yos. We talk about that a lot. The, the platinum rule. People like to be talked to in their language. If I. If I talk to you about contributing to the success of your clients, if I talk to you about helping them make sense of their problems and their challenging issues, if I talk to you about creating simple solutions, that's probably going to resonate with you, right?

Yes. And you know what? This. Learning what my yos was and then thinking back, right, looking at Action Coach, you know, we have 3,500 systems and tools, right, that are used to make it simple to execute on. So it's like the perfect match, right? Contributing to a greater cause, making sense of the complex, and then providing simple solutions that people can execute on. It just. It's just natural. There's no plus to it. It's just natural.

Well, and you're starting to do some of this, Donna, but what would you tell others about the importance of knowing their why operating system we talked about? You said you got to do it with your husband. Because I love hearing those stories. And you're going to have to come call me and let me know how it goes when he does it. But what would you tell somebody who's. Who's thinking of doing it and discovering it? But maybe, I don't know, it's just another assessment.

I've done a lot of assessments in my lifetime, and this is probably one of the most significant assessments. What is the importance?

You're familiar with the reticular activating system. Your ras. Yes, your reticular activating system. For those who might not be on. Might be on the call and don't know what that is. When you think about, I use the example of buying a new car. Hey, I just. I've been wanting this car. I just got this new car, and I just drove it off the lot, and it's like, hey, they've got that car. Hey, they've got that car. Hey, they got that car. Before, I never noticed it because I wasn't paying attention to it. Now that I've got that new car. I'm like, what? Everybody's got the same car? Because now I'm paying attention to it. It's no different with. With this, right? When you know where you're going, right? What you're paying attention. I will call the YOS your compass. This is your compass in life. This is your compass in business. And so that's how much I believe and how powerful this is.

That's fantastic. And you really, you know, we call it the filter, right? It can become a filter for you. And let me give you an example, and you tell me if you agree. If somebody brings something to you and it contributes to the success of others, it helps solve a problem and make sense of it. And it's simple. Are you in?

Yes.

Right?

I'm in. I'm in to win it.

Yes, you're in. And so if somebody brings it and presents it that way, you're in. If somebody brings something to you and they. It doesn't contribute to the success of others. It doesn't really solve a problem. It's kind of just there. And it's not simple. It's really complicated. What are you going to say?

I'm out.

Right.

So it makes it really easy because we, you know, I think the law of success says, you know, you're not successful because of the things you say yes to. It's the things you say no to. Right. And we've got to say no to 99 of things. This becomes a real good filter for me. If it fits all three, I'm in. If it fits two, I might be in. If it fits one, I'm going to really think about it. But the things that contribute make sense and challenge and make sense for me. I mean, for you, if it contributes, makes sense and simplifies, you're in, right?

You bet.

I love that. So I got a chance to meet some. Some of your. Your. The people on your team. What. What is a. What's the office saying now that you're. You've got your YOS certification? I'm sure you're driving them nuts talking about it because it's new to you, but have you had a chance to share it with your team yet?

Yeah. Yeah. And I am probably driving them nuts because it's like, okay, because you know me, I get excited, right? My disc profile is a di. So, right. I come up with lots of these crazy ideas and they're like, okay.

What'S Donna got today? You know, sometimes that happens because I do. I get excited about it. But yes, they are. They. They get it. We talked about it quite a bit recently, and they understand and. And they buy into the fact that this is like, I want. I want people to know who action coach of Coastal Bend is through the yos. I want business owners and executives to know who I am through my yos. So very important. And I said, this is a game changer for us. All in the messaging, all in our approach.

I love that. So tell me. I think you. We probably talked about it a little bit, Donna, but let's talk about your biggest why not moment. This is the name of the show is why. You know, we're the why Institute, and you're talking to a challenge guy. So, of course, my. My show is called why not, Right? Why not? Tell me about a time, the time in your life when you said why not to something and you're so glad you did.

I will say, becoming an action coach, one of the things we talk about at Action Coaches is the world's problems, right? And problems in general. If you don't pay attention to them and you don't nip them in the bud, they just get worse and worse, right? So, you know, I'm a big proponent of looking for those taps on the shoulder. Those things are telling you, hey, maybe you ought to consider this before you get hit by a 2x4 or before you get hit by a Mack truck. Why don't you pay attention? So that is, I think if you just pay attention and focus, why not try it? And I always think about, what is the worst thing that could possibly happen. I know folks that, you know, they think about the worst thing as their first thing. And just going back and thinking about, well, what if I do this? What is the worst thing that could happen? Another thing is if you're familiar with the formula for change, the formula for change is your dissatisfaction with the current state times. Your vision plus your first steps have to be greater than your level of resistance in order to change. And if it's not, your resistance is going to fight you every time. And we do this on a scale of 1 to 10 for each area. When I was at my last career, my DennisSatisfaction was a 10. I knew. And my vision was, I know there's something a whole heck of a lot better out there. I'm going to just say it's a five. And I know my first step is I need to start looking at doing something different. I got me an executive placement coach. I connected with business consultants. I connected with Rory Shepherd. Right. I knew what my Next steps needed to be. So my level of resistance, there's no way it's going to. It's going to be less than a 10. It's significantly more. And when you're finding. I talk about resistance and you get. Resistance is extrinsic and intrinsic. You're going to get people telling you, no, don't do that. No, Donna, don't go into action, coach. No, you don't. I had somebody tell me 10, 15 years ago, Donna, I think you're done changing jobs. You've been. You've been in the workforce for a long time. Maybe you shouldn't take this next job. Well, why not? Right. So paying attention to that and really focusing on it, but the extra. You're going to get pressure from people who are afraid and then intrinsic, it's up. But at the end of the day, Dan, it's all got to come from you. Your level of resistance has to be low enough, and your left side of the equation has to be high enough in order for you. Then why not do it? Why not try it? Right.

I love that. This is so good. And for those of you that are out there, you know, I know a lot of our audience are some of your fellow coaches from all over the world, but there's also somebody out there if you're thinking about making a decision. Right. I think that's what that's. This is about making a decision and then taking action. Right. Because all the knowledge in the world doesn't help you if you don't take action with that knowledge. So. So you talked about the equation. It's. So the dissatisfaction is on one side, and then on the other side is the.

The vision, the resistance, your level of resistance.

Right?

Yeah. So your. Your dissatisfaction times your vision of what can be, plus your first steps in order to realize that have to be greater than your level of resistance in order for you to change. And if it's the opposite, if you're. If you're content, my level of resistance is a 1. I'm pretty happy. I really don't have a vision because I am content with what I'm doing, and therefore I'm not thinking about the first step. My resistance is a 10. That equation is on the right side. The right side is going to win every time. So you got to have enough on that left side of the equation to finally say, yeah.

It'S time. It's time to take action. Bruce Kirk says the formula for change is powerful, defines who is ready enable a change and who is not. So I'm sure you do some of this with your clients. It's probably one of the first conversations you have when they hire you. You got to figure out, okay, what are we willing to change? What are we ready to change and what can we do? What are the action steps that you can take? And of course, you probably break it down in a very simple way for them, right?

You bet I try.

I love that. So let's ask. Let me ask a couple questions. A couple more questions. We're running out of time, and we want to give you time. I know you. You have an appointment right after we're done here. So we want to get you there in time. So how did, how did you learn? You mentioned about the we were at Biz X together, and you got to hear Dr. Gary Sanchez speech, and it drove you to action. What would you say to a coach who is considering adding this to their. To their tool belt?

I would say do it. If you believe in it, do it. I do believe it. We are going to definitely capitalize this and add this as another tool to our toolbox. But this really, when we're working with businesses, we really try to drive in their vision, mission, and values. And this is that other layer. And if they can understand their yos, you as an owner.

Can understand your wireless, but you as.

A teacher can really hone in and really help others understand their yos. And I think that, again, I'll call it that compass will really give them the direction they need. So I see all of the applications that this could go into, and it's unlimited. Really, at the end of the day.

I love that answer. Why don't we end on that note?

Well, why not?

Thank you so much for being on with us today, Donna. We are looking forward to working with you. I know you've got a lot of work. You've got a meeting that you've got to go to in about five minutes. So we want to make sure we let you out of here on time. But for those of you that are staying on, we're going to let Donna go, and we're going to make sure that we let you know who we have on next week. So next week we have Desiree Garcia. She's a passionate coach. She's a facilitator. She's an amazing speaker. So she's our guest next week on why not Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Make sure you tune in. We'll see you guys there. Have a great rest of your Wednesday and a great rest of your week. Go out and live your why?