A Conversation with Kimberly Wright

Welcome to A New Life podcast with Pamela Jean, where it's all about empowering women to empower more women. Get ready, friends, to create a new life. And here is your host, Pamela Jean.

Hello, my friends, and welcome to this week's episode of A New Life podcast. I hope you're having an amazing day today. I have a very special guest and I can't wait for you to meet her. My guest today is Kimberly Wright. Kimberly is from the Kansas City area. She is a speaker, author, and entrepreneur. I had the pleasure of meeting Kimberly at a local event where she was our guest speaker. She did a phenomenal job, and I knew after hearing her speak, my audience need to hear from her as well. So, Kimberly, thank you so much for being here. Please take a moment and share with our audience a little bit about your. Yourself.

Well, thank you so much. This is really such an honor. I. One of the things I most love about what God has allowed me to do is that I get to meet fabulous, smart women from all over the US and so it was one of those opportunities when our paths crossed that I was just really thankful because we, we clicked immediately and we've had such rich conversations, such. So I'm just so honored to get to be here with you and your audience.

Oh, well, thank you so much, Kimberly. And, you know, I think that's God works that way, doesn't he? You know, he just puts people in our life that he knows we're going to do great things together, and I just know that's in store for us. So let our audience know a little bit about yourself. I would love to know about your family, about your career, your favorite philanthropy. Let us get to know you.

Well, you know, first and foremost, I, you know, I'm such a. A family woman. I love my family so much. They just bring me such joy. I've just celebrated 28 years of marriage last Saturday with my husband.

Congratulations. I love that.

Thank you. I always joke that I married Mr. Right, you know, because people say that all the time. Oh, you married Mr. Right?

Yes, I did. Good for you. I love. That's awesome.

But. And then we have four adult children, which that, you know, tastes like vinegar coming out of my mouth a little bit, that there's adult children because, you know, it's so hard to make that shift sometimes from, you know, being a mom with kids at home who need you to do things or, you know, just be hands on. And my baby's in college her freshman year in college, and another son is in college, and then two other Adult boys that are, you know, working full time and just, you know, being great men and so just very blessed to get to be such an integral part of their lives still. And like you mentioned, I am a speaker. I started out Years ago, about 2008 was when I first started speaking professionally, I guess you could say when I would be invited to come speak at Christian business women's luncheons or events or women's conferences, church conferences, workshops, and, and then, you know, mixed in there at different businesses, you know, speaking on leadership. And it was so nerve wracking because I'm such a, I'm really a shy person. People don't believe that I don't like standing in front of people, but I felt like that was what I was called to do and it such an honor to get to share things that I learn as I go with other women and just to be a voice of encouragement. So I'm working on my third book and it has been a slow roll this year. I thought it would already be out, but we're still in the, you know, finishing the chapters and then moving to editing stage. So I'm hoping 2025 it will be available. And that's called Perspective for the Christian Businesswoman. Currently that's the working title. You know, publishers can always change it if they want to. So that's kind of my personal life overall. And then, you know, business, which we'll probably dive into a little bit later. And then as far as philanthropy, philanthropies, I just, I honestly, I'm, you know, I kind of joke that I'm multi passionate. So, you know, God has given me different seasons where I just am very passionate about certain causes early on and I still am. I'm just not actively involved. But early on I was very involved and passionate in the, for foster children and serving in that realm. I worked for a Nonprofit, you know, 25 plus years ago that served foster kids and foster families. And that was just really something that, you know, has just been always been heavy on my heart. And so still a very near and dear, you know, cause for me. But you know, I also am an advocate for faith at work and supporting Christian businesswomen. And that's really where my, you know, my energies are focused right now, I think, in this season of my life.

Excellent. Thank you for sharing that. I think it's nice for the audience to have a little window into your, your values and where you come from and what makes you you. So thank you for sharing that. I want to dig a little bit more into how. How is Kimberly the way Kimberly is? You know, people make an impact in our lives. Who inspired you to become who you are today?

You know, that's a really fabulous question, and I wished it was just such a clean answer, you know, that it was this one particular person. But I think that I've been very blessed that God has put different people in different in my lives in different seasons that left a lasting mark. But at the core, I would say that my grandma, my mom's mom, really is who I credit with any of the, you know, virtue or good character, you know, that I have, I feel like, was really developed and nurtured with her, and she started taking care of me by the, you know, from time I was six weeks old and my mom went back to work. And then there was a lot of times after my parents divorced and throughout my life that, you know, I lived with my grandma probably as much as I lived with a parent. And so I really kind of felt like she was mom and dad to me both. And, you know, she's who I was living with when I went off to college and when I would come home on the weekends or summers to visit or to stay at home. And, you know, she was my home. And, you know, she's been gone 17 years now, but my daughter Annabelle is named after her. And so I really always credit her of being the foundation of, you know, who I am today.

Oh, I love that. So your grandmother was your steady in the storm of life, and I love that you're so fortunate. You're fortunate to have that, because sometimes, you know, parents are busy trying to, you know, take care of their own lives. And to have that steady force in your life is such a gift. I'm so happy that you had that for you, Kimberly. I want to do a little bit of a pivot, and I want to shift and talk about the master classes that you are facilitating. That is one of the things you did speak about when I heard you at the conference, the luncheon that we were at. And I'm just so impressed with what you're doing and how powerful these masterclasses are. So tell the audience about the master classes that you're currently filling. Facilitating.

Well, I'll start with the. Just kind of the basic of how this even came to fruition, if you will, is what I've developed is a curriculum I called Perception Leadership. And many years ago, actually, when I was writing my second book, I quoted my husband about things, something, you know, like referring to when there's a dispute with Somebody else or, you know, I feel like someone's wrong to me or, you know, whatever the situation is. And he would say, well, it doesn't matter if you're right and they're wrong. And that's clear. It's their perception, is their reality. And it just so resonated with me for several years. And then as I worked with companies, either as a contractor or consulting or as an employee on the team, I really started to see how our perceptions make up everyone's collective perceptions is what makes up the culture, you know, of an organization. But it's most impacted by the perceptions of the leader and how he perceives others and how they perceive him or her, you know, as a leader. And what an impact that our perceptions make on our approach to leadership, our approach to working as a team, or especially for women, if we think that we can, you know, climb a corporate ladder if that's our desire, or even being willing to admit that that's something that we might desire or being okay if we, you know, feel like we want to be a stay at home mom, let's say that's the season of life that we perceive. Oh, well, that's not a quote unquote, real job because you're not getting a paycheck every two weeks, you know, and so we have all these misconstrued perceptions that we believe so deeply as truth and we build our identity around that and then it impacts everything we do.

Wow, that is so good. I'm going to put you on the spot just a little bit, Kimberly, because you gave some really, really good examples of the perception component. Like, like a day in the life perception situation during your conversation, the talk that you did, the lecture that I thought, great, would you mind sharing an example or two of what that looks like in day in the life you did touched on it with, you know, deciding to be a stay home mom. And what is the perception of that? But you gave a couple really great examples in your lecture. Can I put you on the spot and have you share a couple of those?

I think one, if I remember, one of the ones that I shared during that message was about women's view of delegating in an office.

Yes, yes, that. Yes. So please share that. It was so good.

Yeah, so. So women tend to. And of course we're talking. There's exceptions to every rule. Right. So, but we are talking about the stereotypical, you know, thoughts the majority of us is that women tend to delegate less effectively than a man does when they're in leadership. And so I used the example of, say, there is this woman. We'll call her Sally, okay? And Sally has been working at this company for two to three years. She's been a loyal employee. She has learned her job well. She's so competent in the role that she is. She's just a team player. Everyone just loves working with Sally. And so her boss, a male boss, he sees and recognizes Sally's talent, and so he, when a position is available, he promotes her into a leadership role. So now her job is a little bit bigger and different, and she now has two teammates that is on her team that she is, for lack of better word, shepherding. So she's helping them. They're helping her do this role. So now Sally has taken this position, she's taken this new promotion, and in her mind, she's perceiving, oh, this is a big deal. I have to earn this now. I have to prove to him that I am worthy of this promotion. Now, that's also a significant difference between men and women. When a man gets promoted, he's like, well, yeah, I worked hard. I deserve this. And then he goes on about doing that job. He never thinks he has to prove himself. A woman gets a promotion, and now in her mind, she's perceiving I have to make them glad that they promoted me. I have to make them not regret it.

It.

And so she's trying to control what she perceives they're going to think. So now she's in this role, and she's perceiving that I have to prove myself. I have to earn this position that I was just this new title I was just given. And so she's coming in early, she's staying late. She's doing all the work. She doesn't want to hand a lot of things off because she doesn't want her boss to think that she's incompetent, that she's not capable of handling a greater workload. And so her two teammates come in and they see that Sally's working early and late, and they're like, hey, can, you know, can we help you? Can we do anything? She's like, no, it's okay. I got it, I got it. And so she doesn't delegate anything to them. So now, because of Sally's perception that she has to prove herself and earn this promotion that she was already given, she already earned it. She is creating a whole different culture in the office by the perceptions of those around her, her boss now perceives Sally was doing really good before, but now she's not delegating. She's working too much. You know, she's working late, she's coming in early. Maybe this was a mistake. The exact same she feared but for different reasons. He's perceiving that then her two teammates, they're seeing her like hoarding all this work. So they're proceeding. One of two things. One, she doesn't trust me. She doesn't think I could do a good job. She thinks I'm incompetent. She doesn't believe in me or they're thinking she's threatened by me. She wants, you know, she thinks I'm going to take her job. So now there's this whole terrible culture just because Sally's one false perception. It's a narrative she created and told herself based on her own perceptions.

That is so, so powerful, Kimberly. And thank you for sharing that because I think if we all just take a do a little analysis of our own behavior, we're going to find that our insecurities create these ridiculous perceptions that are self sabotaging. Because now the story you gave with Sal, she no longer looks like a team player. She probably has created questions in the leadership in that company of whether they made the right decision to elevate her to a new position because of her own insecurity and her own perceptions of what she feels success is. And that is just so powerful. So in your masterclasses, tell me about those. Is it several weeks? What type of curriculum could someone expect if they were to experience a master class with you?

So what we do is it's, you know, I call it a workshop, for lack of better word, because that seems to make more sense that we're going to work through things together. And really ideally it's a four hour workshop, but sometimes, you know, if it works better for an organization, you know, you can divide that in half, which is I think also a great thing because it gives time for the women to marinate on what they have we've worked through and they've learned already. And so then they come back and it's not information fatigue. And it also can be deeply personal for people and emotional because what we do in the very beginning, we start with the basics. And it feels like this, you know, overwhelming abundance of like this deep into psychology. And I try to not make it so heavy psychology feeling. But there's a lot of that because what we're doing is we're looking at, we're examining our own perceptions. And so I'll use some examples of how we can believe something that we perceive to be as truth. And then we build an entire narrative and an identity around that. And sometimes it isn't just in the workplace. Oftentimes it's not just in the workplace that happens. It's things that happened when we were young or children. For example, let's say a woman was a big sister of five younger siblings. And so a big family, you know, lots of chaos. And the parents relied heavily on her. And so she felt lost in the noise. And so the only time that she felt recognized by her parents is when she was helping a lot. And so they're like, you know, oh, thank you. I need you to do this, or I need you to do that. Or maybe they didn't even say thank you. They just said, I need you to do this. I need you to change the baby's diaper. I need you to do this carpool or whatever it is. As she grows up, so now she's beginning to believe she's creating this perception, this identity that I have value when I'm needed, when I'm doing something for others, I have value. Otherwise, I don't. So when she carries that into the workplace, now that's a tendency to have to again, that I have to perceive. I have to prove myself. I have to, you know, do everything and say yes to everything. And it's just a template for burnout and fatigue and so out of balance.

Yeah, that is so good. I love that. So your master classes are more like a workshop that's done with you, not a d do it yourself, you know, the diy. Because I think sometimes, I mean, I know, Kimberly, as you've worked into coaching and doing what you do as a business owner and entrepreneur, sometimes, you know, a do it yourself is exactly what you need. But there are other times where a dwarf why done with you is so important. And I would imagine your workshops done with you are so much more productive, and you get people across the finish line to really examine their perceptions.

Yes, that is the goal. And I want. I want the women that, you know, participate in this to have their own aha. Moments of, oh, I. I didn't realize that about myself. And to kind of break off some of those stronghold of, you know, you have value. You're an integral part of the team. Whether you're saying yes to every project or you're doing a job that you were actually asked to do, you're. That you are valued regardless, you know, and to just start breaking off some of the strongholds of always the striving, and they're feeling like I perceive that I have to measure up to some invisible, you know, yardstick that we can never measure up to because we've built it up in our minds. And so I just want to raise their awareness of their own perceptions. That's, that's the hardest part, honestly, is that initial part of being willing to examine and have a little more self awareness. We're never going to be 100%, but, you know, we're always going to have blind spots. But if we can just gently become more aware and reevaluate, it really changes our approach to everything and it changes how we react if we come in and somebody's having a bad day and, or a boss is having a bad day. I have worked with so many women that every time the boss is having a bad day, they would come in my office, I think, I'm getting fired, I'm getting fired. And I'm like, why are you getting fired? But it was their perception because they were so afraid. They had all these narratives about I'm not doing enough or I'm not valuable enough or, you know, and it was never the case. It was just simply a person having a bad day.

Oh, that's incredible. That, and that's so wise. I think we, we make so many things up in our minds that don't need to be there. And women, we have a tendency to be overthinkers in so many areas. It's like sometimes overthinking is a superpower. Other times overthinking is just like a big, heavy, wet blanket. So it's not always good for us. Not always good for us. So if someone wanted to work with you, do you work more for companies, executives, corporations, or is this more of a one on one type of workshop that you prefer to do?

No, it's definitely, I think it's best served with the team. And it is designed, you know, I created this with women in mind. The women that are, some of them I call the accidental leaders. Like Sally, you know, she came into this role and she was, she just did a great job. And then all of a sudden she's a leader now. And that's the thing was like, I have seen a lot of, excuse me, A lot of men in leadership, they want to promote a woman. They like working with them. They don't have this, oh, she's a, you know, it's a woman. I can't have her as my right hand. That's not their thinking or attitude at all. But what happens is a lot of times women move into leadership roles. But they don't have the same opportunity at mentorship as men do. Just by default. You know, women aren't always in the car rides or in the bathroom, whatever it is. And so women have the opportunity maybe to get promoted into a new role, but then they don't have the mentorship and the discipleship to help them thrive in that role.

That makes so much sense. That makes a ton of sense. So if someone is listening that would like to bring your workshop into their business or offer it to their team, what is the best way for them to reach out to you?

Well, my website, you can definitely reach me through there. And it's exodusadvisory.com or perceptionleadership.com they take you to the same spot. And then, of course, my email is kimberlyxodusadvisory.com so anyone can always reach out directly to me. And, you know, I have an assistant that will help the details after we've had conversations and so forth. But I really like to engage and learn because when I'm working with a company, every company is unique in a lot of ways. I mean, a lot of things are similar because we're people, we're all similar. We're unique, but different. Right? And different. But a lot the same. And we have a lot of the same struggles. But I want to know with that organization, you know, what are the things that you're most struggling with? Because also one of the things I try to really focus on during this workshop. So it's kind of what I would call the middle part, the second part. So we examine perceptions, and then we work on, you know, equipping. And that's where we talk a lot about communication, communication styles between men and women and how it's different. And to understand our own gender biases, that when we hear gender bias, we think it's a man against a woman, you know, in a negative connotation. But it's really just we all have these, and they're innocent. They're not, you know, intentionally malicious. It's just, you know, our background, our experiences, the way we were raised, and we all have them. And so I try to help, again, raise awareness to that and then understand how we can communicate better. For example, a man has a hard time sometimes giving a review, a performance review or a check in, however you want to, you know, title it to a woman, because he's been conditioned his entire life to, you know, speak kindly to women, don't hurt their feelings. And if he's married, he's like I can't talk to my wife directly to hurt her feelings, and I don't want to sleep on the couch. And, you know, I mean, they're just as conditioned as we are.

Right.

So when he's giving feedback to another man, he's very clear and concise and gives details. And with a woman, he. He tends to want to sugarcoat it.

Well, he doesn't want to. Doesn't want to upset her, doesn't want to make her cry, doesn't want to make her mad. I mean, all of those things. That's so interesting.

Yes. So those are things that I want to work on. So that's the reason I like to. Back to your original question is, you know, talk to the organization, the leaders there, find out what are some of the challenges so we can make sure that we spend a good amount of time tailored to them. The curriculum is really the same across the board, but there's different scenarios that I can use or we can spend more time in one area. And a lot of times, feedback and questions kind of also dictate how much time we spend somewhere. When you find out where people are.

Struggling the most, that makes so much sense because every workshop you do, every team that you work with, everything kind of happens organically. And I think what makes a really good coach, which I know you are, Kimberly, is being able to meet your clients, where they're at, and develop the program and the workshop based on where that particular team is at. Because they're all going to be in a different place.

Yes, definitely. And, you know, we're all, you know, we're all works in progress. Right. No matter if we have been in the workplace for, you know, five months or 15 years, or, you know, we're just all on our journey and learning and, you know, hopefully making new mistakes and not the same mistakes.

Right.

That's one of the things, too, that I do like to address is, you know, I've worked with women who have had to leave a job because they were, you know, overworked, burnout and so forth, and then they put themselves in the position again and create this, the same environment with their new job. That's so true.

You know, the truth to that is if the problem isn't repaired, I mean, if you don't fix the problem, the problem repeats, whether it's in life or in business or your career or whatever. If the. If it's not repaired, it will repeat. And I would imagine the same thing would happen in the workforce.

Yes, you hit it exactly. Is that it's the same thing like we all have had, you know, that girlfriend who always dated the guys who were jerks.

Right.

Why are you doing that? You know, but she keeps doing it, wanting something different. And it's the same thing. We often, we bring ourselves into every new job that we do.

That's so true. Oh, thank you so much for sharing about that. And I will put all of Kimberly's contact information in the show notes. So to be able just to hyperlink to her email. I'll have that all listed for you. I want to shift just a little bit, Kimberly, and I want to talk to you about the balance struggle that you may have had in your life and business because you've been an entrepreneur for a very long time. I know you've had a family business and you've done a lot of different things yourself, but what was your biggest struggle in balancing life and your business aspirations as you were raising your children, trying to be obedient to your calling, as well as a good wife and a good mother. Where did you struggle in balancing all of that?

You know, that is, that is such a good question. And it's, it was hard a lot of times because I felt this constant tension between, I wanted, I wanted to be a, quote unquote, stay at home mom. I wanted to be present for my children. And I have no, you know, if God's called a mom to the, to work or she has to work a hundred percent. I mean, you're still a great mom. And if you're a stay at home mom and you, you know, have never worked in the workforce, you're still a great mom. So, you know, I don't think those things dictate that. But for me personally, I wanted to be the mom I never had. And so that meant that I was present. And so there was a lot of years of sacrifice in some ways. And you know, it wasn't a sacrifice to be with my kids and to be their mother, but it was a sacrifice to lay down some of my ambitions for a season because I knew that that would, it would take away too much time. It would demand too much time for me. And so it was very hard. And it was hard also. I don't know if any of your listeners have grown up in church and maybe a more conservative church. The church doesn't really know what to do with a working woman. They want to support them. But then a lot of working women, they feel left out at their church. They feel like they don't have a place because the play dates or the Serving. All those things happen during the day when they're at work. And, you know, some women want to work, so they feel guilty about that. And then others have to work out of necessity because their family needs the income or it's a single mom. And so there's a struggle there. And so I'm really sensitive to that because I also felt that tension of what's wrong with me. I would rather be in a boardroom than cleaning the nursery.

Oh, my gosh, Kimberly, I'm so glad. Sorry to interrupt you, but I'm so glad you brought that up, because my first career was a portrait photographer, and that was a calling. That was a calling for me to create. I've been doing that for over 34 years. So that calling was creating legacies for families through portraits and photography. To be that family, I imagine them looking at that box full of pictures that were, you know, 50, 60, 70, 100 years old. To be the photographer that created those images for that family to pour over when they lost their loved ones, that was a calling to me. Yes. And I will be so honest with you that I felt guilty sometimes for my work, as it was a business. I didn't work for anyone else, so I'd had to make an income to help support my kids and my family. But I felt guilty a lot of the time that, am I doing enough for my kids? Am I doing enough for my clients? Am I doing enough for my calling? It was a power struggle that I had within myself. And. And you're right, there weren't a lot of opportunities in my church because things happened when I was either working or. And quite honestly, sometimes when I was able to go, I was just too darn tired. I just have it in me. I'm like, I can't go to one more thing. I just need to be home and. And not do anything and capture my time back a little bit. But I'm so glad you brought that up, because I think sometimes, you know, working women get a bad rap. I think stay home mothers get a bad rap. But sometimes what we're doing, it's our calling. It's what God has created us to do. And when it's your calling, it's happening, whether you like it or not, it's gonna happen. It's happening. But, my gosh, thank you for bringing that up. So how did you feel? Because I know as your children got older, they didn't need you as much. You didn't have to be as hands on. How did it feel when you were able to Start spreading your wings and writing your first book. Because I know you didn't have time to write a book when you were running after four children.

Well, you know, the first book was a devotional and it was written every night after 8:00'.

Clock. Oh, I love it. Yes.

That was the evenings back then. I was a little more, you know, with it after 8pm now, the later the call gets, the more I start winding down mentally. And then my second book actually was written a lot by hand. Sitting in the carpool line to pick up my kids from school or waiting for a kid to get out of practice because they, you know, we're just. My oldest was. Had his permit, but not able to drive himself or sitting at swim lessons waiting for the two youngest to be done. And so it was like you fit things in your nooks and crannies and so. But here's the thing about, you know, you'd asked about just kind of that balance thing. And going back to our, you know, our key word of our perceptions. We have a perception that we cannot even I. We can't even describe it of what we think balance is. We have some, you know, this word balance on a pedestal that it looks like this and. And we'll never achieve it.

And.

But the reality is balance really is just about doing what you're supposed to be doing at the time that you should be doing it. And so, you know, that's. That would eliminate so much guilt, the mom guilt from working women. If, you know, when you're at work, do work, you're there and you're called to be there. And, you know, it's okay to, you know, give yourself permission to love what you're doing. And then when you're home or you're at dinner or you're, you know, with the kids, be present with the kids and you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. And so I think that's the main thing is that we have this illusion of balance being something that, you know, it looks holy or it looks perfect or organized. And that's really not what it is. It's just doing what we're supposed to be doing when we're supposed to be doing it.

Oh my gosh, a hundred times, yes to that. And balance it. Learning life and business. Balance is really about understanding. Understanding that it's never actually in balance and being okay with that. It's like, right. I mean, it's like, you know, everybody wants to be balanced, get in balance. And that's one of my coaching programs is business and life balance completely. But it's learning that happiness does not come when you're quote unquote balanced. That doesn't guarantee that you're going to be happy. It doesn't guarantee that life is perfect. But what that does is equips you to. To be able to ebb and FL between life and business and know that there are times where you're going to have to devote a little more time in the business world, but yet you'll be able to give back to the family in another way a little bit differently and to be okay with what that looks like.

Yes, I agree.

Oh, good. I'm so glad. I'm so glad you brought that up. About, you know, the church doesn't always know what to do with. With the working woman and the CEO because, you know, sometimes it's not. And there are. Are circumstances where we do have to work for. Financially, we have to work. But your work is not a punishment, no matter what you do, because if it's your calling, then, my gosh, you are doing what God has made you to do. And he'll work out all the details. He will definitely work out the details. So thank you for that conversation. I'm going to ask you, what is one thing that no one in the whole world knows about you? You.

Oh, my goodness.

One of my favorite questions to ask people.

I'm like, how many true confessions of crime have you gotten asking?

I will never tell. Oh.

Oh, gosh. You know what? Okay, this is true. It's kind of embarrassing to say out loud, and it's silly. But you know what? I've always wished that I would have done or could have done or whatever was to be an actress. To be one of those crazy strong women, like in an action movie. And like, I mean, I would totally love that, but I'm so, like I said, I'm shy. I don't like being in front of people. And so I think I would have felt silly. So I never even tried to, like, try out for a play.

Oh, my gosh. So you wanted to be the one that kicked the door down and. Yes. Throat punched a guy and.

Oh my gosh. Yes. That is 100% it.

I love it. So good. That is so good. See, that's the thing is your perception of you being shy. I could never do it. I'm shy. I could never do it. Oh, my gosh. Well, you're breaking that door down, my friend. So what is your life mission? Where do you want to make the biggest impact in the World. So when, when you leave the earth and people that are left behind say, wow, Kimberly, this is where she made the biggest impact in the world. Where do you want that to be?

You know, I really try to, to be kingdom minded, if you will. You know, I want people to, if they know me and are in relationship with me, whether it just as an acquaintance or, you know, were a deep, close friendship or relationship that they, they saw that I loved, well, with the love of Christ, you know, and I really, that's a driving motive for me, I think. But just in, you know, my human self, one of my biggest driving forces is I want to make my kids proud of me. And I don't know why that's so deeply important to me. I'm sure it has something to do with my childhood, but I, you know, I love it. It just, you know, it's, it's not an ego thing, it's. It's a heart thing. When I hear my kids brag about me to another, you know, child or, well, used to be children, now they're adults. But, you know, when my kids would brag about me, me or, you know, took my book to show and tell and, you know, in elementary, I mean, it just was, it fed my heart so deeply. I just want to continue to do things that they're proud of because it's my hope that they, it will inspire them and, and empower them that they can do even more.

That is really, really special, Kimberly. And I've not shared this with you, but I got to sit next to your sweet daughter when you did your lecture here in Tulsa, and she was beaming with pride. She had the biggest smile on her face watching you, listening to you as you gave your presentation. So I think you're accomplishing that, that mission.

Thank you. That was really special to get to bring her to that event with me. And yeah, she's, she's such a great cheerleader. I mean, she's my hype girl.

I love it.

Or, you know, a good hair day. She's there for it.

Oh, I love it. Well, I think your, your, your mission that the impact that you're hoping to leave, you are doing at. And that's, I think that's just such a beautiful thing when you know that the impact and the hope that you're having in the world, you're actually, you're doing it.

Thank you for saying that.

Yeah. So good for you. I love that. Okay, we're going to wrap it up with a few rapid fire questions. So, Kimberly, where do you see Yourself in five years. What does that look like?

Five years? I hope I have another couple books done and, and I hope I'm getting close to having grandkids.

Oh my gosh, I hope so too for you because it's the best ever.

You know, we were late bloomers and you know, so we didn't have kids till like, you know, 30s and yeah, so all of our friends have grandkids and we're just kind of putt putting along, waiting for our kid to even get engaged.

Well, you are in for the best time of your life if you think that raising your children was the best ever. No. Nope. It's grandchildren. And I loved raising my kids, as I know you did. But I'm telling you, like my three year old grandson right now, I am literally his best friend. Do you know how good that feels to have a three year old think that you're his best friend?

Oh, I love that.

I love is so good. So what advice, what advice would you give the young Kimberly?

Oh, you know, it's the same advice I try to still give myself today that is taking me forever to learn that it's to just do it that, you know, I've for so many years I made every excuse of why I, you know, couldn't pursue this career or I couldn't go for whatever it was or write the book or, you know, book this big speaking thing or, you know, it's always this waiting of oh, it's not the right time or well, I'm going to be more confident when. And you know, I'm giving a talk next week on that. We don't need confidence and that's a myth. And so I just wish I would have told myself just to do it, just take the first step. So I love that line from the We Bought a Zoom movie. And it's like all you need is like, you know, 30 seconds of radical courage or something like that. I should be able to quote it since I love it so much, but I'm like, that's really it. We just need to take the first step. Something that locks us into a commitment to it. And I wish I would have told, you know, known that then and told myself that. And the other thing is that it's going to work out okay. Things will be okay.

Oh, that's so good. That is so good. So what's the favorite thing to do in your downtime?

Gosh, what is downtime?

First of all, Kimberly, let's define downtime.

You know, actually my husband and I, our whole family, this Is the only thing that all six of us loved to do is movies. We love to go into the movies together. And so that's like a treat when all six of us, you know, because everybody's adults now, still get to go to the movies together. But we would have family night movies every Friday night and, you know, watch a movie at home in our pajamas or we'd go to the movies when we got older, you know, they got older. And so love movies. Love watching movies at home, at the movie theater, you name it. Just a movie junkie. And I love reading romance novels. Cheesy romance, predictable. I'm there for it.

Kind of like the Hallmark movies that, you know, you know, you know exactly what's gonna happen and when, how it's gonna end.

Yes.

That'S good. I love it. I love it. Oh, my goodness. Kimberly, thank you so much for taking the time to be with me in the audience today. I truly appreciate you.

Well, thank you. This has been such an honor. And of course, anytime I get to spend with you, I feel like I have won because I just so enjoy our conversations every time. So thank you. Thank you for having me.

It's my pleasure. And, Kimberly, I look forward to our future because I. I strongly feel you go nowhere by accident. Wherever you are, God has put you. And I met you for a reason, and I don't know what that reason is, but I know it's for a reason, and I'm so grateful to have met you. So thank you so much for being here. Kimberly and friends, thank you for joining Kimberly and I on this episode today. I will leave all you of. Of the. In the show notes, all of Kimberly's contact information so you can reach her there. Make it a great week, my friends and God bless.

Thank you for joining us today on a new life podcast. We will see you next time.