Kim O'Hara, author of Kicking Abuse in the Ass, talks about overcoming the loneliness of writing trauma, why genuine networking means asking how you can help others first, and her belief that joy hides in uncomfortable moments that lead to synchronicities.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Kim O'Hara with us. She is an intuitive book coach helping ambitious people turn their powerful words and stories into books with passion and purpose. She is the author of the memoir Kicking Abuse in the Ass. She additionally helps executives navigate their story to elevate and clarify their career objectives. So welcome to the show.
Thank you. So glad to be here.
Of course. And we're glad to have you on. So let's dive into the first one, Kim. The first one I got for you is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
You know, this one really threw me because there's so many, you know, like, God, which one do I talk about? And I thought, you know, Since we both deal with books, I would say that I didn't want to do book signings for my book when it came out. I figured I'd done the work of writing it, I'd gotten the publisher, it was on sale on Amazon, you know, done deal. And an author said to me, "You have to do the book signings and honor your work." And I thought it would be all this planning and this kind of big pain. And then all of a sudden when I made the decision to do it, like everything lined up and there were these truly magical evenings and I touched all these people who needed to hear my message. And so I would say that That is one of the strongest messages that I've gotten recently is celebrate yourself as an author.
And then what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
It's lonely to be a writer. It just is. I mean, even the most accomplished authors will tell you that, you know, everyone needs help with the psychology of the fear and paralysis of writing. I mean, it's 3/4 of the battle. So especially if you're writing about a traumatic experience, that you've gotten on the other side of and want to inspire people, you have to relive that when you're writing a book or a blog or anything. And doing that alone, it sometimes helps to have support. It actually always helps to have support.
Definitely. Yeah, I could not agree with that more. And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah, I— this is like a no-brainer for me. Ask how you can help other people. And make calls to people across all different industries to talk to them about what's going on in their business and actually be genuinely interested in others without the objective of what you're going to get. You know, I fell into this mindset for half a minute, a negative mindset in building my business where I felt like people in my networking group were not referring me clients. You know, I had like a mini temper tantrum about it. And then instead I decided I just developed friendships with them. And now a lot of these people provide me services that have made my life wonderful and easy, and I trust them.
And then if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Relax, trust the process. Don't take less money for what you're worth. Stick to your gut and trust your intuition. Being young does not mean you don't know what is right if you have a strong set of values.
And then kind of going a little bit down a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
There's so many things. I mean, coffee and chocolate right away, but lots of sleep, food for your body type, moving your body, loving yourself, you know, all those transformational things. But to get kind of esoteric for a moment, and it sounds, you know, counterintuitive, but I find happiness when I sit in those uncomfortable moments where I don't know what's going to happen. It's like these incredible synchronicities happen afterwards. And so sometimes I don't want to go to the uncomfortable moments, but I, I see always there's happiness after.
And then, okay, perfect. This is for a book. So what is the best book that you have read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
Well, I just finished listening to Daring to Trust by David Rico. It's on Audible and it was life-changing because we're always manipulating and controlling people because we're scared. And, you know, we're scared we're not going to be able to handle situations. And after hearing his book, I was like, you know what, I have to trust that I'm gonna be okay no matter what others do. And that gives you a really strong foundation to navigate your life.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
So I gave you, I'm gonna give you an abridged version because it's very long, but it's a quote from Williams Hutchinson Murray. And until one is committed, there's hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans, that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where can our audience best find you online?
Come on down to my website, www. Astoryinside.com, and there's an opt-in there. It's brand spanking new, and it takes you through a free video series called I Have a Book to Write. And then there's an exclusive opt-in. It's a $97 offer. It's only for people that go through the opt-in for a tutorial called What Is an Outline, which is a fundamental baby step for anyone looking to understand what is the foundation of a book.
Awesome. Thank you so much, and we will talk with you soon, Kim.
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