We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kat Harvey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kat below.
Hi Kat, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
We only get one chance in our own movie called “Life” and no do-overs. I think people play too small and/or don’t dream big enough because they think it’s too far or can lever happen for them, which is far from the truth. I think we underestimate how much it takes to attain and maintain the level of success we desire.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced taking risks even more and become clear on what I want in my life then putting in the work to ensure it comes true. A major risk that most people worry about that keeps them from starting or even to keep going is “what people think of me or what I’m going” which is the wrong approach.
My philosophy is Do the work, be consistent, and the people along with the money will come as long as you keep moving forward. But you have to “Put in the work and really go above and beyond the call of duty if you really want to be successful in your life.”
I remember coming up with the concept of my show “Success Nothing Less” with no background or schooling in mass communications, journalism or media. In fact, I have my master’s in accounting and forensic accounting. Two totally different fields!
However, I truly believe that like Steve Harvey says “Your gift will make room for You” and I took a leap of faith in 2014 to begin interviewing celebrities along with influential people for the Success Nothing Less show. At first, it was really slow and I was paying money to videographers to film for me while I did the editing. Then, I ran into a wall where I started to get momentum but I couldn’t be everywhere (NYC, LA, AT) in a moment’s notice without the proper team and paying everyone’s way out of my own pocket all the time. Before COVID-19, most PR and publicists were not a fan of “virtual interview” they were very traditional with only conducting in-person interviews especially A-list celebrities. COVID-19 was a blessing for me because it showed people all over the world that you don’t have to be face-to-face to do business or in my case to do an interview when the technology is already in place.
I took a 2nd risk to revamp my show branding and to come out even bigger with having legends such as Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Gogo Legend Sugar Bear from E.U and so many more within my 8 months of coming back on the scene after 4 years of figuring out how I was going to come back.
I want to encourage anyone to dust off that dream that speaks to your soul and keeps you up at night because that means “You are supposed to be doing it”. Bottom line, don’t worry about the how or count the risks – the point is to get to the other side where you are truly living the life you dream of and taking risks is the only way to successfully make it to the other side.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was raised by my loving mother and grandfather in Washington, D.C. Also, I have 2 brothers (one in the U.S. and other one in the Bahamas) along with a host of family members. I was taught at an early age that there was no such thing as impossible and that success principle is what kept me from putting the limits on what I can achieve in my lifetime. My mom, my younger brother and my grandpa are my WHY.
In 2008, I graduated from Francis L. Cardozo Senior High School. In 2012, I graduated with honors from Norfolk State University (NSU) with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and started working in the accounting industry. Even though I’ve had a great career, I knew that I wanted to do more than work a 9 to 5. I have always been a very independent person, seeing my mom own a successful hair salon and business inspired me not to want to work for anyone. Also, I definitely didn’t want to be that adult living off of my parent’s success pretending it was mine because I see this happen all the time.
In 2014, I started my show called “Success Nothing Less”, #SuccessNothingLess in which I interviewed celebrities along with people of influence from around the world. I believe that everyone has a story to share and by people watching my show it will positively impact them to make their dreams become a reality.
In 2018, I had decided to go back to get my master’s degree to solidify my career but also in case all else ever fails – I didn’t want to be pursuing education in the latter part of my life when I had a family, etc. I thought I could do all 4 things at the same time (have a personal life, a thriving career, attend graduate school and successfully continue the Success Nothing Less Show) but I had to put the show on hold until I finished graduate school.
With having the show, I had a few brands who would send me clothes to wear in my interviews in exchange for promotion. One of the popular brands, Cupcake Mafia had sent me tons of goodie in which wore their sweatershirt during my interview with Claire Sulmers who is the CEO of Fashion Bomb Daily. Fashion Bomb Daily is one of the top fashion blogs with millions of supports and celebrity influence. At this moment, I said I need to create my own fashion brand to cross promote while I’m doing interviews with people of influence. This idea would align with who Iam as a person since I love fashion but especially streetwear is what I wear most.
In 2017, I started my own luxury clothing brand called “Fly Level” which is for Fly people who do great things and look fly while doing it. Several celebrities have worn Fly Level brand which has been selling out very quickly in a short time frame worldwide. You can get more information about the brand “Fly Level” clothing brand at www.FlyLevelShop.com.
In 2020, I graduated from George Mason University (GMU) with my master’s in accounting and felt like my foundation was fully complete. However, I still felt unfulfilled even though my Fly Level business, personal life and career were successful. For three years, I was missing my show and I was going to start my show up again but the pandemic hit. Like most people, I was at a stand still and didn’t know what to do. Next thing I know, everyone was starting their own podcast and interviewing people of influence virtually. It reminds me of music nowadays, everyone wants to rap or think they can sing but that doesn’t mean that they should be doing it. This is why a few people actually have success in this field because it’s hard work and it’s not something you should do because you want to be famous. I live, sleep, eat, and breathe interviews which was one of the reasons why a lot of things that should be hard come easy to me. I book my own interviews, edit/produce content, put up my own resources to expand the brand, build relationships with various members in the industry and genuinely want to share some of the hidden gems of habits/thought process from successful people with the world.
During COVID, I had time to think and re-brand the Success Nothing Less show so when I came back it would be a huge success.
On March 21, 2022, I had my first live show and three months out I’m fully booked with special guests. One of things I said I would do differently this time is to have more live shows to build engagement and start having special events to provide even more value to our supporters. Also, I want this to be a platform where other creatives can connect through our upcoming special events and projects where Success Nothing Less can showcase their talents/ideas worldwide. It is my vision to turn this show into a syndicated radio show and national TV show where even more lives will be changed by engaging in the Success Nothing Show. It doesn’t matter where you are, where you come from, or what race you are – this show will empower you to live your purpose along with providing you with the tools you need to get to the next level.
Huge shoutout to my family and friends who have supported my vision from the beginning. Couldn’t have made it this far without YOU!
Be sure to subscribe and share the show with your family and friends in your life on www.SuccessNothingLess.co!
Again, I truly appreciate all of the love and support!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Being myself – having integrity and being genuine has allowed strangers to bless me further than I could have done on my own. Also, it’s important to support other people’s visions and projects without looking for anything in return. God along with the universe has a funny way of paying you back for the good deeds but if you do it from the heart – even if you don’t get a thank you THE BLESSING WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TEN FOLDS!
Don’t be afraid to outwork everyone but still have balance to eat right, workout and get SLEEP! It doesn’t mean anything if you aren’t healthy enough to enjoy your success and family.
Being aware of time – I’m naturally a “numbers person” so I’m always conscientious of my time and got a lot better with making critical decisions in a short amount of time. I think if people start tracking what is taking up most of their time whether it be wasting so much time on social media looking at other people’s profile, at happy hour with friends, watching Netflix/Hulu, etc. then they would realize how much more productive they would be in their life. I challenge you to get a planner and/or use your phone to write down your activities and how much time you spend doing them. Then, you become aware and it’s up to YOU to start changing it so you can still have fun but spend more time on making your dreams come true.
People always say I know you’re busy..which is true but I value my time because it’s the one thing we can never get back and I won’t be the reason for why I look back on my life and wish I had used my time wisely. Value your time more than money and watch how your life positively/exponentially changes to include the people around you!
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
For my lifestyle brand “Fly Level” I remember ordering like 30 hoodies and thinking I may sell half of them. I was super nervous and just spent all this money on models, photographers. studio, videographers. This was my first time doing serious pivoting with expanding my business – I have two photoshoots in which I had never met no one in person just over the phone and/or video calls. I had to trust complete strangers to execute my vision (one team in Dallas, TX and the other team in London, England) and send me great quality content to use for promotion while paying all of the money upfront to conduct the photoshoot. I literally went way over my budget but it was all worth it because it was one of my biggest sales and gained me a lot of exposure with people who initially were not interested in Fly Level – now wanting to support and buy multiple items.
Bottom line, you have to invest in yourself, vision and business. No shortcuts or you will short cut your results. Of course, run your course – social media can make us think we have to run like a chicken with our heads cut off to have tremendous success which is not true. Focus on 1, then 10, then 100 and so on and soon you will end up with thousands and maybe even millions!
Also, if you don’t have an accountability partner or someone you can bounce ideas off of I would suggest you find someone. It’s very important and has been a critical element in my success that saved me so many times from making bad decisions based on emotions instead of logic and/or just another perspective to really have my brand stand out from the noise.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.successnothingless.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/successnothingless.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Success-Nothing-Less/100076558344490/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuccessNothingLessco/
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@successnothingless.co
Image Credits
Roy Cox Photography (Main picture of me in black and white dress)