We recently connected with Kathryn Moore and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kathryn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Growth is exciting, but from what we’ve seen across thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs it’s also dangerous if costs aren’t watched closely – sometimes costs can grow out of control outpacing revenue growth and putting the viability of the entire business at risk. How have you managed to keep costs under control?

In my experience, one of the bigger mistakes you can make with your money when starting out in your business is to spread your cash thin by investing in various expensive platforms and services. There’s a lot of amazing tools and agencies out there that will do it all for you, but it does come at a cost that not everyone can support from the jump.  There are many low priced and even free tools out there that you can access to get ‘the job done’ without burning too much of your overhead when starting out.  As you grow so will the need for a more robust tool/service/employee to manage those things for you.

The second thing I’ll say is to slow down. That pesky concept of ‘get rich quicker’ is nothing new, but it’s grown so much that its roots are well planted and sprouting new terms. “Get your time back!” “Get faster conversions!” “Grow your audience overnite!”  Quite often I’ve experienced clients who invest a fortune in platforms and strategies that promised amazing results without taking the time first to really think about how it applies to their business, the process that they’re really investing in and what it will personally take from them to set it up.  And I get it, we’re an exhausted group of humanity these days, but allowing yourself a moment to really think about something before you invest may help your success in the long run.

Kathryn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

With over 20 years of hands-on experience within the marketing and project management ecosystem, Kathryn has morphed into what many call a Fractional CMO. From creating strategy around campaigns/funnels, content development and training programs, to live and virtual events, she partners with business owners and entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes to prioritize projects, team and needed systems to improve workflow, productivity, social media presence and marketing process. Taking pride in promoting a different approach to marketing and leadership, she champions everyone in finding their authentic voice and using their superpowers for good.

In short, her focus is always on improving the client-team relationship while identifying areas and trends that could improve higher results and repeated business. Removing the headaches of identifying projects and team support, so their brand can continue to grow.

When she’s not mapping out your next campaign launch, you can find her enjoying the many adventures her husband and son create with her.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

It’s not about me.

I used to be a sponge when it came to others’ emotions much to the detriment of my self esteem. Being an uber analyzer and eager to support others by nature I believed in my youth and young adulthood that I was the cause of others’ anger or disappointment. It took a lot of leadership growth and training to understand I’m not responsible for making people happy and that someone’s adverse action or reaction to something stems from something in them and not me. The balance to understanding that is you’re still responsible for yourself and how you choose to respond. We are indeed all mirrors of each other and there’s always opportunity to learn, shift and grow. Once I grasped that concept, my reality and way of being greatly shifted. Communication became stronger and relationships grew. Now I say that being an analyzer and supporter are my superpowers. Growing your leadership isn’t an overnight fix though. It’s a constant work in progress. There will always be new situations that stretch you and push you to become a better version of yourself. Understanding that and being conscientious of where others may be in life makes all the difference.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Celebrate others. Acknowledge the individual, their efforts, their ideas and allow them a seat at the table when it comes to innovating processes and projects.

Stay connected. Make an effort to check in with your team at least once a week. Not just to debrief about their workload or what tasks are on their plate, but take an active and authentic interest in what’s current in their personal lives. Explore opportunities in how you can support them if they’re struggling.

Be in communication. Be clear about what’s expected on tasks or projects. If something is off, openly discuss what’s not working and ask questions that invite honest answers and feedback from your team. Whether it’s on a specific task or it’s feedback on your leadership style, stay open and listen. If something isn’t working ask them what solution they think is needed and if it makes sense, allow them to lead the execution. Also, acknowledge what is working and create an opportunity or special project that allows them to copy their process and share it with the team. At the end of the day, we all want to feel like what we’re doing is adding value, the efforts we put in to create and show up matters, and that we are heard.

I believe any leader who recognizes that, and fosters connection and collaboration, will create a successful team.