We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Leiler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I’ve always had some “risk-taker” in my blood, and I’ll get to that, but first, let me start with this. I typically don’t like to do anything if I don’t have a good chance of winning.

I wasn’t a fan of playing a game or a sport if I didn’t think I could win. If you’re like me, you don’t like the thought of losing – at anything! My number one personality strength, according to Clifton Strengths Finder, is competition. I wrote a blog about Knowing Thyself in Business if you want to read more about it. As far back as I can remember, I was either wanting to compete with myself or against someone else. It didn’t matter what it was, I always had to be the best and test my limits. This was a good thing in one way, as I’ve accomplished a lot as a result of that inner drive, but it also turned out to be one of my greatest weaknesses.

Answer me this, would you still play if you thought you might lose? This is where I got into trouble. If you had a pretty strong feeling you could win, would you still consider it a risk to play? I think the answer is yes. There is risk in playing the game and there is risk in not playing the game. Weighing the cost of not playing versus the cost of not winning, this is the question I had to start asking myself when it came to taking risks. As time went on, I found myself not playing in the game of life with areas that really mattered, which I will explain as we go.

All my life, I loved being active and playing sports. My favorite was volleyball. Man, did I ever love that sport! There is an inherent risk of pain and injury in the sports world, and of course, I did get hurt a few times. When we had losses, I was never a sore loser, but I always was extra critical of myself if I didn’t play a perfect game. Let me just say, perfectionism is the enemy of progress. Don’t let yourself get stuck in that cycle. Your identity is not based on what you do or how you perform. I mention that only because overcoming perfectionism has been a huge part of my journey.

After high school and two years of college, I decided to take an even bigger risk and joined the United States Air Force in March of 2003. Fully aware that basic training would be difficult, but realizing too, that I’d also be gambling with my life in a sense. It’s a little ironic that I use the word gambling because I really don’t like gambling. You might have guessed that, since I see it as a game I can’t lose if I don’t play. This limited thinking eventually held me back from pursuing the life I envisioned for myself. When it came to matters of the heart or pursuing my purpose, I kept myself on the sidelines.

In the Air Force, I trained to be a boxer. We all know how wild that sport can be. I ended up being matched up with an Army girl who was twenty pounds heavier than me. I remember stepping into the ring and seeing all the blood on the mat and thinking to myself, “what the heck are you doing?!” Thankfully, I came out with only a sore nose and aching shoulders. If you’re wondering who won that fight, this scrappy little Air Force girl got the job done! 😉

During those years I spent in the military, I developed a love for weight training. I started dreaming about doing a fitness show. I knew I had the physical grit and discipline to do it, and I knew I had the athletic build that would give me a natural advantage. Can you see a pattern here? I never had a problem taking a risk, as long as I thought I had favorable odds.

Jumping ahead a few years, I went back to school at Grand Canyon University and started learning about Entrepreneurship. Something came alive in my spirit and I just knew this had to be my next adventure. However, this was a game I was uncertain I could win. Going after a dream and my life purpose frightened me more than anything I’d ever done. Something that could determine the course of the rest of my life, determine how much money I’d make, and be the ultimate test of my will and character, yeah, I was scared out of my mind!

For years, I fumbled around in a reality that didn’t match my vision. Living that way is not living at all, it’s just surviving, and it makes you soul-sick. After a lot of years of reading loads of books and deciding to invest in myself through mentoring programs and high-level training, I finally took the biggest risk of my life and started two businesses and now planning on a third.

It blew my mind how I could be so fierce and courageous in almost anything else, but when it came to life-altering decisions, I was paralyzed. When I thought about not being “good enough” to pursue my life mission, it stopped me in my tracks.

I finally had to seriously weigh the cost of not playing versus not winning. I seemingly was stuck not playing in the game of life because I was afraid I wouldn’t hit the ball out of the park on the first swing. I was afraid of failing, of not winning. I realized the pain of “failure” is nothing compared to the pain and regret of not even playing your hand. I don’t like the word, failure, because as long as we stay in the game, failure doesn’t exist, it just means it’s time to regroup or try something new.

I finally was able to get out of my own way, so to speak, and start pursuing the hard things, even if I had no clue how it would turn out. Living life to the fullest and at your highest potential is the ultimate test. It challenges you to bust through the doors of your fears. What I’ve learned over the years is that your fear usually points you to your purpose or destiny. It’s up to you and me to be brave enough to run towards the fear, not away from it. It’s risky to go after big dreams, but I don’t want to look back and say, “I didn’t give it my best shot.” I want to look back and say, “I left all of my cards on the table.”

So how about you, are you ready to take a risk? You’ll never feel ready, but as long as you take time to prepare, reach for your dreams, and never lose hope, you can’t lose!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Born into an entrepreneurial family, it wasn’t hard to figure out why I felt called to this path. It just took me a long time to figure out where to start, and also to develop the confidence I needed to make the leap. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, let me tell ya!

Early on I had no clue about what I wanted to do with my life, and my dream of becoming an Olympic volleyball player was short-lived. When I was younger I assumed I would end up in the fitness and wellness world since that’s what naturally drew me in, and was where I seemed to have some innate talent.

When I started college at GCU in 2010, my original degree choice was Physical Therapy. After the first year and a half and almost finishing that degree, I decided it wasn’t for me. Talk about starting over, yikes! By that time I was getting a nudge from God that an Entrepreneurial Studies degree might be better suited for me. So I took an economics course to test the waters, and from then on, I knew that was the direction I needed to go.

In my junior year, one of our professors started a competition where students could enter to win prize money for writing and pitching their business ideas (kind of like “Shark Tank”). I took a chance, and after some encouragement from Professor Tim, I entered the competition. It turns out I got second place and was only a few points behind first place. I won $2000! Pretty cool, right?! 😊 It was such an incredible confirmation that I could actually do this thing.

After graduating, getting a job, and five years of learning and growing as a person, I took that huge leap of faith and started my own business. It’s not surprising that I wasn’t satisfied with just one business, I had to start two with another on my heart to start later this year.

At Katie Leiler Consulting (my first business), I do everything from social media management to Facebook ads, to email marketing and web design. You can learn more about my business at katieleiler.com. My husband was nice enough to design that website for me. His expertise is in website development, so it’s fun when we can collaborate on certain projects. My goal is to increase visibility, drive more traffic, increase sales, and help customers connect with brands on a deeper level. Most people buy based on the story a brand is telling through its products. Getting to know my clients on a more personal level, always helps me deliver a clearer message and build brand identity, as our businesses tend to closely mirror our personalities and values. That’s the part I love most about marketing for others.

The second business was more about me allowing myself to pursue a life-long passion project. Plus, I wanted to diversify my income streams and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to marry the two. Through a close personal friend, I was introduced to a couple who taught people how to sell products on Amazon. Get this, the wild part was that I had forgotten I had created an Amazon seller account long, long ago. I wanted to get into it even before I graduated. I must have just been distracted by everything going on at school. It’s funny how some things have a way of sneaking back into your life.

The name I chose for the business was a name I had written on a tiny torn piece of paper hidden away in my desk drawer. It was a name I wanted for my little girl when I had one. No little girl has come along, but I have a cute-as-can-be puppy dog named, Chloe, who is a pretty wonderful stand-in.

The name I picked was Leilani Life. “Leilani ”translates into “royal child” or “heavenly flower.” It just fit perfectly! My product niche is Christian gifts and is something I have felt called to be a part of most of my life. I have longed to be creative and cast a vision for others who need inspiration and encouragement. My first product is a multipurpose engraved wooden cross. My initial design idea was to have it be a rearview mirror ornament, but it has since evolved into many other uses. You can view and purchase my product on Amazon at amazon.com/leilanilife or on my website leilanilife.com. I designed this website, as I was a little pickier about how I wanted it to look. My perfectionistic tendencies almost got the best of me a few times on this one. 😉 This business is near and dear to my heart and is the one that brings me the most fulfillment and joy.

I launched my first product in January of this year and am still in the learning phase, but I can tell you, it is so much fun! It’s a little more challenging to run my Amazon business from Mexico, so I fly back home to Arizona to visit my family and replenish my inventory quite often.

My third venture stems from my own experience of being a veteran. I’m hoping by the end of the year, I will have started a non-profit that serves the veteran community in a way that is desperately needed. Hopefully, I can do a follow-up interview to let you know the details and my progress on that.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After college and two degrees later, (Entrepreneurial Studies & Exercise Science with an emphasis in Health Education), I was blessed to find a company that had just opened and was looking for someone to help grow its business. That was just me being at the right place at the right time. A divine connection you might say. I learned a lot and it gave me five years of experience under my belt. That’s where I met my husband. When we met, he had already committed to selling everything in the United States and was preparing to move to Mexico soon after. We knew if we wanted to be together, I would eventually need to make the move with him. At that point, I was almost forced to start my own business, which now I am so very grateful for! It was tough at first because I started my online marketing business just two months before the Covid pandemic hit.

Initially, I felt horrible asking businesses to pay me and even did some introductory inexpensive packages just to help where I could. I quickly had to reframe the way I was thinking about it and had to view it as a way to give businesses the upper hand when the economy came to a halt. That was the time when business owners needed to invest in the digital space to grow their online stores. I still have several of my initial clients, which I am incredibly thankful for.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

When I started Leilani Life, I knew I wanted to be able to say that my products were all made in America. This was a challenge at first, and at one point I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get what I needed in the U.S. However, I kept searching until I was found what I looking for.

Manufacturing in America is sometimes not as cost-effective or as easy as manufacturing overseas. That is a fact, but I’m so happy I kept my commitment to give small businesses in the U.S. a chance to produce my vision. I basically traded the cost of shipping from overseas for a slightly higher product cost. At least that’s how I see it.

Can you guess where I started my search for a manufacturer?? Yep, on social media! I wanted to see what their capabilities were and find out what specialties were available locally. I started with Phoenix businesses who I could quickly and easily communicate with. One of the first ones I found was the one I went with. I gave them my digital design, but they weren’t able to make my product in the original material. I agreed to have them make me a sample of what they could do, and I absolutely loved it! We only had one revision and I was off to the races. There was a little extra work involved on my part, as I had to dive into the jewelry-making world, which I had no knowledge of at all, to come up with a hanging piece. There was a lot of trial and error in this step. Finding something that matched perfectly, yet was still affordable, was difficult, to say the least.

It took some time, as I wanted my product to stand out among the sea of others on Amazon. I was very particular about the quality and look of the materials I was going to purchase. I finally decided on a style and the end product came out beautifully. I had to try a lot of things before it was ready to ship, along with making sure the marketing material and packaging were dialed in. Thankfully, all the extra time and effort I put in has paid off. I have ideas for more products but want to get all my variations of this product up and running first. I’m excited about the future and am looking forward to discovering more gems in the U.S. because, in my mind, you can’t beat the quality of products and materials available here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leilanilife.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leilanilifecompany/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leilanilifecompany
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-leiler-4608a358/
• Other: https://katieleiler.com/ https://www.facebook.com/katie.leiler/

Image Credits
Lucy Krodell – Product/Brand Shots Brad Olson – Personal Lifestyle Shots