We were lucky to catch up with Kelly Stradling recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

First, I think that success means different things to different people, so I think it’s crucial to start with defining your exact definition. For me, though financial success plays apart, it’s more about creating harmony in my personal life, always upholding my values, and being personally fulfilled. When it comes down to it, there are moments that I have been incredibly financially successful, but was lacking passion and inspiration for the work I was doing, and that for me felt empty and unaligned. So, finding this balance of passion and purpose with success is key.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am first and foremost a person who lives for growth and expansion in life. If I’m not inspired and passionate by what I’m doing, then I begin to shift directions. It’s probably because of this that I’ve always been drawn to entrepreneurial pursuits, as they present a unique way to dream and create. In fact, for the last couple of decades I’ve crafted a few different businesses from the ground up and I’ve loved every minute of it. The entire process of visioning and creating a brand gets me excited and has allowed me to truly utilize my skills in a special way that brings something new to the world and has impacted people’s lives.

The first business I created was a Yoga & Pilates Studio, Om On Yoga, in Richmond, Virginia. This was absolutely a passion project, as Yoga and wellness have been a huge focus of my life for as long as I can remember. It was from this place of seeing the transformational effect these disciplines had on my life that inspired me to want to share that with others. And over the course of a decade, I was able to create a very special community that shared in the practice of Yoga. It was also through this brand that I created both Yoga Teacher Training and Global Wellness Retreat Programs. Both of these afforded me the opportunity to further connect with others doing two things I absolutely love: teaching and traveling! And finally, as apart of the studio space, I incorporated a clothing boutique that focused on sustainable athleisure clothing, natural skincare, and local artisan made accessories, to further introduce people to more meaningful ways to connect with the products they buy and learn about the impact of their purchases.

Currently, I am focused on Cote Luxe Properties & Investments, which is a company that offers bespoke real estate services in Charleston, South Carolina. I actually owned a Construction Company for a number of years and grew up in a family business of land development, real estate, and interior design, so it made sense that I would follow a second love of mine in crafting this business. Real estate and interior design come quite naturally, and I’ve personally been investing in real estate since I was 22, so I’ve come to understand the many ins and outs that exist. I’ve always been drawn to the beauty of spaces and places and through my travels I’ve seen how our environment can captivate and inspire us. It’s this love of beauty and aesthetics that I draw upon when matching a client’s vision to a property and also in my design process.

And for me, helping someone find and design their dream home is incredibly rewarding. I mean when you pause and think about it, this is truly the largest investment most people will make in their lives and one that will have a huge impact on their daily life. With this understanding, I know that investing in a property can be both emotional and rational and both need to be applied when achieving a client’s long-term goals. It’s also been a blast to journey with clients in a variety of ways whether it’s finding the perfect home (I am also a licensed Realtor with Smith Spencer Real Estate), designing a space that inspires them, or overseeing the renovation of a property for an Airbnb.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

When I reflect on the various businesses I’ve created, reputation has always come naturally as a result of staying true to my mission and vision for the brand. In fact, early on I can remember times when there were many external pressures that could have derailed my path. Though it was incredibly hard at that time being a new business owner and thinking maybe someone else knew best or had more knowledge and experience, I am very grateful that I always stuck to what I knew to be the best way forward. And at the heart of it all was remaining 100% authentic, honest, and committed to both my teams and clients. Execution and follow through was of utmost importance and I think that this really set us apart from the crowd. I also believe that a dedication to not just team and client satisfaction but excellence in everything that we did showed that we took an extreme pride in our work.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn early on was that paramount to a business’s success is an ability for the CEO to stay high level. I remember reading this quote that essentially said that as business owners you need to be spending the majority of your time working on vs. in the business. That really resonated with me, and time and time again I began to see how if I was too involved in the daily work nothing got done from a visionary, strategy perspective and the business as result had no one leading.

Also, through my small business consulting work I would say the vast majority of my clients have caught themselves in this spot and feel as a result incredibly burnt out from having to wear so many hats. As a result, one of the first things I do with my clients is have them perform an intake of their time, tasks and whether or not it’s one that should fall to them. I’ve seen so many shifts in businesses after owners are able to peel back and operate from that space of leading again.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coteluxeproperty.com
• Instagram: @coteluxeproperty
• Linkedin: Kelly Stradling | www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-stradling-4415585b
• Youtube: Kelly Stradling | Cote Luxe Property | http://www.youtube.com/@CoteLuxeProperty

Image Credits
The Palm Social | Nick Cann Photo | Maggie Witmer