We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kimberly Burke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kimberly below.

Hi Kimberly, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I came up with the idea of starting a professional coaching company when I worked in the banking industry. I was a manager at a retail branch in St. Louis, MO, and noticed so many people I encountered were unhappy with their job roles and felt stuck. As I listened to other young professionals in the community express regret about their careers or life choices, I was eager to help others identify what they want out of life and achieve it. I started sharing my expertise in goal setting and self-discipline with people at the bank and in the community. When I saw a couple of my former employees advance their careers while receiving coaching from me, I knew it was time to start my own business. My ability to help people get out of their own way inspired me to start Queen Kim Enterprises, LLC dba Let’s Grow Institute where I equip and inspire people to achieve their goals with execution plans. I knew this was a worthwhile endeavor because so many people were unhappy with their 9to5 and wanted to start a business. My goal to solve this problem is to host premier growth workshops so people can gain clarity about the goals they want to achieve and I offer personal coaching. For over 8 years, my Goal Getter clients have been successful in using my innovative goal-setting formula called The C.O.D.E. Goal Setting Cycle. The C.O.D.E. stands for clarity, options, discipline, and execution. I use the C.O.D.E. to achieve my goals so I am always excited to share with others this unique approach to set themselves up for greatness.

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?

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 was social media followers equals money. When I started my professional coaching company in 2014, the best way I gained my clientele was by attending community events and word of mouth. Social media had become the place to develop your online brand with the world by getting followers and creating content. So, there were times I had to teach myself how to create content and set up specific days to put information on social media. Marketing is not my strong point, so I had to set up automation services and I even paid social media marketers in the past. While my followers increased, business income did not come from high-profile social media networks. I had better success with my business mailing list and personal interactions with people. So, I quickly began to hone my skills by interacting with people using my mailing list to drive monetary results for my business. I still use social media but believe people have to do what works best for their business and learn which social media platforms target their ideal client. Once you understand your ideal client, you’ll make money every day no matter how many social media followers you have.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I was working in the banking industry when I started my business in 2014, so I had experience with opening business accounts and knew the importance of business cash flow. When I was ready to start my business, I had my state business certificate, business identification number, business plan, and at least $100 to open my business account. When I opened my business account, I was offered a business credit card for the initial capital to start my business. I accepted the business credit card and for over eight years my business credit has allowed me to fully fund my business. Also, I have always worked a 9to5 and operated my business. My 9to5 also helped with initial capital because I saved money each paycheck to financially operate my business before I started earning income from clients. I was also blessed to have people and companies who believed in my business mission and provided me with sponsorships to offset any costs I paid out of pocket to host my annual events. So, if you are starting a business don’t be afraid to ask your bank for money and connect with people or companies to sponsor your events.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachkimburke/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachkimburke/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkimburke
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoachKimBurke
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachKimBurke