You Are The Company You Keep (and Other Lessons I Learned from a Superstar)

Not long ago, I wrote about how I had distanced myself from a group of friends.  I find myself wondering every so often if I would be in the place I am in if events had not turned out as they did.  And for the record, my heart is in a fantastic place.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the Superstar Speaking Academy hosted by the renowned Michelle Villalobos.   Here I connected and reconnected with some amazing women the majority of whom happened to be entrepreneurs.  The 3 day seminar focused on monetizing your magic.  What makes you special?  What makes you unique?  How can you find your niche market?  How can you convince that market to pay you for your talents?  

And I will admit, for the first half of this event, I was completely lost.  I'm a mom.  I'm a wife. I am good at being those things.  Why would anyone want to pay me money to be a wife and a mom?  

They wouldn't.  

That's Nicole on the left.  That's Desiree on the far right.  She is a lady truck driver trying to change her entire industry.  How cool is that?!?!

So I was sitting in and witnessing and celebrating and collaborating with all of these women as they had these amazing breakthroughs and "ah ha" moments.  Yet here I was, struggling to find my own.  Frustrated that the only things I could find value in myself was being a wife and a mom.  Not that those jobs are unimportant or don't matter.  In fact, they're arguably the most important jobs I have ever had.  But for all intents and purposes, they didn't serve me well being without my child and my husband at this event.

And then Michelle said something to us that I will never forget for as long as I live.
"You Cannot read the label of the jar you put yourself in."

Wow.

If I wanted to have my million dollar idea, I had to dig.  I had to get uncomfortable and I had to get out of my jar.

If it were not for the people I chose to surround myself with, I don't know if I would even be writing this blog post.  My dear friend, Nicole, said "You need to be a professional team builder for companies."  to which the incomparable Mary Wong chimes in "You are a creativity coach."  

That's Nicole on the far right and Magda, the most badass photographer on the planet.

My Ah ha moment was here and I could finally focus on building my magic.

Here is what I have come to realize about myself over the last few days.  As great of a wife I am, I have been a wife for only shy of eight years.  For as good of a mom I am, I have only been one for four years.  That does not make me an expert in either field. BUT I have been creative MY. ENTIRE. LIFE.

I have this dear friend, Whanadi, who is one of these goddess women who magically seems to float into a room.  She's incredibly kind, wise and soulful.  And on top of that, she is from South Africa and has this amazing accent (seriously, I could just listen to her say the word 'water' all day) and she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (because of course she did)  She was also at the conference. It was her birthday this week  and in her card, I signed it as I do most of my messages to her:  "You mover of mountains, you titan among mortals."  And I realized, hey...I am those things, too!  So during this 3 day conference I had promised her I would speak to this entire group of women (about 150 of them) with my intention for a new path.

The movers of mountains.  The titans among mortals.

And on day 3, you bet I ran to that mic and I declared my new path.  So look out, world  I'm here.  I'm making a playbook and I am coming for you.  I would like to leave you today with what I told that group of powerful women.

"Hi I am Kate Teixeira and I am kind of a big deal.  I have been creative my entire life and it took me coming here to realize that I am a creativity coach.  And companies are going to pay me a ton of money for my ideas and to build their teams.  I am a difference maker and I am a superstar.  I am shamelessly awesome and I am a mover of mountains and a titan among mortals.  Get yourself ready.  Because I am coming.  BOOM."

If you're out there and you're reading this and you keep finding yourself stuck, put one foot in front of the other.  Get out of your jar.  Look at who you're surrounding yourself with.  As Michelle would say, are they an engine to your ship or are they an anchor?  Find your crew.  Make sure they're all engines.  If you still feel stuck,  reach out to someone.  Reach out to me.  Let me help you.  Let me support you.  Let's find your Crew.  That's what I do.

After I stopped shaking and sat down, I realized people were cheering for me and I gotta say, it was one of the best moments of my life. And I have never looked forward to a Monday so much in my life.  You have all been warned. 

Until Soon,

Kate