Balancing Corporate and Coaching With Cara Barone
Episode Transcript:
Lindsay (00:01):
Welcome back to another episode of the book of gym clients podcast. I'm so excited to share this episode with Cara, with you guys today, Cara is such an inspiration and she's so fun to listen to. She is very open with her corporate career at LinkedIn and how she balances that with her coaching business. So sit back, relax and enjoy.
Thank you so much for being on the book your dream clients podcast. I am so excited. You are with us today.
Cara (00:50):
Hello. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Lindsay
I'm excited to chat with you. And I feel like this could probably be one really long episode, so we'll have to just keep it short because I think that we could talk forever. We already, we already have met, and I think that we kind of clicked right away. why don't you go ahead and tell everybody what you are all about so they can feel the same way. Tell us about what you do, and who you serve.
Cara: Amazing. Yes, we could definitely talk forever guys. Just so you know, I asked Lindsay to be my best friend via Instagram chat. That's how I roll you. Connect with me on Instagram.
Don't be surprised if we become best friends. But yes, so great to meet you. All. My name is Cara Barone. I have lived in London the past three and a half years and just moved to Australia. But as you can hear, I am American. So my alter ego is Cora. So call me Cara or call me Cora whichever you prefer. But I have been a long time corporate ladder climber. So I currently work full-time as a consultant at LinkedIn. I've worked in the valleys of San Francisco area, London and now Sydney. And I also have a full-time coaching business where I help corporate women with their strategy, get clarity, messaging, start, grow, and scale their business. And my whole schpeel is in one to two hours a day because that is what I have been able to do somehow juggle my crazy career and really build this online business of my dreams. I love that. And you're such a rare treasure. And I remember when you asked me to be best friends on Instagram, I remember telling my husband and she asked me to be her best friend. Isn't that amazing? And he just looked at me like, what?
Cara (02:47):
Yeah, I'm weird like that, but it's how I roll. I just know my people. I love weird people. I okay, so you are a, you are so open with your nine to five and I love because it gives so
Lindsay (03:00):
Many people inspiration too. You can have both things and you shoveled all over the place. And I love that you say one to two hours a day. Tell us about that. How is that even possible for somebody who's climbing the corporate ladder?
Cara (03:14):
Yeah. It's not always easy. So the other thing you guys should know about me is I always keep it real. It's always real talk here of Lindsay and I did an interview on that as well. So it's really, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of priority prioritization. So like you heard at the beginning, I mean, I woke up, well, actually I didn't mention this yet. I woke up at six 30 this morning and started my call. So I did a guest expert masterclass at six 30 this morning. And then I had one of my masterminds I hosted for about an hour and a half, almost two hours right up until my Workday. So I had to get really, really clear on who I served, but then also I had to manage my time and my energy and I do a lot of that through batching.
Cara (03:59):
So on Sunday I batch up all my content for the week and then I just know exactly what revenue generating activities I have to do as well as serve my clients to the fullest. And I just have to be really strict on when I do what and then create boundaries. Like I don't want to work after six o'clock. I have to rest and regain my energy, knowing that my energy is the priority, right. When you're juggling all the things you can't serve from that empty cup. So it's a lot around prioritizing. And just knowing what things you should be working on. Do you
Lindsay (04:33):
Do a lot of your coaching business work before you jump into your nine to five work?
Cara (04:39):
Yeah, that's a great question I do now. And that's why I mentioned it took a while to get here. So I used to do calls at night, so I'd get home from my nine to five, but I find personally like that doesn't excite me and I don't have great energy by the end of my day. So I had to figure out, okay, what kind of person did I want to be? I want to be the person who gets up at 6:00 AM and goes for a little walk, has some coffee first. And then I get done the things that take the highest amount of energy, or maybe especially when I was just beginning. Like, I didn't know exactly how much inner entry things were going to take or maybe they were more challenging tasks. So I wanted to get those kinds of things over with at the beginning of my day. So that's how I started prioritizing it. And then I want to be done by the time I come home from work, I want to cook dinner and decompress. So yes, it is a newer thing though.
Lindsay (05:33):
I used to do the same thing. I used to work a lot at night and with my three kids, by the time I have them out to, into bed and I come down and sit at the computer, I'm like, Oh my gosh, I am so tired. I mean, you are an exception because you were in Australia. So I'm sitting down here in my office, in my pajamas podcasting, but I do not do this for everybody. You are special.
Lindsay (06:00):
Yes. Well, and I think it's like important to share those things. Like we're not just, no, I only work on certain hours. Like we have to be flexible too for, you know, for growth in our business as well. But yeah, like starting your, your coaching business work in the morning. That's my favorite thing to do too. Cause it's my favorite thing to do ever. So I want to start my day out with my favorite thing to do ever. So why don't you tell me about the people who come to work with you? Are they working a nine to five as well? And they kind of want the same lifestyle as you, what are they coming to you? Exactly.
Cara (06:32):
Yeah. I would love to share a bit about my journey here because I have clients that I'm just obsessed with. Now. I can't wait to speak with, I mean, I'm checking my boxer on my lunch break, right. To talk to them. And, but that hasn't always been the case. So I actually hid the fact that I was a corporate juggler for awhile. And reason being is every coach out there was like, no, no, no. Don't tell people you're doing that because that means you're not as credible. So I took it as a shame thing. I was like, Oh, you're right. Everyone else is, full-time in their business. And they're talking about the six, multiple six figures, like who am I, if I'm still at corporate? So I had to actually really asked myself that question. And when I was looking at my content and I was having trouble writing my content, it was because I was hiding something.
Cara (07:28):
So as soon as I gave myself permission, like to fully be me and say, you know what, I'm proud of my career, LinkedIn. Like there's no shame in that. And the fact, I literally have a full-time coaching business. That's actually miraculous, not shameful. So it was actually so much self-acceptance around that. And I swear to you like the second I did that, I started attracting a whole nother caliber of women, women who were just tenacious and driven and that I would say 90% are corporate women and they're either juggling both or they're right. Ready to leave their corporate job. And because I was finally aligned with my truth and sharing both doing both of these things, I really started attracting even a high, higher caliber of woman.
Lindsay (08:16):
I think it's so amazing. What happens when you finally are true with yourself and you don't feel like you have to be this person over here. I think it's like everything just like clicks into place immediately. Once you say, yeah, I do work a nine to five and then this whole other group is like, so do I. And I've been looking for somebody to relate to, and it's it's, we need permission to S to say that for some reason. And I'm glad that you shared that story. Cause I have the same thing.
Cara (08:45):
Right? It's because Instagram tells us this one story and it looks like everyone in the world is so successful and there's never anything challenging wrong. And the is like, I either talked a lot of corporate women or a lot of moms because they're like, I'm not in corporate, but I feel like it's even more challenging to juggle raising a family, which I can't imagine quite yet. So yeah, I think it just really, like, we only see a very, very small portion of the truth on Instagram, on social media and it creates a lot of shame. So if we could all just speak our truth a little bit more, well actually attract the right people
Lindsay (09:23):
That just goes for everything in life. Just speak your truth. And the people who are, who are online all day long, showing up, live, showing every little second of their lives. That's great for their people. I don't align with that because I can't possibly do that. And my people align with the way I do things. So you really have to tap into your own truth so people can figure out who you are so they can work with you and build that connection with you. That's so incredibly important.
Cara (09:51):
Absolutely. And you know what? I actually think corporate women are the most challenged with that because for so long, we go into an office and we're told to say, look, they do act in a very certain way in a certain manner. And it's very polished. It's very perfectionism driven. And so all of a sudden you come online then, and you're supposed to show this side of yourself and you might not even know what that identity is yet. I find a lot of my clients are like, Oh, who am I do? What do I have permission to say and be, and do that. So I love doing work around really that identity
Lindsay (10:27):
That is such a big thing. Those, those corporate women don't realize that they can be somebody completely different when they're running their own business. And I have, I have clients just like that. And I say, you have to like shed that skin when you're running your business, you cannot be that same person. What is your advice to that woman who is very like type a, and when they do something in their online business, they expect results immediately. And when they don't get them, they feel like they need to scrap it. Just maybe something they would do in their nine to five. What is your advice to somebody who has that personality with their business?
Cara (11:07):
Yeah, I think it's like, if you're like that, that, that type a, that driven, driven, driven, and usually in corporate, you can do something for a quarter, two quarters, it shows results are there, you get promoted. And so you're used to that external validation that you're good enough to do it. So I think it's to not be scared to just start, start messy, do it messy and know that the results will always happen in 90 days plus increment. So the things that we're doing now are actually you not going to really see the fruits of that labor for at least like most businesses run in 90 day cycles. So just knowing that consistency, it's literally the same thing. As you showing up for work every day, you have to show up, you don't just don't show up because then you're going to get fired. But most people think suddenly online is completely different.
Cara (12:04):
So you have to be consistent. You have to be super, super clear in your messaging and in how you help. But really, I think the deeper understanding comes down to like worthiness and imposter syndrome is knowing that everyone feels that way when they get started everyone, there's no exception to that rule. So it's the same thing as when you start a job in corporate, right on the day one. Oh my gosh. I can't. I just like when I started at LinkedIn, I just moved to Silicon Valley. I'm surrounded by all Ivy league school grads. I'm like, why am I hired? Oh my gosh, I'm going to fail. I can't open my mouth in front of these people. Like, they're so smart. Who am I? And it's remembering like, you're, you're hired for the job that you can conduct, not from where you are. Day one, no one expects you to know all the things they want and your job. There's a ramp period. And just know that everyone feels that way and that's completely okay. You're going to figure it out as you go. You're resourceful.
Lindsay (13:06):
That's amazing advice. And I, I thought of an analogy cause I come up with a random analogies and I compare it to an online entrepreneur who sets up their business, their website, and they have all those visual things, you know, the fun stuff. And then they're expecting all of these people to come in to their so-called office. But it's like you setting up your office in an actual office building, making it all cute and then never showing up and expecting everything to run for you. You're like you have to show up every day in some way or another. And I love that a couple of weeks ago you launched a program about like showing up messy, doing it messy. That was amazing to watch by the way. So why don't you tell us about that? Why did you do that?
Cara (13:50):
Oh, thank you so much. It's showing the MSCI has suddenly become my signature thing because I am, I'm the woman who has like messy hair in my yoga pants, as much as I can be. And I realized like that is just me at my core. So it was first actually figuring out that people really identified with that. And then that has now become into my personal brand. But the reason I created that is I noticed all of these really professional high level mazing woman I'm working with are suffering from perfectionism imposter syndrome so bad. And they have years and years of corporate experience and expertise and they can be charging 10 times what they're charging. They are actually way more skilled than all the influences are Instagram, but the people on Instagram just show up and they look perfect and put together. But my corporate women actually have more skills, but they are just afraid to put out there.
Cara (14:52):
So I created something called the messy action money-making bootcamp, because what I realized really what people needed is there are so many people who have taken all the courses. They don't, all the things, they know what they need to be doing. They are just not taking the action due to perfectionism. So I created a Google doc and I outlined my program specifically was not creating a cute sales page. And I just promoted barely for like, I don't know, 10 days. And I was like, this is for the woman who just needs to get out there. Who knows exactly what they need to be doing, but you just need someone to give them a good kick in the butt and make this a priority. And so I did a five day messy actions, interview series, where we interviewed women who know what it's like to hit five figures while juggling their nine to five.
Cara (15:41):
Thank you, Lindsay was one of them. I looked like a hot mess. All my guests were put together and looking cute, but I just it's true. You had makeup on, it looked cute. I had big old hair, but yeah, it's just to give permission to women to act quickly without proof, without being perfect. And if that looks like me great. If that looks like Lindsay put together with makeup on while she has her three other kids in the room, other room, that's fine too, but it's just permission to act and do it quickly. You will learn from acting quickly. Well actually
Lindsay (16:17):
Moves us forward literally. And I think so many of us think that we need to just sit behind our screen because well, if we look busy, that means that means we're doing something. And if we look busy, it's like a badge of honor, for some reason, and being busy, isn't gonna move you forward. And that's such a huge shift we have to make. And it's so hard to make. I remember how hard it was for me. So I get it, but you're not ma you're not moving forward by just sitting behind your screen.
Cara (16:46):
Isn't it. So funny, the things that have made us most successful in corporate, we get to take with us, but there's also so many things you have to unlearn, like staying on your computer and sending emails to 10:00 PM at night is not going to help you. It's going to lead to burnout and entrepreneurship. That looking busy may have been great if you're staying in the office late, but that's not going to do anything when it's just you as your own CEO.
Lindsay (17:13):
Oh my gosh. Yeah. And it's like, I don't want to do that in my nine to five. And so I'm not going to do it in my actual business that I really find a lot of joy from. But sometimes it feels like you're like a superhero switching, superhero costumes a few times a day, going back and forth. Now I get to be this person and now I get to be this person. And I think that rather than stressing out about all these different mindset shifts we have to do to be who we have to be. I think it's really exciting. And I think it's I think it's empowering to know, and it's pretty cool that we can make that kind of shift. Like mom, CEO, employee, lots of huge roles, lots of things. And I think that's so cool. So I think we all have to share our stories like Cara does, like I do so we can inspire that woman, that woman who's listening to this thinking, I kind of want to start an online business, but I don't even know what an Instagram story is, but I think I have something to offer.
Lindsay (18:13):
Do you agree?
Cara (18:14):
Totally. Like we think that we have to be one person, but my gosh we're women, we can wear a bunch of different hats. Like that is our super power, right? As long as we're not burning ourselves out and trying to do all the things and that we get no fulfillment from anything. Cause I know a lot of us have been there as well, but absolutely like no one starts successful. We all want to start as successful. And we find fear around climbing that ladder in such a way. But we all learn from putting on those different hats and we get to like, we get to choose, Hey, I love this ad. Oh, I don't love it anymore. I'm going to evolve again. Like that's so empowering.
Lindsay (18:54):
It really is. And I love that. And I don't want anyone to ever feel pressured to, you know, you got to quit your nine to five and that whole shtick, I'm not into that. I think that if you are happy with where you are and you want both, you can have both, but like Cara said, you got to set boundaries and you got to really pay it. I'm like, she, she messaged me tonight and she said, her meeting is going to last longer. I don't want you to have to stay up too late. And I think that was like so nice of her to say, because she knows I'm in a completely different time zone than she is. And I know that we can push ourselves almost too far sometimes. And then the next morning we're kicking ourselves. But having those online friends to kind of watch over to and be like, Hey what are you doing so obsolete or, you know, stuff like that. And I think like, you don't have to do this alone. So if you don't have a coach or if you don't have a community or something where you can check in with somebody, Cara, where is your community located? So they could find somebody like how I found you.
Cara (19:56):
Oh yes. I do think it's so important that we look after one another, my community is my baby and where I put all my time and love and effort is my Facebook group. So that is corporate women's scaling business. And then I'm fairly active on my Instagram. Again, I might ask you to be my best friend and that's at Cara Barone as well.
Lindsay (20:17):
And I think Cara will give you guys some really amazing inspiration to take that messy action because that's, again, what's going to push us all forward. And I always say, even if you take action and you don't get the results that you thought you wanted, it's still a lesson and it's feedback. So you can keep pushing forward. Do you agree, Cara?
Cara (20:39):
Oh my gosh. I can't tell you the amount of times I have been disappointed in my results are not far along enough and blah blah. And I'm like, Oh, it's because I didn't learn that lesson yet. And it sounds kind of woo. And kind of out there, but I think it's like even the same thing. I wrote a post the other day on this, this guy, he he was a jerk, but,uhe, we basically were dating. I thought we were dating. He clearly didn't think we were dating because he decided to update his dating pictures with the pictures that I picked out on his Bumble profile. So that was a bit of slap in the face. But now that I look back on it I'm like that was a lesson. I was not meant to be with that guy. There was a lesson in that journey, in that whole story.
Cara (21:24):
And it's the same as that, right? Like, look back at things guys that you know, whether it's dating, whether it's a year ago, imagine some of the things that you prayed for actually came to fruition. God, that so, you know, God has always working for you or whatever you believe. There's always something working for us. We just have to keep, keep going. It is not our goal to is, well, sorry. It's not our job to control it is our jobs actually like let go and just have the vision and do the next step. And then like, let the process work out.
Lindsay (22:01):
Oh yeah. So like this morning before I started my work, I always look in a book that will inspire me or journaling or something. And I read God never sleeps. And I was like, that is the best thing to hear right now. And always God never sleeps. So we, we truly have to trust God to he, he knows where we're going and we don't. And that's pretty good. Cause there's no one else that I would hand that off to. So we might have, we have these dreams and we know we want all of this to happen for us. And the length of time might be stretched out a little bit longer, the for you or for her over there. And we just have to trust that. And I think that is the, the entrepreneurship is just one big giant experiment and it's pretty fun if you want it to be
Cara (22:49):
Right. And I think that that's a key point. If you want it to be, we have a choice to make it feel fun or make it feel really, really difficult. That doesn't mean things are going to be easy, but we can, it's, it's all a perspective, right? It's all how we look at it. So every day, sometimes we have to choose that today is going to be fun, even though we might not want to do the task, but we get to make things be fun.
Lindsay (23:11):
Absolutely. It's we created it. So it's going to be amazing and it's always our choice. So I love that perspective. Cara, thank you so much for spending time with us. I appreciate everything you said. I can't wait for this episode to be released. You guys go find her and go be a part of her world. She's amazing. And again, thank you. I'm so grateful for you being here.
Cara (23:35):
Thank you so much, Lindsay. And thank you everyone for listening, connecting, and I can't wait to catch up with you all.
Lindsay (23:41):
Awesome.
Cara Barone is a LinkedIn Brand Consultant by day and Business Coach & Strategist by night. She's gone from idea stage to 5-figure months while juggling a rewarding career and traveling to 1-2 new countries a month.
Cara helps high-performing corporate women and coaches gain confidence and clients without sacrificing their corporate salary or sanity.
www.carabarone.com