She Left TV News to Help Leaders Communicate Better - Karlyn Kieffer

She had the career people chase. And still chose to leave.

Karlyn Kieffer spent years in television news before realizing the work no longer aligned with how she wanted to live. What followed was a shift away from visibility and toward impact.

Now an executive coach and founder of Pro Tip Partners, Karlyn helps leaders communicate with clarity, think on their feet, and lead with intention. But getting there required redefining identity beyond the spotlight.

This episode is for anyone questioning whether their current path still fits. If you’ve ever felt the tension between external success and internal alignment, this conversation will resonate.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Karlyn Kieffer
Website: https://protippartners.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlyn-kieffer-cptm/

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Transcript

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Karlyn Kieffer 0:44

I show up at 7 for the morning shift and say, okay, where was the fire? Who died and how many? Your fame is not you. The mental shift is you can't let your public persona be your whole identity. Otherwise, you lose yourself. The mistake was for me to be successful, it has to be me. All me. I have to do everything. You can't do all of it yourself.

Brian Aquart 1:07

Welcome to Why I Left, a podcast exploring life-changing career moves. I'm your host, Brian Acarr. Join me as I chronicle real stories from real people about the bold decisions that transform their careers and lives. Let's dive in. Hello, and thanks for tuning in to this episode of Why I Left. In today's episode, I'm joined by a dynamic storyteller, entrepreneur, and leadership expert who left the bright lights of television to create her own lane in executive coaching and sales enablement. With a career spanning 20 plus years across media, consulting, and leadership development, Carlin Kiefer has made it her mission to help others speak clearly, think quickly, and lead with intention. Whether it's CEOs of fast-growing startups or seasoned executives struggling to connect with their teams, she's bringing improv, insight, and inspiration to every room she enters. Her journey is one of reinvention, resilience, and real talk. So if you're ready to pivot or take your leadership to the next level, this episode is exactly for you. Let's go check it out. All right, welcome back. So our guest today is Carlin Kiefer. She is a former TV news anchor turned Leadership Development Powerhouse, the founder of Pro Tip Partners, and the head of the Road to Greatness podcast. With more than two decades of experience helping mid-level and senior executives elevate their communication and lead with impact, Carlin brings a unique blend of media savvy and corporate strategy. She's been recognized as one of the network journals 40 under 40 and a top minority business leader by the Washington Business Journal. So, Carlin, welcome to Why I Left. How are you doing?

Karlyn Kieffer 3:04

I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. And you forgot Chief Fun Officer.

Brian Aquart 3:08

Can I just add Chief Fun Officer? Yes, I did forget that, but let's let's not forget that. Okay. Well, I I appreciate that. And so, you know, before we really kind of get into, you know, your story, I I'd love to kind of get some background on you and and for our audience. You know, you started your career in front of the camera as a news anchor and a reporter. What originally drew you to that world and what did you love about it?

Karlyn Kieffer 3:33

My goodness. So my father was a television and radio powerhouse. He was the first black general manager for CBS and uh for a television station. He ran radio stations, television stations, and I would love to say, and I just wanted to be business like him. No. Um, he was able to get access to sporting events, season tickets to the Celtics, the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Knicks, the 76ers, and all the different sports. And I went, and concerts, by the way, because that was also back when CBS owned Columbia Records. And I was like, I want a job with all the perks, right? Totally superficial. But anyway, I said the only way I could do that is to go into television like dad. And he got me an internship at Channel 9 W USA here in Washington, DC, when I was a senior in college. And I went, oh wait, this newsroom thing, this is where it's at. This is fun. It's exciting. You're always at the center of all the action and everything else. And I went, okay, so I don't need to run the station. I just need to be on air. And so I shifted focus in my senior year of college, which I don't recommend for others, but if you have the stomach for it, do it. And uh and got out there and just went and interviewed and interviewed it and became my first job was as a television trainee, a reporter trainee. So I was off air, but doing all the editing and writing and everything else. Finally, Ben Menkowitz, who is the current voice and face of Turner Classic Movies. He was a reporter at that same television station at the time. But Ben allowed me to tag along and he taught me everything I knew when I started television. And he went to the news director and said, Carlin's ready. She still has more time on her, on her trainee program, but she's ready to be on air, put her on. And thankfully the news director put me on. And so I got on six months earlier than planned and loved a lot of it. That's great.

Brian Aquart 5:28

And looking back, you know, what were what were some of the skills or even like the traits that you developed in broadcasting that truthfully still serve you today?

Karlyn Kieffer 5:37

First and foremost, this was the actual statement I heard after my third live shot. Carlin, your voice is so shrill. Every dog in the state of South Carolina is waiting outside the back every time you speak. And so my voice was actually an octave hire. And he hired, thankfully, he hired a voice coach, brought my voice down in octave, taught me how to breathe appropriately so I could have the right voice. And while that hurt, and I guess I cried, I'm forever grateful. So my voice was one thing. The other part was you have to be able to talk without a bunch of fillers. You can't, like you know, kind of sorta your way through a newscast. You can only just speak. So you remember to embrace the pause so you can figure out what else you need to talk about. You also, and one of my colleagues at the time, Tim Hutcheson, actually taught me how to do ad-libbing because I was always glued to my paper and I had to say it verbatim and read it verbatim, and there's no going off script. And little did I know how much that would actually affect me later. But just at that point, he said, you know, whenever you're in the car and you're driving more than five or 10 minutes, see something on the side of the road, make up a story about it and talk about it for two minutes. And when you say, like, you know, kind of sorta, start over. So every time I got in the car, I would talk to myself. Keep in mind this was before everybody had a cell phone. So I just look like the crazy lady talking to herself in an empty car, but that's okay. And part of that allows you to not need to be so attached to a script as much as it is, did I get the essence right? Did I do the storyline justice? Did I get the facts right? And you go from there. And as long as the answer is yes, then you're more comfortable. So I think that helps me in the workshops I facilitate, building credibility, quite frankly. Also, I can now help others who have like coming out of their mouth. Any, you know, teenager, and I said you know, sorry, but any teenager you have in your life, there there are likes and you knows and sorts coming out all the time. God bless my stepdaughter. I harked on her for so long that she actually now has eliminated most of her fillers as well. I don't know that you could get rid of all of them, but you can try.

Brian Aquart 7:50

I like that. And you know, before I ask about this whole pivot thing, I'm you mentioned something that I'm very curious about. So, were there videos or reports of you with this higher octave voice that I could still find online? Because now I'm very curious. Or you could send to me directly. I'm just I'm intrigued now. I'm very intrigued.

Karlyn Kieffer 8:10

Absolutely have them on tape. I don't think they're out there on the internet. Okay so if you'd like, I can send you a clip or a snippet. I do have former picture or former video of me on air. You can Google me on YouTube under my maiden name, Carlin Lothrie, and you'll find video of me doing a Planet Hollywood opening and interviewing people like Bruce Willis and Will Smith and Joe Montana, the late great Patrick Swayze and others. I think back then I was still a little high.

Brian Aquart 8:40

Okay. Because now I'm because you got you got the this I didn't know, right? And so I'm I'm like intrigued. I want to hear this higher octave Carlin, because that's not who I know.

Karlyn Kieffer 8:50

It's yeah, thank you. No, and it's hope, thankfully, not who a lot of people know, because once you know you you're compared to a dog whistle, it's not exactly something you want to embrace all the time. But you know, it's called progress and growth.

Brian Aquart 9:03

Well, now let's turn to your actual transition. And you know, this show we talk a lot about bold career moves, these transitions that happen in our lives that truthfully we all go through. So, what was the moment or even the experience that made you realize it was time to leave television and move into a new direction?

Karlyn Kieffer 9:21

I had to cover too many sad stories. And as you have already come to know, and others will know as we have our conversation here, I don't do well harping on all the negative. I don't want to wake up and chase every negative thing. And first thing in the morning on Christmas, I started coming in. I always worked Christmas, never worked Thanksgiving because I always wanted to eat all day. So I worked Christmas and I would show up at seven in the morning for the morning shift and say, okay, where was the fire? Who died and how many? And if that's how you're starting your day, that's not good. But you're chasing people to find out did they steal it, did they take it, did they kill it, did they do something negative? And everyone at this point, I'm sure, has heard the saying, if it bleeds, it leads. And so that basically means if it's something horribly awful, then you get the lead story of the day. Isn't that awesome? Right. And that's not the way I personally want to live. I think others are fine, they can compartmentalize, but not for me. So my last year, I was four or four and a half years in. So my last year, I started thinking about what else can I do? What else can I do? Oddly enough, I ended up right before the week before going into a telethon where I was one of the hosts. We did a chill Children's Miracle Network telethon. And right before going into that, I lost my voice for four days and no doctor could find anything wrong with it. And it was the beginning of internet. So that was when you had dial-up and you had to listen to the things. And it took five minutes to get from one page to the next. But I sat and I actually searched for what a former television reporter could do. And I've stumbled upon media training and went, I could do that, because that's basically what I do now is interview people. But the difference between being a reporter and an anchor is you do it and it's out there as opposed to doing it as a trainer. Then you're interviewing, asking tough questions, saying all the bad things. And at the end of the day, somebody says, Thank you so much. I feel so much more prepared, instead of them going home and crying or being sad or having some horrible thing happen to them. So that was very much more my speed when I went into, I moved into that arena and I went, why was this not the thing? I'm a trainer, right? I am here to make other people look good. And they say thank you at the end of the day. And I think besides doctors, the only other profession is a trainer that gets a thank you at the end of. Oh, and car repairment. Uh-huh. That gets a thank you at the end of the day.

Brian Aquart 11:42

You know, a lot of people really struggle to let go of identities tied to their past work. You know, I've interviewed some former anchors as well back a couple of seasons ago. So because, you know, that that space, being a reporter, being on television, it's so visible. You get recognized in places where you go. And so how did you navigate this new space now, personally and professionally, that you're no longer Carlin from CBS? Like, like how how did you how did you navigate that?

Karlyn Kieffer 12:13

It was actually not a hard transition because even in, well, I would say I was ready to leave TV. And so being anonymous was welcomed at that point in my life. And then after becoming a trainer, I actually moved to talk about uh hops. I think I've pivoted and left three different careers. I always say I had three or four lives. So I became a the trainer, and then I moved into, I was the first chief diversity officer for the USTA, United States Tennis Association. And there it was a very high-profile job, albeit not public-facing. But inside the organization, I walked anywhere and everybody knew who I was at that time. And so it felt very similar and it didn't feel weird at all. And it didn't feel like, oh, I'm missing something when I wasn't that. But I seemed to have internal jobs. So the USTA went out and became an entrepreneur doing training on my own again, back in-house, went to work for a client when I needed to for personal reasons, and was in a high profile position there as well. Again, where I was running their sales training and their sales leadership training at that particular company. And when you're training people to be better, they remember. And when you're training people in your workshops and you watch them get promoted and those sorts of things, they remember. And so they're happy to see you, right? I'm the hug queen and all of that. And then again, in every job, it seems that I still have some form of public nature to it, without it being out where I have to deal with now social media being caught on somebody's phone, camera, doing whatever. I like my version of anonymous yet famous or famous yet anonymous, however, which way you want to put that.

Brian Aquart 13:55

How did this idea for pro tip partners actually come to life? And what need were you responding to when you actually created it?

Karlyn Kieffer 14:02

Well, as I mentioned, I I went out on my own first to to be a trainer on my own and was just gearing up and catching a stride, and then had my father ended up with some health issues that required a lot more of my time. So I couldn't be the Maitre D and the dishwasher and everything in between in the business, albeit training, but I couldn't do all of that and handle his care. And so I went back and worked in-house. After a certain amount of time, things settled down, things changed, and I got comfortable again. And what you said, I think is actually the perfect example of, or what was I missing, or what prompted the change. I wasn't getting enough out of it. I wasn't seeing the change and creating the change that I needed to have. And I also wasn't fulfilling the need for me to get out there and try new things. I love incorporating new content. I love innovating and figuring out what's the next exercise or activity or thing that's going to make someone learn this one skill, aside from standing in front of the room and talking at them or having them showing them PowerPoint ad nauseum or anything else. I like coming up with new things. I wanted to start incorporating improv into the trainings that I was doing because as people are becoming more reliant on AI, they're getting less proficient in communication. And interpersonal communication, add to that, I actually just had a client say to me, we have all of these young people who went to college and came of age during COVID. And so they only know how to communicate on screen. They don't know how to do that interpersonal, in-person stuff, and that's all that we do. We need you to help polish them up and make them more comfortable with that interpersonal communication. I didn't have that opportunity where I was working. And so to keep the name, that's why I left.

Brian Aquart 17:10

And let's I'm going to build on this, this improv piece, because I'm I'm very fascinated and I've gotten deeper into some of the of some of how people are using improv in leadership. I actually interviewed a young lady last season uh for this. So you you talk a lot about the young people coming of age during COVID. I've seen in some of your work mental agility and how you use improv in leadership workshops. Why do you think this mental flexibility is one of the most underrated leadership skills today?

Karlyn Kieffer 17:40

Ugh, because people, you can't guess. I mean, look around. You can't anticipate anymore or predict, oh, they're totally gonna say this. No. And so if you can't see something completely absurd or the antithesis of whatever you would have done, or something that you just have no exposure to, if you can't take that and roll with it, you either freeze, you start babbling, or disappear off the in out of the conversation in some way, shape, or form. If any of those things happen, you can't be your best. You can't deliver your best work, you can't relate to the person in front of you. If you're a manager or a leader, you can't, and you've got both behavioral challenges or team dynamic challenges. You have someone, you have people who have different work styles, right? That one person who wants you just on them all the time and they like the micromanagement, you have the other person who's like, speed it. I'm good, and I'll let you know when I need your help. You have to be able to be flexible enough to work with all of those types. And if things go off the tracks in some way, shape, or form, either you have customer relations you that go slightly awry, or you have, again, conflict within your team, or you hire someone whose personality might not be the perfect fit for your team, but their skill set is exactly what you need. You have to be able to adjust your own scope on how you interact with them so that you are getting the most out of them. You are keeping them engaged. They're not tuning out because it's like, oh, all that other stuff is for everybody else. That's not for me. And to be clear, that's not to say that you have to be um completely different for every single person on your team, but you do need to know how am I bringing everyone together to make sure that this team is effective? And so the agility piece is is the cornerstone, I would argue.

Brian Aquart 19:30

You know, you work with a lot of execs. What do you think is one common communication blind spot that you see in them? And how can someone begin to correct it?

Karlyn Kieffer 19:41

Top blind spot. I I think there are two. Can I say two? Of course. Is that okay? So I think because they I really do think there are two. One for leadership, it is, but that's not how I would do it. And they, and so they don't even think that there are other ways to do something other to get to the same point, or they don't see that there are other reactions that are coming up. They fail to plan for the reaction, right? They may plan what they're gonna say, they're gonna know everything they're gonna say, but they don't plan for the reaction. What if someone gets defensive? What if someone gets excited? What if someone gets disengaged or feels left out or something to that nature? And so that's one blind spot that they're actually not thinking about. And so then when Mary up and leaves, and Mary was a superstar on the team, and they say, well, why? Well, it's because of this thing that you weren't paying attention to. Now, granted, part of that Mary needs to communicate, but the other part is really keeping an eye around what's different or, you know, how is this being perceived? So I would say that's number one. Number two, which comes up, it's been coming up a lot more lately. If you have, if a leader has a strong personality, I find that they start creating yes people unintentionally. And so in creating yes people, it's, but I have all this, I have these ideas, I have these thoughts, I have this vision, I've communicated the vision. And they forget they have to bring people along to their vision and with their vision and where they're trying to go. Um, so they they they don't make it safe to ask an opposing thought. They don't make it safe for someone to say, but have we thought about this way or can we try it that way? Or I was thinking, what about this? Because I think this is a faster way to get something done. And so they don't create a safe environment for not even conflict, but for contradictory ideas and thoughts and and forget to say, I really want your no. And so one of the things we do, we practice if you've ever heard of the six hats and exercise. And for those who don't, six hats is where you go and you're doing a brainstorming session or you're having a meeting, but everyone is wearing a different hat. There's somebody who's gonna find all the great things about the idea that was there. And there is somebody who's gonna find all the negative things. These are all the things that could go wrong. And that's their job to think about what's gonna go wrong so that it's not personal, it's not, I don't like your idea. It's this is my job to find what's not gonna work or what could come up that we need to plan for, those kinds of things. So I think it's it's creating the safe space for for conflicting ideas and viewpoints and different approaches.

Brian Aquart 22:15

As a woman of color in both media and corporate leadership spaces, what challenges or or biases have you had to overcome yourself and how have they shaped your approach today? We could talk for four hours on that one. I'm sure, I'm sure we could.

Karlyn Kieffer 22:32

And I will say it's evolved over time. My gender was far more an issue, if you would. Okay. If you would the gender was a bigger thing in my 20s and 30s, my ethnicity became a bigger thing in my 30s and 40s. And so on the gender side of things, it was the the stigma or the stereotype that you got here because you you're a woman and but you really don't have good ideas or you really aren't capable of being able to do X, Y, or Z that your male counterpart could do. And I always blew that out of the water, event at some point or another, blew that out of the water because I was the person who, as my dad always said, you're gonna have people underestimate you, you always need to overperform. And so I just knew that coming in. And then as ethnicity became a thing, I'll tell you, actually, which was really bizarre, in one of the last places I worked, I had a manager who very clearly had some issues, leave it at that. And uh, I have naturally curly hair now, and I was transitioning from straightening my hair always for 40 years to then going to my natural curls. I am now in natural curls, and I noticed that he spoke to me differently when I came in with curls. So thankfully, he was a remote person who was only in the office like once a month. And so every time I knew he was coming in, I straightened my hair. And then we could actually have a business to business conversation. Rather than him getting caught up on the fact that I have curls and look a little differently. So it's been interesting. I will not and have not since leaving that job. I have not made a hair choice depending on who's going to be in the room. I'm very much what you see is what you get. And I am very confident in I deliver excellent workshops. I deliver excellent learning programs. I can carry a conversation. I know my business. I know the skills that I'm teaching to others, et cetera. I don't need to bend. And it's your loss if you actually don't want to use me to help you get better at what you're doing or to help your team. And it took, I'm 52, so it took years, decades, lots of them, to get to this point. But now that I'm here, I'm not planning on going. Good for you. Good for you.

Brian Aquart 24:49

And uh the title that you added in the beginning, the chief fun officer, right? And so what I love about that is like this this blend of like playfulness, professionalism. And I imagine this shows up in all your workshops, right? Uh, what would you say, or what do you say to some of the skeptics who believe growth should be a bit more serious?

Karlyn Kieffer 25:11

Boo on you. Or could I be more nine-year-old than that? I don't know.

Brian Aquart 25:15

We'll take it. We'll take it. This is a safe space. Okay. This is a very safe space.

Karlyn Kieffer 25:20

Yeah, you know, I don't know. And I can't and I've never looked to see if there's research or studies on being very serious and you retain or learn more versus having fun and retain or learn more. I am a firm believer, though, that, and actually there is a lot of research, so I can't even say I'm a firm believer. There's a lot of research to show that kinesthetic learning, anything where you are trying to change someone's behavior. So whether that's teaching them to parallel park or it's teaching them to stand up and be a better public speaker, it's teaching them to be a better manager, leader, whatever that is, the best way for them to learn it is to do it. And and you can look at even for schoolroom or classroom learning, traditional style teacher standing and talking and doing all the things. The teacher is only going to be about 20%, 10 to 20% of your learning. And then you've got to get out there and actually do that on the job part. And you have to actually practice. And so I build in, I teach a little, do a little. I build in the practice. The practice can be formal exercises where you're doing role plays, but you're doing role plays that attach or apply to your work situation and making sure that it's relevant. You aren't doing some role play that you'll never use that skill set or you're never going to be in that scenario because you're too busy going, well, what does this have to do with my job? rather than actually trying to focus on what you need and when you need it. The actually incorporating improv into some of the activities is it allows people to make mistakes and it gives people permission to make mistakes. So if you think about probably the last time, actually, let me ask you, Brian, when was the last time you remember feeling really safe in making a mistake before somebody went and laughed at you for that? How young or how old were you?

Brian Aquart 27:01

Yeah, the safe play I would say in the role before I have now, I was very comfortable in in that because one of the things my former boss would would often say is that the only way we can be innovative is if we take a chance. And sometimes we take a chance with all what we thought was good information, and it still may not work out. But at least you tried. And so I felt really comfortable in that space to be like, you know what, if I messed up something, here's why it happened. I thought it was gonna work because of this, but you know what? Maybe I missed something, it didn't work out. It's not tanking anything, don't get me wrong. But I felt, I felt really good in that space. Probably in my one of my last roles. Yeah, my last filled up role before this one.

Karlyn Kieffer 27:44

That's impressive. Because I have to say, I mean, those are few and far between where you can find someone at this age, at this level of experience, where it's okay to make a mistake, and they actually recognize the worst thing you can do instead of making that something that's worse than making a mistake is actually not trying at all. Most people stop venturing outside of their comfort zone somewhere in that third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade time frame where everybody would laugh and, oh, you got the problem wrong, right? And they giggle and they do all the things. And then it's, well, I guess I won't volunteer. I guess I won't try. I guess I won't step out unless I'm absolutely confident that I'm gonna get it right. And so when you do improv, you're going to make mistakes because you don't know, back to the agility part, you don't know what somebody else is gonna say, what they're gonna do, how they're gonna pull you into something. So we do things like yes and, which allows you to keep building on things, but the fun of that is, oh, I didn't even think of that, right? You have these spontaneous aha moments. I like to do an activity called OneWord, where a team, if you're trying to work on active listening more, and actually I would argue active listening is is kind of outdated. I call it engaged listening. I like that. So that you're not doing just right. So it's not just uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, but you're engaged listening. You're listening for understanding, you're listening for how do I add, you're listening for do I disagree or agree? Right? You're you're fully engaged and immersed in what's happening in the moment and not practicing what you're gonna say in rebuttal. So building one story at a time, or one word at a time, you are you're going around a room and everybody's contributing one word to that story, but you still have to come to that one thing, right? You have to tell a story that makes sense. And so you have to pay attention not just to the person next to you, but the seven people before them to make sure that you all are telling one continuous story. And you will have that person who spaces out, who throws out, you know, dog when they should have said Apple or whatever when they're going through that. But it gets them to really pay attention to, you know, I actually don't listen as often. And I don't do. And so they have the aha moment without feeling badly about it. And they have that, huh, let me try that again. And and they want to do more. So I think that that creating that safe playground with the improv activities can teach the skills that you need people to have without making them feel badly about getting it wrong and where they're gonna enjoy it at the same time.

Brian Aquart 30:06

I like this reframe of active listening, reframing active listening to engaged listening because that does make it a bit more active than actual active listening. Yeah, I love hearing these new types of things and different ways of thinking about stuff because engaged listening has me feel a different way when I'm talking to someone, right? I how does everything you just mentioned? How does all this work really come together on your podcast, The Road to Greatness?

Karlyn Kieffer 30:32

So it's it's it's interesting. And and I'll and I'll also give you a little sneak peek update as well on on where we're going with that. When I started, I actually started the road to greatness while I was on break. And when I say on break, I had left my job last March of 24 and thought, okay, well, I'll take two weeks and then I'll jump back in and start building this business again and figuring things out. Turns out I needed a lot more time. And so in my time, I said, I'll just start a podcast. I want to talk to interesting people. I love to talk. I love to learn. I love to learn what makes people great at what they do. And one of my biggest things is what are the transferable skills? What can I learn from Rick Barnes, the head basketball coach of University of Tennessee men's basketball? What can I learn from Lee Child, who is the creator behind the Jack Reacher and Reacher stories and Amazon Prime Reacher? What can I learn from Josh Weiss, who is a global negotiator that applies to business skill sets, that applies to what I'm teaching, what I'm doing, how I'm practicing for myself and my own road to greatness. And so I started doing, I'm not gonna just focus on sales folks, I'm which is where I initially thought I was going to do. I'm gonna have everybody who's great at anything because they have to have some kind of ritual. They have to have some kind of practice, philosophy, mindset, something that anybody else can take and put towards their own road to greatness and what's gonna make them great at what they do. And it turned out to be great. And my first episode, I actually started with an improv artist. Her name is Keisha Zahler, and we talked about how improv works in the business world so much, and how every, excuse me, every business leader, every employee, salesperson, sales manager, you name it, everyone really can benefit from doing those improv activities. Outside of just I'm taking, I'm having a good time. There are skills, life skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, cooperation, and team skills that you can do with each other that makes you better at what you do. And the point that always came back was that everyone always wanted to do that so they could be a better influencer and not necessarily a social media influencer. I don't teach that. But they want to be able to influence the opinions and behaviors of others. And so for me, that's all sales, right? Everything you do. If you need to convince your kids, brush your teeth before bed, make sure you clean up before you go to bed or whatever that is, you're selling your kid on that idea. If you're selling widgets and products and software and whatever, you know you're actually selling something. But if you need to sell your boss on an idea and you have to sell your team, this is why we all need to rally behind an unpopular thing, because we all have had to do that. And if you say you didn't, you're lying. But we've all had to rally behind something that wasn't the most popular idea in the room, but we had to make sure we were executing it and executing it well. You still have to, as the leader in that group, you have to sell them to buy in. And so we'll take the shift instead of just what are all the things that are making you great. It is how are you becoming more influential and how are you influencing others to either do, say, think, come along with you as much as you can? So that's coming soon. Should be back on air in November. And uh, so I hope you'll look for that as well. And then we'll transition out of the road to greatness and move into it's all sales.

Brian Aquart 33:57

That's very nice. But you know, as you've thought about this journey, even this most recent journey that you're you're taking out with the show, what do you think is one misstep that you made during the transition either from employee to entrepreneur or maybe another one? And what did you take from it?

Karlyn Kieffer 34:13

Learning more and more how to ask for help, delegate, and be comfortable with it and not look at it as a failure. So the mistake, I'll go backwards there. The mistake was, and I made this the first time I was on my own, tried to do it less, but still made it the second time, which was for me to be successful, it has to be me, all me. I have to do everything. And you can't, right? You can't be selling your services, designing your website, doing your books, and also doing the follow-up work, the customer success, making sure folks want to come back. You can't do all of it yourself. You have to in the early stages while there's not enough moving around and not enough going on, because you're just getting started. But when you start to catch a rhythm and you can the instant you are able to delegate and get a vendor who's better at whatever it is than you are, my accountant, thank you very much. I was a marketing major at Georgetown because I did not do well in accounting. So that was the first thing off my plate.

Brian Aquart 35:14

Right, right.

Karlyn Kieffer 35:15

But you know, I'll never outsource designing. I will never outsource the instructional design or curriculum development or building the workshops. That is my sweet spot. But other things that are not, I have let them go to people who are better at it. They can do it faster than me, easier than me. And I have my self-esteem and ego back intact because I don't beat myself up about how slow it is going. And it gives me more time to be innovative and to do the things that I'm that I'm good at. So the myth that you can do it all is the greatest mistake that I have made. I have made multiple times. I am trying to not do it anymore. And so I but I think that I'm definitely doing better this time around.

Brian Aquart 35:58

Good for you. I'm glad you recognize that self-awareness is important, right? And so it's good you you're moving forward with that. If you could go back and give yourself advice before making the leap out of television, what would you say, if anything?

Karlyn Kieffer 36:12

Before the leap out of television. How's that? Literally nothing. The leap out of actually, no, you know what? I the one thing is don't let your misery show so much. That's okay. It probably, right? I think that is the one thing I didn't do well. It was very apparent towards the end of my last contract that I was not happy doing that anymore. It didn't bring me the joy that it used to. And that showed. I read like a Dr. Seuss book, right? You can see every emotion I have all the time. So I think that is the thing that I wish I had not done. And yeah, but everything else, I mean, leaving was the right call, going into training and development was the right call, all of the different flavors of training and development that I've done over the years, all the right call. But but the the thing that as a 30 or 20, gosh, I was late 20s at the time, the thing that that you don't know in your 20s, you don't appreciate how much negative talk brings down everything around you. And it doesn't mean that you have to be sunshiny and rosy and and fake as much as it is you don't need to poison the well and complain the whole time or be difficult or anything like that. It's recognize this isn't the right thing for you and then take the steps to move on and to find what is right for you. And I wish as a 20-something I had that.

Brian Aquart 37:32

And you know, for those who may be considering a big career change, especially from a high-profile role or even like an identity-driven profession, what's one mental shift that they need to make?

Karlyn Kieffer 37:45

Your fame is not you. And that is to say, who you are at home when you're having a bad day. And fun fact, I ate one day on a really bad day, a half a gallon of ice cream in 12 minutes flat. And when you're having that moment, that's you. Yeah, that was bad. That was kind of, you know, whoa. But you're you, right? You get up, you get dressed, you shower, you go to the store, you uh do all the things, you just do it without people saying hi to you while you're doing it. And I remember being at the DMV getting my driver's license renewed when I was living in Augusta, Georgia, and reporting at the station, CBS station in Augusta. And someone screamed across the DMV, hey, News 12, look at you. You're a little itty big itty bitty thing in person. You know, you look so big. And I'm going, oh, and you know, that's before the friend scene where they're like looking at Monica and how many, you know, the camera adds 10 pounds, how many cameras were on you? It was way long before that, but I was so hurt, and it was so nice to go to the DMV and not have to have somebody scream at you across the way, calling you big. So there is an upside to that, that you get to to move in the shadows and it's okay. But the mental shift is you can't let your public persona be your whole identity. Otherwise, you lose yourself. That happens with a lot of athletes, if you think about it. They were everything, and then when they finally retire, they don't know what to do with themselves. If they don't get that job on TV to be the commentator, they a lot of them don't know what to do afterwards. But I think that if you just remember I'm still me and I just have to figure out what's my next big thing, then focus on your next big thing and go after it 100%.

Brian Aquart 39:29

And you know, what's a let's say like a simple or everyday practice that anyone can use to strengthen their communication and executive presence?

Karlyn Kieffer 39:39

Ooh, two things. First, power pose, and everybody talks about power pose. This is not me. It's everyone in the business. It's everyone in general, I would argue. But standing in front of a mirror and standing in your best, tallest stance where you feel good about yourself, have your theme song playing. If you don't have a theme song, the first thing you need to do is go get one. I have three. Get a theme song, have the theme song playing, stand in front of the mirror and say all the good things about yourself. All of them, everything you think that is good about yourself. Don't let a negative thing creep in there at all. What are all the wonderful things you know to be true about you? Whether you can see them, whether you know them because they're on the inside, whatever that is. That's number one, because that will always have you walking taller and having a greater presence in any room that you walk into. I'm semi-introvert, about 50% introvert. So I actually have to do that every time I go to a networking event because I will be the person who sits off in the corner and just looks at everybody having a good time. So I have to do that. So I will remember to make my way around the room.

Speaker 2 40:41

Okay.

Karlyn Kieffer 40:42

And do those sorts of things. So uh, so that's number one. I think my and so maybe I'm gonna give you three. The other thing is that if you ever get an email from me, if you watch me listen to me in the podcast, if you listen to me in a workshop, if you see anything, I will always close out with have a great day on purpose. And you actually, if you set the intention to have a great day, whatever setback you have is not going to leave you leveled. It's not gonna leave you wounded where you can't recover. It's okay, well, how am I gonna turn this day around to make it a better day? And so it may not be a great day, it might be just a better day, but having that great day on purpose and the intentionality behind it is another thing. And then in terms of improving your communication, I'm gonna go back to the original activity that I mentioned at the very beginning when Tim taught me how to do ad living. When you're in your car, and whether you have people or not, if you're in your car and you see something and you're in the car for 20 minutes or a half an hour, and some folks have like an hour commute to work, look at something on the side of the road and then start talking about it. Make a complete story about that thing, whether it's true, not true, whatever. Just talk about it though for two minutes out loud and listen to yourself. And if you put in a filler, if you put in um, like you know, kind of sorta, start over from the beginning of the sentence. You don't need to go back the whole two minutes, but just start over from the beginning of that sentence and do it again without the filler words. And those things will help you truly communicate on your feet. It's a great way to practice taking a pause instead of doing this, and I have some clients who will vocal drag until they get their thought right. So they'll have the word last a little longer, you know, until they figure out, oh, this is what I was gonna say. Yes. And if they appreciate the pause and get the words out and they can communicate. But it took me, gosh, I worked on that for six or seven months to the point where when I did live shots, it was exceptionally rare to have a filler word in it. And to this day, I still think I've I've let others creep back in, but I do it so few and so rare, few and far between and so rarely that I feel like when I speak, it comes through. People aren't listening to me and counting my fillers instead of actually listening to me. They actually can hear what I say. So I think that those three things grab a theme song, tell everything that's great about yourself when you get up in the morning and stand in front of that mirror. Two, remind yourself to have a great day on purpose. And three, do the ad lib activity while you're driving in the car. Those are three things that will up your game immediately.

Brian Aquart 43:19

I think I'm gonna share that with my kids too, so that they can plant that so I can plant those seeds early. So I like that.

Karlyn Kieffer 43:25

Yeah.

Brian Aquart 43:26

As you look forward to the future, what is one thing you're looking forward to the most?

Karlyn Kieffer 43:30

Ooh, I think I've been in Pro Tip Partners or I launched Pro Tip Partners truly with full energy last September. So I look forward to really it growing beyond what I thought it would be. I'm I'm actually where I thought I'd be after a year. So I'm pleased that I'm on track. I want to see that I actually land where I wanted to be three years from now, five years from now. Am I still going out and and helping people get better at what they're doing, get helping people get better at their communication, at their leadership, their management, closing deals that they want to close. I want someone, and and five years from now, it's can I get a whole list of people who will be like, yeah, I tried that thing that Carlin said, and oh my gosh, it worked. And I closed this deal. I got this promotion, I got this whatever. So that's what I'm looking forward to most is I love to hear success stories. For some people, they want to be paid a gazillion dollars. And while I'm not free, the money isn't everything. For me, it very much is I tried what you said and it worked. And so now I'm gonna try something else too. Right. That that momentum is the thing that I look forward to a lot.

Brian Aquart 44:38

And now let's flip the mic. So, what's one question you have for me that I can hopefully answer?

Karlyn Kieffer 44:45

Yeah, I would love to know, because you have been your podcast also has morphed over time and where you shifted from COVID time why I left to other motivations for leaving. What I I I two parts. One, which is how did you mentally make the shift? And how did you decide I'm gonna pivot to this other thing? Because technically life conditions required it. So how did you decide there's this new path? And then second, unrelated, sort of, but second, adjacent is so far, and excluding me, of course, the most interesting reason why someone left that you've heard so far. Good, good point.

Brian Aquart 45:29

Uh so let's start with the first one. So I actually came into this knowing that after season three, I would make a shift. So I was mentally prepared to say because I knew I knew it was like to be honest, that great resignation was a bit of a fad. I knew it would eventually fade. And so I came in knowing that, you know what, I don't think I don't think we're gonna always want to talk about great resignation stuff for who knows how long. But I I do want to keep the show going. So I've I've had a six-year plan, right? And so after year three, I was like, all right, then we'll make a shift where we open it up. Because what I've always wanted to do, and the premise of the show continuing to be we don't talk about resignations enough. I wanted to broaden that lens to say, whenever you've left, let's talk about those bold career moves and then what it then led to. Um, and that then also opened the aperture for other guests who could come on and speak to how they left, what they then started, and and all of that. And so that's been that's always been the focus. And so making the shift truthfully wasn't that hard of a shift because I actually knew it was coming. And now I didn't, I didn't know when Great Resignation would kind of get a little stale. And I don't think it's gotten stale because I'll be honest, I think some of the learnings and impact that happened from the res Great resignation are truthfully coming to fruition right now. I don't know if people want to actually fully recognize that, but some of those things are people are just coming out of the fog. So that's one. Two, one of the most interesting reasons why someone left. I would say, I'll say the interesting piece has been it's been it's been the stories around really chasing your gut, right? I'll go back a little bit and say one of the things that has surprised me about this show. I didn't know truthfully what was going to happen, what type of stories I would get, but it has quietly become a bit of a social experiment of mine that I didn't intend. But it's been a look at the human experience, some could argue sad on some occasions, in that we don't, you know, we all have these questions for ourselves, what we'd want to do, what we could do, what we'd like to do, but we don't often answer those questions because of life, right? Yeah, partner, kids, disabilities, whatever. Life is life. Life is life. And I don't knock that, right? But but we we are doing these things, but we all everybody's got an itch for something else. Not everybody scratches that itch. And so what I what has been great is to hear about, and especially some of those earlier seasons when people left during all the madness, they scratched the itch because they had the time to sit back. They, those questions that have always been coming up that they put aside because they had to get the TPS report done or whatever, right? And do all those things. Now they had time. And and they didn't have to go in the office and they couldn't run from it. And then they finally said, yes, I am gonna do start my own wellness company, or I am gonna uh go out on my own as a therapist. And those are the stories that I've that I've really enjoyed hearing. I love all the stories, but I the the people who had been asking themselves these questions, never fully answered, but finally were was given a reason to actually do something, and arguably waiting for a worldwide pandemic. So it's one of those you're just like, wow, that those have been the interesting beat. The people who answered their own call and they're now living in their truth. I've love, love those stories.

unknown 49:04

Yeah.

Karlyn Kieffer 49:05

Yeah, it's it's fulfilling to hear and even to hear you light up as you talk about things because you've been asking questions the whole time and you get interested and everything else. What I would say though, in listening to you talk about what you've gotten out of it or what impressed you or what ignited your fire on hearing some of that is is also inspiring in terms of you can do that thing and scratch that itch. So, what did this itch, what does that revelation that, yeah, they're following their truth? What itch does that scratch for you?

Brian Aquart 49:34

Well, that's a good one. Well, I think that what it's scratched for me is that this is an outlet, a creative outlet for me that truthfully I needed. It's given me permission that I truthfully didn't ask for, but permission to be like, let's keep this going. Let's keep how far can this go? And so it has been a lot of fun getting, you know, I talk with people all over the world and folks who like Carl, I don't know how our piles ever would have crossed. And so it scratched the itch that now I am at a at a networking event. I'm the extrovert. So I like to be out there. I may go on the side just to grab a drink, but then I'm back in the game. So right, right. But it has really helped me one, just continue to build relationships, get to meet some great people, and also get to break down one of my themes around I do think we're all much more connected than we give ourselves credit for. And it's what it's allowed me personally to do is to not just say that, but to actually say that and have some backing for that, providing these stories to folks and say, yeah, you're going through this. Well, you know, Carla, she was in media. You can go back to episode 50. I had a gentleman there who was an anchor, you know, left media as well. Like there are folks in all these industries, and you can see yourself in that person. So you're not alone, you know, person A, person B, who was going through whatever you may be going through at work. And so it's helped me out a lot.

Karlyn Kieffer 50:58

And I would say that you're doing a service to others in letting them know to that very point, is it's okay to say, you know what, that chapter, done. Done. I I say all the time, period new paragraph, because I if I'm not seguing in some really cute way, then it's a period new paragraph. But you can period new paragraph some portion of your life, your career, your whatever, if you want to get out and and chase something. So I also think that that you having this show allows yourself to give others who are thinking about it, kicking it around, debating, will it be okay? Yeah, it is. And and it's okay because you're doing it.

Speaker 2 51:37

Absolutely.

Karlyn Kieffer 51:38

It's okay because we're all out here creating new chapters and and everything else. So I I appreciate that and and what you're offering to the listeners. It's great.

Brian Aquart 51:48

Well, look, I want to thank you for for joining the show today. I'm glad you connected on LinkedIn. That means the algorithm still showing me some love, which I very much appreciate. That's an area Lord knows I need help there. But but when it connects me with great people like yourself, I'm like, good, something is resonating. So I appreciate you coming on and you sharing your story. Where can people learn more about you and uh stay connected with you should they want to uh you know follow your journey?

Karlyn Kieffer 52:15

Absolutely. Thank you. They can find me on LinkedIn for sure, and just let me know that you you've heard this, but you can do uh Carlin Kiefer. It's Carlin with a K and a Y and Kiefer, K-I-E-F-F-E-R. Look for me on LinkedIn. You can also go to protipppartners.com and connect with me through my own actual website, take a look around. There's free stuff, there's there are classes you can take, communication essentials, elevator pitch. As much as I hate going to networking events, I actually do have a fantastic formula for elevator pitches. So it's the do as I say part, not as I don't. So you can absolutely do that. But those are the two best ways to to connect with me, and I look forward to it. And and yeah, you're right. Building the building your your team and your your I call them peeps, but yes, building your team and your network of of folks who are out there cheering for you and and wishing you success is is a huge part of everything, right? Because it's you can never have too many cheerleaders and supporters hoping that you you take the next great big step. So and that's why you left.

Brian Aquart 53:21

Well, thank you so much for for all that info. Uh and look, that'll do it for today's episode. Again, I want to thank Carlin Kiefer for joining me today. I hope you all got a lot out of it. All of her information will be in the show notes, and hope you all have a great week, and we'll definitely see you next time. Carlin, thank you so much.

Karlyn Kieffer 53:39

Thank you, and have a great day on purpose.

Brian Aquart 53:41

Thanks for listening to why I left. Join us next time for more inspiring stories about growth, resilience, and transformation. Visit us online at www.yileft.co. That's whyileft.co.