Building an audacious business & team with Kristina Knapp
In this week’s ‘can’t miss’ episode, Amber interviews Kristina Knapp, Audacity Coach and CEO of Elixir Media. They dive into everything business, from pivoting your company to leading with feminine energy to hiring a team of soul-aligned A+ people.
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LAST CHANCE TO ENTER:
Want to enter to win a week of free coaching with Amber through the Voxer app?
Head over to Apple iTunes and leave the podcast; Amplified Impact a 5-star review! Screenshot your review, share it on your socials, and tag @amberhagberg. Each time you share yourself listening to the podcast after that you will be entered to win.
In the last week of February, Amber will announce the winner.
–
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Time Stamps-
2:32 -How Kristina went from corporate burnout to discovering her passion
11:55 -Running a successful business and leading from a feminine energetic space
17:50 -Building a soul-aligned supportive team
26:40- Where to start with your first hire
28:50 -When it’s time to stop playing small
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How to curate your sacred retreat with Amber Hagberg on Kristina's Podcast
SHOW LINKS:
Transcript
Amplified Impact For multi passionate female entrepreneurs turning
their gifts into assets, this is a space to open your heart even
deeper as you learn how to tune into your mission and connect with
your clients, the ones who you dream to serve and create massive
impact in their lives.
::I'm here to inspire you to take time for yourself so you can be the
leader in your life and your business, One who stands out and thrives.
::This is the place where women, just like you, create wealth from the
inside out.
::So excited.
::Today I have a very special guest.
::But before we dive into how to be audacious in your business and allow
your business to grow and transform as you do to boldly continue to
hit and reach your next level, I want to remind you this is the last
week to enter.
::To win a free week of Voxer coaching with me, all you have to do is go
to Apple iTunes, leave us a five star review, share that with me, damn
me on Instagram, show me that you did it, and screenshot this episode
and share with Christina and I your biggest take away.
::And on March 1st, I will be announcing the winner.
::All right, let's dive in.
::All right.
::I'm so excited to be back today.
::I have a very special guest and you already know I love going on
retreats and joining masterminds and programs because of the people I
meet.
::And today I have Christina Knapp.
::She's here with me, a bold audacious marketing business reels coach
who literally like soul sister haven't met in person.
::Bound to happen one day.
::Just like confirmation that you need to go on a retreat.
::You need to get into programs because the people you meet become
lifelong friends.
::Thank you so much for being here today.
::Thanks for having me.
::I'm so excited.
::I would love for you just to share with us like your journey.
::Like, how did you get here into the marketing, the reels growing at a
humongous team of incredible inspiring women?
::Like tell us your story.
::Thank you so much.
::Gosh, you know my story started like most of us in a very masculine
world.
::You know, I started like 15 years ago flipping businesses and you
know, I started in the corporate world where you know, I had the, the
semi traditional nine to five in that.
::Like it also required a lot of travel on my part.
::But I worked for huge companies and they would bring me in and I would
have like 3 weeks to flip either a department or you know a single
brick and mortar or maybe it was like 1 aspect of their business.
::And I would flip it from in the red to being like the the, you know,
highest grossing, highest revenue piece of the business in less than 3
weeks.
::So it was a really intense job.
::Very Long story short, you know, it it wore me down as you would
expect, right.
::Burnout is real.
::We all know this now and I ended up getting out of that and you know,
really with with one intention.
::And that intention was to like find my true purpose and find my true
mission.
::Because at the end of the day what I thought was my dream, which was,
you know, climbing, climbing the corporate ladder in stilettos, jet
setting everywhere, actually left me feeling like I had a hole in my
heart, you know, and and and had me feeling very lonely and I didn't
like the the the shark I had become.
::And so I, you know, went on this journey of of finding myself as we do
and really found a passion and a higher mission with helping women,
you know, helping individuals versus helping these already you know
multi billion dollar companies, let's just say it, you know, with all
white men, boardrooms, you know just make even more money.
::You know I wanted to start really making an impact on an on an
individual level and that's how Elixir was born.
::Elixir Media which is my company.
::And now you know, I I have shifted into an audacity coach where I help
women just really claim who the fuck they are and really tear down
like all of these blocks and these veils that stop us from really
making the type of impact that we could if we would just step fully
into our power and and really fucking own it.
::I love hearing your story because there's always things that you don't
know about someone until you really get into like the journey of how
they got where they are.
::And you know, we have to continue to grow and evolve and and the story
starts somewhere.
::And I had no idea that you were running these other companies.
::And it just makes sense now that you get to run your own company and
you get to be in charge of like who's there.
::And how did you go from being in like the marketing, the reels to like
really like, I want to get more audacious.
::I really want to help women to show up as they are unapologetically.
::Because I think that when we show up online, we're like, I am being
seen, I am showing up, but it's like, are you really showing up,
right, Like what's underneath that?
::Like I'm doing it.
::Yeah.
::No idea.
::Zoom gives me balloons every once in a while, and I'm like, yeah,
celebration cool.
::Let's go.
::I've never seen that before.
::I was so confused at first.
::Anywho, yeah.
::So Elixir Mediaco, when I started, right, eight years ago now, we
started out as a full service agency, you know, which was a very
natural transition for me.
::You know, I went from you know, flipping businesses and then people
wanted more support to to help them continue to grow and expand and
and what does that for business marketing.
::So you know we started out as a full service agency and then we, I
started doing consulting and then I started doing like marketing photo
shoots and that sort of stuff which then transitioned into reels
because video took the fuck over as we know and you know Reels and
TikTok creation and production was probably about 50% of the business
in the last couple of years.
::So the other 50% still continuing to be consulting and coaching.
::And really what this was is I I had a rebirth you know of the business
which when you're in business long enough you go through rebirths,
right.
::We have the really special like I feel like gift that's given to us
that we get to create businesses that evolve with us, change with us,
grow with us and Elixir has very much done that with me throughout the
journey.
::So the decision came down honestly to what it was, was I admitted to
myself that I was so much bigger than the current business I was
running.
::You know, when I knew that I was always meant for more.
::Even, you know, back, you know, 15 years ago when I was flipping
businesses, I was like, there's something bigger here than, than than
this, You know what I mean?
::And even though I love this thing, this skill, this way that I'm
helping people right now, I just couldn't shake that feeling like, no,
no, no, there's something bigger.
::There's something more.
::I wouldn't have been, you know, like given these God-given gifts,
these superpowers, if I was only meant to stay this small, right?
::And so once I was really able to admit that to myself, then then I was
like, OK, So what is it then, right?
::I meant for something more.
::What the hell is it?
::And you know, after I was able to step out from behind my skill is
what I call it is.
::That's what I refer to it, right?
::Because I had hidden behind my, you know, identity I had given myself
for so long and my so much of my identity was wrapped up in business
and in marketing, right.
::Because that's what I was known for.
::That's what I was good at, right.
::This is where I stand.
::Again, very, very masculine and and by stepping from behind that and
really again saying, OK, no, I'm not just my skill.
::I'm not just a marketing coach, right.
::I'm not just a business coach.
::I'm not just a Reels coach and instead saying, you know what is my my
superpower beyond that, right?
::And anyone, whoever comes in contact with me in any way, even people
who, you know, watch me on social media, I'm a walking fucking
permission slip, right?
::I'm one of those people that just by being me, just by living in my
own authenticity and really showing all sides of me, other people feel
their permission to be themselves fully right, like like in a in a non
judge judgmental way.
::And it and it empowers them in that way.
::And so I said OK, this is really what I was meant here to do, was to
break down all of these patriarchal views that we've had shoved down
our fucking throats for so long, right?
::To be small, to only show one side, to not confuse people to, to to
only give people what they can handle.
::Don't be too much right to really be able to break that down, release
it and show women how to and walk them and guide them through how to
step into their full power and really claim who the fuck they are so
that their impact can 100 times what it's currently doing.
::There's so many things you shared there that I'm like, Oh yeah, of
course that's why you're here.
::And we're having this conversation.
::And it's like that call for something more when things are still going
really well and you're really good at all of these things.
::And like, I was there 2022 when I met you and it's just like, it's not
that everything's terrible.
::It's like there's this call of like I was meant to grow bigger.
::And I think that's why as like multi passionates we can be all of
these different things and still stand out because we get to be like
OK and what the undercurrent that I bring to the table that no other
marketing reels business coach brings to the table.
::And it's like being a permission slip is something I'm often saying as
well as like let me be your permission slip that like you can do it
anyway that you desire.
::And I think that when you're able to bring that out and other people
they can let themselves be seen in a way that's like, well, if
Christina can do it, then I can do it.
::And it just makes sense that like that now is what you're leading with
your business through.
::And as a marketing coach, how do you feel about like talking about
reels and then talking about business and then talking about retreats
and then talking about audaciousness and like merging all of these
things together?
::Like you've run billion dollar companies, you know, you flipped
businesses and you know like having core values, key pieces that are
like the foundation of like a company's like identity and what that
looks like to the public eye.
::How do you do that from like a feminine twist and someone who's like,
been in the game for a really long time?
::Yeah, I love.
::I love this.
::I love this.
::I love you.
::I love this conversation because it just gives me so much life.
::So one one thing that is very unique about my perspective, right and
the life that I've lived is I, I you know in some ways kind of went
backwards with my, with my vantage points, right, because I started
out again very fucking young at a very high level and was able to see
down, right.
::So like sitting at multi billion dollar companies and looking down and
seeing how they're run and their thought processes versus I think the
the route a lot of entrepreneurs are on right where you start with
yourself, you start with yourself and you try to figure it out and
then you know along the way you learn and you invest tools and you
invest in yourself.
::So then you get these perspectives and you climb higher and higher and
you're able to see higher and higher.
::So by by being by starting at that really high level, I've always had,
I've always known what or I've always known how people thought right.
::And and it's very different.
::And so to answer your question of how do I bring all of these aspects
in that are so different and so unique on their own and some of them
you know to some people that have nothing to fucking do with the other
right.
::Like like what it what does retreats have to do with.
::I don't know I don't know reels or or offers or or whatever and cause
in my space we also we also talk about relationships right and
marriage and love and we talk about parenting so much you know and and
how to be a mom through this.
::It's it's all aspects.
::The first question I'll answer is like how do how do I feel about all
of that.
::I feel, and I know that every single thing in my life has led to this
and that feeling.
::It is just like it.
::It runs electricity through my fucking veins.
::Right.
::And so and and that's really like what I help women do is like OK, how
do we make all of this random shit, all of our life experiences, every
random person that we've met, like you know, every course we've taken
and and all of my hobbies.
::How do we how do we take all of this bigness and focus it into one
mission.
::And that's how I really, that's how I approach, you know marketing is
isn't that way is by having one bigger mission that almost acts like
like an umbrella.
::I'm like, I always forget when we're doing these interviews, I'm like,
I'm, I'm making it with my hands.
::It acts as an umbrella, right, This mission, this bigger movement for
people to become a part of.
::And then from there, your skills, like for me, would be marketing.
::One of them would be leading retreats.
::One of them would be, you know, I'm a badass, that fucking video, you
know, another one would be, you know, the whole mom balance.
::You know all of that coming together that would be like like you could
think of it as like a spoke of each umbrella right under this higher
mission, under this bigger movement that you're doing.
::And that way like when we when we start to think about marketing like
that, then we can allow ourselves also to grow and to expand our
interests and to continue to bring in whatever aspects we want.
::And the messaging doesn't get confusing because it's focused on the
movement, It's focused on the mission.
::So good.
::I mean, if you go back to like a year ago when I was talking about
this on my podcast, I was like the Umbrella effect.
::It's like it's not confusing when you talk about it being a movement
and a message.
::And literally right now inside of the Ripple Collective, we're talking
about to live and to lead.
::And so how you said like every single thing is adding up to where you
are today.
::And so it's like really using your story as an overarching message of,
like, what you've gathered, what you've learned, what you've lost, who
you've become, and letting.
::And that be the pillar of your movement and that be how you relate to
people.
::And also, like, how you stand out and how you show up and really
express yourself from the heart.
::And that energy and that frequency of your story is different than
anyone else out there.
::It's different than anyone else doing what you're doing.
::And that's not confusing.
::Like, as one of our mentors says, if you're not confused, your
audience isn't confused.
::But like when we get into our heads about like if we're going to be
confusing I just I was recently triggered on an Instagram post that
said don't trust the multi passionate coach that tells you you are
your niche.
::And I was like, hold the phone, like we need to have a conversation
about this because like.
::Rude.
::You totally like she created a reel on this right?
::And like controversial topics are really good for the algorithm and I
get it.
::And different beliefs.
::And it's so cool because we get to have different beliefs.
::And I am so behind.
::You get to be your niche and you get to be your movement and you get
to be your message.
::And I think that's where people can be.
::Like, I don't have to choose one part of my story or one of my
passions or one of the things that I'm good at.
::I get to blend them all together.
::Which makes me the best coach to hire because I can help you in so
many different areas regardless of like who you are.
::A health coach, a business coach, a retreat leader.
::Like you name it.
::Like there's other aspects to you than just a marketing coach, a real
coach, a business coach.
::That's exactly what it is.
::And so how have you grown your team?
::Did you start off with the big team or what has that looked like since
you went from like flipping the biz to starting your own company Now I
know you have a team with you and she's amazing.
::She like gives her employees her team members like time off while they
have babies like hello like let's celebrate motherhood.
::I remember when you and I first met you're like, yeah I'm just letting
the women who are going on maternity leave like have paid time off for
like I think you said three or six months or something like that.
::And like that's the new paradigm of like leadership that we get a live
in as we run these companies.
::But like, what has the journey been like for you to start growing a
company and giving other tasks and then really building this, this
movement where you're supported and have backup?
::Oh man, such a big question for me.
::I'll, I'll say this first.
::I've always been focused on culture, you know, because one thing, one
of one of my main responsibilities, I'll say when I was when I was
flipping businesses, actually I wouldn't even say one of my main
responsibilities.
::But it's the thing that people always underestimated, right from the
top down was how, you know, leadership isn't about managing.
::You know you have, you have managers, which is all right.
::I'm going to be generous and say 90% of of people who have teams out
there.
::And then you have leaders, right?
::And leadership is about personal development.
::It's about personal development.
::And The thing is, if you want to hire and keep A+ players, then you
have to have a strong culture.
::Otherwise A+ players will do what they do and they'll jump right.
::Because they're smart and they know their fucking worth and they know
their value.
::And they know that in order to get more money and get a higher salary,
right, they need to change jobs every, you know, I mean, honestly,
every six months.
::That's the way, right?
::That they can get the highest payback for their value.
::So if you want to keep an A+ player and you want to keep them long
term, and when I say long term, my my team stays with me for years,
right?
::Like I have people on my team right now that have been with me for
four years.
::You know, like the the, the shortest amount of time, like the newest
person on my team has been with me.
::Actually, in a couple months, it'll be two years, right?
::So in order to keep them, you need culture.
::People think like, oh, to have a plus players you need to, you need to
be able to pay them a lot.
::It's it's not the truth.
::It really isn't.
::I mean for some out there, yeah, but for the majority, no, right.
::A+ players have been paid.
::They have.
::They've been paid and they know often that that's not really what
their life is about.
::It's not, it's not the experience that they want to live in.
::They, you know, things that are important to them, right?
::So by creating a really strong culture and having like you should have
internal core values and brand core values, right?
::Your brand core values are for are are really about who you want to
work with, right?
::They're to call in your ideal clients things like that.
::Your internal core values are to create the culture that you want to
cultivate and also to to attract a plus players.
::So by being really intentional about that and not just when you hire,
that's another big mistake people make.
::They're like these are our core values and then you never hear about
them again, right?
::But, but having systems in place that continue to cultivate that
culture has has really led me to have the A+ team that I have.
::And they're, you know, they support me and and all of the dream ways
that I that I love to be supported, You know, I really get to show up,
you know, as me because of these what I'll call like cultural systems
that I have in place that that keep my team rich in their experience
of working with me.
::I have no idea where that tangent came from.
::I don't even know if I answered the fucking question you asked.
::It was so good and I just, I just want to have you unpack, define
culture for someone that's listening that's like rather new to
business and they don't understand like what do you mean when you say
culture?
::Yeah.
::I mean, when you think about the people who work for you, like, what
is their experience like, right?
::Like when you know how, Like what do they feel like?
::How do they know that what is important to them is important to you?
::How do they know that you care, right?
::How do they know that their personal goals are aligned with your
company goals?
::Like, for a plus players, if they can't see that their personal goals
can happen in a direct result of working with you long term, they're
out.
::So really.
::Yeah, like really, really cultivating that.
::And then also, you know, appreciation.
::God, I mean if appreciation, if team appreciation isn't one of your
your like key, key key like core values internally I would put my
money on the fact that you probably have high turnover.
::You know and and The thing is if you can do this even when you first
get started, it doesn't have to be something crazy.
::Like one thing that I do that is so simple and literally cost me $30
maybe a month, right is is we do what we call like a hat trick.
::So we have we have team meetings.
::Well I call them team empowerment meetings every single week.
::You know their Max 45 minutes to an hour long.
::And you know they're structured in a way that cultivates our culture,
celebrates the team.
::Everyone feels seen and heard and appreciated again, which is so
important.
::And we're able to talk through everything that we do for the week and
everyone's able to get their support so that no one contacts me as the
CEO, as the leader of my business for the rest of the week, all in 45
minutes on a Monday, right?
::One of the key things that I do is like at the end of after everyone
has like their say is we do a shout out.
::OK, every single person names one shout out that they have for
somebody else on the team, something that just really stood out to
them.
::OK and here's the thing, if one person on the team gets a shout out
from every single person that week, they get Starbucks for the week.
::It is that easy.
::And this cost me literally maybe $30.00 a month because it's rare that
it happens and you should see the look on their face, girl, when they
get this cup of coffee again, this is costing me what, 5 dollars, $6?
::And they are coming in and they are strutting and they're so proud of
themselves and everyone is like clapping and cheering them on.
::Right.
::Yeah.
::And really, you reflected back to me such like something I did this
week with my team member.
::And like, I do it to her every week.
::I'm like, I'm so grateful you're on my team.
::Like, I feel so lucky you're on my team.
::And she literally sent me a message later that day.
::That's like, I could help your business.
::1234, I just need more hours.
::What do you say?
::And it was like out of my appreciation she's like, can I bring more to
your to your business.
::Can I give more.
::And it's just like I'm so like everyday I'm so grateful for her.
::She's so good at what she does and I feel so lucky that like she's
choosing to be on my team and it can be just a compliment.
::It can be a cup of coffee.
::And I think it's like what you said like about the culture and the
community that we created, like how do they feel working for you?
::How do they feel walking in?
::Do they feel appreciated?
::Do they feel significant?
::And that can be a cup of coffee.
::It can be a shout out, it can be like, hey, thanks for what you did
yesterday.
::It's just it's acknowledgement of what they've done.
::And I know sometimes it's like a bonus here or a bonus there, but it's
like this can be every single day.
::It doesn't have to be like once a year in December like most
businesses do.
::This is like, I want you to feel good in my company and creating
culture and I think that you really like shared how you've done that.
::And if someone is just starting out and they're like, where do I begin
hiring?
::Like who was the first role or where did you begin in the hiring?
::Process.
::I always say the first hire and and and even if you are down like
long, you know you've been in the game for a long time and you're
really looking to like optimize your team if you and if you can have
one person as long as that person is the yen to your Yang or in my
case the Yang to my yen.
::So I think knowing yourself, knowing what your natural superpowers are
and then hiring someone who's is the exact opposite of that, right?
::The things that you really like, even if you can do it, girl, like,
look, we're bosses.
::We know we could do we want to.
::Does it drain your battery to do these things?
::Write those things down.
::Right.
::Often you're like what I find, and this is just from like flipping
businesses, this is from leading teams, is that you are either, yeah,
you're either the yin or the Yang.
::You're either the systems person, you know, that loves structure and
you love creating that and that's the way that you express your
creativity.
::Or you're more in the feminine, where you actually like to be like the
visionary of the company, you know what I mean?
::And you like to keep it very high level.
::So again, find the person that is the yin to your Yang.
::But we have to leave it here because literally the person that's
working for me right now is like, I'm fire, I'm go and let's get it
done.
::And she's like, hold on, let me reread this, let me make sure the.
::And so she literally like just pushes a pause button on my momentum of
like flying forward.
::So it's like if you're going to hire, hire someone that is the exact
opposite of you.
::I think that's why couples that come together that are so different,
they thrive together because it is the yin to the Yang and it's like
in your company too.
::It's like, she is so the exact opposite of me.
::Like Virgo, organized slow Aries, let's get it done.
::Let's get it growing.
::And I was like, Oh my gosh, I love that so much.
::Such a reflection of like confirmation I did the right, the right
thing as I'm starting to grow my company.
::So thanks for that tip and for you right now.
::Being like, the audacious coach, like weaving in this new pillar into
your business.
::For someone that has been showing up online for years doing their
thing, but they feel like there's this next level iteration, how did
you find it?
::Like, how did you discover that, like audaciousness and coaching and
boldness was like your next level of growth?
::Like, how do you know when there's another level that comes to you
aside from, like, there's something more, right?
::We have that bigger, like there's something more.
::But like, how did you discover what that more was?
::Yeah.
::So I I have what I call like the audacious process and step one in
this.
::Well, really step one starts with you admitting that you are bigger
than your current business.
::You are bigger than what you're currently pulling in, right?
::And and in so many different ways.
::Once you can really admit that, then it's like, OK, well, how do I
uncover this, right?
::Because to me, it's an unearthing, right?
::It's in there.
::We hold all the answers.
::I would never take that power away from anyone, right?
::So how do we uncover it?
::And I start with this question because I go big, right?
::And then I can, you know, I can figure out the actionable steps to get
there.
::So I I start with asking every single client I work with how do we
change the fucking world.
::And it usually is like that like a you know it's like a literal like
like grasping for air like oh shit, you know And typically from that
one or one of two things happens.
::Either one they're like, I know like they sit in silence for a second.
::They're like, this is it.
::Holy shit, are we really going to go this big?
::Or it's it's this moment of like wanting to hide almost, right?
::Like, oh, no, no, no, no.
::I'm not that big.
::You know, I I know I meant for something bigger, but not not that big.
::And in order to create the type of movement that we know that we can
write, this movement that is so much bigger than us, it requires us to
take our fucking ego out of it.
::Take yourself out of it, even take your business out of it.
::Take out the way that you help people and really come back to your
core and ask yourself that question, how do I change the world?
::And what starts to unfold when you, like, really marinate in that is,
is your true purpose, right?
::And that's where we start.
::And then from there we build a mission and we build a movement that
people want to be a part of that is so much bigger than the work that
you're currently doing, right?
::And when you can create that type of momentum, then you know, again,
you can bring in whatever all of the aspects are that you bet you that
you're passionate about the like the different ways that you can help
people.
::And it's all attached to this movement.
::And then we go through like an identity shifting process that I call
like the new era.
::Like this is it.
::We we're in the new era now, right?
::And then I take them through, OK, now that we're embodying this new
woman, this audacious woman, right?
::And now, how do we, how do we build a business from this, right?
::And often it's not starting from scratch, it's just adding layers to
what we're already doing, adding adding layers, and at the same time
simplifying it to this higher calling.
::How are we going to change the world?
::I love that so much.
::And asking that question, sitting with it, and then yeah, it is a new
era and it is identity.
::And that is the work, the identity shift of claiming this new version
before it's happened, before there's evidence Oh my gosh.
::And the work that you have to grow through to claim that identity
before it manifests I've.
::Been there and I.
::It is not easy, but the person that you grow into by claiming how
you're going to change the world gives you the fuel to change, as you
would say, the fucking world.
::Like, literally change the world.
::So thank you, Thank you so much for this inspiring conversation and
for those that would like to come and connect with you, listen to you,
follow you.
::Where can they continue to grow with you?
::I'm on Instagram.
::It's it's my, I'm like, that's my Boo.
::And you can find me on there at Elixir Mediaco and we also have a
podcast called Show the Fuck Up that you can find on any, any podcast
platform.
::We're on all of them.
::Amazing.
::And I will link those in the show notes.
::Thank you, Christina.
::Bye everyone.
