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Interviews with Female entrepreneurs, founders, co-founders, business owners, and industry Gurus. These podcasts speak with women (women-identified) across all industries in order to shed light for those just getting into the entrepreneurial game! Histories, current companies, and lessons learned are explored. The series is designed to investigate a female (female identified) perspective in what has largely been a male-dominated industry in the world to date.
Episodes
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Interview with Kathryn Cloward: CEO & Founder of Kandon Unlimited
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Interview with Kathryn Cloward: CEO & Founder of Kandon Unlimited. Kathryn is an award-winning book series author, performing songwriter, media publisher and producer, and serial entrepreneur. Kandon Unlimited is a heart-centered mindful media company intent on creating positive and empowering media for people of all ages. (https://kathryncloward.com/)
This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media. The series interviews women (& women-identified & non-binary) entrepreneurs, founders, and gurus across all industries to investigate those voices in business today. Both the platform and discussion are designed to further the global conversation in regards to the changing climate in entrepreneurial and founding roles.
TRANSCRIPTION
*Please note, this is an automated transcription please excuse any typos or errors
[00:00:07] Hi, my name is Patricia Kathleen, and this podcast series will contain interviews I conduct with female and female identified entrepreneurs, founders, co-founders, business owners and industry gurus. These podcasts speak with women and women, identified individuals across all industries in order to shed light for those just getting into the entrepreneurial game, as well as those deeply embedded within it. Histories, current companies and lessons learned are explored in the conversations I have with these insightful and talented powerhouses. The series is designed to investigate a female and female identified perspective in what has largely been a male dominated industry in the USA to date. I look forward to contributing to the national dialog about the long overdue change of women in American business arenas and in particular, entrepreneurial roles. You can contact me via my media company Web site. Wild Ducks agency. That's w i. L. D e. Dot Agency or my personal Web site. Patricia Kathleen, dot com. Thanks for listening. Now let's start the conversation.
[00:01:30] Hi, everyone, and welcome back. This is your host, Patricia. And today I am sitting down with Kathryn Cloward. Kathryn is CEO and founder of Kendon Unlimited. Welcome, Kathryn.
[00:01:41] Hi, thanks. Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be on your show.
[00:01:44] Absolutely. I look forward to speaking with you. I'm going to read a brief bio on Kathryn.
[00:01:48] But before I do that, for everyone listening, I always proffer up a roadmap of where today's podcast is headed. So if you want to return to it and go to a specific part, it's a little bit easier to do. Today, we're gonna have four main sectors. First, we're going to address Kathryn's academic background and early professional life. Following that, then we'll launch straight into unpacking Kendon and limited, namely the who, what, when, where, why and how of that company and kind of get into the structure and then more about the minutia of of the ethos and what the company is all about. Then we'll go straight to the goals that Kathryn has, both for Candan and Limited and personally, as well as some of the other areas that she's in in her life. And then we will wrap everything up with advice that Kathryn has for those looking to get involved in her work, work with her or a kind of mirror what she's done with her career thus far. We offer a quick bio on Kathryn. Kathryn Cloward is an award winning book series author, performing songwriter. Media publisher and producer and serial entrepreneur Kathryn is founder and CEO of Kendon Unlimited, a heart centered, mindful media company intent on creating positive and empowering media for people of all ages. Founded in 2010 to independently publish her Kathryn the Grape series of books, Candan and Limited has expanded to become a full spectrum media company that owns and or represents media assets for over two hundred published books and songs, has three trademark brands and manages multiple independent artists. It also produces the Ripple Effect with Kathryn Cloward podcast series offering listeners refreshing and authentically transparent conversations about cultivating sustainable fulfillment personally and professionally. To date, Kathryn has earned 14 national level awards and six regional level awards for her books and music. Raised by her parents to have a spirit of giving back. Kathryn has consistently channeled her energy into graciously helping others by donating her time and resources to a variety of nonprofit organizations and enrichment programs for youth. In recent years, she's Porter Energy into helping raise awareness and money for local and national charitable causes by writing and producing impact songs that often feature youth performers and are fueled for fueled forward in part by community support through her company's charitable arm. So I'm excited to kind of climb into all of that with you, Kathryn. But first, we talk to us a little bit about your academic background and early professional life following that.
[00:04:23] Sir, sir, will I?
[00:04:26] I actually am from San Diego. I'm a native fan, Diegan and I attended San Diego State University.
[00:04:32] I actually funded my own college. You know, I was raised in a family with three older brothers. And so there's four of us largely on one income, most of our of our lives. And my parents just didn't have the money to send us all to college, which we all knew.
[00:04:49] And I kind of followed in my brother's footsteps and doing what they did in the sense of figuring out how to get to college, do college and do it without tremendous debt. So I went to our community college for two years and then I graduated from ACSU with a degree in communications. So I was very involved in college. I was the president of the School of Communication Network. I was on the water ski team. That was a lot of fun. And I and I worked all through college.
[00:05:18] So I worked as a food server, as a waitress, and I graduated without any debt. So I'm really proud of that.
[00:05:25] Nice things.
[00:05:28] And then, you know, around that time, because I had been in San Diego my whole life, I had gotten that travel bug. I had gone to Europe in between my junior and senior year of college. And I was like, all right, you know, I don't want to go to grad school. I wanted to travel. And so, sure, my first job out of college at FSU, I went and worked for Club Med and had so much fun working for Club Med, had a regular, you know, customer service, public relations job during the day, and then got to perform at night and all the shows. And then I went and worked and lived in New Zealand for a year. I worked I was there with a man I was dating and lived there for a year. And that was great fun. And then I was kind of like, all right, I want to get back to this track. And so I started my career as a corporate headhunter for my first three years of my career.
[00:06:26] My entire career has always been this entrepreneurial, you know, unlimited uncap earning, potential risk reward, high commission sales type structure. And that's exactly what I got involved with.
[00:06:41] If recruiting and I and I loved it and I I thrive in that unlimited possibility base. Some people freak out, not faith, and rightly so, because there is no guarantee. Right.
[00:06:57] That's why I started my career and I started I worked my head down and learned that business and. And I learned the real basics of sales and marketing and relationship building and client management and keen organization all within this, you know, hard core, I think hard core.
[00:07:18] Just because it was like sink or swim, you know, environment. Yeah. Took me nine months to my first commission check and. And I worked on the weekends and I just knew I could do it. I saw other people doing it. I saw other people hitting any sales awards. These achievements, these you know, they were figuring out the business and. And I eventually did, too. And I ramped up very quickly after that. And I very much enjoyed that, that segment of my career.
[00:07:45] Yeah. There's a lot of PR involved. Or as a corporate head hunting.
[00:07:49] And, you know, my my knowledge in that industry is strictly based on kind of after the bubble burst in the Bay Area and the corporate head hunting game kind of changed after that, at least in San Francisco. And I was amazed at how much like a public relations and relationship building is kind of based or at least was in that area during that time. I had a very good friend who was kind of involved in it, and she would she had a very firm as far as business relationships are concerned. She had, you know, a very tight knit relationship with a lot of her clients. And it was kind of based on because finding talent and making that right. It's very matchmaking and, you know, kind of the understanding that the client as well as the talent, it becomes this. You know, it it works. People trust you. They return. There's a lot of money. And if it doesn't, you're done.
[00:08:44] And so she had it. She did a lot of courtship in the beginning with those clients. And it was like this, the constant dinners, just constant dinners and lunches and things of that nature.
[00:08:54] And then really feeling it was she was she felt like she was a counselor, like us, a psychotherapist or something to bulls people. So I found it fascinating. But never, never. Time off. It was like a real estate agent. I felt like she was always on. She was always accountable, you know, on those times. Do you think that well, first of all, is that similar to your experience? And do you think that you gleaned things from your earlier career with even Club Med, Ms. Communications degree your travel. Did those lend to becoming successful in corporate headhunting or was it kind of all learned during those nine months before that first commission check?
[00:09:33] No, no. That's a great question. No, I think I would say I resonate with the relationship.
[00:09:41] Is everything in business across the board? I don't know that that's been the common thread for sure. I definitely have a rooted from when I was growing up. Just rooted, if you want me to earn it mentality. And so that that's translated into this entrepreneurial spirit I have.
[00:10:01] But for sure, I believe wholeheartedly that relationships are everything. And so people, you know, people don't do business with people they don't like.
[00:10:07] Right. I mean, that's I remember he said that by Steven Govey or somebody. But, you know, as far as I was part of that bubble, I got into corporate recruiting right before the dot com bubble hit and we learned to cold call. And so, you know, there were a lot of recruiting agencies that, you know, they would advertise and warm leads. We literally were the headhunting ones poach you approach a V.P. of sales out of another company and bring them over. Yeah. I mean, so you're right. As far as the metaphor or the similarity of of real estate agents, where you're you're dealing with, you know, the clients would be somebody who has the house. Right. And then you've got the the the the talent would be the person seeking a home. And so it was it was definitely matchmaking that way. And the the. The way I grew to be extremely successful in that time, especially when the dot.com hit, because when the dot.com hit and everybody had money, right. All these beasties had come and go. All right. We need to bring in all of you sales people. And all these people can grow our company. We need 25 people who can do this, this, this and this. And because we had I had rooted in the skill of what I was doing, I could be I could figure that out and make a call. And also my team could do that. And so we were just we were just hitting it. But at the end of the day, it was the relationship with my clients. Right. That. Why would they want to come back to me? Why would they trust me when there were some when there were other agencies trying to offer the same thing? And that kind of year they're going to buy from me or not buy for me if I can provide you with a great service. That mentality is always served me very well in my career. You know, there's no ancient myths about it. It's just kind of like, you know, hey, I just want the opportunity to be in the ballgame with you. And I mean, you know, and if you like doing business with me, you're gonna keep coming back and you like me. We're gonna grow this relationship. You know, they're obviously going to come to me first. And that relationship building side of what I do has, as I said, has been a common thread. And I'll tell you where I learned that. I actually learned that I will always give this credit with by waitressing and by food service. So those jobs that seeded, you know, those kind of early those early skills that I got, you know, I learned how to be very to turn on my intuition and what people needed. I know that was the time where there wasn't a line on the credit card thing that said tip. Nowadays, everywhere you go, there's like. Tip your tip included. Tip, tip, you know, work really hard for that money. And so I learned how to small talk with people, how to build relationships. And that just naturally say great over into corporate recruiting. And sure enough, the next position when I didn't want people to be my product anymore because that, you know, there was a lot of variable there. And I you know, I've been selling manager. I promoted up to be a selling manager. So I was not only leading and developing people, I was also accountable on sales, which was always good for me without competing against my people, which kind of felt weird to me. But I didn't want to be in the people business anymore. And sure enough, one of my clients who I had who had done a lot of work for somebody I brought on and did close a lot of deals with them, brought them a lot of talent when I was looking to make a move. I called, you know, that V.P. of sales and said, hey, I'm ready to make a move or, you know.
[00:13:31] And sure enough, boom, I might work for that company. So it's the relationship piece of everything matters.
[00:13:37] Yeah, absolutely. Networking within those relationships as well. So Clemetson to Kendon Unlimited. What was the impetus for launching it? Did it happen gradually? When was the actual official year that it launched?
[00:13:49] And can you give us like some background as to you know, we mentioned in the bios that it's this kind of heart centered, mindful media company. What what do you what services do you provide? And let's start with when it was launched. If you founded it alone, did you take any funding?
[00:14:10] Yeah, it's a great question. My first started my first company to go need a backup a little bit. I started my first company in 2005. It started when I'd gone, worked for my client that was a food marketing company, worked for them for three years. And then I went out on my own basically in direct competition with them. They've cut a bunch of commissions on sales reps and you just don't do that. And I went out on my own.
[00:14:30] And so I started my first company and grew that to be hugely successful over the course of the next five years. And again, Doug indeed made relationships, clothes, deals, and that was all self-funded. I, I, I launched and funded that company by borrowing money from my own savings account. And then one of my clients who I was. Had his own company. I had my own company. He actually financially backed the first few deals I did that were, you know, in the in the five and six figure range, which I didn't have in my company at the time. And he he funded those we split those deals. And then, sure enough, within about six months I'd paid myself back and I was running my company on cash. Yeah, but then then, of course, the Great Recession hit, you know, which really impacted my company in 2009, 2010. And I just was kind of. And that was about the time when the creativity side of me was really coming to light where this idea to bring my childhood nickname, Kathryn the Great into children's book series of books and music and videos and whatnot, that all was taking shape in in that time.
[00:15:42] And so I was at this kind of choice point, moment precipice in my life going, you know, I I was really good at the food business, but I didn't want to switch segments and I didn't want that to be my future. I just I was good at it, but I just felt I didn't feel fulfilled in that. But I had this other piece of me that was growing. And that's when I was like I started writing books and. And I actually formed Candan Unlimited originally because I didn't I wanted to own the rights of Kathryn the Great.
[00:16:13] The whole reason I did that company was when I first started writing and I, of course, thought I was going to go that traditional publishing route that a lot of people do. And some people find own validation and somebody else saying, another publisher, go, you're a worthy, we're going to publish you. But we're going to hold everything you've got. Hard for me. I was. I started down that route. The help. That was the only path. And a I was a speaker at a conference one time and the keynote speaker and I spoke and I was asking her about how she got her book out. She advised me to independently publish.
[00:16:44] And next thing you know, I started looking into that, you know, a few months down the line. And once I realized that, hey, going with somebody else meant they own the rights to my character at that early stage in development. And I hadn't really sussed out the whole vision yet. I just was like, you know what? I don't want anybody else to own Kathryn the Great, because my vision has always been very expansive. And so I once I got onto that path, I was like, no, I'm going to do this on my own. And so I started Candan Unlimited originally as a publishing company and a book publishing company specifically. And and I didn't need any outside funding for that. You know, I've you know, I parlayed parlayed some I'd had success previously, so I was able to I didn't need to seek outside funding. Originally, some of the people who were onboard my team had shares in my company, kind of like in that kind of work equity trade. And then as time went on and those people were a part of it anymore, I bought my equity back and thereby got them out there. You know, they they got out and I got them out of the equity. And I own my company 100 percent. So as time has gone on, the company has has expanded and taken shape. And so originally I was publishing other people's books because I was good at it and I could do it. But it got me off focus, quite frankly. And so I, I kind of I. I actually although I own half those rights to those books, I actually gave all the rights back to anybody in business who would do that. But I was like, I got to focus on what I'm doing. And I was very accountable that way. I was like, I want you guys to be successful. But, you know, I don't want I need to focus on what I need to do. And I'm to give you back my rightful rights in your project. And that's just the way I see things. You know, I I wanted to help other people be successful, but I needed to to kind of cut those branches so I could have my tree grow in the direction and the integrity that I foresee. So I got into the music business. You know, put it all under my own label. The music is published under the company for Candan. Unlimited is really an umbrella company. It's the S corporation. It's a you know, it's it's an S corporation, which is really good for for what I do. And and the cat, Kathryn the Great, is the lead pony on that. And then also I represent and then Candan Global Publishing is the music side of it. You know, Candan Unlimited holds all the publishing rights to the books. And then I also represent other artists who are on my label and I publish their music. And so it's just it's just taking shape and and growing, but all on the seeds of my own creativity. And and then bringing in other people have like minded missions in their life with their creativity. And we're just growing and expanding that way. But I took my time. I didn't I didn't rush it.
[00:19:50] There wasn't this like Napster, like these are the 10 ball that we have to achieve in order to reach. I just trusted, just like I did previously, that I could grow something to be successful in my in my own way.
[00:20:04] That I think that's important. A lot of people get discouraged if things don't grow as fast as they expect it, because I've been I've had this kind of track record of digging in deep and doing the work and knowing things take time. And now Candan, you know, we're up and running. You know, we're doing we're doing great things on the planet. I'm really proud of the work that we do.
[00:20:24] Yeah. And this summer in October, my this series has been interviewing in an acknowledgment in honor of Women's Health and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And we've talked to a lot of people specifically geared towards health and healing and longevity and things like that. And throughout all of the different industries that we've been speaking to, ranging from, you know, people who are health practitioners all the way into people who are wealth managers and wealth, health and things like that, there's a constant dialog about kind of holding a space for yourself in order to kind of allow things to organically, you know, develop. And I think that there is not a great need in female entrepreneurs for goal setting. There's more of a need for this kind of like holding that space open for your creativity on every spectrum to kind of reveal itself, you know, and take for a little bit more organically than I think that in this day of like, what's your elevator and what you pitch deck with your elevator pitch, which is, you know, constantly rehearsed and did it.
[00:21:32] And that's, you know, that's all the incubators and all the accelerators. Do you know quickly, you know, get everything done mixture that I've done in five sentences or less. It's a canard and it removes creativity.
[00:21:42] And it also creates this hyper activity that I think sometimes can stand in direct conflict with this, like what you're talking about, you allowing yourself to do, which is allowing these things kind of envelop, you know, develop to what they need to be. And in the time space that they have, we have you have the music branch and you still have, Kathryn, the grapes that you developed Canon and Limited for. Do you ever bring on any other authors or is the publishing side strictly for your literature?
[00:22:15] Right. Well, originally, I did bring on other authors. Right. And as I mentioned. But I not. And then I could that kind of like, close that door. OK. Ironically enough, that's exactly.
[00:22:25] That's we're kind of coming back into that. And the reason why I say this is and that's actually we've got two books on the on the pike in the pipeline for 2020 that are other people that are written by other people. But why I bring light to that is because why?
[00:22:44] This is an important point to make for for any entrepreneur or female or male.
[00:22:49] But that that while I'm really good, I'm really good at publishing. I'm really good at projects like I can I my mind is like this. It's like I have all these computer screens up. I can see everything and you know, up there and then what comes down the pipe to get produced. And I was really, really good at book publishing. However, I didn't at that time, sometimes over really good isn't necessarily the path that that is going to give us the greatest level of fulfillment. And where we need to be focused. And so I had to learn that to like what you were saying, like when you were talking about elevate your pitches.
[00:23:24] And it's like I literally felt inside my body that like. Right.
[00:23:28] Like I said that just because that's kind of just a place I used to be like I could, you know, I used to lead sales seminar, the marketing seminars, all that enough. I could still do that. But that's not where I want to be. That's not where where I want to be for my future. And I think it's really beautiful for that, that I have this for for all of us to to hold space for ourselves with as and knowing that that that at any given time we can we can charge for it with the hustle. Right. There's I've got a lot of determination and grit and I can make it happen. And at the same time, in the same Kathryn's space, I'm able to sit with myself and go, what? Who am I now and what do I represent now? And how does that going to carry me forward? And so this constant the road is, though I'm always traveling forward, but sometimes there's a little bit of a shift that I go over here and then I come back and I go over here. And so allowing myself that that wide open journey ahead without it being like and while I do have goals, they're not these like these like these that I'm on a call I'm going to make today and my weekly goal a month, I go, I mean, that's just so antiquated to me and feels very like sales when I wanted to me. Now it's not it's not where I'm at. And I think you're right. I don't think it's for a lot of people are out anymore.
[00:24:51] So as your structure has changed with that, even the genre expansion from publishing and music, have you employed people to kind of assist you with that or have you kept your ski or crew tight? How many people are you working with?
[00:25:06] That's a great question. I am definitely a team oriented person. I always keep. You know, I know how to dig in deep with some really quality people. And depending on what aspect of the company, there are different people who do different things.
[00:25:23] And so, you know, I can 99 everybody, because that's the world we're in, especially with creatives. And it keeps my company and kind of working the way that we do. But one of the, you know, for instance, like this is a fun part of it. I love performing. I write my own casting Cloward music as well. And I have four albums out for that. And so in my Kathryn Floured and the Royal Ballet's, my bass player is a graphic designer and web developer.
[00:25:53] And so David does designs. He he kind of moved into the position of designing doing the graphic design layout for all my books in the past year where, you know, I had somebody else doing that in the past. And so I love like the team. Family oriented base. I'm really good at something now. People who are really talented and I love working with. With oftentimes people who are green on experience, yet on fire with with the talent and working with people who perhaps are shadow college or or whatnot, but not David, but other people. But, yes, I have I have a whole kind of I call it like a stable of people that I work with. And a different aspect, whether it's on the music side, the publishing side, we do a bunch of videos. So it's just it's like this kind of team of people who are part of a media company, but they're in different aspects. And there's also some crossover. And that keeps everything, everything moving along beautifully and keeps people working.
[00:26:59] And while they're able to do other stuff as well, yeah, it's it's an ideal kind of format. And for everyone listening. Ten ninety nine that Kathryn mentioned is kind of a tax filing system for people who are working as project to project or freelance basis.
[00:27:17] And it's kind of it's the ideal status for someone who has. I would say changing projects and a changing flow of work for their business instead of just a, you know, a full time employee. And I agree with what your like what your assessment of that is. Do you have areas or genres that you found that you guys have started focusing on? You have yours. You have Kathryn the Grape, which I want to climb into in a minute. But do you find that you guys have started to get into these very specific either you're welcoming you, excited with helping other people publish. Now, it sounds like a couple more people are coming on. Do you find that you attract as a business like a specific musical genre or artist or even these new authors are coming on board, or does it span the gamut?
[00:28:07] That's a good question. It's more about the ripple comes from me, about what I want to put my energy on to. And I'm very specific about wanting to work with people. Why I haven't wanted to expand it because I'm very specific about what I want to do now. And, you know, my heart is to put out heart centered, mindful, heart centered media.
[00:28:30] That is that's the scope.
[00:28:33] And so, like, for instance, I worked with Jennifer Klein is a woman who's on my music label. We publish all of her music. I work very closely with her. We've dug in deep with her career in the last year. And so she's a she's an artist under Candan Unlimited. And in her music. And here's the thread. I met her like.
[00:28:58] Quite a long time ago when I was working at that food marketing company. You know, my second my second career job. So we've known each other for a long time.
[00:29:05] Well, and she's a creative. She's a mom. You know, she's she's the, you know, on fire businesswoman. And she has this beautiful heart for sharing life lessons and messages through music and her songwriting. I see a lot of myself in her. She sees a lot of herself in me. So it's a natural, you know, harmonious relationship.
[00:29:27] And so she's she's one of our lead. You know, she she works closely with me. But I work with her because we have that synergy as far as character, integrity go and our work ethic. But also and equally important, her message aligns with what I'm sharing in the world. So I want to represent other artists, other creatives, other projects that fall within that. And and that that's a line of integrity for our mission that I'll never waver on.
[00:29:59] Nice. Yeah, that's. I think it's important for that kind of clarity. I think is what keeps companies from being happy. You know, because happy and wealthy are not always in tandem. And so I think a lot of people can have a very successful financial company and be very unhappy with it because they let go of that ethos.
[00:30:19] You know, they let go of their original view of what their ethos should be. And keeping track of that. I think always lands. And it also lends clarity and transparency for future clients. You know, when someone is very constantly revolving around the goals in which they wrote the company and not just the bottom line or the financial specifics, you know, but really understanding what they emotionally intended for their company and keeping that always at the forefront is it lends to its authenticity, its clarity for everyone involved. So I think that's fantastic. Did you.
[00:30:55] I think it's important. I just want to plug in there. And I think it's important to also give yourself Grace that I didn't necessarily have that that overall spectrum clarity early on. Right. I had to develop into that going. This is what I as as I as Kathryn now and Kathryn is have been evolving over the last 10 years as I was getting more and more clear about myself and the footprint I want to leave on this planet and what my living legacy is. Personally, I got more and more clear about the type of work that I wanted to do. And I agree with you. You know, you can I can I read a very, very, very successful company that had crazy, amazing sales achievements. And there were some people that I was working with that I always say were kind of like snakes in the grass, you know, like there was like some unethical stuff that was happening that came to light. And I was like, I don't wanna be a part of this. And but there was a there was a time in my career I had to go, you know, why do I pull out? When do I stop doing this? Because I got mortgages. I got a mortgage and all these different things. You know, I think I think sometimes I hear some of these young, you know, aspiring entrepreneurs like, well, we have to have this all mapped out now. And I'm like, you know, all of it. You know, you just get on the road. Don't overthink the whole the whole map. Just start traveling down the road. And clarity will become part of of those those signposts as you go. And then you'll get more and more and more clear about why you're on the road, what you plan to do on that road. And instead of that analysis, paralysis of I got to have this all figured out, you know, and. But you're. But I did add I've been on the road. I got more and more clear.
[00:32:42] And as you pointed out, now people are very clear about what I work with. You know, some absolute numbers not going to come to me. They gather me, published my book. It's about this, you know, X, Y, Z, completely out of scope of what I do. You know, it just wouldn't have and they wouldn't even present.
[00:32:57] Absolutely. That. And it keeps them in your time tight as well. She's not feeling well. Did you. So really quickly, I feel like we skipped over or I don't have a clear in my. And when was it launched, when we unlimited was at two thousand eleven.
[00:33:12] Well, Cabinet Limited launched in 2010. We we filed in 2010 specifically and I launched that was January 2010 and officially launched eleven eleven, 2010. So I built behind the scenes meaning like, here's our first product launch. Here's our first character launch was on 11 11, 2010. And that was it took some time to to get that going, which is appropriate. And I'm always very aware of making sure that that I am litigious, really about, you know, that I get to take care of all the important pieces of what we're doing, the trademark copywriting mantra. Everything's buttoned up legally. Some people I know, they skip these steps. And it's like this this stuff. It's the it's the framework of your company. It's the framework that protects you, brand. And so, you know, all of that stuff gotten to places where building, building, building, and then, poof, here we are. And that's kind of how I like to do things. I like to go like, you know, we we cultivate behind the scenes and all of a sudden, boom, here we are, you know, and I just I have I have a big vision for where we're going. And I have a real Lustick idea of how how we're gonna get there and continue getting there. And, you know, we've done some really great stuff so far and we're gonna keep doing it, doing great stuff.
[00:34:42] Absolutely. So can you tell us a little bit about the character of the series, rather, of Kathryn the Great? Yeah, it was it was the impetus for launching all of this. And so I think it it's it weighs heavily on the story of the narrative and the story as well. So without getting too much into the minutia, because I do want to get into the future goals for Canon Unlimited. But can you tell us a little bit about that series?
[00:35:08] Yeah. There Kathryn the Great. Thank you. I'd love to. I'd love to share about her. But you know, Kalvin, the group really came to life. It was this idea that my mom had to take my childhood nickname into being this character to Great Neck.
[00:35:21] I am actually a softball coach when I was 11 years old.
[00:35:28] She called me Kathryn the Great because I wore purple all the time. So, you know, like a fun little play on Kathryn the Great.
[00:35:34] But, you know, my mom had this idea and it wasn't until 10 years later, which was 10 years. So she had this idea like 20 years ago. And and then 10 years later, I started writing. And it's kind of like always in the back of my mind is it's like you've got to do this, you got to do this. But it just never took shape then. And then I started writing and this is what why I brought Kathryn the great life with this. I was going through a challenging time of my own life. I had I checked all the boxes, I had achieved all these incredible goals. Right. And I was. And life was I wasn't fulfilled. Like I thought I was just kind of. I was on this treadmill, to be quite frank. I felt like one of those rats that just goes run out. You know, there was just tremendous responsibility. And during this time, you know, pieces of my life were just or were. I needed some help. And I and I started seeking additional modalities for understanding myself, some therapy or seeking a lot of different things. And as I was accepting some changes in my life, I was also accepting these and discovering more specifically rediscovering some beautiful pieces about myself, about who I truly am. I was I was really getting filled up with self-love, like accepting, accepting, suffering. And as I was getting these tools of self love for myself as a grown woman, I so desperately wished I had these this awareness when I was a child. And as I'm raising my son, my son was just two, three years old at this time. I wanted my son to have these tools. And so that's where kind of like the cogs in the wheels clicked together. And now I wanted to make Kathryn the great children's book character that would give these mindful messages, the heart centered, loving messages to children. You know, if you go into any bookstore right now or you Google it, there's all these resources for adults to heal our lives, you know, self-love, whatever the buzzword is right now. But at that time, you know, I go into these kind of self-help sections and there's so much for adults so that we can, like, heal our lives and do all this work. But really, what are we giving to our children? And I was like, and I like children to have it, because also if children have it, adults have it, too. And we're getting the same message. And so my hope was, gosh, you know, if I can help help give people these tools early on, perhaps we'll be doing less repair work in adult hood. And so that's where that's where the that's what energizes me with the great period. And so that's what I've created. So and it's taken me some time to really create this sink series. So I and I, we have Kathryn the Great Affirmation series. Are seven books in the series. Every book has an affirmation. I am magical. I am colorful. I am love. I am kind. I'm unique. I'm grateful. I'm joyful. Each one of those affirmations has it like a metaphorical tool, which will be a toy coming in 2020. But so there's these tools that go with that.
[00:38:46] And this character goes on this like self discovery journey of figuring things out about herself. But she's very much an everyday kid, you know, who goes to school and play sports and you know what not.
[00:38:58] And I just age the target audience reading age. Perfect.
[00:39:04] The Affirmations series is really geared towards that younger elementary school age child. And so the sweet spot for me is really the kind of that first and second grade grader who's still interested in who's perhaps reading a bit more in my book. The Affirmation series is wordy. I mean, it's got it's I kind of get Dr. Seuss book out quite a bit of words. But as far as that in-between for young readers, where they're the illustrated series in the chapter book series, this is kind of fill that gap where children are ready for more word rich books yet are still excited about illustrations. That's what Kathryn the Great Affirmation series is and does. And then I just launched literally last month the Kathryn the Great.
[00:39:51] Let's Read Together series, where I age the character down into a preschool aged child. And those books are geared towards the youngest readers, so toddlers and preschoolers.
[00:40:06] So we went out with a few traditional books and then the same the same lessons that I teach in the Affirmations series are taught in a book called My Treasure Box, A Tool to Love All. All we simplified down for that age. And that is exactly what I do kind of in a nutshell, is I share age appropriate messages, heart centered, loving messages right on age down and aged up.
[00:40:35] So I was going to say I'm going to do the same in reverse and go into, like, the way into like middle school and all of that.
[00:40:43] Yes. Yes. That's exciting. Yeah. We're good. Yeah, so. And we have the framework. So the framework is there. The message is clear, you know.
[00:40:52] And I only just finished the this this whole seven book series in two thousand nineteen. It took me that long to really learn these messages. You know, it's not this like crude. This is the buzzword now. And this is what we're doing is just what I've always been doing. I just had to learn the message. You you can't teach children about joyfulness and gratitude and being unique and in an authentic way unless you're really learning those lessons, too.
[00:41:22] Yeah. And that's what I've that's what I've done.
[00:41:24] That's exciting. So what are the goals for the next three years, not just four. It sounds like it's going to to move forward into the older audience range for the Y.A..
[00:41:34] But what about the goals for the global publishing, for future authors or for the music? Do you have anything that's kind of just on the horizon?
[00:41:46] Yes. So the as far as Kathryn the great brand, there's quite a few strains on the car. So the cast, Kathryn the great brand in 2020 will be coming out with the merchandizing for Kathryn the Great. So we've got the Kofman a great ball and then the merchandizing for those toys. I see Kathryn the Great becoming in my vision for Kathryn. My great is for Kathryn the great to be a household name worldwide. And so one of the ways that we're going to be doing that as well is all the books are being translated first into Spanish.
[00:42:18] And that's what will happen in 2020. So doing our first full series, translation in Spanish and releasing those 2020 toys flushes is 20/20 and often doing way more of a video kind of mini series focus. We've been pitching for some shows in that way. So to take half of the group to where we need to go next, there's some help that we need in that in that and that way.
[00:42:46] And so that's what kind of getting cultivated behind the scenes right now. Who's the right person to come onboard and help us in that way? That's Kathryn the grape over here. Yes. And and I'm working with other artists. So we've got you know, we've got this another young woman who is on my label right now who who is living with a rare disease. And we're her name's Michelle Hopkins. She was. She sang lead on our Hero song, one of the songs that you mentioned when you first started about how I do work with nonprofits. And, you know, I met her through the National NPF Society, an organization that helps raise awareness for. And P.S. Amale and some other rare diseases. So we're doing an album for her right now. And getting that out in 2020.
[00:43:35] And then also we've got a lot of stuff happening with the ripple effect brand. So there's just a lot happening now under the umbrella. And so it's like I don't know how to explain it other than, you know, when you see someone like Tyler Perry. Right. Tyler Perry opened up the studio in Atlanta. And I kind of have this basket of inspiring people that I would kind of carry around Dre. And I was like Tyler Perry and Baskette, because he's doing exactly what he has done with his with his media over the last 20 years is exactly the vision, similar vision for what I have with what what we're going to do it. Candan Limited with Kathryn the Great. With all these other pieces of the puzzle that we have and the same way that Oprah did it with Harpo Productions. So and everything takes time. And so we have some very defined goals for each of these segments on on the car. But not necessarily going like this has to happen here. This has to happen there. Because if you would if you know, when I started out this year, I had some defined goals and we already blew them out of the water. And I'm like, this is so exciting. So just taking shape and they're moving. And, you know, I plan on on on writing writing this up. This is what I do. This is kind of like I have no intention of ever selling. I've no intention of. I don't have any desire to like, you know, I hear a lot of people like I want to be an entrepreneur fro this company and sell it. I have no desire whatsoever to do that at all. This is this is who I am.
[00:45:07] Everything I am coming to this company, you know, and and that's that's what I want for the next, you know, 40 years of my life.
[00:45:17] Yeah. Absolutely. That's exciting. I mean, when you have something that answer your forever home, when you have something that you don't ever want to leave, it's exciting because I think that, you know, you're on that.
[00:45:29] You're on that for the ride, Eminence. It truly can take form. You know, when there isn't a price tag attached to something, it really becomes a different endeavor, particularly when it's a work and passion mix together. I want to wrap up with asking you if you came across a young woman or non binary, pretty much anyone other than a white man, and they came up to you and they said, listen, I got my degree in communications. I've kind of played around in a bunch of the different hospitality and even some corporate headhunting world. And I'm going to go out on my own now. And what I want to kind of unleash this artist within and explore myself and start my own my own agency. What would be the top three pieces of advice you would give that individual?
[00:46:18] They'll be great. I would assume I would say, number one. Give yourself time. No, everything is about you need to give yourself time for things to grow. You know, you don't become a fully bloomed garden, you know, within a month. You have to give yourself time to grow. I also would advise people to have another. Complimenting during the revenue for yourself.
[00:46:49] That you that you have, you know, sometimes I feel like I've got to focus only here. But if you're not seat, if you're not having revenue coming in. You need to give yourself time to grow, to grow and create revenue within your company. And so that you're okay having something else going on. I fully believe that everything I've ever done, I've always had multiple streams of revenue coming in. Until until art or multiple things happening. And I think that's what I've observed lately. Some people who don't think that they they are focusing on some people who have had tremendous success. And look at me. I'm influencing. I get this you know, this thing, this one thing. But they're not really sharing like, hey, but I have to be seven other things to help feed this. So I suggest that especially for somebody who is is is young. Like when I first started my career and I was growing up growing it, you know, I was serving tables for the first nine months till I got my first commission check. And my second year doing that, I was making six figures. So I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I stuck it out and knew that I could be I could I could have I could achieve those financial goals, the sales goals. And there but if I didn't have something else kind of helping me pay for my everyday life, then I probably wouldn't have stuck it out. I would have gone and gotten something different, and I never would have achieved those goals. So give yourself time. Allow yourself the opportunity to have other streams of revenue as well. And number three, I would say focus on being inspired by people who have loved who are doing what you want to do that have longevity in their career. And what I mean by that is. People who have who have demonstrated. Have demonstrated that they have that they've kind of held a steady line in their career. We're seeing a lot of people who are, quote unquote, influencers. I think that's the weirdest thing I'll be going to get.
[00:48:58] The weird thing right now. But that have, like, you know, 12 months of experience in the in the business world. Right. Yeah. So that's cool and all.
[00:49:09] But I love to people that I want to emulate a life in your professional life, the way you see some of your heroes and heroes. Right. And so to have some other influences, what is it that you're watching and observing? Like someone like an Oprah, let's say. Right. Or a Marianne Williamson. I love following some really wonderful women who've had long careers of being change makers on our planet that I don't necessarily touch. But then I also have some women in my life who have demonstrated, hey, I've I've I've read in the ways and the peaks and the valleys. And this is how you get through it, because if you have a mentor who has never, ever dug himself out of a valley, when you're in the valley, they probably can't help you authentically.
[00:49:59] Least that's my opinion. Absolutely. And and modeling yourself after someone who hasn't had a trajectory is dangerous.
[00:50:07] It's very face value, right? Absolutely.
[00:50:12] And I think people who are successful, like people who who have ridden those waves, you know, are success. Somebody who has that heart for helping other people.
[00:50:22] They're going to encourage you. They're going to help you be a beautiful life that you are. And they're going to help you draw that out for yourself and give you kind of some steam to keep moving without being a part of what you need to be. Without without being part of your train. They can inspire. And even from a distance.
[00:50:41] Absolutely. I like it. I like those three pieces. Give yourself time.
[00:50:45] Allow for another stream of revenue to keep the lights on and focus on being inspired by people who've been doing what you want to do for a lengthy period of time. I think those those are really crucial and unique. I haven't heard those pieces from anybody else. I appreciate that. We're all out of time today. But I do want to say, Kathryn. I will. We'll circle back around within a year and I'll try and convince you to talk with us again and find out where Kathryn the Grape is at as well as, you know, the merchandizing and everything else. Because I love what you're doing. And I think that it's. You're so prolific and it's so exciting to kind of drop back in and see what your landscape looks like again. Thank you so much for meeting with us today.
[00:51:27] Absolutely. Thank you so much. I appreciate your your podcast and your willingness to put messages out into the world to help others.
[00:51:35] Absolutely. I'm positive this will be a great one, too. I know there's going to be a lot of people in our audience who benefit from it. And happy anniversary in a couple of months to Candan Unlimited. You guys coming in on a decade?
[00:51:47] That's so awesome. I love. Very exciting. Yeah.
[00:51:51] I want to end with one of my most favorite things that you said, and I'll quote you back to you. You said, I thrive in an unlimited possibility space. And I think that that there's nothing more true about her story and what you've said about yourself. My love that. And and I really do appreciate you sharing your story. And I'll I'll circle back around. I'll convince you to talk with us again.
[00:52:13] Thanks for everything. Thanks very much. And for everyone listening. Thank you so much for giving us your time today.
[00:52:19] And until I speak with you again, remember to always bet on yourself. Slainte.
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