This episode is for anyone who struggles with finding their strengths. With help from my guest, Kyle Elliott, we help you answer the question, “What am I great at?” We also explore the topic of job change and figuring out what is your specialty in order to advance yourself in your career.
For those new to Kyle, he is the founder and career coach behind CaffeinatedKyle.com. As a result of working with Kyle, senior managers and executives have landed jobs at Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and nearly every other Fortune 100/500 company you can think of. Tune in to find out how to identify and own what makes you fabulous!
- Kyle shares how he became known at Caffeine Kyle and his journey to career coaching.
- The biggest barrier people face when it comes to achieving happiness in their careers/lives.
- If a lack of confidence is an issue for you – Kyle offers some strategies to boost confidence.
- How to identify what makes you fabulous.
- Owning your fabulousness once you pinpoint what it is.
- LinkedIn Profile strategies for individuals looking for a career change.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Kyle’s website
Private coaching with Andrea or her lead coaches!
Kyle Elliott, MPA, CHES is the founder and career coach behind CaffeinatedKyle.com. As a result of working with Kyle, senior managers and executives have landed jobs at Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and nearly every other Fortune 100/500 company you can think of. They have also found happiness. A trusted career expert, Kyle’s words have been featured on Forbes, Fast Company, The Muse, and The Ladders, among dozens of other leading publications. He is an official member of the invitation-only Forbes Coaches Council, a member of the Gay Coaches Alliance, and a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).
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SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Kyle 00:00
Every night at the end of every workday, I want you to write down something you achieved during the day. And then if you're not working and your job searching, or you're in between, still write something down, because what five days on the week, 52 weeks on the year that's over 200 accomplishments a year you'll have written down. And that can be a really powerful activity to boost your confidence.
Andrea 00:24
You're listening to Make Some Noise Podcast episode number 421 with guest, Kyle Elliot. Welcome to Make Some Noise Podcast, your guide for strategies, tools and insights to empower yourself. I'm your host, Andrea Owen, global speaker, entrepreneur, life coach since 2007, and author of three books that have been translated into 18 languages and are available in 22 countries. Each week, I'll bring you a guest or a lesson that will help you maximize unshakable competence, master resilience and make some noise in your life. You ready? Let's go.
Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of the podcast, I am so glad you are here. You know what's making me smile and be so happy lately. Those of you who are tagging me on Instagram, there's some kind of app or something that tells you the most you've listened to a certain podcast or did not explain that very well. But that the amount of time that you spend on any particular podcast gives you like your top five or something like that. And I am so freakin honored that I am on these lists. Some of you, you listened to me like more hours in the year of 2021 than any other podcast and I just, I am so grateful that you choose to spend your time with me and my guests. And that being said, I think that 2022 is going to be even better in terms of the podcast because I am categorizing topics. So the first couple of months, the first, and we might it might not start the very first week of January like I gotta I gotta plan things out. Because I tend to not sometimes. So we're gonna do the topic of, you know, therapy and mental health. And then we're going to go into, we're going to have a couple of months of spirituality and creativity, we're gonna have a couple of months of self-care for women, we're gonna have a couple of months of women's health, which I'm really excited about. Let's see what else we're going to also do one, I can't remember, I'm just, we're gonna talk about money, we're talking about feminism. And they're going to be organized. Yay for organization. Okay, so I'm really excited about that for next year. Please stay tuned and subscribe ao you are notified that the new episodes drop. I'm also going to do some minisodes in between weeks with just me talking about things. I'm either going to be talking about the episode that just aired or maybe talking about maybe some things that I'm seeing, you know, pop culture wise or in the news or books that I'm reading something something. Because survey says when we sent out that survey a while back, that a lot of you wanted to hear those little minisodes, maybe 10 minutes or so. Okay, so we're going to get those too.
This week, we have Kyle on, caffeinated Kyle, as he calls himself. And this episode is for anyone who kind of struggles to find your strengths, like what am I great at? What makes me fabulous? That's his specialty. And he also talks about careers, so switching careers or finding what is your specialty to be able to advance yourself in a career. And I can't wait for you to listen to this episode.
Also, if you haven't already, and you're interested, we have some openings for the new year for private coaching. My two lead coaches, Liz and Sabrina. And I also have one opening for private coaching. You can come with sort of like your primary focus, like this is the things that I want to work on. I need to set better boundaries, I need to make myself a priority with myself care and I'm feeling so overwhelmed. How do I do that? That would be Liz and Sabrina’s specialty among many other things. And mine is you, well, you could go through The Daring Way, which is which is all about shame work. And I don't mean to laugh about it. My chuckle there is because it is the deep end it very much is the deep end where we walk into the behaviors that make you your authentic self that make you as Brené Brown says hustle for your worthiness. And I wrote all about that and How To Stop Feeling Like Shit. All those 14 habits that you all read about. That's what we uncover in this deeper work with me, AndreaOwen.com/apply. And you can also let us know specifically what it is that you want to work on in that application and that will help us with the next step and figure out if coaching is right for you, or if it's something else, and maybe who would be the best person to hop on the phone with for a consultation. So AndreaOwen.com/apply.
And let me tell you a little bit about today's guest. Kyle Elliot is the founder and career coach behind CaffeinatedKyle.com. As a result of working with Kyle, senior managers and executives have landed jobs at Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and nearly every other Fortune 100 and 500 company you can think of. A trusted career expert ,Kyle's words have been featured on Forbes Fast Company, The Muse, and The Ladders among dozens of other leading publications. He is an official member of the invitation only Forbes coaches Council, a member of the Gay Coaches Alliance and a certified health education specialist. So without further ado, here is Kyle.
Kyle, welcome to the show.
Kyle 06:01
Good morning. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Andrea 06:04
I am curious, first and foremost about…K, so on social media, and on your website, you are Caffeinated Kyle. So where did that come from? Is it just like you love coffee that much? Or tell us about that. I'm curious.
Kyle 06:17
Yeah, so I have a double meaning I do love coffee. I'm literally drinking my second Coffee of the day right now. Soy milk, sugar, free vanilla, love it. And then that second meeting is I help people caffeinate their careers, their job searches, their lives. And before the pandemic, a lot of that was over coffee. I teach people how to go from meeting people on LinkedIn, to having coffee in person. And now those are verbal coffees, but really, it's this love of coffee and then integrating that into people's job searches their careers, their lives.
Andrea 06:50
Okay, so I get it. So it's like almost using it as a way to come together that isn’t alcohol. And I like that because I'm sober. So…
Kyle 06:57
Yes, exactly. Perfect. Exactly.
Andrea 07:00
Well, tell us about your journey and how did you get to start doing this work?
Kyle 07:07
Yes. So I'm the founder and Career Coach behind CaffinatedKyle.com. But I did not grow up saying hey, I want to be a career coach, I want to write resumes when I grow up. I don't think a lot of people think that when they're younger. The only career coach I knew was my university career counselor. I didn't know people ran coaching businesses. So when I was an undergraduate, I learned on Fiverr. It's a marketplace where you can literally charge $5 for different gigs. There is people who…yes, a lot of people use it for voiceover, for copywriting. And I was like, hey, I could review resumes. I could write LinkedIn profile summaries for $5. So I did that. After a Fiverr took their cut, I made like $3.75. So I'd have to write two LinkedIn profiles summaries or review two resumes to make my cut. But it was cool as a college students have some extra money. Well, that quickly grew. I started getting clients from LinkedIn from Craigslist, raise my rates, and fast forward a few years. And I ended up deciding to leave my full-time job to run my side hustle full time. And then fast forward another four years. And now it's been a total of eight years doing this. And I built this coaching business, this resume writing business doing that primarily serving people in Silicon Valley, high tech, who are looking to get jobs at Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, you name it.
Andrea 08:30
So I know that you work with people doing that and you know, around career coaching and having amazing resumes. And I also know that you help people, it kind of like life coaching 101, and achieving happiness not only in their careers, but in their lives. And you know, obviously we spend a lot of time in our careers, so it's directly related. So what do you think is the biggest barrier as you've worked with clients, when it comes to them achieving happiness in both their career and in their life?
Kyle 09:01
So whether someone is looking for a new job, they're thinking about a career change, they want to launch a new business, they want to grow their current business, confidence is the biggest barrier. At least 95% of the conversations I have with people centered around confidence, and it may not be on the surface when they say, hey, Kyle, I'm thinking about applying for this role, or hey, Kyle, I'm thinking about leaving my current marriage, or hey, Kyle, I'm thinking about asking for a salary raise. However, as soon as we start peeling away that onion, I realized confidence is at the root of almost every single issue people face. Or really lack of confidence is the center issue that so many people face and it's holding them back from achieving what they really want.
Andrea 09:48
So what are you, can you give us an example of maybe you have someone who you meet you find out that it confidence is the issue, where do you start with them in creating some solutions for them?
Kyle 09:58
Yes. So what's really key is reflecting on what you've already achieved. I find the people I work with are really amazing. The people listening to this podcast, I'm sure are really amazing. They've likely already achieved a lot of great stuff. So I think it's important to take time to reflect and document those accomplishments. What I love doing is starting an accomplishment journal. Almost all of my clients have this as one of their first homework assignments. Because confidence usually comes up in the first call, the first coaching session, if not just that consultation, I say, I want you to keep an accomplishment journal. Every night, at the end of every work day, I want you to write down something you achieved during the day. And then if you're not working and your job searching, or you're in between, still write something down, because what, five days on the week, 52 weeks on the year, that's over 200 accomplishments a year, you'll have ran down. And that can be a really powerful activity to boost your confidence. It can help you with imposter syndrome, it can help you really just document this rhythm proof of what makes you fabulous, and help you boost your confidence to say, hey, I really did achieve stuff today. Because as a society, we're just not used to taking time to reflect all the amazing stuff we've done.
Andrea 11:09
I love that it reminds me of, I don't know if you saw this going around, it was a few years ago where people would have the gratitude jar and they would get like either an empty coffee can or a mason jar and put things in there and then read it back at the end of the year.
Kyle 11:22
Yes, I love that. I think that's so powerful. And I think a lot of times people struggle to find it internally for their own gratitude. So I'm also a fan of looking externally for it texting some friends, colleagues, supervisors and say, hey, what makes me fabulous, and don't say, hey, you're listening to this great podcast, by just say, hey, why makes me fabulous, and see what people say back to you screenshot their responses, print it out and put it in that gratitude jar, and then look back at it when feelings of inadequacy pop up. Because they're gonna pop up and it can be helpful to have some documented proof written down, that you can reflect back on.
Andrea 12:04
I love that. One exercise that I do with clients who are struggling in this area that is similar is that I have them go back and either read testimonials from people, or emails that they've gotten or greeting cards where someone has taken the time to write about how much they care about someone or how much they mean to them. And, and not just read it, but the assignment is to really sit with the because I work with women and the majority of the time, they are incredibly uncomfortable at receiving the praise and love that they are given in those moments. Do you find the same thing with your clients?
Kyle 12:44
Yes. Oh, absolutely. And I love having them read it, and then read it multiple times aloud. And they're like, this is so awkward. I'm not used to receiving this praise and sitting in it and absorbing it. And I love that you do that exercise with people. I have a whiteboard next to me, and I literally have a bunch of the thank you cards I've received from clients and other people and I look at them whenever I'm like, oh, I'm not feeling 100% right now to just boost my confidence because that really improve. It’s so powerful.
Andrea 13:11
Well, it's interesting, the science around it. And I'm sure you've read about this around our negativity bias that we have in our brains automatically focus on maybe the negative review or the quote unquote, opportunity. What is it called opportunity for growth on those? But we jump over all the great things that our employer has said about us and I'm guilty of it too. I have made it a point to really read every single word…I've always read them the emails that come in, if people talking about my work or my books, but I really take the time to sink in. I mean, and I look at it like this, someone has taken the time to sit down and write a note. And it just to me, it's just being in integrity and, and giving that person honoring the time that they spent. So that's what I encourage people to do. When they're reading their own emails and testimonials and cards that people have written them.
Kyle 14:08
I love that I love that you have that practice built in. And I love that idea of emails too and greeting cards and just really sitting with that. I think that's really important, which I love.
Andrea 14:16
Yes. Well, so you're known for helping people and I love that you use the word fabulous. You're known for helping people identify what makes them fabulous. So how does someone like, do you have some kind of step by step process where people identify what it is exactly that makes them special and fabulous?
Kyle 14:36
Yes. So I love that you talked about already looking at testimonials that people have had. So what I like general clients and for people listening to this is drawing a Venn diagram. So on the right side of the Venn diagram, you're going to have what people have already said about you and externally how people see you. So this could be performance evaluations, this could be testimonials, it could be responses that people have sent when you just texted them what makes me fabulous. So this is how the external world sees you right now. This is the brand you're putting out there. And then on the left side of the Venn diagram, what I want you to write out is what lit you up as a child? What brought you immense joy as a child, before there was all these parameters put on you saying, here's what you need to do when you grow up, you need to make a salary, all of that. And then I want you to see where there's overlap. So for me, when I was a child, I loved teaching, I loved educating, I had a huge whiteboard. In my room in elementary school, I had a lesson planner, I would create worksheets for my parents. And then as an adult…I would literally create worksheets on our computer, print them out, and then say, hey, here's your worksheet. I'm gonna grade it.
Andrea 15:50
Oh, that's so cute. Oh, my gosh. So you were like, essentially playing school?
Kyle 15:54
Playing school, playing counselor, I was a therapist, I was coaching them, I was a teacher, oh, my gosh, you name it. And then as an adult, those are the same things that people say is what's fabulous about me, they say I'm a great coach, a great listener, a teacher, an educator. And then you look at the overlap. And the reason I like looking at that overlap with people, is that's what still stuck with you over the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years. This is the core of who you are. Even through all these life changes, these transitions. This is what stuck with you, throughout this whole time and can't be removed. And this is the essence of what's fabulous about you.
Andrea 16:39
Okay. I love that exercise. So do you do you most What's your demographic? Do you mostly work with men and women? Do you work with women? What does that look like?
Kyle 16:47
I mostly work with men and women typically in their 40s 50s 60s 50s because their senior managers and executives in tech in Silicon Valley.
Andrea 16:57
Okay. Do you find that your clients are afraid to own what makes them amazing and fabulous? Or do they embrace it, when you do this exercise with them.
Kyle 17:10
I get a lot of tears, I'm surprised by how often I get tears because a lot of people know it's there. They just haven't recognized in an owned it. So they're okay at identifying it, or at least the initial here's two or three things that makes me fabulous. And then peeling back the onion is hard for them to say okay, here's what sets me apart from other people who are creative. And then owning it is really difficult for people because it's scary to own what sets you apart from other people. It's scary to put yourself out there and that's a really hard part for people. And then a lot of that tears come from just not hearing it. We're not used to complementing each other and lifting each other up. A lot of people have not received that love and support or haven't heard it even from their friends that they're texting. They're like, oh my gosh, I've never heard you say this about me before. And it's really overwhelming.
Andrea 18:00
That one of the things that I often do for my clients is, I actually take them through a curriculum, and one of the first lessons is around their support system and their friends and around trust. So an assignment I give them is to either text, call, or send a handwritten card to their closest friend or friends, where you're telling them how much they mean to you and be specific. And I feel like we are acknowledgement starved in this world. And it's vulnerable for both parties, the person writing it and the person receiving it and Brené Brown talks about how trust is built in small increments over time. And that is one of those things, those small increments. And I love that you, I mean, I love and I don't love that people are getting emotional. Because to me, it tells them you're cracking something open in them. And it's just what a beautiful exercise.
Kyle 18:53
And I think people aren't used to getting positive feedback, either. Because I know when I work with clients, whether it's their elevator pitch their resume, their 30, 60, 90-day plan, I'm like, oh, this is really great. I like this part of it. This is great. I love this. They're like, wait, you're giving me positive feedback. I'm not used to receiving positive feedback. Usually when people give me feedback. They're pointing out everything they don't like. I've never had someone say great when reading through something, or say Oh, I love how you said this. I've only had them, tear it to shreds. And I love that both of us are working to really just add more positivity and add more appreciation into people's lives.
Andrea 19:32
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How can people more confidently own their fabulousness once they once they find out and pinpoint what it is?
Kyle 21:18
So it's a huge a huge risk to put yourself out there. It's super scary. A lot of people are worried, okay, what if I put myself out there and I fail? What if people don't like my authentic true self? And then on the flip side, which is even more scarier I think, is what if I succeed? What if I put myself out there, and people like me, and then every day I have to show up and be authentic and vulnerable and transparent and honest. And sustain it? Oh my gosh, yes, that's exhausting, you get that vulnerability hangover that Brené Brown talks about. What I like doing is having people think of some of the best moments in their lives. For me, it was moving to San Francisco. And now moving to Santa Barbara, it was proposing to my partner, it was leaving my full time job to devote 100% of my time to my business. And for those listening, if you list out the best moments in your life, I can promise you that they all have one thing in common, and that's risk. So if you want more better moments in your life, you need to take more risks. And one of the riskiest things you can do is identify and share what makes you fabulous. And that's scary. It's risky. But as we just uncovered, the more risks you take, the more best moments you're going to have. So take the risk, share your fabulousness and know that it's gonna lead to more great moments.
Andrea 22:46
The more risk you take the more best moments you're gonna have. Put that on a t-shirt, Kyle. You can make a million dollars.
Kyle 22:54
I love it. It’s scary, but every person I've worked with who's went out there and shared it. Yes, there's people who don't like it, but there's so many more people who embrace them accept them, and they have so many amazing moments that come forward.
Andrea 23:09
Okay, well, I want to ask you, because I have not had that many career coaches on the podcast. You may be like this second, like almost 400 episodes. But I want to ask because I left the corporate world, I don't know 15 years ago. So it's been a minute since I've been over there. I'm curious when people come to you, I'm assuming they know what they're getting into because you're pretty transparent on your site. But do they think that it's going to be all logistics like resume, LinkedIn stuff, 30, 60, 90-day plan. Or do they know that there's they're gonna dive into some deeper kind of life coaching stuff? Do you surprise them?
Kyle 23:47
A little bit of both? I think people often know it's gonna be a little bit but at least 90% of people reach out to me saying, Kyle, I need a resume, that's it. Because I know, people say, hey, I need a life coach. I don't think you Google I need a life coach. People say I need a resume and then as we peel back the layers, we realize, okay, it's a lot more here. It's imposter syndrome. It's confidence. It's, maybe it's not my career actually have a great career. But I struggle with work life balance, I struggle, assertively communicating with my boss, or my partner, or my children. So sometimes people know what we're gonna get into, but oftentimes we’re surprised, not just what I uncover, but what they themselves are willing to discover, and uncover as time goes on.
Andrea 24:34
That's what I was guessing might be the case. I love that. I was just curious. I also want to know, I want to switch gears for a little bit. And like, let's talk about logistics. And so I read on your site that you are a LinkedIn top voice. I just need to know what that is. And like, how do you get it's like LinkedIn's highest honor, you want to like some kind of gold medal. Tell us about that.
Kyle 24:55
Yeah. So LinkedIn top voice, there's 700 plus million people who use LinkedIn And then for each category nine was job search and careers. They choose 10 people who best represent LinkedIn’s goals in that category. And I was chosen in 2019, for that honor, which was huge. The amount of traffic I got was overwhelming. And it was just really amazing to get that honor and get recognized for the work I was doing. Because my approach to LinkedIn is much different. It's putting my fabulousness out there, a lot of people say, here's 10 resume tips, wham, bam, done. And what I like doing is sharing my partner, sharing us going to pride, sharing about my mental health challenges, talking about things that other people aren't talking about on the platform. And from my understanding, that's a big reason they chose me for that huge honor.
Andrea 26:02
Because you're taking risks.
Kyle 26:05
Exactly, exactly, exactly. And I think people don't realize is yes, when you take a risk, you're going to push people away who don't align with you, you're going to make room for the people who do align with you.
Andrea 25:54
I want to ask you another question about LinkedIn because I know that the large majority of my audience, I have a combination of there are some entrepreneurs, which, you know, I'm not saying they don't need LinkedIn, a lot of times they do and, you know, some nine to fivers, and, and I, please forgive the the rudimentary way, I'm going to ask this question. I don't know LinkedIn that well, but what is something and maybe I need to preface it with the type of person you know, COVID shook up a lot of people, if not everyone, and whether someone is just looking at their career and wanting to make a career change, or maybe get a promotion or switch companies altogether, or go back into the workforce from being an entrepreneur, what is like the first thing that they need to look at on their LinkedIn profile.
Kyle 26:42
So what I would focus on is really speaking the language of your target audience. Right now I have a lot of people switching careers. I work with a lot of people in tech. So I have people coming from retail from hospitality, who are saying, hey, can I move into tech. So instead of using language, language, like guests, or customers that we see in hospitality and retail, you want to use language like users, which they use in tech. So these changes can be really powerful. So when writing LinkedIn profiles, what I like doing is finding a job posting a role you're interested in and literally printing it out. And then as you add the language to your LinkedIn profile, highlight it or cross that off. So you know, you're speaking their language, rather than your own language. And you can literally copy and paste the job posting into your LinkedIn profile, then massage it until it's the truth and fits your background and experience and accomplishments.
Andrea 27:38
So interesting. Okay, that's like just one little tip that could change everything.
Kyle 27:43
And then I think, second piece is a lot of people will make this amazing LinkedIn profile, it'll read great, And then they sit there and wait and say, why aren't people visiting my LinkedIn profile? I think it's kind of like a new website, people write a website, and then say, why is no one on my website?
Andrea 27:58
If I build it, they will come. Yeah, yeah, I've done that before.
Kyle 28:02
Exactly. But you have to reach out to people. So if you want to break into tech, or you want to break into marketing, whatever role you're interested in LinkedIn, what I love about the platform is there's over 700 million people on it, and you're just a click away. So reach out to people in your target role and say, hey, I see that you work at Facebook as a sales director. I used to work as a sales director at Hyatt, for example. Do you have 20 minutes to chat, share best practices, talk about the culture, talk about your application process, your interview, the culture, or whatever, and learn because that person one already went through the interview process, they landed a job, and they can tell you if they like or don't like their job. And two, if things go, well, they can introduce you to the hiring manager or give you an internal referral link. So I think that's a really big but missed opportunity that a lot of job seekers don't pursue as reaching out to people in their dream roles.
Andrea 28:58
Oh, my gosh, there's so much for me to learn on this topic. Okay. My next question, now that we've opened this door, I'm curious about COVID. And what was the biggest one or two things that you saw happen with people reaching out to you? I'm assuming it was a, you know, decent amount of people who had unfortunately lost their jobs and needed to, to update their resumes. And was there anything else that you saw that was interesting?
Kyle 29:24
Yeah. So I had a lot of people reaching out who are negatively impacted by the pandemic. And then I also had a lot of people who are employed but not happily employed. So there was a lot of uncertainty that employees had and they said, hey, I don't know if my employer will be remote or not in six months, and I don't want to wait to find out. So a lot of people being proactive, saying, let's see if there's another role out there that's more transparent, who is going to tell me hey, you're going to be working remotely in six months, you're going to be able to telecommute or have a flexible schedule. And really employees recognizing that they have a lot more power in the job search, and they don't have to wait for their employee employer to really take the lead. And I think that's what we've seen over the last 12 months, 13 months of the pandemic, as employees have a lot of say. And if you're at an organization that you don't like that you can go find somewhere else. It's better for you.
Andrea 30:24
Okay, yeah, that's interesting. I was I was just curious about that. Because I know we have a lot of people listening, who were probably in that position, either lost their job, or really took the time to reflect on where they were at, and if they wanted to make a change. So I'm curious about, so you have we have a similar background. You have a Bachelor of Science in Health Education. I have a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis on health science. And I'm curious, did you have a different… Did you want to be a PE teacher? Like, did you have a different kind of path that you were going down and then made a switch?
Kyle 30:59
Yes. So in undergrad, I originally wanted to do nursing. I wanted to be a nurse practitioner, or doctor, my major ended up getting full. So what happens if you go to California State University as if you get over a certain amount of units, you have to switch majors, because the major is impacted. So I had to switch majors switch to health education. And then at the same time, I realized, okay, maybe I don't want the schedule of a nurse practitioner or a doctor. I'll go into healthcare administration. So I went to graduate school in Seattle at the University of Washington. Then while I was there, I did quite a few informational interviews with people using that same method I described and said, hey, you're a COO. At this hospital, I want to be a COO at a hospital. And all of them said, meet all of his meetings and budgeting. That's what being a COO of a hospital is. And like, I do not want to do it like that. Yeah. But I don't…I like meeting with clients. I don't like meetings all day long and budgeting all day long. That's about two things that I like. So I was like, okay, maybe I'll go into nonprofits. And you'll see the theme here is all helping people. And then throughout the same period, my business just kept booming and growing and growing. So I had these different paths. But I kept getting pulled back to this resume writing, this career coaching and life coaching and small business coaching. So I had all these ideas, but then I ended up just getting drawn into the business, which I never planned on at all.
Andrea 32:28
Yeah. Interesting. Okay. I just wanted to…I was curious, like, what, what made you kind of move over. And, you know, that's, I think it is just, I know that some people are 17 or 18 years old, and they know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. And, and that's it, but I just think it's so strange that we ask children, the other teenagers, but to make this decision, and so many times, we don't know what we want to do until we do the thing that we thought we wanted to do, and then realize that it's not for us. And I've just I've met so many people 40 and up who still interesting people who still don't know what they want to do with their lives. And there's no shame in that. It is a hard decision.
Kyle 33:09
I have so many people who come to me who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s, who say, Kyle, I don't know what I want to be when I grew up, I know it's not what I'm doing right now help me. And then we work to figure that out. And we go through a process to figure out, okay, you don't want to be doing what you do now. What do you need in your next job? What do you want? What don't you want? What can't you have? And what's this going to look like? And how can we use all your transferable skills so you're not just starting over.
Andrea 33:35
Right? Or, you know, the network that they've built and so far. How, do you…I'm very curious about interview coaching and where do you even start with that?
Kyle 33:46
So a lot of my clients are really amazing. They've done great things. And I think what people struggle with is recognizing that what they think is normal or typical, is not normal or typical. They'll say, oh, I have weekly one on ones with my staff, I introduced daily standup meetings, oh, I saved us a million dollars in operating costs last year, they rattle off things as if they're normal, when really they're amazing. And I think that's something that they struggle with is really to document and then be able to communicate all their accomplishments. So what I like doing is pulling those stories out of my client, what are 4, 5, 6 Really powerful examples that demonstrate what make you fabulous and unique and different from other job seekers, and then how can we craft those into powerful stories that will work for any interview question that's thrown at you. Because what happens is people try and go Google the 100 most common interview questions and then what happens is…and then your question 101, and then you're not ready and you freeze. So instead, I like crafting for six really great stories that you can then massage to any question that's thrown at you. So it's key talking points, kind of like a politician. They already know, their 10 or 12 key talking points. I'm going to talk about Medicare and AR and all of that, and then you just massage it to the question that's thrown at you.
Andrea 35:19
Okay, that's interesting. I feel like if I was going to be interviewed, now and they said, like, what could you bring to this company? I would say, I am very likeable and I have a lot of enthusiasm and energy. But that's, it's true. Like, I don't know about my skills, but I get along with most everybody unless they're a complete asshole, then I'm lost. But yeah, I'm, I'm gonna get along with everybody and be everyone's friend.
Kyle 35:47
It's hard to interview. It's so hard. And I think something to remember as a job seeker is that you don't do it for a living unless you are a news anchor, unless you're a politician, unless you are a PR director, you're not used to interviewing and it's okay not to be amazing. They're not looking to see are you an amazing interviewer? It's can you do this job, and to not be too hard on yourself.
Andrea 36:08
Okay, I have one more question. And that is, I'm very curious what surprises you the most about the work you do with your clients?
Kyle 36:16
I think what surprises me the most is how many unique interesting jobs are out there. I'll have people reach out who say, hey, I do this. And I'm like, I didn't even know someone did that. For example, I had someone reach out in they’re like I decide how we place items, in what order on grocery store shelves. And I guess I knew it like a high level someone did that. But the amount of science that goes into it, and there's whole teams that do it. And every day I'm learning about these jobs I've even know existed. And I think it's so cool, that all these jobs are out there and available to people. And I love helping people find jobs they love and just knowing that more and more jobs are getting created every day means there's more and more possibility for people to find jobs they love.
Andrea 37:02
That's fantastic. I love that answer. Thank you so much, Kyle, for coming on and telling us all of your wisdom around career coaching and how can how can people find you and get to know more about your services?
Kyle 37:15
Yeah, so I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. Kyle Elliott with two L's and two T's are my website, CaffeinatedKyle.com.
Andrea 37:22
CaffeinatedKyle.com. We're gonna put all of that in the show notes. And thank you for listening, everyone, I am so incredibly grateful for your time. And remember, it's our life's journey to make ourselves better humans and our life's responsibility to make the world a better place by everybody.
Hi there, swinging back by to say one more thing. You know, I'm always giving advice over here on the show and on social media. And a couple of those things is that I'm always telling you to ask for what you want, be clear about it, and also ask for help. So I am taking a dose of my own medicine and I'm going to do that right now. It would be the absolute best and means the world to me if you reviewed and subscribed to this show, Make Some Noise Podcast on whatever podcast platform of your choice. And even more importantly, it would matter so much if you shared this show. Sharing the show is one of the few ways the podcast can grow. And that also gives more women an opportunity to make some noise in their lives. You can do that by taking a screenshot when you're listening on your phone and sharing it in your Instagram or Facebook stories. If you're on Instagram you can tag me @HeyAndreaOwen and I try my best to always reshare those and give you a quick thank you DM and also you can tell your friends and family about it. Tell them what you learned. Tell them a really awesome guest that you found on the show that you started following whatever it is I appreciate so much you share it about this show.