August 14, 2025 • 29 mins
"The only people that will ever have an issue with you putting a boundary in place is those that benefit from you having none." This powerful statement from Kate Browning captures the essence of our illuminating conversation about boundaries, purpose, and the courage to prioritize joy in business.
Kate Browning, the self-described "unicorn" behind Cherry Blossom Management, joins us to share her six-year entrepreneurial journey that's anything but conventional. Her business operates with a dual focus: digital marketing for impact-driven companies and boundaries mentoring for individuals seeking to live authentically. Kate recently made the bold decision to eliminate services generating 70% of her income simply because they no longer brought her joy – a move that perfectly embodies her philosophy of unapologetic living.
What makes Kate's approach remarkable is her unwavering commitment to working exclusively with businesses driven by positive impact, not just profit. She particularly enjoys partnering with companies pursuing B Corp certification, which requires meeting rigorous standards for social and environmental performance. Beyond her professional endeavors, Kate volunteers weekly with Oak Haven Hospice, spending precious time with someone facing complex terminal illness – providing companionship and perspective that enriches both their lives.
Our discussion delves deeply into the importance of boundaries in both personal and professional settings. Kate explains how proactively communicating expectations improves relationships and prevents resentment. She even shares practical tips for making a positive environmental impact, including a free browser plugin called "Reforest" that plants trees to offset your digital carbon footprint.
Whether you're struggling with setting boundaries, seeking to align your business with your values, or simply looking for practical ways to make a positive impact, this conversation offers wisdom and inspiration. Kate's story reminds us that kindness matters – not just in how we treat others, but in how we honor ourselves and our deepest values.
Want more uplifting content that leaves you feeling inspired rather than drained? Subscribe to the Kindness Matters podcast and share this episode with someone who might benefit from Kate's wisdom.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Kindness Matters
podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
On this podcast, we promotepositivity, empathy and
compassion, because we believethat kindness is alive and well,
and there are people andorganizations that you may not
(00:21):
have heard of in the world,making their communities a
better place for everyone, andwe want you to hear their
stories.
On this podcast, we talk aboutmatters of kindness because
kindness matters.
Hello and welcome everybody tothe Kindness Matters podcast,
(00:42):
thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much for joiningus everybody to the Kindness
Matters podcast, thank you,thank you.
Thank you so much for joiningus, for making the active choice
to take 30 minutes out of yourday to listen to, hopefully,
some positive content, somethingthat you can walk away from
smiling, as opposed to some ofthe other stuff that's out there
(01:03):
these days.
Right, I appreciate it.
Please, if you hear anything inthis podcast today that
resonates with you or thatinspires you or that motivates
you, please, please, please,share it with your family and
friends and your coworkers, andI would greatly, greatly
(01:23):
appreciate it.
I appreciate it so much and youare going to be so glad that
you showed up today, because Ihave an amazing guest for you.
Her name is Kate Browning andshe is a unicorn.
Should I just leave it at that?
I could just leave it at that.
No, kate Browning is a.
(01:44):
She's the CEO and founderfounder of cherry blossom
management, correct, correct.
And earlier this year, katetook kind of a drastic step and
said I am my own boss, I don'tneed to be doing stuff I don't
(02:07):
want to do, no more, I threwthis ass in.
She doesn't really sound likethat.
Welcome to the show, kate.
Thanks so much for taking thetime to be on today.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's absolutely lovely.
The pleasure is all mine.
So talk to us a little bit Now.
How long have you owned CherryBlossom Management?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So it is actually going to be six years in just
over a week.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Wow, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Thank you, it's my six-year anniversary, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Six-year anniversary, yep, and, but you were.
So.
Cherry Blossom is a little bitabout.
Talk to me about what it is.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So it's kind of there's two sides to the
business, but the overallmessage is about showing up
unapologetically and impactfullyas you as you come.
And then the two sides of thebusiness are.
There is a digital marketingside to the business, helping
business owners andentrepreneurs with their
marketing, and then I also doboundaries mentoring as well, to
(03:15):
help people who want to liveunapologetically, who want to
say goodbye to imposter syndromeand who want to live the life
that they wanted to live ontheir terms yeah, that's, and
two very distinct sides, but butalso they go together, don't
they?
(03:36):
they do go together really wellbecause um about everyone needs
boundaries and a lot of peoplestruggle with boundaries,
particularly women or those thatare brought up to be people
pleasers.
And if you're able to put thoseboundaries in place in your
personal life and you are abusiness owner, or even if
(03:57):
you're not a business owner, inyour job, you need boundaries in
place to be able to managepeople's expectations and to
manage your expectations, sothey interlink really well
together so and and I wasreading through your blogs and
you talked about because whenwe're entrepreneurs, oftentimes
(04:23):
we we feel like we have to docertain jobs that maybe I mean
we're capable of doing them, butthey're really maybe not our
favorite thing to do.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And you need to really.
I'll just go out and say it abold step to say I'm not going
to do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I'm not going to do that anymore.
Yeah, yeah, I think I think,especially if you are running
your own business or multiplebusinesses, you sometimes put a
very heavy emphasis on thefinancial responsibilities and
the income because you need topay your bills.
Of course you do and you wantto be financially secure
Everyone does but in doing soyou often say yes to things that
you probably wouldn't have saidyes to otherwise, and that's
(05:08):
kind of where I've made thatchange in my business.
I've always been really good atsaying no to potential clients
that perhaps aren't the rightfit and I'll introduce them to
someone else who would be abetter fit.
But recently I found myselffalling into a pattern of
offering services that, as yousay, yes, I can do them, but I
(05:29):
don't enjoy them anymore.
They actually cause me stress,they cause me overwhelm and I
found myself dreading having todo those things.
And unfortunately they thosetwo particular tasks in my
business bring in about 70% ofmy regular retainer income, but
they don't bring me joy.
(05:49):
They bring me the opposite.
So I made the decision about amonth ago to announce that I am
scrapping those services goingforward and I'm going to focus
on the things that bring me joythat make me happy and where I
can really see a difference withthe clients I work with.
So it's absolutely terrifying,but it needs to be done, because
(06:09):
if, if you're not happy, what'sthe point?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
yeah, for sure.
And and that's the one thing Ilove about being an entrepreneur
, right?
Um, my wife and I started a, ahome cleaning business back in
2006,.
I want to say, and we would getasked you know well, do you do
window cleaning?
No, we don't do window cleaning, but could we?
(06:34):
I suppose we could and we triedit a little bit, and it just
the first job we did.
It was in the springtime, late,late winter here, and I was
doing somebody's outside windowsand a snow blob melt was
(06:55):
melting in it, off the house andright down my back.
I'm like I don't enjoy this,and so we did it for a couple of
months and then I'm like, no,no, we're not doing that anymore
.
But yes, it increased ourbottom line, it increased the
amount of money that we broughtin and there were a lot of
(07:20):
number of things with homecleanings, move-out cleanings.
Don't want to do that anymore.
Hoarder situations not doingthat, so you know.
So I totally get where you'recoming from with that and and
(07:40):
and your, your fascination ornot.
Fascination, that's not wrong,that's not the right word.
But each of us has to find whatmakes us happy and do those
things, Because, Lord knows,there's probably a dozen more
companies out there thatactually enjoy that kind of
thing and will do that thingright, You're not the only one
(08:01):
in the whole world.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And that saves the stuff that you like to do for
you, and I also think if you'reif you're doing things that you
genuinely enjoy, you're going tobe more invested in it and
you're going to do a better jobat it.
If you're doing things that youdon't enjoy, the client or the
customer is probably not goingto be getting the best out of
you.
(08:24):
And I also think it's a reallygreat thing as well with niching
down to what you are reallygood at, because it helps you
find your potential clients andstrengthens your brand, because
you're then attracting thepeople that you really want to
work with.
So, although it can feel, itcan feel really tough.
I resisted niching for so longwhen I first started my business
(08:45):
, but now that I've niched, thetype of people that I attract
are the people that I want towork with, and it also does the
opposite it tends to repel a lotof the people that perhaps we
wouldn't be a good match for, soI'm finding myself having to
say no a lot less now because ofthat to say no, a lot less now
(09:08):
because of that.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
yeah, and speaking of finding people that you connect
with you, you have taken kindof a unique approach to your
business because you only workwith people who are driven by
their positive impact, not justprofit, but the positive impact
(09:29):
that a company can have on theirneighborhood, their city, their
business, their little piece ofthe world.
Yeah, and I find that sofascinating and so inspiring for
me.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I've always been driven by impact.
It's I've always.
It's all.
It makes me happy to make otherpeople happy.
It's a driving force for me.
It always has been, and when Idecided that I wanted to set my
business up, I decided that Iwanted to work with people that
were like minded and shared myvalues.
So you can absolutely bemotivated by money, because
(10:07):
money is motivated for me,because I want to be financially
stable, I want to have lifeexperiences, but I'm not driven
by material things.
However, my main driving forceis the positive impact I can
have on others, whether it's onmy clients, whether it's in my
community, because I volunteerweekly, whether it is working to
be more sustainable and kinderto the environment, because
(10:29):
we've only got one planet.
She's very precious.
We need to take care of her.
But if I work with other peoplethat then share those values,
it then creates that rippleeffect because they then start
to go into that mindset and itripples out into others and I
think it can only do good.
And if someone wasn't driven byimpact and didn't want to make
(10:49):
the world a better place ordidn't want to work to be more
sustainable, then they'reprobably not my kind of person
anyway, because that's reallyimportant to me.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Oh for sure, yeah, so talk to me.
Can you give me an example ofsomebody that you teamed up with
?
Because of their impact?
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So one of my clients.
She's been my client.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
And you don't have to name drop.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
That's okay.
One of my clients.
I've worked with her.
Probably I've been in businesssix years, so we've probably
worked together for about fiveand a half years now.
I've been in business six years, so we've probably worked
together for about five and ahalf years now and um we send
each other referral work all thetime because we share a lot of
values, and one of the reasons Iwent with her she's a web
developer, so she designswebsites for other people and
websites are an amazing tool,but the a lot of people don't
(11:35):
realize the amount of energythey can give out can actually
add quite a lot to emissions.
Now she is a green host, whichmeans that all of her websites
that she creates and runs andhosts are um only generated with
green energy and it's fullysustainable and um therefore, it
actually doesn't contribute tothe emissions output yeah so
(11:58):
that's why I work with them,because every website she
creates means it's a green hostand green energy, so they're
actually carbon neutral, whichis an amazing thing to achieve
to be carbon neutral.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, Do you know?
This is completely well, notcompletely off topic, Are you?
Do you know where Wiltshire is?
Yes, Is that near you.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Okay, where Wiltshire is?
Yes, is that near you?
Yes, okay, there is a companyon Wiltshire called Wiltshire
Digital Drive.
I've been trying forever to getin touch with these people to
have them on the show, but theyare doing something really cool.
They are taking in andrefurbishing electronics phones,
tablets, computers, that typeof thing and then giving them to
(12:44):
underserved or underprivilegedyouth.
So they're doing two things.
Actually that's four, isn't it?
Oh, thank God this is anaudio-only podcast.
They're reducing because, fromwhat I understand from talking,
(13:07):
becca shaw, I think, is her nameum, she was talking about how
the uk has kind of a horriblerecord on on e-waste.
Yep, um, and, and so you knowshe's.
They're reducing that, plusproviding underserved,
marginalized youth these tablets.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
That might be a really good fit for you yeah,
that's an amazing thing to doand I think a lot of it.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Is that what you were talking about, that type of
impact?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
yeah, and I think a lot of it is it's not because
people don't want to have apositive impact?
I think there's not.
It is it's not because peopledon't want to have a positive
impact.
I think there's not enougheducation around it.
I think people don't know aboutit.
Like I use a plugin on my uhgoogle, which is called reforest
or reforest, because it'sdouble o and it means every time
I, so every time I use theinternet, whether it's on a
(13:57):
social media or whether it's onanother website.
They then record your journeyand they plant trees to offset
your carbon footprint just fromusing the internet.
And it costs nothing.
It's free.
But people don't know it exists.
It's a free tool and they theyrecord.
They keep a record of how manytrees they're planting because
(14:20):
of your usage to offset yourcarbon footprint, but I think
more people would use it if theyknew about it.
I think it's a lack ofeducation.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
What's the name of the app again?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Reforest.
So it's Reforest, but with adouble O instead.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
R-E-F-O-O-R-E-S-T.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yes, and it's a simple plugin.
It records where you visit onthe internet and then it plants
trees and you have a littlething in the corner saying we've
planted 10 trees today for youbeing on the internet.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
That's so cool.
We will have a link to that inthe show notes, as well as to
Cherry Blossom Management, forsure.
So now let's switch gears alittle bit and let's talk about
boundaries, because that's alsovery important to you, and it
really is kind of a buzzwordthese days, isn't it?
Everybody's talking aboutboundaries.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
It is.
When I started doing theboundaries work a few years ago,
very few people talked aboutboundaries or knew what
boundaries were.
When I said I'm a boundariesmentor, like what's a boundary?
Few years ago, very few peopletalked about boundaries or knew
what boundaries were.
When I said I'm a boundariesmentor, like what's a boundary?
And I was finding myself havingto explain and educate people
on what a boundary was in thefirst place.
But now when I talk to peopleabout it, they're like oh my god
, boundaries are so important.
(15:33):
I need help with that.
Most people I speak to I wouldsay about 80 to 90 percent say
I'm not very good withboundaries and I would like to
be better, which is reallyinteresting the fact that people
are starting to learn about itnow.
But boundaries are so, soimportant.
And again, there's somethingthat I didn't have growing up,
because most people learn aboutboundaries from your family, as
(15:56):
you are a child growing up.
So if you were in a family thatwasn't very structured and
didn't have those boundaries,then you probably haven't
learned them.
I found myself putting because Iput boundaries in place in my
business, but I also put them inplace in my personal lives as
well my personal relationships.
I have them with family forvarious reasons, and when I
(16:17):
found myself talking to mymother who's now 66, but she was
60 at the time and I explainedto her I'm putting these
boundaries in place and it'shere to protect me, but it's
also to protect you, and this iswhat I'm doing, and I then she
was what's a boundary?
And I was like this is why Idon't didn't have any boundaries
.
So I was then educating her atthe age of 60 on what a boundary
(16:38):
is, but now she's learned aboutit and she respects those
boundaries, because they can bequite scary to put in place.
A lot of people are scared ofwhat people will think of them
or how they will be perceived ifa boundary is put in place.
Um, and I just want to say thatthe only people that will ever
(16:58):
have an issue with you putting aboundary in place is those that
benefit from you having none.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Exactly, exactly, yeah, and it really is so
important, and both in yourpersonal life and in your
business life, for those peoplewho are, for those people who
are because again I've run intoit in our business life.
(17:27):
You know, somebody says I wantyou to work for me on Saturday.
I don't work Saturdays and Ifeel awful saying that, but I
don't.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
This is for me right and that's the same with me.
I don't.
This is for me, right andthat's the same thing.
I don't work Fridays.
So when someone first comes tome and they want to work with me
, I explain.
I actually send them a documentwhich lays out my boundaries on
my time, how they cancommunicate with me, when they
can expect responses from me.
I lay out a number ofboundaries before they sign a
contract, so they can see theseare my expectations of you and
(18:03):
this is what you can expect fromme in return.
And if this doesn't sit withyou, then you don't need to sign
the contract.
But I've worked with someonerecently who came to me and they
they're struggling with adifficult client.
And they said to me I'm reallystruggling with this person,
they are really pushingboundaries.
I'm finding it very stressful,overwhelming, I don't know how
(18:23):
to manage the situation.
And when we dug deep into theconversation, it turned out that
this person hadn't setboundaries in the first place.
So although this client waspushing their boundaries, they
didn't know they were doing it.
So I ended up having aconversation with my client
saying you can't get mad atsomeone for not respecting your
boundaries if you haven't toldthem what those boundaries are.
(18:45):
You need to say yeahcommunication is so important it
is and boundaries just theymake communication clearer.
A lot of people are afraid ofwhat's going to happen, but
boundaries are there to letothers know how you want and
expect to be treated and whatthey can expect from you in
return.
So you're setting that reallyclear communication to start
(19:06):
with.
So it means that thatrelationship is so much easier
to manage going forward.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, yeah, if we just talk to each other, right?
Yes, if we just say and I can,I totally get the whole um, I
don't want to have to tell thisperson this.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
But to that I say be like Kate Browning.
Be, fearless and oh shoot,what's the word?
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You need to protect your peace and protect your joy.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And it's not being harsh or being mean.
If you are making it clear toothers it, then my relationship
with my mother, since I putboundaries in place, is actually
better, because she now knowshow I want to be treated, how I
expect us to communicate andwhat I want from the
relationship, and now sheunderstands that.
(20:03):
It's so much more clear for herand it's more clear for me,
because there's no more.
I now know this is a boundary,this is in place.
I now don't have it.
There's no hidden resentmentthat you're pushing those
boundaries, because you're notanymore, because you now
understand them and myexpectations are managed yeah,
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Um, so you talk about working with companies that are
B Corp.
Now I'm not entirely sure whatB Corp is.
I think it's kind of like anonprofit in the US.
Is that correct or no?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
No.
So a B Corp is when a companypledges to be a sustainable
company.
But they don't just pledge tobe a sustainable company.
They have to jump through lotsof hoops, they have to pay
licensing fees, they have to docertain training, they have
(21:09):
auditors come in and test theiroutput and their waste, whether
it's electronic, whether it'sphysical.
It's very hard to become B Corpregistered, but it means that
when someone reaches that status, they are a company that is of
high ethical and moral value andthey prioritize sustainability
(21:29):
in their business.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Okay, so I think that pretty much answers what my
next question was going to bewas why do you enjoy working
with them so much?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, and it's because it means that they are
driven by impact, because I'vegone to B Corp training and I've
gone to conferences on it tolearn about it and I understand
the amount of effort, the amountof money, the amount of time,
the investment that goes into it.
So if a company manages to hitthat B Corp status, they are
(22:03):
fully committed to reducingtheir carbon footprint and being
even.
It's not even reducing it, it'seven reversing it and becoming
carbon neutral.
So it means that they are verymuch impact driven perfect, okay
, last one before we go um.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Would you want to share out the charity that you
work for in your city?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Who do you volunteer for?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, so I volunteer regularly for a local charity
called the Oak Haven Hospice.
They are effectively a charitythat support people that have
complex terminal diagnoses.
So it's not just someone thatwill go to them who has a cancer
diagnosis that's terminal.
They have to have additionalcomplex needs on top of that in
(22:51):
order to be supported by OakHaven.
So and I don't work in thehospice itself I am what's
called a neighbor and I have awe call them clients and I go
and see her every week and shehas complex terminal illnesses.
She can't leave the house forher health reasons and although
(23:12):
she has carers and she hasfamily, the carers are only
there to do their job.
The family work full time.
So I go in once a week, spend acouple of hours with her, have
a cuppa, have a slice of cake.
We just have a catch up andtalk about the world and I just
try and brighten her day alittle bit, because I am her
(23:33):
connection to the outside world,and I absolutely love it it.
It really does put things intoperspective as well.
If I'm having a bad day andthen I go and see my Oak Haven
client, it puts everything intoperspective.
It could be so much worse.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Oh God, yeah, I can only imagine.
And what a I mean, how nice isit for that client?
I mean, and we've talked onthis show many times about the
epidemic of loneliness and Irealize that's maybe not
necessarily what's going on withyour clients, and I realize
(24:05):
that's maybe not necessarilywhat's going on with your
clients, but really you aretaking away some of that
loneliness for them and just,yeah, it really is kind of a
symbiotic thing, isn't it?
Because you're doing her goodand in return she's doing you
good.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
It's making me feel good to be able to have that
impact on someone, and I meanit's two hours a week.
Everyone could find two hours aweek to enrich someone's life.
It costs me nothing but timeand I'm very precious as to who
I give my time and energy to.
They're the two most importantthings to me, because they are
(24:46):
two things I can't get back.
But to be able to give twohours of my time to someone that
it could make such an impact intheir life just makes me happy.
Why wouldn't you?
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, absolutely, that's so cool.
I love that because, boy,because when people are dying,
(25:17):
there's some guilt issues herethat I won't go into right now
when my mom passed.
We're not going to talk aboutthat.
I wish that I had been theremore.
This is not a therapy show.
We are not going there.
I love everything about you,you little unicorn, you, and I
(25:42):
really, really, reallyappreciate the time that you've
been able to give me and thetime that we got to get to talk,
and I wish you all the best,all the success in the world,
kate.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Thank you, I really appreciate it and I've really
enjoyed chatting to you, and thename of your podcast kind of
says it all, doesn't it?
As for me, I always say thatkindness and manners are a bare
minimum that I expect from everyhuman being, and they cost
nothing.
They're so easy to give, so whywould you not want to be kind
(26:16):
and that?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
and we're back to boundaries yes, exactly that
exactly that.
Thank you, kate.
I appreciate it.
We're going to.
We will.
You'll be your episode.
We'll go live on August 14thish, whatever that Thursday is
the second August and secondweek in August and um, we'll be
(26:38):
in touch before then to get itall promoted.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Amazing Sounds great.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Thank you so much and have a great week.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Thanks, mike, sounds great, thank you so much and
have a great week.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Thanks, mike.
I want to thank you for fortaking this time to to listen to
this episode with my guest,kate browning from cherry
blossom management, um I.
I hope that you're able to takesomething positive from this
episode.
Maybe you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
(27:14):
you'll be moved.
Whatever those positivefeelings are, I hope you will
take them out into the world andspread them and tell your
friends, your family, yourneighbors, your co-workers that
you found a really cool podcastthat doesn't leave you feeling
angry after you listen to it.
(27:35):
I'm always striving to create abetter podcast for you, for all
of my listeners, something thatknocks your socks off, but I
need some feedback to do thatright.
I have to know what I'm doingright and what I'm doing wrong,
(27:56):
so please don't hold back onyour comments or your reviews or
anything that you feel mightimprove this podcast.
Let me know.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
You can email me, you can leavea message on the podcast itself
.
Whatever platform you'relistening to, or my socials it
(28:19):
would mean the world.
And, speaking of socials, makesure to follow us on all of our
socials, like YouTube, facebook,linkedin, instagram, tiktok.
I could go on and on and, onand on, and I probably will.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
(28:40):
If you have an idea for apodcast and you need some
production assistance or maybeyou already have a podcast and
you're looking for a supportivenetwork to join check out
maydaymedianetworkcom and checkout all the other podcasts they
have.
(29:00):
You have shows like AfrocentricSpoil, my Movie Generation
Mixtape In a Pickle Radio Show,wake Up and Dream with D'Anthony
Palin, staxo, pax and the TimePals.
We will be back again next weekwith a brand new episode and we
(29:25):
would be honored if you wouldjoin us again.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
Have a fantastic week.
Hello everyone and welcome to the Kindness Matters
podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
On this podcast, we promotepositivity, empathy and
compassion, because we believethat kindness is alive and well,
and there are people andorganizations that you may not
(00:21):
have heard of in the world,making their communities a
better place for everyone, andwe want you to hear their
stories.
On this podcast, we talk aboutmatters of kindness because
kindness matters.
Hello and welcome everybody tothe Kindness Matters podcast,
(00:42):
thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much for joiningus everybody to the Kindness
Matters podcast, thank you,thank you.
Thank you so much for joiningus, for making the active choice
to take 30 minutes out of yourday to listen to, hopefully,
some positive content, somethingthat you can walk away from
smiling, as opposed to some ofthe other stuff that's out there
(01:03):
these days.
Right, I appreciate it.
Please, if you hear anything inthis podcast today that
resonates with you or thatinspires you or that motivates
you, please, please, please,share it with your family and
friends and your coworkers, andI would greatly, greatly
(01:23):
appreciate it.
I appreciate it so much and youare going to be so glad that
you showed up today, because Ihave an amazing guest for you.
Her name is Kate Browning andshe is a unicorn.
Should I just leave it at that?
I could just leave it at that.
No, kate Browning is a.
(01:44):
She's the CEO and founderfounder of cherry blossom
management, correct, correct.
And earlier this year, katetook kind of a drastic step and
said I am my own boss, I don'tneed to be doing stuff I don't
(02:07):
want to do, no more, I threwthis ass in.
She doesn't really sound likethat.
Welcome to the show, kate.
Thanks so much for taking thetime to be on today.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's absolutely lovely.
The pleasure is all mine.
So talk to us a little bit Now.
How long have you owned CherryBlossom Management?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So it is actually going to be six years in just
over a week.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Wow, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Thank you, it's my six-year anniversary, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Six-year anniversary, yep, and, but you were.
So.
Cherry Blossom is a little bitabout.
Talk to me about what it is.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So it's kind of there's two sides to the
business, but the overallmessage is about showing up
unapologetically and impactfullyas you as you come.
And then the two sides of thebusiness are.
There is a digital marketingside to the business, helping
business owners andentrepreneurs with their
marketing, and then I also doboundaries mentoring as well, to
(03:15):
help people who want to liveunapologetically, who want to
say goodbye to imposter syndromeand who want to live the life
that they wanted to live ontheir terms yeah, that's, and
two very distinct sides, but butalso they go together, don't
they?
(03:36):
they do go together really wellbecause um about everyone needs
boundaries and a lot of peoplestruggle with boundaries,
particularly women or those thatare brought up to be people
pleasers.
And if you're able to put thoseboundaries in place in your
personal life and you are abusiness owner, or even if
(03:57):
you're not a business owner, inyour job, you need boundaries in
place to be able to managepeople's expectations and to
manage your expectations, sothey interlink really well
together so and and I wasreading through your blogs and
you talked about because whenwe're entrepreneurs, oftentimes
(04:23):
we we feel like we have to docertain jobs that maybe I mean
we're capable of doing them, butthey're really maybe not our
favorite thing to do.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And you need to really.
I'll just go out and say it abold step to say I'm not going
to do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I'm not going to do that anymore.
Yeah, yeah, I think I think,especially if you are running
your own business or multiplebusinesses, you sometimes put a
very heavy emphasis on thefinancial responsibilities and
the income because you need topay your bills.
Of course you do and you wantto be financially secure
Everyone does but in doing soyou often say yes to things that
you probably wouldn't have saidyes to otherwise, and that's
(05:08):
kind of where I've made thatchange in my business.
I've always been really good atsaying no to potential clients
that perhaps aren't the rightfit and I'll introduce them to
someone else who would be abetter fit.
But recently I found myselffalling into a pattern of
offering services that, as yousay, yes, I can do them, but I
(05:29):
don't enjoy them anymore.
They actually cause me stress,they cause me overwhelm and I
found myself dreading having todo those things.
And unfortunately they thosetwo particular tasks in my
business bring in about 70% ofmy regular retainer income, but
they don't bring me joy.
(05:49):
They bring me the opposite.
So I made the decision about amonth ago to announce that I am
scrapping those services goingforward and I'm going to focus
on the things that bring me joythat make me happy and where I
can really see a difference withthe clients I work with.
So it's absolutely terrifying,but it needs to be done, because
(06:09):
if, if you're not happy, what'sthe point?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
yeah, for sure.
And and that's the one thing Ilove about being an entrepreneur
, right?
Um, my wife and I started a, ahome cleaning business back in
2006,.
I want to say, and we would getasked you know well, do you do
window cleaning?
No, we don't do window cleaning, but could we?
(06:34):
I suppose we could and we triedit a little bit, and it just
the first job we did.
It was in the springtime, late,late winter here, and I was
doing somebody's outside windowsand a snow blob melt was
(06:55):
melting in it, off the house andright down my back.
I'm like I don't enjoy this,and so we did it for a couple of
months and then I'm like, no,no, we're not doing that anymore
.
But yes, it increased ourbottom line, it increased the
amount of money that we broughtin and there were a lot of
(07:20):
number of things with homecleanings, move-out cleanings.
Don't want to do that anymore.
Hoarder situations not doingthat, so you know.
So I totally get where you'recoming from with that and and
(07:40):
and your, your fascination ornot.
Fascination, that's not wrong,that's not the right word.
But each of us has to find whatmakes us happy and do those
things, Because, Lord knows,there's probably a dozen more
companies out there thatactually enjoy that kind of
thing and will do that thingright, You're not the only one
(08:01):
in the whole world.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And that saves the stuff that you like to do for
you, and I also think if you'reif you're doing things that you
genuinely enjoy, you're going tobe more invested in it and
you're going to do a better jobat it.
If you're doing things that youdon't enjoy, the client or the
customer is probably not goingto be getting the best out of
you.
(08:24):
And I also think it's a reallygreat thing as well with niching
down to what you are reallygood at, because it helps you
find your potential clients andstrengthens your brand, because
you're then attracting thepeople that you really want to
work with.
So, although it can feel, itcan feel really tough.
I resisted niching for so longwhen I first started my business
(08:45):
, but now that I've niched, thetype of people that I attract
are the people that I want towork with, and it also does the
opposite it tends to repel a lotof the people that perhaps we
wouldn't be a good match for, soI'm finding myself having to
say no a lot less now because ofthat to say no, a lot less now
(09:08):
because of that.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
yeah, and speaking of finding people that you connect
with you, you have taken kindof a unique approach to your
business because you only workwith people who are driven by
their positive impact, not justprofit, but the positive impact
(09:29):
that a company can have on theirneighborhood, their city, their
business, their little piece ofthe world.
Yeah, and I find that sofascinating and so inspiring for
me.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I've always been driven by impact.
It's I've always.
It's all.
It makes me happy to make otherpeople happy.
It's a driving force for me.
It always has been, and when Idecided that I wanted to set my
business up, I decided that Iwanted to work with people that
were like minded and shared myvalues.
So you can absolutely bemotivated by money, because
(10:07):
money is motivated for me,because I want to be financially
stable, I want to have lifeexperiences, but I'm not driven
by material things.
However, my main driving forceis the positive impact I can
have on others, whether it's onmy clients, whether it's in my
community, because I volunteerweekly, whether it is working to
be more sustainable and kinderto the environment, because
(10:29):
we've only got one planet.
She's very precious.
We need to take care of her.
But if I work with other peoplethat then share those values,
it then creates that rippleeffect because they then start
to go into that mindset and itripples out into others and I
think it can only do good.
And if someone wasn't driven byimpact and didn't want to make
(10:49):
the world a better place ordidn't want to work to be more
sustainable, then they'reprobably not my kind of person
anyway, because that's reallyimportant to me.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Oh for sure, yeah, so talk to me.
Can you give me an example ofsomebody that you teamed up with
?
Because of their impact?
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So one of my clients.
She's been my client.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
And you don't have to name drop.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
That's okay.
One of my clients.
I've worked with her.
Probably I've been in businesssix years, so we've probably
worked together for about fiveand a half years now.
I've been in business six years, so we've probably worked
together for about five and ahalf years now and um we send
each other referral work all thetime because we share a lot of
values, and one of the reasons Iwent with her she's a web
developer, so she designswebsites for other people and
websites are an amazing tool,but the a lot of people don't
(11:35):
realize the amount of energythey can give out can actually
add quite a lot to emissions.
Now she is a green host, whichmeans that all of her websites
that she creates and runs andhosts are um only generated with
green energy and it's fullysustainable and um therefore, it
actually doesn't contribute tothe emissions output yeah so
(11:58):
that's why I work with them,because every website she
creates means it's a green hostand green energy, so they're
actually carbon neutral, whichis an amazing thing to achieve
to be carbon neutral.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, Do you know?
This is completely well, notcompletely off topic, Are you?
Do you know where Wiltshire is?
Yes, Is that near you.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Okay, where Wiltshire is?
Yes, is that near you?
Yes, okay, there is a companyon Wiltshire called Wiltshire
Digital Drive.
I've been trying forever to getin touch with these people to
have them on the show, but theyare doing something really cool.
They are taking in andrefurbishing electronics phones,
tablets, computers, that typeof thing and then giving them to
(12:44):
underserved or underprivilegedyouth.
So they're doing two things.
Actually that's four, isn't it?
Oh, thank God this is anaudio-only podcast.
They're reducing because, fromwhat I understand from talking,
(13:07):
becca shaw, I think, is her nameum, she was talking about how
the uk has kind of a horriblerecord on on e-waste.
Yep, um, and, and so you knowshe's.
They're reducing that, plusproviding underserved,
marginalized youth these tablets.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
That might be a really good fit for you yeah,
that's an amazing thing to doand I think a lot of it.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Is that what you were talking about, that type of
impact?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
yeah, and I think a lot of it is it's not because
people don't want to have apositive impact?
I think there's not.
It is it's not because peopledon't want to have a positive
impact.
I think there's not enougheducation around it.
I think people don't know aboutit.
Like I use a plugin on my uhgoogle, which is called reforest
or reforest, because it'sdouble o and it means every time
I, so every time I use theinternet, whether it's on a
(13:57):
social media or whether it's onanother website.
They then record your journeyand they plant trees to offset
your carbon footprint just fromusing the internet.
And it costs nothing.
It's free.
But people don't know it exists.
It's a free tool and they theyrecord.
They keep a record of how manytrees they're planting because
(14:20):
of your usage to offset yourcarbon footprint, but I think
more people would use it if theyknew about it.
I think it's a lack ofeducation.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
What's the name of the app again?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Reforest.
So it's Reforest, but with adouble O instead.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
R-E-F-O-O-R-E-S-T.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yes, and it's a simple plugin.
It records where you visit onthe internet and then it plants
trees and you have a littlething in the corner saying we've
planted 10 trees today for youbeing on the internet.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
That's so cool.
We will have a link to that inthe show notes, as well as to
Cherry Blossom Management, forsure.
So now let's switch gears alittle bit and let's talk about
boundaries, because that's alsovery important to you, and it
really is kind of a buzzwordthese days, isn't it?
Everybody's talking aboutboundaries.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
It is.
When I started doing theboundaries work a few years ago,
very few people talked aboutboundaries or knew what
boundaries were.
When I said I'm a boundariesmentor, like what's a boundary?
Few years ago, very few peopletalked about boundaries or knew
what boundaries were.
When I said I'm a boundariesmentor, like what's a boundary?
And I was finding myself havingto explain and educate people
on what a boundary was in thefirst place.
But now when I talk to peopleabout it, they're like oh my god
, boundaries are so important.
(15:33):
I need help with that.
Most people I speak to I wouldsay about 80 to 90 percent say
I'm not very good withboundaries and I would like to
be better, which is reallyinteresting the fact that people
are starting to learn about itnow.
But boundaries are so, soimportant.
And again, there's somethingthat I didn't have growing up,
because most people learn aboutboundaries from your family, as
(15:56):
you are a child growing up.
So if you were in a family thatwasn't very structured and
didn't have those boundaries,then you probably haven't
learned them.
I found myself putting because Iput boundaries in place in my
business, but I also put them inplace in my personal lives as
well my personal relationships.
I have them with family forvarious reasons, and when I
(16:17):
found myself talking to mymother who's now 66, but she was
60 at the time and I explainedto her I'm putting these
boundaries in place and it'shere to protect me, but it's
also to protect you, and this iswhat I'm doing, and I then she
was what's a boundary?
And I was like this is why Idon't didn't have any boundaries
.
So I was then educating her atthe age of 60 on what a boundary
(16:38):
is, but now she's learned aboutit and she respects those
boundaries, because they can bequite scary to put in place.
A lot of people are scared ofwhat people will think of them
or how they will be perceived ifa boundary is put in place.
Um, and I just want to say thatthe only people that will ever
(16:58):
have an issue with you putting aboundary in place is those that
benefit from you having none.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Exactly, exactly, yeah, and it really is so
important, and both in yourpersonal life and in your
business life, for those peoplewho are, for those people who
are because again I've run intoit in our business life.
(17:27):
You know, somebody says I wantyou to work for me on Saturday.
I don't work Saturdays and Ifeel awful saying that, but I
don't.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
This is for me right and that's the same with me.
I don't.
This is for me, right andthat's the same thing.
I don't work Fridays.
So when someone first comes tome and they want to work with me
, I explain.
I actually send them a documentwhich lays out my boundaries on
my time, how they cancommunicate with me, when they
can expect responses from me.
I lay out a number ofboundaries before they sign a
contract, so they can see theseare my expectations of you and
(18:03):
this is what you can expect fromme in return.
And if this doesn't sit withyou, then you don't need to sign
the contract.
But I've worked with someonerecently who came to me and they
they're struggling with adifficult client.
And they said to me I'm reallystruggling with this person,
they are really pushingboundaries.
I'm finding it very stressful,overwhelming, I don't know how
(18:23):
to manage the situation.
And when we dug deep into theconversation, it turned out that
this person hadn't setboundaries in the first place.
So although this client waspushing their boundaries, they
didn't know they were doing it.
So I ended up having aconversation with my client
saying you can't get mad atsomeone for not respecting your
boundaries if you haven't toldthem what those boundaries are.
(18:45):
You need to say yeahcommunication is so important it
is and boundaries just theymake communication clearer.
A lot of people are afraid ofwhat's going to happen, but
boundaries are there to letothers know how you want and
expect to be treated and whatthey can expect from you in
return.
So you're setting that reallyclear communication to start
(19:06):
with.
So it means that thatrelationship is so much easier
to manage going forward.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, yeah, if we just talk to each other, right?
Yes, if we just say and I can,I totally get the whole um, I
don't want to have to tell thisperson this.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
But to that I say be like Kate Browning.
Be, fearless and oh shoot,what's the word?
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You need to protect your peace and protect your joy.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And it's not being harsh or being mean.
If you are making it clear toothers it, then my relationship
with my mother, since I putboundaries in place, is actually
better, because she now knowshow I want to be treated, how I
expect us to communicate andwhat I want from the
relationship, and now sheunderstands that.
(20:03):
It's so much more clear for herand it's more clear for me,
because there's no more.
I now know this is a boundary,this is in place.
I now don't have it.
There's no hidden resentmentthat you're pushing those
boundaries, because you're notanymore, because you now
understand them and myexpectations are managed yeah,
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Um, so you talk about working with companies that are
B Corp.
Now I'm not entirely sure whatB Corp is.
I think it's kind of like anonprofit in the US.
Is that correct or no?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
No.
So a B Corp is when a companypledges to be a sustainable
company.
But they don't just pledge tobe a sustainable company.
They have to jump through lotsof hoops, they have to pay
licensing fees, they have to docertain training, they have
(21:09):
auditors come in and test theiroutput and their waste, whether
it's electronic, whether it'sphysical.
It's very hard to become B Corpregistered, but it means that
when someone reaches that status, they are a company that is of
high ethical and moral value andthey prioritize sustainability
(21:29):
in their business.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Okay, so I think that pretty much answers what my
next question was going to bewas why do you enjoy working
with them so much?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, and it's because it means that they are
driven by impact, because I'vegone to B Corp training and I've
gone to conferences on it tolearn about it and I understand
the amount of effort, the amountof money, the amount of time,
the investment that goes into it.
So if a company manages to hitthat B Corp status, they are
(22:03):
fully committed to reducingtheir carbon footprint and being
even.
It's not even reducing it, it'seven reversing it and becoming
carbon neutral.
So it means that they are verymuch impact driven perfect, okay
, last one before we go um.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Would you want to share out the charity that you
work for in your city?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Who do you volunteer for?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, so I volunteer regularly for a local charity
called the Oak Haven Hospice.
They are effectively a charitythat support people that have
complex terminal diagnoses.
So it's not just someone thatwill go to them who has a cancer
diagnosis that's terminal.
They have to have additionalcomplex needs on top of that in
(22:51):
order to be supported by OakHaven.
So and I don't work in thehospice itself I am what's
called a neighbor and I have awe call them clients and I go
and see her every week and shehas complex terminal illnesses.
She can't leave the house forher health reasons and although
(23:12):
she has carers and she hasfamily, the carers are only
there to do their job.
The family work full time.
So I go in once a week, spend acouple of hours with her, have
a cuppa, have a slice of cake.
We just have a catch up andtalk about the world and I just
try and brighten her day alittle bit, because I am her
(23:33):
connection to the outside world,and I absolutely love it it.
It really does put things intoperspective as well.
If I'm having a bad day andthen I go and see my Oak Haven
client, it puts everything intoperspective.
It could be so much worse.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Oh God, yeah, I can only imagine.
And what a I mean, how nice isit for that client?
I mean, and we've talked onthis show many times about the
epidemic of loneliness and Irealize that's maybe not
necessarily what's going on withyour clients, and I realize
(24:05):
that's maybe not necessarilywhat's going on with your
clients, but really you aretaking away some of that
loneliness for them and just,yeah, it really is kind of a
symbiotic thing, isn't it?
Because you're doing her goodand in return she's doing you
good.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
It's making me feel good to be able to have that
impact on someone, and I meanit's two hours a week.
Everyone could find two hours aweek to enrich someone's life.
It costs me nothing but timeand I'm very precious as to who
I give my time and energy to.
They're the two most importantthings to me, because they are
(24:46):
two things I can't get back.
But to be able to give twohours of my time to someone that
it could make such an impact intheir life just makes me happy.
Why wouldn't you?
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, absolutely, that's so cool.
I love that because, boy,because when people are dying,
(25:17):
there's some guilt issues herethat I won't go into right now
when my mom passed.
We're not going to talk aboutthat.
I wish that I had been theremore.
This is not a therapy show.
We are not going there.
I love everything about you,you little unicorn, you, and I
(25:42):
really, really, reallyappreciate the time that you've
been able to give me and thetime that we got to get to talk,
and I wish you all the best,all the success in the world,
kate.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Thank you, I really appreciate it and I've really
enjoyed chatting to you, and thename of your podcast kind of
says it all, doesn't it?
As for me, I always say thatkindness and manners are a bare
minimum that I expect from everyhuman being, and they cost
nothing.
They're so easy to give, so whywould you not want to be kind
(26:16):
and that?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
and we're back to boundaries yes, exactly that
exactly that.
Thank you, kate.
I appreciate it.
We're going to.
We will.
You'll be your episode.
We'll go live on August 14thish, whatever that Thursday is
the second August and secondweek in August and um, we'll be
(26:38):
in touch before then to get itall promoted.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Amazing Sounds great.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Thank you so much and have a great week.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Thanks, mike, sounds great, thank you so much and
have a great week.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Thanks, mike.
I want to thank you for fortaking this time to to listen to
this episode with my guest,kate browning from cherry
blossom management, um I.
I hope that you're able to takesomething positive from this
episode.
Maybe you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
(27:14):
you'll be moved.
Whatever those positivefeelings are, I hope you will
take them out into the world andspread them and tell your
friends, your family, yourneighbors, your co-workers that
you found a really cool podcastthat doesn't leave you feeling
angry after you listen to it.
(27:35):
I'm always striving to create abetter podcast for you, for all
of my listeners, something thatknocks your socks off, but I
need some feedback to do thatright.
I have to know what I'm doingright and what I'm doing wrong,
(27:56):
so please don't hold back onyour comments or your reviews or
anything that you feel mightimprove this podcast.
Let me know.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
You can email me, you can leavea message on the podcast itself
.
Whatever platform you'relistening to, or my socials it
(28:19):
would mean the world.
And, speaking of socials, makesure to follow us on all of our
socials, like YouTube, facebook,linkedin, instagram, tiktok.
I could go on and on and, onand on, and I probably will.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
(28:40):
If you have an idea for apodcast and you need some
production assistance or maybeyou already have a podcast and
you're looking for a supportivenetwork to join check out
maydaymedianetworkcom and checkout all the other podcasts they
have.
(29:00):
You have shows like AfrocentricSpoil, my Movie Generation
Mixtape In a Pickle Radio Show,wake Up and Dream with D'Anthony
Palin, staxo, pax and the TimePals.
We will be back again next weekwith a brand new episode and we
(29:25):
would be honored if you wouldjoin us again.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
Have a fantastic week.
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