Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome to the Fortified Life Podcast, where we learn how
to develop a dependency on Jesus in the marketplace. From
the boardroom to the bathroom. God is with you. Here's
our host, author, speaker, teaker, encourager, spiritue, coach, and my husband.
It's the man they call mister forty five, Jason Davis.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome back to another episode
of the Fortified Life podcast where we are passionate about
developing a dependency on Jesus in the marketplace. I'm your host,
Jason Davis aka mister Fortifi. Every week we have the
opportunity to bring on authors, speakers, coaches, leaders of nonprofits, CEOs,
(01:00):
all who are passionate about putting God back in business
as well. And as I tell you, it's no different
this week.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
There are certain people that you meet where when you
talk to them for the first time, it's like you've
known them for many years, like like their family already
a close friend, and our guest today is very much
like that.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
She and I met out at a faith and work.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Event not too long ago at the time of this recording,
and it's just we're gonna have to have more conversations,
and I'm gonna go ahead, I'm gonna go head out
on a limb and say we're gonna preemptively invite her
back for a second session because there's just not enough time.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
She knows this, there's just not enough time.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Had we had an impactful ten to fifteen minute conversation
and God has definitely moved very powerful within her life.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
The Fortified Life Podcast. Kasha Hatcher, folks, just to give
you an idea of her impact. I mean, she is
involved in leadership, strategy, organizational impact. She's a lifelong learner
and you're going to learn a lot in this interview.
(02:26):
She helps high performing women leaders and purpose driven organizations
shorten their fight time, lead lighter, scale smarter, build trust,
clarity and connection for lasting impact. Kasha, how are you
doing today? I don't even know if that does full justice.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
You are such a treasure and it is an absolute
honor to get the opportunity to continue our conversation and
to be here, so thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Absolutely, I'll tell you what, Kosha, here's what I know.
Most of the people that I've come in contact with
that work with groups coaching, and I love just the
certain words so high performing women leaders. When I hear that,
that also.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Means that you have God has taken you.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
On a certain journey, because I've not met a high
impact woman that has not come through some things. And
we know that you didn't just wake up in twenty
twenty five doing what you're doing today. So give us
a little snapshot of your professional journey and how you
(03:46):
got to what you're doing today.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you for that. So I am very
open and people usually think I'm younger than I am
in forty five, and I've been doing this work for
twenty years. And my professional journey for the most of
my career has been in international development and I knew
(04:09):
what I wanted to do since I was fifteenen. I
had the incredible opportunity in high school to intern at
the Mission of Sudan in New York City and so
basically the UN is where the embassy was based in
nineteen ninety eight, and I got a chance to intern
(04:30):
there and from that point on, having been able to
go to the UN and witness it, I was like,
I want to work for the UN someday. And when
I was in my early twenties, I did I lived
in Sudan for a year and I worked for the
UN and I got a chance to really see some
powerful things and be a part of some really incredible work.
(04:53):
And so through my career it's really been dropping into
countries where USAID and State and DD have been present
and helping to facilitate strategy for those groups, So helping
to promote winning the hearts and minds in some rough places,
(05:14):
and helping folks to really say, Okay, what is it
that we want to accomplish here over the next five years.
How do we accomplish that? What's our roadmap, what's our
theory of how things will change? It's almost like if
you think of the back of the cereal box and
X marks the spot and there's like that dotted line,
It's okay, how do we what is our ex and
(05:37):
what are the milestones along the way, But then also
helping them to set up the processes and systems to say, okay, well,
let's erase that line and redraw it here because we
need to pivot. How do we do this in an
agile way? And that's really where my passion for work
(05:57):
and life has really come from is how do we
have an impact as organizations and companies and people, and
how do we do it with people at the center
of it. And it's been such an honor and privilege
to have my car career be in that space for
the last twenty years. And then, as many know, in
(06:21):
the beginning of this year, in early February, something's shifted
and USA was dismantled and is no more and the
international development community really and profession will never be the same,
and so we sort of lost our industry as a community.
(06:44):
And at that point I just sat back and I
was like, Okay, how can I continue to do this
meaningful work and how can I help other companies and
organizations do meaningful work? So it's still the same purpose,
it just looks a little bit different. And whether you're
(07:07):
in the middle of Afghanistan working with an organization USA
or whether you're working with a CEO and a boardroom,
there are some some real core commonalities and similarities. So
I became an executive coach. I got certified about four
years ago, so that was a part of my journey.
(07:29):
I was doing it informally for many years, and then
I'm I can actually get certified in this and you know,
have that nice little title behind my name. Sure, let's
let's go for it. Like a lot of people need
that title to feel like they can trust you. I'm like,
I'm down, I can do it. So I added that
to my toolbox. And yeah, and also part of my
(07:52):
journey has been okay, so there's there's the organizations, and
then there's the people. And how do you help build
cultures we sustain and help organizations thrive? Or how do
you help individuals that I coach build the village and
(08:13):
the community that will help them to thrive. So that's
been a big part of my journey. It's almost like
what are the things that have helped me? And how
do I now help others do it? And what are
the things that have helped my clients? And how do
I keep passing that along?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
My goodness, Kasha, there's so much in there, she said.
A big one is working, like you said, the backdrop
of going into different countries. When you think about where
you're at today, how does that how does that shape
(08:53):
how you interact with people? Because you know, out here
in the West and the US, we have a certain
you know, we have vernacular yeah, slang. Even on the
business side, we have different terminology. But when you go
in to another country, how have you kind of taken
a step back and learned from and being so well traveled,
(09:14):
how has it made you a better communicator with people?
Speaker 4 (09:19):
So I will say humility, staying and learning mode always
and being curious about people's stories and the context. Because
if you think about I'll use Sudan as an example.
(09:40):
My first time there was around two thousand and seven
and the country had been through twenty years of war. Wow,
and South Sudan was in the process of becoming their
own country. They now are, And it was the biggest
privilege and honor of my life to have been there
to see it become its own country, Like how many
(10:03):
people get to get to experience that. But part of
that was also understanding that there's so many organizations and
companies that went in and they hired people to do jobs,
and when the technical skills weren't there, when people weren't
learning quickly enough, they would just fire people. Now, if
(10:25):
you do this in the country that's been through twenty
years of war, that person who you fired ken and
has come back and shot you in the head. There's
a whole different context that you are dealing with, where
it is life or death. And what was so powerful
for me was even just how I speak now is different.
(10:50):
So I'm an Eastern European New Yorker. And the later
it gets, the more the New York accident comes out,
and you may even here's an Eastern being in there. Right,
But going into places, how am I speaking? And am
I speaking in such a way where people can understand
me even if they speak English. How we speak English,
(11:12):
even from state to state differs, right. I can get
an example of this. I cannot understand when my brother
in law speaks He is from South Carolina, but he
speaks a different English, and I have a hard time
and my husband often has to translate. It's things like
(11:33):
respecting other people's cultures. So there are where men won't
shake my hand because I am a woman, and I
like that, and that's okay. That is part of that culture.
Not pushing what I experience and what, you know, what
my expectations may be onto somebody else, being really cognizant
(11:55):
of the fact that if I am a white woman
from the West in some of these places, I am
going to be in a certain way, and how do
I cultivate an environment where people will lend their voice
and they will give their honest opinions and they because
they are the holders of all the wisdom. I am
just a guide or a facilitator. That's often the case,
(12:19):
whether you're whether I'm coaching an amazing woman leader or
whether I'm in these contexts, it's understanding, I am just
the guide. I am. I get to be a part
of your journey, and there's some tools that I have
to help along the way. But you are the holders
(12:42):
of the wisdom. Where the journey goes, you know better,
and in these places you partner and you co design
solutions because it's the people that know it, not us.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I think, Kasha, you when I think about even in scripture,
the keystone trait that you see mentioned as humility, and
so you relating that in a marketplace context is very
helpful because, like you said, you're going into another country
(13:21):
and another culture and you know, well, you know, I
do it this way, and they say, oh time out here,
we do it this way. So I can I can
imagine and thank you for all the different anecdotes for
what you've taken away from that was there a country
that you can remember, Kasha, where like, I know you
(13:43):
talked about humility, but was there a country that you
felt like you had a good handle on and then
when you got in there, you were like, this is
very different than what I originally anticipated.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
So did did you have an experience like that?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I mean, I think every place you go into is
going to be different than especially when you're going into
places like I can stand Afghanistan and Sudan's Outstudan it's
just uh yeah, it's I mean even Sudan in itself,
the North is very different from the South, and tribalism
(14:20):
is a is a big thing, and and understanding those
nuances I think, I think a big thing when early
early on in my travels when I started going into
these places was racism and the kind of ethnic clashes
(14:44):
and how different that looks everywhere you go. And what
it really taught me is how careful we have to
be when we start to lump people together or use
term like they those people and it's you know, I
(15:09):
don't want to get too political, but it's even in
the context of our country now where we get very
very different points of views, But how do we maintain
that we are together, we are in this together, we
are a people without without continuing to fuel the polarization.
(15:31):
I don't think that was ever God's plan for us
as his children, And I think that has been a
big lesson for me, going into places and seeing how
at the end of the day, we all just want
to be seen and we want to be heard and
(15:52):
we want to know that we matter. Going into an
IDP camp and sitting with women who just want to
tell you their stories.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Wow, that that is powerful in many different, many ways. So, Kasha,
what would you say You gave the professional background, you
talked about the different shifts and work in the trends
and even what happened in government. Now you're you're coaching.
(16:27):
Did you ever get a sense And maybe it was
because like many people, they don't know what coaching is
and then you realize what coaching is and it's like,
oh my god.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
But did you get a sense.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Years ago of when you first learned what coaching was?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Like?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Huh? I think I could? I think I can use that.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Was there a light bulb that went off for you
or did you just more find yourself in those circles
and say, okay, you know what I think this is
just this is a direction God is taking me. Let
me lean into the certifications and asking powerful questions.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Did you ever get a.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Sense though light bulb moment like yes, coaching?
Speaker 4 (17:11):
So I guess let me take a step back and
kind of give you my definition of coaching, because I
think it's coaching. So there's like therapy, and the way
I think therapy is the looking in the rear view
mirror and what are the things that have shaped me
from my childhood, from my past, from experiences that inform
(17:35):
how I show up today. And coaching is that it's
the it's the closing of the inside action gap. So
the inside action gap is you read all the books,
you listen to all the podcasts, you do all.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
The things, and you have grown in self awareness and
you've done all the therapy, and yet something is not
translating and me and I'll share more about me and
my story as we.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Talk, but for me, what was very powerful was coaching
was having someone in my corner where when it's very
forward looking, it's what are my goals and what are
my values and the actions that are coming out of
those values, how do those support the goals? And the
coach is the person that is in your corner that
(18:29):
provides the bumpers, Like if you think of bowling right,
they provide the bumpers for you to ensure that those
actions and those values actually get you to those goals.
And it's just leading you on that. It's not even leading,
(18:51):
it's partnering with you on that journey. And for me,
my first experience with a coach was so powerful because
I was like, first of all, I realized, I do this,
I do the self. My experience international development was in monitoring,
learning and evaluation, and what that really is is what
(19:14):
I described. That's you're leading people through strategy. You're facilitating
a process where people have an end goal and you're
trying to get them to articulate how do you want
to get there? How will you know you're on track?
And what are the ways? How are you measuring progress
towards that? And then through the facilitation, you're asking a
(19:36):
lot of different questions of them so that they can
have these aha moments of how they will do that.
And I love those moments. I love when people have
that realization of like, oh, I was thinking of doing
it this way, but if I ask these questions, I
manage things very differently, and that shift that happens, and
(20:00):
I remember when that happened for me. It happened in
two powerful ways. The first was when I had my
first executive coach and it was actually a very humble
time in my career. It was my first real, like
next level leadership position where I was supervising a lot
(20:21):
of people. And up to that point, I was a
leader because I got stuff done and I did things
on my own. And here I was with the team
and it was like and I had led groups in churches,
right like, but the church dynamic is different. In church.
If you're put in charge of like a family group
(20:41):
or a small group, people kind of just out of
respect will be like, yeah, you have this title, you
have this position. God put you there. Yes, we're going
to go along. That doesn't happen in the work force.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Not in the word. Oh God, put Kasha here.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Let me listen to your no, no, no, no no.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
You learn how to build trust. You need to learn
how to bring people along. And I needed to learn
that and I was actually the company I was transitioning.
The company that I was working for was a fairly
large company that were transitioning leadership, and the person who
(21:19):
ended up being in leadership was not the person whose
team I was on, and so I already knew I
was like on the hit list. But there were also
things that it exposed about my leadership were, man, I'm
not I haven't been effective, And through coaching I started
to learn honestly how to how to increase my emotional intelligence,
(21:43):
and without increasing my emotional intelligence, I also couldn't like
increase my spiritual death. Like as we become more emotionally intelligent,
we become our walk with God becomes deep and wider,
(22:03):
and formation that happens in that process is next level.
And there was that part of my journey. And then
there was the very personal I've only been married for
a year and a half, I'm forty five, and I
was single for a long time. And I found myself
(22:26):
in twenty nineteen, literally January twenty nineteen, working with a
relationship coach, and it changed my life. I probably would
not be with the person I am with today if
I hadn't had a relationship coach. And a few years
into that journey, I became one because I was like,
I really want to help single Christian women in their
(22:50):
thirties and up create the love that they want. And
I want to bust that whole happily ever after bubble.
And it's not about being chosen, and it's not about
finding your prince charming, but it's about you get to
create the relationship that you desire and want to have
(23:14):
to God's glory. And I saw this theme in the
coaching that I took part in, and the theme was
self trust, like it was getting to a place where
I could trust myself so that I could show up
in the actual values I profess. Because if you spoke
(23:35):
to me even a few years ago, I've been a
Christian for twenty years, and I would have always said
I love God, I love serving God's people. There's nothing,
literally nothing I won't do, and nowhere I will not go.
But if you looked at my life and my day
to day decisions, I was still trying to earn God's
love and I was still trying to earn love from people. Wow,
(24:02):
I had become a Christian. But then after I became
a Christian, I just became a Christian controlling perfectionist, right,
And so coaching helped me to come to realizations around
what story am I telling myself? And does that story
(24:22):
align with the values I profess? And am I showing
up in ways that align with how I want? Because
when my why, when my why aligns with Jesus's why
who I am? And I don't question my decisions and
(24:43):
I am proud of the choices I make. But when
that alignment isn't there, that's when we go from being
to striving. Oh yeah, And to strive is like how
do I get to what needs to happen next?
Speaker 5 (25:04):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (25:05):
It's literally this, it's going from this right to this.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's good. That's like John chapter fifteen. Abide in me
that is that's good. That's good.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
And less of me and more of you.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Right, yes, absolutely, on a day to day basic basis.
Even Wow, Kasha, you you mentioned that was one turning
point for sure, Well, is there any other big, like
god turning point that really shaped that shaped you for
(25:44):
today in twenty twenty five? Obviously you mentioned there's a
lot going on politically, relationally, racially, and I know I've
been recently. I've had a lot of conversations with people
over the over the coming month this year, and the
word two words keep coming out they're kind of different
(26:05):
sides of the same coin. I keep grit and resilience.
They keep coming back because I mean, Kasha, no, none
of us could have predicted what's happening in our country,
let alone the globe. And people are asking questions. People
are nervous, people are scared, and yet God is always
(26:30):
positions people. And so this is a time where not
leaning on ourselves, but what comes to mind for you
in your life, and maybe there's a turning point for
you where you can see how you know what that
I didn't really like that too much, but it prepared
(26:50):
me for today when you hear the terms grit and resilience.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Yeah, loaded question. So let me share a little bit
about my story. So I my family immigrated from Poland
to New.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
York City when I was five, and I pretty much
was raised by my grandmother and my mom. My dad
ended up immigrating to another place. My parents were divorced
at one but I grew up in a very rough
environment family wise. There was a point where my grandmother
(27:30):
has a lovely story or had a lovely story. She
was no longer with us. But and I wear these
scarves because these are all hers and like it's a
part of her with me. So when I go to
different events or I just wear these so to kind
of embody who she was. But she was a firecracker
(27:52):
of a woman who fell in love with what she
will say her true love in her at six three
and she moved to the UK. I was still very young,
and my mom was just she had an amazing heart.
She just wasn't built for being a mom. And there
(28:17):
are things that she it's the generational curses. There were
things that she was not equipped for. And I had
a very rough childhood growing up in New York City,
and there were things that were fairly scary in my household.
(28:41):
And there's a lot of violence. Thank goodness, none of
it was directed at me. I kind of managed to
move move around and through it.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
There was a lot of emotional and and kind of
psychological abuse. It just wasn't a safe place. And so
when I was sixteen, I moved out on my own.
I moved out on my own at sixteen, and I
very quickly learned how to create community that feels like
(29:15):
family around me. I became a Christian at seventeen, and
that community really showed me this is what love healthy
love looks like. This is what forgiveness looks like. This
is what it looks like to be in relationships with
(29:36):
people who are very different than you, who may not
think like you, may not sound like you. To give
you an idea, I grew up in the inner city,
So I grew up there were some friends that were
in gang gangs. There were some friends that were absolutely
nowhere near that right. There were people of all different backgrounds,
(29:57):
And when I got to college, I I was the
only white girl at the all black lunch like dinner table,
lunch table, whatever you want. And the challenge I actually
got from my women's ministry leader was like, try becoming
friends with other people that have another different experience than you.
(30:20):
And I learned so much through those different experiences that
shaped me. But I think with my walk with God,
the pivotal moments for me were kind of moving out
on my own. Of course, becoming a Christian that was huge.
(30:41):
Becoming a Christian in community with people who were living
out discipleship, who walked me and taught me how to
live out discipleship, people who were willing to tell me
the truth and expose my blind spots, and those were
(31:01):
huge moments and the next kind of what I what
I call my job era, so to speak, was there
was I had been in a relationship in my early
thirties that I thought would lead to marriage, and when
that ended, that really rocked my world and rocked my faith,
because my prayer before that was, you know, the first
(31:23):
person I date, God, I prayed that they're my husband,
you know, And I feel like there's a lot of
women that may pray that. And when that did not happen,
I was devastated. And I think that was a point
in time where I realized that little girl inside of
me she was still very much alive, and I hadn't
(31:45):
surrendered her fully to God. I was still protected. And
as a result of that, there were choices I made
that were just just hurtful to at the time the
per that I loved the most. And if you would
have talked to at that time the person I was with,
(32:08):
they would have said things like, Kasha, you don't know
how to apologize. I'm sorry, but or here's why I
did X y Z. And he would have said, there
are times where I feel like I don't know what
version of you I'm going to get if I'm going
to get the like happy, loving version or if I'm
(32:29):
going to get like the really angry and distrut version. Right,
there was just a lot of things that in that relationship.
I got to see a mirror and I was like, Wow,
I don't this isn't who I want to be. And
as as I went through a very real and very
(32:50):
heartbreaking breakup that I thought would literally break me, like emotionally,
I was like, this feels like I'm going to die,
but I was like, this hasn't destroyed me? Then God,
what else can I What can I actually withhold from you?
When like there's nothing left to hold back? It just
(33:12):
might as well just give you everything. And remember an
incredible mentor who said she gave me a challenge. She said, Kasha,
there are some things that are your blind spots, and
a powerful exercise for you would be to go to
the people that know you, really know you. Talk to
(33:34):
your roommate, talk maybe to some trusted colleagues, talk to
your best friends, people who are like your family, and
ask them to be honest with you. Tell them that
you know this conversation will be hard and difficult, but
you really desire to know what your blind spots are
(33:54):
and give permission to speak into it. And when I
had those conversations, that was a huge shift because I
got to because one I was ready, I was ready
to hear it, and two I wanted to grow and change,
(34:17):
didn't want to stay the same. That was a huge
thing for me. And that next milestone was that job
phase where I was working for a refugee placement organization
and my position and like thirty others were eliminated. It
was the first, the first Trump administration, so I within
(34:43):
three days, I lost my grandmother, who was received at
the time, they lost her body. There was a lot
of things happening. I lost my job, and the person
I was living with at the times, who had just
signed a lease, was like, this isn't working for me.
I'm just going to move out. And so I was like, well,
(35:03):
I lost my grandmother, the person that was most like
a mother to me. I lost my job, and I
lost was about to lose where I was living in
a matter of days. And I remember that was such
a crisis of faith for me, and I remember it's
(35:24):
what helped me to redefine the borders of what I
see as community in my village up to that point,
I would have said, it's just my church community because
they were I was so engaged and I was so involved,
and but at that time, what ended up happening, and
Jesus can totally relate to this on me is the
(35:47):
people that I thought were going to be there weren't.
The people that I had called on and depended on
weren't able to be there. And the people that started
showing up for me were people in my cross community.
They were the fos that were like, you know, because
the people at church were like, I'll pray for you,
it'll all work out, and that's great and good. But
(36:08):
I didn't need that. What I got from my CrossFit
community was the friend that said, you can come live
with me, wow, and we'll figure out rent. We'll figure
it all out. You can come stay with me. You
will not be homeless. And another friend called and she
was like, man, your grandmother just passed away. Just come over.
We're having some people over. Just come spend time. You
(36:30):
shouldn't be alone. And moments like that, send me your resume,
I'll send it out. We'll figure it out. And I
realized God doesn't just use believers, he uses everyone. He
did it for Elijah, and he was doing it for me.
(36:52):
And that was the next kind of big pivotal moment
for me in my faith. And I think if it
hadn't been for those things, the kind of Okay, you
can't earn your way and things aren't going to look
like the way you think they should like you're supposed
to be, really why, but be open to the how
(37:16):
and the what so good that changes everything. Those things
set me up then for all the other things, right,
for the coaching, for how I build and teach others
how to build their village and their community, how I
(37:39):
help organizations to build culture, all of it, all of it.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Wow, Kasha.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
One, thank you for your vulnerability and transparency because I
know that.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Throughout your lifetime.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I know you had to build up to the point
to where you could share that, having been through some
things myself. So one, I do not take that lightly.
Number two, Everyone, as you're listening, do you hear how
God has fashioned her as a cook? So I, ladies,
I'm looking right at you. Leadies, Kasha has been built
(38:21):
for this. She can look you I to eye and say,
you know, where are you currently at and where are
you trying to go? I've also been some places and
God has given me some gifts and insight and I'm
here to walk alongside you. We're also going to talk
(38:42):
about blind spots and things.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
That you may have to let go.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And so, folks, just hearing Kasha's story and what she'd
been through, I'm telling you she's a coach and I
always think about esther here.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
Kasha.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
You know when Mordecai asked the the you know, rhetorical
question for who knows if you're called for a time
such as this, I know, even just from talking to
Kasha offline.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
She's built for this.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
So, ladies, if you're looking for a coach, I'm telling
you the Trusted Edge and I love that name of
the of the business, Kasha, the Trusted Edge. So where
can people learn more about you?
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Kasha?
Speaker 2 (39:25):
On the website? Social media? Where can they go to
find out more?
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Yeah? So I'm Strong Girl for Life on Instagram all
overcase just just does it spelled Strong Girl for Life
on Instagram. I am Kasha k a s I a
Polish spelling at the Trusted Edge dot com and I'm
(39:50):
Kasha Kedzia Hatcher on LinkedIn.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Yeah, and the trusted edge. Dot com is the website
all overcase altogether. The trust is dot com and the
name was born out of when we trust ourselves and
really we trust ourselves when we trust God, right, but
(40:16):
trust in God takes years and there's layers. Right when
we can get to a place where we trust ourselves.
And what that means is where your why aligns with
your values, your why aligns with Jesus's why. That's where
you can trust yourself. And when you trust yourself, then
(40:36):
you can build communities of trust. Then you can build
organizations of trust. Because I was part of communities before
before I trusted myself that weren't healthy where I was
still striving. I was still trying to prove my worth
(40:59):
or earn my worth. And some of those communities were
even church communities. I did a lot. I worked more,
people work harder, you know, like do more, serve more,
and and it I remember having this feeling like it
was all to to keep myself from feeling like I
(41:19):
was invisible or to feel like, well, I you know,
I got myself here. You know, I think there are
a lot of women out there where if they look
at their success, you did it on your own, and
you work through some hard stuff and you did it
on your own, and now you're probably hitting a place.
(41:43):
If you're coming to see me, you're hitting a place
and you're recognizing I can't do it on my own anymore.
What brought me here isn't working anymore. And I want
the skills to build my village. I want the I
want to ask people what my blind spots up are,
and I want to learn how to bring people along.
(42:03):
Or I want to learn how to take my business
from where it is to the next level because it's growing,
but I'm still the main person running everything. Even though
I have all this staff and all these people, the
big important things, they still they still rest with me, right,
Or I have that next level position, But why aren't
(42:24):
these people listening to me? Right? And I've been there
and my clients have been there, and you have testimonials
on my website, and you know, I that is what
I feel like. My biggest passion around coaching is it's
(42:45):
not for the elite. Coaching is not for the elite.
And I saw someone I follow on LinkedIn actually said
that they're like, you know, I learned. You know, I
used to think coaching was for the elite until I
got a coach and then you know, it's what gets
you elite. And I'm like, I don't buy into that
last part. I do buy into it is not for
(43:06):
the elite. And I think, especially in this time, in
this economy where there is so much scarcity, so much polarization,
so much fear, there are so many women leaders that
are incredible that could literally move planets. There are so
many women stepping out of the federal government space looking
(43:29):
for work and feeling like what is this going to
look like? And I feel like it shouldn't be a
privilege to be able to show up in your values
and lead from your values. It should just everyone should
have access to that. And that's that's my passion is
(43:52):
I want every woman to be able to kind of
stand in her her inner power in authority and what
that really is, to stand in God's spirit, to fully
stand in God's spirit and who she is and how
she's been created in being and not striving, and whether
(44:16):
that's in a leadership position or in in her love life. Right, Like,
that's the other part of this is like you can
have that relationship. It's not too late, You're not too old.
You're not whatever you your dot dot dot is right.
I often tell people like, don't should on yourself. Well
I should have I stood to it right, Stop shoulding right.
(44:43):
I was the biggest shoulder right. But again it's like,
if you're clear on your why, but open to your
how and your what, man, God can do some incredible things.
Those setterns, right, the empty cisterns. I mean the oh
my gosh, that passage in Jeri Maya where for the
people literally God's abundance was with them but they just
(45:06):
didn't see it. I remember that can. That convicted me
so much, to the point where anytime I'm in a
position where I feel like there's scarcity and lack, I
stop and remind myself my God, our God is a
god of abundance. That means if I am feeling scarcity,
(45:28):
it's not He is not withholding. There's something in my
perspective that's limited I need. I am not seeing his
abundance because of there's something I am blocking. But his
abundance is always there, right, And that's that's there's such
(45:50):
there's such power, and it convicts me every time I'm like, okay,
just be what is what is in front of me gratitude, right, like, Okay,
how do I show up in these ways? So good?
Speaker 3 (46:13):
So good?
Speaker 2 (46:13):
So Kasha, basically, you just read a lot of people's meal.
You've probably described four or five different.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Type of women that are like, oh, I think she
might have been talking about me.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
So if you feel that in your gut, you probably
need to reach out and we'll have will have Kasha's
information in the show notes, so you need to go
back and re listen to the episode. So that was
one in second Kasha, you're just so encouraging and when
you talk to her, folks, you feel that the very
(46:52):
first time I met her, you just you know, when
people say you feel me, she doesn't even have to
say that. When you walk away from her, you felt
her and that and God has just given her that
unique ability. Kasha, before we go, because folks, now you're
understanding why I said in advance that she had to
(47:12):
come back. You should know by now why I said that.
So she'll be back like the Avengers movies, she'll she'll
return for a part two. But Kasha, what are you
excited about? You know we're in the kind of the
the Twilight of twenty twenty five and a lot of
(47:32):
people are already starting to make twenty twenty six plans
and goals and milestones. But what are you excited about
as we close the year and as we look forward
into twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (47:46):
Yeah, I think gratitude is so important for me especially.
I think there have been some really hard things this
year that we have all experienced and individually and as
a as a as a people. And I know that
(48:10):
there are a lot of people that are like, I
just want this to be over, and people who want
to claim the next year, and and and and for me,
what I am excited about is sitting getting still and
silent with God and listening. Two, what are the lessons
(48:36):
to bring into the next year? And for me, every year,
I choose a word or a theme. Usually it's a
word for the theme, and then there's a scripture associated
with that and I walk the year with that. No,
I'll be careful what you choose, because usually that's the
(48:57):
thing that's like God's like, oh, that's what you want
to work on. Just to give you an idea, I mean,
my theme for this year was slow down, just to pause,
to slow down, and that was a challenge with everything happening,
(49:19):
losing my profession, moving across country, buying our first home,
starting a business, all within a matter of a very
short period of time, a few months, building my new
(49:39):
village and community. Yeah, it's it's almost like inertia and
working against it. And so I think as the year
comes to a close, I hope everyone can take some
time to slow down and reflect and just be present
(50:00):
with God and mourn. If you need to mourn, make
time and space to mourn. Celebrate. There's always things to celebrate. Celebrate,
like I love you were saying that you hit your
your episode mark or milestone. Did you blow off the
(50:22):
cannon with you?
Speaker 3 (50:24):
Know that? Right?
Speaker 4 (50:26):
It's so important how we define My biggest thing is
how you define success matters. And your definition of success
is reliant on other people or other circumstances. My encouragement is,
is there a way for you to shift your definition
of success that is within your sphere of control, with
(50:50):
your manageable interests, so to speak, because that will help
you to celebrate those steps of successes. And also, I
am a huge, huge fan of holidays, and I am
that person that I am. Christmas by far my favorite
(51:14):
and I am so excited for the twinkly lights and
the hot cocoa and the times of connection with family
and friends over meals. I love bringing people from my
different walks of life together. So I do a cookie
(51:34):
exchange and I host that. I'm so excited to host
that here and just bring the different people in my
life together to meet. And you know this, it's like
when people you know would have never met, but you
get to connect them and you're like, you have to
meet this person, right, and then like they become friends
(51:55):
and they start hating even if it's without you. You're like, yes,
this is amazing. Yeah, the holidays are are that for me.
There's such a great opportunity to do that and to
as we reconnect of course like watching The Chosen Right,
but like the real mesmis and how we get to
(52:17):
celebrate in community, but how we get to draw people
in because I think holidays can be and for many
years for me, it can be such a lonely time
and so there's also an opportunity to to not make
it that for people.
Speaker 3 (52:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:38):
So yeah, so those are all my kind of things.
Speaker 2 (52:42):
My goodness, folks, slow down, have gratitude, appreciate the holidays,
and eat some cookies.
Speaker 3 (52:52):
That's what I gathered.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
I love that with friends, Yes, with friends, specifically with friends.
You could always eat cookies by yourself, but cookies are
better when you eat when you eat them with people. Yeah,
that's for sure. Well, folks, we have to have Kasha
back for a part two because there's just I said
this earlier, there's just not enough time. And once again
(53:17):
I look at her and I'm smiling, and it's a conversation.
Speaker 3 (53:21):
I know.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Everybody listening was like, Wow, that was so good, I know,
which is why we're.
Speaker 3 (53:25):
Going to do it again in the future.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
So Kasha will return. We'll work out the dates and whatnot.
But Kasha, I can't thank you enough for hanging out
with us here on the Fortified Life podcast. So much fun,
so insightful, so transparent. Can't wait for you to come back.
Speaker 4 (53:45):
Thank you. Thank you so much for who you are
and for creating this space. It is invaluable and I'm
so inspired by you and honored to be here. Thank you, Jason,
you are.
Speaker 2 (53:56):
More than welcome. Well, folks, this is what God allows
us to do here on the Fortified Life and that's
all we have time for today. But make sure you
Tune in every week livestream eight thirty pm or on
demand on your platform of choice Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, our
YouTube channel where you can physically see us. You can
(54:18):
see us those who are watching on YouTube, so at
the Fortified Life. But definitely share what God is doing.
Make sure to like, share and subscribe. We'll have all
of Kasha's information in the show notes. Trust me you
will know how to reach out to her.
Speaker 3 (54:35):
Well, folks, that's.
Speaker 2 (54:36):
All we have time for here on the Fortified Life today.
Remember you know how we end things. Don't compartmentalize your
faith in the marketplace and from the boardroom to the bathroom,
God is with you. We'll see you next time on
the Fortified Life podcast.
Speaker 1 (54:57):
Thank you for listening to the Fortified Life podcast us.
You can catch us live on Wednesdays at eight thirty
pm Eastern times and on demand. Check out Fortifiedlive podcast
dot com for more details. So learn how to live
out your faith in the marketplace. Grab a copy of
Jason Davis's books Fortify Being Rooted in God's Plan for
(55:18):
Work in Business, Available on Amazon
Welcome to the Fortified Life Podcast, where we learn how
to develop a dependency on Jesus in the marketplace. From
the boardroom to the bathroom. God is with you. Here's
our host, author, speaker, teaker, encourager, spiritue, coach, and my husband.
It's the man they call mister forty five, Jason Davis.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome back to another episode
of the Fortified Life podcast where we are passionate about
developing a dependency on Jesus in the marketplace. I'm your host,
Jason Davis aka mister Fortifi. Every week we have the
opportunity to bring on authors, speakers, coaches, leaders of nonprofits, CEOs,
(01:00):
all who are passionate about putting God back in business
as well. And as I tell you, it's no different
this week.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
There are certain people that you meet where when you
talk to them for the first time, it's like you've
known them for many years, like like their family already
a close friend, and our guest today is very much
like that.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
She and I met out at a faith and work.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Event not too long ago at the time of this recording,
and it's just we're gonna have to have more conversations,
and I'm gonna go ahead, I'm gonna go head out
on a limb and say we're gonna preemptively invite her
back for a second session because there's just not enough time.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
She knows this, there's just not enough time.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Had we had an impactful ten to fifteen minute conversation
and God has definitely moved very powerful within her life.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
The Fortified Life Podcast. Kasha Hatcher, folks, just to give
you an idea of her impact. I mean, she is
involved in leadership, strategy, organizational impact. She's a lifelong learner
and you're going to learn a lot in this interview.
(02:26):
She helps high performing women leaders and purpose driven organizations
shorten their fight time, lead lighter, scale smarter, build trust,
clarity and connection for lasting impact. Kasha, how are you
doing today? I don't even know if that does full justice.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
You are such a treasure and it is an absolute
honor to get the opportunity to continue our conversation and
to be here, so thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Absolutely, I'll tell you what, Kosha, here's what I know.
Most of the people that I've come in contact with
that work with groups coaching, and I love just the
certain words so high performing women leaders. When I hear that,
that also.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Means that you have God has taken you.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
On a certain journey, because I've not met a high
impact woman that has not come through some things. And
we know that you didn't just wake up in twenty
twenty five doing what you're doing today. So give us
a little snapshot of your professional journey and how you
(03:46):
got to what you're doing today.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you for that. So I am very
open and people usually think I'm younger than I am
in forty five, and I've been doing this work for
twenty years. And my professional journey for the most of
my career has been in international development and I knew
(04:09):
what I wanted to do since I was fifteenen. I
had the incredible opportunity in high school to intern at
the Mission of Sudan in New York City and so
basically the UN is where the embassy was based in
nineteen ninety eight, and I got a chance to intern
(04:30):
there and from that point on, having been able to
go to the UN and witness it, I was like,
I want to work for the UN someday. And when
I was in my early twenties, I did I lived
in Sudan for a year and I worked for the
UN and I got a chance to really see some
powerful things and be a part of some really incredible work.
(04:53):
And so through my career it's really been dropping into
countries where USAID and State and DD have been present
and helping to facilitate strategy for those groups, So helping
to promote winning the hearts and minds in some rough places,
(05:14):
and helping folks to really say, Okay, what is it
that we want to accomplish here over the next five years.
How do we accomplish that? What's our roadmap, what's our
theory of how things will change? It's almost like if
you think of the back of the cereal box and
X marks the spot and there's like that dotted line,
It's okay, how do we what is our ex and
(05:37):
what are the milestones along the way, But then also
helping them to set up the processes and systems to say, okay, well,
let's erase that line and redraw it here because we
need to pivot. How do we do this in an
agile way? And that's really where my passion for work
(05:57):
and life has really come from is how do we
have an impact as organizations and companies and people, and
how do we do it with people at the center
of it. And it's been such an honor and privilege
to have my car career be in that space for
the last twenty years. And then, as many know, in
(06:21):
the beginning of this year, in early February, something's shifted
and USA was dismantled and is no more and the
international development community really and profession will never be the same,
and so we sort of lost our industry as a community.
(06:44):
And at that point I just sat back and I
was like, Okay, how can I continue to do this
meaningful work and how can I help other companies and
organizations do meaningful work? So it's still the same purpose,
it just looks a little bit different. And whether you're
(07:07):
in the middle of Afghanistan working with an organization USA
or whether you're working with a CEO and a boardroom,
there are some some real core commonalities and similarities. So
I became an executive coach. I got certified about four
years ago, so that was a part of my journey.
(07:29):
I was doing it informally for many years, and then
I'm I can actually get certified in this and you know,
have that nice little title behind my name. Sure, let's
let's go for it. Like a lot of people need
that title to feel like they can trust you. I'm like,
I'm down, I can do it. So I added that
to my toolbox. And yeah, and also part of my
(07:52):
journey has been okay, so there's there's the organizations, and
then there's the people. And how do you help build
cultures we sustain and help organizations thrive? Or how do
you help individuals that I coach build the village and
(08:13):
the community that will help them to thrive. So that's
been a big part of my journey. It's almost like
what are the things that have helped me? And how
do I now help others do it? And what are
the things that have helped my clients? And how do
I keep passing that along?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
My goodness, Kasha, there's so much in there, she said.
A big one is working, like you said, the backdrop
of going into different countries. When you think about where
you're at today, how does that how does that shape
(08:53):
how you interact with people? Because you know, out here
in the West and the US, we have a certain
you know, we have vernacular yeah, slang. Even on the
business side, we have different terminology. But when you go
in to another country, how have you kind of taken
a step back and learned from and being so well traveled,
(09:14):
how has it made you a better communicator with people?
Speaker 4 (09:19):
So I will say humility, staying and learning mode always
and being curious about people's stories and the context. Because
if you think about I'll use Sudan as an example.
(09:40):
My first time there was around two thousand and seven
and the country had been through twenty years of war. Wow,
and South Sudan was in the process of becoming their
own country. They now are, And it was the biggest
privilege and honor of my life to have been there
to see it become its own country, Like how many
(10:03):
people get to get to experience that. But part of
that was also understanding that there's so many organizations and
companies that went in and they hired people to do jobs,
and when the technical skills weren't there, when people weren't
learning quickly enough, they would just fire people. Now, if
(10:25):
you do this in the country that's been through twenty
years of war, that person who you fired ken and
has come back and shot you in the head. There's
a whole different context that you are dealing with, where
it is life or death. And what was so powerful
for me was even just how I speak now is different.
(10:50):
So I'm an Eastern European New Yorker. And the later
it gets, the more the New York accident comes out,
and you may even here's an Eastern being in there. Right,
But going into places, how am I speaking? And am
I speaking in such a way where people can understand
me even if they speak English. How we speak English,
(11:12):
even from state to state differs, right. I can get
an example of this. I cannot understand when my brother
in law speaks He is from South Carolina, but he
speaks a different English, and I have a hard time
and my husband often has to translate. It's things like
(11:33):
respecting other people's cultures. So there are where men won't
shake my hand because I am a woman, and I
like that, and that's okay. That is part of that culture.
Not pushing what I experience and what, you know, what
my expectations may be onto somebody else, being really cognizant
(11:55):
of the fact that if I am a white woman
from the West in some of these places, I am
going to be in a certain way, and how do
I cultivate an environment where people will lend their voice
and they will give their honest opinions and they because
they are the holders of all the wisdom. I am
just a guide or a facilitator. That's often the case,
(12:19):
whether you're whether I'm coaching an amazing woman leader or
whether I'm in these contexts, it's understanding, I am just
the guide. I am. I get to be a part
of your journey, and there's some tools that I have
to help along the way. But you are the holders
(12:42):
of the wisdom. Where the journey goes, you know better,
and in these places you partner and you co design
solutions because it's the people that know it, not us.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I think, Kasha, you when I think about even in scripture,
the keystone trait that you see mentioned as humility, and
so you relating that in a marketplace context is very
helpful because, like you said, you're going into another country
(13:21):
and another culture and you know, well, you know, I
do it this way, and they say, oh time out here,
we do it this way. So I can I can
imagine and thank you for all the different anecdotes for
what you've taken away from that was there a country
that you can remember, Kasha, where like, I know you
(13:43):
talked about humility, but was there a country that you
felt like you had a good handle on and then
when you got in there, you were like, this is
very different than what I originally anticipated.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
So did did you have an experience like that?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I mean, I think every place you go into is
going to be different than especially when you're going into
places like I can stand Afghanistan and Sudan's Outstudan it's
just uh yeah, it's I mean even Sudan in itself,
the North is very different from the South, and tribalism
(14:20):
is a is a big thing, and and understanding those
nuances I think, I think a big thing when early
early on in my travels when I started going into
these places was racism and the kind of ethnic clashes
(14:44):
and how different that looks everywhere you go. And what
it really taught me is how careful we have to
be when we start to lump people together or use
term like they those people and it's you know, I
(15:09):
don't want to get too political, but it's even in
the context of our country now where we get very
very different points of views, But how do we maintain
that we are together, we are in this together, we
are a people without without continuing to fuel the polarization.
(15:31):
I don't think that was ever God's plan for us
as his children, And I think that has been a
big lesson for me, going into places and seeing how
at the end of the day, we all just want
to be seen and we want to be heard and
(15:52):
we want to know that we matter. Going into an
IDP camp and sitting with women who just want to
tell you their stories.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Wow, that that is powerful in many different, many ways. So, Kasha,
what would you say You gave the professional background, you
talked about the different shifts and work in the trends
and even what happened in government. Now you're you're coaching.
(16:27):
Did you ever get a sense And maybe it was
because like many people, they don't know what coaching is
and then you realize what coaching is and it's like,
oh my god.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
But did you get a sense.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Years ago of when you first learned what coaching was?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Like?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Huh? I think I could? I think I can use that.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Was there a light bulb that went off for you
or did you just more find yourself in those circles
and say, okay, you know what I think this is
just this is a direction God is taking me. Let
me lean into the certifications and asking powerful questions.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Did you ever get a.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Sense though light bulb moment like yes, coaching?
Speaker 4 (17:11):
So I guess let me take a step back and
kind of give you my definition of coaching, because I
think it's coaching. So there's like therapy, and the way
I think therapy is the looking in the rear view
mirror and what are the things that have shaped me
from my childhood, from my past, from experiences that inform
(17:35):
how I show up today. And coaching is that it's
the it's the closing of the inside action gap. So
the inside action gap is you read all the books,
you listen to all the podcasts, you do all.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
The things, and you have grown in self awareness and
you've done all the therapy, and yet something is not
translating and me and I'll share more about me and
my story as we.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Talk, but for me, what was very powerful was coaching
was having someone in my corner where when it's very
forward looking, it's what are my goals and what are
my values and the actions that are coming out of
those values, how do those support the goals? And the
coach is the person that is in your corner that
(18:29):
provides the bumpers, Like if you think of bowling right,
they provide the bumpers for you to ensure that those
actions and those values actually get you to those goals.
And it's just leading you on that. It's not even leading,
(18:51):
it's partnering with you on that journey. And for me,
my first experience with a coach was so powerful because
I was like, first of all, I realized, I do this,
I do the self. My experience international development was in monitoring,
learning and evaluation, and what that really is is what
(19:14):
I described. That's you're leading people through strategy. You're facilitating
a process where people have an end goal and you're
trying to get them to articulate how do you want
to get there? How will you know you're on track?
And what are the ways? How are you measuring progress
towards that? And then through the facilitation, you're asking a
(19:36):
lot of different questions of them so that they can
have these aha moments of how they will do that.
And I love those moments. I love when people have
that realization of like, oh, I was thinking of doing
it this way, but if I ask these questions, I
manage things very differently, and that shift that happens, and
(20:00):
I remember when that happened for me. It happened in
two powerful ways. The first was when I had my
first executive coach and it was actually a very humble
time in my career. It was my first real, like
next level leadership position where I was supervising a lot
(20:21):
of people. And up to that point, I was a
leader because I got stuff done and I did things
on my own. And here I was with the team
and it was like and I had led groups in churches,
right like, but the church dynamic is different. In church.
If you're put in charge of like a family group
(20:41):
or a small group, people kind of just out of
respect will be like, yeah, you have this title, you
have this position. God put you there. Yes, we're going
to go along. That doesn't happen in the work force.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Not in the word. Oh God, put Kasha here.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Let me listen to your no, no, no, no no.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
You learn how to build trust. You need to learn
how to bring people along. And I needed to learn
that and I was actually the company I was transitioning.
The company that I was working for was a fairly
large company that were transitioning leadership, and the person who
(21:19):
ended up being in leadership was not the person whose
team I was on, and so I already knew I
was like on the hit list. But there were also
things that it exposed about my leadership were, man, I'm
not I haven't been effective, And through coaching I started
to learn honestly how to how to increase my emotional intelligence,
(21:43):
and without increasing my emotional intelligence, I also couldn't like
increase my spiritual death. Like as we become more emotionally intelligent,
we become our walk with God becomes deep and wider,
(22:03):
and formation that happens in that process is next level.
And there was that part of my journey. And then
there was the very personal I've only been married for
a year and a half, I'm forty five, and I
was single for a long time. And I found myself
(22:26):
in twenty nineteen, literally January twenty nineteen, working with a
relationship coach, and it changed my life. I probably would
not be with the person I am with today if
I hadn't had a relationship coach. And a few years
into that journey, I became one because I was like,
I really want to help single Christian women in their
(22:50):
thirties and up create the love that they want. And
I want to bust that whole happily ever after bubble.
And it's not about being chosen, and it's not about
finding your prince charming, but it's about you get to
create the relationship that you desire and want to have
(23:14):
to God's glory. And I saw this theme in the
coaching that I took part in, and the theme was
self trust, like it was getting to a place where
I could trust myself so that I could show up
in the actual values I profess. Because if you spoke
(23:35):
to me even a few years ago, I've been a
Christian for twenty years, and I would have always said
I love God, I love serving God's people. There's nothing,
literally nothing I won't do, and nowhere I will not go.
But if you looked at my life and my day
to day decisions, I was still trying to earn God's
love and I was still trying to earn love from people. Wow,
(24:02):
I had become a Christian. But then after I became
a Christian, I just became a Christian controlling perfectionist, right,
And so coaching helped me to come to realizations around
what story am I telling myself? And does that story
(24:22):
align with the values I profess? And am I showing
up in ways that align with how I want? Because
when my why, when my why aligns with Jesus's why
who I am? And I don't question my decisions and
(24:43):
I am proud of the choices I make. But when
that alignment isn't there, that's when we go from being
to striving. Oh yeah, And to strive is like how
do I get to what needs to happen next?
Speaker 5 (25:04):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (25:05):
It's literally this, it's going from this right to this.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's good. That's like John chapter fifteen. Abide in me
that is that's good. That's good.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
And less of me and more of you.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Right, yes, absolutely, on a day to day basic basis.
Even Wow, Kasha, you you mentioned that was one turning
point for sure, Well, is there any other big, like
god turning point that really shaped that shaped you for
(25:44):
today in twenty twenty five? Obviously you mentioned there's a
lot going on politically, relationally, racially, and I know I've
been recently. I've had a lot of conversations with people
over the over the coming month this year, and the
word two words keep coming out they're kind of different
(26:05):
sides of the same coin. I keep grit and resilience.
They keep coming back because I mean, Kasha, no, none
of us could have predicted what's happening in our country,
let alone the globe. And people are asking questions. People
are nervous, people are scared, and yet God is always
(26:30):
positions people. And so this is a time where not
leaning on ourselves, but what comes to mind for you
in your life, and maybe there's a turning point for
you where you can see how you know what that
I didn't really like that too much, but it prepared
(26:50):
me for today when you hear the terms grit and resilience.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Yeah, loaded question. So let me share a little bit
about my story. So I my family immigrated from Poland
to New.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
York City when I was five, and I pretty much
was raised by my grandmother and my mom. My dad
ended up immigrating to another place. My parents were divorced
at one but I grew up in a very rough
environment family wise. There was a point where my grandmother
(27:30):
has a lovely story or had a lovely story. She
was no longer with us. But and I wear these
scarves because these are all hers and like it's a
part of her with me. So when I go to
different events or I just wear these so to kind
of embody who she was. But she was a firecracker
(27:52):
of a woman who fell in love with what she
will say her true love in her at six three
and she moved to the UK. I was still very young,
and my mom was just she had an amazing heart.
She just wasn't built for being a mom. And there
(28:17):
are things that she it's the generational curses. There were
things that she was not equipped for. And I had
a very rough childhood growing up in New York City,
and there were things that were fairly scary in my household.
(28:41):
And there's a lot of violence. Thank goodness, none of
it was directed at me. I kind of managed to
move move around and through it.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
There was a lot of emotional and and kind of
psychological abuse. It just wasn't a safe place. And so
when I was sixteen, I moved out on my own.
I moved out on my own at sixteen, and I
very quickly learned how to create community that feels like
(29:15):
family around me. I became a Christian at seventeen, and
that community really showed me this is what love healthy
love looks like. This is what forgiveness looks like. This
is what it looks like to be in relationships with
(29:36):
people who are very different than you, who may not
think like you, may not sound like you. To give
you an idea, I grew up in the inner city,
So I grew up there were some friends that were
in gang gangs. There were some friends that were absolutely
nowhere near that right. There were people of all different backgrounds,
(29:57):
And when I got to college, I I was the
only white girl at the all black lunch like dinner table,
lunch table, whatever you want. And the challenge I actually
got from my women's ministry leader was like, try becoming
friends with other people that have another different experience than you.
(30:20):
And I learned so much through those different experiences that
shaped me. But I think with my walk with God,
the pivotal moments for me were kind of moving out
on my own. Of course, becoming a Christian that was huge.
(30:41):
Becoming a Christian in community with people who were living
out discipleship, who walked me and taught me how to
live out discipleship, people who were willing to tell me
the truth and expose my blind spots, and those were
(31:01):
huge moments and the next kind of what I what
I call my job era, so to speak, was there
was I had been in a relationship in my early
thirties that I thought would lead to marriage, and when
that ended, that really rocked my world and rocked my faith,
because my prayer before that was, you know, the first
(31:23):
person I date, God, I prayed that they're my husband,
you know, And I feel like there's a lot of
women that may pray that. And when that did not happen,
I was devastated. And I think that was a point
in time where I realized that little girl inside of
me she was still very much alive, and I hadn't
(31:45):
surrendered her fully to God. I was still protected. And
as a result of that, there were choices I made
that were just just hurtful to at the time the
per that I loved the most. And if you would
have talked to at that time the person I was with,
(32:08):
they would have said things like, Kasha, you don't know
how to apologize. I'm sorry, but or here's why I
did X y Z. And he would have said, there
are times where I feel like I don't know what
version of you I'm going to get if I'm going
to get the like happy, loving version or if I'm
(32:29):
going to get like the really angry and distrut version. Right,
there was just a lot of things that in that relationship.
I got to see a mirror and I was like, Wow,
I don't this isn't who I want to be. And
as as I went through a very real and very
(32:50):
heartbreaking breakup that I thought would literally break me, like emotionally,
I was like, this feels like I'm going to die,
but I was like, this hasn't destroyed me? Then God,
what else can I What can I actually withhold from you?
When like there's nothing left to hold back? It just
(33:12):
might as well just give you everything. And remember an
incredible mentor who said she gave me a challenge. She said, Kasha,
there are some things that are your blind spots, and
a powerful exercise for you would be to go to
the people that know you, really know you. Talk to
(33:34):
your roommate, talk maybe to some trusted colleagues, talk to
your best friends, people who are like your family, and
ask them to be honest with you. Tell them that
you know this conversation will be hard and difficult, but
you really desire to know what your blind spots are
(33:54):
and give permission to speak into it. And when I
had those conversations, that was a huge shift because I
got to because one I was ready, I was ready
to hear it, and two I wanted to grow and change,
(34:17):
didn't want to stay the same. That was a huge
thing for me. And that next milestone was that job
phase where I was working for a refugee placement organization
and my position and like thirty others were eliminated. It
was the first, the first Trump administration, so I within
(34:43):
three days, I lost my grandmother, who was received at
the time, they lost her body. There was a lot
of things happening. I lost my job, and the person
I was living with at the times, who had just
signed a lease, was like, this isn't working for me.
I'm just going to move out. And so I was like, well,
(35:03):
I lost my grandmother, the person that was most like
a mother to me. I lost my job, and I
lost was about to lose where I was living in
a matter of days. And I remember that was such
a crisis of faith for me, and I remember it's
(35:24):
what helped me to redefine the borders of what I
see as community in my village up to that point,
I would have said, it's just my church community because
they were I was so engaged and I was so involved,
and but at that time, what ended up happening, and
Jesus can totally relate to this on me is the
(35:47):
people that I thought were going to be there weren't.
The people that I had called on and depended on
weren't able to be there. And the people that started
showing up for me were people in my cross community.
They were the fos that were like, you know, because
the people at church were like, I'll pray for you,
it'll all work out, and that's great and good. But
(36:08):
I didn't need that. What I got from my CrossFit
community was the friend that said, you can come live
with me, wow, and we'll figure out rent. We'll figure
it all out. You can come stay with me. You
will not be homeless. And another friend called and she
was like, man, your grandmother just passed away. Just come over.
We're having some people over. Just come spend time. You
(36:30):
shouldn't be alone. And moments like that, send me your resume,
I'll send it out. We'll figure it out. And I
realized God doesn't just use believers, he uses everyone. He
did it for Elijah, and he was doing it for me.
(36:52):
And that was the next kind of big pivotal moment
for me in my faith. And I think if it
hadn't been for those things, the kind of Okay, you
can't earn your way and things aren't going to look
like the way you think they should like you're supposed
to be, really why, but be open to the how
(37:16):
and the what so good that changes everything. Those things
set me up then for all the other things, right,
for the coaching, for how I build and teach others
how to build their village and their community, how I
(37:39):
help organizations to build culture, all of it, all of it.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Wow, Kasha.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
One, thank you for your vulnerability and transparency because I
know that.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Throughout your lifetime.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I know you had to build up to the point
to where you could share that, having been through some
things myself. So one, I do not take that lightly.
Number two, Everyone, as you're listening, do you hear how
God has fashioned her as a cook? So I, ladies,
I'm looking right at you. Leadies, Kasha has been built
(38:21):
for this. She can look you I to eye and say,
you know, where are you currently at and where are
you trying to go? I've also been some places and
God has given me some gifts and insight and I'm
here to walk alongside you. We're also going to talk
(38:42):
about blind spots and things.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
That you may have to let go.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And so, folks, just hearing Kasha's story and what she'd
been through, I'm telling you she's a coach and I
always think about esther here.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
Kasha.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
You know when Mordecai asked the the you know, rhetorical
question for who knows if you're called for a time
such as this, I know, even just from talking to
Kasha offline.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
She's built for this.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
So, ladies, if you're looking for a coach, I'm telling
you the Trusted Edge and I love that name of
the of the business, Kasha, the Trusted Edge. So where
can people learn more about you?
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Kasha?
Speaker 2 (39:25):
On the website? Social media? Where can they go to
find out more?
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Yeah? So I'm Strong Girl for Life on Instagram all
overcase just just does it spelled Strong Girl for Life
on Instagram. I am Kasha k a s I a
Polish spelling at the Trusted Edge dot com and I'm
(39:50):
Kasha Kedzia Hatcher on LinkedIn.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Yeah, and the trusted edge. Dot com is the website
all overcase altogether. The trust is dot com and the
name was born out of when we trust ourselves and
really we trust ourselves when we trust God, right, but
(40:16):
trust in God takes years and there's layers. Right when
we can get to a place where we trust ourselves.
And what that means is where your why aligns with
your values, your why aligns with Jesus's why. That's where
you can trust yourself. And when you trust yourself, then
(40:36):
you can build communities of trust. Then you can build
organizations of trust. Because I was part of communities before
before I trusted myself that weren't healthy where I was
still striving. I was still trying to prove my worth
(40:59):
or earn my worth. And some of those communities were
even church communities. I did a lot. I worked more,
people work harder, you know, like do more, serve more,
and and it I remember having this feeling like it
was all to to keep myself from feeling like I
(41:19):
was invisible or to feel like, well, I you know,
I got myself here. You know, I think there are
a lot of women out there where if they look
at their success, you did it on your own, and
you work through some hard stuff and you did it
on your own, and now you're probably hitting a place.
(41:43):
If you're coming to see me, you're hitting a place
and you're recognizing I can't do it on my own anymore.
What brought me here isn't working anymore. And I want
the skills to build my village. I want the I
want to ask people what my blind spots up are,
and I want to learn how to bring people along.
(42:03):
Or I want to learn how to take my business
from where it is to the next level because it's growing,
but I'm still the main person running everything. Even though
I have all this staff and all these people, the
big important things, they still they still rest with me, right,
Or I have that next level position, But why aren't
(42:24):
these people listening to me? Right? And I've been there
and my clients have been there, and you have testimonials
on my website, and you know, I that is what
I feel like. My biggest passion around coaching is it's
(42:45):
not for the elite. Coaching is not for the elite.
And I saw someone I follow on LinkedIn actually said
that they're like, you know, I learned. You know, I
used to think coaching was for the elite until I
got a coach and then you know, it's what gets
you elite. And I'm like, I don't buy into that
last part. I do buy into it is not for
(43:06):
the elite. And I think, especially in this time, in
this economy where there is so much scarcity, so much polarization,
so much fear, there are so many women leaders that
are incredible that could literally move planets. There are so
many women stepping out of the federal government space looking
(43:29):
for work and feeling like what is this going to
look like? And I feel like it shouldn't be a
privilege to be able to show up in your values
and lead from your values. It should just everyone should
have access to that. And that's that's my passion is
(43:52):
I want every woman to be able to kind of
stand in her her inner power in authority and what
that really is, to stand in God's spirit, to fully
stand in God's spirit and who she is and how
she's been created in being and not striving, and whether
(44:16):
that's in a leadership position or in in her love life. Right, Like,
that's the other part of this is like you can
have that relationship. It's not too late, You're not too old.
You're not whatever you your dot dot dot is right.
I often tell people like, don't should on yourself. Well
I should have I stood to it right, Stop shoulding right.
(44:43):
I was the biggest shoulder right. But again it's like,
if you're clear on your why, but open to your
how and your what, man, God can do some incredible things.
Those setterns, right, the empty cisterns. I mean the oh
my gosh, that passage in Jeri Maya where for the
people literally God's abundance was with them but they just
(45:06):
didn't see it. I remember that can. That convicted me
so much, to the point where anytime I'm in a
position where I feel like there's scarcity and lack, I
stop and remind myself my God, our God is a
god of abundance. That means if I am feeling scarcity,
(45:28):
it's not He is not withholding. There's something in my
perspective that's limited I need. I am not seeing his
abundance because of there's something I am blocking. But his
abundance is always there, right, And that's that's there's such
(45:50):
there's such power, and it convicts me every time I'm like, okay,
just be what is what is in front of me gratitude, right, like, Okay,
how do I show up in these ways? So good?
Speaker 3 (46:13):
So good?
Speaker 2 (46:13):
So Kasha, basically, you just read a lot of people's meal.
You've probably described four or five different.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Type of women that are like, oh, I think she
might have been talking about me.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
So if you feel that in your gut, you probably
need to reach out and we'll have will have Kasha's
information in the show notes, so you need to go
back and re listen to the episode. So that was
one in second Kasha, you're just so encouraging and when
you talk to her, folks, you feel that the very
(46:52):
first time I met her, you just you know, when
people say you feel me, she doesn't even have to
say that. When you walk away from her, you felt
her and that and God has just given her that
unique ability. Kasha, before we go, because folks, now you're
understanding why I said in advance that she had to
(47:12):
come back. You should know by now why I said that.
So she'll be back like the Avengers movies, she'll she'll
return for a part two. But Kasha, what are you
excited about? You know we're in the kind of the
the Twilight of twenty twenty five and a lot of
(47:32):
people are already starting to make twenty twenty six plans
and goals and milestones. But what are you excited about
as we close the year and as we look forward
into twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (47:46):
Yeah, I think gratitude is so important for me especially.
I think there have been some really hard things this
year that we have all experienced and individually and as
a as a as a people. And I know that
(48:10):
there are a lot of people that are like, I
just want this to be over, and people who want
to claim the next year, and and and and for me,
what I am excited about is sitting getting still and
silent with God and listening. Two, what are the lessons
(48:36):
to bring into the next year? And for me, every year,
I choose a word or a theme. Usually it's a
word for the theme, and then there's a scripture associated
with that and I walk the year with that. No,
I'll be careful what you choose, because usually that's the
(48:57):
thing that's like God's like, oh, that's what you want
to work on. Just to give you an idea, I mean,
my theme for this year was slow down, just to pause,
to slow down, and that was a challenge with everything happening,
(49:19):
losing my profession, moving across country, buying our first home,
starting a business, all within a matter of a very
short period of time, a few months, building my new
(49:39):
village and community. Yeah, it's it's almost like inertia and
working against it. And so I think as the year
comes to a close, I hope everyone can take some
time to slow down and reflect and just be present
(50:00):
with God and mourn. If you need to mourn, make
time and space to mourn. Celebrate. There's always things to celebrate. Celebrate,
like I love you were saying that you hit your
your episode mark or milestone. Did you blow off the
(50:22):
cannon with you?
Speaker 3 (50:24):
Know that? Right?
Speaker 4 (50:26):
It's so important how we define My biggest thing is
how you define success matters. And your definition of success
is reliant on other people or other circumstances. My encouragement is,
is there a way for you to shift your definition
of success that is within your sphere of control, with
(50:50):
your manageable interests, so to speak, because that will help
you to celebrate those steps of successes. And also, I
am a huge, huge fan of holidays, and I am
that person that I am. Christmas by far my favorite
(51:14):
and I am so excited for the twinkly lights and
the hot cocoa and the times of connection with family
and friends over meals. I love bringing people from my
different walks of life together. So I do a cookie
(51:34):
exchange and I host that. I'm so excited to host
that here and just bring the different people in my
life together to meet. And you know this, it's like
when people you know would have never met, but you
get to connect them and you're like, you have to
meet this person, right, and then like they become friends
(51:55):
and they start hating even if it's without you. You're like, yes,
this is amazing. Yeah, the holidays are are that for me.
There's such a great opportunity to do that and to
as we reconnect of course like watching The Chosen Right,
but like the real mesmis and how we get to
(52:17):
celebrate in community, but how we get to draw people
in because I think holidays can be and for many
years for me, it can be such a lonely time
and so there's also an opportunity to to not make
it that for people.
Speaker 3 (52:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:38):
So yeah, so those are all my kind of things.
Speaker 2 (52:42):
My goodness, folks, slow down, have gratitude, appreciate the holidays,
and eat some cookies.
Speaker 3 (52:52):
That's what I gathered.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
I love that with friends, Yes, with friends, specifically with friends.
You could always eat cookies by yourself, but cookies are
better when you eat when you eat them with people. Yeah,
that's for sure. Well, folks, we have to have Kasha
back for a part two because there's just I said
this earlier, there's just not enough time. And once again
(53:17):
I look at her and I'm smiling, and it's a conversation.
Speaker 3 (53:21):
I know.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Everybody listening was like, Wow, that was so good, I know,
which is why we're.
Speaker 3 (53:25):
Going to do it again in the future.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
So Kasha will return. We'll work out the dates and whatnot.
But Kasha, I can't thank you enough for hanging out
with us here on the Fortified Life podcast. So much fun,
so insightful, so transparent. Can't wait for you to come back.
Speaker 4 (53:45):
Thank you. Thank you so much for who you are
and for creating this space. It is invaluable and I'm
so inspired by you and honored to be here. Thank you, Jason,
you are.
Speaker 2 (53:56):
More than welcome. Well, folks, this is what God allows
us to do here on the Fortified Life and that's
all we have time for today. But make sure you
Tune in every week livestream eight thirty pm or on
demand on your platform of choice Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, our
YouTube channel where you can physically see us. You can
(54:18):
see us those who are watching on YouTube, so at
the Fortified Life. But definitely share what God is doing.
Make sure to like, share and subscribe. We'll have all
of Kasha's information in the show notes. Trust me you
will know how to reach out to her.
Speaker 3 (54:35):
Well, folks, that's.
Speaker 2 (54:36):
All we have time for here on the Fortified Life today.
Remember you know how we end things. Don't compartmentalize your
faith in the marketplace and from the boardroom to the bathroom,
God is with you. We'll see you next time on
the Fortified Life podcast.
Speaker 1 (54:57):
Thank you for listening to the Fortified Life podcast us.
You can catch us live on Wednesdays at eight thirty
pm Eastern times and on demand. Check out Fortifiedlive podcast
dot com for more details. So learn how to live
out your faith in the marketplace. Grab a copy of
Jason Davis's books Fortify Being Rooted in God's Plan for
(55:18):
Work in Business, Available on Amazon
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