What does it take to leave a 15-year career in tech at companies like Google and leap into the beauty industry? Kara Brothers, former President of StarFace (those iconic star-shaped pimple patches), opens up about her journey from feeling like she wasn't thriving in corporate America to scaling a startup from $5 million to $100 million in revenue. In this raw conversation, she shares the truth about navigating career uncertainty, building self-worth outside of performance reviews, and why the traditional definition of success might be keeping you boxed in. If you've been waiting for permission to pivot, this is your sign.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Like check one two one two, Let's do this. Welcome
back to the Switch Pivotal Quip podcast. I'm your host,
Ayana Angel, and this is a space where we get
candid with our conversations around professional and personal development so
that we can help you get the courage and the
clarity that you need for your next chapter. If you
(00:27):
have never been here before, I never shared space with us,
welcome And if you've been around and you're not new
to this, you're true to this, Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's a pleasure to have you here. Today.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
We're gonna be talking with someone who I greatly enjoyed
sharing space with. She made a huge professional pivot, and
I want to get.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Into what her story looked like and how she nailed
that pivot.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
The she that I'm speaking of is car Brothers, the
president of Star You know those iconic star shaped pimple
patches that have completely changed the game on how gen
Z thinks about pimples, acne their skin and being in
public with said acne.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
But here's the plot twist.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Cars can start out in beauty. She actually spent fifteen
years in tech, working at places like Google and leading
grid Ai, another tech company, through a fifteen million dollar
Series A funding round, all while earning her NBA. Eventually,
she went on to make this career changing lead to Starface,
(01:35):
and we'll hear more about that in our chat, but
that is a space where I feel like she really
found her footing. She's been able to mastermind these in
demand product launches, expand the brand internationally, and helped the
company create a culture that feels vibrant, fun, approachable, just
(01:57):
like their products. Under cars leadership, if Starface has been
able to do some pretty remarkable things. Number One, they
turned acne from something that people hide into something that
they sort of celebrate, and if nothing else, they are
definitely more comfortable with it than ever. So if you've
ever wondered how to pivot industry successfully, lean into your
(02:18):
inner knowing and break out of that career rut that
may be holding you back, you're gonna want to listen
to what Kara has to say. Let's get into it
quick production Note this conversation was filmed prior to Car's
exit as the president of Starface. Kara, Welcome to the
Switch Pivot or quick podcast. How are you feeling today?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Oh, thank you, thank you. I love to be here.
I love switch pivots all the time. I'm feeling great.
I got a lot to be thankful for, so I'm
anchoring on that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I've been researching you, finding out more about you. You
are super impressive in a very relatable and humble type
of way, which I appreciate. So I would love to
know if you had to describe yourself in a couple words,
how would you describe yourself? And how do you think
other people would describe you?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Coming in hut, I love it, thank you. How would
I describe myself? Well, I'm ever evolving and I'm ever changing, right,
and so like, I have to use a word that
encompasses that, because why I'm so interested to talk to
you is that I am inherently really interested in that
switch and in that pivot for myself. So I'll say
(03:31):
one is I'm adaptable. Two is I am genuinely sincere.
I really believe in human beings. So there's something really
genuine about just a baseline level of wanting to understand
and wanting to see people and be seen for exactly
who we are, or at least who we're trying to be.
(03:53):
I am honest and direct and don't have a lot
of mental space for negativity kind of things like, yeah,
I'll just say gossip or unnecessary frustrations and intentions. So
I'll kind of like, let's get past all that and
keep it and keep it moving a little bit. Yeah,
(04:13):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Would how do you think other people would describe you?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And that could be in the office, that could be
at home, your friendships, how do you think they would
describe you?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Oh, my goodness, I love that. It's almost like scary
to think about. But you know, I'm like, this thing
of being perceived is, you know, the new thing online,
and I'm I try to think less about that if
I'm honest. But as I'm learning, our superpowers are usually
also our weaknesses in some way. So I'll say, because
I love change, I think people would say I'm kind
(04:46):
of a change agent. I can see the future and
see things, you know, way past where people usually are. However,
I think on the flip side, people might say I'm
kind of scatterbrained, maybe indecisive, maybe like I'm not great
at going deep in the details, because I'm really up
(05:07):
here bouncing from big topic to big topic. M h.
I'm also genuinely like here to enjoy my life as
best as I can. So I think people would say
I'm fun and I'm like outgoing. But on the flip
side again, is that like I kind of pick and
choose where I can light that up. And so people
(05:27):
might say that there's like a flakiness where it's like
I might not respond to you just because you hit
me up immediately, Like I kind of take my time
with stuff like that. Yeah, that's kind of what's coming
to mind.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, I feel like you are so self aware. And
self awareness is one of those things that people talk
about and they throw around that word now is one
of those like trendy terms. But I think that where
you really dig in on that is the things that
(06:00):
can be perceived as positives and negatives. And I think
sometimes people think that they're self aware because they know
the positives about themselves, But.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
What about the things that I might not be perceived
a positive?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And I'm wondering, have you always been in tune in
this type of way or did it take some time
for you to develop sort of like distrust and understanding
of yourself.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Oh so beautiful. Thank you for asking that, and I
love that for all of us. You know, my truth
is I've always been this way, even as a child.
I would lean on like grounding practices always as a
young person, and I would dig into In high school,
I would be reading deep texts like Eckartole and some
(06:46):
of the stuff with my friends. However, however, that got lost.
I think it got lost when I went to college,
which was a rigorous academic environment, not that my high
school wasn't, but it was different. And then I encountered,
you know, more bad grades, a lot of different kinds
(07:07):
of people who I wasn't interacting with on a day
to day basis. And then I entered corporate America and
wasn't necessarily thriving in that way, and so it definitely
went dark er for a nice two decade fifteen year period,
and now it's all re emerging again in a new way,
(07:29):
which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, it's a beautiful cycle that we don't expect, can't
plan for, but we got to appreciate it and love.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
It exactly exactly, and like trust the process.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Right yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Okay, so you said, and this is why I'm gravitating
to you, because you said something that I feel like
people don't want to say. Everyone wants to paint the
picture that they are the best at everything that yes,
they may have made some misass and they've learned some
things that along the way, and oh, I have these lessons.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I don't think of a mistakes. I think of them
as lessons.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
But I'm here now, you know. And you could rightfully say, yes,
I'm here now. Yeah, but you said I wasn't necessarily
thriving in corporate America and my career that I was in,
and that and the way the direction maybe that you
were going, Yeah, talk to us a little bit more
about that.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
What did that feel like?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Did you have some moments where you're just like questioning
it all and when you say like, I wasn't necessarily thriving,
what does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean there's so much there. What I
do want to call out that is back to that
superpower flaw dual sides of all of us, is that
my approach that is grounded and humble maybe hasn't served
me and might not serve me for my next phase
(08:59):
because I do believe like, no, I'm learning. I'll say
that no one is going to think you're that unless
you know that within yourself and speak that out. And
so I'm definitely something that I'm growing to as well,
where it's like, yo, I have a lot to offer,
(09:21):
and it is flaws and all, absolutely, but that does
not diminish this absolute high caliber that I'm bringing. So
it is this, you know, you know, as we're getting
to know each other, it is always this layers and
this nuance that just is I'm really passionate about.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Because you're honest when you say something like I wasn't
necessarily thriving, right, I feel like I have not heard
those words come out of people's mouths, especially sitting in
the type of position that you're sitting in, because there's
an emphasis on I made some mistakes, you know, and
they treat it like isolated incidents instead of I've grown
(10:03):
to get to where I am, But maybe it wasn't
always so pretty my growth process.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Either, Yes, yes, yes, okay. That is coming from a
place and a desire to serve others and a desire
to progress the way that we think about so many things,
But in that context, it's growth and climbing the corporate
(10:31):
ladder and just speaking about that truthfully, because my journey
was really lonely when I was getting a horrible performance
review and not meeting expectations, and I felt like I
needed to hide that at the time, and you feel
(10:51):
so bad about it, You feel so shameful and embarrassed
when actually, a sure maybe there were things I needed
to fix and grow from. That's fine. Two, there are
also a lot of other factors going on and making
these decisions, especially as in a huge corporate environment. So
my point is that shedding light on things in general,
(11:14):
rather than hiding and just like living in the shame,
I believe is our future if I'm honest with you,
and it's definitely helped my future progress. So that's my
base case for speaking so honestly. But I can't lie.
It's also because now people see me as this successful leader,
So what I have said this five years ago, I
(11:35):
have absolutely no idea, probably if I'm honest. But also
I can't lie that there's a certain level of confidence
that others have in me now that probably is serving
me for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
A part of your story, and I want you to
share a little bit of this as well, is that
when someone believes in you, it gives you a different
type of battery in your back. When someone looks at
you and says I think you can do this, and
they maybe even something in you that you haven't quite
seen in yourself, or it's something like under the surface
(12:07):
but you haven't really tapped into it yet. Talk to
me a little bit about what that transition was like
from tech to beauty and I'm sure there's elements of
tech within the beauty space that you're working in right
now with Starface, and just kind of talk to me
about what that transition was like for you.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, yeah, so so interesting. You know, it's You're exactly right.
I was trying to leave my big corporate job for
several years because I knew I wanted to be in
an entrepreneurial environment because I'm inherently a builder, back to adaptable.
I like ambiguity, I like change, I like making hard decisions.
(12:47):
That's just kind of in my DNA. But no one
was really taking that chance on me. For years and years. Somehow,
I was still following what I knew I wanted, even
in the face of so much rejection, because I also
knew that I wasn't in the right place for me
aka Google and a very very large, corporate, structured environment.
(13:11):
So as I was searching for jobs leaving tech I
met the founders of Starphase, and that's exactly what happened.
For one of the first few times in my professional life.
Brian Bourdainik was like, I think you can do this,
you know, like let's see, let's figure it out, but
(13:31):
let's go. And I was just like, thank you, I
love this. I can do that. And you're solely right,
like it does give you that battery, absolutely, But I
think about, like, what if you don't have someone take
a chance on you, I don't know, And I think about, yeah, yeah,
I know, I know.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Like and so many people don't have that, and so
it's like, what do you do and how do you
pour into yourself in that interim because I do believe
that most of it we'll encounter our time where somebody
takes a chance on us, whether it's big or small.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We have to just be able to see it. But like,
what do we do.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
In that interim time when you were facing those rejections
and not getting ahead maybe air quest like you thought
you wanted to in those ways, what were you doing
for yourself and how did you sort of like keep going.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, I really love that. You said something that was
really interesting. You said big or small? And being able
to see those that, you know, the opportunities or the
little glimmers. I was reflecting on our conversation, and I
was thinking that what I learned from Google and from Grid,
the AI company I worked at for just a brief time,
was this this resiliency that I didn't even know that
(14:48):
I was building, like we were talking about, because it
was high stress sometimes because I was sad sometimes and
confused and lonely, I did have to develop tools. Of
those tools that have served me and will continue are
developing a rich life outside of work, frankly, you know,
like have other places that fill you up, but also
(15:11):
a really sound internal world. You know. I've had some
bouts of anxiety that it's so weird, it's almost gone
away because I've done so much work to just develop
myself and my self worth, which is not something that
was like talked about in my household when I was young.
So I think, right, and it's so everything. So I'm
(15:32):
a mom and I think about, like, Okay, I got
to get this in your brain early. It's crazy because
otherwise it's so easy to listen to other people and
listen to the environment that you're in and determine your
value and even determine your next steps. I was thinking
(15:52):
about switching and pivoting, and I was just thinking, like
how easy it is to let inertia or safety or
control keep us where we are, even though we know,
we know we want more. It's not right, and it's
just because we feel like, Okay, this is safe. I
know this, and I've heard a lot of people talk
about this on your podcast. But it's hard.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's still hard, Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
You have to face yourself in the mirror in a
different type of way go if you want to make
those changes, and you have to like number one, you
have to hype yourself up, but number two, you have
to say to yourself, like, I have to trust myself
that the decisions that I'm making are okay, and even
if they don't always feel okay, like the results don't
(16:37):
always feel okay, Ultimately I know that I'm always gonna
do what's best for my greater good.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
And I feel you.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
When you say that as well, because like that is
the position that I was sitting in.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I didn't have my finger on the pulse of like what.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Exactly I should be doing if I were to walk
away from this role in sports pr and all of this.
But I knew that I wasn't where I was supposed
to be, and I think that is the start, right
as long as you know, like, this is not where
I'm supposed to be, I don't feel this in my
gut that this is where I'm supposed to be, then
(17:12):
you can just take that from there and start pouring
into yourself and figuring out, Okay, well, if I know
this much, I can start here right and then just
go from there.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Ooh, I know it's getting.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Good, but we'll be right back after we hear from
our sponsors. So how does instinct in your intuition play
into your decision making, whether it be for your life
and what's ahead for you as well as your day
to day with being the president of Starface.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, yeah, it's important. And I'm also I think things
are changing now. But intuition and that feeling knowing that
all of us have has been under appreciated. You know,
it's been termed as like woo woo or not logical,
and I love that that's changing because the human experience,
(18:11):
like knowing what you were talking about, knowing what's right
business instincts, I feel are not any different necessarily. So
I do have a very strong intuition, a very strong
gut sense. I can feel it in my body when
something's feeling right or feeling wrong. And I can feel
that with Cubans relationships that I'm building at work. I
(18:34):
can feel that with business decisions too, But I don't
That doesn't mean that I lean on that one hundred percent.
But I'm like, Okay, okay, this is kind of what
you think. This is your gut, Let's like test that out.
Let's talk to a bunch of people, Let's ask a
bunch of questions. I'm definitely the type of leader that
is very collaborative, which is you know, again good and bad.
(18:54):
But I like to hear what everybody has to say
and just like let that filter through my psyche kind
of and then make that decision. But I don't shy
away from intuition at all.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Talking about leadership, You've mentioned before that you had an
idea of the type of leader that you wanted to
be based on previous experiences. So talk to me a
little bit about like, once you stepped into this role,
what did you do to prepare? Yeah, you know, like
prepare yourself because I'm imagining that you knew this was
(19:26):
an undertaking unlike anything you had really ventured into before.
So what did you do to prepare yourself for this
grander stage of leadership? Maybe, let's say, and then like,
how do you sort of approach leadership right now in
this moment because I know it's evolving.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, it was. It was a huge transformation for me
to go step into this role and want to do
my absolute best day after day. The first thing that
I did was, I do you all? I think networking
and developing your network is something that I did not
(20:06):
realize was so important until this role. And I'm talking
it could be friends, it could be your friend group
that are you in a do you have enough friends?
Or one friend that you can call when you're upset
in over your skis or anything. And then it is
that professional network. And it should be some people who
(20:29):
are who have done this before for sure, but it
also doesn't need to be It could be people who
are more junior than you, but are maybe really creative
and are great thought partners. So I did just start
to build out this robust network of people that I
could call on, and for me, I made sure that
it wasn't just one type of person, It wasn't all women,
(20:52):
it wasn't all CEOs. But I was just like, I
know that I'm going to need people to help me.
So that was something that I invested in early too.
Is of course, I had a therapist and a coach
and all kinds of people who were helping me get
my own stuff together and make sure that I knew
(21:12):
my gotcha's, like where am I super insecure for sure?
So that I don't let that trip me up? Just
something that I can notice, which I think is like
one of my best things of knowing because in the
beginning I was probably trying to overcompensate in some ways
based on my previous experience, like Okay, well then I'm
going to do this and that didn't work. So I
(21:34):
had to really learn how to be like Kara the
president and not someone else the president that I was
trying to pretend to be.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Basically, Yeah, how do you approach developing talent within your organization?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
M H, That's one of my favorite things to do.
I usually like to set some clear expectations, set the priorities,
and then leave people alone. And my leadership style is
more like thought partner in the kitchen. Let's go, I
can be the decision maker. But that's kind of how
I'm developing, and that's what's worked best for me too,
(22:13):
where it's less like obviously it's never a micromanaged kind
of situation, but it's also not like I'm here if
you need me like ask me questions. It's you can
see how my brain is working, how I'm thinking about this,
So let's workshop it together and then hopefully that'll have
you growing, not because you're trying to emulate me, but
(22:34):
because we're in this dialogue and problem solving together.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
What are your thoughts around women in business right now?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Are there any narratives that you're like, Ah, don't exactly
agree with that.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah, I'm here for all the leaders who are conscious,
self aware ego lists, open minded leaders, women, men, whatever.
But I know how hard it is for women to
get in these positions, so I'm always gunning for them,
for sure. But I do believe that there can be
(23:11):
a change in how leaders operate, how and how they work,
and I don't necessarily know that. I feel like sometimes
when a woman gets into a leadership position as I
was when I was just starting out as the president
of Starface. You're trying to emulate someone else, or you're
pushing the same narratives of whatever example that have been
(23:35):
around in the past. You know, you've got to work
a ton work all the time, like you know, kind
of with the iron fist, it's sacrifice, sacrifice, sacriface. That's
the name of the game, or you know, And I'm
just like, I don't know if that's the future or
if it needs to be the present either. And you know,
(23:56):
our whole conversation is about like both things being true.
You can run a super profitable, you know, capitalist business,
but also understand that people work in different ways.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
They also work in different times.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
You know, getting the most productivity out of your people
might mean different things for different people at different times
of the day. So that flexibility of us as human beings,
I feel like I'm not seeing that much of which
I'm happy to basically.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, I think that's why you are so refreshing, because
it doesn't feel like you're trying to check the boxes
of the status quo of what a leader looks like
and what a successful company looks like, and what you
have to embody to be the leader of a successful company,
and Starface is successful. So go ahead and pop your
(24:54):
issue real quick and tell us how successful it.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Is and what role you played in that that?
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Yeah, why not? Right?
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (25:03):
So I was maybe the sixth seventh eighth employee at Starface.
I joined and I'm basically a chief of staff role
that was called the SVP of Strategic Initiatives or something,
which was a title that I made up. And I
started off organizing drop box, organizing town halls and just
(25:26):
kind of getting the infrastructure in the operations of the
business together. That was about five million dollars in revenue
at that time. Since I've been running and leading the business,
we've grown from that, you know, single digit employees to
around fifty. We've grown from that five million to around
one hundred million dollars in revenue. We turned from a
(25:49):
not profitable business to a profitable business. And you know,
we have a fairly happy, healthy work environment, fully remote
people live everywhere. There's different ages, different demos, and we're
all doing this together. And you know, with that, of course,
(26:12):
it's never just one person. We know that there are
founders are super involved in the business. Like I mentioned,
I have a absolute a team that does all of this,
but I was leading the charge, which I am very proud.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
To say, as you should be. Okay, she did that.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
I love it, yes, And that's one of those things
that I feel, and I think we kind of touched
on it before that we don't always give ourselves enough credit,
especially when we're in the midst of things, because the
power that we have, in the amazingness that's within us,
(26:53):
sometimes we can overlook it and take it for granted
and think that this is normal.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
But honey, what you've done is not normal. Okay, it
is not normal.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
And I want to continue to see you get all
of your flowers because you are doing things to me
and my opinion in a different way. And I love that.
I love seeing how humble but approachable but boss but
all these things you embody all at the same time.
And so I'm sure your team enjoys working with you
(27:25):
and getting to see.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
All those facets as well.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I hope so.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
And I appreciate that absolutely.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Every day I try to wake up being myself as
we spell the quotes on Instagram.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
It's hard.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I go through my own life cycle every day where
I wake up. Okay, I'm a little bit depressed. I'm
a little something got on my nerves, something hurt my feelings.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Okay, you got it, you got it.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Medical work. You know, it's the same Cirl. Okay, I'm
feeling I did that, and then you're back again. It's
like that same cycle. But I'm proud of who I
am and I'm proud of what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
You mentioned before, like during some of the tough times,
you really leaned into creating this life around and for
yourself outside of work that you could really lean into
and feel good about.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
What does that look like for you now?
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I know you mentioned being a mom and all of
those things, so I'm sure that keeps things hectic, But
what does it look like to create this world outside
of work for yourself?
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Fun?
Speaker 4 (28:23):
I love that. A couple of things, you know.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
One is I do always like to have a passion project,
something that you know, I'm really pouring myself into that
is fully, you know, an expression of me and what
I'm wanting to bring to the.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
World right now.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
And that is basically all of these things that I've
learned and packing it up into a membership community, into
media and content and not just me, not just you,
but thinking about other people who don't have a platform,
who have a lot of interesting things to say. How
can I syndicate this? So I'm kind of, you know,
(28:59):
geeking out on that passionate project, which you can find
on my website.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
It's so much fun.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
But also with your website.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Wait wait, wait, let's Docarbrothers dot com check out.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Okay, thank you.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I also am trying to have fun. If I'm honest,
Ayana where it's like, okay, who wants to hang out?
Who wants to take a walk? I'm trying to just
meet people, talk to people, talk about what's happening in
the world outside of work, talk about the realness that's happening,
because it keeps me connected to all of us. I'm
(29:36):
also a member of other membership communities, you know, like
I am trying to up level always and that can
mean financially, that can just mean spiritually, that can mean
learning about the world. So I always do to try
to punch up a little bit. So I'm trying to
network in that way as well. And then you can
find me sleep on the couch absolutely like I'm not
(30:00):
and around like I definitely am chilling washing TV with
my kids.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
I love to eat.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Uh yeah, so just live it enjoy.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Okay. What's what's your favorite food?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Indian Indian?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Ooh, me too.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
It's not my favorite, but ooh I love some good
Indian pool flavors.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
What's your favorite?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Ooh see.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I'm not big on a being a favorite really like,
because I don't like to be limited in that way.
Like it may be one week that I'm all about
the Mexican food and the other week I'm all about
the Tay food.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
But it's basically it.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Comes down to, like you said, the flavors, whatever flavor
is good like and I'm craving I'm about it.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Okay. My final question for you is what does success
feel like or look like for you?
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Yes see? And when we were talking about examples of
leaders and women leaders, I really love that you asked
that because I feel like the definition of success is
only money for a lot of us. And again I'm
not trying to discount money. Money. Yeah, but success for
me looks like one being myself in every single hour
(31:13):
of the day that I can are the people that
I'm talking to, are the spaces that I am in?
Are they allowing me to show up as myself? Ooh,
that's so freeing. Two is my time. Can I organize
my time in a way that fills me up? And
also that doesn't mean I'm doing everything I like to
do every minute of the day.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
But on average, do I not feel rushed around?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Do I not feel like I'm, you know, spending a
lot of time doing things that are not serving what
I want to serve.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
And so it's.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Time and me being me right now.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
And also I'll say travel. I'll say travel like I
really want to explore too.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
So that's a luxury to me and it absolutely would
be successful. Is the more I can expose myself and
my family to the world.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
That's, like you said, it's a luxury, and it's something
that we don't often realize is so much of a luxury.
But that's success in itself. I feel like when you're
able to do those things. Yeah, yeah. Is there anything
that we didn't touch on that is burning in your
spirit and you've been like, Oh, I really just wanted
to talk about this or I really just wanted to
(32:23):
say this and get this off my chest.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Anything we didn't touch on that you want to touch.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
On, Oh, my gosh, not much. But I'll say I'll
say this.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
So I have been in my content creation era, in
my trying to codify you know, my learnings, my voice,
just my take on things more and I've had a
lot of people reach out to me and just be like, WHOA.
You don't get to see people who are one thing
in the public eye trying to do something else too,
(32:54):
And that never really I never really thought about that.
But when I think about your audience and you bringing
a lens of switching and pivoting where I'm learning that
a lot of people feel boxed in to the one
role or the one job, or the one way that
people are viewing them. And my message right now is
(33:16):
just that's not true in my opinion. And I know
that it's not easy for people to have projects on
the side because you might lose their job. So I'm
not saying anything about what you should do, but just
start to explore where you feel like you're boxed in,
because that might just be something that you're putting on yourself.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
That's a word. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
It's a great place to wrap this conversation up. Kara,
Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Thank you. I love this conversation. I'm super appreciative of
being on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Of course, of course, and as always, you guys, I
hope you enjoyed the conversation. I hope that you're able
to lean into the things that Kara was saying and
just realize that you have everything you need already and
you don't have to search externally for it. Just lean
into it, don't put yourself in those boxes. Just be free,
Be free in everything you do, and as always, be
(34:10):
well
Like check one two one two, Let's do this. Welcome
back to the Switch Pivotal Quip podcast. I'm your host,
Ayana Angel, and this is a space where we get
candid with our conversations around professional and personal development so
that we can help you get the courage and the
clarity that you need for your next chapter. If you
(00:27):
have never been here before, I never shared space with us,
welcome And if you've been around and you're not new
to this, you're true to this, Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's a pleasure to have you here. Today.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
We're gonna be talking with someone who I greatly enjoyed
sharing space with. She made a huge professional pivot, and
I want to get.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Into what her story looked like and how she nailed
that pivot.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
The she that I'm speaking of is car Brothers, the
president of Star You know those iconic star shaped pimple
patches that have completely changed the game on how gen
Z thinks about pimples, acne their skin and being in
public with said acne.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
But here's the plot twist.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Cars can start out in beauty. She actually spent fifteen
years in tech, working at places like Google and leading
grid Ai, another tech company, through a fifteen million dollar
Series A funding round, all while earning her NBA. Eventually,
she went on to make this career changing lead to Starface,
(01:35):
and we'll hear more about that in our chat, but
that is a space where I feel like she really
found her footing. She's been able to mastermind these in
demand product launches, expand the brand internationally, and helped the
company create a culture that feels vibrant, fun, approachable, just
(01:57):
like their products. Under cars leadership, if Starface has been
able to do some pretty remarkable things. Number One, they
turned acne from something that people hide into something that
they sort of celebrate, and if nothing else, they are
definitely more comfortable with it than ever. So if you've
ever wondered how to pivot industry successfully, lean into your
(02:18):
inner knowing and break out of that career rut that
may be holding you back, you're gonna want to listen
to what Kara has to say. Let's get into it
quick production Note this conversation was filmed prior to Car's
exit as the president of Starface. Kara, Welcome to the
Switch Pivot or quick podcast. How are you feeling today?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Oh, thank you, thank you. I love to be here.
I love switch pivots all the time. I'm feeling great.
I got a lot to be thankful for, so I'm
anchoring on that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I've been researching you, finding out more about you. You
are super impressive in a very relatable and humble type
of way, which I appreciate. So I would love to
know if you had to describe yourself in a couple words,
how would you describe yourself? And how do you think
other people would describe you?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Coming in hut, I love it, thank you. How would
I describe myself? Well, I'm ever evolving and I'm ever changing, right,
and so like, I have to use a word that
encompasses that, because why I'm so interested to talk to
you is that I am inherently really interested in that
switch and in that pivot for myself. So I'll say
(03:31):
one is I'm adaptable. Two is I am genuinely sincere.
I really believe in human beings. So there's something really
genuine about just a baseline level of wanting to understand
and wanting to see people and be seen for exactly
who we are, or at least who we're trying to be.
(03:53):
I am honest and direct and don't have a lot
of mental space for negativity kind of things like, yeah,
I'll just say gossip or unnecessary frustrations and intentions. So
I'll kind of like, let's get past all that and
keep it and keep it moving a little bit. Yeah,
(04:13):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Would how do you think other people would describe you?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And that could be in the office, that could be
at home, your friendships, how do you think they would
describe you?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Oh, my goodness, I love that. It's almost like scary
to think about. But you know, I'm like, this thing
of being perceived is, you know, the new thing online,
and I'm I try to think less about that if
I'm honest. But as I'm learning, our superpowers are usually
also our weaknesses in some way. So I'll say, because
I love change, I think people would say I'm kind
(04:46):
of a change agent. I can see the future and
see things, you know, way past where people usually are. However,
I think on the flip side, people might say I'm
kind of scatterbrained, maybe indecisive, maybe like I'm not great
at going deep in the details, because I'm really up
(05:07):
here bouncing from big topic to big topic. M h.
I'm also genuinely like here to enjoy my life as
best as I can. So I think people would say
I'm fun and I'm like outgoing. But on the flip
side again, is that like I kind of pick and
choose where I can light that up. And so people
(05:27):
might say that there's like a flakiness where it's like
I might not respond to you just because you hit
me up immediately, Like I kind of take my time
with stuff like that. Yeah, that's kind of what's coming
to mind.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, I feel like you are so self aware. And
self awareness is one of those things that people talk
about and they throw around that word now is one
of those like trendy terms. But I think that where
you really dig in on that is the things that
(06:00):
can be perceived as positives and negatives. And I think
sometimes people think that they're self aware because they know
the positives about themselves, But.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
What about the things that I might not be perceived
a positive?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And I'm wondering, have you always been in tune in
this type of way or did it take some time
for you to develop sort of like distrust and understanding
of yourself.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Oh so beautiful. Thank you for asking that, and I
love that for all of us. You know, my truth
is I've always been this way, even as a child.
I would lean on like grounding practices always as a
young person, and I would dig into In high school,
I would be reading deep texts like Eckartole and some
(06:46):
of the stuff with my friends. However, however, that got lost.
I think it got lost when I went to college,
which was a rigorous academic environment, not that my high
school wasn't, but it was different. And then I encountered,
you know, more bad grades, a lot of different kinds
(07:07):
of people who I wasn't interacting with on a day
to day basis. And then I entered corporate America and
wasn't necessarily thriving in that way, and so it definitely
went dark er for a nice two decade fifteen year period,
and now it's all re emerging again in a new way,
(07:29):
which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, it's a beautiful cycle that we don't expect, can't
plan for, but we got to appreciate it and love.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
It exactly exactly, and like trust the process.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Right yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Okay, so you said, and this is why I'm gravitating
to you, because you said something that I feel like
people don't want to say. Everyone wants to paint the
picture that they are the best at everything that yes,
they may have made some misass and they've learned some
things that along the way, and oh, I have these lessons.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I don't think of a mistakes. I think of them
as lessons.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
But I'm here now, you know. And you could rightfully say, yes,
I'm here now. Yeah, but you said I wasn't necessarily
thriving in corporate America and my career that I was in,
and that and the way the direction maybe that you
were going, Yeah, talk to us a little bit more
about that.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
What did that feel like?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Did you have some moments where you're just like questioning
it all and when you say like, I wasn't necessarily thriving,
what does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean there's so much there. What I
do want to call out that is back to that
superpower flaw dual sides of all of us, is that
my approach that is grounded and humble maybe hasn't served
me and might not serve me for my next phase
(08:59):
because I do believe like, no, I'm learning. I'll say
that no one is going to think you're that unless
you know that within yourself and speak that out. And
so I'm definitely something that I'm growing to as well,
where it's like, yo, I have a lot to offer,
(09:21):
and it is flaws and all, absolutely, but that does
not diminish this absolute high caliber that I'm bringing. So
it is this, you know, you know, as we're getting
to know each other, it is always this layers and
this nuance that just is I'm really passionate about.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Because you're honest when you say something like I wasn't
necessarily thriving, right, I feel like I have not heard
those words come out of people's mouths, especially sitting in
the type of position that you're sitting in, because there's
an emphasis on I made some mistakes, you know, and
they treat it like isolated incidents instead of I've grown
(10:03):
to get to where I am, But maybe it wasn't
always so pretty my growth process.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Either, Yes, yes, yes, okay. That is coming from a
place and a desire to serve others and a desire
to progress the way that we think about so many things,
But in that context, it's growth and climbing the corporate
(10:31):
ladder and just speaking about that truthfully, because my journey
was really lonely when I was getting a horrible performance
review and not meeting expectations, and I felt like I
needed to hide that at the time, and you feel
(10:51):
so bad about it, You feel so shameful and embarrassed
when actually, a sure maybe there were things I needed
to fix and grow from. That's fine. Two, there are
also a lot of other factors going on and making
these decisions, especially as in a huge corporate environment. So
my point is that shedding light on things in general,
(11:14):
rather than hiding and just like living in the shame,
I believe is our future if I'm honest with you,
and it's definitely helped my future progress. So that's my
base case for speaking so honestly. But I can't lie.
It's also because now people see me as this successful leader,
So what I have said this five years ago, I
(11:35):
have absolutely no idea, probably if I'm honest. But also
I can't lie that there's a certain level of confidence
that others have in me now that probably is serving
me for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
A part of your story, and I want you to
share a little bit of this as well, is that
when someone believes in you, it gives you a different
type of battery in your back. When someone looks at
you and says I think you can do this, and
they maybe even something in you that you haven't quite
seen in yourself, or it's something like under the surface
(12:07):
but you haven't really tapped into it yet. Talk to
me a little bit about what that transition was like
from tech to beauty and I'm sure there's elements of
tech within the beauty space that you're working in right
now with Starface, and just kind of talk to me
about what that transition was like for you.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, yeah, so so interesting. You know, it's You're exactly right.
I was trying to leave my big corporate job for
several years because I knew I wanted to be in
an entrepreneurial environment because I'm inherently a builder, back to adaptable.
I like ambiguity, I like change, I like making hard decisions.
(12:47):
That's just kind of in my DNA. But no one
was really taking that chance on me. For years and years. Somehow,
I was still following what I knew I wanted, even
in the face of so much rejection, because I also
knew that I wasn't in the right place for me
aka Google and a very very large, corporate, structured environment.
(13:11):
So as I was searching for jobs leaving tech I
met the founders of Starphase, and that's exactly what happened.
For one of the first few times in my professional life.
Brian Bourdainik was like, I think you can do this,
you know, like let's see, let's figure it out, but
(13:31):
let's go. And I was just like, thank you, I
love this. I can do that. And you're solely right,
like it does give you that battery, absolutely, But I
think about, like, what if you don't have someone take
a chance on you, I don't know, And I think about, yeah, yeah,
I know, I know.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Like and so many people don't have that, and so
it's like, what do you do and how do you
pour into yourself in that interim because I do believe
that most of it we'll encounter our time where somebody
takes a chance on us, whether it's big or small.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We have to just be able to see it. But like,
what do we do.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
In that interim time when you were facing those rejections
and not getting ahead maybe air quest like you thought
you wanted to in those ways, what were you doing
for yourself and how did you sort of like keep going.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, I really love that. You said something that was
really interesting. You said big or small? And being able
to see those that, you know, the opportunities or the
little glimmers. I was reflecting on our conversation, and I
was thinking that what I learned from Google and from Grid,
the AI company I worked at for just a brief time,
was this this resiliency that I didn't even know that
(14:48):
I was building, like we were talking about, because it
was high stress sometimes because I was sad sometimes and
confused and lonely, I did have to develop tools. Of
those tools that have served me and will continue are
developing a rich life outside of work, frankly, you know,
like have other places that fill you up, but also
(15:11):
a really sound internal world. You know. I've had some
bouts of anxiety that it's so weird, it's almost gone
away because I've done so much work to just develop
myself and my self worth, which is not something that
was like talked about in my household when I was young.
So I think, right, and it's so everything. So I'm
(15:32):
a mom and I think about, like, Okay, I got
to get this in your brain early. It's crazy because
otherwise it's so easy to listen to other people and
listen to the environment that you're in and determine your
value and even determine your next steps. I was thinking
(15:52):
about switching and pivoting, and I was just thinking, like
how easy it is to let inertia or safety or
control keep us where we are, even though we know,
we know we want more. It's not right, and it's
just because we feel like, Okay, this is safe. I
know this, and I've heard a lot of people talk
about this on your podcast. But it's hard.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's still hard, Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
You have to face yourself in the mirror in a
different type of way go if you want to make
those changes, and you have to like number one, you
have to hype yourself up, but number two, you have
to say to yourself, like, I have to trust myself
that the decisions that I'm making are okay, and even
if they don't always feel okay, like the results don't
(16:37):
always feel okay, Ultimately I know that I'm always gonna
do what's best for my greater good.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
And I feel you.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
When you say that as well, because like that is
the position that I was sitting in.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I didn't have my finger on the pulse of like what.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Exactly I should be doing if I were to walk
away from this role in sports pr and all of this.
But I knew that I wasn't where I was supposed
to be, and I think that is the start, right
as long as you know, like, this is not where
I'm supposed to be, I don't feel this in my
gut that this is where I'm supposed to be, then
(17:12):
you can just take that from there and start pouring
into yourself and figuring out, Okay, well, if I know
this much, I can start here right and then just
go from there.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Ooh, I know it's getting.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Good, but we'll be right back after we hear from
our sponsors. So how does instinct in your intuition play
into your decision making, whether it be for your life
and what's ahead for you as well as your day
to day with being the president of Starface.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, yeah, it's important. And I'm also I think things
are changing now. But intuition and that feeling knowing that
all of us have has been under appreciated. You know,
it's been termed as like woo woo or not logical,
and I love that that's changing because the human experience,
(18:11):
like knowing what you were talking about, knowing what's right
business instincts, I feel are not any different necessarily. So
I do have a very strong intuition, a very strong
gut sense. I can feel it in my body when
something's feeling right or feeling wrong. And I can feel
that with Cubans relationships that I'm building at work. I
(18:34):
can feel that with business decisions too, But I don't
That doesn't mean that I lean on that one hundred percent.
But I'm like, Okay, okay, this is kind of what
you think. This is your gut, Let's like test that out.
Let's talk to a bunch of people, Let's ask a
bunch of questions. I'm definitely the type of leader that
is very collaborative, which is you know, again good and bad.
(18:54):
But I like to hear what everybody has to say
and just like let that filter through my psyche kind
of and then make that decision. But I don't shy
away from intuition at all.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Talking about leadership, You've mentioned before that you had an
idea of the type of leader that you wanted to
be based on previous experiences. So talk to me a
little bit about like, once you stepped into this role,
what did you do to prepare? Yeah, you know, like
prepare yourself because I'm imagining that you knew this was
(19:26):
an undertaking unlike anything you had really ventured into before.
So what did you do to prepare yourself for this
grander stage of leadership? Maybe, let's say, and then like,
how do you sort of approach leadership right now in
this moment because I know it's evolving.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, it was. It was a huge transformation for me
to go step into this role and want to do
my absolute best day after day. The first thing that
I did was, I do you all? I think networking
and developing your network is something that I did not
(20:06):
realize was so important until this role. And I'm talking
it could be friends, it could be your friend group
that are you in a do you have enough friends?
Or one friend that you can call when you're upset
in over your skis or anything. And then it is
that professional network. And it should be some people who
(20:29):
are who have done this before for sure, but it
also doesn't need to be It could be people who
are more junior than you, but are maybe really creative
and are great thought partners. So I did just start
to build out this robust network of people that I
could call on, and for me, I made sure that
it wasn't just one type of person, It wasn't all women,
(20:52):
it wasn't all CEOs. But I was just like, I
know that I'm going to need people to help me.
So that was something that I invested in early too.
Is of course, I had a therapist and a coach
and all kinds of people who were helping me get
my own stuff together and make sure that I knew
(21:12):
my gotcha's, like where am I super insecure for sure?
So that I don't let that trip me up? Just
something that I can notice, which I think is like
one of my best things of knowing because in the
beginning I was probably trying to overcompensate in some ways
based on my previous experience, like Okay, well then I'm
going to do this and that didn't work. So I
(21:34):
had to really learn how to be like Kara the
president and not someone else the president that I was
trying to pretend to be.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Basically, Yeah, how do you approach developing talent within your organization?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
M H, That's one of my favorite things to do.
I usually like to set some clear expectations, set the priorities,
and then leave people alone. And my leadership style is
more like thought partner in the kitchen. Let's go, I
can be the decision maker. But that's kind of how
I'm developing, and that's what's worked best for me too,
(22:13):
where it's less like obviously it's never a micromanaged kind
of situation, but it's also not like I'm here if
you need me like ask me questions. It's you can
see how my brain is working, how I'm thinking about this,
So let's workshop it together and then hopefully that'll have
you growing, not because you're trying to emulate me, but
(22:34):
because we're in this dialogue and problem solving together.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
What are your thoughts around women in business right now?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Are there any narratives that you're like, Ah, don't exactly
agree with that.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah, I'm here for all the leaders who are conscious,
self aware ego lists, open minded leaders, women, men, whatever.
But I know how hard it is for women to
get in these positions, so I'm always gunning for them,
for sure. But I do believe that there can be
(23:11):
a change in how leaders operate, how and how they work,
and I don't necessarily know that. I feel like sometimes
when a woman gets into a leadership position as I
was when I was just starting out as the president
of Starface. You're trying to emulate someone else, or you're
pushing the same narratives of whatever example that have been
(23:35):
around in the past. You know, you've got to work
a ton work all the time, like you know, kind
of with the iron fist, it's sacrifice, sacrifice, sacriface. That's
the name of the game, or you know, And I'm
just like, I don't know if that's the future or
if it needs to be the present either. And you know,
(23:56):
our whole conversation is about like both things being true.
You can run a super profitable, you know, capitalist business,
but also understand that people work in different ways.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
They also work in different times.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
You know, getting the most productivity out of your people
might mean different things for different people at different times
of the day. So that flexibility of us as human beings,
I feel like I'm not seeing that much of which
I'm happy to basically.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, I think that's why you are so refreshing, because
it doesn't feel like you're trying to check the boxes
of the status quo of what a leader looks like
and what a successful company looks like, and what you
have to embody to be the leader of a successful company,
and Starface is successful. So go ahead and pop your
(24:54):
issue real quick and tell us how successful it.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Is and what role you played in that that?
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Yeah, why not? Right?
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (25:03):
So I was maybe the sixth seventh eighth employee at Starface.
I joined and I'm basically a chief of staff role
that was called the SVP of Strategic Initiatives or something,
which was a title that I made up. And I
started off organizing drop box, organizing town halls and just
(25:26):
kind of getting the infrastructure in the operations of the
business together. That was about five million dollars in revenue
at that time. Since I've been running and leading the business,
we've grown from that, you know, single digit employees to
around fifty. We've grown from that five million to around
one hundred million dollars in revenue. We turned from a
(25:49):
not profitable business to a profitable business. And you know,
we have a fairly happy, healthy work environment, fully remote
people live everywhere. There's different ages, different demos, and we're
all doing this together. And you know, with that, of course,
(26:12):
it's never just one person. We know that there are
founders are super involved in the business. Like I mentioned,
I have a absolute a team that does all of this,
but I was leading the charge, which I am very proud.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
To say, as you should be. Okay, she did that.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
I love it, yes, And that's one of those things
that I feel, and I think we kind of touched
on it before that we don't always give ourselves enough credit,
especially when we're in the midst of things, because the
power that we have, in the amazingness that's within us,
(26:53):
sometimes we can overlook it and take it for granted
and think that this is normal.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
But honey, what you've done is not normal. Okay, it
is not normal.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
And I want to continue to see you get all
of your flowers because you are doing things to me
and my opinion in a different way. And I love that.
I love seeing how humble but approachable but boss but
all these things you embody all at the same time.
And so I'm sure your team enjoys working with you
(27:25):
and getting to see.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
All those facets as well.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I hope so.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
And I appreciate that absolutely.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Every day I try to wake up being myself as
we spell the quotes on Instagram.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
It's hard.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I go through my own life cycle every day where
I wake up. Okay, I'm a little bit depressed. I'm
a little something got on my nerves, something hurt my feelings.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Okay, you got it, you got it.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Medical work. You know, it's the same Cirl. Okay, I'm
feeling I did that, and then you're back again. It's
like that same cycle. But I'm proud of who I
am and I'm proud of what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
You mentioned before, like during some of the tough times,
you really leaned into creating this life around and for
yourself outside of work that you could really lean into
and feel good about.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
What does that look like for you now?
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I know you mentioned being a mom and all of
those things, so I'm sure that keeps things hectic, But
what does it look like to create this world outside
of work for yourself?
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Fun?
Speaker 4 (28:23):
I love that. A couple of things, you know.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
One is I do always like to have a passion project,
something that you know, I'm really pouring myself into that
is fully, you know, an expression of me and what
I'm wanting to bring to the.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
World right now.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
And that is basically all of these things that I've
learned and packing it up into a membership community, into
media and content and not just me, not just you,
but thinking about other people who don't have a platform,
who have a lot of interesting things to say. How
can I syndicate this? So I'm kind of, you know,
(28:59):
geeking out on that passionate project, which you can find
on my website.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
It's so much fun.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
But also with your website.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Wait wait, wait, let's Docarbrothers dot com check out.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Okay, thank you.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I also am trying to have fun. If I'm honest,
Ayana where it's like, okay, who wants to hang out?
Who wants to take a walk? I'm trying to just
meet people, talk to people, talk about what's happening in
the world outside of work, talk about the realness that's happening,
because it keeps me connected to all of us. I'm
(29:36):
also a member of other membership communities, you know, like
I am trying to up level always and that can
mean financially, that can just mean spiritually, that can mean
learning about the world. So I always do to try
to punch up a little bit. So I'm trying to
network in that way as well. And then you can
find me sleep on the couch absolutely like I'm not
(30:00):
and around like I definitely am chilling washing TV with
my kids.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
I love to eat.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Uh yeah, so just live it enjoy.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Okay. What's what's your favorite food?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Indian Indian?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Ooh, me too.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
It's not my favorite, but ooh I love some good
Indian pool flavors.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
What's your favorite?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Ooh see.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I'm not big on a being a favorite really like,
because I don't like to be limited in that way.
Like it may be one week that I'm all about
the Mexican food and the other week I'm all about
the Tay food.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
But it's basically it.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Comes down to, like you said, the flavors, whatever flavor
is good like and I'm craving I'm about it.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Okay. My final question for you is what does success
feel like or look like for you?
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Yes see? And when we were talking about examples of
leaders and women leaders, I really love that you asked
that because I feel like the definition of success is
only money for a lot of us. And again I'm
not trying to discount money. Money. Yeah, but success for
me looks like one being myself in every single hour
(31:13):
of the day that I can are the people that
I'm talking to, are the spaces that I am in?
Are they allowing me to show up as myself? Ooh,
that's so freeing. Two is my time. Can I organize
my time in a way that fills me up? And
also that doesn't mean I'm doing everything I like to
do every minute of the day.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
But on average, do I not feel rushed around?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Do I not feel like I'm, you know, spending a
lot of time doing things that are not serving what
I want to serve.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
And so it's.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Time and me being me right now.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
And also I'll say travel. I'll say travel like I
really want to explore too.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
So that's a luxury to me and it absolutely would
be successful. Is the more I can expose myself and
my family to the world.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
That's, like you said, it's a luxury, and it's something
that we don't often realize is so much of a luxury.
But that's success in itself. I feel like when you're
able to do those things. Yeah, yeah. Is there anything
that we didn't touch on that is burning in your
spirit and you've been like, Oh, I really just wanted
to talk about this or I really just wanted to
(32:23):
say this and get this off my chest.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Anything we didn't touch on that you want to touch.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
On, Oh, my gosh, not much. But I'll say I'll
say this.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
So I have been in my content creation era, in
my trying to codify you know, my learnings, my voice,
just my take on things more and I've had a
lot of people reach out to me and just be like, WHOA.
You don't get to see people who are one thing
in the public eye trying to do something else too,
(32:54):
And that never really I never really thought about that.
But when I think about your audience and you bringing
a lens of switching and pivoting where I'm learning that
a lot of people feel boxed in to the one
role or the one job, or the one way that
people are viewing them. And my message right now is
(33:16):
just that's not true in my opinion. And I know
that it's not easy for people to have projects on
the side because you might lose their job. So I'm
not saying anything about what you should do, but just
start to explore where you feel like you're boxed in,
because that might just be something that you're putting on yourself.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
That's a word. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
It's a great place to wrap this conversation up. Kara,
Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Thank you. I love this conversation. I'm super appreciative of
being on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Of course, of course, and as always, you guys, I
hope you enjoyed the conversation. I hope that you're able
to lean into the things that Kara was saying and
just realize that you have everything you need already and
you don't have to search externally for it. Just lean
into it, don't put yourself in those boxes. Just be free,
Be free in everything you do, and as always, be
(34:10):
well
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