Plenty with Kate Northrup

Over here at HQ (aka our house), we’ve got a 4 ½-year-old and an almost-2-year-old and a company to run. Plus many of our team members are in the same boat at their houses. There are so many different permutations of how this moment of quarantine is affecting different households, but for those of you who find yourself with the literally impossible task of working full-time while parenting full-time and also possibly guiding homeschooling, this message is for you. (This will also be particularly useful for folks caregiving in any capacity, even if it’s not for kids.) First of all, I will say that I am by no means the world’s leading expert on working from home while parenting. No one should be. This is for the birds. Second, though, I am obsessed with the logistics of time and how our rhythms can either support or deflate our wellbeing and impact. So, when a bunch of folks in our community reached out asking how Mike and I are navigating the fact that we both work and we have no childcare right now, I figured we’d share what we’re doing behind the scenes. You can count on me for one thing always: transparency. I’ll tell you when I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’ll tell you what’s working. That’s my promise. In this week’s episode of The Kate & Mike Show we share: • The daily conversation we’re having that makes a world of difference in the logistics of working and parenting together during this weird moment • A critical ingredient that any ask for support needs to have during this time (and really anytime) • Mike’s excellent wisdom for those of us who are going a little nuts with no breaks from our children (🙋) Press play if you’re trying to work from home without childcare too. At the very least you’ll know you’re not alone. ;) Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

So, I’m usually someone who recommends not sharing what you’re going through publicly while smack-dab in the middle of going through it. Mostly this is because I think sharing from the messy middle is unearned intimacy and secondly because I’m someone who likes to be useful and usually I don’t have a helpful perspective to share until after a little time has passed. However, this week I went against my own advice. As a recovering achiever, I don’t love the feeling of being out of control and not having my sh*t together. And while vulnerability and I have continued to make better friends over the years, feeling lost in the murk in public feels deeply uncomfortable. But at the end of last week, we recorded our podcast right when I was in the murk of feeling lost and like there was a lot of pressure for me, as someone with a platform, to say the right thing or know how to guide people. In many ways in that moment, I felt out of my depth. When we finished recording, I had a major vulnerability hangover because I didn’t feel like I’d presented the “with it” version of myself that I prefer to be out in the world. But there it was. And Mike assured me that admitting on our podcast that I have no idea WTF is going on would be useful to folks. So, if you want to listen in on a conversation that made me super uncomfortable and witness me in the messy middle, this week’s episode is for you. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

No matter what’s going on in your corner of the world, I want you to know that I’m sending you love. No matter how this global situation has affected you and your family, I want you to know that I’m thinking of you and our entire community. Mike and I are committed to showing up in a way that contributes to this being a healing experience for all of us. So, we recorded a new episode of The Kate & Mike Show for you where we shared: • How we’re navigating self-isolation (including some missteps and how we’re learning from them) • 5 specific tips for tending to your nervous system during this time so you can signal your body to rest, restore, and heal instead of activate fight, flight, or freeze • 6 steps to take stock of what’s happening and pivot your business in an effective, helpful way • Why giving away all of your stuff for free may or may not be the best thing to do right now as a business owner • The way we’re staying informed without freaking out • One perspective on this unprecedented time that’s bringing us a lot of peace and solace If you need some healing thoughts during this uncertain time, this episode is for you. This is weird. We’re here for you. Take really good care of yourself and each other. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

Over here in my little corner of the world in Maine, things are kind of weird and weirdly quiet. I know that’s not the case everywhere in the world, and however this odd global moment is affecting you, please know that I’m thinking of you and sending love, healing, and prayers your way. We’d already planned for March to be an exhale month, so it turns out the slowdown is in sync for the most part. Our kiddos are home with us for a minimum of 2 weeks, so Mike and I are doing a bee-bop of parenting, "homeschool Pre-K" (which basically means circle time and coloring), and running our business. I’m changing my expectations across the board, and while I wish this moment had been precipitated by different circumstances, I’m welcoming the mandate to do less. At times like this I really think it’s important for us as business owners to check in on whether our messaging is appropriate for the global temperature. We’ve gotta check in and see if what we’re promoting is relevant and helpful given the moment (while not trying to please everyone, which is ultimately impossible). The big thing we have coming up is the newly revised paperback release of Do Less with a brand-new subtitle, new stories, new data, and some reworking so that it’s now geared toward "ambitious women" instead of "busy moms." In celebration of the revised paperback edition, I’m hosting a free, virtual Do Less Book Club starting the week of April 6th for anyone who pre-orders the new edition. When I checked in with our team and myself as to whether or not it feels appropriate to move forward with our plans given the developing global health situation, I decided it does. Lots of us are home unexpectedly with kids. Lots of us are trying to work and care for loved ones simultaneously and navigating new challenges around managing our time and energy. Lots of us are in a situation where we need to continue to earn money while doing less. Turns out, I wrote a book about how to do that, and I revised it to make it even better. This week on The Kate & Mike Show we’re talking about: • Why I decided to revise Do Less less than 6 months after its release despite people being thrilled with the first version • How to navigate times when marketing wisdom doesn’t exactly align with your inner knowing • Niching down versus broadening out • How to identify your creative process and own it for peak output and joy • What the Do Less Virtual Book Club is going to be all about and how to get in on it During this bizarre time I’m taking the opportunity to simplify, be super present with the people I love the most, serve my existing customers in an even deeper way, tend to my nervous system, and savor the space. I hope you join me in whichever of those sounds useful to you. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

Whether you’re new here or have been hanging out with me for a while, it’s important to know that I don’t see any parts of our lives as separate. That’s why the conversation about balance rubs me the wrong way, as though we’re trying to create equal space for different parts of our lives rather than learn how to be fully ourselves in an integrated way-- whether we’re working or playing or doing both at the same time (my favorite). When it comes to the health of your body and the health of your business, I feel like they’re the same conversation in many ways. But so often we allow our business goals to overshadow our physical health, and instead of supporting our goals, like we assume, letting our bodies take the back seat jeopardizes our health as well as our businesses. That’s why I’m excited to share this week’s podcast with you. It’s with Elizabeth Rider who’s been a friend of ours for over 14 years. In many ways, we grew up in business together. Elizabeth is in the business of health, and we dove into the ways we can increase our wellbeing physically and financially through our businesses. Listen in to this week’s episode of the Kate & Mike Show with Elizabeth to learn: • How to ramp up your blog traffic without focusing on keywords (whaaa?) • How to make the most important aspects of your health a habit so you don’t have to waste time and energy trying to make yourself do them • Why "boundaries" is Elizabeth’s favorite word and how she uses boundaries to have thriving physical and financial health Be sure to check out Elizabeth’s book, The Health Habit: 7 Easy Steps to Reach Your Goals and Dramatically Improve Your Life, for practical, non-dogmatic health tips and gorgeous, simple recipes that even someone like me who struggles in the kitchen can make. And, as always, remember: Body first. Business second. When you do it in that order, both things get the care and attention they need. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

Two weeks ago I did something I swore I’d never do: I started talking publicly about informed consent, body autonomy, and medical freedom as it relates to immunizations. This message is not about immunizations, though. This message is about navigating speaking up about something controversial, particularly when it appears that you’re on the less popular side. I knew speaking up would mean I would lose followers. I knew speaking up would likely mean we’d lose sales. I did not know that speaking up would wreak such havoc on my nervous system, however. I did not know that 24 hours after my post went live I would want to take it back and crawl in a hole for the rest of my life. And I did not know that on the other side of the initial fallout I would feel stronger, more informed, and more myself than I’d ever felt before. I also had no idea that taking a public stand about something so polarizing would bring gifts beyond my wildest imaginings. This week on the podcast we’re sharing about the journey of speaking out about something we believe in at the risk of losing followers, money, and cache. Listen in to find out: • Why all of the risks of speaking out have been so worth it • How to think for ourselves while swimming in a cultural soup that wants us to do anything but that • How to signal safety in your nervous system so that you can keep standing up for what you believe in • The wild thing that happened on social media from my standing up that I didn’t expect Once you’ve listened in I would love to hear from you. Have you ever spoken out about something you believed in that was unpopular or controversial? What were the risks? What were the rewards? How did you navigate any potential fall-out? Leave a comment and let me know! Know this: If you feel like you can’t talk about something, especially when it questions the mainstream, it’s because someone is benefitting from your fear and silence. But they can’t benefit anymore when you speak up. And the more who speak up, the stronger our voices become. No matter what your stand is, even if I don’t agree, know that I support your right to say something about it and that I’m cheering you on for saying something even if you’re scared. Especially then. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

We certainly record our podcast every week to deliver education, insight, and hopefully some entertainment to you every week, but sometimes the truth is, we do it for ourselves. Sometimes someone says something that makes us see something really clearly for the first time in a long time, or perhaps ever. When we sat down to record the interview we’re sharing this week, that happened to me. There was a moment during the interview with Laura Roeder, who originally founded B-School with Marie Forleo, when she was talking about why she walked away from the gargantuan program and opportunity and my mouth literally began to water. There’s something about the simplicity and clarity with which Laura, also co-founder of the incredible social media scheduling and repurposing software, Edgar, speaks about how to determine what kind of business to create (and then how to create it) that blew my mind. This episode is a MUST listen if you: • feel like you’re just going through the motions in your life and business and haven’t picked your head up to ask, "Is this really what I want?" in a while • want to hear the incredible story of why Laura walked away from B-School (and how leaving ended up making her more money than staying) • want to learn how Laura grew a business that she could walk away from and still make amazing money and how you can apply that to your situation • want to hear what Laura said that made my mouth water (because I know I want more of that!) Not all of us are made for the same kind of business. And sometimes a business model is right only for a season, and then it’s time to pivot or split. Laura is such a brilliant example of this and we’re so excited to share her story with you today. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

I just finished leading the first retreat for our 2020 Origin ® Mastermind, and something became so clear to me as I listened to the brilliant women in the group share: Specificity in business is such a turn-on for me! Why? Because when folks are specific about what they offer, who they offer it to, and how people are going to hear about it, they eliminate friction and significantly improve their results. And in full transparency, I get so excited about specificity in other people’s businesses because it’s something I’ve struggled with in my own business for years. I’m getting better and better, but I know I’m not alone when I say that I have to remain diligent to not get sucked down in the quicksand of vagueness in my copy, pitches, and offers. There’s a lady who’s become dear to my heart (even though we have yet to meet in person) who really nailed the specificity game, and no matter how many times I hear about it, I get a little hot and bothered. She co-founded and sold her half of the company Simple Green Smoothies, where she grew their community to over 355k subscribers and 415k+ Instagram followers. And you know how she did it? Simple specificity. They had one product, one platform where they promoted it, one promotional strategy, one plan, and one ideal kind of person who bought it. And then they did it over and over again and grew like bananas. (Pun totally intended. #wordnerd) What was this brilliantly specific and simple promotional strategy? Online challenges. We invited Jadah on the podcast because we wanted to share her incredible story with you so that you could learn how to build your email list in 30 days or less with an online challenge. Plus, Jadah is such a love, and I know you’re going to adore hearing about her journey with Simple Green Smoothies and how she’s made a powerful pivot into what she’s doing now with her current business incarnation, Love Over Metrics. Listen in to this week’s episode to get going with your simple plan to grow your email list in 30 days or less. I’m SO excited for you to catch the specific simplicity wave with us! You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

Ever find yourself getting all fired up about something and loving the part of yourself that you access when you get all feisty? I have found myself in this place A LOT lately, and based on our sudden spike in podcast downloads and Facebook live views, you’re on board, too. Thank you for being my feisty friends who are ready to shake sh*t up with me. I’ve always been a stationery enthusiast. Blank journals, papers, pens, and planners have always held a certain mystique for me. I got started creating my own planners when my age was in the single digits, and I graduated to a DayTimer in high school and Filofax in college. Then somewhere along the way, that straight-A student who was so adept at coloring inside the lines started to question the whole idea of creating success through trying to fit more into our days. She craved the structure and grounding of her planning obsession, but something was missing. It turned out what was missing was the entire other half of the energetic polarity we all carry as humans. It turned out what was missing was the exhale. What was missing was the softness. What was missing was the pause. So she listened, and a whole new way of doing things came through. This new way creates: • More ease and more flow while improving results • A process-oriented approach that leads to tremendous joy and satisfaction • Health on all possible levels This week on the podcast, Mike and I are diving into the feminist time management system that will change your life, and we’re really going there. We outlined the 3 ways that traditional time management systems are keeping us stuck and exhausted (plus wasting our lives) and how the feminist approach that came through me 4 years ago gives us our lives, results, and health back. Plus, we talked about why a widened view of feminism is good for everyone. This was a feisty one, and I think you’re going to like it. Here’s to getting fired up about the things that matter. You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

One night last week after I’d gotten the girls to bed and washed the 350 dishes piled beside the sink (why did I decide to make a dinner requiring like 6 different bowls when Mike was out of town and it was just me and the girls - and they ate virtually nothing, I might add?), I put my sweats on and cozied up by myself in the basement to do something I’ve never done before: Record a solo episode of The Kate & Mike Show! Despite having spoken on stages in front of thousands and showing up lots on camera live and recorded, I was surprised to find that I was pretty nervous. I get the following question all the time: How much content do I give away for free? In the information marketing world when we’re giving away free content that will eventually lead to people paying us for more content, I can see how it could be confusing. In my first ever solo episode of The Kate & Mike Show, I let you in on: • The 3 reasons we made the bold (and risky) choice to give the Core Lessons of our newest program, Make Time for Business, away for free • How we do the dance between strategy and intuition • Why holding your content back out of fear that giving it for free will mean people won’t buy is preventing you from making the kind of money you want • 3 ways to unlock a flood of new content ideas, so you never wonder what you should talk about next Please be gentle with me. It was so weird to record without Mike! Hats off to people who do solo shows every single week! Once you listen, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or on Instagram with your insights and any follow-up questions. As always, thanks for listening. :) You can get your own copy of Do Less and still receive incredible bonuses at http://katenorthrup.com/book! Kate wants to hear from you, and you can post about your #DoLess experiences on Instagram, DM her (@katenorthrup) or email info@katenorthrup.com. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email mike@mikejwatts.com regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.