Speaker 0:01

Welcome to The Heart-Led Business Show, where compassion meets commerce and leaders lead with love. Join your host, Tom Jackobs, as he delves into the insightful conversations with visionary business leaders who defy the status quo, putting humanity first and profit second. From heartfelt strategies to inspiring stories, this podcast is your compass in the world of conscious capitalism. So buckle up and let your heart guide your business journey.

Meet Katie Kirklin

Tom Jackobs 0:36

Welcome back to another episode of the Heart-Led Business Show where we unravel the threads of passion and purpose in entrepreneurship. And today we have a lovely, wonderful Katie Kirklin on the mic, a certified functional nutrition counselor and registered nurse Katie's journey has taken her from the bustling halls of healthcare to creating a heart-led business that's all about digging deep into health and nourishment. So get ready to be inspired as we talk about her adventures, insights, and the power of personalized wellness. Katie, welcome to the show.

Katie Kirklin 1:11

Hi, Tom. Thank you so much for having me.

Tom Jackobs 1:13

Of course, and I'm really excited to talk to you because I totally geek out on nutrition and functional medicine and all that. And so I'm really excited to talk to you about that specifically, but more also your journey and having a heart-led business and how you balance profit and being heart-led at the same time.

Defining Heart-Led Alignment

Tom Jackobs 1:34

But first the question I always ask everybody is, what's your definition of a heart-led business?

Katie Kirklin 1:42

Yeah. So for me, having a heart-led business really comes down to alignment. I have two little kids and so juggling, you know, family and my business is really, it's... You know, at the core of my business, and it's also why I started a business is so that I have, the opportunity to spend more time with my kids. And so it's just so important that I feel aligned with the work that I do every day and really honoring my own capacity for the work that I do. And so I really define a heart-led business for me as one that's built from regulated physiology, from alignment and sustainability, than one built from stress, urgency, and burnout.

Tom Jackobs 2:33

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 2:34

something that I really practice with my clients too, is there's a, quote by, his name is Alex Howard, a doctor who studies nervous system regulation and he says you cannot heal a body if it's not in a healing state, and so, I, I feel the same way about, you know, running my business, I can't run a successful business if I am not in a, an aligned and regulated state. Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 3:08

I love that, that, yeah, that's a really, key distinction, I think, for a lot of people. And I think, and I haven't heard that yet in 145 episodes, so that's amazing. The alignment piece, that we, that comes up quite a bit. but the, you know, you can't run your own business if you're not regulated yourself and in alignment, so I love that.

Katie Kirklin 3:30

I can't run a business that's going to be sustainable for me.

Tom Jackobs 3:34

Yeah. Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 3:35

Yeah.

Listening to Body Signals

Tom Jackobs 3:37

Talk to me about that alignment piece. How does that feel and how do you know when you're not in alignment and just, you can talk personally, but I think people, we hear the word alignment and it feels good and we're aligned with our business, but how do we know, right?

Katie Kirklin 3:54

Yeah. That's something I focus so much on with my clients is teaching them how to really listen to their body and pay attention to symptoms. And so that's something I have had to do with my own body and with my own decision making. And if I'm feeling Stress, we will never avoid stress. There's, there's the good stress, eustress, and there's also stress that's not so good. But really paying attention to that stress, and if it is leading to burnout or even physical symptoms, so many people experience health issues because they're just powering through and really not honoring what their body is telling them. So, really paying attention. I love the metaphor of the frog in the boiling water. You know, sometimes people build up symptoms over time, where they don't even notice that, Oh, having this brain fog every afternoon is actually not normal. You know, you might think it's normal because it's your norm. Like, let's honor that and really pay attention and look at that as an opportunity, as a message from the body where we need to pay attention and take some action. And I feel like when we're making decisions in business that are not from this grounded, regulated space, our body is going to let us know if it's not working. We just have to really learn to pay attention. Yeah,

Tom Jackobs 5:29

Yeah. Yeah, I mean that, that's the key is paying attention, right? With our

Personal Signs of Misalignment

Tom Jackobs 5:34

bodies. So what, I'm sure you've gone through this, so do you mind sharing like what that's felt for you personally when you knew that you were out of alignment and then what you did to correct that?

Katie Kirklin 5:46

Yeah. You know, there have been, I would say, I feel like actually my very best example is more in my personal life than my business. Although I have had to pay attention to that in my business, but like one example in a past relationship, body was just like fully rejecting moving forward in that relationship. And I was like, I really need to pay attention to this. And, you know, on paper things looked great, but I was getting signals from my body that this is not right. But I, I think the, the same thing can happen in business, especially when we start getting sick. You know, we start having symptoms. That's and just honoring that and not just brushing off, not saying, Oh, I get a headache every day. So I just take ibuprofen and I go on with it. Like, no, you shouldn't need to take ibuprofen every day. I, I actually went through that myself. I mean, as early as high school, I was getting headaches every single day and I thought it was normal for a 16 year old to need to take ibuprofen every day.

Tom Jackobs 6:55

Oh.

Katie Kirklin 6:56

Yeah, I just, I was like, this is just my norm. Yeah. Yes. And it wasn't until I made some diet and lifestyle changes that I had, that had nothing to do with the headaches. But as a byproduct, those headaches disappeared. And I was like, I didn't realize that wasn't normal until they went away.

Tom Jackobs 7:19

And.

Katie Kirklin 7:20

And so, yeah, it, I think sometimes it helps to have a practitioner, you know, take kind of an objective look at you and help you reflect on your whole story, which is what I do with clients. You know, we sit down, we, we look at their, their whole life story from their birth till up until now to learn. You know, every, part of their story and how that is impacting their health. and, and when we do that, it allows us to, you know, get kind of a 360 view and, and really, really recognize what, what might be going on for their body that doesn't necessarily have to, have to be happening. Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 8:13

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's really great to get that history in there. So then there can be those norm points where you can say, oh, this is normal. This is not normal. And now you can start to map that.

Making Business Feel Lighter

Tom Jackobs 8:27

going back to the alignment issue again, I don't wanna drop it too quickly. I know personally for me, when tasks in the business feel heavy and I want to do something else like laundry, which I hate to do, I know there's something wrong in the business in terms of I'm gonna want to do laundry and not deal with this, right?

Katie Kirklin 8:51

Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 8:51

That's a big clue for me that you know, something, it's feeling heavy. It's feeling like it's like pushing a boulder up, up a hill. And there's times in business that's gonna happen anyway naturally. 'cause that's just business. But when it, if it happens every day with the same type of thing then that's I, for me anyway, that's a time to look for, look into the business and like, why am I feeling this way every time I do this particular thing or this aspect of my business? It's draining me more than it's fulfilling me. And so that, that's one thing that, I've been really focused on in the last, like five years. And it's completely transformed the business and it just feels a lot lighter. And I know doing podcasts as well, a lot of podcasters I talk to, they're like, oh, gotta do another podcast. Got, you know, edit it. I have to do this. I, and they're talking about all the backend stuff. I'm like, have somebody else do that?

Katie Kirklin 9:52

Right.

Tom Jackobs 9:53

Right. it's like, I hate, I hate editing, I don't like to write, I don't, like all this other stuff. I have somebody else do that stuff

Katie Kirklin 10:00

Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 10:01

I just walk up to a microphone and talk to really great guests like you. And it's, that brings me joy. Now, if I had to do all everything else to it, there'd probably be only three episodes and not a hundred and forty-five.

Katie Kirklin 10:13

Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and so you've done exactly what I'm describing. You've identified, you know, what feels heavy and

Tom Jackobs 10:22

Yep.

Katie Kirklin 10:22

what really isn't feeling aligned for you and your problem solving, which is what I do with clients. it's

Six Sigma for Wellness

Katie Kirklin 10:30

really cool. I actually, have some experience with Six Sigma. My

Tom Jackobs 10:34

Oh, good.

Katie Kirklin 10:34

my dad is a Lean Six Sigma guy. And so I've, I'm certified in it. And it's so interesting and in talking with him about how I problem solve with clients, it's really the same process we use to problem solve in business. You know, first we have to define what, what the problem is, and, and lope and recognize those problems. And then. Measure them if, if we can, and then analyze which I, in the functional nutrition world, analyze, we assess,

Tom Jackobs 11:09

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 11:10

through a really thorough assessment, then improve, make recommendations, and then we control and continue to track and reassess. And it sounds like you've, you did that, whether, you know,

Tom Jackobs 11:24

Subconsciously.

Katie Kirklin 11:25

following that process or not, that's what you did.

Tom Jackobs 11:29

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 11:29

think whenever we recognize something in the business that feels like a boulder, as you described, that's an opportunity to, to pause and say, okay, what is, what is the root of what I'm feeling here? So this feels like a boulder. Does it have to? Can I, can I dig down and make some changes where I can still use this process in business, but make tweaks so it feels much, much more doable?

Tom Jackobs 12:00

Yeah. Yeah, that's great. What, and a good process to follow as well, because I'm very much a process person, so, and.

Katie Kirklin 12:07

Yeah. Yeah.

What Katie Does

Tom Jackobs 12:09

So let's shift gears a little bit. Let's talk about your business. Gimme a, a, just an overview of what your business is and what makes it heart-led to you.

Katie Kirklin 12:18

Yeah. As you know, my background is in nursing, I now work one-on-one with individuals doing functional nutrition counseling. So, I work, a lot of people come to me with different symptoms, or maybe they want to lose a few pounds, or they just want to improve their health, have more energy. So I work with people to make diet and lifestyle changes. So functional nutrition is my title, my certification, but that doesn't fully describe the breadth of the work that I do. It's a very holistic approach. So I help people, looking not just at nutrition, but at their lifestyle too. You know, are they sleeping? Are they drinking? Are they, are they connecting with their community? Are they moving their body?

Tom Jackobs 13:11

Oh.

Root Cause Tree Model

Katie Kirklin 13:12

One way I really like to describe functional nutrition is using this visual of a tree. So if someone is experiencing symptoms like maybe anxiety or overwhelm, or it could be a skin symptom, eczema, acne, or a gut issue, bloating, heartburn, any of those symptoms I think of as a branch,

Tom Jackobs 13:37

Hmm,

Katie Kirklin 13:37

branch of a tree. And the work that I do is on the root level and in the soil. So

Tom Jackobs 13:44

Huh.

Katie Kirklin 13:45

There are three, three main roots that I focus on, and those are inflammation, digestion, genes or genetics.

Tom Jackobs 13:53

Okay.

Katie Kirklin 13:53

And then we also work in that terrain. And so what's really beautiful about this work is we're not necessarily targeting symptoms like it's not a band -aid solution. We are doing this foundational work and the foundation, when you, when you shift that terrain as a by -product, those symptoms start to resolve naturally.

Tom Jackobs 14:23

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 14:23

If you think of an actual tree, if you have a tree and its branches are starting to suffer, not going to fix it by just going to the branches. You know that you're going to have to check out the roots and the soil.

Tom Jackobs 14:38

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 14:38

And when you address that, and you're also addressing the terrain, you know, is it, is it getting sunlight? Is it getting clean water? Is it planted in the right place?

Tom Jackobs 14:49

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 14:50

that's, that's really what, what makes a difference and it is, it has just been so incredible to see when we are truly focusing on that foundation, what an impact it can have for someone's health. Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 15:05

Yeah, I, and that, that's what I love about functional medicine and just getting to the root cause. So again, you don't bandaid it. And have to keep replacing the bandaid. I love it when there's some, functional orthopedic docs that I work with and, like cortisone is a common, it's a steroid that people put into their joints to, combat the pain. And it doesn't work for, longer than three months or six months, but it also degenerates the cartilage in your joint at the same time.

Katie Kirklin 15:37

Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 15:38

It's like when you ask somebody, what'd you do? Oh, I had a cortisone shot. And it's hurting again. Yeah, it's, it wore off. So why would you do it again if it's not gonna. Permanently fix it. Like you're just band-aiding. And I was like, yeah, that's a really good question to ask people. It's

Katie Kirklin 15:56

Right.

Tom Jackobs 15:56

why do you keep doing it if you know it doesn't work?

Katie Kirklin 15:59

Right.

Tom Jackobs 15:59

that's insanity, right? It is doing the same thing over and over again.

Katie Kirklin 16:03

Right.

Tom Jackobs 16:03

when you like get the education and you know, oh, let's look at what the root cause is it's not even my shoulder. It's my hip is out of alignment. Let's get that into alignment now. My shoulder's fine and everything works much better. Yeah, that's, so it's,

Katie Kirklin 16:17

There's inflammation going on. What can we do about that inflammation? Sometimes the answer is way more simple, too.

Tom Jackobs 16:25

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 16:26

I, I always say that a lot of the work I do with people is, it is rather simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Yeah.

Tom Jackobs 16:35

Right. That's anytime there's lifestyles, lifestyle change, it's never easy for a lot of people. Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 16:41

Right.

Why She Started

Tom Jackobs 16:42

So let's talk about your business then, and so what prompted you to start the business and what was that process like for you? In the initial phases of starting the business?

Katie Kirklin 16:52

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I feel like this business was so many years in the making for me, but I just didn't know what it was going to look like. I, I always, I would say I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. My dad is an entrepreneur and I always wanted to start my own business, but it took me a while to figure out what that would look like.. So I, I got a degree. My first degree is in kinesiology and health and because I was very passionate about nutrition and fitness from a young age. but I didn't really see a clear path to starting a business or to just a career straight out of my undergrad. So I went and got my, a master's science in nursing and I felt like, okay, nursing is a safe, you know, that's a safe, secure bet. Let's do that because I just didn't know what else to do at that time.

Tom Jackobs 17:49

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 17:50

I discovered is that what I wanted to do ultimately was not something I could find in a job description. It was something I would have to create. And so for a while I was looking for it in a job description, specifically in nursing jobs, but I learned quickly. And I am so grateful for my time as a nurse, it is definitely something, a part of my identity now, and something I will always hold on to, but I learned quickly that nursing, for the most part, is, it is working within the conventional medical model, is, It

Tom Jackobs 18:27

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 18:27

is, it is more reactive and we're caring for the sick, which is a beautiful, beautiful work. But ultimately I knew I wanted to be working in the preventive space. And so it didn't take me long to realize, okay, this doesn't really exist in the world of nursing as nursing is right now. and so I eventually through my own health journey found my way into this more integrative functional space. And, and I remember the first time I heard functional nutrition, and heard it described as there's no one size fits all and

Tom Jackobs 19:06

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 19:07

in the body is connected and all things matter. And I remember thinking like, Oh, this is it. This is what I've been searching for. Cause in my own health journey, I, I really believed in the power of nutrition, but I was always trying very specific. diets like I tried paleo for a while. I tried vegan and just none of those were really sustainable and they weren't, they weren't really addressing me as an individual. but when I heard that functional nutrition there's no one size fits all. I was like, okay, that, that makes sense. Everyone is unique. And the approach to helping someone heal through nutrition and lifestyle is going to be different for each individual. When I found that, I was like, this is it. This is the direction I'm going to go with my business. This is how I want to help people.

Tom Jackobs 19:59

That's

Katie Kirklin 20:00

so, yeah. And then it

Tom Jackobs 20:02

cool.

Katie Kirklin 20:02

you know, There was no looking back.

Tom Jackobs 20:04

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 20:05

found the certification. I think I signed up the same day and haven't looked back since.

Tom Jackobs 20:10

That's great.

Pricing and Value Mindset

Tom Jackobs 20:11

Now, what about the mindset of charging what you're worth? Did you ever struggle with not charging enough and then, I can't pay my bills now, and then you like, wait a second, I need to charge. What was the transition for you on the, on that front?

Katie Kirklin 20:28

Absolutely. That's been a progression for me, for sure. I, I remember starting out, I actually picked a number that I was a little uncomfortable with. And looking back, I have since more than doubled that number for what I charge my individual clients. but I, I did feel, like looking back, I think I kind of needed to go through that progression. Thank you. To really appreciate the value I was giving my clients, and also I learned that as I charged more, I could work with fewer clients and I could provide more value to each client.

Tom Jackobs 21:06

Yep.

Katie Kirklin 21:07

I also learned that when someone is investing in themselves, They're going to get better results because they're, going to follow my recommendations more. And part of that journey was also my own health journey when I decided to work with a practitioner on my own health and I realized what I was willing to invest. And I was like, okay, if I'm willing to invest this, someone else will be willing to invest in themselves too, if

Tom Jackobs 21:40

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 21:40

they believe that I am the right person to help them.

Tom Jackobs 21:44

Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. No, that, that's good. And what good mindset. How long did it take you to shift your mindset and get to the point where you are today?

Katie Kirklin 21:55

Yeah, so I, my business is still pretty new. It's only about two years old. I

Tom Jackobs 22:03

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 22:03

would say that it has taken me about, I, I recently, I was kind of progressively increasing my prices. I would say it took me about a year and a half to get to a point where I was like, okay, I think this is probably the max I would charge for the foreseeable future.

Tom Jackobs 22:23

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 22:24

So yeah, it took me time and it took experience and really building confidence and proving to myself, okay, I can do this. I can get people amazing results. And. And, also, know, it took some learning on my part to see that when I'm working with a higher volume of clients, I can't deliver the same level of service I can as when I'm working with fewer. And so that was

Tom Jackobs 22:49

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 22:49

a big learning experience for me, and that really helped push me to increasing my pricing too. Yeah,

Tom Jackobs 22:56

Oh, nice. Good, good.

Take Imperfect Action

Tom Jackobs 22:58

What words of advice would you give to somebody that, that you wish you would've had two years ago when you started your business?

Katie Kirklin 23:05

I would say so. I am so grateful. I actually found a business coaching program that was very specific to the work that I do early on, and that really helped me get my business off the ground. There was one thing she always said, and it was, take imperfect action. And that is something I always have to remind myself, is take imperfect action. You know, don't dwell on things that don't necessarily matter or that you can potentially change in the future. Like even something as basic as my business name, I was like, all right, I'm not dwelling on the name. It's, it's Katie Kirklin nutrition moving on. And I was like, I could always change that in the future if I want to, just not being afraid to take imperfect action has helped me a lot. I mean, if, if I hadn't listened to that and really taken that to heart, I would not, business never would have gotten off the ground. Because I never

Tom Jackobs 24:08

Oh my gosh.

Katie Kirklin 24:08

would have said, okay, my logo is perfect, my, my messaging is perfect, my offers, you know, nothing will ever be perfect. And even with, you know, I have a newsletter that I send out, and even with those, I could, I could tweak an email for six hours or for one hour, you know

Tom Jackobs 24:28

Right.

Katie Kirklin 24:28

and it's just like, all right, this is good enough. It's going to deliver value. It's not going to cause harm. Let's get it out. And just really keeping that mindset that, I mean, everything, it's about continuous improvement.

Tom Jackobs 24:42

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 24:43

And so just being willing to move forward, even when things don't feel exactly perfect. Is,

Tom Jackobs 24:49

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 24:50

I would say, is the best advice I ever got.

Tom Jackobs 24:53

That it truly is the best advice. Yes. So thank you for sharing that as well.

How to Get Clients Fast

Tom Jackobs 24:58

I've worked with so many new business owners and it's so frustrating when they say, I first have to get my logo, my website. I have to get my LinkedIn profile just perfect. I gotta do this and this. And I always ask, how long do you think that's gonna take? I don't know, like three months, four months, or something like that. I was like. How about getting a, how about getting a client like next week? how about doing that? Like you wanna practice, right? Yeah. how about getting a client? I can't get a client without a website. Wait, you can't get a client without a website. What happened in like 1980? Nobody had websites, still got clients, right?

Katie Kirklin 25:34

I know plenty of practitioners that get plenty of clients without websites currently.

Tom Jackobs 25:40

Of course,

Katie Kirklin 25:41

All you need is a little PDF or,

Tom Jackobs 25:43

yeah.

Katie Kirklin 25:44

yeah,

Tom Jackobs 25:45

A phone.

Katie Kirklin 25:47

Yeah,

Tom Jackobs 25:48

Yeah, a phone and an email address maybe.

Katie Kirklin 25:52

yeah, that's actually one other thing I will say has been huge for me is telling people what I do. You

Tom Jackobs 26:00

Yeah. Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 26:02

know, if someone says, what do you do? Not being afraid to, you know, it might be a little bit out of my comfort zone, or I know, you know, especially in the health space, you might think, oh, I don't know if I know enough. What if someone's gonna ask me a question I don't know the answer to? And just being willing to step out of that comfort zone and, and take that risk that it's okay if someone asks you a question and you don't know how to answer it. But,

Tom Jackobs 26:28

Yeah.

Katie Kirklin 26:30

if you don't tell people what you do, then no one's ever gonna know.

Tom Jackobs 26:33

That's right. Yeah. That's awesome. Great advice. Thank you for that, Katie.

Free Guide and Wrap Up

Katie Kirklin 26:39

Thank you.

Tom Jackobs 26:39

As we are wrapping up here, how can people find out more about your business and you and what you do?

Katie Kirklin 26:45

Yeah, yeah. Well, they can visit my website. It's katykirkland.com. And I also have a special gift for your listeners.

Tom Jackobs 26:53

oh.

Katie Kirklin 26:54

It's a guide I put together. It's called Three Hidden Reasons Your Business Feels Hard. And it's all about

Tom Jackobs 26:59

Wow.

Katie Kirklin 27:00

taking a step back and looking at physiology. You know, it's amazing how much better someone can feel, how much more energized, how quickly someone can experience relief from symptoms like brain fog or feelings of burnout just through some really simple diet and lifestyle shifts.

Tom Jackobs 27:23

Yeah. Absolutely! Makes a huge difference. I know I've gone through that several times in my life. It's definitely made a huge difference,

Katie Kirklin 27:32

Yeah, yeah.

Tom Jackobs 27:33

Well thank you. Thank you for providing

Katie Kirklin 27:33

Yeah,

Tom Jackobs 27:35

that to the audience. I'm sure everybody will get a lot of benefit from it as well.

Katie Kirklin 27:40

Yeah, absolutely my pleasure.

Tom Jackobs 27:42

Yeah. And thank you Katie for spending the time with us today and sharing your wisdom and your journey. And, I really appreciate you taking the time to, to be with us today.

Katie Kirklin 27:51

Yeah, thank you so much, Tom. I've really enjoyed being here with you today.

Tom Jackobs 27:56

Awesome. Thank you.

Final Thanks and Outro

Tom Jackobs 27:57

And thank you dear listeners, for watching or listening to the show today. I appreciate you tuning in and make sure you're checking out everything that Katie's doing. We're gonna put all those links down into the show notes, especially that special PDF that she's providing to us as well. So make sure you go down to the show notes. Click on that link, grab that PDF and find out the three reasons why your business feels hard right now. I know I'm gonna need to look at that, not that it feels hard right now, at some point I'm sure it will again.

Katie Kirklin 28:25

Thank you.

Tom Jackobs 28:26

make sure you're checking that out. And when you're down there clicking around, if there's a review button, which I know there is, make sure you give the show a good rating and review. It just helps spread the word about The Heart-Led Business Show and helps people feel better about starting a business that's all about their heart and about making profit at the same time. So until next time, lead with your heart.

Speaker 2 28:50

You've been listening to The Heart-Led Business Show, hosted by Tom Jackobs. Join us next time for another inspiring journey into the heart of business.