We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kat Irwin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Kat with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
This is a great question and very timely as I’ve just spent four days visiting my parents. During this visit I realised how similar we are and how much I’ve learnt from them – including my work ethic.
My parents both came from humble beginnings and worked hard to build a stable yet simple life for themselves where they could enjoy BBQs with friends and walking our dog on the beach. But when I was a teenager, things took a turn. My Dad’s job dramatically changed. Suddenly he was pushed to the limit, working long hours, constantly stressed, and barely getting any sleep. He was a different person and had lost that cheeky twinkle in his eye.
Then came more bad news. My dad, just seven years from retirement, received devastating news that his best friend and colleague had suffered from a fatal heart attack caused by stress from the same job. My Mom, protective as she is, knew that my dad could be next if something didn’t change. She ordered him to retire early. “We have enough money and I’m not losing you too!” she told him.
And that was that for me. I learnt that while working hard is vital to achieving the life you want, it should never be at the expense of your health, relationships or peace of mind. And this lesson stays with me and how I run my business today.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
With 10+ years experience, I help mission-driven entrepreneurs build effective, long-term solutions that drive results, so they can make an impact in the world. From coaches to lawyers and product-based businesses, I believe that we can all have an impact when we are intentional with our actions.
This year I’m focused on helping my audience in a small yet impactful way, with my Less Mess, Less Stress Newsletter. These emails will help you build the right skills to create a business that doesn’t feel stressful and messy. There’s not a cookie-cutter approach to this but I’ll teach you how to think so you can create the powerful, impactful business the world deserves.
Sign up here: https://www.kat-irwin-design.com/newsletter
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
They say building a business is less about the skills and tactics but really about becoming the person you need to be. Which is why self-development is so important.
When I started freelancing I was scared and insecure, hiding myself away from judgement of my colleagues, friends, family – anyone really! But once I invested in my own self-development everything changed. I read books about mindset, listened to podcasts about confidence and went to therapy. My whole life changed, and honestly I wish I had of done it sooner.
I stopped making excuses and started living aligned with my values. As a result my business flourished.
The three qualities I’d encourage folks early in their journey to focus on are:
1. Confidence.
This doesn’t mean you have to be loud. Learn your strengths and weaknesses and accept them both.
2. Embracing failure.
Failure is not a bad thing. It actually just means you were brave enough to try and you learnt something in the process.
3. Live intentionally
Figure out what’s important to you, what your values are, and live aligned with those values.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Wow I have so many! As business owners we should take our advice from multiple sources.
But I’ll leave you with one nugget of wisdom from the book “How to be confident” by James Smith, which helped me a lot to build my own confidence.
James explains that you can’t learn how to be confident, or perhaps you might never ‘feel’ confident – you just have to be confident. How to do this? Imagine the person you are when you have learnt to be confident and start living like that person. If confident you asks a question on zoom call, then ask that question. If confident you signs up to do a speech, sign up for that speech. It’s always worse in our heads, and once we start doing, it’s all a lot easier.
As I often say: “don’t think, just do.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kat-irwin-design.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kat.irwin.design
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-irwin-design
