Unlocking Creativity at Work—Even in ‘Serious’ Corporations: Kate Volman, Author of Do What You Love

Workforce Alchemy

Do you truly know what drives the people on your team?  Every CEO says they want a great culture… but very few actually build one. In this episode of The Mason Duchatschek Show, I sit down with Kate Volman, CEO of Floyd Coaching, to explore how leaders can create cultures where people thrive—not just perform.  We dig into the deeper layers of leadership: creativity, journaling, imposter syndrome, workplace fulfillment, and why “happiness” isn’t something you chase…it’s something you generate through meaningful work.  Kate also breaks down why “creating before consuming” is the most underrated leadership habit in the upcoming year, and how it protects your originality, energy, and focus in a noisy world.  If you care about culture, creativity, and purpose-driven leadership, this conversation will challenge you in all the right ways.  🧠 About This Episode  Inside this conversation, you’ll discover:  ► Why most leaders fail at culture—and what great cultures actually do differently ► How creative projects (yes, even hobbies) make you a better leader ► The surprising impact of journaling on clarity and decision-making ► How to coach team members by understanding their dreams, not just their job descriptions ► The truth about imposter syndrome and why high achievers feel it most ► A powerful mindset shift: happiness as a byproduct, not a goal ► Why boundaries around social media are now a leadership essential ► How to create momentum when you feel stuck or overwhelmed  This episode is loaded with actionable strategies leaders can implement immediately—whether you're a CEO, team leader, business owner, or anyone who wants to unlock creativity and build a culture worth staying for.  Explore tools, training, and certification options: 👉 https://workforcealchemy.com/  🌐 Connect With Workforce Alchemy  📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReverseRiskConsulting  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workforcealchemy/  🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/WorkAlchemist  🎥 Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/WorkforceAlchemy  📼 Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/WorkforceAlchemy  📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkforceAlchemist  #CreativeLeadership #LeadWithPurpose #CultureDriven #WorkplaceCreativity #LeadershipMindset #ModernLeadership #KateVolman #MasonDuchatschek

Transcript

00:00kate volman is the ceo of floyd coaching and she's the author of do what you love a guide

00:11to living your creative life without leaving your job she's also the host of podcasts lead

00:17with culture and create for no reason she spent over two decades helping entrepreneurs and

00:22executives build engaged high-performing teams by combining personal growth with leadership

00:28excellence today we're going to be talking about what truly drives culture creativity and

00:33fulfillment at work i want to really talk about how leaders can bring out the best in their people

00:37and themselves as well so kate thank you so much for setting aside the time welcome to the show

00:42thanks so much for having me mason so good to be here so i just want to dive right into it because

00:48we got a whole bunch of cool stuff to cover if you don't mind i wanted to ask about your your book do

00:53what you love is about embracing creativity without abandoning one's job could you share a story of

00:59how you balanced the demanding corporate role with personal passions and how that experience can

01:05inspire ceos who feel stuck between obligation and desire yeah so the reason i wrote this book is

01:14because i feel like i've had the opportunity to do this throughout my career so when i worked at a

01:22chamber of commerce it was one of my first roles and you know i was just getting into the workforce i

01:27didn't know what to expect and i just had this curiosity around media and marketing and this was

01:36around 2008 so it was just when social media was coming up and facebook and youtube and all these things

01:42and i remember back then when i was working in a job that i really loved i loved working at the chamber i

01:48loved it and uh which is a blessing in itself right not everybody loves their work and then i also got

01:55so curious about you can do videos and post them online and i can help feature the businesses that

02:00i'm working with and so i just learned a lot at the chamber about entrepreneurship and advocacy and

02:06networking and community and so i got my little pink flip cam and i would bring it to chamber meetings

02:13and i would pull uh the speakers of our events aside and say hey let me ask you a couple questions so

02:19i had my little pink flip cam asking questions and it was just i had so much fun doing it and so

02:24i just started playing around with it i built a website on weebly.com this is like forever ago and i don't

02:31even know if that still exists but and i just like played around with it so it was at the very start of my

02:36career that i discovered the importance of yes you have a job to do but then you have these other

02:43creative passions that may you may be able to incorporate into your work and maybe you you don't

02:48but how important they are because they fill you with energy and so they bring joy to your life they

02:54fill you with energy and i think that so often we get so focused on work that we forget about our

03:01creative passions and how much they help us excel in all areas of our lives well it's cool that you

03:08were in a role that allowed you to do that it's and not only that but just for unleashing your

03:12creativity but to be able to develop new skills that are valuable and marketable and what what

03:18advice or guidance might you give to someone who may not have quite that much autonomy or freedom or

03:23where the company might look down on you like you're not focused on the company's mission

03:26what advice do you have for people in that kind of predicament for lack of a better word well i think

03:31this is a culture conversation right for the the first first thing is there are a lot of leaders there

03:40are many like i run a company that is all about helping people become the best version of themselves

03:45right like our team we certify dream managers we help leaders with company culture we help them

03:52engage with their team members by learning about the dreams that they have for their life and

03:56so finding an organization that values you as a whole person is important and there are leaders

04:04like that out there right so i think being part of that type of culture is you you working with a

04:09leader who cares about you and the other areas of your life they recognize and realize that you're

04:14a whole person when you go home you're thinking about work and when you go to work you're thinking

04:17about home and so we have to be treating people and understanding that they are a whole person and so

04:22working for an organization that recognizes that and also feeds into those gifts right so like for me

04:29i was fortunate that i had an opportunity to kind of incorporate some of my creative passions into my

04:34work but for a lot of people it's they love dancing singing gardening playing guitar and so there are

04:41pockets of time that we can find for our creative outlets and those things that bring us joy and so i think

04:47that's really important for for all of us to recognize right you don't have to wait until you

04:51have five hours in a day to do something that you love it can be something that you just do for 10

04:57minutes a day or an hour a week or just anything that just allows them that creative space so let's

05:04just say for the sake of discussion that a corporate environment exists that might be a little bit more

05:09old old school and rigid where it's just like anytime you're not focusing on your job and focusing on the

05:13work you're you're ripping the company off and you know that might be a little bit of extreme example

05:18but some folks think like that what advice would you have to aspiring leaders or executives who do

05:24see the big picture and do see the the value of encouraging some creativity and encouraging things

05:30other than the nose to the grindstone from the time you open your eyes to the time you close them at

05:34night what advice or guidance do you have for them trying to improve a culture from something that's

05:40more rigid to something that's a little bit more open knowing the dreams of your team members is is

05:46the first step right it's a start when organizations that like you're talking about you have to come in and

05:51do the work and it's all about the numbers and great like those things matter it's not saying that those

05:57things don't matter but an organization can only grow and be the best version of itself to the extent that

06:03your people are becoming better versions of themselves and when you recognize that and you realize that

06:09you're gonna lead differently when when someone comes into the into work of course they are there

06:15to do a job and hopefully they have very clear expectations on what their role is and what is

06:20expected of them and all of those pieces but that doesn't mean that as a leader you can't also know

06:24that this person loves writing or loves art and they paint when they go home and maybe they have a

06:30little gallery showing or something like it's not to say that you can't know that and also eat into that

06:36and so you know what i i remember years ago it was like 2009 i was at the entrepreneur magazine

06:44entrepreneur of the year award event and this gentleman who was the winner i think it was

06:51rick altman he was the ceo of skull candy and he talked about the importance of the people on his team

06:58having a hobby out something outside something sporty because that's kind of like their business

07:04and i've also heard kevin o'leary mr wonderful on shark tank he says i hire people that have hobbies

07:11i hire people that have hobbies because they are a more well-rounded individual they're more

07:16well-rounded person and so when when you can help your team members achieve their dreams personally

07:22they're going to show up at work much differently so you know 70 of the workforce is disengaged

07:28so you have leaders all over saying why are my people disengaged and they're not working and they're

07:32not trying hard and quite quitting and all of these things that are happening well they're not

07:36engaged at work because they're probably disengaged in their own life too because people have stopped

07:42dreaming and so when you as a leader invite your team to dream oh my god not only are you changing the

07:48culture at the organization you're changing that person's life yes that's a thank you for sharing that

07:53so you suggested using the journaling prompt my life is better when and listed habits like

08:01reducing social media time journaling daily and focusing on what you control how do you use

08:06journaling to regain focus during periods of stress and can you maybe giving even give an example of

08:12it influencing a major business choice in your world i think journaling is one of the best things

08:17that we can do on a regular basis because we're all in our heads right mason like we can get so stuck

08:24in our heads and especially ceos leaders you might not have a lot of people to talk through your

08:29challenges with and so one of the benefits is of journaling is just getting all of those thoughts

08:35out of our head and onto the page doing that you know i think especially when we're making a decision

08:41emotions can run really high right so we're like i have to make this decision and and you might make

08:46the wrong decision so journaling you can use all different forms of journaling you can use journaling

08:51prompts you can use i'm just going to start writing and see what pops up you can use journaling as a way

08:57to decide hey these are the two these are my these are the two options that i'm thinking of but you can

09:02actually journal your way into a third option just because you're writing it all out and so i often

09:08recommend journaling to a lot of ceos in fact i was working with somebody it was uh the ceo of this

09:14huge organization and just hundreds of people that he was responsible for and i remember he just was so

09:21stressed out all the time every time we had a call he was just so stressed out about everything and so i

09:25encouraged him to start journaling and he looked at me like i was crazy he's like i'm not doing that

09:30i'm not journaling like that is not for me like what am i a little girl and so but i encouraged him

09:37i'm like you know just i would give him journaling prompts at the end of our sessions that would be

09:41related to whatever it is he was going through and i will tell you he did not want to admit it to me but

09:48he after a couple months he said i'm doing it on my own now like this has been such an incredible

09:54practice that i never would have picked up had it not been for our cause and it really helped support

10:01him and some of the decisions that he's making so i think journaling is just so great in decision

10:05making and just helping us feel calm about different decisions just helping us even more clarify and

10:13solidify our thoughts and just writing is such a writing is such an important way to help us

10:20think through things and so i'm a huge fan of journaling for anyone and then because i because

10:26journaling makes sense to me and to an extent i do i don't know that i would call it journaling but i do

10:31keep a log and i do keep journals but i don't i don't do it like a diary i just like oh i got a good

10:36idea and i'll make a note of that or oh that was an interesting experience i want to write about that

10:41later i see journaling as an important way to just get it all out of your head like before you go to

10:47any before you go to ai like to me ai is is is more of like a thought partner like let me like a coach

10:55kind of a thing like hey let's talk through i want to talk through this with someone whereas journaling

11:01is like i didn't i'm not even there yet i want to just get all of this craziness out okay because

11:07journaling looks different for everyone right like to you like journaling is like lists and like

11:11that's great that's journaling um for other people it's like for me sometimes it literally is like

11:17julia cameron wrote this book i talk about all the time the artist way and she shares morning pages

11:22she talks about morning pages and morning pages is where you just wake up first thing in the morning

11:28before you've had coffee or taking a walk or done anything you just journal free flow writing for

11:34three pages she's like you have to write three pages and the reason behind it is because there

11:39is so much going on in our brains that we don't really know about so you have to like force yourself

11:43to write and if you don't know what to write she says write anything you could start journaling by

11:47writing down your grocery list because you just have nothing else to say and then all of a sudden

11:52you'll start writing and the craziest things will show up but you have to start writing and so i think

11:58that's where it's important for us to like get all those things out of our head i do think it's

12:03important for us to to have these our own ideas and flesh things through and like think about things

12:08before we go to ai to just kind of give us answers or to share stuff i think it's important for us to

12:14really think through a lot of stuff first just out of curiosity what are some of the things that are

12:17common denominators or are there some themes in the in your content after your journal i mean are

12:23there just or is it just totally random because you got me curious well

12:26it kind of depends on what's going on in life right like i love looking at old journals and seeing

12:35like oh my gosh i can't believe that i spent a week or two weeks talking about this one thing that at

12:41the time felt like my whole world and it's such a blip in what my world is you know i think it's it was

12:48like such a perspective thing for me so but i think for me like i just have noticed what i notice the most is

12:54how surprised i get by what i write almost every time there's something that i write and i'm thinking

13:00wow i knew that but i think i almost was too scared to say it it's almost like you're a place where

13:06you're admitting those deep down thoughts that you don't want to share with someone but you have to

13:11because you're writing and so something always shows up for me that surprises me and that's one of

13:15the best parts about journaling is like you surprise yourself with what shows up like i said even if

13:22it's potentially discovering a new third or fourth option that you never would have because you

13:28weren't talking through it or maybe you realize something that you thought was such a problem in

13:33your life is actually not that big of a problem and so i don't know i just think we can surprise

13:38ourselves it's funny where this where our conversation goes because i worked for i worked

13:42for a man who was a national sales trainer right out of college and one of the things he one of the

13:47first things he taught me which i'd never forgotten he said your worst pen is better than your best

13:50memory so take notes so i found myself across the desk from ceos and sales managers and human

13:58resource executives on a regular basis and i would talk to them about what they were doing well what

14:02obstacles they had what things they had tried to overcome those obstacles what worked what didn't

14:07work and and i took very copious notes and i kept all of them this was old school the little

14:12manila folders and handwritten notes and and after a while it made me feel really smart because i could go

14:18talk to one executive who had solved a problem that another executive has right now and then the

14:22executive right now has a solution to a different industry executives challenges and all of a sudden

14:28it didn't take but a couple years and all of a sudden i i felt pretty smart which that wasn't the big

14:33thing what was was that i was around very smart people and i had the record of their thoughts and

14:39their ideas and when it came to write my first book i wrote my first book in 1999 and people talk well

14:44was that hard did it take a long time i'm like no it didn't it took a few days because i had literally

14:49had all of the notes from all of my sales calls and i just literally wrote those stories organized

14:56them into segments and then wrote the basically put them into chapters and wrote the transitions from

15:01one to the other but because i really had the content there it was just a matter of polishing it

15:05organizing it packaging it writing the transitions and it was so therapeutic and like you talked about

15:12to be able to look back those lessons weren't lost on me i i got to learn vicariously through

15:17other people as alex harmosi says i got the lessons without the scars oh i like that yeah

15:22because it was and i guess what the nice thing about haviland that was i wasn't going to trip over the

15:27same rocks that other people had tripped over because you might call it journaling my old boss

15:32would have called it taking notes paying attention to prospect but i don't want to digress like

15:35this is about your experience not mine so i know that you've also

15:39awesome i think that like that's it's call it journaling call it writing call it taking notes

15:43whatever makes you feel good about it writing writing is important it's to me it is because

15:48i obviously people talk about visual learners auditory learners kinesthetic i'm visual number

15:53one kinesthetic number two and auditory very like if someone explains something to me i just doesn't

15:58sink in i have to write it down but by the time i see it written in notes and the time i write it

16:03down and physically go i usually remember it but i just have to listen long enough to write it down

16:07and that's that's my challenge so i know you've written about imposter syndrome and that's something

16:13i hear a lot of people talking about can you tell us about a moment that you or someone you've worked

16:18with closely felt like an imposter and the steps that were taken to move past it so imposter syndrome

16:27is so funny and i i did talk about it in my book and it's like we have to stop giving it power i guess

16:35right like we like if people say oh i have imposter syndrome if imposter syndrome is stopping you from

16:45pursuing your dreams then it's a problem we just have to work through it by just right just stepping

16:51over it right it's like okay we get it like i feel like an imposter because i haven't done something

16:56it's almost like when we talk about trusting the process i love talking about the creative creative

17:00process and oftentimes even when we certify dream managers we will tell them i know there's a lot of

17:05information you have to trust the process and we're telling these people to trust the process

17:09but they're learning something new they're learning how to coach people they're look and so how can we

17:14expect that they're going to be confident in this new role just because we're telling them to trust

17:18the process because they haven't done it yet and so after a few months they always come back and

17:22they're like we get it okay we should have trusted the process and not been so nervous because they

17:26excel in the role as coaching because they do great and we teach them how to do that we just have

17:31to get over that fact that sometimes especially when we're doing something new that we are unsure of

17:36we're gonna kind of have those feelings and it it just can't stop us from doing the work right like

17:43that's the biggest thing i mean i i'm a huge fan of the war of art by steven pressfield right he talks

17:50about the resistance he talks about imposters all of all of those things and the resistance is what stops

17:57us from doing the work from doing the thing we know that we should do and so that whole book is

18:02really about are you a professional or an amateur the professional shows up like even in the face of

18:07fear even in the face of imposters all of those things so we just have to recognize that hey you

18:12know what sometimes i'm going to feel a little bit less confident than i want to but guess what helps

18:18you become confident doing the work putting in the reps the more reps that you do the less you feel

18:23like an imposter but then you level up and now you're at a different level and so you might kind

18:27of get that feeling again because you're doing something new and so i think it really just is

18:31something that we have to be comfortable with and just recognizing when we feel that way and then just

18:36pushing through it i think so often in any whether it's creative practice or you're running a business

18:41you're part of a team anything you know we just have to keep showing up and put in the work and know

18:46and believe that you're going to get better through the practice of it all it's funny i i'm you're you're

18:52really extracting from my memory some things like i was talking to about the sales trainer i worked

18:57for that said your worst pen is better than your best memory one of his other little methods of

19:01encouragement he said do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain and i can't tell you how

19:05many times i've gone up to do something like do the thing you fear and death of fear is certain and

19:08then you do the reps and then you become familiar with it and comfortable with it and and i think he was

19:12also very good influence on me earlier in my career and telling you look don't be afraid to suck at

19:17something new just do your best and work on making your best better that's all you can ask of anybody

19:22but you'll never know what that is if you don't try you'll never you know i i'm a love there's this

19:30there's this verse or it's a paragraph whatever you want to call it's this this idea that ira glass

19:38came up with and wrote about and it's called the taste gap and it basically is where he talks about how

19:44in the beginning you suck like you just have to we all suck when we're like just get over it you're

19:51just gonna suck like if you watch if you some of your favorite creators podcasters youtubers whatever

19:57if you go back and watch their very first video it's probably not great right and so it's like

20:02even writers i know a lot of writers that have written multiple books and they're like don't read

20:06my first book it's horrible and so but they've gotten so much better right and so but the taste gap

20:12that's what he says he's like it's you're you're gonna suck and like you have to be okay with

20:16sucking and and the taste gap is you have this idea when you start of where you want your work to be

20:22and what you want it to look like so like you have this if you're a ceo you have this business this is

20:27what the business is and you have a great culture and all great people or you're starting a new project

20:31or a book or a podcast whatever and you see you know what good taste is you know what it is but you

20:37don't yet have the skill set to get there and so you have to show up and do the work and suck at it

20:43and only by doing the work can you shorten the gap and now your taste kind of matches your love uh your

20:50skill set catches up to your taste and i just love that story because i think we can all relate to that

20:57right like we have to show up and do the work and man it can be hard and you know what it's messy

21:02i you know as you said i i have a podcast called create for no reason and i think almost every guest

21:07when talking about the creative process talks about how messy it is it's messy try something it

21:13doesn't work it does that you want to change it all the things in between we have to get over the

21:17the messiness of it all but the more comfortable we get being uncomfortable and sitting in that mess

21:22and knowing that we're gonna get through and when we come out the other side a different person like

21:27that's what's worth it it's amazing to me because as a parent and i'm sure there's a lot of

21:32parents listening but i remember what it was like the first time my son played sports like ymca

21:37basketball and junior football and things like that and he had this expectation of oh i'm gonna

21:42score baskets and i'm gonna score touchdowns and it didn't just happen automatically i'm like son just

21:47because you put on a uniform and you show up doesn't mean you're going to get some magical skills

21:52and abilities that from nowhere when you haven't ever done any of this like you got to do your best

21:57and make your best better and if there are kids that are faster than you and stronger than you

22:01can jump higher than you have more experience than you then you have the choice you can find

22:06something that comes easier for you that you like more you can invest your time in that but the

22:09bottom line is you're gonna have to put in the time energy and effort to suck less and improve yeah

22:14and it's funny because as parents we can give that advice and it's like well duh but when you get become

22:20a professional and you get out responsibility it's like well i can't go out and do something bad oh that's

22:26why you practice the time and you do the work ahead of time you prepare so that you don't just go wing

22:30things you don't wouldn't encourage your son or daughter to just go wing it when they're playing

22:34a sport well you don't just go wing something either but you do try and you do prepare and you

22:39do do the best that you can you notice what worked what didn't work adjust adapt and improve but you

22:44don't not do it and you don't have expectations of excellence when you haven't put in the basic work

22:50and it's it's almost comical to me that as professionals and adults we can't look at ourselves or that some

22:57people don't look at ourselves with the same and give our same self the same advice we would give

23:01to our kids all right it's so well you know mason that's the easiest it's so easy for us to give

23:06other people advice we can fix everyone else's problems we're great at that so some of your

23:13content argues that happiness isn't rooted in external markers like money or status how do you

23:18define happiness for yourself and what practices would you recommend to executives to foster happiness

23:22within higher pressure workplaces that a lot of them operate in i think you know happiness is such

23:27an interesting topic because a lot of people are in pursuit of happiness i want to be happy and what's

23:37interesting is i don't necessarily in fact matthew kelly has a book called resisting happiness like it

23:43there's there's a lot of books around happiness i actually i don't i don't really think i don't think

23:48that much about happiness i think more about making progress and doing meaningful work like to me it's

23:56about creating and doing meaningful work and when i focus on that i'm happier so i feel like it's like

24:04the byproduct of what i'm working towards so instead of trying to get happy i focus on the things that i

24:13can do right i focus on contributing doing meaningful work building this business working on my creative

24:18projects like doing things that i feel like are fulfilling to me and supporting others and when

24:24i do that that is where happiness comes and so i think it's important for us to discover what does

24:29that look like right like what are the things that that would after you do them you find yourself

24:34feeling happier you find yourself feeling more joyful and so you know and i mean i you asked about

24:41leaders specifically i think just people in general right like we just have to become a little bit more

24:45self-aware of like what drives us and noticing our emotions a little bit more like what are what are

24:51the things that we're doing that leads to happiness or joy or provides us with more energy or drains our

24:56energy just like when we recognize those pieces of our lives then we know what areas might need a

25:03little bit more help than others and we also know what we should be spending some more of our time doing

25:07and what things we should stop doing amen and especially on the stop doing part like i'm i'm

25:13very clear on mine i've i have very cool friends and and i love all of them but i want to do what i do

25:18best and like to do most and i want to do cool things in cool places with cool people when i want where i

25:25want for as long as i want so if someone comes up to me and says hey i got this great idea i'm i'm i'm

25:30great that sounds great for you but does it meet this criteria am i getting to do what i do best and

25:35like to do most with who i want where i want when i want for as long as i want well no not really well

25:40then i'm not willing to stop doing the things that i'm currently doing and enjoying and having fun to

25:45go do something like that usually i might take a flyer every once in a while just for sense of

25:49adventure but as a general rule avoiding things that don't fit into that world gives me peace

25:54yeah and it's it's worth it to me to have those filters i know you also emphasize surrounding

26:00yourself with creative friends and spending time outside how can leaders intentionally weave similar

26:04creative habits into company culture to maybe spark innovation or prevent burnout in your opinion

26:11i think having creative friends is extremely important the outside piece is also extremely

26:16important i don't i'm sure that there's lots of lots of people that listen to this show that have

26:20heard so many all the science behind taking walks and being outside and outdoors and grounding

26:26exercises and all of those pieces you'd be right i'm like i'm sure that comes up all the time because

26:31we know it's here's the thing that's so crazy about the human about humans the human condition just

26:36like we know what we should be doing we don't always do it it's so funny it's like we've read

26:42all the books we've gotten all the advice and yet we still ask these same questions and we're still

26:48wondering why we're feeling unfulfilled or we're not happy or we just we're not we we haven't gotten as

26:54fit as we wanted to we know what we need to do but so for me like i know i take walks every morning it

27:01is my favorite part of the day i love it i don't i i don't listen to something usually like i might

27:08think about something i might think of something and then voice record it or maybe i'll take out my

27:13notes app and start writing something but it is my favorite part of the day and i think it's so

27:16important and one of the ways that i think for business that's fun to incorporate so i used to work

27:20at this co-working space which was so fun because it was i had my own business at the time and it's

27:27lonely right when you're alone and working by yourself and so at a co-working space there's so

27:31much energy you get so much energy about around being around other people even if those people

27:35are working on something completely different i don't even know what their business is but it

27:39doesn't matter just like the collective energy of working to like side by side there's something

27:43really magical about that and so i would if somebody wanted to have a meeting with me you know

27:47everyone's like oh let's do lunch let's grab drinks or coffee or whatever no i would always say

27:52no you can come downtown and i worked downtown which was so amazing and i would say hey why don't you

27:58come downtown and meet me in our co-working space and we'll go for a walk and talk so all of my

28:03meetings when i worked at the co-working space were walk and talks they would come meet me at the

28:07office and then we would just like walk around it was delray beach florida and i we would just

28:11walk around delray beach and that's that's how i had meetings it was so fun and almost

28:16everybody when they left they would say that was really cool like i want to start doing that for

28:21my meetings i'm like i know isn't this so much better than like having a lunch or something

28:24and it just like helped spark more creative ideas and you're like moving right there's something

28:30about movement and talking to somebody about a project that is is just really cool so i think

28:36that's a fun way even now in our office now like we laugh because we're in this big building and

28:42we see i always look out my window i'm like oh someone's walking around the building we all

28:46everyone in our office we all like pop out and we'll just walk around the building just to get

28:50outside get some sun and just get some steps in you that's a i learned i one of the reasons i love

28:57podcasting is i love talking to smart people and sometimes i get new ideas sometimes i get important

29:02reminders and i'm getting both out of this one that was an important reminder to me like i i do a lot of

29:08cycling and i can't tell you years past how much time i've enjoyed going out for people like how can

29:16you go out for a five-hour bike ride and i'm like how can you sit at a bar stool for five hours

29:19right but but i have friends that are fit enough to go do that and we do and i can't tell you how

29:25much like you're right the the flow and the energy and the creativity and the banter back and forth and

29:31all of a sudden five hours on the bike goes by like that whereas if you were sitting at a

29:36debt across the desk five hours might seem like an eternity but then you get all excited and you

29:40get flow and you have ideas and creativity flowing and it it works you're right and whether you're

29:46walking or cycling or running i can totally see all that and that's a reminder to me to get back on my

29:51bike and spend some time with some of my friends as opposed to let's just meet at a restaurant or

29:55let's meet at the office whatnot that that's a great reminder thank you um let me think i know

30:01let's talk a little bit about your podcasting i know that you you host create the create for no

30:05reason podcast and you produce weekly inspirational emails and you juggle multiple creative projects

30:11how have these side ventures honed your leadership skills and what lessons could executives glean from

30:18pursuing creative endeavors outside of their day job well i love my projects i think our creative projects

30:26they just fuel us in so many ways and i also recognize that any type of project that we do whether

30:32you're starting a podcast a newsletter or any type of this you know for some people that it's work right

30:38for some people like no that's what i do for my business that's not a creative project for me it

30:41happens to be more of a creative project you have to think through and and be strategic about some of

30:48that stuff so the way that i think about podcasting i can bring and the things that i've learned about

30:53podcasting the things that i've learned about producing content weekly whether it's writing or

30:59podcasting or interviewing or asking questions like all of those all those skills that are necessary

31:04in order to pursue these kinds of creative acts can bring that into my work right like it's helped me

31:11draft really great marketing copy for our business it's helped me with interviewing i have a podcast for

31:19for the business so before i started the lead with culture podcast i had done however many episodes of

31:25create for no reason so i've been the art of interviewing and so doing that and getting better

31:29at interviewing and and and also that helps with even just people right just like like you said you

31:35love podcasting because it's introducing you to really cool people same thing for us i feel like

31:39it's introduced me to some really cool people and some new ideas that had i not been curious and asked

31:45them to be on the show i wouldn't have learned and taken into the business and so i've learned

31:50so much from these from these creative activities and so that's why i think it's important for

31:57any create any leader to have a creative passion you know i mean i think for some people look i had

32:04there's an executive that was just in my office the other day and she started crocheting i'm like

32:08that's cool but and she's recognizing like it's really cool because she has a hard time kind of

32:15calming her brain and relaxing and so this is she started crocheting and then she realized i could

32:19actually crochet quotes from you know different like quotes around the business that i can then

32:25maybe like give to our clients or do so you can there you never know what's gonna show up when you

32:32start when you get curious and you feed into that curiosity and you just start a passion project

32:38i had a friend who uh read she's she she had read my book uh and she said man and she's very

32:47successful entrepreneur and she said i after i read your book i was so inspired i took out my

32:55she didn't have a piano uh keyboard she said my keyboard was in my closet all dusted like all dusty

33:00i haven't taken it out in years and she said i was so inspired to like start playing again and

33:06because she started playing her piano again guess what she had these ideas of oh my gosh i think i'm

33:11gonna write this this new book this other book she had written a couple books and so she started

33:15that just the act of getting back into music inspired her to want to write again and so i

33:20thought oh that's the coolest thing you just never know what's going to show up when you pursue your

33:27creativity i love it there's just i mean story after story after story right it's like we have to be

33:32in action in order for things to start happening in our life and i'm gonna agree with everything you

33:38just said and add a little bit of fuel to your fire because what you're like the whole thing of

33:43podcasting for me it has been a blessing beyond anything i'd hoped for and and what i mean by that

33:49is i remember sitting in college i mean i went through four years of college and i sat and i

33:53listened to excellent professors talk about what authors had written about in their marketing books

33:58or their management books or their whatever i'm and we studied them and had tests on them and

34:03now the world is moving so fast that by the time a professor would teach out of a book by the time you get

34:09out of the semester or certainly by the time you graduate some of that stuff might be obsolete or

34:13outdated and as a student i sat there listening and learning to a professor's opinion about what

34:20was important about or what they think the author meant because of i was willing to suck at something

34:26new and do a podcast and work on making my best better i get to talk to people who are brilliant

34:34going straight to the source someone who wrote a book that came out last week or last month so it

34:39isn't outdated it is directly relevant to what's going on right now and it i'm finding that it

34:45fascinates me and interests me to be able to keep up with all the new stuff and the people that i've

34:49gotten to meet i'm going to give a shout i grew up in the 80s and i totally like hard rock hair bands

34:54and whatnot but anyhow i've gotten i got to interview a few months ago one of my guitarists for one of my

34:59favorite bands and we're getting cool shout out to ryan patrick with the band otherwise he was a

35:06great sport but we talked about business we talked about marketing and a lot of the principles and

35:11things that he uses in the marketing of his businesses his label what started out with being

35:15a sony they were signed by sony and put out six albums now they're an independent artist so now

35:20they're responsible for their own bands management booking promotions etc so now not only is he an artist

35:26but he also has to be a business person and the experiences and lessons in that industry are

35:31transferable into other ones and and if you're not willing to go out be creative and go outside of

35:37your comfort zone and listen to people in other industries and other markets and other niches it's

35:41it's fascinating to me to see how one industry has figured out something that another industry hasn't

35:45and a lot of lessons are transferable and it's just i have been bestowed with blessings about

35:51like i would pay money to do to to i say this in hindsight now knowing what i know now i would pay

35:57money to get the opportunities to talk to the wonderful people that i get to talk to because

36:01i learn so much interesting and relevant information that makes me a better human that makes me a better

36:08business person and makes me more capable of serving my business community in ways that i would

36:12have never done if i hadn't been willing to explore the creative side and get outside of my comfort

36:18zone and turn strangers into friends and it's when you start talking about the rewards of creativity

36:24and getting outside your comfort zone i you're 100 correct and it's one of the reasons i wanted to have

36:29you on because i thought you would do a better job of explaining than me and and you have i noticed

36:33let's let's talk a little bit about social media i know i know that uh you've noted that social media

36:37scrolling can lead to comparison perfectionism and overthinking how do you set boundaries with digital

36:42platforms and what advice do you have for leaders seeking to encourage healthy technology habits

36:48across their teams it's an interesting conversation i mean i know there's been obviously a lot of

36:54articles there was a documentary i know around social media and just the how addicted we are to it and how

37:01all of these platforms they're designed to get us addicted to them right and so sure it's and what's

37:07crazy going back to we know what we should be doing we literally watch those kinds of documentaries

37:13and we know we know what it's doing and yet we still let it take this hold on us and so i think

37:19it's i think it is hard for a lot of people to put their phones away when you walk around downtown i

37:24mean how many nine out of ten people are scrolling on their phone walking down the sidewalk and so i think

37:31we have to be very intentional about how to do that you know cal newport is really probably probably

37:38one of the experts on this he has written a number of books one of them is deep work the other is i i

37:45forget is it digital detox but he talks he talks all about doing a digital detox and i think his the

37:50way that he does it was interesting he basically describes it as the way a good way to do it would be

37:57do 30 days of no social media right so take the apps off of your phone and i like what he said

38:03because he basically said it's gonna obviously just like we suck when we start something new

38:08it's gonna suck you're gonna you're gonna grab for your phone you're gonna reach for it you're gonna

38:12because that's what you're used to doing that's your habit that's just what if that's what that's

38:17the habit that you have in your life it's gonna be a little bit challenging to to change that but he

38:22says do it for 30 days just allow yourself get off social media don't look at it and then after

38:2730 days assess and see how you feel and for some people they recognized wow i really don't like this

38:36particular one right like i'm not calling whatever it is like maybe they're like i don't need facebook

38:41right i really didn't miss instagram or whatever it is but maybe they're like you know i really didn't

38:46care to go back on these sites but i really missed youtube because i learned a lot or i really loved

38:52my podcast there or whatever it is and so he said kind of do an assessment see how you feel and he said

38:58for a lot of people that's what the outcome was they recognize hey i don't need to be on these apps but

39:04you know what i actually really do like youtube so i'm going to go back on it or tick tock or whatever

39:08it is and so but then they're able to then give themselves boundaries around hey i'm only going to do it

39:14maybe two times a day or at night or whatever that looks like so i think it is something very

39:18personal and you have to do what's right for you i know some people say well i have to be on it for

39:23business and i would disagree with that because sure if you have to be on it to post that's one thing but

39:29you have to be on you don't have to be on it all day you don't have to be scrolling all day and so i

39:34think it's just really important for us to be very self-aware how does it make you feel right like

39:40that's the biggest thing is that i find that people if it's making you feel overwhelmed if

39:45it's making you feel like i'm behind in life it's if it's making you feel like oh everyone else is

39:50living their best life and i'm over here not that is not true so you're feeding into this narrative that

39:58is untrue because you're just like scrolling and so i think it's just important for us to recognize

40:03how are you feeling is it something that brings you energy brings you joy enhances your life if the

40:08answer is no i think we should question continuing to do that and then figuring out how you're going

40:14to kind of step away from it and you know i don't know if there's like the perfect plan but if anyone

40:20is really in that space where they do want to do that kind of a detox i would definitely recommend

40:24going to cal newport's work because he really does a beautiful job and the cool one of the coolest

40:29things about him is that he does he literally writes about technology and all these platforms and he does not

40:36even use social media so he is someone who talks about it and doesn't use it so i find that to be

40:42very fascinating and so and i also find it interesting that some of the leaders of these

40:46big organizations these big tech companies their children don't even have social the stuff that

40:51they're promoting their kids don't even have it because they know what is doing and it's a self-awareness

40:57thing it's your answer is interesting to me i was kind of halfway waiting to see if you're going to

41:02double down on what we talked about earlier about the comparisons of perfectionism and overthinking

41:07because i you know my gut tells me that there's a lot of creativity that doesn't happen where people

41:11are perfectly capable of coming up with ideas or things but they have this vision because they've

41:18seen this world on social media where everything looks perfect like oh i couldn't do this or i couldn't

41:22do that and they automatically assume that this is the standard of excellence and and you talked

41:27about what you call the taste gap yeah like oh this is what the standard is and i i couldn't do

41:32this or i couldn't so why would i bother and i'm very conscientious to to not allow those types of

41:37thoughts in my head at all i see something i'm willing to do my to try something new and do my best

41:42and i i guess what tony robbins would call it an internal frame of reference some people ask you know

41:48how do you know if you're good at something well if someone tells you you are external frame of

41:51reference or if someone or if you know that what you did is solid and you feel comfortable

41:56representing that as your work then you have an internal frame of reference and it doesn't matter

41:59what other people say i operate from the internal frame of internal frame reference so social media

42:04doesn't face me that much yeah i think that's really important mason i think a lot of if everybody came

42:10from that place then they would be creating what they felt that they were meant to create and i also

42:15think in that same in talking about social media i think it's important for us to i always recommend

42:20people create before you consume that's a great idea create before you consume before you get on

42:26social media before you start watching other people's content and videos and everything what

42:31do you want to write about what what post do you want to share what video do you want to record what

42:35podcast do you want to do what who do you want to interview because that puts us in that internal

42:41like you're talking about like oh this is important to me and i want to share it but the second that we

42:45started watching someone else's then we might think well they already did that or they they did it

42:50better than me and so i think that's creating before you consume is huge that's why in the morning

42:57writing walking walking without listening to a podcast or an audiobook or tick tock or whatever

43:03it is that you do i think those things they allow more space for creativity when we're filling our mind

43:08with other people's content we are no longer allowing space for our own ideas and we're

43:15prohibiting ourselves from coming up with the ideas that are meant for us they're inside of us for a

43:20reason and so we have to give them room to breathe i yeah that creep i was gonna i was gonna share

43:26something else and now i just forgot but anyway i think that's i think that's an important piece one of

43:31the things that that just on the topic creativity that that i feel compelled to share is that i mean i've

43:38written a bunch of books and things like that but there's been times or even on social media posts

43:42where i thought wow this is so valuable to me so impactful and crickets no one responds at all it's

43:47like yeah i'm like that was deep that was powerful like i wish someone had told me that before i went

43:52through years to figure this out like if i would have known this or had this perspective years ago it

43:56would have helped me and there's been times where i think almost an afterthought like a flippant like

44:00this is not that big of a deal but i'm gonna share it anyway see what happens and people are like

44:04wow that's the most insightful thing ever that's so helpful like i i am kind of getting to the point

44:09now where i do just i create and i share and what's supposed to resonate with some people is

44:15supposed to resonate with them what's not it's not and i let them judge but as long as i feel that

44:20i have my conscience is in alignment with providing value that's going to help people in some way i'm

44:27not going to judge that i'm going to put it out there and let the let the place of ideas decide which

44:32ones of mine are worthy of of having an impact and not sometimes it's not sometimes it's not even

44:38the amount of impact like oh you got this many likes to me it's not that but if it could help one

44:44person a lot and change their life that's would be more valuable to me knowing that i was able to

44:52really change the life for one person then give a hundred thousand people a little oh yeah that's

44:57kind of neat or that was kind of cool it's it's not just the volume it's the depth of the impact and

45:03and even not change their life change their day like make them smile like just like the simple

45:09like sometimes we're like we're so big in our in our ideas like oh it has to change their life how

45:14about it just change their day their morning you like helped spark an idea you helped them in a

45:19really difficult morning where they didn't want to get up and do something and now they read your

45:23post and they did i just think that's i think that's really cool like i started sharing my poetry on

45:28linkedin and i was like poetry on linkedin i don't know why i'm doing that and i don't i just like it

45:34i just want to share it like if no one likes it great i i ask a lot of my guests about what how they

45:40define success with their creative projects and you know what shows up all the time and it's my favorite

45:46answer it's i define success by if i'm proud of it am i proud of the work if i'm proud of the work

45:52it's a success and if no likes no one comments no one nothing i just know that i loved it and i think

45:59that any type of creative work that we do whether you write a book a podcast a business right you're

46:04literally saying hey i had this idea i wrote this i did this i created this here here i put it on the

46:11world i hope you like it and if you don't that's okay too sure that's i love your message and i

46:17really appreciate your time on this if if people wanted to learn more about you your podcast your

46:22books your your consulting what's the best way for them to connect with you and learn more well of

46:27course social media don't go on social media no the easiest way is just to find me uh kate

46:32volman.com is my website and then if you are a leader and you're interested at all in learning about

46:38the dream manager and how you can really help your team members grow and develop become the

46:43best version of themselves so that your company can become the best version of itself we would

46:47love i would love to connect with you that's the dream manager.com but it's an incredible program

46:52and i'm so blessed to be able to work with the team here at floyd consulting and matthew kelly who

46:57is a prolific author and written over 40 books and so we've got a incredible team of people here

47:03that really support leaders and company culture so if people wanted to buy your books do they get

47:08those at your website or amazon oh yeah you can go my website takes you to all the places but yeah

47:14my book's on amazon you can get it right there and uh i hope i hope you like it and uh if you do

47:20write a review and all that fun stuff because that's always uh i always love hearing the stories of um

47:26of what what people got out of it which which social sites are you most active on like linkedin

47:32or any of the others i would say linkedin and youtube are the two linkedin instagram and youtube

47:38are the three that i probably spend the most cool well it has been a pleasure having you i've

47:43really enjoyed i've enjoyed every moment i thank you so much for being here and hopefully we'll catch

47:47up soon and do this again sometime thanks so much for having me mason i appreciate it it was a pleasure

48:02it's a pleasure to have you guys

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