Meet Kara Lambert
When she realised that tears in the shower on a Saturday at the prospect of leaving her kids and going back to work on Monday was not the life she envisaged for her family, Kara made the leap into her Next Chapter to embrace coaching, consulting, and public speaking.
Tell me a little about yourself – where are you from and who and what is important in your life? |
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| I’m an Adelaide girl, born and raised, and after some time in Canberra & the US, I returned to Adelaide to start a family. Friends and family are incredibly important to me. In fact, I decided to start my business to meet the needs of my family.
Outside of that, courage and integrity are my guiding principles and I’m passionate about the psychology of social media. |
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We all have previous chapters in our stories – Tell me about your working life/business experiences before now? |
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| I started my first business when my kids were 3 & 5, I was doing my Masters in Public Sector Management, and working fulltime in government. Suffice to say I’m a Type A personality!
Though I worked in banking before joining the Australian Government as a graduate, it was in government that I feel my career started. The joy of a government role is that you can experience so many different jobs with one employer. I built websites, I consulted in ebusiness, I provided contract advice, I consulted with the community around mental health, I managed Worker’s Compensation claims, I undertook quality assurance, I provided policy advice, I implemented new legislation, I assessed grants for mental health research, I liaised with top medical specialist, and I was a medico-legal copy editor. All in my 12 years. It was great being part of something bigger than myself, something providing benefit to the community but it was hard. I learnt that to succeed I had to give everything to my career, including family time. I lived in a town where hierarchy ruled. When I had children, I struggled with travelling as my youngest would cling to me (and I travelled monthly in one role). I learnt that while the money was great, the cost was high. I would start stressing about returning to work at lunchtime on Saturday, I would be in tears in the shower. In the end, it wasn’t worth it. |
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Please provide a snapshot of your business |
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| My business helps service-based business owners to understand the psychology which drives themselves, their staff, & their customers to take the actions necessary for their success.
This has me helping business owners overcoming fear or Imposter Syndrome; teaching business owners how to motivate staff, and consulting on how to use the psychology of social media to improve outcomes. I do this through coaching, consulting, and public speaking. |
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Assuming you are now in “Your Next Chapter”, what led you here? Tell me about your purpose, your why, the difference you want to make, who you are called to serve? |
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| My purpose is to promote a central theme of putting the person we require to take action at the hub of our actions.
I am driven to this through my qualifications in psychology & business and seeing it work from my days in the public service when I motivated an underperforming team to achieve what two prior managers couldn’t. I would love people to consider what drives the other person when they are trying to get them to do something & I’m passionate about speaking on the psychology within social media & how it impacts people. I serve service-based businesses. |
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What did you find most challenging about getting started/moving in a new direction? |
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| The most challenging part was my husband not understanding that I needed to work long hours, often into the wee hours of the morning, at the start. I gave up trying to explain it and ended up ignoring his repeated questioning. Eventually, he gave up.
It’s hard when you’re the only person running a business in your immediate network. People just can’t understand. |
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What have you found most fulfilling? |
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| Seeing people overcome with fear and Imposter Syndrome becoming confident & promoting themselves and their businesses. | |
Have you experienced self-doubt? What causes it to flare and how do you work through it when it hits? |
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| Absolutely! Generally, it comes in the lead up to a speaking engagement. I remind myself that it’s not about me, it’s about the audience. | |
How do you feel you have grown since you started? |
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| I feel like I’ve come back to myself, to who I truly am. I’m more confident. | |
What has been most effective for you when it comes to sharing your message and attracting clients? |
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| My network and networking have been the most effective, and enjoyable, in attracting clients. I love blogging & social media for sharing my message. | |
Have you developed any particular habits/strategies that facilitate getting things done in your business? |
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| I’m now into my second year of using a bullet journal for my business & it has removed the overwhelm of the never-ending to-do list, plus it keeps everything organised in one spot. | |
Why do you feel women in the 40’s and beyond make fabulous entrepreneurs? |
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| I think we’re learning to care less what others think and we’re coming back to who we were in our twenties. Or at least I am. 😉 | |
What would you say to other women who are standing on the edge of their own Next Chapter, not sure if they can take the leap? |
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| Crunch the numbers and remember your decision is not set in concrete, you can change your mind. | |
What’s next for you? Share your vision with us! |
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| My vision is more speaking engagements on the psychology of social media. I’ve been reading more research around psychological operations on social media & seeing how it’s being used by the government and how those posts are filtering into more mainstream marketing. It’s concerning and will impact on people: ourselves, our clients, our staff, our families.
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| When I’m facing a something new and challenging I… | |
| Think – a lot. | |
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I know my greatest strengths are… |
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| My ability to listen and connect dots others don’t see. | |
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The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is… |
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| Don’t complain & don’t explain. (people really aren’t interested in your reasons) | |
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One of my favourite books is… |
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| The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch | |
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My favourite Podcast is… |
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| I don’t actually listen to podcasts! | |
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My favourite business tool or resource is… |
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| Google. I seriously google everything. | |
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My favourite quote is… |
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| A toss-up between Theodore Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena speech & Marianne Williamson’s quote on Our deepest fear. | |
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Not many people know that I… |
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| Had all the roles I did in government. |
You can connect with Kara here.
Thank you for helping me to uncover my Next Chapter.