Thanks to Kelly!

I should have written this post yesterday - sorry it's late! My son had surgery, so I've been a little busy. I want to thank Kelly Anderson for allowing me to feature her this last week on the blog. I learned so much from Kelly - here are just a few things that really made an impact on me...
Your number one weapon in times of trial is faith (I really believe this), create peace by "Filling your bucket" so you have something to offer others, set aside time daily for stillness. Let uplifting thoughts run through your mind when you're lost and broken. Pursue your passions, friendship is a gift from God, drink lots of water (I'm really going to do this in the coming week), and it's important to see myself the way God sees me. I also am really inspired to make a Vision Board. I'm going to start on that this week as well.

What a great week, right? Tonight I'm working on updating this blog with our new Incredible Woman - Paige Moore. I can't wait to introduce her to you tomorrow, so don't forget to come back then.

One last chance to win one of the prizes that Kelly is giving away... for those women business owners here in Utah - 5 tickets to either the Salt Lake or Utah County chapter meetings in October (Startup Princess). And The Magic of Marketing to Women Online audio series, perfect for bloggers and women in business. You must comment on this post or email me at kara.incrediblewomen(at)gmail.com and tell me what your business or business idea is. The drawing will be tomorrow.

Until then...

Incredible Woman #9 - Kelly Anderson. Friday's questions

Here are the last two questions of my interview with Kelly...

KARA: "What are some of your long-term and short-term goals, and what are your plans for achieving those goals? Is goal setting an important thing to do?"

KELLY: "As I shared on Studio 5 I’m a huge advocate of vision boards, giant journals, and goal setting. I believe that a goal is just a wish unless you make an action plan. In regards to business, you need a solid business plan, for other goals, you need to set tangible, realistic goals, have a friend to support you and sometimes a mentor as well.

My Long-term goals: Continue Supporting and Developing Opportunities for Orphans in Bulgaria with One Heart Bulgaria, Finish a full Triathlon, See my children graduate from college and families of their own, Become a Skilled Horseback Rider/Jumper, Perform and Sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Support Women Entrepreneurs in America with setting up Grants and Scholarships, Live a year abroad and travel extensively, Go on a Mission for my church with my husband, Continue teaching, writing, and sharing how others can fulfill their dreams.

My Short-term goals: Finish our first year of Homeschooling and be proud of the results, Have another baby, Rent a Cottage in France with my family, Finish my book on Faith & Entrepreneurship, Build my Coaching Program and Events for Startup Princess."

KARA: "What are your beauty secrets? What do you do daily that helps you be your very best?"

KELLY: "If you don’t believe deep down that you are beautiful (inside and out), you’ll never take care of yourself in this way. I believe that is one of the hardest challenges we have is to see ourselves the way God sees us. Take some time to look in the mirror and just look at yourself, specifically look at your countenance. Are you radiating love? Light? Purity? Beauty? Look at your eyes, the shape of your nose, your lips, your hair and ask, “What do you see God? Teach me.” Connect with Him and you will see that you are beyond gorgeous, you are His child, His princess. Then ask, is there something I can do to make my exterior match my spirit more fully? Ask to be guided to know what you need to do to enhance your natural beauty.

What do I do? I drink water, lots of it. I try to avoid white flour and white sugar, processed food in general. I take supplements, including fish oil. I believe in exercise but don’t always do it (one of my goals is to increase my effort here!) I whiten my teeth. I get facials twice a year and use great skin care (M2, Sothys). I dye my hair and take care of it with weekly deep conditioner (I use Buttercream by Redkin). I have eyelash extensions and love them, I never wear mascara. I shape my eyebrows and darken them. I use Mac make up for photoshoots but for everyday I just use Revlon or Covergirl, works great for me because I know how to use brushes. I always use bronzer for that “sunkissed glow” makes me look more awake when I’m tired. For fashion I scour the magazines and see what colors, styles, accessories are hot and try to wear those things that best fit my personal style, body shape, and make an effort to stay current.

I feel like I look better now in my mid-30’s than I ever looked because I’m paying more attention to details, care more about how I present myself to others and actually wear make up and style my hair. When I was a young mom I cut my hair in a pixie cut, rarely wore make up and wore sweats a lot, I didn’t have very much confidence in my appearance and my life didn’t reflect one of service, joy, or progress. Now I realize the power of image for my own benefit and how others react to me when I care about myself it sends a completely different message - “I have something to share! I care about myself and I care about you too, let’s connect.” I hope to inspire more women to SHINE and take care of themselves and be beautiful inside and out."

Well, Kelly has definitely inspired me this week. Hope you've all enjoy Incredible Woman #9!
Take Care...

Incredible Woman #9 - Kelly Anderson

Thought you'd enjoy reading about Kelly in the magazine, Wasatch Women! Just click here... Wasatch Woman

Remember to comment, and tell Kelly how much you enjoyed her feature this week. *As always, if you comment and are a follower - you'll be entered in the drawing for the give-aways. If you have any questions for Kelly and want to contact her directly, leave me an email at kara.incrediblewomen (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll forward to Kelly.

Thanks, and have a great day!

Incredible Woman #9 - Kelly Anderson. Thursday's questions

Dear Readers -

You are in for a treat today! Kelly sent over a link to an interview that she did on KSL Studio 5 recently. In the interview, she offers 5 great tips on pursuing your passion. Click here (http://bit.ly/3u57QZ) to watch the interview - I know you'll love it. The tips are also listed on the website. It's fun, too, that you'll get to actually see Kelly in action!

Tomorrow, we'll be back with Kelly's last two interview questions and answers.

Don't forget to comment to enter the drawing for Kelly's give-aways! Good luck.

Incredible Woman #9 - Kelly Anderson. Wednesday's questions

KARA: "You’ve been able to network and meet a lot of wonderful women through your business – is friendship important to you? Why do you think women need to connect with other women? What can we do for each other?"

KELLY: "YES! Friendship and sisterhood is absolutely a gift from God to help us get through our journey and have joy in the process. When we share and relate experiences and learn from each other we are all strengthened. I think one of the best things we can do for each other is listen and serve where needed, remind each other to smile and to inspire each other to be our best selves."
KARA: "What are your secrets to having a successful marriage? What kinds of things do you do to make sure your marriage survives and thrives?"

KELLY: "Secrets? Know your spouse’s love language! Taking mini-vacations with each other! I am convinced that overnighters or if possible 1 week trips are essential for reconnecting, getting to deep conversations, and reviving the romance. There are so many things you can do to help your marriage thrive, but if you don’t see each other regularly for meals, family time, etc. then it doesn’t really matter how well you communicate or serve each other. I’m always reminded that we are each others’ best teachers so I’m trying not to resist the lessons."

Incredible Woman #9 - Kelly Anderson. Tuesday's questions

KARA: "You have an incredible story about overcoming trials. If possible, could you tell us a little about that story – what are some of the trials you’ve been through and how did you overcome those trials? What is your number one weapon in combating trials?"

KELLY: "We have faced some difficult trials as a family, all of which have made us stronger because we’ve turned to God and to each other. One of the most difficult recent trials was in 2004 when my husband’s business partner embezzled over 1 million in funds from the company and left the country, leaving business expenses unpaid, investors angry, and us heartbroken. It took another two years or so to get back on our feet again emotionally, mentally, and financially, but we made it. With the help and mercy of God we got to keep our house.

The number one weapon in difficult times is faith. I believe strongly in the power of prayer to request understanding, comfort, direction, and peace. I also am an advocate of setting aside time daily for stillness, to study scripture, to journal, memorizing hymns and scriptures and other uplifting thoughts to run through your mind when you’re lost and broken. You’ve got to pursue your passions in depressing times, that’s when I started Startup Princess, actually. I needed something to focus on, something that brings you joy. Food storage helps immensely too, we used it for two years along with other help from our church. There is hope in the darkness, I hardly think of those difficult times now that they are behind us, but truly they do shape us and bring us to our knees more than anything else could—a tremendous gift."

KARA: "You’ve started a wonderful business – Startup Princess. Tell our readers what your business is about, why you started it, what makes it successful, etc."

KELLY: "Startup Princess is wonderful! Not because I have the honor of running it but because of the talented, bright, wonderful women that it attracts. Startup Princess is an online blog and organization dedicated to serving women entrepreneurs. We produce events, conferences, retreats, and offer a coaching program to help women move their business ideas forward. We have 3 chapters in Utah County, SLC, and Orange County, California.

I started Startup Princess in 2006 because I was seeking for an organization of mom entrepreneurs that weren’t Corporate America, rather women who were focused on building home-based businesses. I was having conversations with a few different friends who had businesses and interviewed them about how they were doing it all and suddenly I realized I should share their comments with the world on a blog and have events where we could share what we were learning about business - then it happened...an organization was born and we had our first meeting at my house with 5 women in 2006, now we have over 2,000 in our network and thousands more on Twitter. We just had our third annual conference with over 140 women, wonderful! Love every second of it: their energy, creativity, and power of influence!

We’d love to invite you all to join us this November for our 3 day intensive retreat, Startup Princess Image & Media Academy to help women prepare for media opportunities and increase their skills in this area."

I want to thank Kelly for offering to give away 2 wonderful things:

1. We’d love to give away The Magic of Marketing to Women Online audio series, perfect for bloggers and women in business, http://startupprincess.com/wordpress/resources/

2. We’d also like to give away 5 tickets for Utah women business owners who would like to join us for either the SLC or Utah Co. chapter meetings in October.

Readers, to enter the drawing for these two wonderful give-aways, just leave a comment and tell us your business idea or business and we’ll select the winner of the audio series and tickets at random.

After today, the give-aways will be posted near the top of this blog.

Incredible Woman #9 - Kelly Anderson. Monday's questions

KARA: "Tell us about yourself, Kelly. What are your hobbies, talents, etc. What makes you an incredible woman?"

KELLY: "I’m so honored to be featured on your blog, Kara, thank you for this kind opportunity. I believe every woman is “incredible” and could have her own fascinating biography documented on PBS and we’d all love watching it, so I think this concept is wonderful. As for me? Hmm...I guess it’s not the day to be “humble”, eh? Alrighty then! I’ll answer with confidence and say that I’m “incredible” because I believe anything is possible, I don’t limit myself in any degree on anything, ever. Sure I have doubts and fears, but for some reason I don’t have “stop signs” in front of me, if there is a road block, I call God to help me go around, over, under, or through it. Family, mentors, and friends, also ensure “incredible” factors too, of course! With God, Nothing is Impossible is a wonderful mantra!

I have enjoyed being involved in many different hobbies and activities in my life. I grew up in LA where there was an abundance of culture and opportunity to nurture my creative talents in art, music, dance, theatre, fashion - and now I live in Utah where I’ve learned to develop interest in raising a family (3 kids), creating a home, enjoying nature, hiking, gardening, cooking, exercise and much more.

Lately I have been involved in entrepreneurship and I manage/founded Startup Princess.com - an organization to support women entrepreneurs, and I love that because I get to be around brilliant creative women all the time and be inspired by them and help them move their ideas forward in business. We have events, conferences, and a blog to help women in business. I also recently started coaching privately and in small groups which I love.

Besides Startup Princess I’ve also been into a variety of competitions lately. I wasn’t that competitive as a kid, but for some reason, I think as an adult I’ve been motivated by competitions because I’m interested in the challenge and opportunities available. I just completed my first sprint triathlon in the Spring and loved it, in 2008 I competed for Mrs. Utah and won 1st Runner up, and in 2005 I won 2nd place at a MBA national business plan competition in North Carolina against 76 teams. All great experiences!

One of my favorite things I’ve been involved with has been One Heart Bulgaria, a non-profit that I helped start in 2005 being particularly invested because I served an LDS mission there. I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering with the orphans on a couple of service trips, most recently in March. I’ve also serve as a Trustee for the organization and have served on the board, participating on many projects."


KARA: "You are a busy wife, mother, and business owner – how do you balance all of those things? Tell us about your family. Describe your typical day."

KELLY: "I don’t believe in “finding balance”, I believe in creating peace by continuing to fill one’s personal “bucket” (so you have something to offer others) and getting help where needed. My husband and I are both entrepreneurs with him being the main provider of our family. He runs Wholesale Works, a wholesale consumer electronics company. I’m homeschooling my three kids (3, 5, 9) this year in addition to managing the day to day details of Startup Princess so yes, it’s a bit busy at my house. I’m really happy about our choices and am very grateful that I decided to create our own schedule this year and it’s really eliminated a lot of stress.

I don’t have a lot of expectations of what has to be accomplished on a daily basis so much as what needs to be done on a weekly or monthly basis so that is a huge relief. I love the concept of using a 3x5 card for my To Do List and I try to keep my list at 5 things so I don’t overextend myself. Saturdays is a big family chore day but we did just give in and hire some help twice a month to help us with deep cleaning since we weren’t keeping up very well. I freeze a lot of meals/double recipes all the time. I also take time to myself on Saturday afternoons once in awhile to go shopping, run errands, etc. which helps with the sanity and peace.

My typical day- or my ideal day? I’ll tell you what I’m trying to do most of the time:

7:30am wake up, get myself ready, private devotional time, check email if I need to
8:30am the kids are usually up by this time, we eat together, read scriptures together
9-2pm we do homeschool together in the basement in our “school room”, with a break for lunch and I check email or make calls if I need to
2pm-6pm kids play, I work on Startup Princess, throw in laundry, clean up a bit, etc.
6pm I make dinner
8:00pm Bedtime for my kids (ideally!)
Time with my husband/work projects
Midnight/1am- go to bed"

I'm so excited to have you meet Kelly - I met her several months ago at a bloggers conference, and immediately liked her. She is an inspiration to me. I hope you come back often this week and enjoy getting to know her!