Kristie Kennedy, The Image Confidence Expert is a TEDx Audacious Leadership Keynote Speaker and Authentic Lifestyle Author. As the owner of Queenfidence Global Image Consulting her electrifying inspirational gift empowers visionaries with confidence and clarity keys to find their voice, free their voice and look fabulous using their voice. She specializes in four areas of peak performance: mindset mastery, massive momentum, magnetic messaging, and potential maximization. She is a Certified Radical Resilience Trainer who builds powerhouse mindsets, equipped for success. Kristie's evocative teaching style elevates your self-perception from stuck to unstoppable, invisible to invincible and timid to tenacious. Her bodacious belief is a testament that you can shift from mediocrity to magnificence one daring action step at a time. www.queenfidence.com
Kristie Kennedy, Image Confidence Expert
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
This month marks seven years after receiving a pink slip and turning into Queenfidence Global Image Consulting. I created a company designed to empower women leaders with confidence keys to find their voice, free their voice and look fabulous using their voice. It has been an exhilarating rollercoaster ride filled with ups and downs. The attainment of this vision is a gift that keeps on giving every time an individual is inspired, ignited, and impacted by my dream.
We often hear the highlights of entrepreneurship but what were your most challenging moments and how did you rise above the adversity?
I have always been an enthusiastic person and never short of determination but what was most grueling in the beginning was investing 1000% of your blood, sweat and tears and seeing very little results in return. It is easy to throw in the towel but there comes a point of no return, and it does not make sense to run back to the safe harbors of familiarity. I am determined to abide in the sea of success, and I am willing to sacrifice comfort for a championship lifestyle. As a visionary leader, I am fully responsible for ensuring that I am a head cheerleader. To guarantee I stay focused, I have created twenty-two vision boards and six vision books that remind me of what I expect to manifest. I often tell leaders you must believe beyond your most bodacious beliefs if you plan to seize what you internally see.
If you had to list the top three inner traits an entrepreneurial leader needs to possess, what would they be?
Radical resilience to keep forging ahead during unrelenting difficulty, self-compassion for when you land beneath your own expectations, and a heart full of gratitude to protect your spirit from the sting of disappointment.
As an advocate of mental and emotional wellness how do you avoid falling into the traps of workaholism and burnout?
One of my greatest convictions is that we live by design and not default. After living through burnout, high-performance anxiety and depression, I decided to craft a personal high five priority list.
Every day, these values are my guiding lights as I choose to work with wellness in mind. I am known for high impact energy, and low energy is the first sign that I have neglected my soul care. As an introvert I crave solitude and each day, I spend time in nature. I have joined a new gym and after an extensive amount of problem-solving, I am reinvigorated by Zumba dancing. I cannot imagine life without aromatherapy which includes candles, bubble baths and essential oils. I love listening to harp music as I write in my gratitude journal or reflect on the day. Meditation and prayer keep me spiritually grounded in a world of chaos. I find comfort in the arms of my husband and simple joy from my two dogs, Queenie, and CoCo.
If you were to share words of advice to an emerging leader who struggles to speak confidently what would you say?
I would look them deep in the eyes and start with one of my favorite quotes by Dave Grohl, “No one is you and that is your biggest power.” You must choose to use your voice and when you own your voice that means embracing the valley experiences. When you embrace the valley experiences you remove the shame from the verity which is the truth that is not always pretty. At this point in the voyage, you have developed an unshakable vision powerful enough to create unstoppable velocity.
Answer these soul searching questions:
Why do you want to speak?
Who do you want to speak to?
What do you want to speak about?
Where do you want to speak?
When your why is big enough you will figure out the how. It’s your lips’ turn in the spotlight and be not afraid of who you are.
Diana Hardy said, “It only takes one voice at the right pitch to start an avalanche.” We are here not to merely exist but to move mountains!
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