357-SYB-Kim-Foster.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Carol Cox:
How can you accomplish what you want from the small to the big? The key is to shift your identity to who you want to be, which is what I talk about with my guest, Dr. Kim Foster, on this episode of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses, running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a political analyst, entrepreneur, and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies, and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. We’re continuing the series. We’ve been doing all around thought leadership. And the last episode, we talked about what you can start doing now to position yourself as a thought leader. We shared six practical steps you can take, but we also talked about how claiming the identity of being a thought leader is essential to becoming one that actually you in your mind, you tell yourself you’re a thought leader first and then your actions will follow from there. Well, that’s exactly what I dig in today with my guest, Dr. Kim Foster, who recently graduated from our Thought Leader Academy. Kim was a practicing family doctor for nearly 20 years, and a few years ago, she decided that she wanted to make a big change to become a wellness coach and an entrepreneur, in addition to running her Wellness Coach Academy.
Carol Cox:
Kim has a fantastic podcast that I highly recommend called The Wellness Project, which I’ve been listening to since I met Kim back in August. So as we gear up for the new year, I’m sure there are things you have on your vision board and list of goals you want to achieve. And of course, there are the practical, tangible steps that you can take the what and the how. But as Kim explains, there’s also who you want to be, the identity you want to shift into, which is essential to aligning your actions to what you want, creating a lasting change and building self-confidence. Kim and I talk about her own identity shift from being a doctor to an entrepreneur. What helped her to make that shift? Her thought leadership message and framework that the Who is as important as the what and the how to make lasting change. How you can start thinking about your own identity and why. Kim decided to join our Thought Leader Academy and what she got out of the experience. We’re enrolling right now for our next start date of the Thought Leader Academy, which is coming up in January. We only take eight women and spots are already filling up. If you would like to join us to develop your own thought leadership message and create your signature talk and framework, now is the time you can get all the details of speaking your brand.com/academy. Again, that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. Now let’s get on with the show. Kim welcome to the podcast.
Kim Foster:
Thank you so much Carol. Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to chat to you.
Carol Cox:
Well, let’s talk about this shift from being a practicing physician to going in to be a wellness coach and an entrepreneur. When did that happen? And what was the the inciting incident or the trigger? Was it one thing in particular that happened, or was it a combination of things that that led to this shift?
Kim Foster:
That’s a good question. And it’s it’s a complicated answer because actually, I mean, it’s complicated because of what you kind of hinted at just in the intro here, is that shifting out of a conventional and traditional field is no small feat. And so it took a long time. It took a very long time for me from like the inklings, that something wasn’t right for me. I was was it that something was wrong with the room that I was in, or was I in the wrong room like that? Even just sorting that piece out was complicated and took a lot of introspection and a ton of self doubt. And, you know, I just went through an emotional journey that took me years, actually, to be frank. So, you know, I practiced medicine as a family doctor for 20 years in total. But the last several of those years, I mean, the last couple of those years, I knew for sure that I was on my way out. I just needed to make things logistically work for me. But the years before that was like a lot of questioning and self-discovery and trying to figure out what I actually wanted to do before I figured that out. And that was it was distressing because I decided when I was 17 years old that I wanted to be a doctor, and from that point on, it was a matter of like, because it’s such a well-worn path, right? Like it’s just so clear. You decide you want to go to medical school and be a doctor, and everybody knows what’s required. Like, you just have to work really hard at school, get into the medical school that you want, you know, all of those pieces. And and then you’re just on the conveyor belt of that. So for me to step off of the conveyor belt of that career path was challenging, to say the least.
Carol Cox:
Well, and I know that in your podcast, you talk quite a bit about identity and and understanding. In our identity if we want to change our habits, or if we want to change our behaviors and align that. And so it sounds to me like, you know, from a young age, being a teenager, you had this idea of a of an identity as a doctor, a physician. And then so you went and you did that. And like you said, it’s very clear cut, you know, exactly. Unlike being an entrepreneur. Right. Exactly what you have to do year by year, step by step. And then how did it feel, though, to change your identity from someone who was a practicing physician? And all that goes into that, into and into being an entrepreneur, like, I mean, clearly like your background as an MD, as a medical doctor is still very important and front and center to the work that you do with your clients and on the podcast. So did you ever think about doing something completely outside of the area of health, or was that pretty clear?
Kim Foster:
Uh, no. I explored all different kinds of areas because there was just I mean, there was so many different things that I felt were missing in my life. I wanted something more creative. I wanted something more outside of the box. And that just came as a big surprise to me, because that’s not what I had signed up for. Um, but yeah, it the identity piece, though, was really huge and for a long time and didn’t actually, I underestimated how important the identity piece was for me personally, because for a long time I thought it was external factors. I thought, well, I need to get something that generates enough revenue to replace my physician salary, or else we’re going to have to sell our house. Like, you know, I just thought it was all external factors. Surprisingly, when I started generating enough revenue from my side hustle that easily could have allowed me to leave medicine altogether. I still felt resistance and it wasn’t. And I was like, what is going on? Why can’t I just pull the plug already? Um, and it’s so much had to do with my identity because I had had my identity created for me. By me, um, mostly by me when I was very young, and it was hard to let go of that, and I just didn’t know who I was going to be without having that role being such a defining role, like the role of doctor in particular. I mean, there’s lots of career paths that have this as like the career becomes your identity, but medicine, it’s definitely true. The career becomes who you are. Like when you have forms that you’re filling out, like you check off Mr.. Mrs.. Ms.. Doctor. Like it just becomes who you are. So that was hard to break through for sure.
Carol Cox:
Do you remember now, looking back, were there particular things that helped you with this shift, whether there were things that you did, you know in your in your own mind or for yourself or conversations you had or even kind of small actions that you took.
Kim Foster:
Yeah, lots of things. I mean, I did a lot of journaling, a ton of journaling, and a ton of listening to podcasts. Actually, podcasts helped me to open up to this whole other world of people doing all kinds of interesting and fascinating things to me. Before then, before I discovered podcasts I like, my whole world was just so every all of my peers and colleagues, so many people that I knew were working inside the medical field. And so it just kind of felt like that was the whole universe that was the center of the universe. And so then to be able to listen to the intimate stories, because that’s what’s so beautiful about podcasts, is that you really get to dig deep into things. So to listen to people’s stories who had followed completely different paths and, and had completely different lives, it just it really started to open my eyes that I could actually be happy and fulfilled in something other than medicine. So, so a lot of journaling, a lot of listening to podcasts, reading books, but then also community. Like I needed to find people who were doing things that were who were coloring outside the lines, because everybody that I interacted with was coloring inside the lines.
Kim Foster:
And I needed people who were had chosen to do something different. And they were celebrating that, not questioning it, because I came up against a ton of external resistance, too, right? Like it wasn’t just my own internal resistance, but of course, everybody in my life when I if if I started to share and I didn’t for a long time, I kept it quite secret and private. But if I started to share that I was thinking about, you know, maybe this isn’t for me. So many questions. Why would you throw away all that education? You’re set for life. We need doctors. Like, all of this stuff came at me, and so I needed to find a community of people who weren’t going to give me all of that stuff and instead really celebrate my my right to explore my own pathway and choose a different way. And and so that was that was a huge help.
Carol Cox:
Well, it sounds like that’s probably what you help your clients with and your podcast listeners with, whether they may not be transitioning from being a medical doctor into something else, but there may be making some other type of identity shift. So can you tell us a little bit about. What you do in your business. Who are your typical clients and what do you help them with?
Kim Foster:
Yeah. Great question. And you’re absolutely right. That is completely what I love to help people with. So I help people in two different ways. I mean, the one of course, like as a wellness coach, you know, I shifted from conventional medicine into the wellness side, the preventive side, the holistic side, because that is really what I realized was what I needed to do in the space that I needed to live in. And so so I help people who are looking to improve their health and well-being and in a completely different way than just like the ten minute appointments that I was getting, being somebody’s family doctor. So that’s one side. But the other part of it is what you mentioned is the Wellness Coach Academy, which is what I developed to help other people who are also, you know, following a similar path to what I did. Maybe they do come from medicine or health care, or maybe they come from a totally different career that they chose at an earlier stage and would also love to follow, to pursue their passion for wellness. Because there’s a whole lot of people out there who have a passion for wellness. Either they discovered it through their own journey to health, you know, self healing, or they had a health scare and they had to change a lot of things. Or, you know, there’s lots of different routes that people take to get there.
Kim Foster:
But there’s a lot of people who have a passion for wellness and would absolutely love for it to be their career and don’t have any idea how to actually do it without having to go back to medical school, which you do not have to do if you want to have a career in the wellness industry and don’t recommend that. I mean, we do need doctors, I do. If people are feeling called to go into conventional medicine and mean this is the thing, there are lots of people. Lots of my colleagues were absolutely in the right room and they were thrilled to be there. So that’s that’s amazing. But, you know, for me, I realized I was not in the right space anyway. Sidebar. But yeah, so for people, though, who are who are interested in pursuing a career as a wellness coach, then that’s what the Wellness Coach Academy is for. And we provide coaching and tools and a certification program and all kinds of things to help people to follow that path. Because as we said earlier, you know, the path to being a doctor is pretty clear, and it’s a very well-worn path, and everybody kind of knows what you have to do. But the path to being an entrepreneur and creating your own business as a health and wellness coach, what does that look like? Most people are very confused and overwhelmed about how to put that together.
Carol Cox:
Let me ask you now about your thought leadership message. So you enrolled in a Thought Leader Academy this past August, so just not too long ago. What why did you decide that you wanted to work on your thought leadership and your signature talk?
Kim Foster:
Yeah. Good question. So I feel like it’s it’s a bit of full circle. So for a long time I was working, you know, when I was working as a doctor, I worked with people directly on their health, in the capacity as a, as a physician. And then when I moved away from that and was a coach and then now as a mentor for other coaches, I then I sort of shifted away from being the direct advisor or helper to people who want to actually change their own lives for the better. And in the last couple of years, I’ve started to feel an inkling again, because that’s the stuff that that made me want to go into medicine in the first place. I wanted to help people to improve their lives and get healthier and live longer. And, you know, all of those all of those things. And so although I, you know, had primarily become I was helping the helpers, I was helping to train and, and help people with their careers, which I still love to do, because that’s a trickle down effect that I love. But I really felt like I had things that, that I wanted to say and share with people more directly. And so I needed some help, though, because putting it all together, because after 20 years of working in, you know, family medicine in the front lines of primary care, and then all my years of being a coach, building a business, working with other coaches, all of that kind of stuff, it was it’s just a lot in my head to try to distill into a clear thought leadership message. And so I knew that the best way to do that would be to get some outside help on, like how to how to whittle this thing and refine it into a cohesive message that people can understand and can actually make a difference, not just making noise out in the wellness space, but can actually reach people and and make a difference.
Carol Cox:
Can you share with us your about your thought leadership message?
Kim Foster:
Yes of course. Yeah. So I mean we’ve we’ve actually kind of touched on it just in different ways in the conversation so far, but so much I mean, my belief and what I have come to understand is that the health, traditional health industry and the wellness industry is. Focusing on the wrong thing. Focusing on things that need to be said. But there’s a missing piece, and I’m sure that many people listening to this and, you know, just everybody, many people that I talk to has had this experience of trying to make a change and it not working or it not sticking. It doesn’t it’s not sustainable and it feels like there’s something missing. And why can’t this work? Why doesn’t anything work like all of those kinds of things in terms of whether it’s to lose weight, get healthier, feel more energetic, quit smoking, quit drinking, like whatever health or lifestyle change you’re trying to make. And it’s frustrating because the frustration is definitely out there. I mean, I felt it every single day when I was working as a family doctor, and I definitely felt it working as a coach and working in the wellness industry. So what’s the missing piece like? What is the piece that the health and wellness industry is not addressing? And to me, what it comes down to is that the industry focuses on the what and the how.
Kim Foster:
So like what you need to do. You need to eat this, don’t eat that, do this kind of exercise. Don’t bother with that kind of workout. You know all of those this is this is what you have to do. This is how you do it. You lay your workout clothes out the night before so that they’re there when you wake up in the morning, or you keep them in a, in a duffel bag ready to go out the door. You know, all of these how to’s and very tactical practical suggestions, which is great. And for some people, that’s all they need. And they’re off to the races. And it’s great. Right? Like that does work for some people, but for most of us it’s not enough. And that’s because the what and the how is completely ignoring the who. And that’s what I think has always been missing or really not paid enough attention to, is like, who is this person who is who has previously identified as somebody who doesn’t exercise, and suddenly they’re going to start laying their workout clothes out the night before. Like that might work for a few days, but really, we have this cognitive dissonance.
Kim Foster:
If we’re trying to do stuff that just does not feel in alignment with who we actually are, we’re going to sabotage ourselves. We’re going to end up giving up. It’s not going to be sustainable. And I’m sure that this sounds familiar to a lot of people listening. And that’s because we just gloss over the who. We gloss over all those inner pieces of like, who are we? Who, who do I believe myself to be? What do I believe is possible for me? What do I think is too hard? And all of those kinds of things which I conceptualize as your inner blueprint. So your inner blueprint, just like a blueprint design, tells you what kind of structure you’re going to be building. Your inner blueprint tells you how dictates how you’re going to be living your life, what choices you’re going to be making on a day to day basis. And until you really address and acknowledge the importance of your inner blueprint and address what needs to shift with your own inner blueprint, you can try to do all the tactics that the people are telling you to do, but it’s not going to work in a sustainable way and create true, lasting change for yourself.
Carol Cox:
Kim, you what you just described is so important and not just for health related habits, but for really anything that we want to do in our lives. In the past, the last episode was on what to do now to position yourself as a thought leader. And in that we talked about how for a lot of women, they feel uncomfortable claiming the identity as a thought leader or thinking of themselves as a thought leader, because they imagine, of course, like, you know, the Steve Jobs and Bill gates of the world, right. Like these big time, you know, fortune 500 CEOs and tech founders and all of that. Yes, because that’s what we see. That’s what reinforced. Yes. So, right. And because identity we think is the default. But then in the conversation that I was having with Diane on that episode, all of a sudden I had this little light bulb moment and actually think it came from listening to your podcast as well, because I thought to myself, like, I want to write a book. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but I keep telling myself, I’m a marketing writer. I’m a short form writer, I like to write short emails. I like to write podcast episodes. I’m not the type of person like, I don’t like to sit down and write a whole book. And then in the podcast I was like, But I’m actually limiting myself because I’m have been unwilling to claim the identity as an author. And like, literally this little light bulb went on over my head. So thank you.
Kim Foster:
Oh you’re welcome. Yeah, you’re absolutely right. It’s not just about like making health or lifestyle changes. It’s about any change. Because our primitive brains do not like to change. It’ll throw up all kinds of reasons why this change is not appropriate. It’s not going to work. It’s going to be dangerous or feel bad, or you’re going to be embarrassed, or a million different emotional reasons that feel real, like it’s our minds. It sounds like it’s the truth, right? And you’ll believe it to be the truth until you question it. And so that’s the key, right? Like it’s that and you had that light bulb moment and the moment that you questioned it. Right. Like you’re thinking. Wait, what? Why am I telling myself that you are a short form writer? Claim the identity. You’re a thought leader. You’re a book writer. You just haven’t written the book yet. That’s fine. Nobody comes out of the womb knowing how to write a book immediately. Something that you can learn and acquire that skill. But it’s not until you realize that you had that identity. So I love that you had that experience.
Carol Cox:
Well, Kim, then, you know, we talked in the beginning about this idea of medicine as a rather traditional conventional industry and for good reason, like they literally have people’s lives in their hands. So we understand that. But I know during some of our thought leader Academy calls that, you know, there were some, you know, understandably so, a little bit some hesitations and self-doubts about, like putting this message out there to challenge because a potential criticism or feedback that comes. So can you talk a little bit about that? Because I think that’s helpful for the women listening to know that no matter where you are in your business, your career, your speaking journey, we all have these self-doubts that pop up as we start really honing our thought leadership message in a way that is going to challenge some of the things that are out there.
Kim Foster:
Yeah. Oh, yes. Well, it is hard to go against like the white tower of, of acceptable knowledge and it and for me for sure, like I mentioned on some of those calls is like that is if I’m really looking inside and you need to look inside if you’re trying to make a change. Right. So I’m like, okay, what is stopping me? Like, how am I getting in my own way here? And one of the fears that does pop up for me is like, what are my peers who are in the in, like, fully ingrained inside the medical industry? What are they going to say about this? And you know, those little fears, those old fears that were implanted there from long ago and from years of the indoctrination in like when I was an intern and a resident. And there’s such a hierarchy in the hospitals and just made to feel wrong a lot of the time because I didn’t know what I was doing. But also there’s just this power thing happening. And so and having to unpack that is it’s it’s not comfortable to have to address that. Like to have to think, okay. Well yes. Actually probably some people who are, who are really dyed in the wool, conventional medicine is everything. They are not going to like what you’re saying and they are going to perhaps publicly not like, well, definitely publicly like, not what I’m not saying.
Kim Foster:
Right. Like it’s not an if it’s it’s just a when it’s just a matter of time before I’m going to receive that kind of criticism. And so having to really face that truth and say, well, is that enough to stop me from what I actually want to share? And it can’t be. It just it absolutely can’t be, because then otherwise all the power goes to the, you know, the old guard and the people who just want the status quo and don’t think that’s right. So but it is going to it does require facing a whole lot of fears of scrutiny, judgment and all of those kinds of pieces. And don’t think that there’s anybody with any thought leadership message who isn’t going to face that, because that’s what it means. That’s what I have come to understand that it means to be a thought leader is that you are challenging the status quo, and so you can’t just challenge the status quo and have everybody be like, where have you been all this time? Share with us more of your thoughts. We don’t have any word of criticism for you at all. It’s fine. Tell us we’ll change immediately. Like that’s not going to happen. Right. So it’s just part of it’s part of the path.
Carol Cox:
Well, how are you feeling about it now?
Kim Foster:
Yeah. Now I am feeling a lot better. Especially because, I mean, to be honest, like being inside the Thought Leader Academy with other women who were also in their own different industries. And that was really cool for me, was to be because we all had a different vertical that we were in, and that was neat to see that and to see these other women who were also like, pushing the envelope in their own fields and having to face like the, you know, criticisms or, you know, whatever was coming at them. And we’re all doing it. And so it’s the same thing is what I said before, like that finding that community is very helpful. And so even though I know for sure that that when I do start to get more criticism coming up, I am going to have that little like scared thought come up, be like, oh my God, maybe I should just stay quiet for a bit. It’s definitely going to come up. And that’s the thing about fears. Fears will come up for sure, but it’s a matter of how you handle it from there, I don’t know. Have you read the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert?
Carol Cox:
Oh, I have read it several times and listened to the audiobook because she narrates it so good.
Kim Foster:
Same have I’ve written. Yeah, books that I love. I listen to it and I also read it in paperback or physical form. Yeah, I love Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m a huge fan, but I love what she. Does about fear is like it’s not a matter of not feeling the fear. It’s it’s saying thank you, fear for trying to keep me safe. But I’ve got this. Like, I can handle this. I know what I’m doing and it’s not going to be the end of me. This is not going to kill me. Even though my primitive brain is telling me that I’m not. So you thank the fear. You allow it to have its, you know, moment of giving you that fear, and then you just do the thing anyway. Right. And, and so I know that I have that tool and that that’s what I’ll be able to, to draw on. It’s going to be it’s going to be just fine.
Carol Cox:
It will be just fine. And I think also a lot of times we feel like a whole bunch of criticism is going to come our way and most likely it’s not. You know, it doesn’t happen unless you’re a huge well known name with a, you know, a huge social media platform who’s going to attract a lot of people who don’t really know you or like you. Right. Most most of us, that’s not the case. So I feel, number one, you know, and because yes, we have to understand that there is a possibility. But I don’t like don’t go looking for it either. I’m talking to the listeners right into ourselves. Like, is that it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. But then the second thing is that I have found that facing our fears or putting our messages out there or our ideas out there and then getting through it, is that it actually helps us to to develop that resiliency within ourselves and kind of like what, what I call like a different type of confidence. Like the confidence feels much more deep rooted versus superficial.
Kim Foster:
Yeah. Because you’ve experienced it like you’ve actually lived it, rather than just having it be kind of an abstract notion in your head. But yeah, I mean, you’re absolutely right. So many of the things that we imagine are going to go wrong really never materialize. It’s all right. So we imagine things being much, much worse than they are. But yeah. And so that’s just the fear of the fear kind of stopping us, which we can’t let that happen either.
Carol Cox:
Absolutely not. Well, Kim, tell us a little bit more about your experience and the Thought Leader Academy. What were you expecting going in and then what what do you feel like was the most beneficial to you?
Kim Foster:
Yeah, I thought. That I was going to get some help with honing my personal message and and creating my signature talk, and I did get that. Definitely. What I didn’t really expect was the like the degree of community, the degree of support and the degree of sharing. Like I, I it was amazingly, so much more like interactive and hands on than I kind of expected it to be, which was really amazing. And, and just, I really feel like I accomplished a whole lot more in that time than I expected to. I thought I would get some good ideas and some, you know, maybe be one step further towards refining my thought leadership message. And but yeah, I mean, in a very short period of time came out of things with, with so much more clarity and a much more developed message and, and signature talk. So that was amazing.
Carol Cox:
Well, what’s next for you?
Kim Foster:
Oh what’s next. Well I am we talked about book I don’t know did you hear me talking about that on my podcast, how I’m writing a book so that because I’m doing kind of the things all at once, like wrapped around this thought leadership message is my signature talk, which I worked out with you guys, which is being fleshed out even more into my book, which I had started writing a long time ago, but now have kind of kicked that into high gear. Now that I have ultra clarity on what I’m actually what my core message is all about, and putting together a program around that whole thing to to to really give people an option for those who want to go even deeper and more personal in that particular journey. So those are the things that are on the horizon.
Carol Cox:
Oh, fantastic, I love it. Well, keep me posted on the book. We’ll definitely make sure to to share it within speaking your brand. And Kim, as I mentioned a little bit ago, we’ll make sure to include links to Kim’s website, her podcast, and her Instagram and LinkedIn so that you can connect with her there. Kim, thank you so much for being a Thought Leader Academy and for being guest on the podcast today.
Kim Foster:
You’re welcome. Carol. My absolute pleasure.
Carol Cox:
And for those of you listening, if you would like to join us on the Thought Leader Academy, we enrollment is open right now for our next start date in January. So as you heard from Kim, not only do you get clarity on your thought leadership message and you create your signature talk, but you get that community and then you can go use it to write a book, create a course, create a program, whatever it else you want to do with it in your business and in the work that you do. You can get all the details of speaking your brand.com/academy again, that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. Until next time. Thanks for listening.
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