Uriah: Hi I’m Uriah with Productive Therapist and this is “10 Questions with the Incomparable Kelly Higdon”, Enjoy!
Kelly: “Hi this is Kelly Higdon and I’m gonna do the ”10 Questions Podcast“ for the Productive Therapist Podcast, so…
The first question is:
#1 What is your name and job title or license title?
My name is Kelly Higdon, I am first and foremost a licensed marriage and family therapist and I have my hands in a few other businesses. I co-own Zynnyme.com with Miranda Palmer where we help therapists build and grown successful outcome-based practices. And I own “Calibrate Your Year” where I do a lot of coaching with entrepreneurs of all different kinds. And I am the chief marketing officer for “Grow The Books”, which is my husband’s bookkeeping company. So my job title is “Entrepreneur” I guess that’s the best way to say it or “Business Owner”, I don’t know.
#2 What do you love about your job or your business?
What I love about my job is that I get to make a far greater impact than what I was able to do in my private practice. Don’t get me wrong the work in my private practice was deep and meaningful. And I get to translate that work into helping other therapists and other business owners be able to impact their clients in a greater way. So it feels like an exponential impact and I’m really loving that. I’ll also admit that I love the freedom, last year we were able to travel to Spain for a month, this year with the pandemic we’ve been able to somehow manage homeschooling and still working, and I think it’s because of the entrepreneurial life and being able to set your own schedule and things.
#3 What are 1-2 things that you always do in the first 60-90 minutes of your day?
The 1-2 things I always do in the first 60-90 minutes of my day is getting water and my supplements down, those are really important for me to function well during the day. The second thing is “breath work”. I’ve been doing breathing and sometimes I’ll combine that with some “energy work” as well. Five-to-ten minutes in the morning can really make a difference in how my body feels and my mood is as I approach my day as I really try to maximize my time and stay grounded. So, “breath work” and “energy work” together have been really helpful.
#4 What is your go-to drink or snack for productive energy.
In terms of a go-to drink or snack for productive energy, I wish I could say it was my husband’s coffee because he roasts his own beans and it’s amazing. But the truth is, that would just make me jittery. So my go-to drink is really water. I am like, in-love with adult Lunchables. I make my own kind of charcuterie plate with some crackers, cheese, a little bit of meats and some fresh veggies, nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits, something to just nosh on I love that and makes me happy.
#5 What does a very productive day look for you?
For it to be a very productive day I need to work fully focused for a short amount of time, so maybe 3-4 hours is the max that I want to do. So now 9 AM-1 PM sometimes it’s a little bit longer but that’s ideal for me and the stuff that I’m working on is the high-level project stuff. To me, if I spend my time on piddly tasks that are just to keep the engine going, that doesn’t really thrill me. Productivity to me looks like when I do something that moves the needle by that meaning the task is created to a really bigger vision and it gets me closer to that. I always tell my clients that if you’re dreading some sort of task that you need to be sure that it’s a task that you even need to do and that it connects to you getting you closer to your goals and to that big vision you have in mind. So productivity is like doing 3-5 high-level tasks or working on projects in a week in a short amount of time that still allows me to enjoy time with my family and time to myself.
#6 What is your favorite way to rest and recover?
My favorite way to rest and recover is art. I currently am playing around a lot with acrylics. I do some acrylic pouring, I also do some abstract paintings, I’ll do some for my friends, but I really love just doing them for myself. Though we are going to run out of wall space soon, I’m sure. And I have also added paddleboarding to the mix so that the creativity and little bit of time in nature. I find that being out on the water and out on the board just peaceful, umm it’s a good work out, but it’s just nice to be with nature, and water, and tide, and sea lions, and all that fun stuff.
#7 Are you a Mac or PC person and why?
I am Mac person, it comes down to everything that works well together, but also I don’t want to deal with viruses and all that mess. I don’t have to deal with all that with my Mac products. It’s funny because one of my closest friends is a big PC person, so we’re always harassing each other about this, but I still I don’t know, I’m still really adapted to the Mac life. Once you’re in it’s hard to get out of it I guess.
#8 What is one of the best business books you have read?
One of the best business books I’ve read is actually not really a business book per se. I love the “Four Agreements” and applying it to my business. The “Four Agreements” being: to be impeccable with your word. I think that’s very important when you are making agreements with the clients you are going to work with and marketing all that and to not taking anything too personally, this is a big quest of mine to continue to work on, not making assumptions and always doing my best. I think, those are some great agreements to be especially in business.
#9 If you were a hot sauce, what would your spice level be? (1-10 with 10 being the hottest).
If I were a hot sauce my spice level would probably be a 5 or a 6, I can be pretty passionate about some things, at times especially when it come to ally work and advocacy and when I see injustice. At the same time I like to be pretty silly with people I really know and trust. so there’s a little bit of heat there, but not so much that I want it to overwhelm anybody. So I’m going to take a “middle of the road” number. I’m sure there are going to be people that disagree, but that’s somewhere around I would land. I can blend in if it needs to be a calm setting, and I can definitely have fun if that’s the situation at hand.
#10. Where can people find out more about you and what you do?
There’s a couple of places, Zynnyme.com is my hub for all things mental health and mental health practitioners and we have a ton of free training and masterclasses and things like that. And then Calibrate Your Year is my coaching for all types of entrepreneurs, calibrateyouryear.com
And we have a bonus question here: Bonus Question: What is one of your best tips for success and happiness?
Build your business according to the life you desire, not fitting your life into what your business has remaining for you too often people focus on building this business and it turns out sucking away their life and when it comes time to creating their life they’re having to undo a lot. But if you keep your life, and your values, and your priorities there first, your business can be built around it. People=pleasing and doing what everybody else wants you to do is a recipe for resentment. But for success and happiness, holding to your larger vision, your purpose, the life you want to create, the relationships you want to have. Man, that’s the stuff, of success to me and happiness, and joy, and a business is more moldable. That’s what I love helping people do is helping how people can fit a business into their life not having their life fit into their business.