The Power of Attraction with Karin Carr

Kris Plachy: Welcome to Season Three of the Leadership is Feminine podcast. I’m Kris Plachy, and I’m so happy that you’re here. In this season, we’re doing something different. One of the things that I believe to be true is that there is so much unsourced beautiful wisdom in the everyday person. I really like to talk about what I call obscure wisdom. That means these are things that people know, that unless we meet them at a cocktail party, or at a barbecue, or sitting next to them on a train, we don’t hear about it.

And these aren’t celebrities, these aren’t people who’ve written bestselling books yet, these aren’t people that are on the circuit that everybody else is learning from. These are everyday women, who are CEOs, building, dealing with, working through all the pieces and parts of running a company. And I want to bring my beautiful clients, and their wisdom to your ears, because I know that you’ll find it to be validating, and insightful, and hopefully also some fun. So, without further ado, let’s get started with this week’s amazing personal client and guest on Leadership is Feminine.

Okay, welcome, welcome. I’m so excited. Welcome to this episode of Leadership is Feminine. I’m Kris Plachy. And I’m incredibly excited to introduce to you my client, Karin Carr, she is here to talk all the things and spill the tea, the CEO tea.

Karin Carr: Love it. Thank you for having me, Kris.

Kris Plachy: It’s my pleasure. I love my clients, any chance I get to just chat with you guys, it’s so fun. We’re not solving big problems. We’re just talking about something…

Karin Carr: That’s right, just chit chatting.

Kris Plachy: So, for everybody listening, why don’t you tell us who you are and what you do? What is this beautiful business that you have? And all the things, we will go from there.

Karin Carr: I would love to. My name is Karin Carr. I started out as a realtor, I was in Northern California when I first felt licensed, back in 2005. And then moved a whole bunch of times and realized that every time you move to a new city, you’re starting over, nobody knows who you are, they’ve never heard of you, for all they know you just got your real estate license last week, they don’t know all of the houses you’ve sold and all of your history. Because when they look in the Georgia Real Estate Commission website, they see that you just got licensed two weeks ago, and they think you’re brand new.

So, I started a YouTube channel just so that I could get my name out there and my new market and it kind of mushroomed and just blew up my business. I now own a real estate business where I have a team of seven agents, plus me, so we’re up to eight people now. But I started to teach other agents how to use YouTube as a lead generation strategy. Not just so you could go viral and have bragging rights, not so you could show off these beautiful multimillion dollar houses that you’re selling. It’s to show people you and let them get to know you and your personality and decide if they would like to hire you to represent them in a really large transaction. And that has become the focus of my business now.

So, I’ve had over 2000 people go through this coaching program. And when I see the results they’re getting, it just makes my heart sing when somebody’s like, “Oh my gosh, my whole business has changed.” I had somebody tell me last week, “I was this close to quitting. I was going to leave real estate. I was going back to corporate America. I just could not make one more cold call.” And now his phone is ringing off the hook. I’m getting goose bumps telling the story. It makes me so happy to see that other people have had the same results that I’ve had with my business. So, I just love it.

Kris Plachy: It’s crazy to think to in real estate because, from a layman’s perspective, it’s like how can you not thrive right now in real estate? But it’s also doubly or triply competitive than it was?

Karin Carr: Oh, totally. When the market is good, everyone gets their real estate license. In fact, when I was in California, it was 2005 I had to take my state exam to get my license in California. At the Sacramento convention center, there were 800 people in the with me taking the test that day, just a day. And they were doing it a couple of times a week. So, everyone gets their real estate license because they think, “Oh, it’s going to be so easy. And I’m going to sell so many houses and I’m going to make a crap ton of money.”

And they just think that it’s easy. What they don’t tell you is where do you find clients? It’s not like you get your license and the next day your phone starts to ring with people that say, “Hello. I would like to buy a million-dollar house.” You have to go find those people. And most of the people resort to cold calling because they don’t know what else to do. They call all of their friends and family. But do you really want to hire somebody who’s brand new, who hasn’t even sold a house yet, and they don’t really know what they’re doing? So, it’s very hard. And the failure rate is 80% the first year. 80% of realtors will never do it again, because it’s just so hard.

Kris Plachy: That’s probably true for any sales role that is potentially incredibly lucrative, but also has a lot of barriers in terms of really—you just talked about bootstrapping, although that really is what being an entrepreneur is, right? It’s sort of this, “Here we are. I’m doing something, does anybody want it?”

Karin Carr: That’s right. And for us, there’s really a low barrier to entry. This test that you have to take is not that hard. And we don’t have to have any business skills. All we have to understand is where are the earthquake faults? And what are the architectural styles of houses? And you took the test and you passed, congratulations, you’re now a real estate agent that could be making six or seven figures a year. It’s not that complicated to get your license. Then once you get your license, there’s no training on, “Okay, well, now what do I do?”

Kris Plachy: Right. Unless you are lucky finding someone like you or somebody who really walks you through it, gives you a book of all their clients. That would be nice.

Karin Carr: Yeah, that’d be great.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, so that’s interesting. So, a lot of the clients that I work with start in one place, and that opens up into this other lily pad, if you will, this other whole space that you didn’t even know existed. I would imagine that you—because you said it’s morphed into this thing. But I always think that there’s more than just luck. So, you started this YouTube channel to help your own real estate business grow and have people have awareness about who you are. But how did that transition to then realtors started to say, “Hey, can you teach me what you’re doing?”

Karin Carr: That’s exactly what happened. I just got a phone call one day from an agent in—I think she’s in Seattle. And she said, “Hey, I’m a realtor in Seattle, I follow your YouTube channel.” And there was like three seconds of silence. And then I said, “Why?” I couldn’t imagine why another real estate agent would be following my channel, which is all about buying a house in Savannah. I couldn’t understand why. And she said, “Well, you’ve been doing this now for several months. And you’re getting a lot of views on your videos. Is this working for you?” And I said, “Oh, my gosh, you have no idea.” And I probably talked her ear off for an hour, because I was so excited about the topic.

And she got all excited about it and said, “Can you teach me how to do it?” I was like, “No,” I am so busy right now, there’s no way I could take on one-on-one coaching clients. It never occurred to me that there was such a thing as like group coaching, or a digital course, all I could think of was individual one-on-one coaching. And I thought I would have to charge you so much money for personal coaching, that nobody would ever agree to it, just to make it worth my time. So, I brushed her off and I said, just go watch my videos and copy everything I do. And then I got another call and another call and another call.

And after I don’t know, 30 or 40 people did this, I hung up the phone one night, it must have been 9:30 at night and I was like, “Oh, it’s been a tough day.” And my husband said, “You need to be charging for this. There is so much demand for what you are doing. You need to be figure out how you can teach them and also make money from it, so that you’re not just giving all your time away for free.”

Kris Plachy: Right, and your brain, your value.

Karin Carr: Yeah. So, he loves to say that my entire business success is because of him, because it was his idea. And I’m like, “You’re the idea man, I just execute.”

Kris Plachy: It’s all good. I love a good idea that makes money.

Karin Carr: Yes.

Kris Plachy: You can take all the credit, I will keep all the money, not a problem.

Karin Carr: I’ll give you an allowance now and then.

Kris Plachy: But I do love that. It’s interesting how sometime, you know, a lot of people, it’s the opposite, they know what they really, really want, they struggle to find the market. You just found the market and then you had to put together a solution to be able to support them.

Karin Carr: Yeah, it was truly accidental. I had no aspirations of ever doing this. And I love to teach, I love to share and tell people what’s working. And if it’s working for me, there’s no reason why it can’t work for you too, and I love that. But I never thought that that could be a business. I truthfully just wanted to… and honestly, I’ve never been terribly… what’s the word I’m looking for? Where you have all of this ambition. I’ve never been super ambitious. I was very happy to just be a solo real estate agent and just make enough money that we were doing okay, but I still had lots of free time. I wasn’t working crazy hours.

For me, that was fine. I was okay with that, because my husband was the primary breadwinner. And I looked at it as though anything that I brought in was just gravy. It was supplemental, but it wasn’t required for us to be able to pay our bills. And then as it blossomed and I formed a real estate team, because I could not keep up with the amount of people that were coming to me asking for help. There’s only one of you and there’s only so many hours in the day. So, I formed a team. And as I saw that I could now support the team with their careers. My agent, Nicole, sold 39 houses last year as an agent on my team. That’s crazy.

I sold two houses my first year and three, the second. She sold 39 in her third year, and all of the clients come to us and say, “I found you online, will you please help me?” It’s amazing. And so as the team started to grow and become very successful, it was like, oh, my gosh, like now, I feel like a big girl. I have an actual business. I’m not just self-employed anymore.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, you’re an adult?

Karin Carr: Yeah, I’m adulting for the first time, and I’m in my 50s.

Kris Plachy: My kids always say that to me and like, “No, you don’t understand. I’m about 27, I think.” So, let’s talk about team. So, another great example, somebody with an expertise. Obviously, you don’t certify people to be realtors, but they go and they take their exam, and then they’re eligible to come work for you. But I’m curious, how has that been for you, that journey of expanding your wisdom and knowing and helping other people then amplify both your results and then achieve their own?

Karin Carr: It’s been very interesting, because my business model for real estate is attraction marketing. I don’t chase business, I attract it. I put my content out into the world and the people who want it, find it, and then come to me. That’s how my team has grown too, where one of my former clients, Nicole was my buyer, she moved here from out of state, moved from New York, and bought a house sight unseen, because her husband was in the army and they were transferred to Savannah. So, I was going to the house and doing virtual tours and sending them videos, they wrote an offer, it was accepted. Her husband, Tony, did not see the house with his own two eyes until the day before we closed on it. I was like, “Please let him like it, please let him it.” And then Nicole moved a week later. So, she never saw it until they were the proud owners of this house.

And after they got all settled in, I took her to lunch and said, “How’s it going? Are you learning your way around? Do you like the house?” And she said, “This was such a great experience. I think I want to get my real estate license.” And I said, “Oh, because I am drowning, I need help.” And I knew her, and I had been working with her. And I liked her very much and thought, “Do you have any interest in being on a team?” And then I went to my manager and I’m like, “I don’t know anything about a team. What does that even look like? How does that work?”

So, we figured out, okay, we’ll just have you show the properties to clients. So, I will get a new buyer, Nicole will take them out and show them all the pretty houses. And then when they’re ready to write an offer, they come back to me. And that way, she has none of the pressure of representing somebody in a legally binding transaction. She’s just opening the doors and showing the pretty houses and having a lot of fun. And then after several months of that, she said, “I think I’m ready to represent them as the buyer’s agent.”

So, she did. And of course, I was very involved on the back end, answering all the questions. And now she’s just a rock star. And I have her training the new agents who come in to the team. But they’ve all happened that way. My second agent was somebody who worked in my office and was like, “Can I come be on your team because dang, you’re killing it?” My third one was one of my former buyers. My fourth one was somebody who saw my channel was like, “I live in Hilton Head, I want to be on your team.”

One of my coaching students moved from Roseville to Augusta and said, “I want to be on your team.” So, everyone that’s on my team, I have basically attracted to the team without having to go out and find them, which is both a blessing and a curse, because it’s great that I didn’t have to go look for these people, but also I never went through the process of evaluating them, other than, do I like you? Do you know how to make videos? Would I enjoy having you around? It was essentially –that was my only hiring requirements.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, well, I’d like I have to tell you, I really subscribe and I share that attraction model. I love it. And I think a lot of people don’t believe in it. But I was talking at an event a while ago, and somebody asked me about hiring. And I said, “I feel like I flirt with people for a while before I hire them.” I like to fantasize before I even start dating. It’s a little like, “Who do I really want?” And then inevitably, they show up—and sometimes, not right away. And sometimes I’m like, “Oh, shoot, no,” and I go when I have to do it again. But it’s such a nicer way to think about bringing people into the team.

And I think what you have to recognize, too, is that you’ve established yourself as a leadership place in your industry and in your space. And so that’s incredibly attractive for people to come work for. And I think a lot of people listening to this call or to this podcast, remember that it’s not just you needing to hire someone, it’s that they want someone to work with and for, that they trust, that they have confidence in, that they think they can learn from, that they respect. And that’s equal part of the equation.

So, becoming and standing in your leadership voice, and really standing for something and representing something is an incredibly attractive way to be, so that you do attract the right people. So, it goes both ways, but I think a lot of times people put themselves in a passive position of like, “Oh, I hope I find someone.”

Karin Carr: Yeah, it’s been really great to just have people come to you and say, “I want to be on your team.” And there have been a couple of times where people have come to me, and I kind of stalk them on social media first, and it’s like, I don’t think so. I’m not feeling it. And you can just say, “Oh, I appreciate it so much. Thanks. We’re not really hiring right now, maybe another time.” It’s really nice to be in that position. Kris Plachy: Yeah, it’s great, it’s fun to be ahead, and you’ve built something that’s really cool, different, very sexy to the right person. Okay, so let me ask you a question, question. What is something that you think most women CEOs deal with, that a lot of women CEOs don’t talk about? Karin Carr: It’s interesting, when I was talking with my husband recently, he used to be the six-figure primary breadwinner and my little real estate salary was gravy that allowed us to go on vacation.

Kris Plachy: But it was cute.

Karin Carr: It was cute. And like, “Oh, you sold the house, yay, and made a little bit of money.” And then it got to the point where he said during COVID – he worked in a hospital – he would go from hospital to hospital, fixing their MRI equipment. And he took some time off because he had surgery on his hand. And that just happened to be when COVID hit. So, he was off work.

And at the very beginning, remember, we did not know what this thing was. We thought if you got it, that was it, you may as well write your eulogy right now. And I said, “I don’t think I want you to go back to work. I’m really glad that you’re not going in and out of hospitals right now getting exposed to this.” And he said, “I think this would be a really good time to retire. What do you think?” And I said, “Amen to that, let’s do it.” So, he gave his notice and said, “I’m not coming back after my medical leave is up. And the more my business has taken off, it’s far surpassed anything that I ever thought would happen for myself.

And I was talking to him one day saying, “How do you feel about that, now that I am the primary breadwinner?” and I make 10 times as much as he ever made on the best year he ever had, “is that emasculating for you? Do you feel threatened by that? Does that make you feel bad about yourself, because I don’t want it to?” He said, “Hey, listen, when we first moved to California and we had our first child, you said you wanted to take time off and be a stay at home mom.” And I said, “That’d be awesome.” And he had to work long hours, he would leave very early in the morning and not get home until seven or eight o’clock at night and he sacrifice that to make the money so that I would be able to stay home.

And he said, “Now it’s your turn. We’ve traded. And I love that. And I don’t see anything wrong with that. And heck no, I don’t feel threatened by that. I feel like I worked my job for 35 years. I put in my time” – and it wasn’t a job that he really loved let’s be honest – “and so now I am retired and I take care of our land.” We’ve got six acres, we’ve got chickens, we’ve got trees that need to be knocked down. We’ve got all this landscaping that needs to be done. I call him the major domo of the estate. He just stays home and takes care of all of that stuff. And he loves every minute of it and he’s very grateful that my business is performing so well that we’re able to do that.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, that’s lovely. I love that you brought it up because I do think it’s not often discussed, but often and very present concern or issue for both people in a relationship or one person or relationship, right? Some people are oblivious and other people, it’s really a big deal. And so I think I’m glad you raised it. And I think it’s a great thing for other people to think about and to talk about, with their spouse or partner.

Karin Carr: Yeah. Because I think a lot of women, real estate agents, I specifically see the most of that, when their business starts to do well, and they’re making a lot of money, they almost pull back a little bit, because I can’t overshadow my husband, I can’t have him feel to be less than because now I’m doing so well in my business. And it’s really sad that we think that way as a society. Why wouldn’t your spouse be thrilled for you? I know, if he had this business, and it took off like this, I’d be shouting from the rooftops how proud I was. Why do we think that it would not be that way, just because you’re the female, and he’s the male?

Kris Plachy: Well, I agree with you 100%. And I think for as long as women shrink, then other women don’t feel confident too. It’s a cycle that we keep washing ourselves through. But I will say my husband and I both have our own businesses. And I do a very different work than he does. And my business is virtual and I can work with people all over the world, and he’s got a local business. So, there are limitations that come with that also. So, financially, this business I have does exponentially different in revenue. Whether we can argue if it’s more successful or not, is debatable, it’s more just if we look at the numbers. But what I find incredibly fascinating here in our community, is when we go out in the world and we’re talking with people, “Kris, how’s your husband’s business?” Everybody wants to talk to me, about my husband’s business.

Karin Carr: Interesting.

Kris Plachy: And so, it’s a fascinating…So you can see these undercurrent in society. “Oh, Kris has that little life coaching, whatever thing is,” it’s just so dismissive and it’s unintentional, it isn’t intentional. But it’s very insidious. And so, I’m actually toying with the idea – I’m actually going to put a little teaser out pretty soon here – to do a, “How to Run a Business with Someone You Love” class, because I’ve had a lot of partners be interested in doing How to CEO, that don’t that have a male version, because I don’t let the guys in—sorry, guys, you’re not allowed in How to CEO, it’s for female entrepreneurs. But I could do an offer, a special one. And the finance relationship in that partnership is—because I’ve coached a lot of business partners who are also spouses. And money is a real important thing to be talking about.

And so I just love that you brought it up, because I think there’s a lot of arteries here, there’s you making more money than them, then there’s them, you know, in my experience, the partners that tend to have a harder time are the ones who don’t have their own thing. So, your husband has a thing, he loves his property and his land, he has a real purpose and a lot of people, that gets a little weird for them too, if they don’t have a thing that they do. So, anyways, it’s a big, big bag with lots of little pieces and parts. So, I’m glad you brought it up. I think we should just leave it there.

Karin Carr: Okay.

Kris Plachy: Talk to your spouse about how they feel if you make more money than they do? Because the other thing is a lot of women when they start making a lot of money, they feel inclined that they have to hire their husband.

Karin Carr: Yes, so that was my inclination too and he was like, “I don’t want to.” He said, “I am the idea person. I come up with all these great ideas, but I don’t then want to sit at a desk for eight hours a day and put them into practice. I’ll just tell you my ideas, and then you go do it.”

Kris Plachy: Yes. I think that’s brilliant. But it’s a weird sort of obligation. Like a lot. If I make this money, I can retire my husband. Maybe not. Or maybe it’s perfect or maybe not.

Karin Carr: If there’s something that they’re good at and it makes sense, I can see how that would be great. But you know what? There is such a thing as too much togetherness. And I think that if I saw him 24/7, bad things might start to happen. I need alone time. I need time on a zoom call with the girls or we’re just talking and we’re able to let it all hang out and be raw and real with each other and not worry that he’s like listening to everything that I say because then you just feel like you can never really be completely honest. I don’t know.

Kris Plachy: Everybody has to know that for their own relationship.

Karin Carr: Yeah, true. Kris Plachy: Okay, so what would you say, is something that you’ve learned as a woman who’s running her own business, as a woman who needs to lead people that you’ve really had to learn, that you would share back with others and sort of say, “Listen, this is the lesson that I would want everybody to heed.” Kris Plachy: Ah, this whole delegation thing is just a constant learning process for me, because I was the solopreneur for so many years, and you become the person who does it all, you learn how to be a bookkeeper, you learn how to do your own marketing, you learn how to do the paperwork, you learn how to actually sell the houses, you learn how to do all of the things. And then you hire your first person. And you think, “Okay, well, you should be able to do all of these things, too, because I was doing it all myself, so why can’t you?” And then you get mad that they’re not skilled in video editing, and paperwork and graphic design, and customer service and emails. Good grief, yes.

And so, trying to come up with a plan of like an org chart, who does what and what are their responsibilities? And is it realistic to think that one person could do all of those things? Well, maybe if they had 15 years to learn it like I did, because it’s not like I did it all in the first year. It’s been ongoing for this length of time. Yeah, that is the part that’s still I am learning something new every day when it comes to delegating. And I have a little sticky note on my computer that says, “Would a seven figure CEO do this?” Because I will jump in and I’ll start writing that blog post and then I see that sticky note, I was like, “Oh, yeah, probably not.”

Kris Plachy: Probably not with the energy of, “I’ll just do it” like that jump in. There’s no strategy, there’s nothing, it’s just, “I will take care of it.” If there’s an itch, I will scratch it, I’ll take care of it. I love that you said that. That’s what soloprenuers do.

Karin Carr: Oh, we totally do. It’d be easier for me to just do it myself, than to train someone else to do it. And you have to say, “Okay, maybe I’m taking a step backwards right now, but that’s going to save so much time in the future. If I didn’t have it on a sticky note in front of my face 24 hours a day, I would forget every single day, because my natural tendency is to just jump in and get it done.

Kris Plachy: So, what would you say to the woman listening? Who says, “Yeah, I know. But it’s also that part of my job that I like.”

Karin Carr: It’s so funny that you said that, because that’s part of the thing that I’m struggling with right now because I do like that stuff. I do, like, creating. And I like writing. So, when I write the blog post for the website, I enjoy that part. So, I’ve been really sitting and thinking with it of: is this something that is a good use of my time? And I should do it? I’m looking at that whole the quadrant of, is this your zone of genius? Is this your zone of competence stuff? And I’m coming to the realization that if I really am good at it, and I enjoy it, I should keep doing it. And I should delegate the other stuff that is more admin that I that I don’t like. But trying to find a balance so that you’re not just being the artistic genius all day long, and then not running the business because you’re too busy writing blog posts.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, it’s a balance. I would agree. I was just on a call before this and one of my clients said, she’s really working on that compound effect, where there’s one thing that really drives everything, that’s your one thing. And I thought it was a great conversation, because I do think we all have that superpower that is the reason why our business has thrived. And it certainly wasn’t my ability to make a landing page or whatever it’s been over the years. Those were all pieces and parts that came together.

But what is it, that if I stay in my lane, and I focus on that part of what I do, and it’s where I love to be, that’s where I’m going to drive the best result for the business. So, the problem with it is that people then think, “Oh, good I don’t have to manage anyone.” To your point, it is such a run the company, but it is the mire that we give into details and then hovering over the mistakes that people make in the micro parts is what I think people find exhausting. But I like that for you and I like that for everyone to really look at that high level, like, where are my skills best tapped for this business? Where can I be leveraged the best to help the growth of this business or the success of the business? And then the rest of that, I’m willing to bet you could hire people to help you.

Karin Carr: Agreed.

Kris Plachy: And then you have to let them do it.

Karin Carr: So, hard, isn’t it? It’s like one of your little kids are learning how to walk and you’re going, “Oh, be careful. Be careful. Don’t do that. You’re going to fall down. Oh, stop, stop.” My husband is the worst. When we go to the beach, he is convinced that sand is going to blow in their eye, they’re going to rub their eye and abrade their cornea and go blind.

Kris Plachy: Oh, my goodness, another thing for me to worry about.

Karin Carr: And it’s like, Honey, they are at the beach, the wind blows, they’re going to get sand in their face, they’re going to be fine. And it’s just you learning to say, I trust that you got this and then back up and just let the mistakes happen. I don’t think there are any mistakes that we couldn’t possibly recover from. They feel awful at the time when they happen. But then when you look back and think, really, I’m still here, and the business is still thriving, even though my internet cut out in the middle of my pitch on my very first launch, and I’m still here, and the business is staying.

Kris Plachy: You made it. You’re here. Yeah, I know, all those emails I’ve sent out with typos, those broken links. I’m notorious for that. The thing about mistakes that I want to share, because the reply, I get to those things are, “Oh, so you should just accept some standard, you should just accept whatever.” And my thoughts about mistakes is, listen, I make so many that I am wickedly hard on other people in my mind when they make mistakes, because I’m so awful to myself when I make a mistake.

And yet, what I’ve learned is, it’s not so much the mistake, as it is how people respond once they’ve made one. That’s what I really pay attention to, in how I assess a team member. Listen, everybody is going to make a mistake, but how do you handle it when I point it out or when we talk about it? And is it an immediate, like it’s very blaming and justifying me and excusing or “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry. Let me fix it.” It is just immediate accountability, and then they can handle the mistake a little bit easier.

Karin Carr: And you said something really interesting on a coaching call recently, where you said, when the mistake happens, you say, “Okay, great. So, what processes are we going to put in place so that it doesn’t happen again next time?” And then they come back to you with this whole game plan that’s brilliant. It’s like, “Okay, awesome.” Well, maybe it was good that that mistake happened because we didn’t know that we didn’t have a good process. And now we know and it’s documented. It’s written down. We got it out of our heads and onto a Google Sheet where we have this written down. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Kris Plachy: Always. This helps you be better. It’s good. I know we’re talking a long time. So, I’m going to see if I can ask you one more question.

Karin Carr: Okay.

Kris Plachy: We could talk all day. You’re coming to Hawaii?

Karin Carr: I cannot wait!

Kris Plachy: Why are you coming?

Karin Carr: Ah, the idea…

Kris Plachy: Because you’re far away. Everybody says to me, [Inaudible 33:47]. You are in Savannah.

Karin Carr: I know. It’s Savannah to Houston, Houston to Honolulu.

Kris Plachy: Alright, good. I’m glad it’s only one stop. That’s okay.

Karin Carr: And I booked first class tickets.

Kris Plachy: Yes, you did.

Karin Carr: I am so excited. I’m going to be on those beds that lie down.

Kris Plachy: Yes, you are.

Karin Carr: I want to be comfortable on this trip. I am bringing my family with me as well because I figured we have not been to Hawaii since my daughter was seven. So, it’s been 10 years. My son has never been there before. And they just happen to be out of school for that week. So, I’m like, we’re all going, we’re going to go early. And then I can go off and do my stuff with you. And then we’ll come back together at the very end. It’s going to be great. I’m so excited about it. But I really wanted to come just because my business has grown so quickly and I feel like I am struggling to keep up, I feel like I’m behind, that there’s all these things that I should know, because I don’t have an MBA. I didn’t major in business. I was going to be an opera singer, for crying out loud.

Kris Plachy: You were going to be an opera singer? Karin Carr: I was.

Kris Plachy: You sing?

Karin Carr: I do. Yup, I wanted to be an opera singer, except that I’m six foot one and all of the men on stage were like, 5ft7. And so it was always like, I never got cast for anything. Plus, if I’m being brutally honest, I’m probably not quite good enough to have a killer career. I was good, but I wasn’t amazing.

Kris Plachy: OMG, I did not know that about you.

Karin Carr: Yeah. And I loved it. It was so much fun. I really loved it.

Kris Plachy: And I didn’t know you were six foot one.

Karin Carr: I know.

Kris Plachy: You’re only from the waist up on Zoom. It was usually, “Hey, tall girl, go stand in the back behind that pillar.”

Karin Carr: So, the biggest role I ever had was Lady Montague, I was Romeo’s mother in the production. But I was younger than Romeo so we had to do all the makeup to make me look old. It was really fun. So, I enjoyed it. But I have no business training. And like we said, you get your real estate license, low bar and low barrier to entry. Not really all that. So, now that I have this thriving business, and I employ all of these people. I have some, I don’t want to say…

Kris Plachy: I have to figure out what I’m doing.

Karin Carr: Yeah, it’s not really imposter syndrome. It’s more like, I don’t know how to run a business. I need somebody to give me a blueprint. Hence why you are my coach and I am in this program…

Kris Plachy: How the CEO blueprint.

Karin Carr: Yes, I want to come to Hawaii and just absorb this stuff, and let it sink into my pores so that I feel just more confident in my own ability, not only to make videos that get lots of views and get lots of clients, but to actually run a business.

Kris Plachy: Hmm. Well, first of all, I will just say you are running a business and you’re doing a pretty good job.

Karin Carr: Thank you.

Kris Plachy: So, maybe we just need to pay attention to that a little bit, and that maybe this whole attraction model that you love, actually is more useful than you’re giving it credit for in a lot of different parts of your life. I have a master’s degree in organizational management, and I used to work in education, I will tell you that getting an MBA does not prepare you to be an entrepreneur.

Karin Carr: Oh, you would think that it does.

Kris Plachy: No, it’s no. No, because the majority of the challenges that we have running a company are not the parts that they teach in the MBA program. It’s the people parts.

Karin Carr: Yeah, I can imagine.

Kris Plachy: Anybody can learn how to do a P&L and read a spreadsheet and figure it out. There are all these functional areas that we have to learn, but the people part that derails companies, and leaders, because they can’t figure out how to find the right people, keep the right people, hire or fire them, how to talk to them, deal with difficult things with them, all those pieces. So, you know what you’re doing. It’s great. I’m so glad, we’re going to have so much fun. I can feel it.

Karin Carr: I’m so excited.

Kris Plachy: Okay, so before we sign off, I want to know a few things. I want to know if there’s anything else you want to share with these listeners about being a woman who leads her beautiful business, and then let people know where they can find you, so we can do that too.

Karin Carr: Can I talk about video real fast? Can I talk about that?

Kris Plachy: Yeah.

Karin Carr: So, many women are terrified to get on video, because they don’t like how they look. They don’t like how they sound. And I am just proof that this works. And you don’t have to be young, you don’t have to be skinny. You don’t have to be gorgeous. I decided to let my hair grow out gray during COVID when I realized after I couldn’t go to the salon for two months, and I saw how much was in there, I’m like, “Well, this is stupid. I’m just letting it grow out.” And people have watched my gray grow out over the last two years. I don’t think anybody has said anything negative about it. I haven’t gotten any comments, saying like, “Oh, girl, you really should do something about those roots. That skunk stripe is terrible.”

Instead, they’ve said, “You are so brave to do this so publicly.” And then after I’ve been doing it for several months, they’re like, “Wow, you’re inspiring me. I think I’m going to do it too. If you can do it, I can do it.” So, I just wanted to let people know that by being [dog barks] oops, there goes the dog. By being on camera, yes there may be trolls that say something negative. But you know what? We can’t let it stop us. You can have such an amazing career if you’re just willing to put yourself out there and to hell with what people think, if they don’t like you, that’s fine.

Kris Plachy: I love that. I think that’s also such a great exercise in exploring your own confidence and just allowing yourself to be seen, which a lot of women struggle with for so many reasons. So, thank you for sharing that. So, where can we find you? Karin Carr: www.karincarr.com is probably the simplest place and if you look for me on YouTube, you will find me.

Kris Plachy: Do you have a YouTube channel?

Karin Carr: Of course, I have two. I have youtube.com/karincarr and I have youtube.com/karincarrrealestate which is my Georgia coast homes channel for people that want to buy or sell a house in Georgia and now South Carolina as well.

Kris Plachy: In Hilton Head.

Karin Carr: Hilton Head South Carolina, baby.

Kris Plachy: Listen, that’s where I spend all my summers when I was…

Karin Carr: I know.

Kris Plachy: It’s beautiful there. Okay, well, thank you for your lovely time and wisdom. It’s been a pleasure to spend this time with you. And I’m going to see you in person in a month.

Karin Carr: I know it’s coming up soon. I bought a new suitcase and everything.

Kris Plachy: Oh, I like it.

Karin Carr: Can you tell I’m excited?

Kris Plachy: I can. Okay, thank you.

Karin Carr: Thank you.