[00:00:00] Lori: When we launched our podcast in December of 2020, it was because we had one goal: to encourage more women over 40 to become entrepreneurs. Why? Primarily for three reasons. First and foremost, entrepreneurship empowers women personally as well as professionally. Second, and this is huge, in addition to providing career flexibility, launching a side business later in life is an excellent way to leverage your knowledge and experience into a source of income you can use and enjoy for the remainder of your life. And finally, females make up less than 20 percent of entrepreneurs in the U.S. We believe the world needs and benefits from women-owned business leaders. But what does the path to starting your own business really look like? For Tara McKinney, it meant having the courage to be an Ask Muse guest on our podcast so she could get help identifying and articulating her business niche. Then, ready to turn her idea into action, Tara joined our eight-module DIY course, Create, Design, and Launch Your Business Website. So what has happened since that inaugural 2021 podcast episode? Stay tuned friend, because Tara is here to share the successes, setbacks, and the surprises she has encountered on her entrepreneurial adventure.
[00:01:24] Nola: Welcome to Sticky Brand Lab, where we bridge the gap between knowledge and action by providing you with helpful information, tips, and tools from entrepreneurs and other experts, so you can quickly and easily jumpstart your side business. We're your hosts. I'm Nola Boea, and this is my co-host, Lori Vajda. Hey, Lori.
[00:01:42] Lori: Hi, Nola. Hey, before we get going, Nola. Happy podcast anniversary.
[00:01:48] Nola: Thank you. Happy anniversary. Three years. Oh, my goodness.
[00:01:53] Lori: I know, you know, from that spark of an idea all the way to today, so much has changed in our lives and much of it as the results of the courage we found both in ourselves and in each other by launching our podcast.
[00:02:10] Nola: Yes, I can say that by looking back, we have grown. In so many ways, and it's actually taking that nostalgic look back that also makes me excited about our guest here today, who's going to share her relatable journey with us and our listeners. Meet entrepreneur and founder of Soul in Service. Tara McKinney is a warm, open hearted spiritual director steeped in Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. She focuses on whole person health and living as a means to access Innate inner wisdom and connect with the divine inside and out. A certified Ayurvedic health coach and yoga instructor, Tara specializes in trauma informed accessible yoga for all ages. Plus, she is a licensed Zumba instructor. Welcome back, Tara.
[00:02:57] Tara: Thank you, Nola and Lori. My pleasure to be here.
[00:03:00] Lori: Tara, one of the common struggles, I think for many people who have a strong interest or a passion in something is how to turn that into a business model, particularly when they themselves are still learning. They're not yet experts. And I think you were in that situation to some degree when you came to us. So would you share your Ask Muse experience for listeners who might be aspiring entrepreneurs so that they have some context as to how you were struggling or what you were struggling with and what you were contemplating with your own business idea.
[00:03:38] Tara: When I came to the sessions, there was this part of me inside that knew I was more than the professional role I was showing up in for my full-time job. And of course, we all know that there's more to us than the literal roles we play out in the world. And at the same time when you've invested so much time and energy and years in the formation of that identity, it feels very comfortable, even when there's that part of you that's like, there's more, and I wouldn't have labeled it as clearly at that point, but there was a rub. And when I spoke with you all, what it really helped me lean into was that voice that said, don't limit yourself, you are so much more, and your interest, your skills, your way of showing up in the world doesn't have to look like this. And y'all helped me put language around that on the level of identity. What am I identifying with? It's outer focus, but it's really more tied to an inner focus. So there is that identity piece that was really huge.
In addition to that, you helped me think in terms of my target audience. I mean, I knew in general that women would be the direction I would want to go. Particularly women in their forties and above. And what you all gave me was ways of thinking of them in terms of, I think the image with concentric circles, right? Those closest to you. You have some connection, but it's a little further removed to all the way out. to, hi, I don't know you, but we would be great together.
What you all really gave me also was very much like spot on with the pitch. While I use slightly different language now, it's the same exact essence, which I find super exciting. It's more the fact of seeing the continuity within my own life, seeing that there always has been movement in this other direction to this fuller expression of me and how beautiful that y'all picked up on that from the get go.
And then you take the DIY course for the business website. And Oh my goodness gracious. Like three years later, what I learned, I'm like, I totally know how to do whatever I need to do on my website, even down to, Oh, if I'm getting photos taken, I need to wear my brand colors. There's just these layers that I'm like, this is totally Sticky Brand Lab. And gosh, what a gift that is because it's this foundational tool and lens that has carried me through as my journey has evolved. And it's still continuing to Influence me, nourish me.
[00:06:30] Nola: That is so affirming.
[00:06:32] Lori: Yeah, it is. Thank you for sharing that because that really means a lot, as Nola said. But I want to go back and revisit something that you just said just a moment ago, which was how much our primary job that we're doing or career that we're in, how much that is our identity. And we align with that. And even though there's a heartfelt pull coming from within, I think for many people who have never been an entrepreneur before, that decision to become an entrepreneur is surrounded in fear. So my question is, how did you make the decision for yourself from being employed by someone else to saying, I want to start something of my own?
[00:07:18] Tara: I'm not sure I made the decision I maybe I think initially because of the fear, it felt a little forced and threatening, and then it reached a point where, I mean, we all know that what you ignore is going to get louder. It's just the way things work. And yet there is that intentionality of it needs to happen. And honestly, I think that, while I had very much formed my identity in a certain direction, even that was quite diverse from having a Master of Divinity, that same degree as a Catholic priest, that could go in a direction of a very quote unquote traditional format of, I go work at a parish, I go work at a Catholic institution or a Catholic nonprofit, but it's very much pastoral theology.
Yet for me, that was never the reason why I got that degree. I loved the fact that it asked me to get very practical with faith. And it said I could use it in whatever arena I wanted to because I knew the teachings,
so that was my reasoning for that, but it was never on this one trajectory, right? So I already knew that I can use one set of tools, skills, expertise, and use that to pivot. Use it to make it my own.
I complemented it with a Master of Science in International Development, to very much social sciences. So it's like a lot of problem solving, creative thinking, understanding the politics, and when I Notice that I kept hitting up against a dissatisfaction. There's still a rub. I still don't have the support I need to be able to show up in the world
and so that's when these Vedic sciences started to come in. And I relegated them to my personal life. Well, this is what I do in order to go do something else. And I think that those boxes had to be broken down. And when I started to allow particularly Ayurveda, one of the sister science of yoga, which is focused on lifestyle. Like, how do you design your life in a way that allows you greater access to God? Because the goal of yoga is to unite with God. I initially pushed it away. Oh, that's great. That ancient science, that's like perennial wisdom. And initially I was like, that's super cool. And I'm going to keep you over here. And yeah, when I let that line go, life got so much better. And that allowed me to lean into, Oh, okay. I can sit down with Sticky Brand and talk about this.
[00:09:52] Lori: What I heard you say is we often have something that excites us and then outside is something that we do in the outside world. And we keep them separate. And when you have this drive within, it requires you to find a way to combine them. And when you do figure out how to integrate them, life does seem to flow in ways that you never imagined. But it does feel like you're moving in a more cohesive or some people would use the word authentic way. And by authentic, I mean, you're no longer compartmentalizing.
[00:10:31] Nola: I also came up with the word authentic as well, because you have very traditional boundaries that are taught to us, either through our families or our culture, or through academia if you go through a program. And so that box is very well articulated and defined. Then you have a private life that says, you know what, I'm actually, I'm experiencing a box like this, but it doesn't really jive with that box over there. So I'm just going to keep it here. What was interesting about you when you came to ask us about this is really me. How do I totally define a different box? And that's what was so unique. And that was so authentic and a lot of people don't have the courage to be bold enough to say, you know what, I love you, but the box is fungible and this is how it is for me. And I really admired that in you.
[00:11:26] Tara: We are taught that there is a box. We're trained within the box. And then you go look for a job that looks like that box. And you fit yourself in the box. It's very much, I'm going to meet your needs. I can fit into your box to meet those needs. And what life keeps talking to me, telling me is that, Oh, it's actually not about me fitting that box. It's about I have needs and I need to bring in what is going to fit into my box. Because then I can be the most helpful, clear of service. Because that's my lens, right? I want to be of service. Not because somebody told me. It's a part of me. Everything that's come together, how can I use that to meet others where they're at and help them get where they're wanting to go?
[00:12:21] Nola: I want to really articulate a big takeaway that I'd like to emphasize for our listeners that you, while you were through with this process, you kept asking yourself, if not this, then what? Just asking that is opening yourself to noticing signs and getting answers. I just think that's really important. But the fact that you have started to really hear this and act on that wisdom, that knowing, I guess, has really shown. It's like, you've really up leveled you've dived into developing your business. I get these regular emails that are well thought through. I do know you. And if, and if I didn't, I would get these emails and think, wow, this person must be highly in demand. I wonder if there's even room on her calendar. I mean, it looks so professional. It's obvious, you know what you're doing. And so, watching that evolution has been so rewarding because I happen to know that you accomplished all this while your life seemed to be turning upside down.
If you're comfortable sharing, would you mind telling our listeners some of those major events and challenges that were happening during this time and since we last had you on the show.
[00:13:38] Tara: First of all, I'm like, aw, I'm so touched. My eyes are a little wet right now and I'm like, oh, and my heart is just like, I love you both. You are reflecting back to me in a sense, what I already know. I also am cognizant that you have an expertise around this that I don't. Not to the same level.
In terms of, wow, life, being a caregiver. So going from nearby. to going directly in the house with my mom, who is ill. And, honestly, I had all of this training, and I did not know how to stay with my emotions. I did not know how to let them pass through me. There was a lot of victim mindset going on, and what does victim mindset sound like? Why does this happen to me? Why am I isolated in rural Oklahoma with very little help? I'm an only child. There's, like, two people near me who could help out, but they couldn't help me with the inner world to navigate, like, what the hell is happening? So I would have, like, these crying days to the anger. My mom, God bless her, like, literally, she was, like, You do what you need to do. She did not take it personally. She knew it was just, I did not have the coping skills. I had these limiting stories around all of that. And it just, hoo, the way I was looking at myself in the situation was so not helpful.
One of my current reflections, it's not super recent yet, in a sense, it is on a different level of like, wow, thank you, mom. You gave me the perfect setup to really become my own person. And to address my emotional codependency, having been an only child raised by a single mom, Oh, you had to die physically, in order for me to own this. I had to have, here comes the emotion, which is beautiful and real. Like, the rug, in a sense, had to be pulled out from under me for me to say, okay. And the struggle to process my emotions and holding my job, with all the challenges of being remote with an organization that is so on the front lines because it was a homeless shelter for youth, and navigating the actual caregiving of meals was easy. It was the emotional piece of this is killing me. And as I continue to really lean into investing in myself. I had always been scared. You want me to pay how much for that training? I just saw it as victim, victim story of, well, that's for other people. That's for people who have other conditions set up. In one sense, I don't know how I'm going to pay for all this. And I have to put myself in these spaces to heal. And particularly when I decided to go to Ayurveda school, a yearlong program, I gave myself permission to expand and to take seriously what I needed to do to heal.
[00:16:44] Nola: So you're saying that your internal work is a major component of what seems like tactical skills. And you're saying a lot of that is actually a result of the internal work you were doing.
[00:16:58] Tara: Exactly. The internal work is the ongoing integration.
[00:17:02] Nola: So technically, what did you do to make your business and your copy and your website and your verbiage and your branding so well refined?
[00:17:13] Tara: I already labeled that the foundation that you all gave me. From the ask Muse and then even more so with the DIY website building course. I chose an Ayurvedic school that was also very practical. So I did have modules within that that were oriented towards business. And when I started working with my mentor, Dr. Siva Mohan, she helped me really go from the next stage to more fine tuning so really like what about it specifically a Catholic audience for wellness your background is so much within the Catholic world. So then what would that look like? And so, I'm like okay I sat with that for a while. I needed the question to come, what about Catholic women and what would that look like for them? How can that set me apart? And because she's not Catholic, she's actually not Christian. Because she's not embedded within the Catholic Christian world, which is super helpful because she could challenge me to expand how I understand working within the Catholic Christian world with women.
And I did sign up for a coaching program prior to starting with her and I technically am in the second year of that. And I had to reframe for myself because this is a major financial investment.
[00:18:35] Nola: What exactly would you say is unique about Soul in Service?
[00:18:41] Tara: Sure.
So, with Soul in Service, it is that faith is so much more than you need to believe x. Or faith is what I do when I go to church or when I say a prayer before I have a call like this. It's all the prayer. It's all the faith. And with Soul in Service, it's empowering women to say, Oh, I can work on my mind and cleaning up my mind to reframe how I'm looking at myself in the world. And by doing that, I'm going to be a clearer channel to access God, to open to wisdom, to intuition. And that is ultimately the goal of Soul in Service is I don't want women to model their life after mine per se. Let's look at every single area of your life as always talking to the other areas. Where your needs being met, where are they not being met, to get to that point of having a tool kit that helps you do that. As an expression of this is who I am as a Catholic Christian woman.
[00:19:47] Nola: Now, my question is, how have you packaged the offerings to be able to help them like that?
[00:19:53] Tara: So with Soul in Service, there are group offerings, the programs offered in groups of women. Then there are the one-on-one offerings and the one-on-one offerings are in three categories, Spiritual Direction. Spiritual Direction is very particularly a Catholic language, and it really is saying, let's look at your life from the lens of faith, but really focusing on, how do you understand God communicating to you now?
There is some breathwork, contemplative prayer in the Catholic language. In the crossover language, that would be called feminine form meditation or a guided meditation. It could also be called energy medicine.
The other is wellness lifestyle coaching. Faith is the common theme, and yet we're looking at how are you managing your stress. So, stress reduction, let's look at your diet. to see where that could be increasing the stress on your mind and your body. So, looking very specifically at lifestyle, looking at how are you managing your emotional needs, your psycho spiritual part of yourself, your relationship, what's happening in your finances, they're all interrelated.
And then the third one-on-one piece is with what I call mindful movement. I really just need to slow down.
And the final method for working with Catholic Christian women is with retreats. So, it's still group, but I tend to think of that because the retreats are not as regular. I tend to think of it not as under the typical group fashion.
And how all of this differentiates with Soul in Service Consulting is that the consulting is really organizationally focused. This is my nonprofit side of me in particular that's saying, okay, let's increase your sustainability and impact. And there are two main ways to do that. The first way is working on sustainability as how you care for staff during the day. Let's do some of that mindful movement with what you got going on with your work clothes and your cubicle. And then it changes how you approach that deadline you got going on.
And then on the impact side of creating outer impact, how do we use data in a way that is not solely focused on making upper management happy? And really, the reason for the two different ones was very much started out as Well, let's just see which takes off first. And then to go back to my mentor, let's do a little experiment. Because earlier in the year, I had already started doing some business consulting work in the ways that I've mentioned.
[00:22:40] Lori: So that kind of brings me to my next question. Starting and running a business, it takes two firm needs, if you will. Investment of time and money. In order to make your business successful, you have to get clients. Thinking from that perspective, what are some of the strategies that you've used to market your two businesses in order to bring in not just ideal customers or clients, but also income.
[00:23:11] Tara: Well, on the Soul in Service side, I had already compiled my email listserv based on you all, right? In terms of that initial feedback and what I did was I divided the women, and I created two subsets of women. I created what I call my Catholic women, which is self-explanatory. I then created the other subset of women who I know, and I call them the women of faith and love. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and yet they don't explicitly identify as Catholic. So within that, I target my emails to those women. And that keeps it clear for me that I can then monitor who's clicked, who's opening the emails to read them.
What I'm learning, and my mentor is helping me see that. She was like, okay, they haven't met somebody like you before. And so it's taking time for them to get comfortable on the buying because there's a huge education piece to get the money coming in.
And I've done some church talks. I reached out to a local parish. And with the church talks of having that be a funnel to grow the email list. to grow my presence. Those have been the two main ways that I've done it.
[00:24:30] Lori: So my question now is, do you have any other marketing or promotion strategies that you've been considering, but maybe they take an investment and you're thinking that once you have more funds available, or maybe that you'll do some other ideas for marketing?
[00:24:47] Tara: In a sense, it's not different than what we've already discussed, it's just another iteration. I created a landing page that was not public that lays out, okay, we could do a free talk. We could do a one-hour workshop that's going to be a little bit more in depth. And then the third offering being a four-week live integrated program. It's just going to really dive so much deeper. It's an internal facing page, so a landing page specific for them. This is where my brainstorming with my mentor, I'm not sure yet what is the way to keep following up.
And honestly, I don't know how necessarily that's going to look like marketing, But I’m starting to think differently, I'm starting to get a little, a new type of clarity.
Most of my people are not on social media. At least right now. So I haven't invested heavily in that route because it's just not where they're at.
[00:25:42] Lori: So, I do want to clarify a couple of things though, because I think that it might be a little confusing for listeners as well. So the tool that you've used is email, but the methods that you've used it for marketing, I'm hearing are distinctly different.
In one, you're using email for your newsletter and you're reaching and talking to the people who have already signed up or joined your email list. So that is a way to build the necessary touch points in order for somebody to develop trust with you and say, okay. I've been following you for a while. It's been very helpful.
Now I want to reach out and connect with you and maybe see how I can work with you. So that's one way. The second way that you have used that is in email marketing, and that is often using a sequence or cadence of emails. So, there's emails that you send to people who may be familiar with you personally, may be familiar with your work and who may be familiar with your company.
But now you're moving into more cold leads, which are agencies or programs that don't know you, but you recognize they could benefit from your service. And what you're trying to figure out is what's the sequence going to look like? What's the number of outreach that I send in just email? What's the number of times that I call to follow up? And you're exploring that piece.
One thing that I'm trying to point out here that I think is a benefit for both you, Tara, and for listeners is the tool can be replicated, but the path is slightly different. The target is slightly different. And that's what marketing and PR is all about. How do you segment and talk to the audience that you want and what's the best way to reach them? And what I heard you say is your target audience is likely not to be using social media in the way that your products and services and coaching could provide to them. So I have to, meaning you, find a different way to connect with them. And email has been the most successful. And that's something that Nola and I talk about all the time. Be where your audience is. Don't try to be all things to all people everywhere because it'll lead to burnout. Be where they are. Talk to them the way they want to be talked to. So that you can build trust with them. And it sounds like you're on the path to doing that.
[00:28:19] Tara: Isn't it helpful when somebody you'll keep summarizing back to me and I'm like, Oh, great. They're like, well, because this is your skillset. This is one of the gifts you all have, right? Is you can tease out that is not specific per se to me. That it is this larger picture of like, Oh yeah, let's bring it back to the, a certain framework. For example, if a woman listening is like, I don't do this whole faith wellness that they can also walk away like, Oh yeah, once again, there are these themes that crossover that are not specific, yet they do get customized and yeah, helpful for them. Helpful for me.
[00:29:03] Lori: Well, and you picked up on something that was what Nola and I had talked about, which is the specific business that somebody might start could resonate with some listeners who wanted to start something similar in their community or in their network, but more often than not, the learning or the overlap is the process that it took. The transformation that you've gone through as from where you started with an idea to where you are with, I'm ready to expand out to my audience and let them know how this could benefit. All of that is a journey. And understanding that journey and knowing that for a listener who's been thinking about this, your struggles, your successes, your reframes, stepping back, you're working with professionals, all are helpful information that worked for you and can definitely work for somebody who is listening who might be wondering what happens next or, I had that process, but it stopped me in my tracks. Oh, here's Tara sharing her experience and here's what her workaround was. I can learn from that. And that's what we saw as a benefit for having you come back on and sharing your story, which I know I personally am very grateful for because it really has shown such great growth. It's amazing.
[00:30:33] Nola: Yes, it is. Tara, it has been so great catching up with you and learning about all you've been up to since you were first on our show. What advice would you give to someone who is considering becoming an entrepreneur?
[00:30:49] Tara: It may sound trite. And yet, gosh, like it's true. Don't give up on yourself. Whether we're talking about being an entrepreneur or just being an integrated human being, don't give up on yourself. Keep coming back to what lights you up, what creates that spark in you. Because for me, that's not giving up. If I keep stoking that part of me, that for me makes me ridiculously happy in certain ways, or makes me feel regulated, all of the above. I think particularly as being an entrepreneur, you have to keep feeding your larger self. And if it's going slower than your mind says it should go, or you think society's telling you it should go, you're once again outsourcing your power. You're creating a fixed identity that is saying I am worthy of care, of wellbeing, of love, of sleep, of a great home cooked meal that lights me up - I’m only worthy of that if I get these external things done. If I work on my business in this way. And that's a way of saying that you don't matter. And I really had to come to this, right? On the rocky road. Because my default mechanism is, Oh, I do the things and then I reward myself. Okay, to a certain extent, yes. And anybody embarking on the entrepreneur journey, because it is a vulnerable journey, in so many different ways, right? You're really having to own your power and ride the waves.
[00:32:34] Nola: How do you define a vibrant life?
[00:32:40] Tara: Vibrant by very definition mean that there's movement, that there's not rigidity. That there's not static, it doesn't stay there. So vibrant is constantly evolving. It's being able to say, Hey, this works for me now, and it didn't work for me in the past. Or, you know, there is that, when I feel vibrant or turned on, it's because I gave myself what I needed, you're going to evolve, you're meant to pulse. And in Sanskrit, this word is spanda. And for me, I need to give myself permission to do what I really want to do. Drop the shoulds. A vibrant life doesn't have shoulds in it. And when it does for too long, we get stuck. Vibrancy is that. Like, what do I need right now? And let me give it to myself if possible. And that doesn't have to be something big. That's vibrant.
[00:33:36] Lori: I love your personal definition for what your vibrant life means to you. But I do want to thank you again for being our guest, your journey and your experience have been so inspiring. Before you go, can you tell listeners how they can get in touch with you, where they can go to learn more about you, your retreats and your services?
[00:34:00] Tara: It is soulinservice.co, all one word dot co, or soulinserviceconsulting.com. You also could drop me an email at Tara at soulinservice.co. On the website, there are contact forms that will also appear in my inbox. So that's a very easy way. And if you are the social media person, it's still Soul in Service. You can reach me on Instagram with that. Those are the, I think, the best ways. And if you go to soulinservice.com and you sign up, you do the freebie, which is a guided meditation. That's super short. And it'll also put you on my email list serve automatically.
[00:34:53] Lori: That's great. Thank you so much for sharing all of those. Listeners, we'll be sure to put the links that Tara mentioned in our show notes to make it easy for you to connect with her. Well, friend, we hope the ideas and thoughts shared here today have sparked your interest and motivated you to take the leap faith based on your interests or passion. So you can become a first-time entrepreneur in the second half of your vibrant life. Be sure to stick around to the very end of the podcast for a fun little surprise.
[00:35:24] Nola: Hey, one more thing. With the holidays approaching, Lori and I will be stepping away from our mics just for the next few weeks, but we'll come back strong in January with a refreshed show and an exciting lineup of empowering episodes. With that said… If you found the information we've shared helpful and want more tools, tips, and inspiration delivered to your inbox, sign up for News You Can Use over on our website, stickybrandlab.com. And remember: small steps, big effects.
[OUT-TAKE]
Nola: (Clear throat.) Tara McKinney is a warm, open hearted spiritual director steeped in Eastern and Western spiritual... retake! I rehearsed this so many times…
