Kelly
TW (Trigger warning) // Discussions of anxiety and depression
“Be confident and let go of perfectionism. You will never be fully prepared to try something new, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be successful.”
Kelly has dedicated her professional life to empowering a community of like-minded women by equipping them with the necessary tools to achieve their ambitions. Kelly began her coaching journey at a time when life had thrown her a series of setbacks, leading to a period of increased anxiety. She began to concentrate her efforts on her own well-being, adjusting her lifestyle to best support her mental health. Then she began sharing her own experiences online, which grew into a community, eventually prompting her to found D20 Theory, a women's lifestyle business. Kelly is a mental health advocate and entrepreneur. She is a strong leader who is determined to support other multi-passionates to live the life that they aspire to live. Meet Kelly. This is her story.
P: Please introduce yourself!
K: As a Productivity and Mindset Coach, I help multipassionate women achieve their most ambitious goals with clarity and confidence. I am also the founder of D20 Theory, a lifestyle brand for women who invest in their self-care and personal development through quality products, memorable experiences, and opportunities for growth. I believe that embracing all of our interests and abilities helps us to roll through life more easily…like a d20 die!
P: What is your favourite thing about yourself?
K: I have a strong desire to understand and respect others' perspectives, while also advocating for my own needs. This combination of empathy, insight, and self-worth allows me to simultaneously empower myself and others.
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that’s defined you or made you stronger?
K: I have experienced an episode of clinical depression or anxiety once every three to six years since I was 13. For those of you who don’t have a background in psychology, clinical depression and anxiety just means that I met the official diagnostic criteria for severity and longevity of symptoms. Basically, I wasn’t just having a bad day or feeling nervous before a big test.
My most recent episode of anxiety was in 2018. I had just taken a long weekend to celebrate my birthday and was feeling great. Over the next two weeks, I was unexpectedly laid off from my job, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, my sister was hospitalized, and my mom had major cardiovascular surgery. I was a mess. This wasn’t an hour of jitters or a day of feeling down. This was a struggle I actively dealt with for months.
It’s still tough to talk about because I hadn’t shared most of this with many people outside my immediate family until recently. Amid everything I was experiencing at the time, I was thankful to have had mindset practices, systems, and tools in place before my world was flipped upside down.
I had motivational quotes on my wall to keep my positivity up, I ate healthy meals and exercised regularly to nourish my body, I watched Teen Mom and Philadelphia Eagles games to quiet my mind, I called my parents weekly to stay connected, and I kept myself organized with Google calendar and a stack of notepads and sticky notes.
With the goal of supporting my wellbeing, I took inventory and made it a priority to add to my repertoire of mindset practices, systems, and tools during this challenging time. I restructured my day so I wouldn’t have too much idle time, I engaged in the local community of unemployed professionals at CareerLink, and I started a blog, known as D20 Theory. What began as a way for me to share my knowledge about my many passions, document my best productivity and mindset tips, and connect with a community of like-minded women has since evolved into a lifestyle brand with events, subscription boxes, and coaching for multipassionate women.
I work in the mental health field, and I enjoy being a manager and coach, because I know it’s possible to overcome struggles with the help of a mentor, accountability partner, and cheerleader. I have helped hundreds of clients and professionals in this capacity through my work with non-profits for the last decade. With the launch of my coaching program, I’m now helping a group of women who are very close to my heart because I’m one of them: multipassionates. They want to--and can--do it all while embracing their strengths and abilities. Through my events, subscription boxes, and coaching program, I want to help you make time for the things that matter most to you while maintaining a positive mindset so you can enjoy every minute.
P: What is one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
K: Be confident and let go of perfectionism. You will never be fully prepared to try something new, but that doesn't mean you won't be successful.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
K: My greatest sense of responsibility as a female, small business owner is to empower other women to achieve success as they define it for themselves.
P: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say to them if they were here now?
C: Chelsea DeBoer and Leah Messer of MTV's Teen Mom 2 inspire me. I've been watching the show since it began airing over a decade ago. Although we are the same age, their lives are very different from mine. I've seen these women grow up, find their passions, and become strong mothers to teenagers of their own. It's truly inspiring.