Have The Power To Create Your Perfect Career

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in career development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kate Addicott, a Certified Career Coach & Content Consultant based in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I'm a Career Coach with more than a decade of experience working in brand strategy, copywriting, and storytelling. I offer strategic coaching sessions to support anyone seeking greater professional freedom and purpose, guiding them to craft their own career story. With six years of experience as a successful independent consultant (under my copywriting and content strategy business, drow, inc.), I specialize in helping freelancers define their purpose and values through my Independent Career Program.

Tell us about yourself

Defining purpose has been a cornerstone in my career for more than 15 years. My focus as a copywriter and content strategist has been branding and identity work. I've helped major brands, and fresh new startups determine their purpose, mission, and values as a way to structure their business and guide the strategy for their products, services, and long-term decisions. It seems like a bit of a stretch, but all the tools here can be applied to each of us as individuals to help us find our focus, too. With this in mind, one day, I did an assessment of my own purpose. This was the proof I needed that I could take all I knew about helping companies find their purpose and values and use the same framework to help people create their own brand strategy. I also realized that it was time for me to take all that I've learned from my 50+ clients and employers over the past two decades and use it to help people understand how these places operate. As a certified career coach, I've gone through the training I needed to confidently provide the support people need as they face big changes, blaze their own trails, or make the best of wherever they are right now.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I'm proud of the copywriting and content strategy consulting business that I began at the start of 2017 and delighted that it has now given me the courage and experience to help others find the same freelancing success. There have been many laudable accomplishments in my work for big brands. From leading the messaging for major tech conferences and creating marketing training materials for some of the world's leading consumer goods companies to launching new cryptocurrencies and advising incredible startups, my copywriting and content consultancy has offered me some incredible experiences. However, it's my career coaching service that brings me the greatest joy. Getting flowers delivered as a "thank you" gift for securing a fantastic job offer and receiving messages from a client that finally got out of a toxic work situation are the milestones that feel truly aligned with my purpose.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Being your own boss means making your own rules. This requires both discipline in maintaining a strategy for running your business and also flexibility in changing your plans as you learn how to optimize work for yourself and for your clients. You may need to create boundaries based on your own desired work-life balance and become more discerning in the kind of work that aligns with your own values. These decisions are amplified as you scale both staff and offerings, so it's important to check in with yourself based on your ever-evolving needs and goals.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Know your purpose. Understanding what drives you and the unique benefits you can offer the world is essential for finding success as an entrepreneur.
Identify your values. If your work is not aligned with your values, it is far harder to spark the motivation you'll need to achieve your goals.
Build a supportive network. Starting with friends and family, colleagues and former coworkers, neighbors, and your local community, and growing your network as wide as you can offer you a great advantage in finding clients or customers. It also helps to keep you on track and accountable as you continue to grow your business and learn.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.kateaddicott.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thekateyouknow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateaddicott/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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