How can Purposeful Partnerships turn your Passion into Profit?
In this episode I sit down with Kim De Coster to explore how purposeful partnerships can help you turn passion into profit—without losing sight of meaning. We talk about Kim’s compass of passion, purpose, and profit, and how to navigate its four quadrants: from the Profit Trap that keeps us stuck, to the Power quadrant where passion meets impact. Together, we dive into finding your right crowd, knowing your values and non-negotiables, and the difference between a simple collaboration and a true partnership. You’ll also hear how to test partnerships safely, have the money and vulnerability conversations that matter, and why profit is about more than money—it’s about joy, energy, and freedom. This conversation will inspire you to create aligned, impactful partnerships that strengthen both your business and the change you want to see in the world. In this episode we discussed: The balance of passion, purpose, and profit – the trifecta for meaningful work Kim’s compass with four quadrants: Pitfall, Profit Trap, Progress, and Power Why the Profit Trap feels safe but keeps you stuck, and how to move out of it The importance of being in the right crowd and finding your people The difference between collaborations and partnerships Knowing your values, principles, and non-negotiables before stepping into partnership How to test partnerships with small experiments (like co-hosting an event) The role of vulnerable conversations around money, concerns, and expectations Why profit isn’t just money—it’s also joy, energy, time, and freedom The reminder that good people making good money creates more positive impact Practical first steps: start with your existing network, ask for introductions, or join/create the right “room” -- Speaker 0: hey, kim. it's good to hang out with you and talk about Speaker 1: passion, profit, and partnership. Speaker 2: hello. it's great to be here. thank you for the invite. it's always a pleasure. Speaker 1: yeah. um, we're here because you're part of the humane marketing circle community. and during our last expo, you proposed a great workshop, which i missed, but luckily there was a replay. so i got to see that, um, around this topic of passion, purpose, and profit. right? it's kinda like this trifecta, those three things that, uh, go together. and, um, i yeah. i just thought it was such a great topic and it fits my seventh p of the human in marketing mandala, which is partnership. and so i thought it'd be really great to talk about it here on the, on the podcast. to people will be listening. and so you just have to kind of explain the four different components of this compass. Speaker 2: um, so for me, first of all, the compass is kind of before you start going into partnerships and so on and so on. i think the first very step is where am i currently at? and that's what the compass is for, to kind of see where do i start from. so you have, um, two things we'd be measuring somehow, which is on the one hand, you have passion on the lower end, and then you have purpose. and, obviously, you can work low on passion, or you can work high on passion. and then the same thing for purpose. low on purpose or high on purpose. before i explain, like, the four quadrants we've made, i do wanna make it clear what i mean with purpose and passion. so purpose for me because you hear the word a lot and also passion, they're a bit overused probably. but, um, purpose for me is not just what is my purpose, it's a positive impacts purpose on planet and society, so on planet and people. right. and because i'm all about sustainability. so that for me is, are you working alone? does it have not really an impact, a positive impact on planet or society, on humanity, or does it really have a high impact? so that's where the purpose lies. and then passion, we can all be passionate about stuff and let's be honest, everybody that has a business or has a job, there's always things even if you're passionate about what you do, there's always things you like more and you like less in every single job. but let's say that, like, 85% of your time, you're working on something that you really, really like almost to that effect that it doesn't feel like you're working because you enjoy it so much. Speaker 1: that's yeah. Speaker 2: the feeling that's passion for me. Speaker 1: yeah. so Speaker 2: there's four quadrants. one is low on passion, low on purpose, which is i'm not really doing what i'm enjoying, and it does not even create a positive impact. um, that one is called, um, the pitfall. and then you have the right next to it, which is you're still low on purpose, but you're really high on passion. you love what you do, but it doesn't have that positive impact on the rest of the world, let's say, like that. Speaker 1: so it's kind of missing also that meaning for you. right? like, it doesn't give you meaning. mhmm. Speaker 2: so you do like doing a lot of people say how is that possible, but i can give an example later on of how that is exactly possible because i've been through that. and that for me, and i've seen it in more people, is an absolute profit trap because it makes you money. it pays the bills, and you actually like doing it. and then what i hear about some, uh, from some entrepreneurs are kind of like, how do i move from here to working with impact? because i seem to be stuck. well, yes. and if you go there, you'll get stuck for quite some time. Speaker 1: mhmm. Speaker 2: and when there's the top two quadrants to say it like that, there's the progress one, which is actually the one you wanna be in to get to the power one, which is the one i love what i do, and i'm creating a really good impact on planets and people. the progress one for me is not exactly entirely excited by the actual job or tasks that i'm doing, but it does pay my bills, and it does create an impact at the same time. now there's a reason why i'm saying that the progress quadrant is the one you wanna be in to move on to the the power one. um, on power as well, i know it's a word with a really negative connotation. and in general, this is a a side mark. i use a lot of words, even prophets. like, in our realm, they're not used a lot. and for me, i decided to use them specifically because i want people to give them another meaning. like, they are what they mean to you, and i decided to give them a positive meaning for me. so being in it's all about empowering. if you're in your power, creating a lot of impact, making money, uh, working on your passion, then that is a perfect quadrant to be in. Speaker 1: it's also why why we're talking about this and we know each other because as you might remember, passion is my first p, and then personal power is my second p. but, yes, i hear you. you know, people think, oh, personal power, is that, like, too strong? is that over no. you have to stand in your in your personal power, and that's what makes you unique. and and for you, uh, it is that powerful position where you know who you are that you can go into trustworthy relationships and partnerships as well. Speaker 2: exactly. yeah. exactly. Speaker 1: love that. yeah. yeah. okay. so those are the four quadrants. um, what came up during the, uh, the workshop? where did you see that most people were at when you asked them? Speaker 2: to be fair, a lot of people were in the power quadrant already, but that is because of the audience, obviously. um, as i said, this was during the the humane, um, export that we did together. so, obviously, there's people in there that are already more aligned, um, that already are really clear on their purpose. they've worked through this and so on. so for me, i think they were mainly there to kind of figure out, oh, wait. the partnership thing in whole of this, what where does that take me? now there was a couple of people, i think, that were, um, leaning more towards the progress one, and then maybe one person that was a little bit in doubt as in, am i stuck in a profit trap? kind of. so but i said, it depends on the audience you have, and it was really nice to hear that a lot of them were already in that power quadrant, actually. Speaker 1: yeah. it's really good to analyze that for yourself to think about, uh, whether you're in the wrong crowd, because that's something that comes up quite often in the marketing. like, we're human program where people are like, yeah. but whenever i look around, i'm not seeing that kind of way of showing up in the world. and and often it's because, yeah, they are in the wrong crowd. and so it feels very it feels lonely to be in the wrong crowd. right? if you're the only one who cares and everybody else is talking about how to make a million dollars in three days, then then you feel very lonely when you think, yeah, but is that really what i want? um, and so i think i think it's this journey of a creating this awareness and knowing, okay, i might be in the wrong crowd. how do i work my way towards a different different audience? and and i'm actually doing that right now a little bit as well, um, with the inner development goals. i, i, i really saw that these were my people. uh, and so i started and this has been three years in the making. i started, you know, being there, connecting. and now last year, i created a new community with someone else. but it's like this slow, steady, this is where i want to be and these are my people and then working towards that, i think. yes. yeah. that's why it resonated so much with me to to see, oh, yeah. this is this is the journey, right, through these quadrants. yeah. Speaker 2: it is. that's why i say the profit trap is where you get stuck because you love what you do, but you're not in the right room. yeah. um, so you won't it's really hard to move from that one to the progress one. it's actually easier to go from the pitfall one, which is low passion and and low in purpose, um, to progress. Speaker 1: because you hate it. you're like, uh, let me get out of here. right? yeah. Speaker 2: one. and secondly, if you accept things that you might not be overly excited about work wise or project wise, it will at least get you in the room with the right people. because if it's a higher on purpose, then you know, like, okay. this is just a step. i've been through that. it's kind of like i need to get here to then move on to power. yeah. because you're more motivated as well. like, okay. this is not what i wanna be doing, but at least i'm surrounded, and i get to know more and more people that are my crowd. Speaker 1: yeah. in the in that workshop, you also shared an example that sometimes you just need to accept a a job for the money. yes. but then you made some distinction, like, how do you do that so that you don't get stuck in that trap there? Speaker 2: the i i can give actually because, obviously, everything this was created from my very own experience that i noticed, like, okay. i've been through this, so this is, um, my advice. the profit trap, for instance, i got i love software. i love everything that has to do with tech. um, i i love implementing it. i love figuring it out. so i had an offer when i just started my business, and this was someone who knew that i really liked that and was really good at that. and they said, don't you wanna come and do a consultancy for us for, like, a year more or less, and we'll give us a quote and so on. and it's to implement a crm, but it was a business that value wise and purpose wise was not aligned with my values nor but still, i found myself thinking, well, this is twelve months of this much money coming in every month. i think it was because this has been five to six years ago. in between 1,500 and 2,000, but that a month, it's kind of like, oh, yeah. and i think a lot of people will reason then. i'll take that and on the side, and i'm like, no. that's not what i started my business. i ended up sending them the quote, and then a week later, contacting them again saying, i'm sorry. i thought about this. it's not the right time currently for me to collaborate. yeah. because i know you need to think long term. you need to think long term. don't do this. you'll get stuck, and then other references will come up and recommendations and so on, and and you'll go where you don't wanna be. Speaker 1: yeah. yeah. Speaker 2: that is an example of low purpose, high passion. so it is possible. Speaker 1: yeah. i'll just i just have to share another example of of my son. uh, just recently, he needed to look for an internship, and he's a a graphic designer in, you know, in school. and and so he didn't have a a spot until, like, the very last minute, like, two weeks before it's he was supposed to start. got a lot of no's. and then, uh, a coach that he's working with pushed him to accept this offer where it was more like according to him, it was more more like a coffee shop. and he's like, i'm gonna hate it. it's the worst. he was like, i don't wanna be there. and and then us parents, we had to kind of, like, you know, make this decision. well, do we take that risk, um, that he says no to this one, the only thing he has? or do we also think long term and think, well, he can keep looking and who knows? maybe he'll find something that he's really passionate about and it's gonna be great. it's gonna give him great references. and so, yeah, in the end, he did find, like, his dream position. it's actually on the on the website. i had to laugh at it said, like, we only work with humane projects. i'm like, there you go. and so yeah. but just having holding that uncertainty, right, in this case, as parents, there's no money involved. but holding that uncertainty and and say no to something is is really, really difficult and even more so if it brings in, you know, a certain amount of money. so, yeah. Speaker 2: add on to the equation in my case that i am a sole widowed parent with a mortgage and a son, and i still sit on. yeah. i think for me, there's two things to keep into account, and this is an exercise that i always do when i feel that fear comes up and takes over because we start making fear based decisions. Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 2: at that point, one, a lot of it has to do with trust the process, trust yourself, you will be fine, which already is a really hard one. but then if i notice, oh, there's a fear coming up, like, will i be able to pay my bills? will i this? i go back every single time to wait. what is the worst thing that can happen? mhmm. and in the end, if you start breaking it down, like, really breaking it down, kinda like, well, that no other project comes up, and then i'm gonna have to look for a job again and leave my business behind. that's not such a bad thing. so it kind of tones the risk down, and it gives me at least that's the trick i keep on doing. that's what i use when i moved countries every single time. it's like, what? wait. what's the worst that can happen? Speaker 1: yeah. yeah. and then you realize that's the worst thing. it's like there's much worse things than that. Speaker 2: exactly. yeah. and then you go ahead and you do it anyway. and, um, i have to say five years later, um, i'm very, very happy. i took that decision that day of saying no and and paving my way further on into the purpose Speaker 1: one. yeah. because we're we're creating with every yes, we're creating an ecosystem for ourselves. right? and the minute you say yes to the wrong thing, well, that's the beginning of your ecosystem. and then more and more and more of these offerings will come your way, and soon enough, you're trapped in that thing. so yeah. so important. okay. so we have the the four quadrants. we have the compass, uh, and then you said, well, that's really the beginning of thinking about partnerships. so it's kind of like an analysis that you do before you step into partnership, um, mode. so once you have this awareness, what do we do next? Speaker 2: well, there's a a couple of things because for me, um, it's not, oh, yeah. now i'm gonna find the partner and that was that. um, it's a bit slower than that. right. you've got certain phases as well, like, um, values that you need and need to figure out. now what i also say is i know people going into partnerships works best if you're already clear on your very own purpose, call it ikigai, whatever it is. if it's not, what i did learn very fast is kind of, well, it's actually by doing that you'll figure it out. you can go into, i don't know, how many online videos, um, and so on to figure it out, but it's also by doing an actual project that you figure things out. um, so the next one from there is kind of like, what are my principles? um, so there's actually five. there's trust. there's shared values. there's shared impact goals because if you go into a partnership, obviously, you need to make sure and i'm not talking money. i'm not talking just like, oh, profit is in is a goal. no. i'm talking beyond the money. like, what is it that the two of us want to gain out of this? yeah. profustrating, like, the balance of return. and then you mentioned it before the, um, the people that kind of go make a million dollars in three days. yeah. even though i talk about profit, this is not gonna happen in three days. right. so slow growth is is another one. Speaker 1: yeah. i love that. so, uh, again, trust, shared values, shared impact goals, and shared impact goals, again, are bigger than just the project that we're creating. right? it's like, you know, what is this impacting in the world, the work that we're doing together? Speaker 2: i think it's really important to know that because i've seen that partnership is yet another word that sometimes for me what it means. and when i speak about partnerships, it's actually all co creation mode. it's not you have your business. i have mine. let's collaborate. that's a collaboration. so all partnerships are collapse, but all collaborations are definitely not partnerships. a partnership for me goes deeper than that. it's kind of like, let's create a business or a project together. doesn't have to be a business, but it can be a project or something. but we co create this. like, we do this together. so hence, well, what are our shared impact goals then? and impact goals, again, for us, but also remembering purpose. what do we wanna reach? what's the impact we wanna create together on everybody else? Speaker 1: yeah. i love the distinction you make between collabs and partnerships. i think there could probably be also collaborations with shared impact goals, but they're time restricted, where a partnership to me feels like more open Speaker 2: long term. Speaker 1: long term. right? yeah. Speaker 2: yeah. yeah. definitely. yeah. no. definitely. i think in each and every collaboration, even, um, for me, for and then it comes on on the shared values. i very much know what my nonnegotiables are. and my nonnegotiables are so strong that i even do that when i accept a client. mhmm. um, so it's not just towards it's clients, collaborations, and partners. so it's actually everything. um, but, yes, for collaborations, that is also really important. yeah. Speaker 1: i'm i'm actually collaborating right now with, uh, for my new program, uh, sell how to sell in 2026 and beyond with with this group expert, small group expert, uh, carrie dobson, and we're recording our collaboration prep. and in the last call, we, um, she took me through these questions on the collaboration. and one of them that i think is is good to add here is she asked me what are your concerns about this collaboration? right? what are you worried about for us working together? um, and i think it's so important to talk about that and, you know yeah. with vulnerability, speak about our fears. do they have to do with the ego? do they have to do with being worried about who knows what? but address that. and and and then it feels like, oh, we talk it's kinda like what's the worst thing that could happen. right? it's like, oh, here are the concerns. we talked about them, and now we can build, uh, on that. Speaker 2: i think as well, um, what i've noticed as well is at times and i think the same thing happens with concerns. you think you know. you think before going into a partnership or a collab, you think you know what your nonnegotiable is and what your main concerns are until you go into partnerships. the only way to learn or collabs is do that. Speaker 1: right. Speaker 2: because you'll notice, like, oh, i thought this was actually my nonnegotiable, but this bugs me more or this upsets me more or this so you get to know a lot about yourself as well as a business owner or an entrepreneur or even a professional in general when you start collaborating. Speaker 1: yeah. if anything, you grow yourself. maybe you won't grow your business with this one, but you grow yourself. and then you can apply next time. yeah. Speaker 2: it's a really important one as well to allow yourself to make mistakes. it's fine from every single partnership. i've i've had partnerships that went totally wrong. i learned a lot from them. it was brilliant. Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 2: very grateful for that thing going wrong. yeah. but that is Speaker 1: i mean, we started out with a partnership and and or collab and and that specific small project, well, it didn't go so well. but where he's still here. you know, Speaker 2: we're still collaborating. so yeah. exactly. Speaker 1: so so what are some ways that people can test, um, partnerships? so maybe it is those collabs. is that the step the first step? Speaker 2: yes. yeah. um, there's one recommendation i always do, um, and i get that it depends a little bit on on the type of business you have or, uh, the project you're working on. but if there's one recommend that's my way of testing it out a lot is co create a small event, however small it is. a webinar, uh, an online talk, a get together, it doesn't matter. just yeah. because when you set up an event, however small it is, actually, a lot of things are needed. like, what are the goals of this event? how are we going to promote this? um, who are we talking to? what's our audience? what what are we gonna get out of this, how are we gonna set up, what are the tools we're gonna use. um, all of that teaches you so much about one another. because when you set up an event, it's kind of like, oh, yeah. you're the techie one. i'm not. oh, you wanna have that audience? no. i was actually thinking of another audience, and that's where the difference has come up most definitely. like, for me, that's my go to to see, is this gonna work? let's test. and i think in a lot of businesses or or even for solopreneurs, it's actually very feasible to do that. everybody can do a webinar or something. and collaborating on that is an interesting exercise yeah. as a small test. Speaker 1: and i i think you're right when you said, you know, when you asked people where they're at in the when you hosted that workshop in the community, they already knew who they are. yes. so that is very helpful to go into partnership. because if you are still at the stage where well, first of all, you haven't done any inner work, but you're also very new in your business. there's a lot of doubt. right? and so that's why i see most people go, oh, don't wanna do any collaborations. i'm not even sure what i can bring to this collaboration. so in a way, it's like, well, that's that's the challenge, though. it's like work on that because you will grow as as you are having these collaborations. Speaker 2: when it comes to because we crossed over right into the alignment phase with the test, um, because, actually, there's stages to creating a partnership. um, so one, there's the principles you kind of need to think about in advance, but then for me, a lot of networking nowadays has a negative connotation. once again, i'm like, let's make it a positive one then. um, i'm not changing the words. i'll give it another connotation. in my case, yes, we put slow networking in front of it. um, the first step is you're solo. it's just you. start thinking about you, what do you want, those principles. and then you go into networking. now networking for me is very different than connecting. the word connection and connecting nowadays as well. hey. wanna connect with me? hey. wanna connect with me? mhmm. Speaker 1: and then nothing happens. i made Speaker 2: yeah. exactly. it's like, yeah. sure. let's be in touch because networking is just a first contact. it's, hi. this is me, and this is you. and then you can decide, do i go into creating a connection with that person where you start to get to know each other a bit more? you start nurturing the contact. that's when you start connecting. and then once you've connected enough, that's when i think you can well, that's when you can go into maybe we should cocreate something small. let's see. and that's the alignment phase. you need that before going into a full blown old partnership to check, like, is this right for us yeah. for the both. and then you step into a partnership, actually. Speaker 1: yeah. yeah. yeah. that's good. you know, we we we're calling this episode, how can purposeful partnerships turn your passion into profit. so so far, we've talked a lot about purpose and partnership. let's talk about profit. so how where does the money come in? and, yes, we agree. okay. it's slow. um, but we do have to have this money conversation eventually. so when do we when do we have the do we start with the money conversation? and then, yeah, how can we turn our passion into profit? Speaker 2: so for me, um, the partnerships is a vehicle to get to the profit for different reasons. lots of us are indeed solopreneurs or small businesses. um, so even more, in the purpose realm, lots of us feel alone. that's why there's so many communities. that's why your community exists. that's why mine exists. so there are so through a partnership, it has several advantages. it's not one plus one is two. it's one plus one is three. and that comes to the impact you're creating. that comes to the profit you're creating because you put your experience together. you put your audience together. you put so many things together that that then automatically makes you stronger. you strengthen one another. um, the money conversation obviously needs to be had because this is another thing people misunderstand lots of times. not every partnership is a fifty fifty when it comes to money. you can go into partnerships saying, this is a thirty seventy. whatever. it needs to feel right for you. that's the most important thing. and what i've seen, funnily enough, is also that i recommend very much partnering with people that might be passionate about totally different things work wise, like task wise than i am that you're complementary. so i love stuff marketing related. i hate the writing up reports type of things. and i co created a brand with somebody that doesn't really like the marketing side of things. but, yeah, more excited about the paperwork. that was a brilliant partnership because that was the one thing that i maybe couldn't always give to my clients, and he had that the other way around. so it's kind of like, let's combine this because we have shared impact, all shared values, and so on, and we complement one another. and that automatically led to a lot more profit because we were capable of doing certain projects together and have more reach, um, which automatically translates into. and i very much realized if i should have done this by myself, then either i need to pay somebody to kind of do this work for me, but i can't yet. so it's kind of like this it's just me. how do i tackle all this? so it strengthens you a lot, and and that's where the profit lies. i feel a lot of solopreneurs are just trying to do it all by themselves even though they're part of a community and so on. and it's kind of like, well, why don't you, like, create a partnership somehow? yeah. besides what you keep doing, which is perfectly fine. i mean, you can keep doing your own project, but it'll it'll really get you into into more profit. Speaker 1: more profit. and and and maybe we can also say that profit is not always money. profit is also more time to be human, more joy because you're working with someone who is very aligned. um, what else? more fun. so, yeah, profit can take many, many different versions. Speaker 2: more energy as well. i said, for me, it it's it's brilliant that there is somebody that absolutely loves reading these really, to me, boring reports and outlines that our clients sometimes ask, and and they're like, this is fun. and i'm like, yay. Speaker 1: yeah. and and vice versa, they're like, oh, i can't understand how she thinks this other thing is fun. but exactly. exactly. that's why we're Speaker 2: all different. so for me, that's priceless Speaker 1: yeah. yeah. Speaker 2: to be fair. because it's so and i think it's an important thing that people have to see in partnerships as well. it's it's yeah. what do you like doing that i might not like as much and the other way around? and is that compliment can we use that together? yeah. and it's amazing. goes beyond money, obviously. but for me, profit is also something i think this came about as well because i noticed so many solopreneurs in the purpose realm struggling with money or struggling with profit. one, i still feel due to limiting beliefs and the negative connotation money has in society as in the billionaires of this world are all bad people, and they're creating the wrong impact and so on. and i even myself heard myself saying lots of times in the beginning, like, just need to pay my bills and i'm fine and it's all good and, like, kind of down i don't know how to say that in english. Speaker 1: yeah. play small. right? exactly. exactly. yeah. Speaker 2: and then i came to the realization that that is not what i want. that, um, i feel the more money and more profit, and i'm just talking money wise. it's good to have all those add ons, obviously. the more impact i'll be able to create because that'll make it possible for me to hire people aligned with my values as well to maybe even invest in companies that are doing a really good job or help out solopreneurs. so there's so many things added to that. but for me, it's kind of like, let's talk about profit because it is important. we need to make profit. it's fine to make profit. it's fine even to make good money. it's fine. Speaker 1: yeah. we need more good people make good money. right? exactly. the good people will always bring back the money to where we need it. Speaker 2: i'm gonna use that, sarah. yeah. we need more money. good people making good money. yeah. i love that. yeah. Speaker 1: i think that's a a nice quote to to wrap up here, but, um, i'm glad we we yeah. we need to talk about the money. so that that is just and i think i think it's part of that vulnerable conversation also at the beginning of a partnership, you know? Speaker 2: yes. Speaker 1: it's like, let's have this money conversation. Speaker 2: so exactly. Speaker 1: yeah. maybe as a as a final question, if someone, you know, has never worked either on a collab or a partnership, like, what's a what's an easy first step for them to to do? Speaker 2: i think the the first one is if you're still remembering the phases. right? so low networking connection and so on. a lot of people are like, oh, so i need to get myself into the right room as a first step. yes and no because there's one before. take up your phone or your linkedin or whatever it is and see who's already there within your everybody has a network. don't tell me you don't have a network. everybody has a network, but you might feel that it's not the right network. but maybe there's someone in there that you can actually go to and talk and not as much as in to get in the networking or connection stage. if it's somebody that you feel might be aligned with you, then, yes, start connecting with them. start nurturing that connection. but if it's not, they might be connected. and i think a lot of people are scared to ask for introductions. Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 2: and for me, a really important step is ask for an introduction. if somebody is already there that you know or you look up to and isn't that purpose realm and ask for an intro. if you see i do that all the time. if i see somebody's connected and i'm like, well, i i would love to connect with that person or get to know that person. and i ask. i'm like, could you possibly introduce me? yeah. and what's the worst can happen? they say no. yeah. that's fine. if that's not possible, then get yourself into the right room. and in my case, i didn't find the right room, so i basically created the right room yeah. which is also a possibility. yeah. you're like, well, the right room does not exist, and i'll just create it. and i started with the slow networking of it because for me, that was kind of like, let's start like this. Speaker 1: yeah. nobody else is talking about that. so let me let me do it myself. yeah. yeah. i think it's it's it's so it's so key to, um, also, like you mentioned, connect with someone, but we can also just see, for example, what events are they attending. and and then, you know, kinda get into those events. and and then you're like, all of a sudden you notice, oh, there's many more of my people, and i'm not alone. yeah. Speaker 2: it is exactly because, um, if you go on linkedin in the beginning, obviously, i came from the corporate world. so my linkedin was filled with maybe not my crowd or not exactly. and, funnily enough, the events that came up Speaker 1: yeah. not the corporate team. right. Speaker 2: then i started looking for them, and now it's a constant show up of things i could now it's kind of like, no. stop. Speaker 1: there's too many. i can't attend them all. yeah. Speaker 2: and, um, but that's that's how you do it. Speaker 1: that's where Speaker 2: where you start. and then even if it is because i i understand that there's a lot of introvert people as well for anybody listening. like, oh, i don't wanna then just join a webinar. mhmm. but going through the people that are there, and then afterwards connect with them on linkedin via message like, hey. i saw you in this webinar. would love to kind of stay in touch on here and start the conversation in writing. Speaker 1: yeah. it's Speaker 2: not always about showing up in person and having to speak face to face. there are other ways as well. Speaker 1: yep. great. great ways to start collaborating more. i think it's really yeah. it's it's where we're heading. i can see that it's, you know, when you started, it was kinda like this new thing, but now you hear a lot more people talking about it, which is great, which is great. and and i think it goes together with knowing who you are because then you show up in partnership with your boundaries, with your, you know, with your clear expectations. and and that makes a really good partnership. Speaker 2: exactly. Speaker 1: yeah. great. uh, that was awesome. kim, please do share where people can find you. tell us about your community as well. Speaker 2: um, i just launched and haven't really sent it to anybody, but i finally created a little small website, um, just with my name, kimdekoster.com. because everything about me is on there. like, all of my brands, the projects i'm involved in, i'm like, i need this little thing where everybody so that's one. great. and i think all the info is is Speaker 1: is on Speaker 2: that site. yeah. okay. is on that website, basically. Speaker 1: well, maybe what you can do is send me, you know, the compass, if you can send me that, and i'll include that in the show notes. so in case people are like, i don't know what she's talking about, they can go and look Speaker 2: it up. i will. yeah. i'll i'll take out that page because, um, by now, there's a playbook, obviously, as well. um, and so it comes with a little like, you can do the exercise by yourself. um, i'll take out that page and and send it over to her so people have that compass. Speaker 1: yeah. that's great. and if they if they can download it on your website, well, that, you know, if you make that available, then let me know and i'll link to that as well. Speaker 2: i will. perfect. Speaker 1: thanks so much for being a guest, kim. Speaker 2: thank you for having me, ovelyn. it was fun. thank you. Speaker 1: thank you.
