Episode 8

What Are You Bringing To The Table? Know Your Authority!

Published on: 12th June, 2023

Do you really, really know what you’re the authority in? Sometimes I even second guess myself. It’s what the TEDx world calls your red thread: that authority thread that weaves through your life, your business, and everything you do. It’s not about what your business does or your certifications - it’s much deeper than that.

Start by asking yourself:

What are 10 wins that you’re proud of? What’s the common thread between them? What’s the thing that you bring to every situation?

Forget about messaging. What is your authority? What do you bring to the world? What is leading you to create the impact you want to create?

Everyone has authority. Your authority matters! www.monetizeyourauthority.com

Join the conversation inside our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitablehappyceo

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carrie_e_koh/

Music credit: Like We Do It by Grace Mesa

A Podcast Launch Bestie production

Transcript
Carrie Koh:

Hey, true seekers.

Carrie Koh:

So do you know what you are bringing to the table?

Carrie Koh:

Do you really, really know what you are the authority in?

Carrie Koh:

I'm here to challenge your thinking around this authority piece, but first,

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a little bit of truth telling because, you know, that's why we're here.

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so I have this episode planned and I thought, oh, well this is easy.

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Like my entire tagline of my business is monetize your authority.

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I truly believe that is the path to, to bigger impact, but I found myself.

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Feeling stuck.

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Like what angle am I taking?

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You know, the goal with this podcast is to really get down to

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the layer of the deeper truth.

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It's not about giving you step by step strategies.

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it's not, about.

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Giving you the same type of content I give you inside of the profitable happy C E O

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Facebook group, or even on my Instagram.

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What this is really about is to challenge your thinking so that you can create

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the impact that you want to create.

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And so in challenging my own thinking, I totally got in my head.

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I was like, oh my God, what is my authority?

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Right?

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After like multiple six figure business, tipping the skills to seven figures,

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I'm like questioning my own authority.

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Why do we do that?

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The issue that I was having, I.

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Was that I was not seeing for a moment what they call in the

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TEDx world, your red thread.

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That is that authority thread that weaves throughout your life experiences,

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those results that you have.

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And it's not about what you're creating in your business.

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It's not about, Your training, your certifications, your education,

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it has nothing to do with that.

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It's a deeper level of truth that inner knowing that you know why you are the one

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who's best positioned to create the impact that you're put on this world to create.

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You know, we have to articulate it in order to monetize it, right.

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But in that articulation, one of the most important things that we have

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to understand is that your ordinary is someone else's extraordinary.

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And most people take a high level approach.

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They gloss over the things that are where the gold lives.

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And when I start working with people, one of the first things we do is we just talk.

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We talk about their authority.

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I listen to all of the results that they have ever experienced.

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Outside their business and inside their business.

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I listen for the things they're not saying and we create their authority line.

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In that authority line that creates their messaging.

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And so people overcomplicate messaging, and the reason they do that is because

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they're not owning the actual real authority that's allowing them to.

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Be different to stand out in a crowd.

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And the fact of the matter is sometimes owning our authority, it

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feels a little uncomfortable at first.

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Right?

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It feels a little like self-promoting and, that's why so many people defer

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their authority by buying other people's strategies, by, you just doing what

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their coach is doing and copying that and being a little, you know, mini version of

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their coach because it's uncomfortable.

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It's uncomfortable owning and saying We're different because

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inherently we all want to belong.

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We have this inherent human need to feel this sense of belonging.

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And when we separate ourselves from the crowd, that's putting

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ourselves in this uncomfortable position that's creating pain, right?

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And most humans want to avoid pain.

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And so we're gonna really look at how you own your authority so that you feel safe.

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In your own sense of belonging so that we get out of survival mode.

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Because let's face it, survival mode is most people's comfort zone.

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It's how we live.

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A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck or in, in their business.

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They're feaster, famine.

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Or if it's not a monetary survival mode, they're like working themselves

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to death in survival mode just to get to the end, whatever that end looks

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like, just to get to that future.

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And so when we find your authority thread, You can sit back and really relax into the

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knowing that you are here in your specific authority to do something different,

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and you get to tap into that creativity for what that difference looks like.

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So I'm just gonna share with you the process that I went through

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to prepare for this episode and.

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sometimes the gold is in the preparation.

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And just so you know, like when I'm doing these podcast episodes,

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I have like a, a topic and then I do a little bit of a meditation.

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I just sit in my own energy and I really think about, you

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know, what's most important.

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I really think about my deepest level of truth, and what happens is all

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the uncomfortable stuff comes up.

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Right When we are like, go in with the intention of like, what

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is my deepest level of truth?

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We're like, oh crap.

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There it is.

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And then we have to deal with it, right?

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And so even like the act of creating a podcast has been such a growth

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opportunity and I have loved it.

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But what I'm gonna do right now is I'm gonna give you a little bit of

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behind the scenes, for how I really articulated my authority thread, and I'm

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gonna show you how to do that as well.

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Because I think it's that real life process that helps people, right?

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It's not the step-by-step stuff.

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It's like, okay, what does this really look like when you do this?

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So I had someone challenge me to say, so what are 10 results you're proud of?

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What are 10 results that you are proud of in your life?

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And I was like, oh, I need to think about that.

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Right?

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Because most of the time when we think about our results, we think

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about how much money we've made, how many people we've impacted.

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We look at, I did this great thing, I, got this certification.

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I, you know, climbed the ladder to this point, right.

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But that's not where your authority lies.

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And so when you ask yourself, what are the 10 things in my life that I am so

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proud of, you're gonna start to see your authority thread become visible.

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And so I'm gonna show you what that looks like.

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So morning as I was preparing, I was thinking about, okay, where do I start?

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What are the 10 things?

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Okay, so.

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When I first started, I was thinking about, okay, let's look at career right.

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So I went to grad school for healthcare administration.

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I was a kinesiology grad.

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Literally the first business course I ever took was in grad school and

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after college I was a ski bomb.

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Like I literally left college, moved to Aspen, Colorado, and I skied for three

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years and I partied, and I had like the time of my life it was like, So much fun.

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It's one of those, those times, like in your early twenties, like you could

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never do it again or you're gonna be like the, you know, 50 year old drunk at

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the end of the bar, which is never cool.

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But like in my early twenties, it was so much fun.

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Living in this amazing, beautiful place with zero responsibility.

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I mean, I did work, but you know, skiing and appre skiing and

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meeting new people and doing all the things, it was amazing, right?

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But then, you know, as all things go, we have to.

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Make some choices to set ourselves up and so I ended up going to grad

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school for healthcare administration.

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The reason I did that is a whole nother story I'm not gonna go into,

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but when I look at the results, so once you go to grad school for healthcare

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administration, the next step that most people take is you can get a fellowship

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a lot like, you know, fellowships in.

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medical training.

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This is on the administrative side.

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Well, it's not a lot like, it's just an extension.

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It's a one to two year extension on the training you've done in, grad school.

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So I applied to all these fellowships.

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And it was crazy.

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I kept getting all of these fellowships across the country, like famous places

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in the healthcare world, places that are world renowned in the healthcare world.

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I even canceled an interview at Yale because I had already accepted something.

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But I remember the one place I got, which was the most.

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Prestigious place.

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It's where I actually did my fellowship.

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I was a runner up, so I remember I was in Texas doing an interview and I got

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a call and they're like, we loved you.

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You're runner up and I immediately was triggered by my not good

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enough that, feeling of like, oh my gosh, here I am, second runner up.

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That's not good enough.

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And I was totally getting down on myself even though I had literally

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just been accepted at two other top fellowship programs in the country

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and had, you know, canceled another top one who wanted me to come in.

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And so, You know, throughout my career I was like, wow.

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I chose that not good enough story because I was runner up and actually

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ended up completing a fellowship at the most prestigious place in the country.

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And when I look back at that result, I was literally a ski bu for three

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years while all of my colleagues were off working in hospital somewhere.

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And I got accepted to grad school The fact that I got accepted is beyond me

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because I didn't have any experience.

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My essay didn't talk about anything about healthcare, like I was a ski bump.

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And then I got, every interview possible that I applied for in those fellowships.

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And I remember my fellowship directors like, wow, I can't believe

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you got all these fellowships.

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That's insane.

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And he kept telling everybody.

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I was like, dude, stop.

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Like, why are you so surprised?

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He's like, well, you were a ski bu.

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And I'm like, yeah.

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It's true, and I didn't get these fellowships and all the interviews

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and all the yeses and didn't go to the best fellowship in the country

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because I was so book smart.

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It was because I was people smart.

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It was because I honestly, in hindsight, didn't really wanna

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be a he healthcare executive.

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That's another story.

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And so I just talked.

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I just.

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connected with people.

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I talked to them like they were human.

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That's how I interviewed.

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I just told them the truth and suddenly these places were clamoring

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to have me as part of their program.

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That is a massive result that I had undervalued because I focused on the

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not good enough cuz I was runner up at the place I ended up going to.

Carrie Koh:

Right.

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And after that, after my fellowship, I ended up negotiating to stay on

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at this organization and I had the highest paying job of any fellowship

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trainee that had stayed on.

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I knew my worth.

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I set the standard for the types of jobs that people who graduated

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from this fellowship got.

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I went straight into the director level position.

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I negotiated a salary that normally they would never Give a fellow coming out.

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So when we look at this, there is a thread.

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And then I was like, okay, what's the thread?

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I kind of know the thread.

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What's another win?

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What's another thing?

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And this one is kind of embarrassing.

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I was homecoming queen.

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It's embarrassing because it's something that like, I'm so

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not the homecoming queen type.

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Like I was a tomboy.

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I was an athlete.

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Like I was not the Queenie type.

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Okay.

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Like.

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Didn't know how to like cross my legs in a dress type thing, you know?

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And, but it wasn't about, you know, the crown, which, as an aside,

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I literally lost within an hour of it being placed on my head.

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but.

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it was about being kind to everyone.

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It was about no matter someone's status.

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I was inclusive.

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I valued inclusivity and being kind above all else as a high schooler.

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And that's something I'm really proud of.

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And I know that's why I'm, I'm triggered when when I feel excluded or someone else

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is excluded, like, because inclusivity is such an important value for me.

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And so when I look at that thread, I look at homecoming queen and

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why I was, I look at having negotiated the highest paying job.

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I look at why I got all these yeses to these prestigious organizations

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that ended up going to the best one.

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It's the authority thread of knowing my worth and creating

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human to human connection.

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It's human first, and this is why I have been so successful in business

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because I don't see clients as clients.

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I see clients as humans, and I know how to.

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Make a human feel heard and seen so that we can draw out the best of them.

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I know how to create a program that's for people who want to be

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part of something bigger, who want to feel that feeling of inclusion,

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who don't wanna just be a number.

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That's my authority.

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Thread through these random wins, through these random, results.

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But keep going.

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You guys don't stop at three.

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So when I kept going, I began to look at the personal side a

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little bit deeper and I realized how proud I was of how we handled.

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The experience of my son being born with a rare muscle disease and living

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in the hospital for five months.

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And the thing that I'm most proud of is something I always

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gave credit to my husband, and I never took credit for myself.

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And that is that we created joy and laughter in the most insanely

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stressful life and death situation.

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Like literally you guys, every single day.

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We did not know if this was the day that Elliot was going to die.

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And I know that sounds crazy, and I know it sounds sad, but I'm here to

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tell you that yes, it was crazy and sad, but what we focused on was experiences.

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We focused on being in the moment and making sure he was loved and felt

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dignity, and that we were creating this joy in this room around him

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because we knew he felt our energy and so we broke all of the rules.

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We snuck him home.

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With some brave respiratory therapists.

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We had a photo shoot.

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I was able to have a normal moment with my son who lived in the NICU

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by taking him home for just a.

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And couple hours.

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Literally it was like two hours and I held him in the rocking chair in the nursing

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chair that I was never able to use, and it was the most memorable feeling, like,

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I can feel it in my chest right now.

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That expansion, that like just like, oh, I'm gonna cry thinking

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about it because it was so powerful.

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And when I say your adversity is your superpower, this is what I mean.

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It is your authority thread that comes out of how you handle adversity, those lessons

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that you create, that serve other people.

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And so, I kept going when I was looking at these results.

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I was like, okay, so what other results have I had?

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I was an advocate for a palliative care program when I was a healthcare

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executive, and little did I know that we would be in palliative care.

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I.

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With my son.

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For those of you who don't know what Palliative care is, it's a

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program that focuses on quality of life, over extending the life.

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and I am not the expert here, but it, it usually is for, with diagnoses that

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there will progressively get worse or their life will, If it is extended, it

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will, it will not be a quality of life.

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And so when my son was born with a rare muscle disease, all the stats

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pointed to like, this kid will not live beyond its second birthday.

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What do we want that experience to look like?

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And so I had learned about palliative care in my professional world,

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and suddenly I found myself in that decision in my personal life.

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And after.

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We created this palliative care experience that was full of joy and like I met

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so many beautiful, amazing angels through that palliative care program,

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through the support of like, what do we want this life of his to look like?

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You know, how do we walk into this NICU every single day and ask, how can we

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make this day the best day for Elliot?

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That is the way we brought joy to an experience.

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And so when I.

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Discovered the joy in palliative care and what it could be in a situation that

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people don't wanna think about, people don't wanna talk about, they don't

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think it's ever gonna happen to them, and they don't wanna even support it

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because it's just a hard topic, right?

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Like there's other things to talk about other than death.

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We as a society do not talk about death.

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Well, but after Elliot passed away, the donations started flooding in.

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And this is something I was also surprised at apparently when someone dies, like,

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because we don't know what to do.

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We want to contribute to a cause and, and it's a beautiful thing.

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And so we had all of this money that we gave to the hospital and we

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positioned that money to set up a palliative care room for families and.

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This is one of the things I'm most proud of.

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It is a room for families whose babies will never leave the nicu, or, maybe

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they're there for a very extended period of time, and it's a hospital room that has

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all the necessary hookups and, and medical equipment, but it has a queen size bed.

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It has a proper couch.

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It's decorated like a room in your home.

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And so that allowed families to just lay with their babies.

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With all their wires and tubes.

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It was something we wanted so badly in the nicu, those moments of normalcy, and

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it, it makes me cry thinking about it.

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It's one of the things that's so meaningful, and it's not a revenue

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producing thing for the hospital.

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It's a quality thing.

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It's a, it's a focus on how we bring quality to people who

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are suffering in the greatest.

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Suffering moment that most of us can imagine.

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And so walking into that room, I just cried.

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I thought this is what we wanted.

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And when I look at this thread, when I look at the thread of like

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how my healthcare experience.

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Informed my personal experience, how I was told I was a good

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leader all the time in healthcare.

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Those external accolades were there all of the time.

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And physicians would come into my office just to talk, you know,

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I'd, I'd have people coming in, me what a great leader I was.

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All the things right.

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But it was because I had the sense of approachability.

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It was because I listened.

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It was because I drew out their greatest ideas.

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So what is the red thread through all of this experience?

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Fun, adversity.

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Like we can go through hard things and have an experience that we get to choose

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a fun of possibility of doing for others.

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That thing that we wanted done for us, we get to do it for others.

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And how cool is that we get to pave the path for other people's

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desires so that everyone wins.

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And so when I looked at these threads that came out, knowing my worth, creating that

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human to human connection, really seeing the joy in the adversity and the lessons

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and how we can help other people paving the path for other people's desires.

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I see so clearly why I'm so damn good at what I do.

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And you will too.

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And this is what I want you to, to know is that forget the messaging thing.

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Everyone's like, what's my messaging?

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Don't worry about your messaging.

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Worry about your authority.

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Draw out your authority thread so you can feel in your bones.

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What makes you different?

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Why you created the program you created.

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I created a program that gives people what I wanted.

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When it took me years to get where I am, I helped people do that in 90 days.

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Because I understood this authority thread and I understood the importance of helping

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people feel safe, being vulnerable, of, of helping people have fun, even when

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the journey feels like it's not working, of helping people know their worth

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and treating each other with respect.

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It's not about your certifications, your years of experience.

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None of that matters.

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The authority.

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Thread matters.

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So what is your authority thread?

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Know what you are bringing to the table, and I promise you, you will

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feel so much momentum in creating the impact that you are meant to create.

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I'd love to hear your feedback on this episode.

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What is your authority thread?

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What do you see as that thing?

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That emit all those experiences.

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It all makes sense.

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It all is leading you to creating the impact that you

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are absolutely meant to create.

Carrie Koh:

All right, guys.

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Hop on over to Instagram and just share your thoughts with me.

Carrie Koh:

I love to hear your feedback.

Carrie Koh:

Carrie underscore e underscore co.

Carrie Koh:

And get out there, monetize your authority by finding that authority thread.

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About the Podcast

It's Personal
Real Impact Requires Real Truth
This podcast helps women entrepreneurs uncover the real truth about what it takes to create the impact you are put on this earth to create. Inside this podcast we will get real on getting out of your own way and using inevitable adversity and unique life experiences as your superpower to create an impact in your business while living a fulfilling life you love.

About your host

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Carrie Koh

Carrie Koh is a former healthcare executive, business coach, leadership mentor and founder of the Profitable Happy CEO community. She helps professional, driven women entrepreneurs monetize their authority fast without icky cold outreach or expensive paid ads by uncovering their personalized client attraction strategies. She also consults with healthcare organizations to help them create a possibility-focused culture driven by building personal leadership foundations. Her popular TEDx Talk, The Four Choices To Overcome Adversity, helps all of us use adversity as our superpower.