Episode 53: Descending the Corporate Ladder with Kathy Robinson

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Ron opens by asking guest Kathy Robinson to introduce herself and Athena Wellness.

• Kathy discusses her background as a former executive in corporate life, who left that life to become a wellness entrepreneur.
• She began Athena Wellness to help people maintain their health while both ascending and descending the corporate ladder.

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Deb asks Kathy to speak more about what it means to ‘descend the corporate ladder.’

• She discusses how the longest journey a person can take is the one from the head to the heart, highlighting the necessity to be Type A in the corporate world.
• She says her goal is to help people move from Type A personality to Type “BE” personality, as in being.

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Ron asks Kathy to clarify what ‘being wholehearted’ means to her.

• She recalls a speaker discussing that the antidote to exhaustion is not rest, but wholeheartedness. 
• Kathy discusses that the path to wholeheartedness is different for every person, which Ron agrees, noting that it is the same when you ask someone what it means to trust.
• Ron continues this line of thinking and asks Kathy what “BE-ing” means to her.
• Kathy describes what it means to her, which largely means being quiet enough to listen to your inner wisdom.
• She then discusses how the transition from one way of life to another is a process and not just superimposing the new over the old.

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Deb asks what it looked like for her before she was able to not be wholehearted, and being able to recognize that.

• Kathy describes her past on Wall Street, where she took a longer vacation than was typically allowed, which allowed her time to just be.
• She notes that it is the disconnect to the silence and inner wisdom is what it looked like for her to not be wholehearted in what she was doing.
• She adds that she found a way to increase things that bring her alive to her work, which began her transition towards becoming more wholehearted.

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Ron asks what she would share for people who want to start this transition now, rather than wait 30 years into a corporate career.

• Kathy says first to be clear with yourself what is important to you, and steps to take to help you figure that out.
• She then discusses giving yourself permission to be in a space where it is okay not to know what the next step is.
• The final step of introspection, she says, is to question every assumption.
• After the introspection steps, she says it’s time to take actions to align your life with those things, and works through a couple examples.
• After prompting from Ron, she discusses more about what “giving yourself permission” means, what that looks like, and gives a metaphor to help better understand.

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Deb talks about expectations for yourself versus what the world puts on you, and asks Kathy how she helps others question and understand expectations.

• Kathy works through how she found expectations for herself, and the seasonality of those expectations.
• She discusses how the process of shedding expectations can become self-fulfilling over time.
• She adds that once you are able to do this, and be present with yourself, you can then be more present in recognizing what is coming in that might affect you.

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Ron asks Kathy about her process of deciding she wanted to start a business.

• Kathy recalls her mindset of slowly deciding that she wanted to start a business. 
• She then works her way through how she decided what the business would be about, and how it would function.

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Deb recalls that Kathy has principles to help deal with burnout, and asks her to speak more about them.

• Kathy discusses her Athena Principles of self-compassion, intention, consistency, growth mindset, and accountability.
• She briefly describes each one of those principles, how she came to find them, and why to practice them.

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Ron asks Kathy that if she could fast forward five years for herself, her business, her life – what would make her happy?

• Kathy says it’s less about what she is creating, and more about the messaging that she is trying to help get out.
• She recalls a story that helps her describe how “retirement is a verb” and what it means to give intention to the things you are doing.

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Deb asks Kathy how to bring mental health to the forefront of conversations, and normalize conversations around it.

• Kathy begins by noting how much it has been changing over recent years.
• She then questions whether we have to have it be more accepted to take the right step for ourselves.
• She says she is less concerned about what that looks like at a societal level, and is focused more on the individual level because that is how the broader mindset shifts.
• Deb continues this line of thinking saying that we should recognize it as a sign of strength when we are able to recognize this about ourselves.

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Kathy then asks Ron and Deb how they are reimagining their next phase of life.

• Ron describes his reasoning behind starting the Macklin Method business, and the creation of courses, the podcast, and the rest of the business.
• He notes how he is finding the same drive to change the world for the better in 20- and 30-year-olds.
• He then reflects about ‘retirement’ and says that he wants the ideology to continue on, even after he leaves the business, and that he is more on Kathy’s path of “rewirement.”
• Deb discusses the transformation that happened years ago when she applied Macklin’s principles to her life, and decided she wanted to contribute more.

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To learn more about Kathy or about Athena Wellness, visit their website. 

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Join us to hear how understanding the idea of “self-talk” — and what you can do about it — could change your relationships and life for the better.

Visit www.macklinconnection.com