Life Conversations with a Twist
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Life Conversations with a Twist
Mask Off: The Unspoken Battles of Ambitious Women Nobody Talks About with Amy Kemp
“When you employ a survival behavior past the point of needing it, it becomes really damaging.” —Amy Kemp
Success isn't just about what you accomplish, but what you silently overcome.
The truth is, we are living in a world where every achievement comes with a hidden emotional price tag that nobody really talks about.
Amy Kemp is a powerhouse coach, entrepreneur, author, and the brains behind the Habit Finder assessment, helping women unlock their true potential and design the life they've always dreamed of.
Tune in as Heather and Amy get real about the messy, beautiful journey of being a woman entrepreneur— from juggling kids and career to conquering financial fears, setting boundaries that actually work, and discovering the secret sauce to personal growth that'll have you nodding and taking notes the entire episode.
Connect with Heather:
Episode Highlights:
02:04 Meet Amy: Helping People Identify Their Subconscious Habits
08:07 Setting Goals with Boundaries
15:42 Journey to Entrepreneurship
19:15 The Importance of Having a Private Space for Professionals
26:07 Money is a Mirror
34:48 Personal Development: Learn to Love the Journey!
39:02 The Challenge: Balancing Work and Family Life
Connect with Amy:
Amy Kemp is the owner & CEO of Amy Kemp, Inc. In her work within this growing company, Amy helps leaders and business professionals understand how deeply thought-out habits impact every part of their work and lives.
As a certified Habit Finder coach, Amy has led over 300 female business leaders through a four-month small group engagement called Encounter that is designed to replace unhealthy thought habits with healthier ones. She has also worked through the Habit Finder curriculum with hundreds of leaders in one-on-one settings and with leadership teams at small and large companies.
In addition, Amy teaches two engaging online courses each year in the fall and spring that are designed to challenge and expand her clients' understanding of themselves and to offer an easy entry point to her work for those who are curious and seeking. Some of the most popular topics in her library of offerings are "Money Is a Mirror" and "A Boundary Is Not a Wall."
Finally, with the launch of I See You: A Guide for Women to Make More, Have More, and Be More—Without More Work, Amy offers an opportunity for everyone to learn and engage with her and the principles that guide her coaching in the pages of her first book.
While her business and professional accomplishments are many, Amy counts all of them a loss if she doesn’t invest her best time and energy in leading and loving those closest to her in #kempnation. She has been married to Ryan for over twenty years, and they have three children— Avery, Anthony, and Andrew.
Heather Nelson: Welcome everyone to this week's Life Conversations With a Twist. I'm so honored to have Amy Kemp here. She and I just met. This is what I really, truly love about our women community and our podcast community, is that we get connected to all these amazing women all over the world. You're in Chicago.
Amy Kemp: I'm like, I mean, ish kind of.
Heather Nelson: United States for me.
Amy Kemp: Yeah. I say it's more like I could see more corn fields than skyscrapers where I live. But it is an hour to downtown Chicago, so I have a little bit of a foot in both worlds.
Heather Nelson: Well, tell the listeners a little bit about who you are. We're going to dive in. This is going to be such a great, juicy conversation, and I can't wait to have it. But tell the listeners a little bit about who you are.
Amy Kemp: My professional background, I originally was a high school English teacher. I love doing that work. And then that was a brief stint. I started to build my own business on the side while I was teaching. And then I worked in sales, in sales leadership, specifically for over 20 years. I built a really, really large organization across the country, and kind of climbed to the top of that mountain. About 8 years ago, I accidentally started a new business which grew faster than I thought it would. And so currently, my work, about 98% of it, is within the context of Amy Kemp Inc, which is the name of the company I started. And I use a specific assessment tool called the Habit Finder, and then a curriculum that corresponds with it to help people identify their subconscious habits of thinking that are creating resistance in their life that are underneath the surface that we're unaware of, but that is really getting in our way of creation. So I also have three kiddos. They are old now, almost all of them. Only one is not taller than me, and I am very tall. So this is fun. I have a 21 year old daughter who is a college graduate, heading to graduate school. And then my son is a freshman in college. And then I have another son who's the caboose, who's heading to high school next year. So I'm in a new season of parenting. And I have to tell you, I love it. I love adult children. They have their challenges, but I really enjoy seeing who they are. I'm enjoying watching them make their way in the world and become more and more independent. I've kind of relished it, and I have so much more time. Oh, my goodness, it's amazing.
Heather Nelson: I have so many thoughts around that, but I used to be scared of adult children. Teenagers scared the crap out of me. I have one now, and I have a stepdaughter who is now 19, and I am embracing it a little bit more. And that they are fun. I totally get that, but it's also scary. My oldest daughter, the one that I have birthed, is about to go into high school, and that is very scary for me. Being a girl and this time of life, but I'm really excited for her. But you had asked me earlier before we jumped on who's my demographics, and I do have a lot of friends who are in that transition of, my kids are now moving away to college and like, how do I find myself again? And then how do I reconnect with my husband? Because you're just so, go, go, go. And so it's so interesting. I cannot wait to be back. I cannot wait to get there. But I started over, and I have a three year old so I'm literally, oh, long time to go.
Amy Kemp: You are straddling very old people and very young people.
Heather Nelson: I have a long way to go, so I'm jealous of you.
Amy Kemp: I know. I think parenting has a lot to teach us. I've tried really hard to embrace all of the seasons. Littles were hard for me. Babies were hard. I have a really active mind. There was a lot of circularity in that season if you're doing the same things over and over again. My gifts are better equipped for older kids. It is a little bit choppier, I think, given technology. Oh, by the way, we just got our 14 year old a phone. We are late phone givers at our house. My husband is an assistant principal at our high school, so he sees a lot of things. And anyhow, I feel like I've opened the fifth portal to hell. I just always say to parents, know that you are probably going to need to give them that at some point. But also know that the day you put that light in front of their face from a screen, the light in their eyes gets dimmer.
Heather Nelson: So true.
Amy Kemp: I don't know what to do about it. I'm working. We have strict limitations, and we're really rigid with it. But even so, there are some things that you just lose control of in that journey. So we're working on it. I think that we all are going to look back at giving our kids phones so young and say, what were we doing? People smoked all the time in the 70s or whatever. I don't know. I just think it'll be our thing where we'll say, can you believe that we did that?
Heather Nelson: I know. It is very wild to me. You hit something that was interesting to me. You said that, because I struggle with this. I love being a mom, and everyone's like, you're such a good mom. And I think that I'm a good mom. But sometimes, I find that I'm more passionate about my career, doing creative projects and things like that, and I feel a lot of mom guilt because then I'm like, why? Why is it that I rather work my butt off doing all this work, working long hours and not wanting to be a mom? I struggle with that a lot. It sounds like you were in the boat like, how do--
Amy Kemp: That's a good question. Okay, first, I will tell you that I have the advantage of being raised by a very ambitious, successful mom who was also a fabulous mom. And so I believe more important than being a certain kind of mom is that we are being true to who God created us to be, who we were created to be. Our own unique genius. And we were just giggling about this. We started to get these hello fresh meals. It's a long story. I am not a cook at best. I warm up food, right? I mean, everyone is fed, but it's not fancy. I zested a lemon this week. I'm 47, and I've never zested a lemon. I don't want to zest a lemon, but I'm doing it. I have the benefit of having been raised by my mom, I would say, is that I don't feel bad about what I'm not as a mom. And I think it has served my kids so well. I see them becoming who they are, and they're very different from me. I want to empower them to do that. I don't want to put these expectations that you have to be a certain way as a parent, or you have to do certain things, or you have to be good at certain things. I'm not very nurturing by nature, but I will take care of you. But that's not my nature, and they don't need that from me if that's not who I am. What they need to see is that I am unapologetically stepping into my unique genius and using it to serve the world. And when I do that, they'll do the same.
I decided a while back that I won't do guilt. I will be intentional in my choices around my parenting, which I'll actually be a good segue into this concept that I talk about in my book, which is setting goals with boundaries, because this is so important for parents. I think sometimes, we have a tendency to go to these environments, like an event, or you hear a speaker, or whatever, and it's a very controlled environment where you're away from your house, you're away from the chaos of your kids and the things of life, your family, community and all that. Our ambition, which is there for a reason, is stoked, and it's sort of like the fire is lit, and we set these huge goals without taking into account of the people in our lives that we care for, the commitments we've made in our community, volunteer commitments, family commitments, all of the unpaid labor that we do in our homes. And so it's not that you can't have ambition. The goal needs to have a boundary.
So an example of a goal with boundaries. I want to increase my income by $5,000 a month while still taking Fridays off to spend that time with my small children.My personal goal with the boundary is that I want to get paid like a CEO while working like a teacher. So I work from 8:00 to 3:00, Monday through Friday. I don't do evenings. I don't do weekends. And it sounds super cool, right? Like it sounds so great. But I'll tell you where the rubber meets the road. So I had a prospective client. I just met her, and she was my person. When we talked it was such a deep connection. So at the end of the call, she says, I don't even need to talk to my husband. This is for sure. Yes, we're moving forward with this coaching engagement. And so I said, great, let's schedule your first session. And she said, oh, okay, I can only talk after 6:00 pm during the week. There's so many things, right? I loved her. It was a lot of money. There were a lot of things, but the goal is to get paid like a CEO while working like a teacher, not just to get paid like a CEO. So I said, I'm gonna need to sleep on this, because my tendency is just to say yes and to violate that boundary. I slept on it. I called her back. I said, if you are unable to meet during these times, I can't do it because I know I'll be resentful. And if I do that, the whole foundation of all the work I do is violated. I can't walk with integrity. It's really easy to say the goal with the boundary. It's a day to day walk to really live it out, but it is important when you have commitments outside of just your work and what you want to create. Don't feel bad that the work is more fun, because the work is more fun. The kids are annoying and hard. Anyone saying differently is lying.
Heather Nelson: Everyday, I'm like, this is why I go to work because you're all annoying.
Amy Kemp: My gosh, three year olds, are you kidding me? You're in the worst two stages of parenting at the same time, by the way. I think 3, 2 to 4, 4 is fun once they get older, right? But like 2 to 4, and then like 13 to 16 ish is the toddlerhood of teenagerdom, right?
Heather Nelson: So you're gonna have an 11 year old and a 14 year old?
Amy Kemp: I would just say, don't feel guilty about it. It's really hard, and it's not very fun. Work is more fun right now.
Heather Nelson: I do have to say, when you're talking about being in a controlled environment, I'm actually going to record a podcast next week, a solo one, because I had mentioned that I do women's retreats. And not only do we create the space for these women who are coming here and experiencing this, but I get a lot out of it myself. It's a lot of clarity. It's time to be focused. When I left there, I was like, this is what I'm doing. This is the direction. Not doing events anymore. I'm not doing the things that I like, don't love, and don't feel off. And then I get home and like, I'm home. And these kids are screaming at me, and they're hating and I now feel so derailed off of that vision and that dream that I have. I'm mad at everything that I do, and I'm very angry right now.
Amy Kemp: Tell me what the dream was.
Heather Nelson: I love my podcast. I love doing women's retreats. I want to lean into that world more. But in order to do that, I have to, one, I have to make money. But all these jobs that I'm doing currently that I'm like, well, they pay the bills, but they're not fulfilling me. I can't do the work on this other end to grow because I'm so constantly stuck in these other smaller projects. I'm giving myself six weeks to these projects that are wrapping up, and I'm very focused on what I want to do.
Amy Kemp: You want to lean into the retreats and the podcast.
Heather Nelson: To make money.
Amy Kemp: The financial pressure of that, or the financial needs are being met by the other work. I have so many thoughts about that. Is the other work entrepreneurial?
Heather Nelson: It is. I actually have two businesses. I do business development consulting, and so I help businesses with client relations and strategy around growing their business, and how do you rely on your partnerships and your community in building relationships with your clients? And that's how you grow, because that's what my experience is. I want to make a course and make it so I can still give my experience and the love for that something, but not have to be so in the weeds with it. My background, I've done events for 25 years, and so that's what I get stuck doing. Everyone's like, do you want to do this event? Do you want to help with this event? I'm like, sure. It's easy. But I hate it, so why am I doing it? And then my husband and I own a business which is a labor company. We love that business, and I know that it could be one of those businesses like you were saying where I can be a CEO, only work three days a week and make great money. But in order for that to grow, I've got to let go of the time consuming projects that I am currently doing. I'm in a very stuck moment.
Amy Kemp: Read my book today. It so speaks to where you are. You will absolutely die when you read it. You will be like, oh, my goodness.
Heather Nelson: Talk about your book. You have all these creative projects. You're building all these other businesses up. You're like, I'm going to do my own thing. How did you get to this point where you're doing this work now?
Amy Kemp: First of all, this whole idea of creating something entrepreneurial teaches you so much. It has so much for you. It brings up all of the stuff inside of us that needs to be healed, that needs to be addressed, all of that. It's kind of hard to describe. But in the context where I was working, I was leading a huge organization. We actually led the entire company in sales many years in a row. I was in a very small bubble, what I would call quote, unquote famous. I was working closely with corporate on decisions that were being made. I was speaking at all of the large events in front of thousands and thousands of people. There was a presence about that work that happened, or that was happening at the same time. There had been some changes and things that were going on, but we were in a very expensive season of life. I kind of call it like the Uber era of parenting where everybody's in stuff, but nobody can drive. And so, yep, you're driving them around, and everything they're doing is kind of expensive. Plus, you have college coming, and you have these other things. That's a lot, right? So we were meeting with my financial advisor, and I had filled out all the forms. My husband and I went in to meet with her, and it was a turning point day where she had these forms in front of her. I remember what I was wearing. I remember the chair I was sitting in. I can hear the air conditioning blowing. I can hear it even in my head right now.
So we're sitting there, and she's a trusted friend advisor, and she says, I've reviewed everything, and it looks great. You're managing your money well, you're not overspending, you don't have debt. You're doing a great job. And then she kind of straightened the papers, leaned forward and said, there's just one problem. If you want to achieve the goals that you outlined in your form, you're not making enough money. And the air just left the room. I couldn't breathe. I don't remember what else she said, it was like Charlie Brown's teacher just, I don't know what else was said, but I knew a couple of things. One, my husband is in education and should be. And the only way you make more is to get older. So that was not an option. I just knew he wasn't. And then the second thing I knew is that I was the only other person in the room, and so a lot of things happened, but what I knew was that I wasn't willing to give up on the goals. I also knew I could not add any more hours to my work. I couldn't. I was working full time. I wasn't willing to miss out on the things that were happening after school at that time. I wouldn't do it. I'm not missing out on that. It was too important to me. I felt like those years of parenting were so important that I was there in between conversations and all of that. It really was a defining moment where I had to start to look inward.
Thankfully, I worked with some coaches. And a couple of months later, I happened to be in Salt Lake City. Oh, my gosh, this is so real to me still. I can feel the whole thing with my body. So I was heading to Salt Lake City to speak at an event. I reached out to a coach I had worked with who lives out there. I said, I'd love to see you. He had worked with a lot of people in my organization. The work I did with him was the most transformational work I had ever done. My business quadrupled in size. It was just life changing. So anyhow, he picked me up from the airport, we went out to dinner, and I told him all that's going on. I also tell him that I've been having these conversations with women I know who are absolutely exhausted and absolutely beast mode. Amazing, successful women, exhausted, isolated, alone, and I think I need to do something with these women. I got this issue because I'm not making enough money. There was just a lot. And he says to me, we're starting a training using the Habit Finder Assessment for people who want to use it as coaches on Monday. This was a Thursday. I think you should do it, and I think you should get these women together. I was like, I had never thought of it. It was so far from what I'm already building on this other business. It just felt so crazy that I said yes and started with just these two groups of women. What transpired required that I say no more than yes, I had to extricate myself from some places that were really hard to extricate myself from. A lot of people depending on me, a lot of people misunderstanding my decision, a lot of people not happy with my decision. It was very difficult.
Heather Nelson: It is very difficult. And I bet you, you haven't looked back.
Amy Kemp: I wouldn't say it's been that neat and tidy. I could tell this story that way, I think it would be not honest. But I think that what has happened is that I did some deep work on myself and my habits of thinking. Things like, I challenge some stories that the only way that you lose or fail is to quit. That was one story that I heard a lot, and I was like, actually, that's not true. I really needed to quit a lot of things, and that led me to thinking of what you're saying. But those quits were fraught with feedback. A lot of people had input for me on those decisions, and I was attached to their input, and so there was a need to separate and to let people have their experience with my decision without feeling like I was responsible for them in any way. And so it was really tricky. It was very difficult. I spent a lot of time alone, or I had to be so careful that I could hear my inner voice. I couldn't expose myself to a lot of things that would cause me to waiver during that time.
Heather Nelson: How long was that process? What is your work?
Amy Kemp: The work that I do now is so sacred to me, It's really an amazing work. So this tool that I use is an assessment tool, and then there's a curriculum. It's not a personality assessment. It's not like strengths or what you're good at, or any of that. When you're not aware of it, you have these grooves in your brain, and these grooves are affecting your decisions the way you connect with people. They're affecting your ability to embrace processes and see work through to completion. They're affecting the way you feel about yourself every minute of every day, but they're just thoughts, but they're happening. And so this assessment brings that to the surface and gives you a snapshot, and you can take it for free on my website. It's a super cool tool. But more importantly, within the context of small groups of women who have nothing in common, they're from all parts of the country. In my groups this semester, people are from 15 different states, so it's all over groups of 8 to 10 women. We are digging into these habits of thinking and how they're affecting your ability to get work done, or how they're affecting your relationship with your husband, or how they're affecting your pursuit of that bigger, bolder thing. I also do this work one on one. A lot of the women I work with are in positions of leadership where it's not appropriate for them to talk about things in groups, even small groups. The decisions they're making are so important, and they're affecting so many people that you just need a private space to process. I am deeply concerned for any leader in that kind of role who doesn't have space like that. For the record, it's so important that you have somewhere where you can process what's happening inside of you, and so I get to hold space for these women. And what's so cool is when you turn down the volume of the noise from these subconscious habits of thinking, they go. Even in the last couple weeks, I just bought my first investment property. I negotiated a $20,000 raise that I never thought they would give me. I signed the things to start the S Corp for my new company, the things they're able to create and do once they're not bogged down by all this noise. It's astonishing. And I get to sit in the front row seat to it, so it's really cool. So that's my work now. And then I published a book last year.
Heather Nelson: On YouTube, you can see it.
Amy Kemp: I published my first book. It's called, I See You: A Guide for Women to Make More, Have More, and Be More—Without More Work. I literally need to read this.
Heather Nelson: I was just sitting in the hot tub with my husband last night. My husband got on the job at work, and he had back surgery a year and a half ago so he's currently not working. And of course, we get money, but it's not what it would be if he was working over time and all the things. And so I've been basically in this position to figure it out. Like you were just saying, my husband, this is where he's at. There's no movement here, so it's up to me to figure it out. And I told my husband last night, I'm exhausted. I don't want to wear the pressure. I don't want to worry about how we're going to make bills every day. And then, oh, we're in debt now. And I'm like, how do we get there? Well, how would we not get there? We don't live out of our means. We don't go on these beautiful vacations. We don't buy designer clothes. We live very frugally. I'm like, I don't want to do that anymore. I'm like, I want to work less and make more money. And that is literally where I want to be right now.
Amy Kemp: I wrote it for you. I didn't know you, but I wrote it for you because you're not alone in that experience. There's a whole chapter in the book called Money is a Mirror. But what you're rubbing up against, really in that earning piece? Well, there's two things. One, we are not culturally conditioned as women to carry the weight of being the provider. We are not taught that as we're growing up. I have always carried that burden. It is a heavy weight. And anyone who has carried it, man or woman, when you carry that burden, you understand that it's very real. The second thing is we can't earn what we believe we're worth. And there's something there that is so deeply painful for most people. It is so deeply vulnerable. But particularly for women, we just keep ourselves at a level of earning or a pace of busyness that in the end, damages us and undervalues our unique genius.
Heather Nelson: It's super unhealthy. And of course, I've always thought about it, but it became more and more clear to me.
Amy Kemp: You're also ramming into some real financial realities, childcare, the cost of living, overall. In California, it's very expensive. Where I live near Chicago, same thing. But also, you're running into the fact that it's nearly impossible to live on just one income for a family of four, five or six. The amount of money you have to make to support that number of people is staggering. That's a tension that you're just hitting at all those crossroads at the same time, plus an unexpected event that you didn't anticipate.
Heather Nelson: And just running a business, I would never do it any other way. My husband's like, well, why don't you just go work again? And I was like, no. That's definitely not in the cards. There's so many expenses that come out of it, insurance, and then taxes, and it's just one thing after another. You gotta pay for the software on your website and all these things. We have one of our businesses, we have employees, and it's like a whole thing, and so it's all good work. I'm learning so much from it. I'm like, okay, something's gotta change because I can't thrive like this anymore. The last 25 years, hustling, hustling. Even before I had my first job, I always had like three or two jobs, and I was constantly working because that's my worth ethic. I get that from my father, but I don't want to do it anymore.
Amy Kemp: Here's another truth that I write about. You're a survival behavior, which a lot of entrepreneurs have, their survival behavior is hustle overworking, hustle overworking. Busy, busy. Hustle, hustle, hustle. When you employ a survival behavior past the point of needing it, it becomes really damaging. So when hustle is carried out over decades, if you get sick, your body doesn't work. Over the long run, you start to have negative consequences that are very real. So I think this shift that you're recognizing needs to happen is vital for more reasons than just money or providing for your family, which is survival, but it's important because you have a three year old and you need your body to be whole and healthy, and able to move through the world for a long time. I know that's really important.
Heather Nelson: How did you come up with the title name?
Amy Kemp: And I will tell you, the publisher did not want this title. They wanted the book to be sort of MEcentric. I was framed as the expert, but that's not what this book is. None of my work is that. My work is actually about the people I serve so deeply. I was at a community event and I met this woman very briefly through a mutual friend. I knew of her because she is very visible. She sits at some really important tables. Her decisions affect thousands of people in our community. She has a really active family life, and she's very involved in our community. I really liked her, so I reached out and said, would you have coffee with me? So we met, and I just listened to her story for about an hour. About 55 minutes into the conversation, she brusquely interrupts me and says, why did you invite me here today? And I looked her in the eye and I said the first thing that I thought of, which was because I see you. And she put her head down and just wept. And then I just waited for a really long time. But then she sat up, she wiped her face off and collected herself, and she said, thank you. So few people do. And I just thought, oh, the irony of that everyone sees this woman in so many contexts, but nobody really sees her or her experience. And that's who I wrote the book for. Are all of those women who did some stuff, these are people at the beginning, they're people who have accomplished some things, and they've built something, and they have a level of success. Through all of the work and busyness become invisible to people, what's actually happening in their existence?
Heather Nelson: I love that. It is very relatable to this podcast too, because this podcast came during the time I was doing business development, and so I would meet clients and we'd go out to lunch, or we were having a glass of wine. And I guess I have this presence for me that people just want to tell me their whole life story, and I make them feel comfortable. I give them the space to do so, and people would tell me things that they never told to anybody. And I had a moment, and it's so funny. It's always those moments of like, you're sitting somewhere. I remember that I was sitting with this one lady. She's been on my podcast, by the way, and her son is very autistic. Very far on the spectrum, and she was telling me the story about how he lashes out and he beats her, and it's this whole thing, right? I get the chills thinking about it. And just having that moment of like, damn, some people have it hard. And again, she's a very successful businesswoman. She's known in the community to be the powerhouse, but then to see something that happens behind closed doors, or something that we don't shed light on. I was like, wow. And I'm like, can I have a podcast where we as women have a space to talk about these things, or talk about the experiences that we've had, or hold space for others who are going through it? And so that's how the podcast started, and that is my WHY too. It's that moment that I was like, I need to have this podcast that's awesome. And even doing the retreats. I think women need more space to feel like they're a person, to feel like they find themselves again. Because I think we all get lost in either work or kids, and we lose who we truly are. And so this is the work that I love doing so much, and this is what fuels my soul. I'm at a point in my life where I'm like, this is it. This is the journey.
Amy Kemp: I might challenge you a little though, that the work you were doing before also included that because I don't think you would have been as successful as you were had you not been doing that all along.
Heather Nelson: Yeah, you mean the business development work? I know I'm really good at that.
Amy Kemp: I think the reason you're probably good at that is the same reason you're good over here. So I'm just suggesting that you've been doing this work all along because it's your natural genius. It was just in a different context, for sure. And it is a more stripped down version of it, perhaps.
Heather Nelson: Yeah, it's a wild ride. I love doing all of this. I love personal development. I love being in rooms with them. I love meeting women who are doing really cool and inspiring things. It's a really cool place to be. Anything else that we didn't talk about? Like you said, you have group programs, you can do one on one. What do your group programs look like? How could people connect with you? I'm sure people are like, oh, my God, I need to meet this woman. How can they do that?
Amy Kemp: Okay, so really simple. I'll start with my book because I did design the book to be a foyer to my business. You can listen to it on Audible. If you're a listener, it's my voice, I read it. Or you can read it, but it's sort of a way for you to get to know me and the work I do at a really low risk. Low cost, low risk. But come on in, look around and see what you think. The second thing that is easy is to take the Habit Finder, because I have a feeling you have a lot of the overachiever types that are listening. Also know that this is not saying you are failing or you're not good at something. Know that what the assessment tool, the Habit Finder, is measuring is risk. So do you know the game, the children's game, shoots and ladders where you land on a piece, and then if you land on that piece, you go down the slide. Habits of thinking work a lot in the same way where you get yourself in a situation, if you're not aware of it, you'll just go down the slide. And so what the assessment is measuring is how high the risk is that you're going to fall into a certain habit of thinking. It doesn't mean you always do. It just means that you're not alert and aware. You're going to go right down that slide. And so when you read it, it's very important to read it through that context.
But for most people, when they get the results right away, they will say, how did it know this? Because I don't know that I could have even known this. But when I'm reading it, it's so true. So that is something really fun and easy, and free that you can do at any time. Just take the Habit Finder. Also in my groups, I run them like school. So get paid like a CEO, but work like a teacher. I work in semesters. I do a fall and a spring semester. So I start my next groups in September, and they go through December. We always meet during the day, during lunch hours, so from noon to 1:00 central time, my time. And we meet every other week for 8 sessions. So everyone takes the Habit Finder. Each session covers one habit of thinking, and it's a discussion. It is not teaching. It is a show up, and we are talking. I am facilitating conversation among 8 to 10 women. Those experiences have been so cool because it has created a community where people have connected from different parts of the country, different professions and everything that's really lasting and cool. So those are probably the best ways. You can learn about all of that at my website, which is amykemp.com, A-M-Y-K-E-M-P.com. The book, the Habit Finder, the work, the coaching work I do is all on the website.
Heather Nelson: I'm so glad we connected. It's always interesting when I have these podcasts. When I have my guests come on, they always come at a certain time in my life, or a certain time of the month, or a certain time of the week. You just needed that message, and you just need every podcast. I would say in the last six months have been that way for me, and so I'm truly glad that we connected. I am going to buy the book, and I'm going to take the Habit Finder.
Amy Kemp: Just as an encouragement to you, I think your awareness of you saying this isn't sustainable, I can't keep doing this, it's not working. One, you didn't do anything wrong to get yourself to where you are. Stuff just happens. But two, you can't go to the next place without first realizing that where you are isn't working and acknowledging it. There's something really important about that, just you saying it out loud that I think is going to open doors and create a path. And I just would say, keep open and aware, and say yes when the thing shows up. That feels like this is taking you in that new way.
Heather Nelson: I love that. Thank you for that. Thank you for being here. I cannot wait to continue to watch your journey, and I hope that we stay connected.
Amy Kemp: Thanks, Heather, appreciate it.