BRAND CREATORS: Kat Burns On How To Develop A Mindset For Success

Kat Burns, journaling in her sunny apartment, Lisbon | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

As creative entrepreneurs, we might feel overwhelmed and lonely on our journey from time to time. Interviews are a great way how to learn from the experience of others, get new motivation and understand that we are not alone in our struggles. Maybe even get connected and establish a partnership or friendship with the interviewee.

I am excited to share my first interview with Kat Burns, Creative entrepreneur and self-trust coach. She helps driven entrepreneurs who are committed to creating heart-based businesses, navigate the choppy waters of first-time entrepreneurship by helping them realign with their purpose and learn to trust themselves and their decisions so they can build confidence to build their dream business.

Kat contacted me asking me about my services when I felt lost. We met for a coffee the day after to chat further about her coaching business. Our conversation kept flowing naturally for longer than I expected. We discussed her branding challenges and got into my business and personal struggles. That day, I didn’t gain only a dream client but also my new mindset coach and an essential piece of my business.

Creating a personal branding gallery for Kat was a thrilling experience. We captured different stories in her sunny apartment in Lisbon, following up with a photoshoot outside of her house. Besides establishing her authority via photographs and showing behind the scenes, we revealed the unique approach she uses with her clients.

What led you to start a coaching business in the first place? Tell me more about it.

After 15 years of working in various creative industries, I found myself in survival mode, and suffering from burnout because I continually chased the carrot of opportunity hoping to find the thing that would “fit” and make me happy. Even though on the surface it looked as though I had an incredible life, working for big brands on multimillion projects, I was silently suffering inside. I had lost complete touch with my purpose, I didn’t love or honor myself, and I knew that there had to be another way to live a more fulfilled life. 

At 35 I packed up my life in Los Angeles and decided to travel, using the excuse that I wanted to see the world while I was still young enough to enjoy it. I realized on that trip that no matter where I went, there I was, and that in order to find true happiness, I had to do the deep inner work necessary to learn to love myself fully.

I had studied many different coaching modalities throughout the years, and had been a support coach in several personal development programs, but had major imposter syndrome when it came to creating my own coaching business because I thought “who am I to coach?”.

During the pandemic, after a lot of spiritual growth, I realized that I actually overcame a lot of my struggles because I had taken the time to focus deeply on my own self-trust and inner worth. It was then I realized that I desired to be of service and help budding entrepreneurs who were suffering from the similar problems I’d faced.

Kat Burns, coaching her client online, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

Many women approach you because they feel stuck in their lives or overworked. How do you think they could prevent this from happening?

Step 1 is always getting reconnected with purpose. When we feel connected with who we are and what we really want in life, we can become unstoppable. The problem often is that so many people were trained to believe the societal norms (go to school, get a practical job, get married, have kids, provide for kids, retire) and shut down their true desires at a young age because they believed it wasn’t possible for them to have.

The work that is necessary now, is to get people to unlearn all of this conditioning, and to get them to think from a place of what they desire, and what is possible for them, instead of from the path that was laid out for them by generations prior. Taking the time to work with a coach and focus our energy and attention on reconnecting with purpose, and learning to trust that the decisions we make are the best for us, will help to rewrite the narrative and prevent this from happening further.

Changing a career or starting a brand is not a linear process. How to stay focused on the ultimate goal even during a crisis?

I find that the more we slow down and stay connected to the things in life that really matter to us, the less life is run by crisis and we have the space to focus on our goals. The more we learn practices that build self-trust, so we can feel that deep knowing that the decisions we are making are right for us, the easier this process gets.

There is power in patience, and in the pivot. Building a brand takes time, and it is always shifting. The less we stress about the outcome and more we focus on enjoying the journey, the easier it becomes.

Kat Burns, self-reflecting in front of the mirror, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

What are the first steps you recommend your clients to follow when they are just starting with mindset work?

I always tell my clients that in order to speed up, they must first slow down. That may seem counterintuitive, but the more sh*t that is floating around up in our brains without a grounded place for it to rest, the more stress and overwhelm rears its ugly head. In the beginning, I always have my clients dump everything they want to do, need to do, or feel like they’re lacking in, down onto a sheet of paper, so it is no longer floating around in the ether of their brains.

Then, I help them to prioritize their goals and we create a plan. From there, I teach very simple mindset practices, like journaling, visualization, meditation, self-care and workable routines that they can start implementing immediately to build trust within themselves. Trust takes time to build, so as they start implementing these practices, things obviously come up that confront them, and from there we use different tools and methodologies to help move some of the stuck energy. 

If you’re unsure of where to start, I offer a FREE GUIDE to help break out of that stuck feeling.

What do you think about the popular philosophy “Fake It Until You Make It”?

I often feel indifferent about this philosophy because I believe it has its pros and cons. Fake it until you make it has “helped” me when I needed it, because it has allowed me to push my boundaries and step outside of my comfort zone. It has also helped me at times where I didn’t believe in myself, to push through the discomfort of my own imposter syndrome and have me show up for myself in a way I didn’t know was possible for me, resulting in massive growth.

That said, I do believe that this is a very thin veil that people can often see through. People can tell when someone is being hypocritical or inauthentic. It often shows up as arrogance, subtle insecurities, or cracks in the foundation of who a person is. In times like this, I like to lead from compassion, because we are all struggling with our own internal battles, and doing the best we can with what we’re working with.

We are constantly evolving creatures, and the more information we learn, absorb, and implement practices that are in alignment with our highest good, the easier it is for us to come from an authentic place. We were not born with the manual on how to live our lives and we have to learn to be okay with not knowing everything. 

Kat Burns, in the middle of online meeting, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

What made you convinced to schedule a personal branding photoshoot?

I knew that I needed to find someone who could capture the essence of who I know myself to be, because I essentially am my brand. Imperfect, open to learning, proud of all that I have discovered about myself, and in the dance of growing into the next version of me that is fully aligned with my purpose.

When I saw Lucy’s photography, I felt that her subjects looked comfortable, confident, and authentic in their environments, which was exactly what I was looking for, so I reached out.

How was your experience?

Overall the experience exceeded my expectations. I was struggling with how to define my brand (colors, look and feel, essence), and when I received the photos back from Lucy, they were so ME that I knew exactly what direction to take my brand in.

I ended up creating my first aligned marketing materials with ease as a result of these images. Lucy also had a very honest and kind way of sharing with me what she thought wasn’t working about my materials up until that point, and helped me immensely with clarity of what I wanted to portray.

Kat Burns, painting the view from her terrace, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

What motivates you to wake up in the morning?

Knowing that I am living in alignment with my purpose and that I get to be of service to those who have experienced similar struggles as I have is my main motivation to get out of bed in the morning. It is as much for me as it is for them.

Knowing that every day I get to learn something new and grow is an incredible motivator for me! I have created a live by my design and knowing that makes it very easy to get up every day. =)

What do you wish someone have told you when you started your business?

That it is totally normal for all the perceived inadequacies you think you may have will come up and confront you, and the only thing you can do to combat that is to keep going! And, everything always takes 3x longer than you think it does (which luckily I already knew… but still sometimes didn’t have patience for).

My brand story talks about creativity caused by the proximity of the ocean. Does the ocean affect you? If so, how?

I grew up 1 mile from the ocean my entire life and spend every summer at my aunt’s beach house in Rhode Island with a bridge that looks strikingly similar to the one I can see from my balcony here in Lisbon. Something about the movement and flow of the ocean, it’s beauty and serenity has me feel at home.

I have lived in landlocked places before and it has stifled me in so many ways that I can not understand. Seeing the ocean is essential for me, and I am so grateful that I get to have that experience every single day.

Connect and learn more.

Did you like Kat’s story? Connect with her and discover how she can help you grow.

WEBSITE: www.iamkatburns.com/

INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/iamkatburns/

LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/in/goforburns/

Kat Burns, Personal Branding Photoshoot, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová