How to Win With Authenticity with Kia Marie
Date release: February 15, 2024
In this episode, we dive deep into the journey of staying true to oneself with Kia Marie. Here are the key takeaways and moments you won't want to miss:
Kia discusses the importance of capturing and acting on your ideas before they slip away.
Kia shares three high-impact steps for maintaining authenticity in both business and personal life.
Ask yourself who you are.
Envision who you want to be.
Honor your feelings and follow them to their roots.
Tori reflects on the power of self-inquiry and the transformative potential of asking oneself defining questions.
Kia emphasizes the possibility and significance of reinventing oneself, a reminder that personal growth is never static.
Kia narrates an intuitive moment that led to rebranding her business, underlining the value of introspection when something feels misaligned.
Kia’s Intuitive Business Lesson:
Kia recounts how rebranding was an intuitive decision born from recognizing a misfit with her company's brand and identity and how it holds the power to resolve large-scale issues elegantly.
Make sure to listen to the entire episode to get all the details, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
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Tori Autumn: Welcome back to On A Living Spree Podcast with your host Tori Autumn. Today, I'm so excited to talk about how authenticity wins and what that means and how you can apply it to your life. And I have a really special person here today. My soul sister and a hell of an entrepreneur, a creative spirit who has let her multiple passions thrives into businesses and also as just part of her personality. Her name is Kia and she has written a book called To Be Drenched in Dreams, Delights, Downfalls, and Do's. It's a 200 page collection of poetry notes and motivations for the dreamer. She also has launched her first EP entitled She in the spring of 2019. And she also is a teacher on how to take care of your natural nails. What I love about Kia is her personality, how she always has fresh concepts and she's always living into her powerful femininity. Her story and her life, if I'm being honest, it's super powerful and she's so rich in spirit. She's more than just an author, an artist, a lyricist, a nail care coach, a songwriter, a poet. She's also my great friend, I talk to her on a daily and she is the manifestation of what spirits creates. She does not accept any limits and she is also living her life on a living spree. Let me introduce you to the amazing Kia.
Kia Marie: Hey, Tori. Thank you so much for that intro. That's amazing. Oh my God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me and for being here. I'm so excited to get into it.
Tori Autumn: Yes. Okay. So let's jump right into it. Where did your road to entrepreneurship begin? And what do you do now?
Kia Marie: Okay. Yeah. It started uh, on accident. Totally. Maybe 2012. Uh, I was just a YouTuber but I was doing hair care tutorials at the time, but that was a big thing, girl. We was in the hair. We was getting into it. But, as I grew into hair and talking about tutorials, I started talking with my hands and more people were asking about my hands and how I take care of my nails. And I was like, "what are y'all talking about?" And then, like, as I started, you know, wanting to solve the problem that people were having where the, this thing about these nail care, people were talking about it. So I was like, okay, maybe I should look into how, what I'm doing and how that can help people with their nails. So the hair channel that I had for fun turned into a, passion project that was me helping people take care of their natural nails. So that's technically how it started on that end. And, you know, there are things that had happened in my life and how I grew up and just wanted to stay creative in general that on the other side, I was like, "Hey, I love stories. I love songs. I love speaking. I love scripting things together." So, right after college, like 2015, I said, "Oh, let me, let me write this story, these poems and put that together." So on that side, that was the book of poetry, but I did it because I felt like that's what my heart wanted to do. I was just trying to be authentic and stay true to who I was as a grown person. So yeah, that's where it all started.
Tori Autumn: I love that. I love that. It sounds like, well, when I met you, I can't believe I didn't even start off with this, but I've read her book and then I saw her at a book festival and I was just fangirling and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I read your poetry book. It's so powerful." She does have it on Amazon. We'll make sure to drop the link in the show notes, but I thank you. Thank you for sharing that. I really love that you have let these different business ideas that you have conceptualized and pursue them and also take them in phases. So I appreciate that. And that leads me to my next question of how did you get started? How did you find the motivation to get started from ground zero starting these new ventures?
Kia Marie: Yeah, I just wanted to put out something that I believe could help someone and that happened because I was sensitive to the problem that my offering could help resolve, you know, so it was like, whether it was the music. Okay, people need to pick me up. People need to feel good. People need to know that there are better days ahead. For the book, it's like, don't ever stop, you know, the wild dreams and the ideas that you have for your life. Don't ever stop pursuing them. And then, you know, for the nail care stuff, it's like, you know. As I've taken time to really understand and unpack the power of nail care, it's like that thing of people, especially us women, like we can do anything when our nails look really good and like beautiful. So it's like, it's really through all of those different things that I've done. It's just that silver lining of, yeah, I know these things are very different on the surface, but it all like ties back into conditioning and polishing and renewal of the self. And whatever makes us feel good. So, there's a whole bunch of ways to help us feel good. Yeah, I love making people feel better. Because life's hard sometimes, so to be a part of the solution, it's quite the honor. And I'm just happy to be able to pursue so many different things that lead me back to that.
Tori Autumn: I love that. I love what you said about with our wild dreams, don't ever stop pursuing them and how we can do anything as women when our nails look good.
Kia Marie: Yeah. Thank you. It's true.
Tori Autumn: I love that. In terms of how you stay authentic to yourself and to your business, could you tell us a little bit about what that looks like for you?
Kia Marie: That looks like honoring how I feel every time. Like, I know, you know, sometimes feelings are hard to experience much less process, much less, take the good road or route about because, sometimes we don't know why we feel how we feel, burnout happens. But you know, really exciting things happen too. So if I don't feel like doing something, okay, that's cool. Take your time, but on days when I'm really productive, really maximizing what I can for those days. Or if I am feeling emotionally heavy, just like sitting back and just journaling or, you know, venting to myself, talking to myself. I'm an advocate for talking to yourself, you know, just to really help you process your feelings and how you're feeling. Because the road to authenticity, like for me to stay true to myself, I have to be able to hear myself and know how I feel. So those kinds of things, if I can do it. Do it and maximize it. But if I can't do it, just process how I feel and just stay with my feelings because they're valid. They mean something, they're significant, and it's not in vain for me to feel whatever I need to feel. So it all works out in the end. Yeah.
Tori Autumn: That's so interesting that you said about staying with your feelings because I feel like a lot of times we hear the phrase in business, " it's all business, nothing personal," but a lot of decisions we make are really personal to people we choose to do business with. It's personal. It's how we feel about them. Um, so I love that you mentioned that. And I can only imagine since you've written your book, there have been so many people who say, "Oh, I want to write a book or I have an idea for a book." so could you share some insight on how did you put the book together? If for anyone who's listening, who wants to publish a book, could you give us any gems about that?
Kia Marie: Of course. Of course. I remember there was actually someone that reached out to me, a friend from school and he said, "Hey, so how do you know what to put in the book? You know, because this book is personal. So what do you gauge on what to put in the book, what to leave out of the book?" You know, because it's your business and things like that. And I'd say just share what you're ready to share in the book or share what you think is meaningful or someone else can relate to or something that you've already processed. Don't put something in the book that, you know, you'll look back on it. Well, I don't know. I can't really say that because sometimes I look back in the book and I'm like, Ooh, but I'm like, Oh, now that I've processed more feelings since writing the book, I can read the book smoothly. And I'm just so proud of the work, you know, and just remembering where I was in that time of my life. But if there was anything that I could say, you know, there's always a formatting publishing, but in terms of like what you feel. Put down what you feel is right, what you feel good to share, what you feel brave to share, things like that. I highly recommend that.
Tori Autumn: I love that. I love this. Such great advice. And it's also such a great way to get out of your head because I can only imagine, I've written a book before, but not a very big book, but.
Kia Marie: Which was phenomenal by the way. I must say so myself. I was like, "Oh no, we gotta be friends." I read that book and I was like, "Oh man, this is amazing." Oh my goodness.
Tori Autumn: Thank you so much. It was so hard to get everything in your brain out on paper so, I love that advice you gave. And thank you for reading the book, sis!
Kia Dawkins: You know, I was in that thing, read that thing a day, like girl.
Tori Autumn: Yeah. I love that. Thank you. What are you seeking right now, Kia, in terms of life, or even personal goals, or business?
Kia Marie: Girl, with everything. I went through a season of my life that I was like, Ooh, child. I know they say that, you know, you need the hard seasons to make like really good work. But I was like, okay, now that I'm coming out of the season, that I thought like, oh, this is what y'all talk about when life is hard. But now that I'm coming out of that, it's just me. I'm so grateful that, you know, I just turned 30 and I get to. Like come back to who I was before the things happened, but in a whole new way, like I get to embrace who I am. I get to be the most feminine version of myself. I get to be the most authentic version of myself. I get to really create. Out of the flow of that creative feminine energy. I love that for me and I love that for everybody that wants to, you know, keep going and keep healing and keep going through the things. So right now in the season of my life, I'm like, I just want to stay true, as true as I can to this version of me. And I'm like, you know, you're staying true when the glow is there when, you know, the happiness is undeniable and it's that's an inner thing. So. Definitely working to stay true to everything that I want to do and the dreams that I have, I see them so much clearer than I did three years ago. And they were always there, but now there's the conviction that I know that they'll be there. Because, you know, we've had these talks with him. I'm like, Tori, girl, this is a lot. Like, girl, like, what are we supposed to be doing? You know, just to know and to stay on that course of faith, know that, okay, it was none of it was in vain. Not a thing that I've gone through was in vain. And, just seeking the trueness, seeking the authenticity, seeking the things that make me feel like my best version. Definitely. So yeah, maybe it's balanced, but maybe it's just a lot of one thing, a lot of another thing. It doesn't really matter as long as I know that's what I want to do. And I just flow with it. I'm just going for the flow, you know,
Tori Autumn: And going with the flow is so a part of that creative feminine energy that you talked about. And it's rubbed off on me, which is so interesting because I think a lot of people approach business as like this masculine, you have to work 24/7 and you have to, you know, like it has to look a certain way. So I love that you allow yourself to be playful, to be in that creative spirit and to do things that feel good to you. It sounds like you are truly living in your authenticity, which I love. So thank you for that.
Kia Marie: Of course. Thank you. Your questions are amazing.
Tori Autumn: Oh, thank you. So for those times where, I don't even know if there's a term for this, but sometimes I found myself feeling really low energy or just not feeling my business and putting off ideas for years, whether it's a business depression or just some type of grief that I'm experiencing. So what are some things that you do to emotionally pace yourself through a time of like a valley, like a, you know, some type of spiritual thing that you're going through.
Kia Marie: Yeah. Yeah, definitely pressing record, whether I'm sharing an idea with myself, like pressing record, like for the audio or the video or journaling. If I have ideas of the sequence of how I see things going, writing it down, I may not be able to get to it for some months. But if I write it down, it's almost like one helps to make it become, but then two, it becomes like a timestamp of the thing that, you know, like this is proof that yes, I'll probably come back to this in nine months and I'll think, "oh my gosh, I have this great idea." But me writing it down nine months earlier, it's almost like, oh, this was the, birth of it, you know, like it's proof that you wrote it down way before you realize it. And then when you realize it, you finally had the momentum to do it. So it's just documenting, how I feel or what I want to do when I'm happy and I can't do anything else because I've been there a lot where I don't want to get out of bed and I can't, but my brain still works and I can still, you know, document whatever I need on my phone, the notes app, journal, whatever, like having my phone near me when I have a great idea, even if I can't do anything else, that has been a lifesaver. Because feeling bad is one thing, but it's not so bad when you capture the idea, you know? Yeah.
Tori Autumn: Absolutely. Absolutely. We have so many ideas come to us on a daily, and there's this book, have you heard of Big Magic? I think her name is Elizabeth. You said yes?
Kia Marie: No, I haven't and I'm writing it down.
Tori Autumn: She's the same woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love, but she has this idea that come to us are like a spiritual entity and if you don't capture them, they'll move on to the next person with that idea. Yeah, that book is really
Kia Marie: Okay, okay, okay. I've heard of that concept. Yes, I have. Okay. I'm circling, I'm circling. Okay. Yeah.
Tori Autumn: What you just said made me think of that because I was like, yeah, if I do not write an idea down, it'll just go on to the next person. So I really appreciate you saying that.
Kia Marie: You're welcome.
Tori Autumn: What are three high impact things that listeners can do today to stay on their journey of being authentic? So it could be for their business or their life.
Kia Marie: Oh my goodness. Ask yourself, who are you? Ask yourself, who do you want to be? And then, when it comes to your feelings... don't ignore them. I don't care if it's something that someone else did, if it's something that you're insecure about within yourself, whatever you're feeling, please follow that feeling to wherever root is taking you because your feelings are indicators and a lot of people just ignore them. It's just not a good idea because if you want to live your full life, you have to be full in your feelings. Be full with yourself. Be full with how you go about life and your morals and character and all the values and all that good stuff. Whether it's life and business and relationship and friendship and family dynamics, all of it turns back to the long route, right? The long, you know, I just turned 30. So I guess it's not that long, but you know, but the things that I've gone through, it's like, yeah, you don't manage yourself first. Nothing else works. So,
Tori Autumn: Who are you is like the most powerful question I've ever heard, really, because we are so much of our identities and we can always create something new with our identity or change our identity. And so just even us asking ourselves that can lead to so many new things that we can create. So I really, really love that.
Kia Marie: And if there's anything that we can always do, we can always reinvent ourselves. So that's an evergreen question. It can be, you know.
Tori Autumn: Yes. And I would love to know as we close out with all these different gems, do you have any type of intuitive story to share? Anything that really helped you, whether it was business or life?
Kia Marie: Yeah, honestly, it was helping myself rebrand my business and realizing that something is not right. I don't know what isn't right because this is like 2019 and I was like, "Oh man, something is off. But if I don't stop and figure out what is not right, what is not sitting well with me, I'm going to be in some stuff later." and that's scary because you know, something's wrong, but you don't know what is wrong. And you know that if you don't figure out what's wrong, you're going to have to pay for later if I don't take the time to process that, like to think about it. So, I went to school for the arts and graphic design and stuff, but, I really started to understand the power of realizing a brand and that sometimes you do outgrow the brand and the identity that you have known going back to, who are you? I think the most ingenious thing that I've intuitively felt was just rebranding my company and taking the steps I need to separate those two entities, but to be also realizing that I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this because I see a really big problem that I can solve in a beautiful way that can help people feel so much better about their life about themselves and all they're doing is taking care, you know, so I think intuitively that might be the most monumental thing I've done is just like something is not right and just stopping for some time to process that. So yeah, I hope that was an intuitive story. But yeah,
Tori Autumn: I love that. For people who I talk to on a regular, I find that Kia and I can talk for hours and I really enjoy just all the gems that you brought today and really appreciate you even accepting the opportunity to be On A Living Spree Podcast. So thank you so much.
Kia Marie: Thank you for having me. This is so wonderful. And I'm like, this is a perfect start to my day. Like, yes, that's how you start mornings girls.
Tori Autumn: And where would you like for everyone to find you?
Kia Marie: Oh, yes. My website is kiamarie.co and, I'm also on Instagram for, the Instagram girlies kia.marie.
Tori Autumn: Awesome. We'll make sure to drop that in the show notes. Thank you so much, Kia.
Kia Marie: Oh my goodness. You're so welcome, Tori. You deserve it. All the things. Thank you for having me.
Tori Autumn: And there you have it. Thanks for listening to the On a Living Spree podcast. If you like this show, make sure you share, rate, and review on the Apple podcast so that other beautiful humans get to follow along and know that they're not alone.
About Kia Marie
Kia Marie is a multiple award-winning songwriter, recording artist, nail care founder, voiceover artist, poet and author committed to inspiring others through poetic storytelling.
Through her work, Kia shows how you can bridge the gap between the dreams that we all have and the self-doubt we must overcome. She embraces the essential acts of self-care. She gives her listeners, readers and viewers clarity, peace of mind and motivation toward their own aspirations in life.
Website: kiamarie.co
Instagram: @kia.marie
About Tori Autumn
Tori Autumn is a conversion copywriter committed to helping conscious entrepreneurs grow an impactful business through sharing their heartfelt messaging.
With over 8 years in journalism and persuasive writing, she has worked with many women entrepreneurs to launch, create and sell services via emails, websites, and sales pages-- some resulting in $100K and close to a million-dollar launches, just to name a few!
She has spoken on The Copywriter Club Podcast, the Goal Digger Podcast with Jenna Kutcher, and is a sought-after speaker in private groups on all things copy, marketing, PR outreach, and visibility in business.
On a Living Spree: Achieving Business-Life Balance in the Modern Era is a podcast hosted by Tori Autumn! Every week, Tori brings you an up close and personal look at how successful people balance their business and home lives. You'll hear inspiring stories from top entrepreneurs about their journey to success while learning valuable tips to help you achieve a healthy balance in your life. Feel inspired, get motivated, and be ready to take on the world with new insights from On a Living Spree!
