Episode #170
Authenticity is Alluring: Own Your Sparkle with Kristi Parry
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What happens when you stop trying to fit into someone else’s version of success and start building a business that truly reflects who you are? In this uplifting conversation, Caterina Rando talks with life coach Kristi Parry about authenticity, confidence, personal growth, and discovering your own unique “sparkle.” Kristi shares how she stepped into entrepreneurship after raising her children and how building her business became a powerful journey of self-discovery. Together, Kristi and Caterina explore the value of learning by doing, taking fast action on big ideas, and trusting yourself enough to move forward before everything feels perfectly figured out. Kristi also shares how listening to her heart, expressing her personal brand, and staying connected to what delights her have become part of her “allure factor.” Plus, the two offer thoughtful questions to help you uncover what lights you up, along with simple practices that help you navigate life with more bliss, resilience, and sparkle!
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A proud mom of four and married for 30 years, Kristi believes in the power of movement and walks daily in all seasons to stay connected to her body, truth, and inner sparkle. Her work is rooted in helping women feel safe to be seen, fully expressed, and alive in who they truly are. She began coaching in 2021 and now speaks and coaches on authenticity, creativity, and stepping out of shame into a more expansive, joy-filled life. |
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Wed., Dec. 9th, 2026, 10am – 11am PT
Online via ZOOM | Investment: FREE
Expand Your Fempire Podcast #152 Transcript
The Importance of Intentional Marketing Strategy with Haley Gray
Welcome to Expand your Fempire with Caterina Rando, the podcast for women in business on a mission. Sharing ideas to support you to grow and thrive. Now here’s your host, Caterina Rando.
[00:00:00] Caterina Rando: Bing, bing, bing. This is Caterina Rando. Welcome back to another episode of the Expand Your Fempire Podcast. I am blissing because today we have the phenomenal Haley Gray as our guest expert. Haley, you may or may not know, is the founder of women’s entrepreneur network. This is a group on Facebook with over 75, 000 members.
[00:00:57] She is also a marketing master, a marketing maven, and author of Fearless Marketing, Your Eight Figure Business Blueprint. Haley, thank you so much for being with us today.
[00:01:14] Haley Gray: Thank you for having me. Yay. This is exciting.
[00:01:17] Caterina Rando: It is exciting. Now, Haley, you and I have been friends for a few years now. We have spoken for each other on our stages.
[00:01:26] You came on the bliss retreat. I’ve been in your programs. I can’t wait to go on your branding cruise coming up . And you and I have chatted a lot about marketing. And one of the things that I want to talk with you about today is what are some of the things that you feel all of the experts tell women in business, women with service businesses that really get them in trouble?
[00:01:55] Haley Gray: One of the things that a lot of women want or think they want is they want to become a best- selling author on Amazon. So they drop five, ten, twenty, thirty thousand dollars into this book project. And they get it published, it goes to Amazon International Best Seller, and there’s a reason I’m doing the air quotes, and then nothing happens.
[00:02:27] Caterina Rando: Yes! And Haley, as you know, I’m organizing my office, getting my upstairs office downstairs. And so I have this stack of books from clients and some of them I’ve read and some of them I haven’t gotten to yet, but there’s this one that’s on the top of my pile. It’s this beautiful book. This woman put two years of her life into it and she’s not in business anymore. And of course she was not my, she was not my client.
[00:02:58] She did not take my advice. When I said a book is not a business. And it’s not the first thing you do. The first thing you do is get clients.
[00:03:07] I love that you’ve said this, say a little bit more. What are your other thoughts on this?
[00:03:13] Haley Gray: Well, I, I think that the reality for a book is that it, like so many of the other things that are kind of waved up into the sky is like, “Oh my God, this is going to be amazing for your business. This is going to generate passive income for you.” Or you think it’s going to.
[00:03:31] Unless you are Consistently and intentionally and methodically marketing that book, you’re not going to make any sales of the book. And the reality for a lot of people is that the book doesn’t dovetail completely into your business and it’s not designed as part of your sales funnel.
[00:03:53] So you, you create this thing and you spend all this time creating and I can’t tell you how many people come to me and they’re like, Haley, I have all this content and I’m like, “I see that. And are you getting any sales?”
[00:04:09] And at the end of the day, they’re not focusing on the client acquiring activities.
[00:04:18] They’re focusing on the book, the course, the things, the pretty stuff, the gorgeous website, the eighth redo of the logo.
[00:04:28] Caterina Rando: You know, Haley, two things I want to say. One, what you said is, people think it’s all about visibility. “The more visibility I have, The more clients I’m going to get.” Well, visibility helps, but you still got to talk to people, right? And you still got to focus on your sales.
[00:04:45] The other thing I want to say is you mentioned about sometimes the book is a little aside from their business. I remember once I was at an author event. This lady’s sitting next to me and she says to me, “Oh, I have a book and I’m so excited about my book.”
[00:05:02] And she was in the real estate business. So her business was real estate. And she pulled out her book and I’m thinking it’s going to be, you know, in how to have investment property, first time home buyer, something. And it was, about stories my mom told me for a better life.
[00:05:22] And now lovely topic. I’m sure it was a great book, but it super did not make her an expert in her field. And some people can effectively do two things, but really that’s the hardest path. I said, I said way harder. Yes. I said to someone yesterday, you cannot have two masters. You can only have one -meaning your business.
[00:05:48] Haley Gray: And I think there’s this illusion you know, multiple revenue streams. Two that I heard touted a bunch in the online world because I’ve been in the online world a long time. Passive income, another lie horrible lie, that people are told. Passive income… Is rarely truly passive without investing massive amounts of money up front.
[00:06:14] So a real estate investment trust Where somebody is actively managing the portfolio and managing and doing all that stuff. There’s still work being done there, right? It is not truly passive. Oh, I’m going to sell an e- course and people are just going to fall out of the trees and buy it.
[00:06:32] Caterina Rando: We’re going to hang out at the e course because here’s, here’s what I tell gals over and over. I say, “Look, you might sell a lot of your e course. If somebody buys your E-course and they don’t finish your E-course, they’re never gonna give you another dollar.” And this is the thing that I want women to get.
[00:06:59] It’s not about client acquisition, it’s about acquiring long-term and lifelong clients. And Haley, I know that’s the way you roll. That’s the way I roll.
[00:07:10] And this is another thing, courses, online courses, and just like the book, they have to be marketed, marketed, marketed. And then those don’t convert to long term clients.
[00:07:23] Cause most people never finished their course, even when you have great email sequences and adult learning embraced in your course.
[00:07:35] Haley Gray: Absolutely. And the other thing too is that, you know, if you think about online courses, the finish rate is only somewhere in the two to 3 percent range. The statistics are horrible for finishing an online course.
[00:07:51] I only use online courses and online modules in my business as additional collateral. “Oh, you’re doing this thing with me. Oh, by the way, here’s this other online course.” Because the reality for online course marketing is that the cost of marketing a course and getting people into that course is so incredibly high that it is just not worth it.
[00:08:19] And I mean, I know people are going to look at me and they’re like, but “Haley, you have hundreds of thousands of followers.” And I’m like, and yes, and I can choose. Where I’m trying to get people. Do I want people into that course that it is, 497 and 997 and they’re only going to ever give me money once.
[00:08:42] Or am I going to be looking at someone who is a one on one person consulting client that is paying me thousands of dollars or “done for you” client that’s thousands of dollars Where am I going to spend my time and my money? I don’t have infinite resources. Nobody does.
[00:09:02] Which clients are you going to spend your time and your resources going after? Do you want that one time one off that you made an actual profit of 23 on? Or do you want somebody over here that you’re making a much better profit margin on?
[00:09:20] Caterina Rando: Haley I love this because this speaks to strategy. And of course, you also know, I love group programs and group programs help keep people engaged. I’m suggesting you deliver that course in the form of a group program, because then your clients will keep coming back.
[00:09:39] I love what you said about, you know, “do I want to put my attention on selling this course? That’s going to give me low profit margin and they’re going to only buy once or long term clients that will make a much more substantial investment.”
[00:09:54] For me, you know, I have my center in San Francisco that we rent to women if they want to do their workshops, all my clients get to use it. I don’t put any attention on renting it because why do I want to put attention on renting something for one day? Maybe profit of 400, because it takes just as many sales conversations as it does to enroll someone in a big course.
[00:10:18] I bought a skirt yesterday from a direct seller gal. I had two phone calls and three Facebook communications with her and all I was buying was a skirt.
[00:10:32] So my point is that You have to be strategic about what you’re putting your attention on. And is that going to turn into long term and lifelong clients?
[00:10:42] Okay, good. So Haley, now, you know what, my friend, I cannot have you here and not talk with you about how does somebody build a thriving Facebook group? And really you’re great at the Facebook building of getting all the members, but you’re also great at cultivating engagement in your group.
[00:11:07] Can you talk to either of those a little bit about your thoughts?
[00:11:12] Let’s start with the first one. How do you get so many people in your group? And then let’s talk about how you keep them engaged.
[00:11:20] Haley Gray: So when I was first starting my group the first few years, I did a number of different things.
[00:11:27] And here’s one of the reasons I don’t really push so hard on necessarily building a great big Facebook group as being hugely profitable because most people would either not be willing or not be able to do some of the things I did.
[00:11:44] I did workshops every single week in my group. Every week for a year and then when we had the ability finally to do Facebook live, I used to do Facebook lives in my group and trainings in my group every single day at 10 p. m. Eastern for years.
[00:12:10] Now, I do it a little bit differently because I don’t have the same amount of time or energy. And I put shorts and reels and other things in my group and I occasionally do longer trainings.
[00:12:25] And I spend a lot of time and effort and energy engaging the group. So, asking questions, starting conversations, having conversations with people. And, I will tell you that having a group with good SEO in the name, so search engine optimization, so you know what you’re getting when you join the group.
[00:12:48] It’s Women’s Entrepreneur Network. It’s not the most exotic name, but people know what they’re getting there.
[00:12:57] And because I have at this point engagement in the group, Facebook also recommends the group to grow it. So it’s one of those things where I haven’t had to put as much effort and energy into the group. Once I got past the 1500 to 2000 member mark, it grows itself because I’m always putting content and making a point of engaging people in the group.
[00:13:22] And in fact, right now I’m actually redoing a ton of graphics. You probably heard me confessing last night that I wanted to poke my eyes out because I’m literally generating thousands of graphics. My team and I are scheduling thousands of posts for engagement purposes on our social media.
[00:13:44] Caterina Rando: You are so impressive. Okay, now notice everyone Haley said, her and her team. One of the things that I know is that Haley has a great team and she has attention on team. Because as for all of you listening, The highest and best use of her time is strategy, selling, talking to her clients, et cetera, because those are things that only she, my friend can do.
[00:14:19] Okay. So first of all, that’s a lot of heavy lifting to have your group thrive. I know I cannot do all of that myself. You’re motivating me though to do more. You’re motivating me to do more.
[00:14:32] And let’s talk a little bit about, you have a great community of women with your women entrepreneur network. A lot of great gals. Tell me how do you keep them engaged? Say a little bit about all of that?
[00:14:49] Haley Gray: So we do a lot of different things. It’s not any one thing. So, you know, at a bare minimum, what I see a lot of people who have Facebook groups fail at is not starting conversations intentionally with their community.
[00:15:10] So we do polls, we do quizzes, we do questions, we post many times a day. Anywhere between 5 and 15, 20 times a day depending on what we’re doing.
[00:15:22] So when I say thousands of graphics, there’s a reason for thousands of graphics. The other thing is that we are doing challenges and networking opportunities.
[00:15:33] And I actually partner with people to offer more services thanI could easily provide alone in my group. So I’ve partnered with Caterina on some things. I’ve partnered with Pam Meister on providing a co working space, a virtual co working space called “the zone” and being one of the experts in that community. So i’m joining the two communities.
[00:15:57] I’ve partnered with a number of people to provide additional services, you know networking, All kinds of stuff, online business listings the ability to go live in the group that lots of things that we do That either we provide or one of our partners provides.
[00:16:13] So it’s thoughtful and intentional and making a point of doing things for our members.
[00:16:21] Caterina Rando: That’s wonderful. You’re providing massive value. You’re providing more than that what they would expect from a group when you say networking and co working time. You also have done many virtual events with multiple speakers to get more engagement. I love all of this. You are so brilliant at the marketing and the engagement.
[00:16:42] My friend, You know we have to talk about your branding cruise coming up. Now I want to hear a little bit about it, but really, you know, me, I love cruising, I love retreats and, and trainings on cruise ships because nobody can come late, nobody can leave early, and they tend to be stuck together with their own group.
[00:17:06] Why did you decide to do your branding cruise?
[00:17:12] Haley Gray: I would like to think that most people are joining a program because they want some of the value at least out of the program and One of the things that we’re doing with this cruise in september.
[00:17:25] It’s a brand strategy cruise. So this whole year we’re working on elevating particular aspects of your brand and your strategy in your business And then on the cruise, we’re actually bringing a photographer and a videographer and we are doing photo shoots in a variety of different scenarios to make sure that you’ve got the photos that you need for your social media or, you know, all of the stuff that you do for your branding, for your website, for your branding, for all of the things, and then doing branding.
[00:18:00] A speaker reel for each person because one of the things I have found is that it is really, really hard to get a recording of yourself speaking on a stage in front of an audience and just try getting a video of yourself speaking anywhere that you’ve done paid or unpaid speaking and doing your speech.
[00:18:23] So. We’re going to be talking about exactly what that speaker reel should be so that it fits in your brand strategy. Because, like, the whole book thing earlier, it’s great to have a video of yourself speaking, but if it doesn’t speak to your audience and what you’re trying to do and where you’re trying to go, what’s the point?
[00:18:42] Caterina Rando: My friend, I love this because, you know, having been around for a long time with speaking, I remember one day I hired the videographer to come video my speech. And it was a great group and a great speech. And, and there was this fly that kept right all over, right in front of me the whole time. It was very distracting. Well, it wasn’t only distracting. It was obvious, could not use the video.
[00:19:06] And I remember another time I hired a guy, I had a big audience, had 300 people. I flew the guy in so that I could get myself speaking for the big audience. This place looked like a church basement. There was pillars all over. They had crate paper. It looked like it was the most unappealing venue situation. And, and he couldn’t get anywhere near me, so he’s shooting me from the side.
[00:19:35] It was terrible. Lot of money down the drain. So I am blissing that we are going to get a speaker reel on your upcoming cruise.
[00:19:46] Bing, bing, bing!
[00:19:48] Haley Gray: Well, and the cool thing is we can retake that video as many times as we need to to get what we need because the videographer is going to be there on the cruise.
[00:19:58] So, doing this, we can copy paste if we have to, or we can start over again if we have to. So we’ve got great opportunities.
[00:20:06] Caterina Rando: I am super looking forward to it. You know, Haley, the other thing I want to say related to this. People really don’t recognize this, part of the value that we deliver when we have retreats, when we have your branding strategy cruise, is the opportunity to get together with other phenomenal entrepreneurs and talk about stuff.
[00:20:34] me when we did our Thrive with Retreats retreat earlier in the year. And as you know, I scheduled 90 minutes for mastermind time and we were there seven and a half hours later. Because all the ladies, that’s what they, all they want to do.
[00:20:52] Haley Gray: You could not get us out of your room.
[00:20:55] Caterina Rando: It was so fun. I loved it. The whole bed was full of plates from room service because we didn’t even go to dinner that night because we’re having so much fun. Masterminding and sharing ideas.
[00:21:07] By the way, let me say this is masterminding is something I’m not hearing a lot about these days. Of course it, it comes and goes, but my point is whatever programming somebody is offering listener, I’m talking to you, whatever program you’re offering, make sure you have some mastermind time in there.
[00:21:27] Haley, we got a lifetime supply of things to talk about. I look forward to all the time we have together this year to do all that talking about different things. You are such a a wise person, a great marketing strategist, a resource. Let’s tell our listeners how they can connect with you.
[00:21:51] Haley Gray: Sure. My name is Haley Lynn Gray. So you can find me by Googling me and you can also find women’sentrepreneurnetwork.Org is the website for the Facebook group. My business website is in2itivebiz.com. And we, you know, really just focus on helping people. You can cyberstalk me on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on whatever platform you want. And see who I am as a person. You can look at my YouTube videos for women’s entrepreneur network or myself.
[00:22:29] And, get to kind of know me, you know, find out if I’m actually a real person or not.
[00:22:35] Caterina Rando: My friend, you are such a real person. I know this because we have gone to afternoon tea on a cruise ship with butterfly headgear together and had a great time amongst many other amazing adventures we’ve had.
[00:22:51] And I know there’s many more to come.
[00:22:52] Haley Gray: Hang around me for a little while and I’ll get you into all sorts of stuff.
[00:22:55] Caterina Rando: Yes, I look forward to it.
[00:22:57] My friends, Haley has given you so much to think about today. I want you not only to say, hey, that was Some interesting ideas. I want you to take some action. I want you to join her women entrepreneur network Facebook group so you can see how she does her thing and you can take some of those ideas for you. And Hey, you may want to join Haley and myself for one of our monthly free virtual interactive workshops.
[00:23:28] Bing, bing, bing! Love to you all. Remember, you got massive value to bring. There’s a lifetime supply of people to serve. By the way, if you have not checked out Thriving Women in Business Facebook group please do. This is Caterina Rando telling you, go, be yourself, do your thing, serve your people, and Massively monetize your mastery so you can build your fempire.
[00:23:52] Bing, bing, bing.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Expand Your Fempire with Caterina Rando.
Connect with Caterina
Subscribe to the Expand Your Fempire Podcast online:
Join us for a mastermind adventure in 2028!
AMP UP 2028: West Coast Getaway!
A Mastermind Cruise for Women Business Leaders to Connect, Collaborate, and Catapult
While participating in the AMP UP Mastermind Cruise, you will:
* Expand your personal network with like-minded women thought leaders on a mission just like you! * Connect with high-achieving, women podcasters, speakers and leaders to collaborate and catapult your business! * Participate in thought-provoking mastermind sessions to learn and share insights on a variety of topics including: podcast marketing, sales, getting booked for speaking, audience-building, cultivating community and hosting your own retreats! * And so much more!
Our 2028 adventure is April 25th-April 30th, Roundtrip from San Francisco on the Ruby Princess!
Register for FREE:
WORKSHOP: Savvy Steps to Scale Your Business in 2027
Coaches and Consultants: Are you already blissing and thriving in your business — but craving even more impact while serving more people? Or perhaps you’d love more free time, greater efficiency, and the ability to work less while making more? Either way, the Savvy Steps to Scale Workshop is for you! In this live virtual training, you’ll discover simple “grab and go” systems that prevent overwhelm, master one powerful speaking strategy to attract clients instantly, and design “easy-yes” invitations that consistently turn talks into sales. Plus, you’ll uncover the biggest sales zappers (and exactly what to do instead) while focusing on client retention so that your clients keep coming back again and again.
Wed., Dec. 9th, 2026, 10am – 11am PT
Online via ZOOM | Investment: FREE
Expand Your Fempire Podcast #170 Transcript
Authenticity is Alluring: Own Your Sparkle with Kristi Parry
Welcome to Expand your Fempire with Caterina Rando, the podcast for women in business on a mission. Sharing ideas to support you to grow and thrive. Now here’s your host, Caterina Rando.
[00:00:27] Caterina Rando: Welcome back to another episode of the Expand Your Fempire podcast. I’m your host Caterina Rando, and I am blissing to be with you today. The super sparkly, super fabulous, super great to be with Kristi, Perry is in the room with me right now for an interview. Kristi, I’m blissing to see you. Mwah.
Kristi Parry: Right back at you my beautiful friend.
From my sparkle pen sister to another sparkle pen sister. [00:01:00]
Caterina Rando: Love it. Kristi, before we dive in I wanna tell the people a little bit about you.
Kristi Parry: Okay.
Caterina Rando: You are a life coach for women. You have neurodivergent or neurospicy as you call them- children. You’ve been married for over 30 years. You are all about supporting women to express themselves and their authenticity and to amplify their sparkle.
You’re doing so much great work to uplift and empower women. I wanna ask you this because here you are today. You’re a phenomenal speaker. You’ve been on stage at many big places. You have your own Sparkle Summit, you have your own retreats. You’re doing amazing things. My question is: how did you get this party started?
What inspired you to become an [00:02:00] entrepreneur?
Kristi Parry: Oh, I love that question, Caterina. Well, after parenting my kiddos and feeling like, “What’s next for me?” I thought, “Now I’ve got time to do me.” And I really have always loved speaking. I got my degree in German education, so I was a teacher. That was my education. And I’ve always wanted to teach. So I went to life coach school and decided to go the entrepreneur route, and met so many amazing women on the way.
And actually, when I was younger, my sisters and I had a quilting business that I haven’t ever told you about, and we were our own entrepreneurs then, and so it was in the family story you could say. And so when I found coaching, I decided I wanted to just share my light and my sparkle and inspire other people that they could have hope in their life, especially moms who’ve struggled with their kiddos.
And then I just thought, “You know what? This is my pathway.” And it’s been definitely a journey.
Caterina Rando: Yes. Well, we’re gonna talk about that journey. What I want to say to you is you are absolutely a role model for [00:03:00] authenticity, for blissing in your business, for being yourself out in the world, for being loud and proud about the value we bring.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: And we definitely want to bring that into other women and be that role model for them.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: Let me ask you- What did you not expect about entrepreneurship that you have encountered or learned?
Kristi Parry: Oh, I think what I didn’t expect was that it would be a little bit harder than I thought. I just kinda thought I’d get out there and everyone would be like, “Hey, we want to pay you money.”
And I think what’s been hard for me is to understand my own relationship with myself around asking for people to work with me and to really to step into my light and to my sparkle for myself. Like I’ve been good at stepping to other, for other people, right? And giving a lot, but that idea about receiving, Caterina.
Caterina Rando: Yeah
Kristi Parry: about opening up to what I want, and that’s been a lot of the journey that I’ve [00:04:00] been on. But I feel like I’m getting a lot more clarity on that. I’ve had great role models like you, as my amazing coach, of helping me understand like I’m in this to make money too. Not just to help people, which is, I love to do both of it.
So I think that’s been for me the biggest thing that I hadn’t really anticipated. Having a mirror of my own self a little bit, of seeing where my limitations are, but also opportunities for growth.
Caterina Rando: Let me say this and ask this of you. When we start our business, and right, we might have a challenge with receiving.
Okay, let’s address that. We might have difficulty asking for money. Okay, let’s address that with learning how to master our sales. What I find is that your business is your personal school for your personal growth-
Kristi Parry: Yeah …
Caterina Rando: and your transformation. And I wanna ask you, what have you had to shine the spotlight on to stay [00:05:00] in business?
Like for me, I know I had to learn to be more confident and learn how to speak up- … learn how to ask for what I want and many other things also that my business has required of me.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: What has your business required of you that you weren’t thinking about when you started this business that’s led to your own personal growth and transformation?
Kristi Parry: I think for me, whenever I have moments of like, “Should I keep doing this?” Like this is just not what I thought. I could get a job and I know, I’ve talked to a lot of other coaches have those same ideas. But one of the things that I think becoming a coach and becoming an entrepreneur has given me was I had this moment where I was focusing on my values.
What are my values? What do I really believe in, right?
And at the core of it, one of them is growth. I believe in growth and I believe in authenticity. Those are some core values for me. And so whenever I think about going to get a job, I always come back to, but one of my values is growth, and I want to figure it out.
Like I am going to [00:06:00] figure this thing out. And I think for me, that has been so powerful, and that’s what kind of motivates me to keep on going. It’s you know what? All things are figureoutable. And I’m on a mission to figure that out. And I think because I value growth, whenever I go to this place of, “ah, this is too much,” it’s like, nope, girl, we did not come here- to not figure it out. We’re gonna get this figured out and we’re going to succeed, and we’re gonna make money. That, that has been my, not my only goal, but it is a goal of mine, and I really believe I can do that, and I am in for the long haul of achieving that goal.
Caterina Rando: I love that.
I love the long-term commitment, and I do think that commitment is required. You know, sometimes, Kristi I hear gals say- “Oh, well, I’m gonna give this a shot. I’m gonna give this a try. I’m gonna try this entrepreneur thing.”
And I say, “No, my friend, y- you cannot try it. You have to be all in. You have to burn the boats and not have any other way.”
Now, [00:07:00] hopefully they do have additional income. My point is we cannot be one foot in. We have to be all in.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: And I w- and my experience with you, Kristi, is that you are totally all in-
Kristi Parry: Yeah …
Caterina Rando: in your business. And part of the indication of that is that you take on big ways to put yourself out there.
Like you were the keynote speaker at our Polka Dot Powerhouse celebration. Like you said, “Hey, I’m gonna do a summit even though I don’t know everything about how to do a summit.” You and the fabulous Chris Dyer, you did your Sparkle Summit together. You did your retreat. So you don’t lay back.
Kristi Parry: No.
Caterina Rando: You go all in.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: And I wanna ask you this. I want you to talk about yourself and a little bit about how fabulous you are, which I know is easier to talk about in others. What do you attribute your ability to get a brilliant idea and make it [00:08:00] happen right away, and not get ready to get ready like a lot of gals do?
Kristi Parry: Well, practice I can say. I’ve gotten a lot better at that. I think for me, parenting the children I have in my life- … one thing it’s taught me is that life is is never quite what we think it’s going to be. And if we sit back and wait for it to be the way we want it to be, we’re just, we’re gonna always be disappointed.
And I’ve just decided, okay, disappointment’s gonna be a part of my life, and I’m also gonna have amazing things happen in my life as well. And I think, Caterina, one thing I’ve always done, just unconsciously, I’ve always done creative things. That’s just been my heart, my spirit- … play. And I think because of that, it’s kept me really motivated to do things, and I think that’s been a piece…
Even though I’ve dealt with really hard things in my life, like they’ve not been easy, and there’s times when I’m like, “This is too much,” but because I also focus on the creative part and the playful part, and my younger Kristi comes forward. She’s a lot of my inspiration. She’s a lot of the one that says, “We can do this.”
Like- … [00:09:00] let’s do something big. And I have to say also just how I was raised with my parents. I was, I’m the second youngest of nine kids. I have a big family.
Caterina Rando: Oh.
Kristi Parry: A very creative family. We grew up with not a lot of money, and so my parents taught us how to just do things and make do with what we had.
So there’s a lot of just my, of what I was raised with to, to do things in a way and to not be afraid to try things.
And then just to practice practice. And the more you practice, the better you get at doing these things, and that’s why my belief with my business is if I keep practicing these things that I’m taught from great coaches like you, that I eventually will achieve it.
Caterina Rando: Okay. Great. And when you say practice, I wanna make a distinction.
Kristi Parry: Okay. ‘
Caterina Rando: Cause I think you’re in the same camp as I am in the sense that you practice while you’re doing it.
Kristi Parry: Yes. Yes.
Caterina Rando: Okay. So I wanna be very clear, Like I tell the gals “don’t practice your speech in the mirror. Practice your speech in front of real audiences.”
Kristi Parry: Yes.
Caterina Rando: Or don’t build your summit on your computer. [00:10:00] Create your summit, run your summit while you’re running your summit. Is that what you would say?
Kristi Parry: That’s what I mean by practicing. Practicing is, “you know what? I don’t have to know all the pieces, but if I know that I wanna do it and I have a commitment to doing it, that’s all that matters.”
And like my son Isaac, he has Down syndrome, and he’s like my little mentor. He’s always telling me, “Mom, let’s find out.” And his little mantras always push me and guide me towards doing things that are difficult. Of like, I don’t know what a summit looks like, but I can tell you what, I’m gonna find out once I start doing it, and that’s the practice for me.
The practice is doing it.
So I guess in practicing I’m actually doing the thing- … that I didn’t know how to do.
And then in doing that, I learn. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, there are so many details about a summit.” Right. And it’s also an amazing experience, and people are really kind and generous when you’re learning,
And I think I also learn by doing. That’s the way my brain- … works.
Caterina Rando: And I wanted to make that important distinction because-
Kristi Parry: Yeah …
Caterina Rando: practice means doing it, and [00:11:00] then the more you do it, the more you get better and better.
You’ve done that with your summit.
Also, with your retreats, same thing. We’re not getting ready to get ready to begin to think about getting going. You pick a date, you pick a time, you make a price, you do it, and then you upgrade for the next one.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: That’s beautiful. And Kristi I like to say that not only do successful women make decisions quickly, we take action right away.
And that is something that I think is really great about you, because there’s something called the law of diminishing return, which means When I make the decision, the longer it takes for me to get an action, the less likely I am to get an action.
Kristi Parry: Mm-hmm.
Caterina Rando: Yeah. You make a decision and you take action.
Okay, so that’s one thing. You’ve heard me say this. Let me say it this way, ’cause you’ve heard me say this to you many times. You have a high [00:12:00] allure factor. You are very alluring. You you attract a lot of people to you. What do you attribute your allure factor to? And let’s just assume for a second that you absolutely 100% believe that you have an allure factor, okay?
Kristi Parry: Okay. I think it’s just pure authenticity. It’s actually knowing who I am. I heard a quote from Maya Angelou years ago, and it was about belonging to yourself. And I remember her saying, “I love Maya Angelou. I love how she looks. I love how she walks. She’s funny. She makes me happy.” And I thought, “That’s how I want my life to be.”
I want to do things that delight my heart- … and that I am my highest authority, that I am my boss. That I listen to Kristi, and she’s the one that decides what I’m wearing to an event, not what all everybody else is wearing or, and if I show up as the only person wearing X, Y, or Z, I’m okay with that because it’s what my heart told me to wear.
And so I think what’s alluring to that is the fact that I’m actually just listening to my [00:13:00] heart.
I spoke in church today, and A young woman came up to me and said, “Oh my gosh, I love that you wore your sparkle glasses. They made me so happy.” Yeah. “They make me wanna be more who I am.”
Kristi Parry: And so when I get that feedback, I’m like, “Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”
I want to inspire other people, other women, to see themselves and then decide what lights me up? And I think that’s what my alluring thing is, that I’m not afraid to be myself anymore. I’m actually just honoring what comes to me and the response I get is very positive.
People smile and are happy.
And then that’s practicing, right? As I talk about, that’s kind of the practicing game of- … let’s find out what happens when I wear this. And it’s a little bit uncomfortable at first, I have to say. So that, there is that practicing piece of … people might stare at you.
But if you’re being true to your heart, And listening to that sparkle within of “Ooh, what do I wanna wear today? What really lights me up?” That’s alluring to people, because that’s actually just, that’s as, as authentic as it [00:14:00] gets.
Caterina Rando: And also you’re demonstrating that you are confident in yourself.
You’re demonstrating-
Kristi Parry: Yeah
Caterina Rando: … that you’re having-
Kristi Parry: Yeah
Caterina Rando: … fun with yourself. You’re demonstrating your personal brand, which I love, my friend, that you have such a great personal brand.
Kristi Parry: Thank you.
Caterina Rando: And let’s take a style sidebar, okay? ‘Cause I am, I am a style enthusiast.
Kristi Parry: 100%.
Caterina Rando: And you’re making, as you share about, walking in the room and dress- dressing for where you’re going however you want, I just got off a cruise ship.
I was on a cruise ship for a week with my gals doing the Bliss Retreat, and I dress up every single day. I do not own a pair of jeans- … which is okay, other people do, but on my personal brand, I don’t own a pair of jeans. I dress up every day because it makes me happy.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: And I wanna ask, what are your thoughts about [00:15:00] women creating a personal brand that not only makes them happy, but also supports them in their business?
Do you have any thoughts?
Kristi Parry: I think if you wanna have an authentic business, I don’t know how you can’t do one without the other, right? To me, whatever lights you up, that is, like you said is alluring. If you’re trying to come with a brand, if something lights you up, then to me that’s your go-to, right?
That’s ‘Cause then you’re going to, you’re going to step into it and you’re going to love it and live it.
And everyone sparkles different. I was talking, when we were talking about Celebration, I was talking to another woman about her outfits and she says, “Well, you know what really lights me up is I just like to wear jeans and a T-shirt.” I said, “Well, then do it.”
If that’s you and that’s your style, and you can be who you are in that energy, then embrace it and step into all of it, right?
Kristi Parry: So I think it, it just depends on the energy with which you do it, too, Caterina, the confidence with which you do it.
You can do- … anything when you step into believing, “This is who I am and I love it,” because then everybody else [00:16:00] feels the energy, ’cause everything’s about energy.
And you project that energy of “I know who I am and I’m good with this,” and other people respond to it.
Kristi Parry: So I think the more authentically people can connect with themselves- That’s powerful, but I don’t know all people know how to do that.
We’re not really taught that piece of it. We’re really good at everyone else telling us, “Well, that’s what you should do,” or… And a lot of this is learning to listen to an internal sparkle of like, “ooh- what am I?” And I really think that the clearer we get on that, that people’s, their fashion kind of represents their branding, I think that’s really powerful.
Caterina Rando: So my friend, let’s talk about that inner sparkle, because you definitely have clarity on your inner sparkle.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: I would define that for those gals that are not relating to the word sparkle like, you really know who you are.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: And who you are is positive, and I think Sparkle is a lot about positivity. It’s a lot [00:17:00] about shining our light.
What is your advice, my friend, for the gal who’s listening, who loves what she sees when she looks at you, and she loves the idea of amplifying her allure. What recommendations do you have for her to amplify her allure? And I’m talking in business. I’m single, so that applies there too. But right now we’re talking about business.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
I would recommend her sitting down and writing down the things that delight her.
The things that light her up, the things that she would love.
And just starting to notice is there more?
Because part of this, you know, a lot of what I talk about is why my glasses, we haven’t talked about it, but I don’t have lenses in my glass. And I have a lot of glasses behind me that don’t have lenses, and that’s about learning to take off the lens of what I’m supposed to be, what others tell me, … and to hear my own voice.
For me, sparkle is that joy [00:18:00] lived out loud, access to my divine, access to the creativity. So for the woman who’s wanting to explore that, I would say explore it. And take some time and write down, what would I love? Ask a good question and wait for your brain to answer it.
Kristi Parry: Asking questions is so powerful because it creates awareness of, what do I want?
Who am I?
What do I want to project into the world? Who am I? And I think that’s such an important question. What is my identity? And the more you start asking the question, the more you start allowing that sparkle to wake up.
It’s like, “I’m here.”
Caterina Rando: I love that. And I wanna say, too, when we ask the question I like to call it an inquiry question.
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: Ask the question. We don’t always get a insta-answer.
Kristi Parry: No.
Caterina Rando: And that we have to be willing to stay in the question. Maybe ask the same question three times today, and three times tomorrow, and three times the day after.
Take a little [00:19:00] time every morning or evening for a few minutes of journaling to simply be willing to stay in the question for a certain period of time until the answer becomes very clear.
Kristi Parry: Yes. Yeah. I love this idea that where mind goes, energy flows. So when you put your mind on it, like you’re saying, asking the question- energy will flow there. Giving it space, like you’re saying- To show itself. To reveal itself.
Because it’s, it just, it needs some space and some safety to come forward.
Caterina Rando: Beautiful.
So let me encourage anyone who’s listening to give themselves a few inquiry questions, and one might be from our conversation, how do you amplify your allure?
It might be, how do I get more clarity, or what is more clarity on my personal brand?
It might be, where do I wanna be louder and prouder?
It might be, where do I wanna [00:20:00] add more sparkle in my life and my business?
One of the things I love about you, Kristi, is every time we’re gonna have a convo or we’re gonna be together, I know that I’m gonna leave that interaction more uplifted than when I showed up.
And that’s my intention too, is that I’m uplifting others through my interaction with them.
I really wanna encourage our listeners, too, to look at the people they hang out with, the people that are in their life, that are in their business, and say, “Hey, are these people lifting you up?”
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: Because we wanna surround ourself with those kinds of people. And for business and for life, wouldn’t it be cool if we could make that a requirement, like-
Kristi Parry: Yeah.
Caterina Rando: … No negative people get to come near me. And we’re wrapping up our time, and we’re gonna have to do this again five more times, my friend.
But I wanna ask you- … you do have [00:21:00] more that you have to manage than the average gal.
Kristi Parry: Yeah. ‘
Caterina Rando: Cause you have a business. You, of course, have a beautiful husband, who I think is fabulous based on what you’ve shared about him. You have a, a son who’s out of the house. You have your son who is neurodivergent.
I’m not sure, how many children do you have, my friend?
Kristi Parry: I have four kids.
Caterina Rando: Okay.
Kristi Parry: And then I have, three of them live at home right now, and I have my 28-year-old out of the house, and yeah.
Caterina Rando: Okay. So my friend, that’s a lot, that’s a lot of stuff, oh, to manage. Plus I know you’re active in your faith community.
I know you’re doing a lot, helping in a lot of ways.
I gotta ask you, my friend, how do you manage it all and still sparkle and smile so much?
Kristi Parry: Well, one of the things that I do that I started this practice four years ago I start off my every morning with a walk.
And I think that has become my lifeline, Caterina, honestly. It is where I get my [00:22:00] downloads. It’s where I regulate my nervous system. It’s where I get the clarity on what do I do today.
And I just have a belief in the goodness of life and a deep connection to the divine and to who I am, and that I know that we’re meant for more.
Kristi Parry: And when I walk every day, I get that message repeated to me again and again.
And it gives me a lot of hope that even though there’s difficult things happening for all of us… life is hard for all of us. But it’s both. It’s the hard and the good. And I tend to spend more time in the good, and I notice that the things that are hard, there’s a gift in it.
I look for the gift in all the hard things. And and then they don’t become quite so hard. So that’s one of my practices.
And then one of my final things that I really live into is everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen because it’s what’s happening. And just that belief in living in the present moment, not arguing with reality, I don’t get stuck in a lot of places because I realize, you know what?
Kristi Parry: This is happening for me, not against [00:23:00] me. And that’s kinda how I choose to live my life every day, and my mantra every morning, it’s gonna be a great day. And there’s gonna be hard stuff and good stuff, and it’s still gonna be a great day.
Caterina Rando: I say it’s gonna be a great day and everything’s going my way.
Kristi Parry: That’s right, girl.
Caterina Rando: Yeah, and it’s important for us to have these like it’s a ritual, it’s also a guiding principle, and I’m sure you have a lot more, which we’ll have to discuss another time because you are doing a great job, my friend-
Kristi Parry: Thank you
Caterina Rando: … at life and at being a role model and being an inspiration for so many women, and I’m honored to be your friend, and I’m honored to know you.
And I’m always gonna be a yes for you anytime I can. Insta-yes.
Kristi Parry: Thank you
Caterina Rando: … for those listening, you can find out more about Kristi at CoachKristiPerry.com. You can also see all of her links in the show notes, and you’re gonna wanna get connected to her for her Sparkle Summit.
You wanna check out her [00:24:00] amazing retreats because every moment with Kristi will be a moment of uplift for you and your business.
Kristi, I love you so much.
Kristi Parry: I love you.
Caterina Rando: Listener, I wanna say to you, you got massive value to bring. Take our time with Kristi today to remind you to be loud and proud about your massive value, to sprinkle your sparkle everywhere so you can sell more, you can serve more, and you can uplift more lives with the amazing woman you are.
This is Caterina Rando, love to you. Kristi, love to you.
Kristi Parry: Love to you, my friend. Thank you for this honor …
Caterina Rando: We’ll be together again soon.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Expand Your Fempire with Caterina Rando.
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