Silence Your Critics & Turn Up the Volume on Your Life
Kelly is the bestselling author of LOUD: Silence Your Critics & Turn Up the Volume on Your Life, which launched as an Amazon bestseller in September 2019.
An unapologetic writer, speaker, and entrepreneur, Kelly passionately encourages women to listen to their instincts and speak their truth at the highest volume. In 2017, Kelly finally left her 15-year corporate experience to launch her own brand, Loud Blonde.
Kelly loves to work with driven, Type-A women who are tired of playing small and living life below their potential. Her high-performance coaching program moves women out of their comfort zones and into inspired action.
What We Discuss with Kelly Cochran:
- Her driving force behind LOUD
- Why she drew a rocket and Rapunzel in a tower on her brain map
- The writing process: Choosing which stories to include in her book
- Writing the pain points in her book
- Walking the talk: Leaving her job and a relationship
- Getting interviewed on the news
- Time to speak up: Being tired of being “sssh-ed!” as a female
- What Kelly hopes to leverage the book on
- From writing a book to creating a movement
- The power of letting other people into your process earlier on your journey
[02:25] Coming Out with LOUD
Kelly has always wanted to write a book, but a book on marketing was boring her. What fired her up was about how she was being silenced and told to behave as a woman in Corporate America.
She knew then that this was the book the world needed to hear.
[06:25] A Rocket on Her Mind Map
A good strategy to get out of your analytical brain is to create a mindmap only through drawings. Included in Kelly’s drawings were a NASA rocket ship and Rapunzel in a tower.
The NASA rocket symbolized her mom’s sorority sister who was a NASA astronaut. It represented the pressure to be someone her parents can brag about.
The image of Rapunzel locked up in a tower represented how she wanted to break free from societal constraints.
[10:00] The Writing Process and Transforming in the Process
Kelly’s stories on not wanting to have kids and the chapter on depression were two things she struggled with the most and which she hopes people can resonate with.
Mindmapping through drawings is like creating stones in a path rather than a concrete path because it allows you to grow and transform.
Kelly was going through a powerful transformation as she was writing her book. In fact, she left her job as well as a four-year relationship. It was definitely uncomfortable. But she needed to go through it so she can become the voice she was talking about in the book. Finally, Kelly became her own role model.
[16:00] The Pain Points in the Book
LOUD is more like a memoir as every chapter has a personal story of her life in it. There were some chapters that she knew would have upset her family. There was a lot of resistance in speaking her truth.
The idea behind her brand: Kelly is tired of being punished for speaking up and of other women being treated like that.
[19:00] Her Interview on the News
Kelly did an interview on the news recently. The anchor stopped following the teleprompter because they were already having a truthful girl-to-girl conversation.
The weather girl joined in their chitchat that she didn’t even start giving her weather segment. She just kept talking about the book and her own stories of mistreatment as a female in the media.
It’s interesting how many women are dying to talk about these things and don’t feel like they can. LOUD is giving women permission to speak up and own what they really want out of life.
[22:58] Women Empowerment and Creating a Movement
Kelly is now clear about her purpose: to empower women to find and use their own voice. She hopes to leverage the book in speaking engagements all over the world.
There is so much untapped power in women. Let your eulogy be read like: The world’s greatest biography. Shake the trees. Make waves. Cause lightning in the sky.
It’s time for a movement! Kelly definitely knows this is so much bigger than just writing a book because, apparently, women want to talk about this.
[27:20] How to Get Attention for Your Book
Let people into your process from the very beginning. Kelly posted her mindmap drawings earlier online, which allowed her followers to see every single step of her journey. This also gave her ten months of lead time on social media where everyone kept asking her constantly about the book.
Don’t shy away from sharing your failings, fears, and resistance. It’s amazing when you’re able to share your whole process of writing a book. By the time you launch, people are so invested in your story and in seeing you succeed because they feel they’re a part of your team.
Episode Resources:
Loud Blonde
LOUD: Silence Your Critics & Turn Up the Volume on Your Life
Download the first three chapters of Kelly’s book, LOUD, for free at LoudBlonde.com/book.
Follow Kelly Cochran on Instagram @loudblonde and Facebook.
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