It's Never Too Late to Try Something New with Erin Kienzle

What if one small decision could change everything? Join me for this candid conversation with my friend Erin Kienzle as we talk about her journey of reinvention—multiple times over. Erin and I met two decades ago as young journalists working at the same television station in Charleston, South Carolina. Since then, she has pivoted in big ways, from TV news to entrepreneurship, launching her own business teaching people how to be comfortable on camera, and even becoming a benefit auctioneer, raising millions for nonprofits.

But none of this happened overnight. Erin shares how she walked away from a career she thought defined her, navigated a season of uncertainty, and eventually found herself stepping into something she never could have imagined. We talk about trusting your instincts, recognizing when it's time for change, and giving yourself permission to try something new—even when it’s scary.

Key Takeaways:
✨ It’s never too late to pivot—whether you’re 30, 40, 50, or beyond.
✨ Sometimes, all it takes is one person to show you what’s possible.
✨ The scariest thing can be pressing "post" on something new, but that first step can lead to incredible opportunities.
✨ Protecting your energy and learning to say no is essential for growth and success.

If you’re feeling that nudge to shake things up but aren’t sure where to start, this episode is for you.

Connect with Erin:
📲 Instagram: @erinkienzle
🎤 Video coaching: ErinonCamera.com
🎉 Auctioneer services: Giving 4 Good Events

Stay Connected:
Subscribe to my newsletter, Hello Friday, for weekly inspiration and encouragement: angiemizzell.com

🎧 Listen now and let me know—what’s something new you’re ready to try?

Transcript

Erin Kienzle (00:00)
So my life was kind of just hiding grief of losing my mother and treading water and doing what I thought I was supposed to do as a woman in her 20s. And then I kind of woke up one day and was like, I'm unfulfilled, this isn't what I want.

And I was just had this epiphany of what am I doing with my life? Like this is not where I want to live. This is not what I want to be doing. So I quit. It was really, really scary.

So I met these women and one who's now my dear friend pulled me aside and she said, do you know what's possible? And I was like, no, what are you talking about? I said, I have no idea. And she said, I'm gonna show you.

there is no age, you know, 40, 50, 60. There are women making six figures in easily just by showing up online. It's a completely new pivot for them.

Angie Mizzell (00:38)
Right.

Right.

Erin Kienzle (00:46)
it's never too late, truly. Everything I'm doing right now, I never thought in a million years that this is what I would be doing.

So try it, do something new.

Angie Mizzell (00:56)
Hi, I'm Angie Mizzell and welcome to More Like You. This is a podcast where we explore what it means to live a more authentic and fulfilling life. I'm a former television journalist and author of the memoir, Girl in the Spotlight. I believe that one small shift in perspective could be all it takes to help you make a courageous decision and step into a life that feels more like you, a life that feels like home.

Joining me today is my friend Erin Kienzle. Erin and I met two decades ago when we were both young journalists working at a television station here in Charleston, South Carolina.

Today, Erin teaches people how to be comfortable on video, specifically on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Over the years, I watched Erin pivot and start a whole new business while keeping her day job as a television host.

It started when she saw a need and noticed how she could help, and she listened to that feeling inside of her, nudging her to go for it. Today we go behind the scenes to hear about how she did it. And I hope it inspires you, if you're feeling a nudge, to shake things up and try something new.

Angie Mizzell (02:04)
So Erin, thank you for joining me today. You have a super busy life and we're gonna talk more about that and how you manage it all. But I thought because we are old friends and colleagues that we could start at the beginning.

I met you, we were both at Channel 5. Was this right before I left for Portland?

Erin Kienzle (02:24)
When I started, well first of all, you were a big deal. Like I was like the young little newbie and I was like, oh my gosh, Angie Mizzell our Morning Anchor. So like you intimidated me at first, but then I realized that you were really nice and down to earth, but you weren't there long. When I started in 02, like June of 02. Yeah. Yeah.

Angie Mizzell (02:35)
So funny.

Yes, that was right towards the end and you were doing weather and I do

have to comment on that. I knew I was the morning anchor, but I have never in my life felt like a big deal. Do you feel like a big deal?

Erin Kienzle (02:53)
Yeah.

no, not at all.

Angie Mizzell (02:57)
But I get

how people can see that and feel that. But I just don't think I feel like a big deal inside my skin. I just feel...

Erin Kienzle (03:05)
No, and I think it's a misconception.

probably get this when you're on TV. People sometimes expect you maybe not to be nice or to be stuck up and snooty. You know, like there's just somehow this like innate perception of what they think you're going to be like. And then they're surprised when you're just a normal person, mom, you know, trying to do the best that you can.

Angie Mizzell (03:25)
I believe that is true and the other thing I've realized for me is it's actually been a process of becoming more confident so I can actually step into into my own shoes.

I try to shake myself out of the insecurity that I have about myself. Maybe it is feeling like an imposter. Like, it's like, should I be here? Because I am.

Erin Kienzle (03:47)
Isn't that funny? And that's shocking

to me that you feel that way. You know, so many women suffer from imposter syndrome when everyone else like doesn't see you like that.

Angie Mizzell (03:51)
Right.

That's right. I, and as I get older, I really just really try to remember that and embody that.

When you see that person bringing the realness you realize that that can coexist. I can step into a bigger life and into the role I'm feeling called to step into and that's really not going to change who we are on the inside. did you know you wanted to

start as a meteorologist, do the weather. Were you immediately a meteorologist or you just started with weather?

Erin Kienzle (04:26)
No, I was

a fake meteorologist. I majored in journalism. So when I graduated, I had three phone calls. One was Yakima, Washington. I think it was to be like Weekend Anchor, but they could not afford to fly me out there.

Angie Mizzell (04:33)
Right.

Erin Kienzle (04:43)
And then the other one was like Clarksburg, West Virginia. And I remember trying to call the news director back and they did not have voicemail. And then the third option was Charleston, South Carolina. And I had done weather. We had like a PBS station in college. So I had weather on my tape. But I had a journalism degree, not a weather degree. So when Charleston called and flew me down here, I mean, they took me to, remember Blossom?

Angie Mizzell (05:05)
yeah.

Erin Kienzle (05:06)
Yeah, like a little 22 year old Erin was like eating at Blossom. It was the Spoleto festival. They like toured me through there. I was like, thought I was big time. I'm like, I have made it. The city is amazing. Like, yes, I will do weather. I love weather. And then I mentioned I did get the degree. I went through Mississippi State, but the beginning, no, I knew nothing.

Angie Mizzell (05:25)
Well, did you like weather? Did you come to like doing the weather?

Erin Kienzle (05:29)
Yeah, I mean, yes, a little bit. Like I do like math and science so that I'm good at that. So that's what weather is. It's very, very repetitive. So I was in Pittsburgh for several years and we did like a five hour morning show. So that's just, there's no change. You're just delivering the same message over and over and over again. And also weather is a lot of just like creating graphics and that's just not my jam. Like I found it very boring. So I mean, I went into journalism because I liked to write. So when I did weather, I didn't get to do that.

Angie Mizzell (05:57)
That's right, so you left Charleston, you went to Pittsburgh, and then what happened?

Erin Kienzle (06:02)
Then after having my first child, I had a moment where I had to take her and drive her to the nanny's house in a snowstorm at 2.30 in the morning, because the nanny couldn't get to my house, and I had to go in and work a shift, and it was like...

I don't know, 24 hour, like we couldn't leave. And I was just had this epiphany of what am I doing with my life? Like this is not where I want to live. This is not what I want to be doing. So I quit. It was really, really scary. And I know you, you know, always talk. I went through that mourning process of TV was who I am. It's how what I'm known for. It's what I do in Pittsburgh. Television ratings were through the roof. So there's a little bit of ego. Like we had a very high viewership to walking away from all that.

suddenly being like, who am I now? If I'm not that, like, what am I? So it was a struggle for a while. And then, you you can relate. Yeah.

Angie Mizzell (06:51)
Yeah, yeah. I can absolutely relate

and it's usually a process to get through that and get to the other side of it. And so what was it for you? So you quit, you went through this mourning process and then what? Because you're back in Charleston.

Erin Kienzle (07:08)
Yep.

Yeah, I'm back in Charleston. I got sucked into television again. But for a couple years, I was a copywriter. I found this online program. I went to Florida for like this conference and I did have a few clients. Like I wrote a yogurt, like an organic yogurt campaign, like random stuff. I helped a lot of people with crowdfunding campaigns. So that was enough. It didn't generate a lot of money, but it was enough to give me purpose. So when I met other moms at the playgrounds that I could say like, this is what I do. Cause I always felt

Angie Mizzell (07:39)
Yeah.

Erin Kienzle (07:40)
like less, and I know what they didn't make me feel that way. I made myself feel that way. But like I didn't, I felt very uncomfortable just being like, I don't have a job. Like I needed to say, do something to define myself.

Angie Mizzell (07:52)
I can relate to that because when I started blogging, there was just something, just a deep passion and I feel like I was supposed to be writing and blogging. But when I got an online writing job and I started writing for a parenting website, it's when I started to actually feel legitimate. And I've kind of made some peace with that.

Erin Kienzle (08:06)
Mm-hmm.

Angie Mizzell (08:16)
that maybe we do need some outside validation that what we're doing is wanted or there's a place for it. And then over time balancing that internal and the external because we do have to go out in the world and we play different roles and our identity is wrapped up in external things too as long as all of this helps us connect.

Erin Kienzle (08:20)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Angie Mizzell (08:41)
more with who we are, what we want, what makes us tick. So I can definitely relate to that. So what was Charleston? Did you have people here?

Erin Kienzle (08:43)
Right. Yeah.

that I came back, yeah, my ex-husband is from Charleston. You know, leaving Pittsburgh. Right, there was, we didn't have family in Pittsburgh, so we had family, the weather was a heck of a lot nicer. You know, it was an easy decision for me, because even though I'm not from here, when I left Charleston and I was gone for...

Angie Mizzell (08:54)
Okay, so when you came back to Charleston, there were people, there was a support

Mm-hmm.

Erin Kienzle (09:10)
I don't know, five or six years, I think. I missed it all the time. Like, just, I had become Charleston in the few years that I've been working at Channel 5, that I was just like, that's my new home. That's where I want to be.

Angie Mizzell (09:13)
Yeah.

Yeah, Charleston is a special place when I was reaching my career crossroads, I was starting to come to terms with if I want to do the things I say I want to do, I'm going to have to leave Charleston. And I didn't think that mattered until things really started to happen.

But I do believe whatever the place is, sometimes you either just feel a connection to a place. Like places and cities have energy and you either feel like you fit or you don't. well, I'm glad you made your home here because it, So, so you're back in TV and at some point during the pandemic, you...

Erin Kienzle (09:55)
Not going anywhere, here to stay at this point.

Angie Mizzell (10:07)
pivoted a little bit where you stayed on television but you recognized a need.

Erin Kienzle (10:12)
Yeah, so I still work in television at the ABC affiliate here, but I now run like two companies on my own. So the first one was my pandemic pivot. And that is I teach people mainly on Instagram. I'm starting to move to LinkedIn, but teach entrepreneurs, leaders, how to be comfortable and connect on video. I never in a million years thought I was going to do that. But during the pandemic, when the entire world was on zoom, I suddenly found like my inbox flooded with questions. Do I need a

light,

do I need a microphone? Because we were zooming for TV. So I was highly visible that you could see all of our interviews on Zoom. So I started getting these questions and I decided I never posted much on Instagram other than like family pictures, cute outfits, like whatever. But I was like, I'm going to make a video that talks about how to set up your Zoom. And I posted it. I thought it was super simple and it had tons of likes and tons of engagement. I was like, huh, guess I'm onto something. So then I made another video that was like how to be confident on camera and same thing. So suddenly I think

it was I was finally getting response on my page, but I was also just bored during the pandemic that I was like, all right, I'm just going to make videos that teach people how to be on video. And I was doing it probably for three or four months, like a ton of content. But I finally had a politician in Virginia reach out to me and he was like, hey, can you coach me? And that was the first time he was like, how much? I was like.

Let me get back to you. You know how to go to my husband, like how much, how do I charge him? What's the software? Like, what do I do? I had nothing. So here's my first client and I started taking, one-on-ones then for a while and then eventually launched like group coaching. And it just kind of evolved over the last few years.

Angie Mizzell (11:35)
Mm-hmm.

Well, and that's another example that sometimes it does take an outside thing to nudge you to go, is viable.

You have since developed your business to where you are coaching online. So that is a lot to learn can you tell me a little bit about that decision of I'm gonna make a go for this, but I have some things to figure out, learn, and even how you developed it into products that people can buy

Erin Kienzle (12:14)
Mm-hmm.

Angie Mizzell (12:15)
tell me all your ways.

Erin Kienzle (12:17)
Yes. Well,

I feel like I got a whole nother college degree in the last few years, just looking at into like learning digital marketing. So to be honest, I might probably spent, I don't know, thousands of dollars easily on other coaches because I was like, need to accelerate this process. So when I wanted to make a course, I paid someone, you know, a thousand dollars to teach me how to make a course and went through her modules and learned how to do it. So that certainly has helped along the way. am, my husband wouldn't say I'm patient, but when it

it

comes to technology, I will sit and I will take the time and I will figure it out. So I think that's like, meet so many people that come to me they want to create courses and they're wonderful. They

so much knowledge they could share,

but they won't take the time to figure out the tech. And it has gotten a lot easier than it used to be, but you just need to like sit down and once you set everything up, then it just runs on autopilot. So it's like the investment upfronts. You get it uploaded, you get it posted, and then you can just sell it and it sits there.

So yeah, to your point, I had to learn a lot about how to do it all.

Angie Mizzell (13:20)
I think it helps when you know what it is you're trying to learn because there's a lot of people selling things online and sometimes I catch myself, I get caught up with all these offers and I'm like wait, do I even want to create a

so you have to know what you want but then I think having that patience and the ability to figure some things out, you either have to outsource it all or you have to do some things yourself.

Erin Kienzle (13:33)
Yeah.

And I also think, yeah, which I

see so many people make that mistake that they spend a lot of money up front.

Like to me, that's an error. Like before I even made my first course, I was doing a training for a group of women. And I just threw it out there and said, you know, I'm going to do this new course. It's going to start next month. Like here's a signup page and a very simple like name and email price. And on that call, I sold three of them. And I was like, crap, because I guess I have to create it. But it was proof of concept. So people were interested.

Angie Mizzell (14:09)
I guess I have to create a course now.

Erin Kienzle (14:15)
And I don't think too, if you're going to create a course, does not need to be fancy. People make the mistakes. Like my first one had stingers, you know that word, like zoom, like welcome to such and such course. It was highly edited. And I quickly realized later, most people don't go through the whole thing. I don't need all of that. I've really simplified my process, but I had to learn, learn to do that.

Angie Mizzell (14:35)
There is something about you, so I feel like I have some of that entrepreneurial thing. I kinda wanna work for myself, but there is a business thing, like even proof of concept. Were you taught that? Is that something that's innate? I would be inclined to just make something and be like, this sounds fantastic. is anybody gonna buy it?

Erin Kienzle (14:54)
Right, make the whole thing.

Yeah, I think it's in stages. So I'll give a lot of credit to my husband. He is very smart and savvy and he's a marketer. just like I'm fortunate to have those at home conversations over dinner. What do you think? What do you think of this? Should I do it this way? So he at first was like my sounding board since then, you know, now he's like, I can't help you anymore. If you can answer some marketing questions, but he doesn't know the nitty gritty. But then I joined like a women's masterminds called the brim, which was wonderful that I think helps me accelerate a little bit.

Angie Mizzell (15:05)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Erin Kienzle (15:27)
more and now I have a very small mastermind of female entrepreneurs and I really credit them with my success because you just, it gets lonely and it's nice to have other people, to not pay for it, other friends and people that you know respect and are in it to help you kind of sort things out.

Angie Mizzell (15:39)
Mm-hmm.

And now you are also an auctioneer and you... Well, only because of the images of an auctioneer.

Erin Kienzle (15:51)
Isn't that so weird?

It's weird when people hear it, yeah.

Angie Mizzell (15:58)
So I know that your co-anchor, Tom is an auctioneer. how did, did he just talk you into it? I mean, how did this even happen?

Erin Kienzle (16:07)
never

in a million years thought I would be an auctioneer. Like that's crazy. I don't come from an auction family. I'd never been to an auction. Like I knew nothing about it. When I was going through my divorce years ago, my co-host Tom was like, hey, why don't you come to this event and I'll give you a hundred bucks to stand on stage and read the item descriptions. So to say like, up first, we've got this great trip to Napa, yada yada. So at the time I was like, great, that can pay my babysitting bill. And it gets me a chance to like get out there and make

maybe

I'll meet someone. So originally that was like my motivation. Like, sure, I will dress up, you know, I'll go. And at first, like it was fun, but it took me a few events to suddenly truly realize the impact of what we were doing for these nonprofits. To watch them make a hundred thousand dollars in 10 minutes is pretty powerful. So even when I was working with Tom, like auctions were not my priority. It was just something cool to do. Pandemic hit, all of auctions stopped.

world

reopened. had like a handful of auctions and there is like continuing education for I'm called a benefit auctioneer really specialized. And I was like, you know why I you know, you're just called to do something like I wasn't doing a lot of auctions. I was like, I just I feel like I'm going to spend this money and I want to go to Vegas and I want to learn more. And I as an introvert for me to go to Las Vegas by myself and be around people I don't know. It was like horrifying. Like it's not what I wanted to do the first night. I hate my room by myself. But long story short, I met all these

Angie Mizzell (17:18)
Yeah.

Erin Kienzle (17:36)
these

other benefit auctioneers across country and half of them were women. And I had no idea they existed. My only people that I knew as auctioneers were men. So I met these women and one who's now my dear friend pulled me aside and she said, do you know what's possible? And I was like, no, what are you talking about? She said, do you know what is possible as a female auctioneer? I said, I have no idea. And she said, I'm gonna show you. So we traded, I coached her in video, she coached me and said, I get my auction business and things have blown up.

and it took one woman to see something and say this is what I built that's what she's built that's what she's built you can do it too.

Angie Mizzell (18:14)
I interviewed someone yesterday and it was a similar theme of how sometimes it really takes one person who has a vision that maybe you can't see or believes in you, mentors you and it can change everything.

Erin Kienzle (18:29)
Now we travel,

I mean, I travel all over the Southeast. We did 50 events last year. We've raised millions and millions of dollars. Like it's insane. And now I want to be, I brought on another auctioneer because I want to be that person for someone else. Like I want to say to someone, do you know what's possible?

Angie Mizzell (18:34)
Wow.

Wow.

There were so many reasons that I wanted to have you on the podcast. One is this through line of pivoting and changing that I feel.

is very intriguing to women in general, people who maybe want to change. Let me just start with, did you, you never could have imagined any of this. Did you just sort of have a vision for how your life was gonna play out and then it shifted or were you always kind of open to, we'll just see what happens.

Erin Kienzle (19:17)
I'll go back to my first marriage and you know it's just I got married very young. My kids came from that marriage. I'm grateful for that. I did that because that's what I thought I had to do.

I got a young age, I just lost my mom, I need to get married, I need to do this. So my life was kind of just hiding grief of losing my mother and treading water and doing what I thought I was supposed to do as a woman in her 20s. And then I kind of woke up one day and was like, I'm unfulfilled, this isn't what I want.

And I think that's when I really reevaluated like life is short as we all know I worried what would happen when my kids left and then I just felt like I'd be stuck and unhappy. So long story short when you get divorced you get hungry because you lose half of what you have it gets split up. So I think that was my initial drive like my gosh I need to figure something out like I need to increase my revenue personally but it just made me shift to like what is important it made me shift to finding purpose.

that I want to do something that has meaning to me. And that's both of what I do, the videos helping other people. When they say, you changed my social media presence, I love this, thank you for what you've done. That's so rewarding. When I go to nonprofit, we raise a million dollars. That's so rewarding. So I just really want to focus on what I can do that changes people.

Angie Mizzell (20:23)
Yeah.

I was going to ask you, what do you feel like is the bravest thing you've ever done? Was it leaving your marriage or was it something else? What feels like the biggest leap of faith you've ever taken?

Erin Kienzle (20:53)
Yeah, I mean,

that was definitely it. I also though, like, and this sounds very minor compared to that, but that first reel I posted teaching people how to zoom.

I'm not kidding you, like it was, I felt like I wanted to throw up when I posted it, which sounds wild, right? But I was like, cause it was so, it wasn't what I did. Like I didn't teach people, it was so against like who I am and what I do. And I know it's so minor, but it was, that was like a massive shift for me to decide to create a new persona online. It was a big deal.

And I had to ease into that process, you know, because you worry like who's going to judge me. Like who is she? Who does she think she is creating this content? Who does she think she is being an auctioneer? Like making those massive steps were hard at first.

Angie Mizzell (21:28)
Yeah.

So let's go back to that when you decided I'm gonna make this real to show people how to zoom and it made you want to throw up because it was such a vulnerable moment. Right, but for you, something was stirring up in you like, I don't do this. I don't teach people how to do this and I'm stepping into this new thing. What was it that pulled you to do it anyway?

Erin Kienzle (21:54)
And it wasn't even vulnerable post. That's just so silly. was like.

Right. Yeah.

Angie Mizzell (22:11)
Can you even describe whatever is going on when you feel pulled to do something?

Erin Kienzle (22:18)
think I had a big picture in my head of like what if, what if this is something that I could do? What if posting this video helps people? What if down the line I could train people? What if I could do corporate trainings? Like always there was like this big, we call it the hairy audacious goal, BHAG, that what it could be. But I never verbalized it to anyone because it seemed so silly at the time.

Angie Mizzell (22:25)
Mm.

Hmm?

So you had a vision and I believe in those, I I call it a vision where it's just a scene in my head where I get a flash of what something could be.

So you have a really busy life at this point. You now you are remarried. You have a blended family. How many girls do you have now? You four? Four daughters and

Erin Kienzle (23:02)
We've got four daughters together.

Angie Mizzell (23:08)
and you were doing the same many things that I'm doing. You're running them to the competitions and the sporting things and you have a day job and another whole career. You have like at least three things going on that I can count. I think there's more. How do you do that? How do you manage it?

Erin Kienzle (23:20)
That's a lot.

I don't know.

mean, honestly, into their days, I'm like, I don't.

Like the morning seems so long ago. I would say first of all, I wake up very early Being you know working in morning television for so many years like I still innately wake up early So most days I'm up by 430 So there's that quiet time early on it's kind like my slamming time to get stuff done like personally for my business I have the like Adapter in my car. So I bring my laptop when I'm waiting for kid pickup a lot of times like I'm on my laptop there And also I just have a very supportive husband. He does the majority of the

He does laundry. He works from home. So it's nice that he's kind of at home all day to kind of keep things up and running too and being like very helpful.

Angie Mizzell (24:10)
Yeah, it's always

good to have support or recognize where that support is and I'm sure it's different for everyone. And the other thing, when I can see people who are working in the cracks like that and working in their car, it really helps if you have clarity, you know what has to get done I I think the times that I struggle with all of that is when something about...

my vision is fuzzy. So if I'm not completely clear on what is the most important thing right now or what am I even trying to accomplish, that is just something I've noticed. Do you feel pretty laser focused? Do you feel really clear?

Erin Kienzle (24:38)
Yeah.

No, I

go in and out. mean, like, I agree with you. If I'm fuzzy and what I'm trying to accomplish, like during the holidays, it probably took three weeks or so off of Instagram. It was delightful, by the way. But I just, wasn't promoting anything. I just felt silly. You know, I was like, don't even know what I want to post. So felt very fuzzy. So nothing happened.

Angie Mizzell (24:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Erin Kienzle (25:06)
like if I am focused though, if I have like a goal back to the news deadlines, right? Like I need to get this done in two weeks, then certainly helps.

Angie Mizzell (25:14)
I saw you speaking on a panel about, I don't know, it was a year or two ago, and I loved how vulnerable that conversation was between the people who were on the panel and the audience and just asking real questions. But something I remember you talking about is either narrowing or being very intentional about who you spend your time with.

just really having a very low tolerance for negativity and drama and gossip. Can you speak a little bit more to that, the things that you say no to in your life so that you can make space for all of these things that are so important?

Erin Kienzle (25:51)
You know, my word of the year was no a couple of years ago. And I know that sounds terrible and negative, but I realized that was when I realized that I was an introvert, which I think I know I knew, but I never wanted to like fess up to it because I always seem like a dirty word. But I realized just being an introvert means that people drain me and I need alone time to fill up. So when I was like running, running, running, trying to do all the things, make everyone happy, I was sick. I was drained like it was not good. So still the word no guides me a lot.

decisions I make. You know, I hate networking events. Not saying I won't go. I'm forcing myself to go to one tomorrow. But they're very, very draining. So a lot of, and they can be wonderful, but I just decide if I'm going to something, like what is the benefit to me? And I don't mean it in a selfish way. just, my time is very limited. So if I'm going to be away from my kids or away from the work that I need to do, like what is the point to doing this? Does that sound terrible?

Angie Mizzell (26:51)
No, it.

Erin Kienzle (26:52)
But it's really

helped because I say no to the majority of things and my friend groups are small, but I'm very cautious about who I hang out with and they need to be positive, not say like everybody goes through bad stuff when we talk about that. But I just trimmed a lot of fat that wasn't helping and I am 100 % better for it.

Angie Mizzell (27:12)
I think the measure of are we cutting too much out of our life is what I'm making room for fulfilling me it's something I've had to come to terms with the older that I get and we know we lose people. I lost my mom this past summer. It's like life is short. My mom was 68. How long do I actually think I have, and I don't like to spend time doing that math, but.

I don't think we have all the time in the world. And then the flip side of that is we don't always have to be in a rush. Like we do have time. But I think the time comes when we're present. I think the time comes when we slow down and we're fully in our life. And we can be distracted by so many things in our life and get so caught up and filled up by things that probably don't matter. So...

Erin Kienzle (28:04)
Right.

And I'm in a unique situation that, you know, 50 times a year I'm at a gala with hundreds of people on stages. So I need to protect my energy to serve those clients and be optimal when I'm up there as an auctioneer. So I actually, I have a big calendar over there that's got circles, stickers of all of my events. So it's almost like my energy calculator. So I can see week by week for the whole year, like, wow, that's a crazy week. No lunches, no happy hours, no

Angie Mizzell (28:26)
Yeah.

Erin Kienzle (28:33)
extra calls, anything like that because I need to conserve for, you know, those big events.

Angie Mizzell (28:38)
Yeah, I think that is the other thing. It's like seeing the big picture. I have to remind myself to zoom out so that I don't feel as bad about saying no. So before we go, I want to take us back to a conversation that you and I had over coffee within the past six months. And I was saying something about my own personal story.

that I feel like can help people. And it was about leaving my career and taking that leap of faith and how that changed me even decades later. I mean, I was 25 to 30 when that happened and I just celebrated my 50th birthday. And sometimes I'm like, does this story even translate anymore?

I just felt like maybe it wasn't relevant to people at Midlife. And you were actually like, that's not true because you encounter a lot of women through your work who want to take that leap of faith or want to pivot. Can you talk more about that?

Erin Kienzle (29:31)
100%.

I

would say the majority of women that come to work with me, and it's called video launchpad, they will say, well, I'm an attorney, but I really, I really want to be an influencer, or I'm, you know, I don't know, a doctor, but I really want to start designing stationary. Like it's wild to me, like they have good careers, great jobs, but they want to do something else. They want to make that pivot. I'm not saying leave that great career, but they're looking like if they're social as the chance to test the

pivot and try something new. Because, you know, there people doing incredible things online. You know, we didn't grow up with the internet. And just seeing what these young people are creating, you know, we had to go to TV news to be on video and what they're able to do on the platform. But there is no age, you know, 40, 50, 60. There are women making six figures easily just by showing up online. It's a completely new pivot for them.

Angie Mizzell (30:09)
Right. Right.

right.

Right.

Right.

So what do you say to your clients? Or to anyone who's listening to this right now who needs a little encouragement to listen to that thing inside of them.

Erin Kienzle (30:41)
I think if there's like that nagging feeling inside of you like when I made my first post and was like I just feel like I have to do this you need to listen to that inner voice as far as when it comes to social media if you're launching something new I Love social media for testing different things, but I think a lot of people make the mistake to start broad You will see more growth and more followers if you start if you really narrow the focus

You know, like why we follow people for specific things. So, like I'll use the woman that was, she was a real estate agent. She was like, I'm gonna be an influencer. And I was like, I don't know. Everybody wants to be an influencer. And she's crushing it now. But she at first was just influencing, but then it was like women over 50. And it totally, creating that narrower space is what caused her to blow up. So specificity, I think helps in the beginning.

Angie Mizzell (31:28)
Wow.

So where could people listening today find you and what would you like to leave them with?

Erin Kienzle (31:39)
Yeah.

so on Instagram, it's Erin Kienzle. E-R-I-N-K-I-E-N-Z-L-E. If you go on Erinoncamera.com, that's my website. If you need an auctioneer for a nonprofit gala, our company is giving 4 the number four, Giving 4 Good. You can Google that. And I would just leave your listeners or viewers with the thought that it's never too late, truly. Everything I'm doing right now, I never thought in a million years that this is what I would be doing.

So try it, do something new. We all get bored. I feel like we're at that stage of life, right? Where we're kind of bored. We need to shake it up a little bit.

Angie Mizzell (32:17)
I can relate to that. I felt boredom for the first time in a long time. I'm like, what is this strange thing? But yeah, it's time to shake things up a little bit. Thank you, Erin, for being with all of us.

Erin Kienzle (32:25)
change it up.

Thank you.

Angie Mizzell (32:32)
Thank you for listening to More Like You. If you want to connect with today's guest, Erin Kienzle, and learn more about her work, raising money for nonprofits, or her coaching program, Video Launchpad, you can find the links in the show notes.

And if you enjoyed today's episode, I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, Hello Friday. It's a weekly dose of inspiration and encouragement to help you live a life that feels like home. Subscribe to Hello Friday on my website, angiemizzell.com.

Thanks again for listening to More Like You. I'll see you back here next week.