More Like You with Angie Mizzell

Taking Risks That Feel Safe with Kerstin Martin

• Angie Mizzell

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In this episode of More Like You, I’m joined by my longtime friend, online educator, and founder of Calm Business, Kerstin Martin. We dive into the balance between taking risks and feeling safe, how to recognize the safety nets you already have, and why building a sustainable business matters more than chasing hustle culture.

Kerstin shares her journey from corporate life to solopreneurship, how she transitioned from web design to online education, and why she’s passionate about running a business with more ease and less stress. She also opens up about her radical rethink moment—a life-changing decision that led her to take a bold leap and build a business on her own terms.

Whether you're an entrepreneur or navigating a career transition, this episode will inspire you to redefine success, trust your instincts, and build a life that truly feels like home.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

  • Kerstin’s entrepreneurial journey and the unexpected way her business started
  • The role of safety nets when making big career moves
  • The truth about hustle culture and why Kerstin rejects it
  • How to build a calm, sustainable business without falling for high-pressure sales tactics
  • Why experimentation is key to finding what truly works for you
  • A simple exercise to help you evaluate risks and uncover your own safety nets

Guest Spotlight: Kerstin Martin

Kerstin Martin is the founder of Calm Business, where she helps solopreneurs build sustainable, profitable businesses without hustle or overwhelm. She’s an online educator, a former web designer, and a strong advocate for running a business on your own terms.

🔗 Connect with Kerstin:

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Thanks for being here. Until next time, keep making choices that lead you closer to a life that feels like home. 💛

(00:00) Once we had decided, yes, that's what we want to do. How do we make it work? All the puzzle pieces fell into place. when I moved into that office, it felt amazing to me because I really felt like this is my thing now. This is like my business. Angie Mizzell (00:14) Hmm. Kerstin (00:17) was so much freedom. Angie Mizzell (00:18) Yeah. Kerstin (00:18) in that moment and so much excitement and enjoyment and just awe at, wow, I can do this. Angie Mizzell (00:25) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (00:27) it's worth looking at, what is your safety net? And what would that allow you to do? Angie Mizzell (00:33) Hey, I'm Angie Mizzell and welcome to More Like You, the podcast about letting go of the life you thought you should live and creating one that feels more like you. I'm a former TV journalist turned author and storyteller, and I know how it feels to chase success that looks good on paper, but doesn't feel right in your heart. Walking away from that life taught me to trust myself, embrace change, and create a life that feels like home. And now I'm here to help you do the same. Today's episode is about Taking risks while still feeling safe. I'm joined by my friend Kerstin Martin. Kerstin and I met over 15 years ago in the comment sections of our blogs, and our friendship has evolved alongside our lives and our businesses. She's an online educator, a course creator, and the founder of Calm Business. Kerstin helps solopreneurs run their business with more ease and less this episode, we talk about the risks that she's taken along the way, the role of a safety net in entrepreneurship, and how to recognize the safety nets that you might already have. Let's dive in. Angie Mizzell (01:42) all right, Kerstin, I'm so glad you're here. Everyone out there, Kerstin and I are friends. We've known each other for quite a want you to tell everyone what you're doing now professionally, because watching your business evolve has been so fun and inspiring, but we're gonna start with what you do now, and then we're gonna work it back. Kerstin (02:01) right now, I run a business called Calm Business. And I am actually a an online educator. So I offer online courses. And I'm a course creator. And I offer business and marketing courses for solopreneurs, you know, so it's for people who mostly run their businesses by themselves, you know, they might get a little bit of help, you know, from a VA or from contractors and I just launched my first new course called the Calm Business Foundation. And that's all about running a business actually, because many people start out because they have a passion for something, a craft and art and they want to monetize it, but they don't actually really know how to run a business. And then they become very overwhelmed as they grow and become more successful. So this is all about the practical side of running a business. And I'll take you behind the scenes of my business, which I've had for 10 years. And it's all about finance and legal and business management, time management, practical things, to help you feel calmer in your business. I'm all about calm. And my next two courses will be about email marketing and course for course creators and it's really a philosophy that has grown over the last few years, the calm business philosophy. Angie Mizzell (03:18) what type of industries, you said solopreneurs, but what types of fields are these people working in? They come to you and your course would be helpful. Kerstin (03:26) Thanks. I mean, it's a mix, know, so I still probably have a lot of designers in my audience at the moment because I used to teach Squarespace courses and but a lot of artists and coaches, therapists and, you know, a lot of times people who had professions and then they found ways to, you know, to turn those into a business. I have people who teach languages and organisers, Marie Kondo specialists, it really is a lot of them are creative people. a lot of them are also I think what they have in common is there are a lot of HSPs, highly sensitive people and introverts, neurodivergent people and just anyone really who benefits from the flexibility of running your own business, you know, who doesn't fit into the nine to five. Angie Mizzell (04:22) And when you say online business, I was thinking about this and how business has evolved over the years, definitely over the past decade or two. But online is how we find our audience. So, for example, I'm an author. I want to do speaking events. So you're seeing people out in the real world. But how do I get my message out? How do I tell people what I'm doing? So we It really is important that we figure out how to connect with people over the Internet. And the beauty of it is that you reach people far and wide. mean, you live across the country in Washington state. I live in South Carolina and we are very close through the power of the Internet. So. Kerstin (05:05) And we met in real life, you know, so... Angie Mizzell (05:07) And we did meet in real life, and that is so there is just bridging that gap and think sometimes people may not feel savvy in certain ways, but they have something they need to offer. So You're helping bridge the gap. so let's talk about calm business. I was actually with you in visiting you when you were shifting your business. to the idea of running a calm business. And you were talking about hustle culture and wanting to just reject hustle culture. let's just start with that. What is hustle culture? Kerstin (05:38) Yeah. Well, I think many people think about it as, you know, work hard and like grow energy and and all of that. And that is all true. You know, so it's very high energy. But for me, it's also using manipulative sales psychology to sell to people. It's the culture that says, I will help you earn six figures every month in two weeks, or create your online course using AI in five minutes, and then you'll become a millionaire by the end of the year. And it's very, very income-focused. It uses FOMO fear of missing out and all these manipulative tactics to draw people in. and then often sell the mediocre products. And it's rampant out there. mean, anyone who spends any time in the online world knows that. And you cannot escape it actually. It's very high energy. It's all about quick and secrets. let me sell you my secrets to... Angie Mizzell (06:42) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (06:46) six figure months and all that stuff. And it completely ignores that building a business takes time. It completely ignores that quality matters, relationships of course there's nothing wrong with making money. ComeBusiness is not against making money at all. It's not against being profitable because we need to be profitable if we have a business. And, but it's just how they do it. You know, they basically exploit vulnerabilities just for their own personal gains. Angie Mizzell (07:16) Well, and you said the FOMO, the fear of missing out is definitely real in this day and age. We use social media as a tool and it helps us reach our followers, our audience, our customers. But it also makes us watch what other people are doing. And there's this pressure to keep up. And I believe we forget that things take time. that trust is built over time. You have to have a foundation to play the long game. And I've seen you do that. I've seen you grow. Well, start with a service-based business and scale and grow your following. Sometimes I'm like, how do you do that, Kerstin? Now, one thing I know for sure is that you do it because you work. Kerstin (08:00) you Angie Mizzell (08:05) You put in the time and you work and you are committed to your work. So working a lot is not the same as hustling. Would you agree with that? Kerstin (08:15) I, yes, yes, I would say so, you know, because the hustlers are ultimately not interested in relationships. know, the hustlers are all about volume, you know, so they just throw their stuff at the wall and it will stick, you know, it will stick in places. So they just throw a lot of at the wall and enough will stick for them to keep doing that, you know, and, but when I started out, I mean, I, you I was definitely with blue-eyed when I, jumped into this, you know, because I, we had just moved from England to the US. I was in my early fifties at the time. And the idea was that I would find a job again. but then, you know, a friend asked me to redesign her business website and I had been doing that as a hobby, you know, like designing my own blogs. So I did that and it was a huge success. So I thought, Angie Mizzell (08:46) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (09:04) Okay, this was fun. She paid me. Why don't I do that instead of finding a job, you know, to start a business? So I literally just jumped into that. I think what helped me is that I had decades of corporate experience, you know, so I wasn't a stranger to, you know, marketing and sales and customer service and all of that. So that definitely helped. But I Angie Mizzell (09:18) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (09:28) I think in the beginning, I wasn't even so aware of the hustle. I just basically decided I'm going to be a web designer. Here is what I need. I had my computer. actually rented a little office for the first year, which plugged me into a local business community where I found customers. And I just kind of went on to do it. for me, a lot of it has grown organically. mean, I'm a relationships person and And that is really reflected in everything that I do. I also experiment a lot. So for instance, when I moved from being a service-based business to becoming a online educator where I sold products, my online courses, our products, that was a big shift, but it was an experiment. I was doing both for a few years and it just became too much to handle as one person. So I decided, okay, next year I'm gonna stop doing one-on-one. I'm just gonna focus on my courses, which was a risk because at that point my courses didn't make as much as my one-on-one services. But I said, I'm just gonna try it for 12 months and see, and if it doesn't work out, I'll go back to one-on-one. And of course it worked out great. That was my best year yet at that point. Angie Mizzell (10:38) Yes. Right. Well, what I love about your story, and as you said, I you had a whole career and just a wealth of knowledge and experience. But you've always seemed to me like a natural born entrepreneur. Tell us about your first venture into the online world. Or was it coaching? You were offering, was it dating advice? Kerstin (10:54) Hmm yes, Angie Mizzell (11:03) tell us about that. Kerstin (11:04) I think I've always been an entrepreneur, actually. And I think that's also reflected in that I had a lot of jobs throughout my professional career because I always wanted to try things. so I have done a lot of different things. And I think that reflects the entrepreneurial spirit. But yes, when I was actually working for a finance company in the airline industry at the time, I was going through a heartbreak. I had broken up from my long-term relationship. I lived in London at the time from the Englishman. And I read this book and it really helped me. It was a book by a German therapist and it really helped me kind of get over that. So I thought, you know what? Why don't I translate this book and make a workshop out of it? So that's what I did. I basically translated it, created a workshop, and this was just before the internet really hit. So I actually printed flyers that I distributed in local cafes, in bathrooms, women's bathrooms, and I had friends also distribute them at their work and stuff. And I actually had people sign up. It was amazing. Angie Mizzell (11:53) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (12:07) I rented a room at my local gym where I was a member and then these people came and I was doing these workshops on how to get over a broken heart. I mean, you know, I'm not a, I mean, and I made that clear, I'm not a therapist. I wasn't even a coach. You know, I always called myself an SME, a subject matter expert. And, but yeah, so I always... Angie Mizzell (12:26) Mmm. Kerstin (12:31) always ideas, I always, and sometimes I tried them out, you know. And of course, soon after that, I met my husband, you know, so that was that. Angie Mizzell (12:39) Yeah, so I guess you knew what you were talking about. You found love. Where were you living when I met you as a blogger? Kerstin (12:48) I think I was living in the US already because I moved to the US in 2005 and that's when I started blogging and I had a job in those days. I worked for college and that I think is when we met, but I was moving around a lot. Angie Mizzell (12:53) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's right. And so there's a story that you tell and I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, the story we call the radical rethink. And I believe this radical rethink that you and your husband had was right before you started your Squarespace web design business. Is that correct? Okay, so take us back in time. Kerstin (13:23) is correct yes. Angie Mizzell (13:26) what was happening in your life that made you look at your husband and go, we need to rethink what's going on. Kerstin (13:31) I actually still have that text message that I sent him at the time. So we lived in the UK at the time and he worked for a medical device corporation and I had just started a job as a travel agent. But we always wanted to get to the Pacific Northwest where I had actually lived before and we both really loved it here. In his company, they were talking about transfer. Like we were often moving because of his company. And so they were talking about maybe moving him to Asia. And we thought, no way. I mean, we're just getting further and further away from where we really want to be. So we decided, well, we're going to downsize and to save money. And so that we can actually make the move to the Pacific Northwest, like in a year or two. So we decided to look at apartments or flats, as they call them over there. We found a little flat and we had everything arranged with the landlord and we felt really good about that decision. And then the landlord in the last minute pulled out. And I had, at that point, I'd been so sure about our path, downsize, save money, and then a year or two from then we make the big move back to the US. So that all fell apart. that afternoon when I got that message from the landlord, I texted my husband saying, I'm so disappointed. I really thought I was, I felt so sure about this. Maybe we need a radical rethink about what we're doing. And he took that verbally and literally, you know, so when I came home that night, he said, let's sit down and talk. I want to move to, to the Pacific Northwest now. I don't want to wait a year or two. And now, you know, we had good jobs, we had a little bit of savings, but there were quite a few obstacles, you know, like with to do with this relocation and all that. And we, I don't know, but it was one of those situations. Once we had decided, yes, that's what we want to do. How do we make it work? All the puzzle pieces fell into place. I mean, it was actually kind of crazy, you know, so. Angie Mizzell (15:10) Wow. Kerstin (15:35) His company waived the relocation reimbursement that he was actually committed to. We would have normally had to pay them back money for the relocation that they had paid for us. They waived that and that was our green light. So we took our savings, we paid for our own relocation and three months later we moved to the US. we had no job. Angie Mizzell (15:55) Wow. Kerstin (15:59) We had no home. We stayed with friends to start with. We were in our early 50s. We both quit our jobs. So it was a huge risk at that age, especially also financially. But we just knew that this was the right thing to do. And everything worked out. We landed here. He found a job soon after. Angie Mizzell (16:13) Yes. Kerstin (16:18) we found a place to buy. That's when we bought our first condo where you visited us. that's when I decided, because in this whole transition, that's when I created that website for my friend. And that's when I then decided, OK, I can actually start my own business. you one story, actually, which I felt also was really serendipitous, the story about my office. it's actually, I think it really kind of demonstrates that sometimes you really have to like trust the universe or just put it out there, you know. so we moved in November, in December 2014. In August 2014, we were visiting friends in Vancouver and Bellingham, which is the little town in northern Washington that we ended up settling in and where I had lived before. And as we were visiting that August, went down to Bellingham and friends of ours were building a new building, a multi-purpose building. So it had retail on the ground floor, then it had offices and then it had apartments. So they took us around this building with our hard hats and you know, and It was in a beautiful part of Bellingham, in the historic part. It had views of the ocean. And I remember walking around this floor where all the little offices were going to be. And I thought, wow, this is really cool. I would love to have a little office here. But I don't know what I would do. I mean, I don't have a business. So that felt completely far-fetched to... to do that, you know, because I did not have a business and I didn't even know what it would be. And but I remember walking around with my hard hat looking at the views and just the vibes of that part of town that also knew really well, and just thinking how cool would that be to have a little office here. And then six months later, the building was finished and I rented an office in that building. Angie Mizzell (18:01) Hmm. That, okay. So many things that I want to unpack there. I'll start, let's go back to the radical rethink. I remember a therapist told me once that when you make a decision about something, like really make a decision, that the universe starts moving in that direction. It's almost like circumstances start rearranging themselves. Kerstin (18:08) haha Angie Mizzell (18:28) around the decision you've made because I believe there is power in a clear decision and a resolve. On the other hand, and we'll get to this in a minute, you need a safety net of some sort. We've talked about this a lot. So we're going to put a pin in that for a second just so that the audience knows that we are talking about making bold leaps. and going in that direction you feel pulled, but there's still room to be practical in those decisions. about how this business of yours started, so you're walking through an office building thinking, huh, I'd like to have an office here one day, or wouldn't that be nice? and you didn't have a business yet, I always think sometimes you get an idea before it's time. I feel like this has happened to me a lot. And you get the idea before it's time. And I think we get tripped up when we think, I have this idea. That means it's supposed to be happening now. And if it's not working out now, then maybe I was misguided. When sometimes we're getting foresight, maybe what is to come. So you started your business, this trajectory of where you are today started because you blogged and created beautiful websites on your own because you just were gifted in that area. And I started to notice, your websites were always so pretty. And that's how it started. That's how you got your first client, right? Yeah. Kerstin (19:47) It was my creative outlet. know, web design was my creative outlet. Yeah. Angie Mizzell (19:52) It was it was just something you were passionate about. And that is what someone picked up on and said, I will pay you money to make a website. So was it after you completed the first Web Design project that you realize, okay, this is gonna be my business. Kerstin (20:08) was after I completed it because I was building it while we were in that transition, you know, to move from the UK and to the US. then, you know, we landed here, I finished the website and it was a huge success. And that really made me like sit up and think. And of course, my friend was also very encouraging, you know, she's the one who said, you know, you should do this as a business. And that's when I thought, yeah, you know what? I could. I I felt, I mean, I certainly didn't know everything. You I was not a professional designer. Like I'd never, you know, taken any professional classes or certifications, but because I was always dabbling with it and really enjoyed it, I knew that I knew enough, you know, and with Squarespace, was also a bit easier, to be honest, because I didn't have to have a lot of coding experience. So I knew it was enough to do this. So I literally just made that decision. And then what I did is, the first thing I did is I sent an email to everyone in my address book, friends, former colleagues, and just saying, OK, guys, we just made our move. And I decided I'm going to be a web designer. And so here is the first website that I just created for a business. Angie Mizzell (21:18) Yes. Kerstin (21:23) So if you know anyone, I will not be sending you any more emails about this because it was unsolicited and you don't really like pester your friends with your business stuff. But that was just the one and only time that I did that. And the ripple effect of that I felt even years later still, where people contacted me years later. Angie Mizzell (21:40) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (21:43) When I asked them, so how did you hear about me? my friend Christine, you know, she got this email from you and she forwarded it to me and I kept your details. And yeah, here we are years later. And that is what started it, you know, and then a couple of months after that, you know, the office building was finished. And because I was good friends with the owners, you know, they told me about it and they said, well, we have a little office here. You know, it was like the smallest office. Angie Mizzell (21:52) Yes. Kerstin (22:08) that you could rent. And I tell you, when I moved into that office, it felt amazing to me because I really felt like this is my thing now. This is like my business. I have my own little office, which also helped, to be honest, with the transition from going to a corporate office. I still felt like I was professional. But it just felt there was so much freedom. Angie Mizzell (22:18) Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kerstin (22:33) in that moment and so much excitement and enjoyment and just awe at, wow, I can do this. I had enough. used savings to pay the first six months of office rent because obviously my customers, I was still building up a customer base and I didn't want to have the stress. That's kind of the safety net, right? That's part of the safety net. Angie Mizzell (22:40) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kerstin (22:57) that I had at the time. didn't want the stress of having to worry about my monthly office rent. So I paid six months upfront. then in those six months, I was able to build a business that then became very sustainable. Angie Mizzell (23:02) Mm-hmm. Yes. And so we went back in time and we're going to start kind of bringing us back to where we are. So from that Squarespace business, at some point you realized you wanted to scale because you were trading time for money and that works for a while until your schedule is full and you realize that you yourself have limits to what you can provide. So at that point you shifted your business to teaching. You created an online course to help people build websites on Squarespace. Kerstin (23:42) Yeah, and that was actually kind of organic too. I didn't start that because I felt like I wanted to scale. I started that because I took someone else's online course, someone who was a course creator. And at the time actually, I thought, I want to maybe do something else and do an online course for that. Angie Mizzell (23:49) Okay. Kerstin (24:01) But then I realized I actually have a good business with the web design. And people often ask me, how do I do this and that? And I thought, well, OK, so why don't I create a web design course? So again, it happened very organically. I didn't even have a mailing list at the time. So I just created my first course. A lot of people from the course that I had been taken, where I got this idea, They actually signed up for my course, so that was great. So I already had some customers for that. And teaching is actually another thing. I mean, I've often done that in my corporate career, actually. I often held workshops, so I wasn't completely unfamiliar to teaching, and I love teaching. And I also love just putting together the courses. And at the time, I mean, the concept of online courses was still fairly fresh and new. And so I launched that and then again, I built it up very slowly. Then I kept adding courses all about Squarespace and different aspects of using Squarespace. And I did both one-on-one client work and online courses for about three years. And then I realized it was just too much work for one person. It was too much to do it both. And that's when I decided I really liked having more freedom and flexibility, not being so tied to project schedules. And so I decided to stop doing the one-on-one design and kind of see if I could actually grow the course business to a point where that is also sustainable. And yes, I mean, it just took off from there basically. Angie Mizzell (25:27) Right. And so you did that for a while. And then you've just recently made it through another transition now you are definitely a subject matter expert on running a business and you are teaching people how to run business online in a calm, sustainable way. You recently in a newsletter wrote about the importance of having a safety net because people may look at you, look at your life, they see your photos on Instagram and they make assumptions like that could never work out for me. I could never take a leap or take a risk to run an online business, even though my heart is telling me. to move in this direction, I don't see how it can be sustainable. What I love about you, Kerstin is that you've always been transparent in your newsletters where you really tell people what's going on behind the scenes. But recently, you wrote a newsletter about something we had talked about privately about how we need to have a safety net and how we don't talk about the fact that many times there is some sort of safety net in place. Okay, so let's talk about that. And I wanna extend that from just you need a safety net to let's be creative about what a safety net could actually be. Because many of us listening may actually have safety nets that they had not even considered. Kerstin (26:51) Yeah, absolutely. mean, looking back, none of this could really have happened without the safety net. And I feel, like you said, there are different kinds of safety nets. We often think of that as a financial safety net, but we also have psychological safety nets. So for me, for instance, most of my life, I've always felt things will work out. I can take a chance. What's worse that can happen? it doesn't work out, then I'll try something else. So that was, in a way, my psychological safety net. When I made the switch to teaching online 100 % and stopping my one-on-one services, one of my safety nets was I can always go back to being a web designer. so I think at the time, I probably wasn't quite so aware of that. looking back and also seeing what other people are doing, yes, the safety net, I think, is actually a fundamental element of running your own business. And often, you know, so for me, my husband is my safety net, always has been, and certainly here in America, because he has a regular job. So that also takes care of health insurance, for instance, which you don't really have to worry so much about when you live in Europe, but you certainly do over here. And so when I made that last pivot to offering platform independent business courses, it was risky because I had a business that was doing well. My business was in the six figures, has been for years. So I had a good business and many people actually said, why do you want to change? You've got something good there. I think this is also about listening to our hearts and listening to who we are. Because what was happening is that while I really like Squarespace, but Squarespace changed and they kept changing their platform all the time, meaning my courses were always needing updates. so I always had to go in and make changes and update and it just didn't feel calm. Angie Mizzell (28:36) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (28:52) And I was always reacting. So I actually ended up running a very reactive business. I was always reacting to what Squarespace was doing. And even though it was often good changes, but that just didn't feel calm to me. I value feeling calm in my business. And that literally means my nervous system. And it means having a business that's not too complicated and not too dependent on someone else's decisions. Angie Mizzell (28:54) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (29:19) and actions. And so it was a big risk because I had a good business. I was well known in my industry and to go into something where, you know, there is more competition, there are more people who offer business courses than Squarespace courses. And but I just knew in my heart I needed to make that leap I needed to try it at least. Remember, I'm all about experimenting. So I sat down with my husband and I said, this is what I want to do. But it means that we might have to rely a bit more on your income while I build up this new business because it takes time, because it is essentially a new business. And so we had that talk and we looked at our finances and he said, yeah, you can do that. You can do that. I have your back. that really gave me the freedom to then experiment a little bit, also to be honest, to take a break. I ended up actually taking a much longer break than I had planned. So most of 2024, I didn't create any new courses, for instance. But I was able to do that without stressing. Angie Mizzell (30:16) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kerstin (30:29) over covering my basics. And that's what the financial safety net or what the general safety net is all about. And it can be like a partner. A partner is probably the most common safety net out there, but it can also be a part-time job. It can be knowing that you can move back in with your parents if everything fails or that your family will help you out or that you can always get a job again. Angie Mizzell (30:32) Right? Right? Okay. Kerstin (30:54) or that things will just work out, that you have this faith, this trust. But it's worth looking at, like really, what is your safety net? And what would that allow you to do? Angie Mizzell (30:59) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I want to go back to the point you made at the beginning because you are single for a while. I mean, you met your husband a little bit later in your life, definitely in your professional life. So you were living like this and operating from this sort of internal compass system the whole time. And so you have gone through seasons where you are 100 % supporting yourself. Kerstin (31:35) Oh yes. I mean yes. Angie Mizzell (31:35) And again, I really think the psychological safety net, because for me, it can sound negative for some people, but I do like to take things to the worst case scenario because I don't actually think the worst thing's going to happen, but I have to let myself go there. What if, what is the worst thing that can happen here? And would I still be okay? And can I live with the worst thing if it meant that I really am answering what feels very true and strong within me. And I just think it gives everyone an opportunity just to think about what is pressing on them. Is there something going on that they feel compelled to move in a direction to just pause and be calm about it and think about what are my options? Because the one thing I believe in my bones is that we don't have to stay stuck where we are. Kerstin (32:17) You Angie Mizzell (32:25) that whether we're breaking out of something, either physically unsticking yourself or mentally unsticking yourself, and get some power back in the choices that you're making. And so this is all just very powerful stuff. And you're living proof. It's been so fun to just watch you do this. Kerstin (32:40) Yeah. Yeah, thank you. And yeah, I I completely agree. I actually really like the worst case scenario exercise. It's one of the things that I teach in my foundation course, you know, do that, write it out, journal about it. What is the worst thing literally that could happen? And then, you know, okay, if that were to happen, what could you do? What would your options be? You know, look at that. So it's almost like you may have a bit of a backup plan in place, you know, and To your point, I really love this last point that you made. We always have choices. Even if we're completely stuck, even if the situation is really dire, we always have choices. Even if it's just the choice to look at things a bit differently, to change your attitude about something. But that's sometimes where it starts. But there's always something that we can do. to help us then move forward or get unstuck. But sometimes we have to go to that worst case scenario to then really think about, well, what would my choices be then in that situation? Angie Mizzell (33:46) It's interesting because we've had long talks about this. Our lives, if you were to look at our paths on paper, they seem like there's not much in common. Kerstin (33:56) Yeah. Angie Mizzell (33:57) And yet we connected so deeply all those years ago over this theme of home. And for me, home really meant stability or a certain level of success or things working out the way I thought they were going to look. And here you are, you know, moving around, changing jobs. Kerstin (34:03) Yeah. Angie Mizzell (34:18) of going on your own, just going your own way. And yet you too value the idea of home. And when I came to visit you, and you guys have moved a lot, as you said, but your space, your actual home, it's very curated and cozy and welcoming. And I felt myself exhale the first time I flew across the country to visit you. Kerstin (34:25) Thanks. Angie Mizzell (34:43) because home is a feeling and it's something and it's an energetic vibe that you give off. But I just want to ask you, what does home mean to you? Kerstin (34:56) It's a really good question. I think home for me, and that's why we connected over this theme, has always been very, very important. Even though, yes, I have moved a lot. I think I moved like over 35 times. I traveled a lot. I lived in different countries. But for instance, I have always had my same stuff. So lot of my furniture have moved with me all this time. It's actually quite amazing. All of my books, everything. That's why I can put a home together very quickly and then move again in a year. But I feel home to me is actually many things, you know, but what it really comes down to is safety. I think to me home is a place where I feel safe and a place where I feel connected to myself, you know, that is also like an inner safety. It's not just your physical environment. Although I think the physical environment matters, but it's also like an inner safety. And I think that's why I connected so deeply with you, because I feel you have that too, and you create that as well. I have always, always loved your tagline. I mean, to me, that really sums it all up. you know, create a life that feels like home. Because ultimately I feel like that's what we all want and that's what we all need. And, you know, just to feel home to somewhere that anchors us and from where then we can, you know, create a life that is aligned with us, a life that is, you know, Angie Mizzell (36:10) Yes. Kerstin (36:31) in community with others that also serves others. yeah, so it's that combination, feel like. I mean, I have lived in physical places that were beautiful, but I did not feel at home there at all. So for me, it is actually also a very physical feeling. I mean, I can go to a place, like when I, many, many years ago when I was single and... after this breakup from this English guy, I moved to Bath in England. I didn't know a soul there, you know? But I just was drawn to that place, you And I looked around one day and I said, you know, I'm gonna buy a place here. I couldn't afford London anyway, you know? So that was one reason. But when I moved to Bath, I immediately felt at home. Bath, like to me, was a total homecoming. And it was such a physical notion as well, you of... feeling safe and being anchored. so you can't always explain it actually, you know, it's very much like a sense and a feeling, but like you and our friendship, I feel at home with you, for instance, you know. Angie Mizzell (37:32) Same. The feeling is mutual. And I think the point you have just made is that sometimes to get to a place where we feel at home within ourselves or in our relationships or in our work, we have to take risks. We have to perhaps shake up our idea of what security really means. But I think your the using the word safety. It's to me that is about how you feel inside. Because you can feel safe even if you're doing something that feels scary and brave. There's like a calm assurance that you are moving in a direction that you're going to be OK. And that's really powerful stuff. And it's it's sometimes easier said than done. But I think people anyone who has something stirring inside of them. It's like there's a knowing that you feel like you're being pulled in a direction. we have covered a lot of good stuff today, Kerstin. So before we go, we want everyone to know how to find you and what you're currently offering and what you're currently working on. Kerstin (38:36) Yeah, happy to share that. So my website is calmbusiness.com and I am currently working on my next course, is a email marketing course. It's all about building an audience and trust with your audience, connection with your audience away from social media. I think people are getting more and more disenchanted with social media. It's becoming harder and harder. Whereas email marketing is really something that we control 100%. We own that, that's ours. And it's how I was able to build a six-figure business with a relatively small audience actually, and never using ads. It's through email marketing, through nurturing connections and trust and all of that. And I'm also all about being well-organized. Calm Business is very much about being well-organized, having a simplified text deck for instance, just feeling in control of your day-to-day activities. So one thing that I offer that is free is monthly reminders. So I also offer a workbook called the Calm Business Review. Now most people do that like towards the end of the year, beginning of the year. It's like an annual review of your business. You can do it at any time if you want to. part of that is that we do monthly reviews. So I review my business every month, where I sit down, I take about half an hour to an hour, and I sit down and look back at the previous months, what were my challenges, what were my wins. We're so focused on the negative stuff often that really we need to sometimes write down, well, what are the good things that happened, and really celebrate those moments as well. I look at my finances, so I look at what came in, what went out, what was my balance there, and I also keep my running balance, which I feel is important for businesses because we always have the feast and famine, right? That is quite familiar to many business owners. But by keeping your running balance, even if your month, you didn't earn much this month, but because you earned more the months before or two months before, Angie Mizzell (40:36) Right. Kerstin (40:36) you have your running balance, know, so you know, I'm still in the black, I'm still doing well. And so it's really important to stay on top of your bookkeeping basically. And also I do my, you know, my numbers, you know, my audience numbers, you know, so my newsletter, my Instagram, to be honest, my growth is always very slow. And, you know, it's organic, you know, and, but... Angie Mizzell (40:46) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kerstin (41:01) I am having more lead magnets now and that is helping. So I keep track of that. And then I also make plans for the next month where I look at what are my main goals this month, my main to-dos. And finally, how do I want to feel next month? So this is a process. I actually offer a worksheet for that, which is part of the Calm Business Review, but you can also just download the individual sheet. Angie Mizzell (41:09) Mm-hmm. Kerstin (41:24) So if you just subscribe to the monthly reminders, they're on my website, you'll see them there. It's a free service that I provide. So once a month, on the first of every month, you just get a short email from me saying, here is what happened with me in this last month, and here is how you can do your overview, here's the worksheet. And just to remind you to do that, it's a very, very powerful exercise, actually. It's one of the best habits you can get into for your business. Angie Mizzell (41:30) Mm-hmm. Well, you're very generous with your free and paid offerings and you offer so much value. And for people, if you do want to be on Instagram and on social media, I highly recommend following Kerstin because it's you take beautiful photos. It's always encouraging and it's a breath of fresh air to follow you online. So. Kerstin (42:14) Thank you. Angie Mizzell (42:17) Everyone needs to go find my friend Kerstin Martin at CalmBusiness.com. Kerstin, thank you for joining us today. Kerstin (42:24) Thank you so much for having me, Angie. This was so delightful. Angie Mizzell (42:26) Thank you so much for listening to this episode of More Like You. I hope this conversation with Kerstin Martin inspired you to think about the risks that you're willing to take and the safety nets that can support you along the way. Sometimes courage looks like leaping, but other times it's about slowing down, getting clear, and creating a plan that feels right for you. Either way, there is power in knowing that you do have options. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe and leave a review. can also join my email community at angiemizzell.com to stay connected with me and get that weekly inspiration and encouragement delivered to your inbox. Thanks again for being here. Until next time, keep making choices that lead you closer to a life that feels like home.