138. Building a Brand That Doesn't Need You: Career Contessa's Lauren McGoodwin on Speaking, Pivots, and Power Moves

LAST CHANCE TO ENROLL ON THE VISIBILITY SHIFT THIS SUMMER: WWW.KIMBERLYBONLINE.COM/TVS 

What do you do when the business is successful, but you're ready for something new? In this episode, Kimberly sits down with Lauren McGoodwin — founder and CEO of Career Contessa, author of Power Moves, and content marketer at Atlassian — to talk about her decision to return to corporate after a decade of entrepreneurship without shutting her business down. Lauren gets refreshingly honest about what it actually takes to juggle a full-time job, a media brand, and three kids under five (spoiler: it's money and a village, not a morning routine). She also breaks down how public speaking took Career Contessa from a blog to a nationally recognized brand — starting with free intern workshops, landing a book deal, and eventually speaking at TEDWomen — and why companies wouldn't pay for her tactical workshops but happily paid for her keynotes.

In This Episode:

• The evolution of audience-building from the blog and RSS era to today's personal-brand-first landscape — and what Lauren would do differently if she started over
• The three phases of Lauren's speaking career: free workshops, the book that changed everything, and paid keynotes at companies like Google and Amazon
• Why tactical career workshops are a hard sell to corporate buyers — and what shift finally got her paid
• Workshop speakers vs. keynote speakers: how Lauren worked with a coach to stretch beyond her "give them three exact steps" comfort zone
• The sting of turning down speaking opportunities during pregnancy, and why Lauren keeps her basket full of more than just work
• Where to find Lauren: connect with her on LinkedIn, where she shares career advice from her own corporate diaries and the Career Contessa podcast

Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenmcgoodwin/ 

Connect with Career Contessa: https://www.careercontessa.com/ 

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe to the podcast.