Kusha Kalra is a dynamic branding strategist and confidence coach based in India. She is the founder of The Bespoke Designs, a company dedicated to helping women ntrepreneurs and product-based businesses develop compelling, customized branding strategies that elevate their online presence. Since launching her business in 2018, Kusha has guided numerous clients to success by focusing on their unique visions and strengths. In addition to her professional roles, Kusha is a dedicated single mother to a teenage boy, a journey that has greatly influenced her approach in both life and business.

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Episode Summary:

Welcome back to another inspiring episode of Building the Abundant Woman! Today's incredible guest is Kusha Kalra, a branding strategist and confidence coach who has transformed the online space through her bespoke design services. In this episode, Kusha shares her journey from a secure corporate job to becoming a master of online branding and a single mother, balancing both responsibilities with grace and passion.

Throughout the conversation, Kusha delves into her decision to leave her successful corporate career to spend more quality time with her son. She sheds light on the challenges and rewards of pivoting her career path to start her own business. With a deep understanding of the importance of building authentic and unique brands, Kusha reveals her strategies for helping clients stand out in the crowded online space. If you're an entrepreneur or a mother looking for inspiration to pursue your business dreams, this episode is a must-listen.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of having a strong "why" when starting a business to maintain motivation and direction.
• The power of pivoting in business to align with personal passions and changing market demands.
• Insights into balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship and creating a nurturing environment for children.
• The transformative effect of bespoke, personalized branding strategies on online visibility and business success.
• The value of continuous self-investment and learning to stay relevant and competitive in your industry.

Notable Quotes:

1. "I personally am on that mission where I want to help them, I want to empower them, and I want to literally be a part of their journey and their vision so that it comes true."
2. "For me, it was like a big why: to be home with my son, to have that flexibility and freedom."
3. "Somehow, we as moms are wired to look at the brighter side of things because that's exactly how we can nurture our children."
4. "My business is just six years old. There's still more to go—I'm going to have teenage years and there’s going to be a different struggle at that time."
5. "Have faith in your own self. If you have faith in yourself, you will get the strength to overcome any and all kinds of obstacles."

Resources:

• The Bespoke Designs Website
• Follow Kusha Kalra on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Make sure to listen to the full episode for an insightful conversation with Kusha Kalra and stay tuned for more enriching content from Building the Abundant Woman. Don’t forget to rate, share, and subscribe to the podcast for more inspiring stories and practical advice.

0:00:23 - (Kusha Kalra): Thank you so much, Samantha. First of all, I am super excited to be here and be a part of this amazing podcast and enjoy some amazing conversation with you and a little bit more about me. I am a branding expert and confidence coach and the founder of the bespoke designs and I primarily have been working in the online space since the year 2018. I love to help my clients, who are, again, coaches and product based businesses, to help them unleash their brand, to help them gain confidence and to make sure that they are able to get visibility online using the power of branding so that they are able to shine like a rare diamond, you know, and I feel that in today's online space, each one of the amazing women entrepreneurs that we see, they all have a unique gift. They all have some or the other vision with which they want to change lives of others.

0:01:51 - (Samantha): That's amazing. I love that. And, you know, and if you all don't know a little bit of my backstory, my mom was a single mom for most of my childhood. And so I just think it is such a huge step in resilience. It's like when you're put in that situation. And I just, like, watched my mom, you know, just everything was figureoutable. I love that word. It's probably made up, but that's okay. It's like everything was figureoutable. And, like, that's where I think so much is. Like, even single moms have that superpower of, like, you know, if I can handle this, like, I can handle, like, especially even the business side of things.

0:02:34 - (Kusha Kalra): Well, actually, I was in corporate before I even took that leap of faith because, you know, I had, like, a dream job for about 1213 odd years, and I was really enjoying it. It was, like I said, a dream job. I had a great boss, lovely salary, good package, good, you know, like, promotions and everything that you really need in a job. And when I saw that my son was five years old, that's the time I kind of had a light bulb moment where I thought that being a single parent, I feel that when he's going to go to school and when he comes back, there's nobody going to be there to listen to his stories.

0:03:48 - (Kusha Kalra): I feel circumstances are also not really something that you should worry about. For me, it was like a big why? Which is to be at home with my son, to have that flexibility and that freedom to, you know, to make sure that when he comes back, I'm able to listen to his stories and, you know, just enjoy the time with him while I am also creating something and, you know, doing something, which I truly love to do.

0:04:41 - (Kusha Kalra): It felt more like, you know, a boss and a subordinate relationship. So I think the universe was giving me that sign, you know, that, Kusha, just get out there, do your thing, you know, stop depending on people to help you. And that's when I jumped into the online space and I started my own coaching business because I did my coaching certification also while I was still working. So. So, yeah, I started my coaching business back then, and I kind of then succeed, you know, I mean, because I was I didn't understand how this concept really worked. I did hire a coach, and yet it felt like, you know, I wasn't able to make it out there in this, in this online space or in this so called coaching business, really.

0:05:39 - (Samantha): Yeah.

0:06:24 - (Samantha): Yeah. And I love that. And I think that's a huge thing that people need to hear is, like, when you're. Why like, that why is not, like, to make money. The why is not to be a graphic designer. The why is not to be a photographer, whatever that is. It's like, it's actually, like, that time, freedom, and being a mother. And that's, like, for me, that's always one thing is, like, I do all this because I want them to have the best life. I want them to learn, like, really great skills. I want them to learn how to be problem solvers in the world, because that's something we definitely need.

0:07:41 - (Samantha): And I, you know, and I'm going through a season of that right now is, like, I went and learned, like, a really great skill. It served me for a long time. It got me back in to building this business from home. And I realized I had to make a pivot because what I was. What I was wanting out of my life is like, do you want to do this skill, or do you want the, like, one to 2 hours a week worth of. Or a day of work?

0:08:39 - (Samantha): And see how it's flourished in your life to, like, turn into that. Right? So tell me, like, a little bit, like, you know, that. That business of, like, what's been really good for you as. As you pivoted into this new business?

0:09:18 - (Kusha Kalra): And I feel that maybe at that moment, I could have felt that as a business or as a solopreneur, I may not have been able to achieve what I wanted to, but as a mom, I think I was doing fabulous. And I feel proud. And I actually felt proud, because when I used to look back that I gave him that couple of years time being at home, he was so much more like a, you know, like a sunshine, smiling child. And, you know, the. The school is giving good feedback. He's doing great in his school.

0:10:27 - (Kusha Kalra): So I think the good part is that I did something which I also love doing. So I love creating. I can sit all night and sit and create designs. You know, that's the kind of passion I have. And the other best part is now I was also able to see the journey of so many other amazing women who are moms who are building businesses, who have this larger than life vision, who are in that space, you know, who, who had like an equally big, why? You know, that they wanted to change. They wanted to make some impact in the lives of others.

0:11:39 - (Kusha Kalra): I used to love listening to their stories. I used to love to see how they were able to overcome struggles that they were going through. So I somehow feel that the more you are connected or the more your environment is with such kind of people, it automatically helps you, you know, you want to grow, you want to make a change, you want to make sure that you're also growing, evolving as a person. So that's something which is huge for me. And in all these years, I feel blessed that, you know, I had a supportive family and I have these kind of amazing clients with whom I've been able to work. I've been able to transform their businesses using my skills of branding.

0:12:52 - (Kusha Kalra): How could you give up on your business? And that's exactly how I've been growing it. That's exactly how I see my business. So I think my business is just six years old, right?

0:13:01 - (Kusha Kalra): There's still more to go, you know, like, I'm going to have teenage years and there's going to be a different struggle at that time and, you know, so on and so forth. So that's my perspective totally. You know, that about business and about life in general, really.

0:13:54 - (Kusha Kalra): Figured it out.

0:14:36 - (Samantha): And I think that's such a perfect thing because now I'm laughing about it because now I'm like, oh, man, I am, like, 18 months back into all of this and I'm like, oh, jeez. Like, yeah, you know, like, everything feels like it's getting dumped out, you know? And I think that's a good, like, it's a good representation of it all. Oh, my gosh, that's so perfect. That is the best way I've ever heard that.

0:15:45 - (Kusha Kalra): Oh, yeah. So initially, obviously, I used to take any and all kinds of projects. I used to have very small. I didn't even have, like, like, packages. You know, I used to. Initially, I used to do free work because I wanted to know if people really liked it, if they felt that I could do something for them. So I started free work. I collected testimonials, I built my portfolio. And then from there, you know, I had to learn more about branding because I didn't.

0:16:48 - (Kusha Kalra): There is, like, similarities, but obviously, you know, they are definitely different concepts which are there. And I knew that I had to make sure that, you know, I was clear about how I will be dealing with my clients, you know, especially the online ones. So. And I realized this pretty soon, and that's when I built my packages. I did my, you know, like, how would you call them, vip design days and vip intensives, because I understood that I wasn't doing something just for, you know, just for the sake of making money.

0:18:17 - (Kusha Kalra): They were having multiple success in their business. They were going all out doing events and all their branding, all their brand collaterals, all their social media related graphics and everything. I was taking care of it. So I felt so proud that I was a part of their journey and I felt that, you know, this is also something that I could continue doing. So I was very sure that I wanted to work with online coaches who were professionals and I wanted to work with product based businesses.

0:19:18 - (Samantha): And that's honestly for me is like, what that pivot was because, as I realized is like, there's a handful of people that could really, like, afford to, like, build out their website, but there's a lot of people who need to be, like, funneling people somewhere.

0:19:36 - (Samantha): And so, you know, like, for me that was like, that was the pivot. It was like, I've got to be able to teach people how to use these platforms so they're, when their branding is really great is like, and people are connecting and engaging with it is like, but they're not getting people anywhere is like there's that big missing piece of, like, how do I get them in my messages? How do I get them in my email list? How do I get them from this platform onto an email list? Or, you know, and there's so much, and I noticed, like, because every time somebody comes to me, they're like, I don't know any of that technology stuff.

0:20:46 - (Samantha): But then I felt like there was a big missing piece. And I'm so glad, um, you know, for those times, like, where we pivot and, like, we're like, hey, these people are amazing, and we're doing all the right things is like, now we got to figure out, like, how to be that problem solver. And I think that's what you really did. It was like, you really shifted and how, not that you just have coaching clients, but now you also have these product based businesses where you're like, I could also, like, solve some problems for them and really take this to the next level.

0:21:52 - (Samantha): And, like, for us to move from Texas to Georgia and no, nobody have a baby. Covid strikes for, you know, whatever, then there's, like, no community, and it's like, oh, my gosh, what am I going to do out here? And it's just that problem solving aspect just changes our lives forever. And all those little things that we go through is like, we pick, we pick things up for a reason. So I am so glad that we got to chat today and just tell us, like, where can people find you? How can we get in touch with you? What? Like, what does that look like?

0:23:06 - (Kusha Kalra): And so, yeah, follow me on Instagram, on Facebook, LinkedIn, and of course you can check out my website. And if you do wish to connect with me, send me a message on either of these platforms and you can definitely even book a 30 minutes free consult call.

0:23:45 - (Kusha Kalra): Oh, that's a great one. And trust me, I did want to hear this and I didn't. But yeah, I want to say this for everyone is have faith in your own self. That is very, very important. Because if you have faith in yourself, you will get the strength to overcome any and all kinds of obstacles. And, you know, make sure if you find that strength, make sure you listen to your heart and just do that thing that makes you happy. So follow your heart, have faith and just go for it.