You want to change your life?
12 rules that shape my thInking
Rule 1: Raise your standard.
If you want to change, you must first hold yourself to a standard that demands changing how you live your everyday life. Look at the way the people you admire live and then replicate it.
Rule 2: good.
Your business is low on cash. Nobody watched your video. You found a winning ad. Your business plateaued. You found a massive unlock for growth. This mentality borrowed from Jocko Willink stems from the idea that this mindset applied to every scenario, whether it’s good or bad, leads to only one outcome. You getting better.
Rule 3: never build alone.
You become the ceiling for everything you do. The only way to break through is to bring someone else in to break through it. Find people who will tell you the truth and want to help you write the story. It’s also a hell of a lot more fun to have someone to celebrate with.
Rule 4: create more than you consume.
I love reading. I love movies. I love learning from the craftsmanship of others. Yet if all you do is consume, you never see what God designed you to create, and you rob others of knowing you on a deeper level. Hit publish.
Rule 5: Faith is A constant.
Life is hard. And messy. And joyful. And grueling. And magical. For me, my faith remains the constant that allows me to continue regardless of the stage my life is in.
Rule 6: don’t let the 🐘 stay in the room
Run hard at conflict. Don’t let it simmer. If there’s an elephant in the room, you be the one to get it out.
Rule 7: never let your feet settle.
I move. In the last 5 years, my family has moved over 30,000 miles across 2 continents, 3 states and 4 cities. You can’t be a prophet in your hometown.
Rule 8: Businesses are vessels.
I wrapped my identity up in my business and it became a reflection of my worth. When times were good, I was a success. When times were bad, I was a failure. A few years ago my mindset completely shifted. There are things I want in life, my responsibility is to find the best way to achieve what I want professionally.
Therefore, the businesses I start or invest in are simply the vessels I’ve chosen to take me from where I am now to where I want to go. They aren’t my babies. They aren’t me. They are vessels.
Rule 9: Brand is everything.
From day one of QALO we knew we wanted to build a brand. I’m not sure I knew what that meant, but I knew we had to set ourselves apart somehow because we didn’t have the most money, we were first-time entrepreneurs, we didn’t have experience in manufacturing, but it didn’t matter. We won because we built a product that told a story and allowed customers to tell the world what mattered to them, simply by wearing it.
Every advantage has a shelf life except a brand.
Rule 10: if i love it, that’s enough.
I’ve had to learn that my opinion of my work is the most important one. Some people hate what you think is perfect. Who cares. If you make it, and you are proud of it. That’s all that matters.
Rule 11: If they don’t know they can’t buy.
Distribution over everything. The only way for people to fall in love with what you made is to know about it. The only way for them to know about it is for you to tell them. The only way to make something better is for the people who you made it for to tell you how.
There’s far too much creativity buried in a desk drawer out of fear of telling others about.
Rule 12: Make them wonder.
How do you pull it all off? They’ll never know, and that’s the best part.
Coach. Creator. Brand Builder.
KC Holiday
I've walked a non-traditional path to get where I am, but wouldn’t change a thing (except maybe a few hairstyles).
I began with nothing more than high hopes and low expectations when I launched my first business, QALO, from a studio in LA in my early 20s. Four years later, we were doing over $30M of revenue a year with 100+ employees. Top athletes like LeBron James and Steph Curry wore our product and it was featured in over 4,000 retail locations like Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, and REI.
After selling QALO, I finished the business degree at Lipscomb University I'd abandoned a decade prior, then moved to Perth, Australia, where I spent two years at BetterLabs managing a $40M corporate venture fund and studio.
Through BetterLabs, I was exposed to growth in multiple industries, from DeathTech (yes, that's real) to FinTech and EdTech and was blessed with the opportunity to coach the disruptive founders of our 25 portfolio companies and a team of 10 studio entrepreneurs.
Currently, I’m the Head Mentor of Daily Mentor with Davie Fogarty, an e-commerce coaching and mentorship community for million-dollar brands with over 200 members