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Grounded in Purpose: Aligning Career, Service, and Becoming a Mother - with Kiran Reddy (part 1)
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In part one of this inspiring two part episode, Leanna is joined by Kiran Reddy, attorney, mom, volunteer, and founder of Reddy Consulting. Kiran shares how she built a thriving consulting business, found meaning through volunteer work in prison reform, and embraced the lessons of saying no, prioritizing, and creating space for what matters most. She also opens up about her fertility journey and the powerful experience (and fun story!) that brought her son into the world. Through it all, Kiran’s story highlights the power of resilience, service, and staying rooted in purpose while balancing the many layers of work and family life. Kiran’s story is a reminder that purpose and growth often come from unexpected places.
Tune in to Part 2, available August 28, to hear how Kiran navigated uncoupling, coparenting, career shifts, and the ongoing work of redefining her life.
Connect with Kiran here.
Full transcript available here.
Connect with Leanna here.
If you're ready for deeper transformation, check out The Executive Mom Reset; Leanna’s six-month coaching program designed to help ambitious moms stop merely surviving and start thriving. Book a consult now!
Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show to help more women find these empowering stories!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Host
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to the Executive Coach for Moms podcast, where we support women who are attempting to find balance and joy while simultaneously leading people at work and at home.
00:00:15
Speaker
I'm your host, Leanna Lasky-McGrath, former tech exec turned full-time mom, recovering perfectionist and workaholic, and certified executive coach.
00:00:28
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for being here with me today. As a reminder, here in our summer series, we are doing two-part interviews with amazing and inspiring women, and I have a very...
00:00:43
Speaker
Amazing and inspiring one for you today. So let me tell you a little bit about her.
Guest Introduction: Kieran Reddy
00:00:47
Speaker
Kieran Reddy is an entrepreneur, general counsel, and the founder of Reddy Consulting, where she helps tech startups and SaaS companies navigate legal strategy with clarity and confidence.
00:00:58
Speaker
With over a decade of in-house counsel experience, Karen specializes in privacy, commercial contracts, and scaling smart legal frameworks that support growth. Beyond the boardroom, Kieran is a passionate advocate for prison reform and community empowerment, actively involved in nonprofit leadership and justice-driven initiatives.
00:01:19
Speaker
She brings a rare mix of legal precision, business savvy, and purpose-driven work to everything she does, which I can attest to as Kieran and I used to work together.
Kieran's Career Journey
00:01:29
Speaker
So welcome, Kieran. Thank you so much for being here.
00:01:32
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me, Liana. I'm so excited to talk to you today. So why don't you start off, tell us a little bit about you and your story. Well, yes, I forgot we are, or I didn't forgive, but yes, we worked together at a fun startup during that time called Orgz, which was really good times. And that's really but the start of my career in the legal tech world was that time you and I worked together. And i learned so much just by watching you as a leader and all the leadership that we had there.
00:02:04
Speaker
So I've been in tech startups for about 12 years now, serving as in-house counsel or general counsel. And i want to say in 2021, I started my own consulting company where I provide The same resources to other tech companies who cannot afford full-time legal staff. So just using my experience I've had from previous companies and providing that as like a fractional legal director or in-house counsel for other companies to do, which also include privacy laws and all that fun stuff.
00:02:39
Speaker
Yeah, actually, i find fractional work so interesting. We had someone come on and talk about fractional work, which I think is such a great option for maybe women who are not wanting to be working full time, but still want to be working at a high level, maybe during their kids' young years or while they have a parent that they're taking care of or you know something like that.
00:03:03
Speaker
How has that been for you with the
Business Growth and Networking Strategies
00:03:05
Speaker
fractional? It's been great. And it's interesting because everything has been brought to me by our referrals. And I've been doing this for four years about, and i just launched my website for the first time and thinking about getting other additional customers and clients.
00:03:23
Speaker
But what I have noticed is you're just putting yourself out there and having your work ethic. And I think at least for me, it's been great because it's been word of mouth. And that's how I've been getting repeated business.
00:03:37
Speaker
Well, I think that's a really good point that you bring up because I think so many people think like, I have to build the website and I have to have everything set up before I like open up shop. I'm doing air quotes, right? And really,
00:03:52
Speaker
It's just like you could start working today if you just like put yourself out there and and contact your network, you know, if you want to kind of start up something on the side or test the waters there. So is that then how you kind of got started is is kind of by word of mouth? Yes.
00:04:07
Speaker
You know, I used LinkedIn as my best friend as a tool to see where everybody has gone. And I think what I've done hit and that other past employees I've worked with, especially the higher management, those who are decision makers or who can lead me to one and just having them vouch for me and my work and just being able to use that as a resource.
00:04:32
Speaker
So that has definitely helped for sure. Yeah. So take us back. Like, why did you go to law school? Like, why did you decide to become a lawyer? What like led you on this
Transition to Corporate Law
00:04:43
Speaker
journey? Yeah. Well, funny story. of My dad it was the one who pushed me and I wanted to be a photographer, but I'm actually glad he did because it runs in my family of my grandfather on my father's side was doing immigration law and really trying to help those in need.
00:05:02
Speaker
So I think that's always been in my blood of some sort of community and getting people together and help with their rights and advocacy. So in law school, i actually was focused on immigration law.
00:05:16
Speaker
And, you know, when you have this dream of what your plan will be after school or, you know, in your trajectory of your plan of your career, sometimes it doesn't necessarily go that way, but it can be a good thing. So unfortunately, when I graduated, it was during the recession. So there wasn't that much of a need for immigration.
00:05:37
Speaker
What I did was I ended up going into corporate law, which is what I do today, but still having my ideas of community engagement still there. And that's by volunteering with nonprofits on the side during work.
00:05:52
Speaker
So I'm trying to still stay engaged in some of those areas. Yeah, I think about helping professions. And I'll be honest, I don't always group like lawyer into that, even though i mean, it makes sense.
00:06:06
Speaker
I guess my like assumption is generally like you go to be a lawyer if you want to make a lot of money. I mean, it sounds like you wanted to be a photographer, you end up in law. So maybe you could do both helping those in need and making making a lot of money, hopefully.
00:06:21
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, and it sounds like you're doing a lot of cool work on the kind of pro bono or volunteer side. So tell me more about that. Like what kind of work are you doing with immigration? Or you had mentioned about prison reform. I'd love to hear more
Prison Reform and Volunteering
00:06:41
Speaker
about that.
00:06:41
Speaker
Sure. I think what i have to say is the benefit of me staying in a career for this long of time, like I would say now mid to senior,
00:06:53
Speaker
is that now I understand the nuances and I can work faster. So that gives me more of ability to volunteer my time with nonprofits, which is my core passion.
00:07:05
Speaker
one of those is prison reform. Like you were mentioning, there is a organization in Kansas City called Reaching Out From Within. and it is a prison-led counseling session where I go the women's prison in Topeka,
00:07:21
Speaker
And we sit and use what we call the blue book to go through and have these really tough discussions about trauma of that ah unfortunately a lot of these inmates have gone through and why they are there. So for example, you know child abuse or violence, alcoholism, addiction, and it's inmates leading this, discussing with each other, and I'm just there to serve as a facilitator.
00:07:50
Speaker
But what I've noticed is I get more out of it than I think they do. Just because if you think about it, it's hard to have these deep discussions in today's world because we're so tied.
00:08:03
Speaker
you know i have my phone right here or just so many distractions. So this is the first place where you could just sit and have these deep conversations and just really be able to reflect on things.
00:08:17
Speaker
That's so interesting. What made you get into that? Actually, I want to say 10 years ago, this woman took me to ah Topeka Women's Maximum Security. And at the time, she was trying to figure out like what I could do to help this organization. And my world just changed from that one tour and just seeing the limited resources these women have and how one of them said,
00:08:45
Speaker
I feel like we're just a vegetable and there's nothing that we could do to stimulate ourselves like with our minds. And that to me was just, you know, every person is a human.
00:08:57
Speaker
Everybody has our story and just getting to know a lot of these women who are just very courageous and, you know, going through a lot of challenges on a day-to-day basis Yeah.
00:09:11
Speaker
Yeah. And I remember you had mentioned that the women's prisons are less resourced than the men's. Tell me more about that. Yes. And I'm sure it varies by state, but I would say, you know, for example, the book that, you know, we use in this organization, it was written for men.
00:09:30
Speaker
And so we have to think differently as women of, okay, violence may not look like this as what it's portrayed in this book. but women are react differently. Or i think there are just sometimes more resources in the men's when it comes to possibly like education and items like that. Because I think when society thinks about prison, it's mostly of the male figure.
00:09:59
Speaker
And there are a lot of females that are also captivated. Yeah. Is there anything else you'd want to share about this work that you do? It is near and dear to my heart. I've been somehow involved in it since I want to say maybe 2015, almost years now.
00:10:19
Speaker
But you know prisons are always looking for volunteers. There's different types. There's mentoring where you can have and you know help those who are preparing to come out as a returning citizen is what we call them.
00:10:35
Speaker
Or even just you know learning more about what we can do as a society to help inmates being treated as humans. Yeah. What about that makes you feel passionate about it?
00:10:47
Speaker
I think everybody who I've met, like I said, has a story. And I think as humans, we just need to have dignity for one another and respect. And yeah, some people have made some choices, but I think most of those who are on the journey to, you know, a path of recovery have had the time to think about that and to work on themselves.
00:11:10
Speaker
And I think, you know, as those of us who are here in, you know, the outside world, not many of us can say that of being able to have the time to reflect of our choices. So I think there's a lot of work that we could do but it's also growing awareness as well. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:29
Speaker
Yeah, well, what I am getting from you is like just this high level of compassion that I think I would say as a society, i don't know that we are are always as compassionate about people in prison, right? And it sounds like you're seeing them, like you said, as humans and seeing potential there, whereas obviously they don't feel like they're being treated like there's potential if they feel like vegetables and kind of just just sitting there.
00:11:56
Speaker
Is that like seeing them seeing that and kind of like your experience there, how has that impacted your life, not in the prison or or has it? Yeah.
00:12:11
Speaker
That's a great question. And i think you know each time the drive, it's like either 45 minutes or an hour each way. So you have time to reflect. And I will say that these women really lift me up.
00:12:25
Speaker
And even when I'm going through something personal, you know I think with work, we drop everything at the door and then you have those individuals that you meet either at work or you know outside that really uplift you. And so when you come back home, you're just on this high of, okay, what can I do to continue this?
00:12:44
Speaker
And i i will say that these women have really helped me out, especially... in the past two years has been a challenge for me and change. I went through a separation and a divorce and just hearing their stories of how they have continued to power on and to move forward. That really has helped me and my ability to do that personally with this, I would say this transition in life.
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah. Does it put things like in a different perspective for you or... Yes, and I think that's why try to keep this time with volunteering in the prison ah something that I need. It's a tool, think, for me as, I want to say, not necessarily like a survival skill for me, but as an outlet.
00:13:35
Speaker
And I will say it has given me time to reflect of making those personal connections in the walls as to what do I really want with my life in this, you know, last half of my time that's left, which is, you know, really thinking about yourself and taking time for yourself to be in solitude and figure out what you want as a person, as a mother, or as a you know, a career individual,
00:14:05
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's interesting how you talk about how much you get out of volunteering. And I think that sometimes, you know, we probably think like, there's no way I have time to volunteer on top of everything else. So I want to hear more about how you manage that.
00:14:21
Speaker
But also i think sometimes we forget how much we would get out of it. And also just want to say that I'm assuming you're probably downplaying how much the participants are getting out of it as well.
00:14:36
Speaker
Right. It's not just you benefiting from it, of course. I'm sure they're getting a lot out of you being there. So you are doing this volunteer work um that you're really passionate about.
00:14:48
Speaker
You're working full time. You've got a consulting business. You're a mom. You've got four-year-old. ah How do you find the time to prioritize volunteer work, for example, or or anything else with everything that you've got on your plate?
00:15:03
Speaker
Sure.
Balancing Work, Volunteerism, and Parenting
00:15:04
Speaker
Yeah. That's a great question. I'm still learning. I'm still learning to say no to things, but I have to say in this part of my life, you know, I have great co-parent and we have strived to make it our priority to help in any way we can. So that has definitely helped on that situation, who is my ex, and we're just great in that respect.
00:15:31
Speaker
So having that as a tool, I would say, but I think also with the time, so I have my son 50% of the time, and i would kind of treat it as you know, a quote unquote, empty nester.
00:15:44
Speaker
How do I fill the time when I don't have Leo around, who's my son, or when I don't have all these obligations to run these errands or, you know, the logistics of being a parent of taking your child everywhere in addition to yourself.
00:16:01
Speaker
So I think by having ah volunteer on the days I don't have him or working extra on my consulting on hours, I don't have Leo or,
00:16:13
Speaker
you know, i'll pick up extra shifts for my job, for my clients after he goes to bed. So it's just like a different way of prioritizing. I guess I've never thought about this out loud, but obviously put him and myself first.
00:16:27
Speaker
But yeah, the days that I don't have him, it's it has to become easier trying to figure out how to fit into other pieces. Yeah. Yeah. In our next episode, we'll talk more about this process that you've been going through the past several years with your separation and divorce and how you're making co-parenting work, I guess I'm curious, like, how did you do it before? Or did you? Was it different? Because I'm sure there are people listening who are in a co-parenting situation and there are people who are listening who are not.
00:16:58
Speaker
And so I'm just curious, like you've experienced both. You know, the first year of having a baby, as you know, and a lot of your viewers can relate to, it survival mode.
00:17:10
Speaker
And so just figuring out, okay, what's going to drop off, that's fine. And I think from after that first year is, for me, it was being comfortable of I'm just going to let those pieces that fell keep being there.
00:17:26
Speaker
Those weren't a priority of mine. So if it was you know another organization i used to go to or once a month dinners with this group that I haven't been able to see, but I'm okay with that.
00:17:39
Speaker
I think that's where I kind of continued after that year one of having a baby of, okay, let's see what I can possibly add or adjust to what I'm doing right now.
00:17:50
Speaker
Yeah. So it sounds kind of like, hey, I'm taking like a one year sabbatical essentials only and then like slowly adding back non-essentials, you know, that that feel more within reach as time goes on.
00:18:07
Speaker
Does that sound right? That's the perfect way of describing what I was trying to say. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I think that that makes total sense and is a really it really smart strategy to approach it because, you know, it's like what happened?
00:18:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So I think, you know, whenever you have a baby, it's like your whole world changes. But also, if I'm remembering correctly, you were on the path to getting pregnant for a little while.
00:18:37
Speaker
And so it was like a very intentional something that you were were working toward. I remember something about you going to a mountain. tell me more about that if you don't mind sharing about your kind of fertility or and you know getting pregnant journey.
00:18:52
Speaker
think you've asked me
Personal Journey and Life Changes
00:18:53
Speaker
about that. It's a really cool story. So i husband been at the time and i we had to go through IVF twice and we happened to be doing a trip to india and Bhutan at the time my father died. So I was doing a pilgrimage to spread his ashes. And then we went to Bataan because it was just a place we always wanted to go. And the tour guy said, oh we're going to a fertility temple. And I said, oh, that's interesting. Like it just happened to be on our to
00:19:24
Speaker
And we go up and we walk up this path of this portion of the hill mountain. And he allowed me to go inside, but had Joey, my co-parent,
00:19:35
Speaker
stay outside. and he was, the monk said, you know, you have to really believe in this. And i said, okay, you know, I'll try anything. And so I walked outside the temple and I had to go around the temple three times with this huge wooden phallus wrapped in this blessed white cloth by the monk.
00:19:56
Speaker
I guess in Bhutan, penis means good luck and fertility. and So I had to do that and going around three times.
00:20:07
Speaker
And then finally we were able to both go inside the temple. And the neat thing about it was we saw all these photo albums of these couples and they provided their picture as a way of saying, thank you We are now conceiving and having a baby.
00:20:28
Speaker
And exactly nine months to that day, i found out I was pregnant. What? Yeah. Oh my goodness. That just gave me chills. It was pretty cool, but I'm sure I'm in a ton of random pictures of Tauras doing that.
00:20:44
Speaker
Wow. That was really cool. So, and on your pay pilgrimage, you know, honor your dad, like that's just sounds amazing. Yeah. And carrying around a giant penis sounds like something.
00:20:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:58
Speaker
It definitely was something for sure. Wow. Was that a long journey for you, you know, to bring Leo into the world? Yes. um It was about two-year journey from when we started and everything. But yeah, we are told that now we have to bring Leo back to that village to say thank you and give more blessings. So yes, hopefully one day we can.
00:21:24
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, wow. What
Upcoming Episodes and Coaching Program
00:21:26
Speaker
a cool story. Well, i cannot wait to hear some more from you. i want to hear about kind of the last few years. I know you've had so many changes. And so i think anyone who's listening who has gone through a lot of changes recently or is in it right now or it's upcoming, I can't wait for them to hear more from you about that experience for you. So thank you so much for sharing all of this with me, Karen. And We will see you and everybody here back next week for part two of this amazing conversation.
00:21:59
Speaker
Sounds great. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks, everybody. And we will see you all next week. Don't miss out on part two of Kieran's episodes.
00:22:14
Speaker
If you're loving what you're learning on this podcast, I'd love to invite you to check out the Executive Mom Reset. It's my six month coaching program for ambitious, success-driven, career-focused women who are ready to stop surviving and start thriving.
00:22:29
Speaker
Together, we'll tackle the stress, guilt, and overwhelm that come with being a high achieving executive mom. You'll learn how to set boundaries, prioritize what truly matters, and build the confidence to show up powerfully at work, at home, and for yourself.
00:22:43
Speaker
Head on over to coachleanna.com right now to schedule a free discovery call. We'll spend an hour talking about where you are now, what you want to create, and how I can help you get there. Because every woman deserves to live the life of her dreams.
00:22:57
Speaker
Let's create yours together.