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00:00:01
From Doing the Work to Leading It
19 Plays3 days ago
In this episode, Ken Freire sits down with Kristen Wade, founder of HR HireVersion, to discuss the often-overlooked challenges newly promoted executives face as they transition into senior leadership. Drawing from more than 30 years in human resources, Kristen shares why executive roles can feel isolating, the leadership skills most organizations fail to teach, and how intentional coaching can help leaders succeed without sacrificing the people and priorities that matter most. The conversation also explores entrepreneurship, building a purpose-driven business, avoiding burnout, and growing through focus instead of hustle.
Resources Mentioned
- HR HireVersion – https://hrhireversion.com
- LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com
- Full Focus – https://fullfocus.co
- LifeFocus Kit (Full Focus) – https://fullfocus.co/lifefocus/
- LinkedIn (marketing platform discussed) – https://www.linkedin.com
Timestamps
- 00:01 – Kristen's background and why she helps newly promoted executives Kristen shares her 30-year HR career and explains why she now focuses on coaching executives through leadership transitions.
- 03:12 – Entrepreneurship, retirement, and defining non-negotiables The discussion shifts to moving from a side business into full-time entrepreneurship and creating intentional work-life balance.
- 05:28 – What non-negotiables really mean Ken and Kristen explain how identifying personal values, boundaries, and priorities helps leaders avoid burnout and regret.
- 08:37 – Why great employees struggle as new executives They discuss the leadership gap between technical excellence and executive readiness, along with the importance of strategic thinking and coaching.
- 11:28 – Kristen's executive coaching framework Kristen outlines her assessment-based coaching process, how she identifies leadership gaps, and why her 90-day program accelerates executive success.
- 13:44 – Growing a business without burning out The conversation explores avoiding shiny-object syndrome, narrowing your audience, focusing on one core offer, and building depth before expanding.
- 16:19 – Finding clients through relationships and workshops Kristen explains how referrals, networking, and educational workshops have become her most effective client acquisition strategies.
- 19:29 – Expert-Led Business Report Kristen shares what she's experimenting with (LinkedIn marketing), the biggest challenge in her business, her growth goals, thoughts on AI and coaching, and the legacy she hopes to leave by helping executives thrive both professionally and personally.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Core Values
00:00:01
Ken Freire
Welcome back to another episode. My name is Ken Freire and today i am with Kristen Wade, the founder of HR HireVersion. Kristen, welcome to the show.
00:00:12
Kristen Wade
Thank you, Ken. It's so great to be here.
00:00:15
Ken Freire
Yes, absolutely. Now, you know, i have a lot of guests on the podcast, but you're one of those people that I've known for a few years now because we're both full focus certified and we both kind of run in the same places.
00:00:22
Kristen Wade
Yeah.
00:00:25
Ken Freire
So we have very similar core values, which is so important, specific particularly with like life balance, work-life balance.
00:00:29
Kristen Wade
Absolutely.
00:00:33
Ken Freire
And I'm sure we'll get into that
00:00:33
Kristen Wade
Mm-hmm.
Kristen's HR Journey and Transition to Full-Time Business
00:00:35
Ken Freire
a little bit today.
00:00:35
Ken Freire
But I wanted everybody to know that, Kristen, you're going to bring a wealth of knowledge from you being an HR professional for over 30 years and like knowing how to lead and train people.
00:00:46
Ken Freire
And now you're growing your your own business. But I want everybody to hear it from you. What is it that you do for your business?
00:00:54
Kristen Wade
Oh, wow. Well, yeah. So like you said, I started out in human resources, 30 years. So bringing a lot of kind of that lived experience, you can imagine I've seen a lot, been through a lot, you know, with human resources. So really just looking to bring all of that experience to working with and helping newly promoted executives. Those folks that have, you know, really worked hard, really been excited to reach that executive level. And now that they're there, amazing.
00:01:30
Kristen Wade
can be really lonely. It can be really isolating. And how can you, what do you need to do to be successful? So wanting to work with those folks to really create, like you said, those work-life balance, you know, those boundaries, how do you shift your thinking from operational and in the weeds to strategic and proactive? And so, yeah, I'm really excited to,
00:01:57
Kristen Wade
start this journey and and develop this business and and work with clients.
00:02:01
Ken Freire
Yeah. And now you haven't started this business straight from scratch just recently. It's always kind of been a side hustle for you. And you recently retired and now making it into a full time thing. Right.
00:02:11
Kristen Wade
Absolutely. Yes, yes.
00:02:14
Ken Freire
How's that? How's that feel to just be like, OK, I'm going going all in on helping new executives.
Time Management and Work-Life Balance Strategies
00:02:21
Kristen Wade
You know, it's really exciting because that's always the piece of human resources that I enjoyed was really, you know, kind of doing that mentoring, doing that coaching, working. And so now to be able to just a hundred percent focus my energies on working one-on-one, with individuals specifically doing more workshops and coaching, It's just, yeah, I'm really excited to not only just be able to focus 100% of my energies there, but then also myself have that work-life balance, right?
00:02:55
Kristen Wade
So what does this next chapter look like for me? What do I want that to be structured as? What do I want to do for fun? What do I want to do outside of the work, right?
00:03:06
Kristen Wade
So it's just, it's as an exciting time. It's it's a great opportunity.
00:03:09
Ken Freire
Yeah. yeah So you got a lot. It's fun because when you become an entrepreneur, you have almost this endless amount of freedom, quote unquote, right? We still all have the 24-7 hours of the day, but 24 hours in a day, not 24-7, 24 hours in a day.
00:03:19
Kristen Wade
Right.
00:03:25
Ken Freire
But at the same time, it's like when you're used to your nine to five job, you're like, this is my constraint. This is what I'm used to. And now you're like, what should I do with my time? How should I manage it? How should I work it?
00:03:35
Ken Freire
What have you found to work really well for you as you've shifted now from side hustle to full entrepreneur and you're still trying to grow your business and at the same time enjoy leisure from a retirement phase?
00:03:50
Kristen Wade
Right, right.
Understanding and Implementing Non-Negotiables
00:03:52
Kristen Wade
Yeah, I think it really just like, you know, what I work with my clients on, it's all about being strategic and intentional, right? I mean, figuring out kind of what those non-negotiables are, what do I want, right?
00:04:06
Kristen Wade
to be looking at because really, i mean, I started working on this business a couple of years ago. So for, you know, a good year, year and a half, I was working full time job plus doing the business. So now to just be doing the business, it's like,
00:04:22
Kristen Wade
I've got nights and weekends back and I've got, you know, I can, you know, put some more things into my day and look at vacations and look at. So I think to answer your question, just really kind of taking a step back and figuring out what do I want to do now? What is this next chapter look like? What, you know, can i intentionally,
00:04:46
Kristen Wade
schedule and decide what I want to do when I want to do it. So yeah, just taking that step back and being able to, you know, figure out what that looks like and not overcommit right out of the gate.
00:05:01
Ken Freire
Oh, yeah. I think that was probably my biggest struggle right at the beginning was overcommitment.
00:05:06
Kristen Wade
Mm hmm.
00:05:06
Ken Freire
where i was like, oh yeah, I could do that, I could do that, I could do that. And it all fell on my lap probably two months ago when i had my baby, my fifth child. i was like, what have I done?
00:05:16
Ken Freire
And my wife is like, you're doing too much. I'm like, i clearly i can tell we're dying.
00:05:20
Kristen Wade
Yeah. Yeah. True.
00:05:22
Ken Freire
we're We're slowly coming out of it. But one of the things that definitely helped was creating those non-negotiables, like sitting down and saying, here are the things that I am committing And but I also know that there's a lot of entrepreneurs who listen to this. They don't have that same language that you and i have, Kristen, when we talk about non-negotiables. So can you walk through people like what's a non-negotiable and how do you start to formulate what truly matters to them?
00:05:47
Kristen Wade
Yeah, yeah. Well, the non-negotiables are really kind of taking a look at what are the most important things. Like at the end of the day, you know, we have to work, we have to have income, we have to, you know, have all those things. But really, what is going to be at the end of the day, the most important things,
00:06:13
Kristen Wade
that you want to do, you know, what lights you up, you know, to your point, our full focus background, you know, I just, I love the life focus kit. So, you know, really kind of going through a process like that, where you take the time to Like, what are my values?
00:06:21
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:06:31
Kristen Wade
What is my personal mission statement? Where am I spending the time? You know, I mean, there's the nine life domains and we spend way too much time in just the work life domain a lot of times. So how can we look at, you know, our friends? Do we have those close friendships? Is that something that's important to us? What are the relationships, you know, from a family standpoint? If we've got kids and spouses and what does that look like? And, you know, putting the boundaries on your day from a work standpoint, whatever work looks like for you so that then outside of that time, you not only have time outside of that time, but that you can then focus on hobbies and friends and family and the things that
00:07:23
Kristen Wade
are the most important to you and that don't get lost because to your, yeah, I mean, if it's not a non-negotiable, then there's too many other things that can take up your day and things get lost if you don't specifically identify those ahead of time to know this is what matters most.
00:07:43
Ken Freire
Absolutely. And and those non-negotiables,
Training Gaps for New Executives and Leadership Development
00:07:45
Ken Freire
the reason why we want to talk about what matters most to all the entrepreneurs who are listening to this is that sometimes we just forget it.
00:07:50
Kristen Wade
Mm-hmm.
00:07:52
Ken Freire
You just talked about it. like We're so stuck in the weeds. We're just trying to get our job done.
00:07:55
Kristen Wade
Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:07:56
Ken Freire
We're trying to get like revenue, more revenue. So we're like, let's figure out this next funnel. Let's figure out this next project that you like can almost keep your head down. 20 years later, you look up and you're like, everything that I really cared for is deteriorating around me.
00:08:12
Kristen Wade
easy
00:08:12
Ken Freire
your health, your family, your kids, like all that stuff kind of goes away. And you're like, what was I doing? So this is why we talk about like making sure you know your non-negotiables and say, I need to know what truly matters to me.
00:08:27
Ken Freire
And this doesn't just happen with entrepreneurs. I mean, this is why you work with new executives. It happens to new executives, managers, employees.
00:08:33
Kristen Wade
Right. Right.
00:08:33
Ken Freire
It happens to everyone when they don't have the right proper boundaries set in place. So for you, Kristen, like what what are you doing now as you work with new executives?
00:08:44
Ken Freire
Here's what I have found. And I'm curious what you think. A lot of companies will kind of train some people a little bit on leadership skills, but they're really gifted in their craft.
00:08:56
Ken Freire
So then they move up to being a manager, then maybe a director. And then from there, they're like, well, we need an executive. They get hired as an executive, but they were actually never trained on the skill sets to be an executive.
00:09:08
Ken Freire
Right. Why then all of a sudden do they say, hey, I think this person is going to be executive material.
00:09:15
Kristen Wade
Mm-hmm.
00:09:15
Ken Freire
And at what point do they kind of jump in and say, we need to come hire Kristen to step in and train these people?
00:09:21
Kristen Wade
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's like falling up the ladder, right?
00:09:25
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:09:25
Kristen Wade
I mean, you were good at your job. And so because you were good at your job, you got promoted. And now the rules have changed. The playbook has changed.
00:09:35
Kristen Wade
And nobody necessarily tells you what the new rules are or what the new playbook is, right? And the higher you get, like you said, the lonelier it is, the more isolating And the less time the people above you have to train you, you know, kind of at the entry level, it's like somebody is going to tell you what to do show you your job, show you what to do to be successful. But at that executive level, you really have to figure it out.
00:10:06
Kristen Wade
So that's
00:10:06
Ken Freire
It's like assumed almost that you can do it.
00:10:08
Kristen Wade
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so, and yeah, you weren't necessarily trained how to be a leader. So exactly. That's where then the CEO, you know, looks at me and says, hey, you need to work with this, you know, COO of mine that I just brought in to help them figure out, you know, how to be strategic, how to be intentional, how to earn the respect of their team, you know, all of those executive skills that aren't necessarily,
00:10:37
Kristen Wade
just intuitive, but that no one else has the time or ability to train them what to do.
00:10:45
Ken Freire
Yeah. Kristen, do you, you know, when I think about being an executive and I've been an executive in in different roles in the past now, I remember a mentor of mine having like a framework that said, Hey, here's the gap between a director and executive. And this is all the the skill sets and competencies you need to know for being an executive.
00:11:04
Ken Freire
What type of framework do you have to help people who are new that are like, trying to figure it all out. And you don't have to give all of it, just kind of basic high overview of it.
00:11:14
Kristen Wade
it Yeah, well, a lot of it is just kind of meeting with the person first, right? And figuring out kind of their story, their journey, where they're at, their strengths and weaknesses.
00:11:22
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:11:26
Kristen Wade
I do have an assessment that I use that really then kind of helps hone in on those executive skills to say, this is where your tendencies are.
00:11:37
Kristen Wade
Here's where your leadership pros and cons are, for example, but then this is where you need to be. And so then to have those behavior modification techniques to be able to say, you know,
00:11:54
Kristen Wade
I would naturally you know like to keep my head down and do my work and all of that. However, my team needs me to be you know more communication and transparency. And so how can we bridge that gap?
00:12:08
Kristen Wade
So really looking at the individual, figuring out where their strengths and weaknesses are, and then helping them kind of figure out what makes sense at the executive level and how do you bridge that gap?
00:12:24
Ken Freire
OK, so once you start doing that, how long does it take for you to start seeing results for the executive?
00:12:41
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:12:43
Kristen Wade
So, you know, 90-day program, however, that said, we can really dive into, you know, the hot fire items first and within those first couple weeks, really see start to see, you know, this is what you need to be focusing on.
00:13:00
Kristen Wade
And let's try some of these types of things. And so just that awareness really helps shift that needle quickly.
00:13:08
Ken Freire
That's awesome.
Client Engagement and Marketing Strategies
00:13:09
Ken Freire
And that's exactly what I think i people need. And this is why I bring it up because like, you know, there's some entrepreneurs who are listening to this and they might be like, hey, I may need some executive help because I don't know what I'm doing, leading my people. Or they might just hired someone and they're like, I need help. So I'm like, go reach out to Kristen, go hang out with her.
00:13:28
Ken Freire
For them to just get a brief overview of what you do is super helpful. Now, I want to shift gears here, Kristen, because a lot of people who listen to this podcast, they are entrepreneurs themselves.
00:13:32
Kristen Wade
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:13:39
Ken Freire
And one of the things that I'm always wrestling with is that the internet is filled with a vast amount of information. And unfortunately, there's a lot of bad information out there.
00:13:51
Kristen Wade
yeah
00:13:52
Ken Freire
And unhealthy information, especially when it comes to work-life balance or work-life integration, right? It's kind of the concept of like, just keep hustling, keep working, keep doing it. And then once you've arrived, which they never define arrival, right? But you've lost your marriage, so that's not cool.
00:14:08
Ken Freire
Then you should reassess your your life So we both come into a different perspective of like, hey, how do we grow a business where we do have that work-life integration?
00:14:18
Ken Freire
and what does that look like? So I'm curious for you, what has been some principles or strategies you've used to grow your business without burning out?
00:14:20
Kristen Wade
Thank you.
00:14:29
Kristen Wade
Well, I think, like you said, the biggest thing is just trying not to do everything. You know, there's just, there's so much information out there.
00:14:36
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:14:38
Kristen Wade
There's so many programs. I mean, I think it's great to hire a coach. I have coaches, but there's so many things out there that trying to, you know, keep chasing after the next shiny thing just spreads you way too thin So to try to really dial in like your one problem, your one audience, your one outcome, you know, what are you going to focus on? Get one or two coaches or support programs to help you through that.
00:15:12
Kristen Wade
But really to give your grace, give yourself grace to kind of start small, start simple, nail down what you do and do well and kind of that depth versus breadth, you know, come up with that one program and do it really well before you start trying to do too many things and and everything at once. There's, to your point, there's just so much out there. Yeah, it's easy to get running from one thing to the next and spiraling and, and you know, trying to do everything.
00:15:45
Ken Freire
Yeah. Well, you know, once you kind of knock some sense into yourself and you're like, okay, I should do one thing. What's the one thing that you have found works for you?
00:15:57
Kristen Wade
I'm really, like I said, just dialing in who are going to be the people that I can help the most. And what's the one or two, three big problems that they have, and the outcomes that I can help them achieve.
00:16:14
Ken Freire
Nice. For the people, when you're like, okay, these are the people that I i love to work with. How are you finding these people?
00:16:23
Kristen Wade
Well, and that's a great question, right? Because that's where kind of one of my biggest struggles is right now as, you know, newly developing my business is how do I tighten that offer, you know, get it to translate and then get in front of the people that are really going to, you know, recognize that. So my most successful right now is just my network. So meeting with individuals in my network, having, you know, talking with them about what I'm doing, having them refer me to other people and continuing to have those conversations, is, yeah, just helps me get the clients, but then also helps me dial what my clients actually want and speaking their language.
00:17:13
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:17:13
Kristen Wade
yeah, I think that's, that's been the most successful for me right now.
00:17:17
Ken Freire
That's awesome. You know, one of the things that has helped me a lot is is that partnership side of things, right? was like, how do I connect with people?
00:17:24
Kristen Wade
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:17:25
Ken Freire
How do I, you know, like the referral is kind of what you were saying and just say like, okay, this is going be really helpful for me. and And obviously I podcast a lot. So I'm always podcasting.
00:17:36
Ken Freire
I'm always inviting new people. I'm always meeting new people to say, these are the individuals that really, i would really love to work with. or These are the people that I know I can connect other people with.
00:17:48
Ken Freire
And it becomes like I become a massive connector with people. I'm curious for you, Kristen, as you're thinking about your business and you're like trying new things out, is there something in you that you're like, I know a lot of marketing tactics out there, but there's one marketing tactic that I want to try, but I haven't tried that I'm interested in trying in 2026.
00:18:13
Kristen Wade
yeah, so I really want to get into doing more workshops.
Goals and Challenges in the Coaching Industry
00:18:19
Kristen Wade
So the workshops that I've done then really seem to be a good way to then organically have those participants kind of work further with me work more one on one
00:18:27
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:18:31
Kristen Wade
I like to value add right out of the gate, right? So the workshops are a good way to, you know, value add give you some, you know, takeaways. but then also the opportunity to lead into more. And so what does that look like from a marketing standpoint?
00:18:48
Kristen Wade
You know, social media, I definitely need to get more experienced in that. I haven't done any ads or anything like that on social media. So those will definitely be some pieces that I want to, you know, engage more with in 2026.
00:19:03
Ken Freire
Love it. Kristen, as we wrap up our time here and our conversation, and I mentioned to you, we do an expert-led business report. So I asked every person the same five questions. So I'm gonna ask you the same five questions. And you kind of answered the first one with the last question, but you can synthesize if you want. So question number one is, what's something in your business you're experimenting with right now?
00:19:26
Kristen Wade
but Yes. So social media is definitely something that I've not used a lot of. And so I'm trying to experiment and figure out what works on social media.
00:19:36
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:19:37
Kristen Wade
It's a big mystery, right?
00:19:37
Ken Freire
Is there a particular platform you're trying to master?
00:19:42
Kristen Wade
LinkedIn. I think that's where my executives will be.
00:19:47
Ken Freire
Yeah, for sure. That's what I was going to say. Question number two, which part of your business feels the most influx or like keeps you up at night?
00:19:56
Kristen Wade
I think just like I said, really just dialing in my programming. So consistently getting in front of the right people, dialing in what my message is the problem I solve and being too able to articulate that in language that will translate.
00:20:01
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:20:13
Ken Freire
Perfect. Question number three what's a goal you're building toward this year that you're ready, that you're really excited about?
00:20:24
Kristen Wade
wow.
00:20:29
Kristen Wade
I think my, just my revenue goals and my client goals, really just trying to figure out where I want to be and what does success look like and wanting to focus more on impact and not just the dollar sign.
00:20:46
Ken Freire
Sweet.
00:20:47
Kristen Wade
So I think that's, yeah, the impact is what I'm excited about.
00:20:51
Ken Freire
I love it. Question number four, what's where do you see the kind of coaching industry shifting and how are you preparing for it?
00:21:00
Kristen Wade
Well, I think there's just a lot of noise out there, right? I mean, between AI and you know so much information floating around out there, i think it's just making sure that I have a clear point of view, be the expert, pull in my lived experience from human resources, And really just making sure that I can connect with my clients and, you know, be strategic and intentional, just like I'm, you know, telling my clients to be. That's what I need to be as well.
00:21:39
Ken Freire
right, last question. What's the legacy you want to leave behind?
00:21:44
Kristen Wade
oh, I kind of feel like all these answers are tying together, right? So my legacy that I'd really like to leave behind is just working with newly promoted executives and having them walk away from working with me, just being having more clarity, having more confidence, being more reassured, And actually being able to succeed at their job, love their job, but then leave it there and be able to, you know, have that work life balance and have that success outside of work as well.
00:22:26
Kristen Wade
Yeah, that's that's what light me lights me up.
00:22:30
Ken Freire
Sweet. Kristen, for those people who are listening to this, one, they might be like, I need your training.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:22:36
Ken Freire
Or two, they know some people who might and need their your training. What's the best way to get a hold of you?
00:22:43
Kristen Wade
So LinkedIn, obviously, feel free to email me, Kristen at HRHireVersion.com. And then check out my website, HRHireVersion.com, which I did, you know, a few podcasts of my own. So those are all listed on the website as well.
00:23:00
Ken Freire
Yeah, love it. Well, Kristen, thank you so much for for being on the show and thank you for everything you're doing. I think that sometimes we can forget, right? How overwhelming life can be and what skill sets that we need to actually grow o ourselves so that we can grow others and they'll ultimately grow our business.
00:23:12
Kristen Wade
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:23:20
Ken Freire
And without doing that stuff, man, we just we will fall to the shoreside every single time and realize and wake up one day like we've missed the mark. That's what I really appreciate about you, Kristen, is that you've always been focused on like, how do I just keep helping these new executives actually do what they've been called to do and do it well, but also not forsake the things that they love.
00:23:42
Kristen Wade
Yeah.
00:23:42
Ken Freire
So Kristen, thank you for doing that. Thank you for just kind constantly being, you know, an encourager for those individuals.
00:23:50
Kristen Wade
Absolutely. Love it. Thank you, Ken.