Episode 5: Chat with Cat

Welcome back to America Is Great — the podcast where we celebrate the people, places, ideas, and stories that continue to shape the American spirit.

Today’s episode is one of my favorites because we’re sitting down with someone who took an idea, put in the work, and built something meaningful. Whether you own a business, dream of starting one, or just love hearing stories of determination and creativity, this conversation is for you.

Here, we believe America is more than landmarks and headlines—it’s built one dream, one community, and one story at a time.

So, grab your coffee, settle in, and let’s meet today’s guest.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Somewhere along the way, it became easier to point out everything wrong with America than to talk about what's right. But here's the truth: this country is still full of incredible people, powerful stories, and a history that's worth understanding. And that's exactly what this podcast is about. This is America is Great, where we explore the stories, history, and people that make this country what it is and what it's still becoming. Today's episode is one of my favorites because we're sitting down with someone who took an idea, put in the work, and built something meaningful. Whether you own a business, dream of starting one, or just love hearing stories of determination and creativity, this conversation is for you. Here we believe America is more than landmarks and headlines. It's built one dream, one community, and one story at a time. So grab your coffee, settle in, and let's meet today's guest. Today, we are talking to Kat Carnell, author, podcaster, unconventional coach, and storyteller, my longtime friend. She normalizes taboo topics through lived experiences and reflection, often avoided until life high-fives us in the face. So please welcome Kat Carnell. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Hi, thank you for inviting me to your podcast. This is awesome. This has been a long time coming for both of us. Yes, it was. And I had a lot of fun with you yesterday on my. So I'm super happy to be here with you on yours.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Yeah. So, like after working in the active duty Air Force together. So then we PCS'd back to Texas, me and my family. And then ever since, we've mainly communicated just via Facebook and text messages. But I must say, I am really proud of all your accomplishments over the years. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

And then today, I just want to chat with you a little bit about those accomplishments. So I have a few questions. So the first one's going to be tell us about yourself and your business.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I call myself unconventional coach, mostly because I'm not licensed or not though not that's not the right word. I'm not certified in coaching, but I'm I also take a different approach in how I coach people. I'm trying to do more of a self-guided workshop thing. And and I'm honing in more on communication with yourself rather than communication with others. Because I do believe that when you have everything like pinned down, so to speak, within yourself, um, like how you talk to yourself, how you how you like label yourself, all that stuff. Once you kind of figure that stuff out and why you do it, it's so much easier to be able to communicate with others and convey what you're going through. And I mean, so that's where I thrive. But other than that, I also write books, and I've already had three books published, and it's all on my miscarriage that I had back in 2024, but in three different perspectives. So that's kind of where I'm at right now.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

And I think that would be inspiring to others along that lines. Um, I know you kind of touched on it a little bit, but what inspired you to start your own business?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

I started my business 10 years ago through massage therapy. That's that was my first passion as a business owner. I honestly was done being employed. I so like I uh I got out of the military because uh the military pissed me off, and then and then I got employed at this federal credit union, and I took two positions. The first position I was working as a receptionist, the second one was at the call center, and either position, like I just could not either boxes just pissed me off. And one day I was driving home and I was like just complaining to my husband. I was so fed up with the you know the corporate setting. I was just I I couldn't do it anymore. I was so angry. And then my husband took me out to dinner. I was like, what's the occasion? He was like, nothing, just let's just go to dinner. You're you need to talk. I'm like, okay. So we went to dinner together, and he ordered a couple of wine, uh glasses of wine, and I'm like, seriously, what is the occasion? And he says, Well, you're not happy with your job, so why don't you just go back to school, like you were talking about? Use your GI Bill and do something with it. I was like, really? And that's when my world became bigger, if that makes sense. I was like, what could I do? And I wanted to be a psychologist at first, but I wanted something that that was tangible now. So I did so much research and I realized that I found that massage therapy could kind of do what I wanted to do, just in a whole different way of helping people. So I started there. So that was 10 years ago. But what got me into what I'm doing now, it's actually all about the miscarriage I went through, kind of turned my entire world upside down. And I realized that I didn't want to be secluded in a room to help people. Like I wanted to enjoy my life while I helped people, and the miscarriage kind of brought me that perspective. And now I'm sitting in my office writing books and doing these podcasts, and you know, leaving the house whenever the hell I want to.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

And that's the best part of not having to answer to a person.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Exactly. So that's kind of how I got here in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yeah. Um, and with what part of your story, your story of life and the businesses you have, are you most proud of?

SPEAKER_00 6:12

All of it, actually. But if I had to pinpoint one, my journey through massage therapy, I was so scared to be the representation of my own business, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

No, of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

And I I struggled to have to be the face, even though I did a lot of vending at like I don't know, like little festivals and all that stuff. Like I would have a tent and my products and I'd talk about my business. So I I I was literally the face of my business, even with my clients, right? But when it came to like being on the internet, right? Like my my website and all of that stuff. I'm had a hard time putting my face on it, even on social media. So all of my advertisements that I created, none of them had my face on it. It was all very like kind of topical, so to speak, like surface-y, where I didn't really do any deep dives in who I was. If that you know what I mean? Yeah, no, of course. That's kind of how I started my business with in massage therapy. But while I was growing it, I kind of realized that I was somehow making this whole business thing ran in a way that was socially acceptable, so to speak. Yeah. And I think one day I realized that this is my business, I can do whatever I want with it. You know what I mean? So I started taking different avenues of how I did my business, and ultimately where I fell in that was writing newsletters, not as a professional massage therapist, but as a human being. And I realized a lot of a lot of my clients started reading my newsletters, and I was like, oh, so this is where I need to be. So I started really writing, like, not just my little, you know, tidbit stories of mine and uh sharing a lot more of me, but I still did like incorporate a lot of things that I should be teaching people, so to speak, about massage and stuff like that. But I really did put more effort into putting who I was, and that I did that for half of my career as a massage therapist, and ultimately that was what made kind of like a turning point, like the vehicle to my life as of an author. So I had practice to like put myself out there, and I started getting comfortable with it. And when I finally got uh my first book written, I had no problem publishing it. So, with that said, I think it's the gradual identity shift that I did from being somebody who owned a massage therapy practice that couldn't put herself out there to gradually to somebody who was able to own who she was as a massage therapist and who she was as a human being, and into somebody who could write. You know what I mean? Like that transition, I think, would be something that I'm most proud of that I did for me.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

So it's like your personal growth is what you're most proud of, and it's with that growth that you're able to then put it towards these different things that you're able to do.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Yeah, exactly. And then with that, um, what does success mean to you? And then has your definition changed over time?

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Just as a human being, right? Like when you start life as an adult, you're like, what can I do with my life? And you think, well, success, I feel like looks like this, and you have like this this very um the image that everybody else has. Yeah, has nothing to do with your own drinks. Like you're like, oh, I wanna like I love computers, so I want to be somebody like Steve Jobs. Like, really, you know what I mean? Like, you force this this huge, unrealistic expectation of yourself, and then you end up in a desk job and you're like, oh my god, I hate my life. Yeah, I know you know what I mean. Yeah, like I think we all kind of go through that, and I went through that. So, but joining the military, I think ultimately helped me realize that I'm more I am the most important person in my entire life, and I need to take care of myself. So I started actually that was when I started doing not necessarily deep dives, but understanding who I was and what where I thrive and what I love. And so from there, my my perspective of what success was changed. So, fast forward to now, my success, my definition of success is just finding my lifestyle that I will be happy with, not everybody else. Like I want to be in a place where I can thrive, and where I thrive is writing books, but where can I be to be able to thrive even more to help flourish my creativity in that sense? Exactly, also be happy with it and not just happy, because I feel like the word happy, there's unhappy times and there are happy times, there are conditions to those, and I don't think that should be something people strive for, if that makes sense. No, of course. Um, I want to be in a place where I can do all of the things that I want to do, but also be able to take life as it comes to me with grace, and I kind of define that as bliss, where you can just live and go through the highs and the lows, but still be able to take it with grace. And that would be my definition of success.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

No, and I like what you say is you really do have to take care of yourself in order to take care of other people. It's like on an airplane, you know, you have to put your oxygen mask on first before you can put other people's on, because if you don't help yourself, you can't help other people.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Exactly. And that's kind of why I I'm focusing on self-communication is if you can't communicate, you can't communicate with others.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

No, of course not. With that, what freedoms and opportunities helped get you where you are today? What parts of the American experience open doors for you?

SPEAKER_00 13:16

So America has a unique position where, like, so you can go anywhere and start anything, but somehow in the United States, it seems that there is a lot more support for entrepreneurs. So I think that's something that I definitely took advantage of because again, I had a a massage practice for nine years. I'm jumping into doing fighting, and I didn't have a problem being able to do that, right? So that would be the the the the thing about the United States, I think, that I took advantage of.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

And then I think you may have touched on it a little bit, but what challenges have you overcome to build your business and what kept you moving forward?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Challenges and what kept me moving forward, you know, owning a business, there's a challenge in every freaking corner. Yes, uh-huh. You know, so I think ultimately what what helped me through them as well as moving forward is the fact that like it's important to see what could happen when something fails, but what could happen if something doesn't, and you're actually successful with it. So, for example, when I was going through massage school, we had a one-week business class we had to take, like that was the massage school's way of supporting you and starting your own practice if you so chose to. So they really layered it on thick on taxes, like everything about how a lot of businesses fail because of their lack of understanding of their own taxes. So basically, take your book seriously, right? Like everything's in the books. My mentor told me that everything's your business is in the books, and I took that to heart. So I understand that that's a lot of people's problems, I made sure that that wasn't a problem for me. I didn't understand taxes well, like that's a whole different thing, a whole different hat that I had to put on without fully understanding what I was doing, right? So I did all the easy stuff, obviously, but when I was able to afford one, that was the first thing I hired was a CPA, so that I didn't have to worry about it. So, with that said, I think understanding the ins and the outs, the possible failures and the possible successes without being afraid of making the mistakes. Yeah, I think that's what that would be for me.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Yeah. What advice would you give someone who dreams of owning a business someday? What's something you wish someone would have told you early on?

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Let's see, there's so much, but if I had to choose one, I think it would be because this is something everybody struggles with is your worth. Yep. Like what are you worth in your business? And a lot of and I started out uh that way too. But a lot of people will start out with uh, because you know, they want exposure, they want all these people to be happy, they want, they want, they want, they want, and all of the things that they say they want has everything to do with everybody else but then. Yeah. What are you worth in the business? Like, even even if you think you're like worth $40 an hour, sure, but when you look at everybody else, they they're charging $60, $70 per hour. So why are you doing $40? Because you're not worth it, you know? Like, I think that's an important question to have answered for themselves so that they can move beyond their lack of worth for people.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

No, I agree with that. Is that people try to maybe base their business on what they think people are looking for, but in the end, it's you know, it's your time and it's your hard work too. So it's trying to find that happy medium on you want your you want your products to be priced at a good at a good price where people can afford to have to have your stuff. But if you're doing like all this work and all this effort, you need to also be paid as as such too. And I think that's kind of hard is to find how to find that middle ground.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah. So I think that's what I would suggest to people who are looking into getting starting their own businesses to figure out what they're worth, but without uh shipping themselves, you know. Oh, of course, like giving them the benefit of doubt that they actually know what they're doing and they actually deserve to be paid, what they should be paid, should be paid.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

No, yeah. All right, so I have one more question, and then we're gonna do a quick, fun, rapid fire around, and then we're gonna close. And so the last question is when you hear the phrase America is great, what does it mean to you personally?

SPEAKER_00 18:40

I think the word hope comes to mind because you know, in every country we they all have their own like greatness, but in the United States, I feel like it's hope because somehow we were able to like get people to see that, like, oh, there's a reason why we have so many immigrants here, right? Like, they come here because they saw hope that they can they see a fix to a problem they have in their life, and they couldn't see it in their own country, so they move here. Like I think you know what I mean. There's a large amount of like a different level of hope people see in this country for themselves, and I think that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

And I agree, and that's kind of where I came from with starting this podcast, is just opening our eyes to all the potentials that we as Americans have and what other people are seeing from the outside looking in from their perspective, they're seeing the thing.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

That's a big thing to like uh have pride on, you know, is that we actually give other countries hope that they can figure it out here. Exactly. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

All right, so one word answers if possible. What's what's your favorite American city?

SPEAKER_00 20:09

American city? I don't have one, I have no idea. Oh, I haven't moved around enough in the United States to know. Oh, I I couldn't even think of one. Yeah, yeah. But if I had to choose, I'd probably say Denver because they have my favorite ramen up there.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Oh, ramen. Mine's San Antonio. I I love love San Antonio for more than one reason. What's your favorite holiday? That is Halloween for sure. Oh, I can see that. Yes, yes. I like the pumpkin seeds.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Oh, well, for me, my birthday is literally two two, three days before uh before Halloween. Oh, really? Like it's yeah, I'm a Halloween baby. Oh, that would be fun birthday parties. Right, that's what I said. Apparently, my mom wasn't happy about it. Oh, yeah. What's your favorite local restaurant? There is a breakfast place that's like family-owned. There isn't a chain in uh this little place called the Village of Corales, and that it's called Hannah and Nate. I love their breakfast.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Oh, that sounds fun.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah, is that a ma and pa style restaurant? Kind of like they've grown, so they don't seem like mom and pop anymore, but I know for a fact that their everything that they cook comes from their own yard, if that makes sense. Like it's yeah, it everything's so fresh.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Oh, well, that's good. You know, and I think too, a lot of these, I know at least in Vermont, I've seen a couple, a couple mom and pa restaurants that have become big enough where they may have like two other restaurants in the same like local area, but it's neat, it's neat to see that where. It's like okay, hole in the wall, like little restaurant. And then before you know it, you see another one, same name, and it's across across town in another city. And I said, That I love to see that for those guys.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

That definitely gets me all excited. I'd be like, Oh, good for them. They are definitely moving, you know, in a different direction in their business. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

What is one thing, most underrated thing about America?

SPEAKER_00 22:30

When I moved to the United States back in 2006, it was December. What happened was I was looking for jobs. So, and mind you, I just moved to the United States from Japan, so I didn't have a driver's license. I didn't have really anything to my name. So I had to ride the bus and go to different areas of Denver to find a job. So I was just like everywhere, and I was like going everywhere in a bus. With that said, every time I'm at a bus station, there's always that one person that'll approach me and start talking. I don't know if you know anything about Japan. No, people keep to themselves. Oh, and I like that about Japan. I wanted to be left alone. So, like, that was like my major culture shock. Yeah, is that people wanted to talk and I couldn't care less. I was like, in all honesty, I was like, oh my god, why are you talking to me? Why are you talking to me? Why are you here? I was so scared. And so after doing that for about a month, I went home and my mom, I can't remember what my mom was doing, but I looked at her and I was like, mom, she's like, What? I was like, I swear to God, I'm gonna be murdered at a bus stop one of these days. And she was like, What? Why? What happened? I was like, why do people keep talking to me? I was so scared. I gotta, I don't know how to explain the level of fear I had with people talking to me that I didn't know. You know what I mean? But the thing is, like, I learned that that's the culture here. Yeah. But I also think that's a very underrated like thing because you you have no idea who you're talking to. No, like it could have been Elon Musk for all I know. Yeah, like like if you didn't know his face. So I started learning to if people approach me that I would be nice about it and talk to them. And I have met some pretty amazing people that are not noticed. No, of course, yeah. Speaking to strangers or strangers speaking to you, I honestly like I don't care for people. No, right, what that to talk to me, but when they do and I accept, you know what I mean? Like, I get comfortable with it, so to speak, or may I make myself get comfortable with it, and I I get surprised every once in a while who I'm talking to and all the accomplishments they've done. Exactly. So, yeah, so that would be the thing that I think would be underrated because I think everybody hates it and loves it at the same time. And if you really give it a chance, I think you'd be surprised of who you could meet.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Yeah, no, of course. Well, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your story. So, conversations like this remind us that behind every business is a person who took a chance working through obstacles and created something meaningful. Is there anything you'd like to plug for us before we end? My business is called Beautifully Unhinged.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

That URL is or the domain is taken, though. So I had to uh hyphenate it to b-unhing.com. Yeah. Um I kind of like that too, because I'm unhinged anyway. So if there's anything like if uh people want to check out my books and what I'm working on right now and my my socials, it's all there in one of the pages. So and yeah, so thank you so much for having me on your show. This was fun.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

No, this was great. So to everyone listening, support local, keep dreaming big, and remember that great stories are happening all around us. Until next time, this has been America is great. Please share with your friends and family. Visit voices and story studio dot voices and story studio.substack.com. Leave me a message about your favorite thing about America. What would you like to hear from America is great? And leave me a review. Any feedback is good feedback. And always remember be the reason someone smiles today. Thank you. We'll see you next time.