Episode #12 (Part 2) - Self-Development & Prioritization: An Interview With Kris Pool

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Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

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determination, all converge into an amazing, heartfelt experience.

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This is Speaking From The Heart.

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Welcome back to episode 12 of Speaking From The Heart, and this is part two

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of our interview with Kris Pool, which I said in the first part, this was a

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interview that was not planned to be this long, and as a result, I had to break

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it into two episodes for us to digest because it had a lot of great material.

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Just to recap, Kris is a 18 year veteran of Toastmaster, and she's

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earned the Distinguished Toastmaster Award three times, which is the highest

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award in which Toastmasters bestows individually based on communication

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and leadership accomplishments.

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She's currently working on the award for the fourth time.

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She belongs to three Toastmasters clubs, which she's actively involved

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in, and has been the past 2023 Spring conference chair for District 35 in

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Toastmasters, which includes Wisconsin and the upper portion of Michigan.

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She has been the social media coordinator, specifically for Facebook, for the

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District, a club coach, and had set out on a mission to visit one club in each of the

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50 states by the end of this past June.

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Kris has been employed since September 2021 with the Wisconsin Department

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of Workforce Development as an employment and training specialist

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at the Sheboygan County Job Center.

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She's putting all these Toastmaster skills to work on a daily basis in her role,

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and, also she's been married for over 22 years to Troy, her husband, and as a

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result of having all this time, she gets to enjoy reading, cooking, eating, and

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vacationing in Gatlinsburg, Tennessee.

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In part two, we're going to talk more specifically about how Toastmasters

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has fundamentally changed her perspective and her outlook in her life.

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In part one, we built on the foundations of her job experience, which led her

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into it, which if you didn't catch that episode, go back and listen to

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part one, because now we're going to get into some personal items as it

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relates to part two of this interview.

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With that, let's continue to the episode.

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I'm really curious now, when you are talking about the soft skills

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that people have to learn, I know that you've been a Toastmaster for

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over, what is it, 18 years or so?

Kris: 00:02:35

Yes.

Kris: 00:02:35

Yes.

Joshua: 00:02:36

What would you say to people that are thinking about trying to develop

Joshua: 00:02:42

those soft skills and using things such as Toastmasters as a starting

Joshua: 00:02:46

point, because, many of us are hearing about the conversation about being in

Joshua: 00:02:51

a recession coming up and all these things with inflation and people being

Joshua: 00:02:57

laid off left and right in various industries, I know that there's still

Joshua: 00:03:01

a lot of recovery but at the same time, there's a lot of pain happening

Joshua: 00:03:04

when it comes to not having those sort of skills, especially in America.

Joshua: 00:03:09

I think this is a worldwide problem, a global crisis, if you will, when

Joshua: 00:03:13

it comes to communication, which I've talked about with various

Joshua: 00:03:16

guests, but what's your take on that?

Kris: 00:03:20

As I work, I will oftentimes find different articles.

Kris: 00:03:26

I like doing different research.

Kris: 00:03:27

What are some of the trends going on in employment?

Kris: 00:03:30

What are the employers looking for in resumes in the skillset of their

Kris: 00:03:35

new potential hires, and something that I've read over and over again

Kris: 00:03:41

is that employers will hire people with the soft skills rather than the

Kris: 00:03:46

hard skills or the technical skills.

Kris: 00:03:48

The technical skills are, I'm going to say, relatively easy to teach on the job.

Kris: 00:03:55

Those soft skills; that's not something that you can just train, and running

Kris: 00:04:02

a machine, you press this button, you watch for this, you inspect

Kris: 00:04:05

this, here's your product, here's who you call if there's an issue.

Kris: 00:04:09

The hard skills, those technical skills, the employers can train

Kris: 00:04:13

you relatively easy on it.

Kris: 00:04:15

Your soft skills, how you develop relationships, the communication, how

Kris: 00:04:22

you're able to explain yourself or explain a process, delegation, facilitation,

Kris: 00:04:29

working in a team, critical thinking, that effective feedback; those are those

Kris: 00:04:35

soft skills that are developed over time, and yes, you can learn it on the job;

Kris: 00:04:42

yes, you can take different training or seminars for them on your own or pay a

Kris: 00:04:48

ton of money to go through some of these.

Kris: 00:04:51

With Toastmasters, you're getting that opportunity to develop all of

Kris: 00:04:57

these soft skills in that supportive and encouraging environment.

Kris: 00:05:03

I have seen members join Toastmasters where they are afraid

Kris: 00:05:09

to literally walk in the room.

Kris: 00:05:11

We had one guest, she became a member.

Kris: 00:05:14

She shared with us that she came to a meeting a year prior.

Kris: 00:05:18

She watched through the window for 10 minutes and could not open the door;

Kris: 00:05:23

she was that scared of speaking in front of others and being in a group,

Kris: 00:05:29

and the year later, she turned that doorknob and walked into the room

Kris: 00:05:35

and she did a 12 second introduction.

Kris: 00:05:38

At the beginning of the meeting, we always asked guests to introduce

Kris: 00:05:41

themselves and we gently prodded for her to participate in table topics.

Kris: 00:05:49

That's the impromptu speaking portion of our meetings, and she spoke for about 20,

Kris: 00:05:54

30 seconds after the meeting was done.

Kris: 00:05:58

That's when we found out she'd been there the year before she did, even

Kris: 00:06:03

though it was only that 30 seconds, she did extraordinarily well.

Kris: 00:06:08

It was her confidence she had to build up, not necessarily her speaking skills.

Kris: 00:06:14

She had that thought process.

Kris: 00:06:17

You have to know what are going to be those individual goals that someone wants

Kris: 00:06:21

to achieve at when they join Toastmasters.

Kris: 00:06:24

Is it that building up of the self-confidence?

Kris: 00:06:27

Do they want to be better prepared to give presentations because,

Kris: 00:06:33

well, I quit my last three jobs cause my boss told me I had to give

Kris: 00:06:36

a presentation to the big boss.

Kris: 00:06:39

I knew a member, that's what they did.

Kris: 00:06:40

They quit their job because they did not want to give those presentations,

Kris: 00:06:45

and if he realized, "I can't keep job hopping because of this setback>" he had

Kris: 00:06:51

to make a decision and do something to fix that, and he joined Toastmasters.

Joshua: 00:06:58

I'm wondering, especially since a lot of people still have

Joshua: 00:07:01

the fear of glossophobia, for those that don't know, glossophobia

Joshua: 00:07:05

is the fear of public speaking.

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It's still the number one fear over the fear of death.

Joshua: 00:07:10

Rather, people would rather die before speaking.

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When you say that, people are quitting jobs because of not wanting to speak,

Joshua: 00:07:22

I'm kind of curious then, how did you get started in Toastmasters?

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Did you have the same fear?

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Did you want to walk out the door because your boss asked

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you to give a presentation?

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What was the catalyst for you, Kris, to finally start

Joshua: 00:07:35

saying, "Yes, this is my place.

Joshua: 00:07:38

This is what makes me feel good," and you're still doing it, actively

Joshua: 00:07:42

and strongly, after 18 years.

Kris: 00:07:45

Sure.

Kris: 00:07:47

Well, let's go back to high school.

Joshua: 00:07:50

Oh, wow.

Kris: 00:07:51

I was involved in forensics; I was on the PA crew.

Kris: 00:07:54

I enjoyed speaking.

Kris: 00:07:56

It didn't bother me at all because I was on the forensics team, our

Kris: 00:08:01

coach knew people over at Allen Bradley or now Rockwell Automation.

Kris: 00:08:07

They had a Toastmasters club over there.

Joshua: 00:08:10

What is Rockwell Automation, just for our listeners?

Kris: 00:08:13

Oh sure.

Kris: 00:08:14

It is a manufacturer in downtown Milwaukee, the Allen Bradley Clock Tower.

Kris: 00:08:19

It's the largest four-sided clock in the world, I believe, and they had a

Kris: 00:08:24

Toastmasters club, and at the time I called it "Baby Toastmasters", but it

Kris: 00:08:29

was their youth leadership program.

Kris: 00:08:32

We like to walk the six blocks from school over to Alan Bradley and it was fun just

Kris: 00:08:38

to get involved with professionals at that higher level because all of them

Kris: 00:08:42

had been Toastmasters for 5 or 10 years, and the experiences that they shared,

Kris: 00:08:49

I loved that opportunity, and I was able to use some of those skills right

Kris: 00:08:54

away and pull that into my forensics, into what I was presenting there.

Kris: 00:09:00

Use some of the tips with drama.

Kris: 00:09:03

Oftentimes what my trick was, if I was not comfortable being in

Kris: 00:09:09

the front and everybody looking at me, I took my glasses off.

Kris: 00:09:14

Blurry blobs were not scary to me.

Kris: 00:09:16

If I had my glasses on and I could see people's faces and their eyes and they're

Kris: 00:09:21

looking at me, that's what scared me.

Kris: 00:09:24

I eventually got over that one because I think, in my mind, I finally

Kris: 00:09:29

decided it doesn't matter necessarily what that one individual thinks of

Kris: 00:09:34

me, because this other person who's watching me, they're getting something

Kris: 00:09:39

of value of what I'm saying to them.

Kris: 00:09:43

After high school, after college; had my first real job after college,

Kris: 00:09:50

and my sister was involved in another organization, ABWA, American Business

Kris: 00:09:56

Women's Association, and she invited me over for one of their meetings and I

Kris: 00:10:01

walked in and I start greeting everyone.

Kris: 00:10:04

Well, I ended up joining that night.

Kris: 00:10:05

I was voted in as vice president because they liked my smile.

Kris: 00:10:09

I was-

Joshua: 00:10:11

Why am I not surprised by that?

Kris: 00:10:13

I'm a people person and, it's interesting because I don't always

Kris: 00:10:21

think of myself as that people person.

Kris: 00:10:23

Everyone thinks I'm this extroverted wonder, and they don't believe me when

Kris: 00:10:28

I tell them I am an introvert because I put myself out in those types of

Kris: 00:10:35

situations, even though I may not want to.

Kris: 00:10:39

If I was not involved in Toastmasters, I would not be involved in anything.

Kris: 00:10:43

I would be home every night after work, curled up on the couch with a book.

Kris: 00:10:48

I put myself in those group situations, and then I use up all my energy and then

Kris: 00:10:55

I have to come back and I have to regroup.

Kris: 00:10:57

I need that alone time.

Kris: 00:10:58

I can only have so much together with everyone type of time, and

Kris: 00:11:04

then I need that alone time.

Kris: 00:11:06

I'm an extroverted introvert, I believe is the term now.

Joshua: 00:11:10

Yes, that's what they do call it.

Kris: 00:11:11

Yes, and I was involved with ABWA, and then I got involved in

IAAP: 00:11:16

International Association of Administrative Professionals.

IAAP: 00:11:23

At this time, I had moved from Milwaukee to Sheboygan, and I

IAAP: 00:11:27

was very active or very involved.

IAAP: 00:11:30

I was an executive administrative assistant.

IAAP: 00:11:33

I was looking for a way to challenge myself, and I started looking around

IAAP: 00:11:36

and I found IAAP and they have credentials you can become a certified

IAAP: 00:11:42

administrative professional, and you have to have a combination of education,

IAAP: 00:11:46

number of years of work experience.

IAAP: 00:11:49

It was a six hour exam in four parts, and I passed all four parts the first time.

IAAP: 00:11:57

I was very proud of myself on that one.

Joshua: 00:11:59

Wow.

Kris: 00:11:59

And then you have to re-certify, so I've had this

Kris: 00:12:01

certification for 20 years now.

Kris: 00:12:04

I just received my last recertification and it expires in November of

Kris: 00:12:08

2025, and recertification involves different leadership opportunities

Kris: 00:12:13

and education, all that fun stuff.

Joshua: 00:12:17

When you are doing all these different types of activities that have

Joshua: 00:12:22

helped to enhance who you are today, has there been anybody, and now this question

Joshua: 00:12:28

is not just Toastmasters related, but maybe anybody that you have encountered.

Joshua: 00:12:35

Who has been that solid rock of influence for you as you have continued to build

Joshua: 00:12:42

this Kris Pool that we've gotten to know-

Kris: 00:12:44

mm-hmm.

Joshua: 00:12:44

today.

Joshua: 00:12:45

Who would you say that was the biggest influence in making

Joshua: 00:12:50

you go in this direction?

Kris: 00:12:53

My sister Kathy.

Kris: 00:12:55

I was supposed to be her birthday present.

Kris: 00:12:59

My due date was her birthday, and that was a week late-

Joshua: 00:13:03

wow.

Kris: 00:13:04

And I was going to be her baby doll, now she's eight years older than I am.

Kris: 00:13:08

The high school that I went to, I wanted to go into print shop

Kris: 00:13:11

because that's what she was in.

Kris: 00:13:13

I had no idea what was involved in print shop, but I wanted print shop

Kris: 00:13:17

and I did, and the main teacher for that program, he saw more

Kris: 00:13:22

potential in me than in her, and Mr.

Kris: 00:13:24

Hansen, he never gave me any leeway on anything.

Kris: 00:13:29

There's one other student in high school.

Kris: 00:13:32

We both scored an 89.9 on a test, and he had to be at 90 for an A.

Kris: 00:13:38

He gave her the A.

Kris: 00:13:39

He bumped her up, kept me at the B because he knew I could do better.

Kris: 00:13:46

It was annoying and just it was hard, but Kathy was always

Kris: 00:13:51

the one to gently nudge me.

Kris: 00:13:55

It wasn't that, " you have to do this."

Kris: 00:13:58

It was, "have you considered," and then give her reasonings

Kris: 00:14:04

for it and then, yeah, it makes sense, I'll go and go and do this.

Kris: 00:14:08

This actually ties in when I was in IAAP, I was moving up in their

Kris: 00:14:13

leadership roles, club officers, and then their division, which is equivalent

Kris: 00:14:18

to our Toastmasters district, the highest within that state type of

Kris: 00:14:23

area, and I was giving presentations at their education conferences.

Kris: 00:14:29

She called me up one day and said, "Kris, by the way, you're joining Toastmasters.

Kris: 00:14:34

I've got the application ready for you to sign.

Kris: 00:14:36

I'm paying your dues."

Kris: 00:14:37

She knew that I needed to polish some of my skills, becoming a leader and doing

Kris: 00:14:44

those presentations and her thought was, stay within a, year and then I can just

Kris: 00:14:51

continue in this other organization.

Kris: 00:14:54

I don't think she had any expectation that I would continue in Toastmasters

Kris: 00:14:58

and become so involved like I did; part of it is that initial phone call.

Kris: 00:15:04

"Kris, you have to join.

Kris: 00:15:06

Sign the application now."

Kris: 00:15:09

I continue to stay today because I always try and find new challenges for

Kris: 00:15:14

me, but now, I really want to help new members grow and find their potential.

Kris: 00:15:22

How can I nudge them into a direction that I see so much potential in them

Kris: 00:15:29

that they don't see in yourself?

Kris: 00:15:31

I love being in that type of a role.

Joshua: 00:15:34

I've had a lot of guests that have done the same thing, and they have shared

Joshua: 00:15:37

those experiences as well, and I know that for my audience, they know that providing

Joshua: 00:15:45

opportunities for other people can be such a shaking influence in yourself because

Joshua: 00:15:52

what you're doing is not just helping that other person, you are instilling something

Joshua: 00:15:57

from yourself, to those other people.

Joshua: 00:16:01

Is there somebody that you have encountered in those 18 years, all those

Joshua: 00:16:05

new members that have come after you, that you remember as being the biggest

Joshua: 00:16:12

success story and whether that was direct or indirect because of your participation?

Joshua: 00:16:18

Is there one person that stands out for you, and if so, can you tell

Joshua: 00:16:22

us a little bit about him or her?

Kris: 00:16:26

Teri.

Kris: 00:16:26

She was, I would say, a year behind me when she had been an Area Director and

Kris: 00:16:33

then talking with, and I don't remember if I was an Area Director at that time.

Kris: 00:16:38

I think I was an Area Director at the same time she was, and then I jumped straight

Kris: 00:16:44

into the Club Growth Director, the trio position, and she was gently nudged

Kris: 00:16:50

into the Division Director position.

Kris: 00:16:53

She wasn't ready to jump into that higher leadership level yet in Toastmasters, and

Kris: 00:17:01

she needed to build up her confidence, I think, in what she did, what she could

Kris: 00:17:07

offer to others, and she rose every single challenge you would present to her

Kris: 00:17:12

and I think she enjoyed the challenges because she wanted to figure things out.

Kris: 00:17:19

She wasn't afraid to learn.

Kris: 00:17:20

She wasn't afraid to research and ask questions, and then when that year was

Kris: 00:17:27

done, I again gently nudged her into Club Growth Director and she won that year.

Kris: 00:17:33

When we went for our training, she still talks about this, on how mean that I

Kris: 00:17:38

was to her at our training, because our District Director at the time, and I was

Kris: 00:17:43

our Program Quality Director, we told Teri she's not allowed to sit with us for

Kris: 00:17:49

any of the meals, or any of the sessions.

Kris: 00:17:53

She had to go and sit at another table to meet new people and develop new

Kris: 00:17:58

relationships, and she didn't like that.

Kris: 00:18:01

We told her she can't sit with us.

Joshua: 00:18:07

I know what you mean because something similar was done to me, for

Joshua: 00:18:10

folks that don't know, I was also a Club Growth Director, also Program Quality

Joshua: 00:18:14

Director in District 38, which has covered Eastern Pennsylvania, Central/

Joshua: 00:18:18

Southern, New Jersey, and I was sort of told by the same people, "yeah, you

Joshua: 00:18:22

need to go sit somewhere else, start making relationships with other people."

Joshua: 00:18:25

I find that funny that it was ironic that happens.

Kris: 00:18:28

Well, because we're going to be working together quite

Kris: 00:18:31

closely over the next year.

Kris: 00:18:33

We don't need to spend these couple of days here together.

Kris: 00:18:37

Start making your connections, building your relationships, that

Kris: 00:18:40

you can use those over the coming years, which is what part of that

Kris: 00:18:45

leadership is all about building those connections and networking with others.

Kris: 00:18:50

Who can you help when you need it?

Kris: 00:18:53

Who can you help when they need and ask for it?

Kris: 00:18:56

Then, who can you ask for help when you need it?

Kris: 00:19:00

If you don't get to know these people, develop that relationship, you don't know

Kris: 00:19:04

who you can go to, what you can offer.

Kris: 00:19:08

Teri, she still talks about how mean we were to her on that and Rozaline

Kris: 00:19:12

was our District Director at the time.

Kris: 00:19:14

She would actually go up and check on her.

Kris: 00:19:17

"Okay, you're at this table, everybody, what have you learned from Teri?"

Kris: 00:19:20

It was hilarious.

Joshua: 00:19:22

Oh my gosh.

Joshua: 00:19:23

I don't think they did that to me, thankfully.

Kris: 00:19:24

Yes.

Kris: 00:19:25

And that, it was nice because Teri and I, we actually roomed

Kris: 00:19:28

together during that whole week.

Kris: 00:19:31

At the end of the night, we could do that whole, two and a half hour recap of what

Kris: 00:19:35

we learned, who we had met, what we could do, and all the different ideas of what we

Kris: 00:19:40

could implement, and if we had not pushed her away from us, she would not have

Kris: 00:19:46

gotten all these other different ideas.

Joshua: 00:19:49

You have pushed those people into these opportunities, and I have followed

Joshua: 00:19:55

Teri and seen a lot of her successes afterwards, after all the things that have

Joshua: 00:20:01

been influences in the Toastmasters for her, but I am wondering for you, when you

Joshua: 00:20:09

look back, and you look at the 18 years that you've been in, and you've seen all

Joshua: 00:20:15

the things that have shifted in this world alongside of it, has there been a mindset

Joshua: 00:20:21

that you've developed now as a result of meeting all these people, because being

Joshua: 00:20:27

that Toastmasters is an international organization, you start to get a deeper

Joshua: 00:20:31

appreciation for all the things that are available, not only when it comes to

Joshua: 00:20:37

communication and leadership development, but you start to appreciate differences

Joshua: 00:20:41

that each of us bring to the table.

Joshua: 00:20:43

Has there been people, or maybe situations, that you've encountered

Joshua: 00:20:49

that have helped you to develop a broader, more robust mindset, and if

Joshua: 00:20:56

so, tell us a little bit about that?

Kris: 00:20:58

I think with Toastmasters it helps me to stay open-minded.

Kris: 00:21:05

In high school, I was in the minority.

Kris: 00:21:08

We were in downtown Milwaukee and blacks were probably about 75, 80%, and whites,

Kris: 00:21:17

and Hispanics about 30%, so I was in the minority, and my family, my parents very

Kris: 00:21:26

prejudiced and very racial, and I didn't understand it, because I think part

Kris: 00:21:34

of my head, it's not a stereotype that if you're black, that means you're bad.

Kris: 00:21:38

No, it's an individual that is bad, and it's like I don't see that color

Kris: 00:21:46

or that outside for the most part, and I know it still comes out in my

Kris: 00:21:52

head, but I try to hide it and know that I need to get to know a person

Kris: 00:21:57

on an individual level before making a judgment call about them based on

Kris: 00:22:02

what they're wearing, what they're tattooed, what their skin color is,

Kris: 00:22:06

anything like that, and in Toastmasters, so much of that doesn't even matter.

Kris: 00:22:12

We come from such diverse cultures in the backgrounds, and Toastmasters is a

Kris: 00:22:18

family and it doesn't matter what size, shape, or color you are in Toastmasters,

Kris: 00:22:25

you are brought in to that family.

Kris: 00:22:28

We are here to support one another regardless, and even if you have different

Kris: 00:22:34

opinions, and I don't agree with you, but I still respect you for it and that

Kris: 00:22:40

you can share your opinion with me.

Kris: 00:22:42

We don't have to have the same opinions.

Kris: 00:22:44

We don't always have to agree.

Kris: 00:22:47

We just have to agree, we have differences and want to still work together.

Kris: 00:22:50

How can we still build up one another?

Kris: 00:22:56

I have so many friends around the world now, and it's just amazing that

Kris: 00:23:01

I don't think I would have made those connections without Toastmasters, and

Kris: 00:23:07

it's just opened up this whole new world.

Kris: 00:23:11

I know when we went into the pandemic, and the for the

Kris: 00:23:15

COVID, we had to go to virtual.

Kris: 00:23:17

This has been a godsend for me, because now I can connect so much

Kris: 00:23:22

more with others, especially overseas.

Kris: 00:23:26

This is my comfort zone, the virtual space, because I have mobility issues.

Kris: 00:23:32

This is my comfort zone being behind the camera, and I've learned how to

Kris: 00:23:37

really use that camera to my benefit, and I'll have people comment, well,

Kris: 00:23:43

how do you do your gestures so that they stay within that camera frame?

Kris: 00:23:48

It does take practice, and that goes back to those soft skills

Kris: 00:23:52

that you learn in Toastmasters.

Kris: 00:23:54

You have to practice, and it has to be a continual practice.

Kris: 00:24:00

If you go one time in a year, you're not going to develop a skill.

Kris: 00:24:05

Developing a skill is not just doing it one time.

Kris: 00:24:09

Boom.

Kris: 00:24:10

You're an expert.

Kris: 00:24:11

You have to practice over and over again.

Joshua: 00:24:16

I have to ask, what is it that you can tell someone that might be on

Joshua: 00:24:22

the fence, just like that woman you were talking about earlier that was peering

Joshua: 00:24:26

in for 10 minutes and had her hand on the door and never opened the door

Joshua: 00:24:32

until a year later, then she finally joined and finally has started to

Joshua: 00:24:37

embellish and starting to grow herself.

Joshua: 00:24:40

There's a lot of people that are on the fence in this world as to really

Joshua: 00:24:44

starting that change and there's always an excuse attached to it.

Joshua: 00:24:49

"I have a lot to do with my family right now.

Joshua: 00:24:52

I have a lot of things going on in my work.", or, "I have a lot of things

Joshua: 00:24:57

that are happening both personally and professionally, that this isn't the

Joshua: 00:25:01

right time for me to do it," but, I always know, and there's always good, legitimate

Joshua: 00:25:06

excuses, which I'm not dismissing at all.

Joshua: 00:25:09

I think that sometimes people are making up those excuses though,

Joshua: 00:25:13

because there they're truly, deeply afraid of taking that first step.

Joshua: 00:25:18

Kris, what would you say to someone, whether that is Toastmasters, not

Joshua: 00:25:22

Toastmasters, because we have gone way beyond our time when it comes

Joshua: 00:25:26

to this, and I've really enjoyed our conversation that we've had, but what

Joshua: 00:25:31

would you say to somebody that has been on the fence for so long, maybe it's

Joshua: 00:25:35

been 10, 20, 30 years and they're still not quite there where they want to be?

Joshua: 00:25:41

What would you say to someone that would want to take on that fear

Joshua: 00:25:45

and wants to take the next step in whatever that journey is, whether

Joshua: 00:25:49

it's personal, professional, do you have any advice for them?

Kris: 00:25:53

They have to make this a priority.

Kris: 00:25:58

They have to take that plunge.

Kris: 00:25:59

They may need to make a priority and commit, and if you can't do

Kris: 00:26:07

that, if you're not willing to make any changes, "I'm afraid.

Kris: 00:26:13

I'm afraid, I'm afraid"; sometimes you have to face that fear, and

Kris: 00:26:18

getting up in front of people.

Kris: 00:26:20

I've offered to several individuals because they're so afraid, they've

Kris: 00:26:23

come in the door, but they haven't signed up for that first speech.

Kris: 00:26:27

If you want me, I will stand up next to you as you give that speech.

Kris: 00:26:31

If you need me to hold your hand, I will literally hold your hand if that's the

Kris: 00:26:36

strength that you need, and just saying that to them gives them the courage to

Kris: 00:26:43

give that first speech that they knew that I would be there by their side for them.

Kris: 00:26:53

It's difficult if you're that afraid.

Kris: 00:26:58

You have to push yourself.

Kris: 00:27:01

Growth comes outside your comfort zone, and if you always stay where

Kris: 00:27:05

you are, you're never going to grow.

Kris: 00:27:07

You're never going to learn.

Kris: 00:27:08

You're never going to expand your knowledge, your

Kris: 00:27:12

information, your skillset.

Kris: 00:27:16

You have to make it a priority that this is something that you want to

Kris: 00:27:19

do for yourself, and until you make that decision, I can push you so much,

Kris: 00:27:27

but it's still ultimately up to you.

Kris: 00:27:31

Same thing for my job seekers too.

Kris: 00:27:34

It's up to you; I can give you all the information that you need or

Kris: 00:27:37

want, but it still comes down to you.

Joshua: 00:27:42

My final question is this: I've gotten to know you since 2018,

Joshua: 00:27:48

and it's been a long five years for even myself, and you've known a

Joshua: 00:27:53

lot about my own personal journey.

Kris: 00:27:55

Mm-hmm.

Joshua: 00:27:55

As it comes to getting to this point myself, and I'm sure you've

Joshua: 00:28:00

seen people from point A to point B to maybe even point C and D, whatever

Joshua: 00:28:07

those are, and you, yourself have been a remarkable woman in getting

Joshua: 00:28:13

to those points as well, and when you are looking at the bigger picture with

Joshua: 00:28:19

this and you're looking at what's ahead for you, what are you the most excited

Joshua: 00:28:24

about and what are you looking forward to in the next six months, year, five

Joshua: 00:28:31

years, even 10 years for that matter?

Joshua: 00:28:33

What's in the autobiography that I'm going to be reading about you that is

Joshua: 00:28:39

really exciting and that everyone's should be excited for you about too?

Joshua: 00:28:44

In other words, what's in the future for you right now?

Kris: 00:28:47

Well, right now I joined a new Toastmasters club.

Kris: 00:28:51

I had belonged to three in District 35, which is Wisconsin and the UP Michigan,

Kris: 00:28:56

and my Plymouth Toastmasters, we did a name change to Confident Voices, and

Kris: 00:29:00

then we ended up disbanding the club.

Kris: 00:29:04

This year, I had set myself a personal challenge.

Kris: 00:29:07

I wanted to visit a Toastmasters Club, one in every state, virtually between July 1st

Kris: 00:29:13

and June 30th, but through that process, I have gone back to several of those

Kris: 00:29:20

clubs, hearing different speakers, being able to give evaluations, share different

Kris: 00:29:26

insights that they have not heard, has been a wonderful experience for me.

Kris: 00:29:32

One of the clubs that I started visiting was Professional Career Speakers.

Kris: 00:29:36

They're technically based out of California.

Kris: 00:29:39

They meet on Saturday mornings, and their whole purpose is to

Kris: 00:29:43

help people become either paid professional speakers or TEDx speakers.

Kris: 00:29:48

I told them in January, if the one club folds, I will join their club.

Kris: 00:29:55

I am an official member.

Kris: 00:29:57

I've paid my dues, application is in for Professional Career Speakers.

Kris: 00:30:02

As soon as I said I was going to be doing this, here's my application,

Kris: 00:30:06

"Kris, I want you to help me."

Kris: 00:30:10

One of the members is organizing a TEDx: TEDx Taft Avenue, it's

Kris: 00:30:14

coming up on Sunday, July 23rd.

Kris: 00:30:17

I'm helping with the behind the scenes activities, with organizing different

Kris: 00:30:22

information for social media, doing proofreading, just different ideas.

Kris: 00:30:27

I'm an idea person, and I never thought that I would want to be a TEDx speaker.

Kris: 00:30:35

I joined PCS, not necessarily thinking I want to be a professional speaker, but

Kris: 00:30:41

every once in a while now being involved with this group, it crosses my mind.

Kris: 00:30:46

Maybe I could be doing more for that.

Kris: 00:30:49

I shared with one friend that I was helping with behind the scenes

Kris: 00:30:53

on the TEDx, and I'm thinking maybe I should be a TEDx speaker.

Kris: 00:30:56

He said, "no, not for you.

Kris: 00:30:58

Your value is going to be in coordinating different TEDxes, the networking that

Kris: 00:31:05

you'll make, the new people you're going to be coordinating with, that's where

Kris: 00:31:10

your value is going to be and that's where you are going to just really succeed."

Kris: 00:31:15

I've thought about that a little bit more.

Kris: 00:31:17

Once I get this first one a little bit under my belt, what's involved?

Kris: 00:31:20

How can I become more active in that?

Kris: 00:31:24

In District 35, this coming year, I'm going to be the Admin Manager

Kris: 00:31:28

again, and I loved this role.

Kris: 00:31:30

It's kind of behind the scenes, but I'm their mischief maker, in

Kris: 00:31:34

charge of their teambuilding activities at every DEC meeting.

Kris: 00:31:40

Going beyond that right now, I have not thought about my future other than

Kris: 00:31:45

I have at least 15 more years of work in me before I can retire financially.

Kris: 00:31:50

Unless maybe I do come up with a speaking profession and get paid to

Kris: 00:31:55

do what I enjoy doing, who knows?

Kris: 00:31:58

Possibilities are endless.

Kris: 00:32:00

I don't always think about me and what my needs are.

Kris: 00:32:04

I'm always trying to think how can I help others, and eventually that

Kris: 00:32:08

turns into my successes as well.

Joshua: 00:32:12

Kris, I have to tell you, and I'm going to end this episode by saying

Joshua: 00:32:16

this, you do have those qualities.

Joshua: 00:32:19

You do have those skill sets, and I know for a fact that you've inspired a whole

Joshua: 00:32:26

generation over this interview with just being able to have skills that people

Joshua: 00:32:33

can learn and transfer from your own experiences, and you continue to be a

Joshua: 00:32:39

champion for those, even if you think that you're behind the scenes, you're

Joshua: 00:32:43

in front of everybody and I'm going to make sure that we air this episode every

Joshua: 00:32:49

time that you make a commitment that I'm going to be a speaker, I'm going to

Joshua: 00:32:55

put this back into a link for you and remind you that you made this promise

Joshua: 00:33:00

during this podcast because you spoke from the heart, and I really appreciate

Joshua: 00:33:05

our time today for you being on this show and representing what we can all do and

Joshua: 00:33:11

what you continue to do in your life.

Joshua: 00:33:14

Thank you for this time today and thank you for being the genuine,

Joshua: 00:33:18

happy, huggable person that you are.

Kris: 00:33:22

I've given you hugs over the airwaves.

Joshua: 00:33:26

Thanks, Kris.

Kris: 00:33:27

Thanks, Joshua.

Joshua: 00:33:30

What a great wrap up to this whole entire interview that I had with Kris

Joshua: 00:33:34

Pool, who, Kris, I have to thank you so much for being on the show again and being

Joshua: 00:33:39

able to entertain what was an over hour long, one recording, conversation, and I

Joshua: 00:33:47

want to pull together some of the things that we talked about, not just in this

Joshua: 00:33:52

episode, but also some of the things that we discussed in part one of the interview

Joshua: 00:33:56

that will help to bring context to this whole entire conversation that we had.

Joshua: 00:34:00

Now, for those that don't know, the ABWA, the IAAP, TEDx that is being held at Taft

Joshua: 00:34:08

Avenue on July 23rd; all of those things are going to be in the show notes, in

Joshua: 00:34:12

case you wanna learn more about those sort of things that were being talked about

Joshua: 00:34:16

during the episode, but I have to say that Kris has an interesting characteristic

Joshua: 00:34:21

that I have always been curious in my own life as to how to implement, which is

Joshua: 00:34:27

being able to be compassionate no matter where that person is and where they're

Joshua: 00:34:30

coming from, and then we talked a little bit about this at the end of part one

Joshua: 00:34:34

of this episode in which we were able to discuss with her how she was able to

Joshua: 00:34:41

help all these people that were coming from prison, how they were also coming

Joshua: 00:34:46

into her new job, which she works at the Sheboygan County Job Center, and how all

Joshua: 00:34:51

those things have created so much value for her and all the different places and

Joshua: 00:34:57

facets of her overall life experience, but, isn't it funny that when I pressed

Joshua: 00:35:03

her about the person that she has really seen change in her life and being able to

Joshua: 00:35:10

create some of those opportunities that she does have, she's talked about Teri.

Joshua: 00:35:17

She talked about the people that she's built relationships with, challenging them

Joshua: 00:35:22

to go to another place and checking in on them, making sure that they're okay.

Joshua: 00:35:27

I love the fact that she did that to Teri and how she made her sit at another

Joshua: 00:35:33

place made her feel uncomfortable, but at the same time, she walked away

Joshua: 00:35:37

with so many different connections.

Joshua: 00:35:39

At the same time, Kris was talking about how she was able to stay open-minded,

Joshua: 00:35:44

how she is willing to appreciate and understand the various viewpoints for

Joshua: 00:35:50

the different types of people that are involved in her lives, but, the one

Joshua: 00:35:55

thing that she really touched on that really is a point I want to discuss a

Joshua: 00:35:59

little bit about is the priority and the commitment to make change in our lives.

Joshua: 00:36:05

This is the most difficult thing that anybody could ever do when it

Joshua: 00:36:10

comes to self-development, and that is putting some priority behind it.

Joshua: 00:36:15

I have to say that I am not a perfect coach, and I've had clients that were

Joshua: 00:36:20

not perfect clients either because of a whole host of different types of

Joshua: 00:36:24

reasons, whether that was relating to the things that were going on in their

Joshua: 00:36:28

lives that were big distractions, or maybe even losing momentum halfway

Joshua: 00:36:34

through the whole entire process that we're working on in order for them to

Joshua: 00:36:38

become the best version of themselves.

Joshua: 00:36:40

That often creates roadblocks in the way of being able to

Joshua: 00:36:45

commit and make solid progress.

Joshua: 00:36:48

I love that Kris' attitude has always been about, this is where I'm at right

Joshua: 00:36:52

now, but I'm not going to give up because I know that there's other possibilities

Joshua: 00:36:56

even if I have this time on this earth, with the career that I have yet remaining,

Joshua: 00:37:02

I know that I can continue going in this direction and making an impact in all

Joshua: 00:37:07

these other organizations as well, and she talked about that, not just in part one,

Joshua: 00:37:11

where she was talking about that with the organizations that she has been involved

Joshua: 00:37:17

in outside of the workplace, which have been able to help her see the best

Joshua: 00:37:23

version of herself from having the right direction, but she specifically talked

Joshua: 00:37:28

about in part two of the episode about ABWA and IAAP, and how she's continued

Joshua: 00:37:35

to foster those relationships as well.

Joshua: 00:37:38

Trying to stay in touch with someone is really difficult.

Joshua: 00:37:42

I know that for me it is very difficult given my autistic nature, along with the

Joshua: 00:37:47

various priorities that I give in my life, that sometimes people and checking in

Joshua: 00:37:52

on them often get pushed out of the way.

Joshua: 00:37:55

However, I know that if I ever want to be the best person that is more well-rounded,

Joshua: 00:38:01

that I need to make a bigger, solid commitment when it comes to prioritization

Joshua: 00:38:05

and commitment to be able to grow in those areas; in those facets, if you will.

Joshua: 00:38:11

How do we do that?

Joshua: 00:38:12

We do it by not just putting time on our calendar, which could be the most easiest

Joshua: 00:38:16

thing that we could do to start out, but it's holding ourselves accountable

Joshua: 00:38:20

with someone else that we're actually going to do it, and I'm not just talking

Joshua: 00:38:24

about having a coach that will help you with setting these goals up and even

Joshua: 00:38:28

helping you along the way, because that would be fantastic, I would love to

Joshua: 00:38:31

take your money and be able to help you, but is that really helping you to see

Joshua: 00:38:35

what you're truly worth and what you're truly capable of doing, if you continue

Joshua: 00:38:40

to ignore those calendar reminders?

Joshua: 00:38:42

To ignore your coach when they're telling you that you haven't done this yet?

Joshua: 00:38:47

You have to have the hidden potential inside of you to say that I'm willing

Joshua: 00:38:51

to go and listen to these people and willing to spend some time with them

Joshua: 00:38:56

no matter what that is that you're doing, whether that is something that

Joshua: 00:39:00

is really hard to do, especially if you don't really want to, but you

Joshua: 00:39:05

also have to realize that there is a prioritization that comes along with it.

Joshua: 00:39:12

I get it.

Joshua: 00:39:14

Doing something like this can be very challenging.

Joshua: 00:39:17

It can be something that can create havoc in our lives because we are

Joshua: 00:39:22

then changing the status quo and then having to move to another direction.

Joshua: 00:39:27

I think that for many of us, it isn't just about putting it on the calendar or

Joshua: 00:39:33

getting somebody to hold us accountable.

Joshua: 00:39:36

It's about the fear of wondering if this is really giving me value.

Joshua: 00:39:41

Is it really serving my ultimate purpose?

Joshua: 00:39:45

Does everything always have to have value?

Joshua: 00:39:48

Does it always have to have something that has a monetary attachment to it?

Joshua: 00:39:51

Does it always have to have a physical, mental, social, economical,

Joshua: 00:39:55

you name it, does it have to have something attached to it?

Joshua: 00:39:59

Sometimes it can be very difficult to separate out, but what if we would

Joshua: 00:40:04

take that question and we convert it into this: what would it be if we would

Joshua: 00:40:10

change our mindset completely to the point that instead of having to look for

Joshua: 00:40:14

the quest of value, that we look at the quest of what we can ultimately become?

Joshua: 00:40:22

If we are able to see in ourselves that ultimate being, that person that is

Joshua: 00:40:28

willing to be all well-rounded and create some of the most awesome opportunities,

Joshua: 00:40:33

not just inwardly, but outwardly, what would it look like to be able to do that?

Joshua: 00:40:40

I think Kris demonstrates a lot of those things because not only has she been

Joshua: 00:40:44

able to create that value, not only in her relationships, not only with

Joshua: 00:40:48

the people that she's been with, but I think that we all know that we can be

Joshua: 00:40:53

able to help people from all various spectrums, whether that is with resumes or

Joshua: 00:40:58

interviews, whether that is helping them with business coaching, life coaching,

Joshua: 00:41:03

professional development coaching.

Joshua: 00:41:05

We can all find ways in which we have the values that we want to

Joshua: 00:41:10

teach to others, as long as we know that we're driven with purpose.

Joshua: 00:41:16

The purpose that we have dictates everything, and if we're able to show

Joshua: 00:41:21

that in people like what Kris has shown in others, regardless of where they have

Joshua: 00:41:26

come from, even if they have come from serving many years in prison, I think all

Joshua: 00:41:32

of us can find it within ourselves to be able to become the best version, not only

Joshua: 00:41:38

of ourselves, but of humanity as a whole.

Joshua: 00:41:44

That will do it for episode 12, broken into two parts.

Joshua: 00:41:48

I appreciate all of you listening to Speaking From The Heart,

Joshua: 00:41:51

and I look forward to hearing from your heart very soon.

Outro: 00:41:55

Thanks for listening.

Outro: 00:41:56

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Outro: 00:42:00

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