MILLIONAIRE MINDSET SHIFTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH REAL TALK KIM
This interview is one I’m truly honored and so excited to bring to you.
Kim, known to millions as Real Talk Kim, is a powerhouse: a motivational speaker, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and the senior pastor of Limitless Church in Atlanta, GA.
She also happens to be someone I’m proud to call my mentor.
Twelve years ago, Kim found herself starting over at zero after a painful divorce. Since then, she’s built a multi-million dollar empire by inspiring people around the world to break free from their limitations.
In this conversation, Kim shares how she built her brand from the ground up, how to release yourself from your own mind and other people’s opinions, the power of rebranding, and so much more.
You can find her on all social platforms @realtalkkim.
Read or listen to the full interview at the link below.
x LG Curry
1. Let’s take it back. What was the first step you took toward building your platform and brand, and when did you realize it could actually be a business?
I started 11 years ago and I started doing car videos.
I would make them two minutes long, and they were just encouragement videos. I would do one every single day, like even when I didn't have anywhere to go, I would get up, get dressed, go park in a cul-de-sac, and do a video. Then the videos started getting traction, specifically one of them where I was talking about giving up. I said, “Giving up is an option, but it's not your option.” That video went viral and I got over a hundred thousand followers in that week.
I just stayed consistent every day. I would do it even if I didn't have 3 likes. I would do one every single day, and then probably when I really started realizing that my brand was building was about two years in.
I got on a show called Preachers of Atlanta because of my videos that I was doing consistently. And five years ago, I started RTK Inner Circle. It was a platform that was a private community, and I charged $20 a month. I would go on once every Monday night to teach a Zoom. I started realizing I was making $25,000 a month just on my Inner Circle, which I would get on for an hour and just speak.
So, what I found was that my consistency was the key. It was that I kept showing up, I was authentically who God created me to be, and I never changed. I always just did what came to my heart and whatever came to my mind, I would say it. And so that's when I started knowing.
I would say the key to everything is consistency. Don't allow likes, retweets, people closest to you supporting you, don't allow any of that to affect you. Just stay focused and keep doing it.
And I would always put the videos out at three o'clock every day. So every single day, people knew that at three o'clock I would go on, so I started building consistency even in posting. That's the key. You gotta be consistent.
2. What do you think people misunderstand most about growing a social platform?
People think it's an overnight thing. You know, it looked like I just took off and one day I just showed up and had immediate results. But, what people don't realize, is that I was working five years behind the scenes just posting every day. I'll even go to Time Hop on Facebook and I'll look back when I had 10 likes, whereas now I'll get thousands. But it was because I was consistent even when I didn't see fruit.
And so I think people misunderstand that it's not an overnight process; it's consistency. And it's allowing the people online to see the authentic side of you. People can smell fake, and so you've got to make sure that you know who you are. You're not selling yourself out to try to do it like everybody else. There's something on the inside of us, each individually, that nobody else has, and it's tapping into that thing and growing in that.
Mine is real talk. I'm going to tell you like it is and nobody else does that, you know, and if they do, they don't have my sauce. So what works for me ain't going to work for somebody else.
People like to look at other people's lives now, like big influencers and big business owners, and they want that result now. But you don't see all the time that people put in with no results, when no fruit was being displayed. So it takes a lot of consistency, authenticity, and keeping your eyes focused on where you're headed and not what you're seeing right now.
3. Were there any moments you felt discouraged in building, and how did you push through them?
Oh heck yeah. Man, there was several times in my life where I was like, “Man, this ain't working.”
You have to keep in mind why you're doing what you're doing. What is the why?
If it's just to get rich, that's not a why.
It's realizing that you have something inside of you that can really help a lot of people. The reason I'm doing this is to serve people who are where I once was, and I've got something inside of me that can really pivot them and help them. That is the key.
My daily goal is to show up and see people like me. When I was going through my divorce and felt like nobody understood, when I lost everything and most of my friends walked out on me, and when people in the church were talking about me, I wanted to quit. And so I had to talk to myself and tell myself, “Don't listen to your emotions because they're lying to you.”
You keep doing what you need to do and turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to all those people that are sent to distract you. You still have the goods even when your life is in shambles.
You're not in a struggle, you're just in transition.
And I just started looking at everything in my life as whatever I'm walking through can be used. Every ounce of shame, all the embarrassment, it can be used.
I just refused to waste anything because of what people think about me.
So when you feel discouraged, remember, the only reason you're feeling discouraged is because you were expecting something quicker and you didn't see it. But when you realize that God is orchestrating every step, you don't get discouraged. You shake yourself free and do it anyway. Do it even when you don't feel like it. Get up and do what you're called to do. Put in the work, keep persevering, keep being consistent.
4. What mindset did you have to develop in order to grow your business and your platform?
Man, I had to believe in me. Like I had the hardest time believing in or even supporting myself.
I would never have promoted a book. My first two books, I didn't want people to think I was being haughty or thought I was all that and a bag of chips. I almost was too humble. I was worried about a bunch of people that weren't even doing what I wanted to do. I was listening to people criticize my life that I wouldn't even want to live their lives. I was looking for people that to validate me that weren't even validated.
And so the mindset that you have to develop is you have to get free from people, even those closest to you, even your family. Your family knows the little girl, the troublemaker, or they know the woman that's been divorced a couple of times. They’re going to be the last ones to support you because they know you. It's hard for them to see the new you, the grown up you.
And so your mindset can't be at a place where you're needing people closest to you to see your gift. God did not call a conference call when he called you, and you have to realize that the more consistent you are, the more you believe in yourself, and the more you push your business, God will send complete strangers to support you.
Your mindset has to believe in you even when you don't really believe in you. Even when there are days that you are questioning every single thing in your life, every decision you've ever made, you've got to still push through. There's eight billion people in this world and they're feeling what you're feeling.
So do it anyway. Do it with your knees knocking.
My mindset is I don't quit for nothing. The only time you'll ever see me fold is at a laundry mat. I will never quit ever and now I am living the dream at 53 years old and I started at 41.
I was still working at Bloomingdales until I was 41, making $11 an hour. This has all been done in the last 12 years and it's because my mindset was I'm not staying here. I'm growing and still even where I'm at today, I'm not staying here. I'm elevating every day.
Like, if you still remember me three months ago, I don't even know what you're doing because my growth game is so strong that I'm not even that person anymore. My mindset is growing, my mindset is staying in my own lane, my mindset has been authentic.
5. What’s a belief you used to have about success that you no longer agree with?
I think my previous belief was that if I was a pastor, I couldn't be a businessperson because pastors are supposed to be broke.
I thought that if you charge for classes or you put a price tag on something, you're going to have a whole bunch of people coming and saying, “Jesus would do it for free.” And so my belief system was I can't serve Jesus and charge. And that's a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus didn't have to pay employees. Jesus didn't have to rent buildings and buy buildings and have staff to pay and product we're in a whole different world. And so my belief that has changed now is that I can be a pastor, I can be a preacher, I can be a business owner, I can be a millionaire, billionaire and and go against the grain of what church people say that I can and can't do.
I do what I want to do, I do what God's called me to do.
6. How do you know when something is in alignment versus just a good opportunity?
I've learned this late in life because I started late in life. No longer am I guilted into doing things because people put guilt trips on me.
I don't run myself ragged anymore. I don't go to five different events every week on 10 different planes every week just because I have the opportunity. I go where my spirit feels peaceful.
And so I'm really proud of that. In this season of my life, I say no to more things than I say yes to, because now I've got my digital marketing and my masterclasses and my masterminds, my one-on-one coaching, I don't have to travel ever again.
But because I believe in what I carry now, I'm able to go to places that when I leave I'm feeling refreshed and I'm in rooms with people that are quality that actually want to grow that actually want to put in the work.
So the way I know alignment versus opportunity is alignment feels good, alignment feels peaceful, with alignment there's no dread. Everything I say yes to, it feels peaceful and there's an absolute yes immediately in my heart.
7. What’s one habit that changed everything for you personally or professionally?
Eating right, getting my body healthy.
When I turned 50 years old, I started going to the gym. I lost a lot of weight. I started building muscle and eating right.
I never thought in a million years that I could be trim and really kind of petite. I went from a size 12 to a 4/6 and that habit has changed everything for me because I've got more confidence.
My mindset changed. So, every day I take care of Kim.
I literally go to the gym, I eat right, I'm constantly listening to podcasts. I'm sitting in other masterclasses growing.
Most of the people that I grow under, people that I pay money to be in rooms, they're not even church people. They are business bosses. And I'm taking what I'm getting from there and I'm putting it into the Christian world and raising up millionaires, billionaires, and trillionaires. And so that's the habit, taking care of Kim, making sure my head's right.
8. What do you do when you feel out of rhythm or disconnected from your purpose?
I don't get here a lot because I am so connected to always being me.
I am always growing. I am only in rooms where I want to be. I am spending my spare time growing so I don't often feel out of rhythm.
Whenever I allow myself to feel out of rhythm, most of the time it's because I'm tired or I'm needing a break. But honestly, I have built a life that I don't need a vacation from.
I pastor a church. I have 12 staff members that I pay each week and that's a big responsibility. I'm taking care of their families. I have 25 masterminds, I've got thousands in my Inner Circle and All Access. I got a lot of things going on, but because I'm in a rhythm, I know me without a doubt.
I don't listen to a whole lot of people come in my world telling me that they think you should do something different. I used to do that. I used to let everybody give me their ideas. And now in my life, I don't listen to nobody that's not doing better than me.
Usually, when you feel disconnected from your purpose, it's because you've got a lot of people in your ear that's not a part of your purpose.
You don't need a whole bunch of people in your ear trying to make you distracted from what you know is working and what you know you're called to do. Remember. when God called you he didn't call a conference call.
And so when you're feeling disconnected from your purpose, it’s because you are either being a yes person and you don't like to tell people no and you're putting yourself last. And that is making you be disconnected.
Everything I just mentioned to y 'all that I do is because that's my purpose. And all those things I do, I don't need other people to do it. It's my calling that God's called me to. And when you're doing what you're called to do, you show up because you can't wait to show up.
I don't let anyone pull me into pieces. I won't stress out for nobody. If I'm listening to a conversation and I'm feeling heavy, I'm gonna walk away. I'm not even here for it. I'm not subscribing to your drama or I'll shut it down so fast.
9. What advice would you give to someone who’s in the “in between”, not where they used to be, but not yet where they want to be?
I think that this is the greatest place, because the in-between is a place that a lot of times is quiet.
You're not seeing a lot of fruit from all the work that you're putting in and in this season you need to just stay consistent. If you're not where you wanna be, remember the reason you're doing what you're doing. Remember your why, and remember that your why is usually connected to really changing lives.
That's really ultimate purpose of all of us. In one way or another, it's to help people elevate. And so when you're in that in-between stage and you're feeling defeated, go listen to a podcast that encourages you. Go read a book that will inspire you. Just get focused and don't believe that you're gonna stay where you are. You're not.
God is elevating you and in the elevation, it does require separation so it does get a little lonely.
So make sure you don't get caught up in your feelings and just remember, if you ain't where you want to be yet why would you stop anyway? Why would you quit? Why would you throw in the towel?
I'm this kind of person. I am a hard one to quit anything because I always feel like, “What if tomorrow's the day that everything changes?”
And so I don't even allow myself to get burnout. I really believe people who get burnout are doing stuff they don't love. You can't get burnout when it's your purpose, you just can't. And so if you're getting burnout, it's because you are in a space that you've outgrown and you just are resisting the change.
So when you're in that in-between stage, just keep growing and keep showing up for yourself. One day, you're gonna wake up and bam, everything's gonna change.
Just realize just because the curtain closed, it doesn't mean the productions over. It just means God had to close the curtain in order to start the next scene. Stay focused.
10. What’s something about your journey that looks easy from the outside but took real work behind the scenes?
Really building the platform. I've got millions of followers and it just looks like everything I do is easy, but the truth is, I'm just doing what I'm called to do. And it took a long time to get here.
It took a long time for me to get free from people's opinions.
It looks like everything I touch blows up, and it's because I'm walking in my purpose and I know who I am. It's because I realize that if everybody in this world walks out on me, I'm still going to make it.
I'm not going to stop just because you stopped.
11. What’s one mindset shift that changed everything for you?
100 % believing in myself.
Literally, I will be in the middle of a morning talk (which I do every single morning at 8am ET on every one of my social platforms Monday to Friday), and I will be talking and constantly pushing my programs.
I will be in the middle of a prayer and drop my website, I am constantly dropping the RTK Inner Circle. I'm constantly pushing my master classes. I am constantly pushing my RTK Style store.
I used to never do that. I didn't want to oversaturate, I didn't want to say too much, I didn't want to get on people's nerves. Now, I don't even care. You don't like it, unfollow me. That's how I feel. And it's changed everything.
When you believe in you, you realize that you've got to push you all day everyday, your business all day everyday. It was a mindset that changed for me, pushing what God's gifted me with and believing in myself.
12. What does your version of RE/SET look like right now—what are you resetting, realigning, or rebuilding?
This whole year especially has been me rebranding me.
I went from all ministry to now business, I've got my masterminds that started last year, I’ve got my masterclasses that I do every three months, my conferences, everything looks different. I look different.
And so,my reset is just higher quality.
I just let go of a marketing company that I was paying what $2,500 a month for, to a company I'm paying $6,000 for a month. And every single thing I make over $50,000, they get 15%. So now I'm raking in the money, but I'm also putting out money. I think that the reset for me was realizing that you've got to put out money to have success.
I was the first millionaire in my family. I started seeing millions and nobody in my family has ever seen anything like that. I had to realize that I'd outgrown my family and that was okay, things had to look different and so for me.
I allow myself to reset and rebuild, and I do it about every three months.
Because of my the way I was raised, I had an imposter syndrome. I didn't want to spend too much. I was scared. And then all of a sudden, one day I realized you have to spend money to make it. When I started spending on bigger and better for my business, I saw an astronomical shift in my finances.
So that's really where I'll reset this year. Building and rebranding.
13. If you could go back and give Day One You a piece of advice, what would you say?
I would say, “Girlfriend, get free from people fast.”
Get free from people's opinions fast and live authentically who you are supposed to be.
People can steal your recipe, but they don't got your sauce.
For so long in my life, I was a people pleaser and I was scared of what people would say. I got completely free and it is the greatest gift of my life. The last three years especially, I am so free and unapologetically who God created me to be.
I would tell little Kim,“Girl be you. Be too loud, be extra, let your just shine bright like a diamond, just be you. And you may be too much for others, but you won't be too much for the right people.”
God has a way of bringing the right people in your life. And be willing to let people go. When people walk out of your life, it's not personal. it's spiritual. Just because they started with you, don't mean they have to end with you. Just don't take anything personal.