Meet Kathy Walter: Leadership and Life Development Coach, Corporate Facilitator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathy Walter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathy, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Work/life balance is an interesting question. I don’t believe there is a “real” work/life balance, meaning you can’t create a system of balance with the idea of life versus work. I believe it is all about balancing your values. Your values are the secret to why you say “yes”, “no” or “maybe”. When you are honoring your personal values you will feel like you have work/life balance. I use a Values exercise to create clarity with my clients. This new level of awareness provides a realistic idea of what needs to be addressed to find your work/life balance. It also works as a great tool to assist with decision making. For me personally when it feels like one, work or life, is overtaking the other I review my values and find ways to honor the value or values that I am compromising on.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We live in a time of constant information overload and have the opportunity to be busy at any time in a 24 hour cycle. When you ask someone how they are doing, the standard go-to response seems to be “busy”. It is the new badge of honor. This sense of busy steals our ability to think clearly, minimizing our happiness and success. At Brain Basics we work with teams and individuals that want to maximize their performance or simply want more from life. That process involves creating a new level of awareness using emotional intelligence and a look at where our perception is helping, hijacking and/or hindering us. We want to get down to the basics of actively monitoring our thoughts and move from knee-jerk reactions to thought-out responses. Right now we have limitations on physically being together and are challenged with remote work experiences; it is more important now than ever to have awareness around those thinking patterns to get the best version of you or your team. When you partner with Brain Basics you will gain a new level of awareness for success. It is such a gift to serve our clients, and when they win, we win! Some of our wins include promotions, job and career changes, better relationships, less stress, and increased happiness. As for me personally, I started my professional career working for Lloyds of London, and then for Fortune 500 insurance companies when I returned to the states. After balancing my career and family, I took time off to raise our three children with my husband, Jim. After being referred to as a personal coach for several years, and knowing how passionate I am about partnering with people for success, I decided to step back into the workforce. I began training at the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) and have developed a diverse portfolio through continual training that caters to the wants and needs of my clients. My goal is to challenge each client or team, utilize proven, science backed tools, empowering insight and action that will produce real, lasting results.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Dallas and the surrounding areas are a great place to explore whether you are visiting, born here, or got here as fast as you could! You can’t go wrong anywhere and I would recommend starting with the Dallas Segway Tours around downtown Dallas. I have taken visiting friends and family here a couple of times. They share the history of downtown and interesting facts as you ride around seeing the specific landmarks. The Segways are fun too! For those willing to taste their way through the local flavor you will want to sign up for the Dallas by Chocolate tours; and you won’t want to limit yourself to just the chocolate tours. I highly recommend Dallas’ Best Tacos & Margaritas Tour. Now that you have experienced Dallas proper you will want to head North. (Like I said there are so many great places to explore it is hard to decide.) I would stop first at The Shops of Legacy or Legacy West. This is a great place to enjoy the weather, window shop and eat. If you can’t seem to make up your mind with all the great restaurants on both sides of Tollway on Legacy, head to Legacy Hall in the Legacy West area. This is a one-of-a kind food hall. Do not expect something like your local food court, expect a very festive environment decorated for the season with a variety of food choices. Lastly, whether you love them or hate them you can’t leave without a visit to The Star District where you have shopping, dining and the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor Walk, as well as the Dallas Cowboys 50 yard replica turf field where you have the freedom to run and throw a football if you are prepared. If the Honor Walk and replica field isn’t enough for you, sign up for the VIP tour of the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters. Football fan or not, this tour has a little bit of everything including Super Bowl Trophies, rings, and the team’s uniforms over the years to name a few, not to leave out the dancing LED display.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Going from Corporate America to Stay-at-Home-Mom, and back to work again, I would say I need to thank the village. The village consists of family and friends. I have a wonderful support system that starts with a husband that offers wisdom and words of encouragement whenever I need them, to kids that are flexible and willing to help around the house, not to leave out close friends that have always encouraged me to go for it. Running your own business is not for the faint of heart. After I completed my training at iPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching) I found a great marketing company, Local Leap Marketing, and a continuing education and advanced training program at KickStart Your Edge. With both of these powerhouses on my team, clients can find me and I have a community of coaches and training that surpasses all. I am surrounded by great people that support and assist me.

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