Kind of a Big Deal

Kristin Belden
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Ever brushed off a compliment? Downplayed a win? Made yourself smaller so you wouldn’t sound like “too much”? Yeah, me too. Kind of a Big Deal is my love letter to women building careers and lives they’re proud of. This isn’t your typical Fortune 500 CEO interview. Instead, it’s real, relatable conversations with everyday women - corporate baddies, scrappy entrepreneurs, and everyone in between - who are leading lives we can all aspire to. Through honest stories and hard-earned wisdom, we shine a light on the victories, the lessons, and the messy middle that rarely make the highlight reel. It’s about celebrating the impact women make (even when we’re tempted to shrug it off). Because the truth is: you are kind of a big deal.

  1. 2d ago

    Building in Public: What It Takes to Show Up Before You Have It Figured Out

    What does it actually look like to build something before anyone is paying attention? Molly started with a personal blog, written to process her own life. For months, nothing happened. No readers, no traction, just blind faith and a lot of content that never saw the light of day. Then one post went viral. An NBC reporter found a completely different post. And suddenly the Today Show came calling. What followed was years of quietly, intentionally building - through pivots, experiments, and a lot of showing up before she knew exactly where it was all going - into a thriving business. Molly is now an expert in all things LinkedIn, helping female coaches, consultants, and fractional professionals show up confidently on the platform in a way that feels real and actually doable. We talk about what it takes to build in public before you have it all figured out, why community is one of the most underrated tools for solopreneurs, and how to get out of your own way so the right people can actually find you. You'll Learn ⭐ How to show up publicly when you're still figuring it out ⭐ What women specifically struggle with on LinkedIn, and how to move through it ⭐ Why community needs change by season and what to look for ⭐ How strategic connections on LinkedIn matter more than follower count ⭐ What it means to choose your work every single day Key Insights Blind Faith Is a Strategy Months of content that no one read. No traction, no validation. And then one post changed everything. Molly credits the breakthrough entirely to just not stopping. You Have to Choose It Every Day Building a business, showing up on a platform, putting your voice out there - none of it just happens. It's an act of choice, every single day. LinkedIn Is More Intimidating Than Any Other Platform Only about 3% of LinkedIn users actually create content. That means the bar to stand out is lower than you think. You just have to be willing to show up. Community Needs Are Seasonal Sometimes you need a lot of support. Sometimes the group chat feels like noise. Both are valid. A good community makes room for both. Timestamps 02:00 How Molly and Kristin met - and why LinkedIn gets the credit 05:00 The sabbatical, the nursing school pivot, and how a blog started everything 09:00 The best and hardest parts of working for yourself 13:00 Six months of silence and the post that went viral 16:00 The Today Show call she thought was spam 19:00 On evolving publicly and the vulnerability of not having it figured out 22:00 The community she built for women creators on LinkedIn 26:00 What it actually means to be a content creator — and why it matters now 35:00 The LinkedIn algorithm, the ebbs, and how to work with it 42:00 Nervous system regulation and what it has to do with showing up 48:00 What shaped her as a leader that would never show up on a resume 51:00 Legacy: having people's backs, unconditionally Resources and Links Connect with Molly on LinkedIn Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it — and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

    56 min

  2. May 21

    The Entrepreneur Who Never Defined Herself That Way

    For 25 years, Tamika built something extraordinary. Eight years as lead nail tech at the iconic Claremont Hotel and Spa. Seventeen more running her own salon. Clean books, 45,000 manicures and pedicures by her own count, a product line with clients like Facebook and Amazon, and yes - even Steph Curry's very first manicure. And through all of it, she never once called herself an entrepreneur. It took a global pandemic, a grant application, and the word "entrepreneur" taped to her dashboard for any of it to click. In that moment - pulling together documents she already had, in order she already kept - she finally got to see what she'd actually built. Now she's stepping into something completely new: a vision for bringing cosmetology certifications to youth impacted by the justice system, creating pathways into a career that levels the playing field and opens doors that most systems keep firmly closed. This one is warm, grounded, and full of hard-won wisdom from someone who built everything the right way. You'll Learn ⭐ What it looks like to build a business with the end in mind  ⭐ Why being vocal about what you want matters more than most of us realize ⭐ What it takes to lead a team well, and what Tamika would do differently ⭐ Why the beauty industry might be the perfect vehicle for workforce transformation ⭐ How showing up with presence and intentionality is its own kind of leadership Key Insights You Might Already Be an Entrepreneur Tamika ran a successful business for over a decade before she ever used the word. The pandemic didn't create her business, it just finally let her see what she'd built. Be Vocal About What You Want One of her biggest lessons from trying to sell her salon: she kept it quiet. She'd tell anyone now: put it on LinkedIn, tell your clients, say the thing out loud. You never know who's listening. The Beauty Industry Levels the Playing Field In a salon, clients don't care about your background. They care about how you make them feel. That's exactly the kind of environment Tamika wants to create for young people who've never had someone believe in them. Keep Showing Up Sometimes the thing you're pursuing doesn't manifest. But when you're sowing seed, something will. When you're pursuing nothing, there will not be fruit. Timestamps 02:00 How Tamika and Kristin met and why she belongs on this show 05:00 The path she never planned: police officer, kindergarten teacher, nail tech 11:00 The pandemic moment that made her finally call herself an entrepreneur 17:00 How a TJ Maxx soap became a product line with Facebook and Amazon as clients 20:00 The vision: cosmetology certifications for youth in the justice system 31:00 What she hopes a graduate of her program will say five years from now 42:00 The near-sale that fell through two days before the pandemic shutdown 46:00 Why being vocal is the lesson she'd give every woman building something 57:00 Legacy: fulfilling the purpose that was meant for her Resources and Links  Connect with Tamika on LinkedIn Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

    59 min

  3. May 14

    What Happens When You Never Stop Betting on Yourself: Resilience, Reinvention, and a Whole Lot of Heart

    Some people's stories stop you in your tracks. Gina's is one of them. She came to the US at 18 from Venezuela with $300 in her pocket, a toddler by her side, not a word of English. She built a career in retail from the ground up, eventually leading a team of 600 at Victoria's Secret in New York City. She navigated breast cancer. She became an executive coach and keynote speaker. And now she's launching On Your Next, a free coaching program helping women rebuild their identity and confidence after cancer treatment ends. She is also my former coach. And my life is genuinely better for it. In this conversation we talk about what it means to follow your intuition even when it asks everything of you, why so many women hit a ceiling and don't know how to break through it, and what it looks like to keep saying yes to your own life - across every reinvention, every setback, every new beginning. You'll Learn  ⭐ What it takes to start completely over, with nothing but conviction  ⭐ How intuition shows up as a leadership skill and how to reconnect with it  ⭐ Why the feedback women get at work often isn't the feedback they actually need  ⭐ What shifts when you go from being a doer to leading large teams  ⭐ Why the period after cancer treatment ends is one of the most underserved moments in a woman's life  ⭐ What executive coaching actually is ⭐ How to keep betting on yourself when life keeps raising the stakes Key Insights The Statistics Don't Have to Apply to You Sitting alone in a parking lot after her diagnosis, Gina made a decision: "Not because it happened to them means it has to happen to me." That choice is the through line of her entire life. Resilience Is a Muscle You Don't Know You Have Until You Need It Gina knew she was resilient. She didn't know how deep it went until she was showing up to chemo bald, happy, and saying good morning to everyone in the room. You Always Have the Power to Choose Positivity isn't about smiling through everything. It's about deciding how you want to react, and having the courage to remove people and situations that don't serve you. Timestamps  02:00 Growing up in Venezuela: straight As, Lego sets, and a hardworking mom 08:00 Having a baby at 14 and refusing to leave her daughter behind  11:00 Arriving in the US at 18 with $300 and no English  13:00 On intuition: losing the frequency and how to find it again  20:00 Tupperware, direct sales, and learning to build a business  28:00 Victoria's Secret and the university of retail  37:00 What happens when you go from managing 25 people to 600  40:00 Why women hit a glass ceiling, and why the feedback rarely helps  50:00 Turning 40, caring less, and finally feeling like yourself  54:00 The cancer journey and what nobody prepares you for  01:03:00 Own Your Next: the nonprofit for breast cancer survivors  01:09:00 AI, identity, and why now is the time to invest in yourself  01:12:00 Legacy: it's not about what you leave behind Resources and Links Connect with Gina on LinkedIn Learn more about Own Your Next Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

    1h 13m

  4. May 7

    How Showing Up Fully in Leadership Becomes Its Own Definition of Success

    Some people move through their careers searching for the thread that connects it all. Genevieve Levy found hers - two weeks before we sat down to record. I've known Genevieve for a decade. We met through our kids, - sidelines, carpool, the general beautiful chaos of raising children in a community you love. She's been Coach G to my daughter for years, and watching her show up in that role - fully present, fully herself, all in - is exactly what this conversation is about. It turns out the listserv she built in a community computer lab at 22, the refugee resettlement programs she grew from scratch, the coalition she facilitates today — it was always the same work. The tools just grew up with her. Genevieve has spent over 20 years at the intersection of community, service, and social impact. She's also a former D1 rugby player and someone in the middle of a season where success looks completely different than it used to. And she's really good with that. What strikes me most is that she has never once shown up as anything other than fully herself. In every room, every role, every season. That's not as common as it sounds. We talk about what it takes to build trust across agencies, what Sacramento gets quietly right about welcoming newcomers, how sports shaped her in ways that still show up in her leadership today, and why she's finally stopped putting the word "just" in front of how she describes her work. You'll Learn  ⭐ What it looks like when a 20-year career suddenly makes complete sense   ⭐ Why Sacramento is one of the most remarkable welcoming communities in the country  ⭐ What sports build in you that shows up in leadership decades later  ⭐ How to stop qualifying the season you're in  ⭐ What it means to bring your full self everywhere you go Key Insights Showing Up Fully Is a Choice You Make Every Day Not a personality trait. Not a gift. A decision - to be 100% in every room, every role, every season, even when the season looks nothing like what you planned. Drop the Word "Just" Working part-time? Leading differently than before? Stop qualifying it. The season you're in doesn't need a disclaimer. Because I Can, I Will If you have something to give, give it. Fully. Right now. Because some of these things only exist in this moment. Timestamps  02:00 From veterinarian dreams to international relations to AmeriCorps  05:00 The through line she only saw two weeks ago  07:00 Building the North Area Collaborative and the Sacramento Region Refugee Coalition  12:00 How refugee resettlement work started  15:00 From district director to United Way to where she is now  18:00 Sacramento as a welcoming community - and what's at stake  23:00 Protecting your own peace in emotionally demanding work  26:00 What shaped her as a leader that would never show up on a resume  30:00 What sports gave her: discipline, resilience, and showing up ready  37:00 Redefining success and dropping the word "just"  40:00 Recommitting to this season and letting it settle  43:00 Legacy: bringing your full self, because you can Resources and Links  Connect with Genevieve on LinkedIn  Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com  Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these con

    49 min

  5. Apr 30

    When the Work You Love Disappears: Grief, Reinvention, and Learning to Build a Life on Your Terms

    What do you do when the organization you've given everything to - the one you helped build from the inside out - is suddenly gone? Nurit Siegel Smith spent 25 years building a career at the intersection of arts, culture, and social impact. As Executive Director of Music Forward Foundation, she helped 20,000 young people across the country find pathways into the music industry, including building the first federally recognized apprenticeships in music and live entertainment in the United States. Then, in early 2025, the organization was sunset. And Nurit was the one who had to see it through. What followed was a year she'll tell you herself took six months just to breathe through. We talk about what it looks like to grieve meaningful work, how to stop chasing the next goal and start building the context of the life you want, and why being an artist and being an entrepreneur might be the same act - just with different tools. You'll Learn  ⭐ What it looks like to stop goal-chasing and start context-building  ⭐ How to rebuild your sense of purpose when your identity was tied to your work ⭐ Why presence and joy don't actually require financial security  Key Insights Either You Take the Pause, Or It's Taken from You Nurit didn't choose to stop. The work she loved was taken away. But what she found in the stillness changed everything. Stop Chasing the Goal. Instead of asking "what's my next role?", Nurit flipped the question: what does the life I want to be living actually look like?  Purpose and Paycheck Don't Have to Be the Same Thing One of the most freeing realizations of Nurit's transition: she didn't have to find one role that held all of it. She could serve on boards, volunteer, be present for her family - and make money somewhere else. Timestamps  04:00 Planting seeds: on cold outreach and the slow burn of relationships  06:00 The next generation and instant gratification in the workplace  08:00 Navigating liminal space  09:00 Nurit's path: from gymnast and dancer to nonprofit leader  11:00 Discovering the many career pathways in arts and culture  13:00 Music Forward Foundation and building apprenticeships in the music industry  16:00 Sunsetting an organization you love - and surviving it  21:00 Redefining what it means to be a creative person  23:00 Bundu bashing: what creative careers and entrepreneurship have in common  26:00 The year after: six months just to breathe  29:00 Hibernating, licking wounds, and slowly coming back to life  31:00 Redefining success and flipping the goal framework  33:00 When purpose and paycheck don't have to be the same thing  35:00 What financial insecurity taught both women about baseline joy  40:00 Building vs. reacting: staying grounded  42:00 Women founders, corporate boards, and the environment that needs to change  48:00 What's calling to Nurit now  Resources and Links  Connect with Nurit on LinkedIn  Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com  Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it — and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

    55 min

  6. Apr 24

    From Achievement Addict to Authentic: Building a Brand (and a Life) from the Inside Out

    What happens when you spend decades achieving everything you were supposed to want - only to realize it fits like an itchy sweater? In this episode, I sit down with Ariana, co-founder and managing partner of Flight Design Co. and co-founder of Kindredly. What I love most about her story isn't what's on her resume. It's what lives underneath it. She's a poet, a photographer, a former wilderness and whitewater river guide turned youth developer turned brand strategist - a self-described recovering achievement addict who spent a decade blowing up the version of herself she'd been building for everyone else. We talk about creativity as resistance to hustle culture, why the thing you're most afraid to show people is probably your most powerful differentiator, and what biology might have to say about why women in midlife are just getting started. You'll Learn ⭐ What it takes to unlearn achievement addiction and rebuild on your own terms  ⭐ Why your "weirdest thing" is actually your greatest brand differentiator  ⭐ How to honor your creative self when it doesn't fit neatly into your career  ⭐ What the biology of menopause has to do with women's leadership (seriously)  ⭐ How to let creativity be the antidote to hustle culture Key Insights The Itchy Sweater Moment You can build everything you were supposed to want and still feel completely disconnected from it. That discomfort isn't a failure - it's data. Creativity Can't Be Hustled When you're actually in a creative practice, you can't drive it. That's the point. Five minutes of it is enough to pull you back into your body and out of the noise. Biology Is Trying to Tell Us Something Humans are one of the only mammals that go through menopause - and the research on whales and elephants suggests it's because elder females are meant to lead. Ariana makes the case that women in midlife aren't winding down. They're just getting started. Timestamps 02:00 How Kristin and Ariana met and what Ariana radiates  06:00 Was she always an entrepreneur?  08:00 The slightly feral childhood, risk-taking, and her time as a whitewater river guide  11:00 How guiding people through scary things became the through line  13:00 Fear of being truly known  16:00 The achievement addiction 18:00 The 100 Day Project 21:00  Launching a website that brings all of herself together 24:00  Cross-pollinating audiences and why showing your full self builds the best clients  26:00  Why overnight success is always a decade in the making  32:00 How capitalism and hustle culture are the enemy of creativity  36:00 Creative Roundtabling  40:00 What it would take to actually create the conditions for more women founders   45:00 Why having women at the table isn't enough without a culture shift  46:00 The biology of menopause and elder women as evolutionary leaders  Resources and Links Connect with Ariana on LinkedIn or at her website Learn more about Flight Design Co. and Kindredly Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com  Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it — and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

    56 min

  7. Apr 23

    Corporate, Startup, Freelance, Founder: How to Build a Creative Career on Your Own Terms

    What does it look like to stay completely, unapologetically yourself - across every job, every pivot, every industry? In this episode, I sit down with my ride-or-die bestie Vanessa — creative director, UX designer, co-founder, freelancer, fine artist, and one of the most genuinely creative people I've ever known.  We go all the way back to the corners of an art school painting lab, survived a summer in Europe on nectarines and salami, and grew into adults together in San Francisco.  But beyond our history, this conversation is about something I think a lot of women are quietly wrestling with: how do you stay true to who you are when every system around you keeps asking you to be something else?  Vanessa has navigated corporate giants, a thriving event business, freelance life, and startup culture — always leading with integrity, always trusting her gut — even when the world wanted her to fix her face and be a little more "corporate Vanessa." You'll Learn ⭐ How to trust your gut when the world wants a formula  ⭐ What it looks like to pivot across corporate, startup, freelance, and entrepreneurship  ⭐ How to keep your creative practice alive when life demands everything else  ⭐ What staying true to yourself actually costs — and why it's worth it  ⭐ How to redefine legacy when your path doesn't look like anyone else's Key Insights Integrity Isn't a Strategy — It's a Through Line Vanessa has never been able to perform her way through something that doesn't fit. That's been a friction point in corporate environments — and her greatest superpower everywhere else. Intuition Is a Muscle Vanessa doesn't start with references — she starts with excitement. Dread, fear, and excitement are all data points. When something's exciting and a little scary? That's usually the green light. "Flow" Over the Formula At every stage of her career, the signal wasn't a title or a number — it was the feeling in her body that said this rhythm is right. The work is chasing more of that. Timestamps 02:00 – How Kristin and Vanessa met and grew up together  05:00 – Vanessa's creative family roots and her third-grade art teacher debut 09:00 – Why she calls herself a "unicorn designer" — and means it  13:00 – Keeping a creative practice alive when life takes over  17:00 – From event florals to web design: the many lives of Vanessa  24:00 – Early career in graphic design and the pivot toward UX  27:00 – Landing at Walmart.com and realizing corporate wasn't it  33:00 – Running an event company and a tech career at the same time  36:00 – Using dread, excitement, and fear as a decision-making framework  40:00 – Why she looks at fashion week, not other beverage brands, for inspiration  46:00 – The girl boss era, what we were told, and what nobody mentioned  48:00 – What building a legacy means when your path is entirely your own  54:00 – Authenticity as a through line — and why it's been both a blessing and a friction point Resources and Links Connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn  See her work at Vanessavellozzi.com Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this one hit close to home, share it with a friend who needed to hear it — and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

    59 min

  8. Apr 16

    From Industry Orphan to Entrepreneur: Building a Career on Your Own Terms

    What do you do when the career you need doesn't exist yet? In this episode, I sit down with Lindsay Green Barber, founder of Impact Architects - a research and strategy firm helping journalism, media, and philanthropy organizations measure what actually matters.  Lindsay's path here was anything but straight: a PhD, two years of fieldwork in Ecuador, a postdoc fellowship, and a skillset that never quite fit the roles that existed. So she built her own. Nearly a decade later, Impact Architects is one of the most respected voices in media impact measurement - and Lindsay is in the middle of a new kind of inflection point. We talk about what it's taken to step into her identity as a founder and leader, why the metrics driving journalism decisions are quietly undermining the industry, and what legacy looks like when you're trying to reimagine an entire sector while also making it to swim class pickup. You'll Learn ⭐ How to build a career when your skillset doesn't fit existing roles  ⭐ What slow, intentional business growth actually looks like in practice  ⭐ What it takes to step into your identity as a leader  ⭐ How to align your personal growth with your business strategy  ⭐ What community-centered journalism looks like and why it matters  Key Insights Entrepreneurship Isn't Always a Calling - Sometimes It's a Solution Lindsay didn't set out to start a company. She set out to do work that mattered and realized the only way to do it was to build something herself. Clear Is Kind Stepping into leadership means giving your team clarity - about direction, accountability, and vision. Avoiding that isn't humility, it's a disservice. The Metrics Are the Message When journalism organizations measure success by page views designed for ad sales, they optimize for the wrong thing entirely. Impact measurement asks a harder, more important question. Timestamps 02:00 Lindsay's non-linear path and why she went straight to grad schoo 04:00 Fieldwork in Ecuador and watching a government silence indigenous voices  06:00Moving back to the US and rejecting the ivory tower  07:00 The postdoc fellowship that landed her at CIR  08:00 Building impact measurement frameworks from scratch  11:00 How the model started resonating across the industry  14:00 Seeing an opportunity to build something outside of org life  15:00 Becoming a founder by accident — the "industry orphan" origin story 20:00 Postpartum, trust, and a turning point for the company  21:00 Building a team that could hold the work without her  22:00 Turning 40 and asking: what comes next?  23:00 When personal growth and business strategy finally come together  26:00 "What would Kristin do?" — on advisors and hype girls  27:00 What surprised her most about this phase of growth  33:00 The broken metrics quietly driving journalism decisions  37:00 Community listening and how to actually understand your audience 42:00 The CPB funding crisis and what's at stake for local media  44:00 How do you get people to care before it's gone?  45:00 What journalism has to do differently to earn trust  48:00 Legacy: professional, personal, and what her kid thinks of her Resources and Links Connect with Lindsay Green Barber on LinkedIn  Find out more about her work at Impact Architects  Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com  Sign up for Kristin's new

    53 min
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About

Ever brushed off a compliment? Downplayed a win? Made yourself smaller so you wouldn’t sound like “too much”? Yeah, me too. Kind of a Big Deal is my love letter to women building careers and lives they’re proud of. This isn’t your typical Fortune 500 CEO interview. Instead, it’s real, relatable conversations with everyday women - corporate baddies, scrappy entrepreneurs, and everyone in between - who are leading lives we can all aspire to. Through honest stories and hard-earned wisdom, we shine a light on the victories, the lessons, and the messy middle that rarely make the highlight reel. It’s about celebrating the impact women make (even when we’re tempted to shrug it off). Because the truth is: you are kind of a big deal.

Information

  • Creator
    Kristin Belden
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Kind of a Big Deal
  • Show Website
    Kind of a Big Deal

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