This #SheDope profile is on Carla Holden, a business coach to smart female entrepreneurs.
She helped me get the appeal of Spotify, shared how Catholic school shaped her, and reminded me why I loved the TV Show “In Living Color” back in the day.
What’s Our Connection?
I met Carla in 2014 at an event for female entrepreneurs. She shared her goal of hosting a retreat for “lady bosses” in Paris, one of my dream destinations. #FirstClassToParis
We became fast friends.
Eight Things About Carla:
1. Carla helps her clients create blueprints and road maps for their businesses: how to get from one place to another.
2. She can’t live without Waze, Spotify, and Instagram:
- Waze. Her poor sense of direction and all the different neighborhoods in LA make it essential.
- Spotify. It’s an online Amoeba Music (a huge, well-known record store in LA). You can listen to entire albums, instead of playlists of similar songs (a la Pandora).
- Instagram. It’s a combination of Pinterest and Facebook. She likes that she can keep up with her friends but can also follow brands.
3. Despite our best intentions, both of us need help with staying off time-wasting websites. I use the Chrome extension Productivity Owl.
Carla's also a big fan of QuickTime, Google Docs, and Momentum:
- QuickTime. She recorded most of her first digital course using QuickTime. You can record your computer screen, your iPhone screen, yourself, or audio only.
- Google Drive/Docs. It allows her clients and her to view and add notes to documents. #CollaborationMadeEasy
- Momentum. It’s a dashboard that appears whenever you open a new tab in Chrome. The background of the tab is a gorgeous image and you are able to track one main task for the day (or create a longer to-do list).
4. One of her favorite quotes she lives by:
5. Years ago, Carla was in a tumultuous relationship. She learned how to remove all neediness and to give without expecting anything in return.
Her words were so powerful that I had to pull out this audio so you could hear her exact words.
6. Carla’s daily self-care routine includes:
- walking at least two miles every morning.
- meditating for 5 minutes. She loves the Headspace app.
- seeing and/or hugging someone.
7. Carla grew up in private Catholic school and was the only black kid in class. She also is not Catholic. At first she felt left out because she could not take part in a lot of things (confession, Holy Communion).
It prepared her for being comfortable marching to the beat of her own drum later in life. She didn't fit into stereotypical groups and now doesn’t mind being the only one.
“In some way I’m different and that’s a good thing.” #NotTheStandout
8. She believes she was a detective in a former life. Which makes sense considering that her guilty pleasure is true crime shows. Nothing’s better than a Snapped all-day marathon or the ID channel (which I didn't know existed).
Perhaps Carla and Ms. Benita Butrell – the neighborhood gossip from In Living Color – are kindred spirits:
Byron Katie. Byron is “hilarious, present, and sprightly.” She helps people confront their negative thoughts. Carla did a 9-day immersion retreat with Byron (School for The Work).
There was NO INTERNET OR PHONE during the entire retreat. Wait, what?
Her Mom. Carla’s Mom grew up in Jamaica in the 1940s, emigrated to England, and then to the United States. She began her career as a nurse. When she got pregnant with Carla in her late thirties, she was studying to be an attorney. She’s accomplished, ambitious, and married for 40+ years. And she will go to Europe BY HERSELF for three months! #girlcrush