We’re looking forward to introducing you to Kay Paschal. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Kay, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Unlike when I was working (before I retired), I now get up early, usually around 6:30am ~ for no reason ~ I could sleep until noon if I wanted to. During my “work life”, I used to sleep until the last second possible, jump in the shower, dress, and then and only then, on my way out the door, would I get my first cup of coffee to drink on the road, usually getting cold before it could be finished. Now, I love getting up when it’s still almost dark out and lounge around with coffee, a piece of cinnamon toast usually, and read. When I am writing or editing a new book (which I have two separate projects going right now!) or preparing a topic to speak to an organization on, I take some of that solitary time before the household wakes to work on that.
If for some reason circumstances dictate that I need to get somewhere early that disrupts this slow morning time I so enjoy, it puts me right back into the cadence of the 40 years of my working life to be excited to get up and do my best to look and be my best and go out and take on the task. The duality of my personality has always been something I can count on to keep life interesting in so many ways and satisfying in all ways.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a wife, mother, writer and speaker.
After retiring from founding, owning, and running two private preschools with my husband for 25 years and writing monthly for 15 of those years on parenting topics/trends in various city-wide publications, I took those small articles and turned them into a book, choosing the most talked about topics of concern to parents, expanding on the advice given using observations and experiences acquired from interacting with thousands of parents during those 25 years. Unlike a lot of “advice books” (really on any subject), I included the reality of parenting by admitting and giving examples of in each chapter how I didn’t always take my own advice while raising my two boys, while I was giving this advice to others ~ thus the title, Insert Giggle Giggle, Laughing Your Way through Raising Kids and Running a Business. I think most of us can identify with the human reaction that it is most always clearer what other people should be doing (again, really on any subject) while not always seeing a clear path in our own situations, justifying our choices and behavior while not giving others the same leeway. I sometimes even admitted this to parents in real time as they were seeking my advice.
After publishing the book, it organically grew into speaking engagements, mostly to mom and parent groups on parenting, but recently I have enjoyed being asked to speak to women’s business organizations, Junior League, and Rotary Clubs. The topics I develop for these business groups are plucked from my podcast episodes dealing with social commentary, business practices, women’s issues, and other, more light-hearted topics. Interestingly, these short, 10-minute podcast grabs are the basis for one of the books I am currently working on.
I also enjoy being a guest on a range of podcasts, speaking on parenting topics, women issues, business and social issues. Exhibiting and holding breakout sessions at conferences around the country is also something I really enjoy doing.
I am proud that my book was recognized as a Finalist by Zibby Owens Media as BEST BOOK for the PARENT.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My husband, Steve. When we found ourselves “unemployed” after being two very successful corporate employees by turning down a corporate move to Singapore, and with a preschool son and another baby on the way, we decided to take a move back home to Atlanta from Texas and start our own business. Steve had his MBA from Georgia Tech and years of executive banking experience, mostly in real estate lending. Without a college degree myself, I had been in the corporate world for 15 years as an administrative assistant, with also a real estate license. But what business did we decide to pursue? Not something in real estate but instead opening a preschool~daycare….no experience or degree between us in running a business of any kind OR in early childhood education. What could possibly go wrong!
While Steve concentrated on the financials and building specifications, he trusted me to be the face of the business and try to sell our idea to young couples who were looking for care for their child~just like what we looked for as a dual working couple but never found completely to our satisfaction.
Over the 25 years of owning our preschool, I became (through a lot of successes and mistakes) a savvy businesswoman, a Board Member and Committee Chair of one of the largest childcare advocacy associations in the country, and a monthly writer on parenting topics and trends in city-wide publications.
I would never have seen myself doing or even being capable of doing ANY of these things if not for the support and confidence shown in me to succeed by my husband, Steve.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would say to always stay in the moment. Too often we long for the “next thing” or the “next stage” and miss out on enjoying where we are. The next phase will always come so you don’t want to look back and regret missing out on something while you were longing for the future.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Not always. I firmly believe in the multi-dimensions of people, and women specifically. People in my business world may not recognize the personal me. While I am skeptical and formidable in so many business ways and make sure that in all areas I research and dot every i and cross every t, in my personal life I am somewhat gullible and more free styling. I enjoy being deferred to as a lady in my personal life where I might take offense in my professional life. I want to be known as feminine and not a feminist, which again, might be surprising to people in my professional life. I don’t think either persona is fake, it’s just dimensions of myself that I enjoy expressing.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes! Marketing a book on your own when you are not known by anyone takes a level of confidence, humbleness that you never knew you had, and a lack of the fear of humiliation that you didn’t know you could endure. I was just talking with a fellow self-published author, and we laughed at ourselves that nothing seems to be beneath us in the quest to self-promote ourselves/our book!
My best friend once surprised me, driving almost an hour, to an event I was headlining as the speaker, and NO ONE showed up! I can travel to conferences or book festivals with my elaborate exhibit and sell one book. This same friend asked me once why I was working so hard promoting my book ~ she said it was like my mortgage depended on the proceeds of this book! That made me really giggle since I am in such a financial hole with this book, even though it has won an award as a BEST BOOK for the PARENT, Finalist by the esteemed Zibby Owens Media organization.
I continue to think that it just takes one connection, one break, to make this book a success. I believe this even if no one else does…..
Contact Info:
- Website: https://insertgigglegiggle.com
- Instagram: insertgigglegiggle
- Other: Kay’s Gigglecast ~ Spotify
Kay Paschal ~ SUBSTACK
Image Credits
N/a
