Kat Cole

So one of the tools in my toolbox to drive action and confidence and growth is the ability to cut through that complacency.

And I first learned this lesson from my mom.

When I was nine years old, my mom came to me and said, that's it, I'm done, we're leaving.

And what she meant was we were leaving my father.

My father was and is a very good man, but at the time he was an alcoholic and a terrible husband and father.

So when my mom came to me at the age of nine, I didn't cry and I didn't get upset.

I remember thinking, what took you so long?

Finally, it's about time.

So often, there are people around us just waiting on us to take the action, to do the thing, to do the right thing.

And since then, I've been inspired to have practices that drive action over and over, little ones every day or bigger ones, like what my mom did that day.

We did leave my dad.

My mom fed us on a meager food budget, worked multiple jobs for many years, and over the course of my young life, I got to see her day-to-day example, someone without resources, without a playbook.

She had no coach.

She had no one to mentor her through this experience.

She just acted her way to growth and improvement over time.

As a result of this childhood, I started working at a very young age.

At 15, I worked in malls.

At 17, I was a restaurant hostess.

At 18, a waitress.

At 19, I began my leadership journey, opening franchises around the world.