26 - Shannon Kaiser of Play With The World Shares Her Journey From Clinical Depression To Living the Life of Her Dreams

I never love to see anyone hurting.  However, nothing makes my heart happier than to see someone take an extremely dark moment in their life and use it to completely turn things around.  That’s exactly what Shannon Kaiser of Play With The World did after she found herself clinically depressed, addicted to drugs, and suffering from eating disorders as she worked her corporate life, trying to do what every one thought she should.

After waking up one day, listening to her inner voice to tell her to ‘follow her heart’.  She realized life really should be more, and quit her ‘day job’.  Since then she has created a life for herself traveling the world, writing and running a business. 

Um, sign me up, please! 

I was so excited to sit down with her as she shared her story of her complete 180!

One of my favorite quotes of all time, Shannon gave us on this interview ‘Nourish the Nudges.’

What does following your heart really mean?  Shannon encourages you to just listen to the small ‘nudges’ in our head that push in a direction.  What is that you do that makes you feel alive?  Shannon’s opportunity was when she traveled to Paris, and wrote for her family.  It was that time when she saw an opportunity to submit for Chicken Soup for the Soul.    She submitted, and that was a great first turn for changing her life around.

What are some other ways you’re monetizing this life?  She continues to look at things that inspire her.  She creates courses around topics where she finds inspiration.  She has a journal and invention box.  Anytime she gets an idea she puts it in her box, and it doesn’t mean she’ll do anything with it.  However, it’s there for her to move forward with, should she decide to.  She suggests looking at things instead of ‘how can I make money’, look at things at ‘how I can help others.’

What was the first step you took in creating a business?  The very first thing was the website.  It was a place for her to help people escape from the chaos of life.   The website was the most crucial part, and then she moved on with getting a business name, etc.

What’s been a huge fear for you to overcome?  The fear that there’s never enough, and the fear that you really can’t make money doing what you love.  She had to get past the fear that she wouldn’t make money as a writer.  She continued to remind herself everywhere through mantras that she was making money doing what she loved.

Shannon is learning that the fears never go away too.  Just because you get past one, others can come up.  So just be aware of it.  Address it, and use it as a tool to actual move through and align with your truth.

What’s been a big marketing win for you?  She first suggests to get out of the mindset that you’re marketing.  Shannon looks at herself as a sharer of information versus a marketer.  She’s all about making sure that this is going to help people.   She suggests really getting in touch with the ‘Why’. 

She also suggest aligning yourself with an outstanding designer.   She suggests marketing is more than just the look and feel of your website, but everything from every touch point to your brand.    Look at serving others and doing the best you can.

Has the original course of your business changed?  She says that the course hasn’t changed, but the big picture has become clearer.  She suggests letting people listen to what your business really wants to be.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone standing on the edge?  She’s been there and knows how it feels.  You owe it to yourself with to go for it.  If you continue to the nourish the nudges you’ll get to where you want to be.

Where in entrepreneurship journey did you discover you were exactly where you were supposed to be?  Once she let go of looking at what others were doing and comparing her business to others, was a huge step for her.  Also, being able to travel to Hawaii and still work.  She’s also been able to write articles that are being shared by literally tens of thousands around the world.

Shannon has great advice that she was given that it really takes about 3 years for things to really change in your business.  Granted, this isn't a hard rule, but a great general one to use so you're not getting too discouraged.

What’s the one thing you can’t live without in your business?  She’s super connected to her fans and clients, thinking about ways she can connect with them. 

More About Shannon:  Shannon Kaiser has been labeled a modern thought leader on the rise by CafeTruth. She is the bestselling author of “Find Your Happy, an Inspirational Guide to Loving Life to Its Fullest,” and the founder of the website playwiththeworld.com,  which was awarded Top 75 Best Personal Growth Websites and top 100 Self-Help Blogs on the internet by The Institute for the Psychology of Eating. 

She left her successful career in advertising to follow her heart and be a writer, life coach, inspirational speaker, travel writer and author. She is a six-time contributing author to Chicken Soup for The Soul. Shannon’s work has been featured in media outlets such as Good Morning America, Health Magazine, Australian Vogue, Huffington Post, and Mind Body Green. She’s writing her next book The Mental Makeover (Berkley/ Penguin Random House 2015).

Connect on her author Facebook Page @Shannon Kaiser Writes or Twitter.