Fill your life with things that energize you.

Kara Fasone’s escape from the 9 to 5 is still a work in progress, but with a PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology I think she is in good shape.
Kara partnered with a fellow PhD to launch a healthy lifestyle business, Wise & Well Academy. She is still working part-time as an Organizational Development / HR Specialist while she gets things off the ground.

After years of working as an organizational development (HR) professional in the corporate world, Kara still felt fulfilled by the meaningful interactions and the outcomes she was helping others achieve. “I managed wide-reaching people-focused initiatives within organizations, including performance appraisal, employee learning & development, and workplace wellness. The highlight of my day was when employees would e-mail me or drop by my desk to ask advice or thank me for helping them to develop personal insights or to achieve their professional goals”.

A New Direction

Kara realized that she wasn’t leveraging her experience & education in I/O Psychology the way she wanted. She decided to channel the power of the world wide web, and founded Wise & Well Academy. It’s a digital hub for online wellness courses, psychology-based resources, and a growing membership community built to help hundreds more people (while not completely burning herself out in the process).

Kara is busy learning everything she can about entrepreneurship and marketing. She is focused on building solid processes to make her efforts a success. “It’s incredibly energizing to wake up every day and know that I’ve made healthy living more accessible to anyone with an internet connection and a motivation to grow themselves. And hey – I continue to have a soft spot for people-focused organizations, so I’m staying true to my HR roots and also offering corporate wellness solutions.”

Kara’s personal life mission is simple. She wants to help as many people and possible live happier, healthier, more productive lives. It’s an arena Kara is intimately familiar with after working so long within the industry. Organizations are just beginning to understand the incredible value of workplace wellness. Since most don’t have the internal manpower to build an effective employee wellness program, Kara is here to make the process a lot less daunting!

Learning All You Can

One book that resonated with Kara was, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. “I’m a recovering perfectionist, and this book helped me re-align my expectations so I can continue to drive forward instead of being paralyzed into inaction by the fear of not creating things that are 100% “perfect.”

Beyond books & websites, Kara has also found it incredibly helpful to seek out mentors. Her old manager has expertise in a number of the services she offers. Kara frequently reaches out to her for guidance and constructive feedback. Although friends and family are an important piece of the puzzle, she prefers the more objective input a mentor can provide.

Alignment

For Kara, the best part of building a profession out of the typical 9-5 grind, is being able to shape and bring her own personal mission to life. Living aligned with your life purpose is an incredibly powerful feeling.

“The I/O psychologist in me thinks about Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (another fave of mine), because owning your own business or working as a freelancer allows you to satisfy each of those important engagement drivers: mastery, purpose, AND autonomy. “

Lessons Learned

Kara has a lot to say about her escape from the 9 to 5 so far. (I predict a book at some point in her future). We tried to distill it down to three top tips:

  1. Follow Your Passion … Then Figure Out the $$: Too many people start a business because they want to make a ridiculous amount of money. While understanding the profitability is important, if you make a plan based solely on money, you really will not have escaped the 9-5. You’re still trudging through work that feels like … work. The only difference is you’re the boss.
  2. Figure Out Your Systems: Especially if you have a team working along with you, staying organized can be a pain. It’s important to plan out what tools you’ll use to create business materials, collaborate with team members, and store important information.
  3. Manage Your Expectations: It’s really easy to draw up a business plan and expect overnight success. It doesn’t work that way! Success isn’t linear … rather it’s a series of peaks and troughs. So, it’s important to be prepared to work … much harder than you initially anticipate.

It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect

Like many of us, Kara is a recovering perfectionist. To paraphrase Seth Godin, “If you are happy with your first version, you waited too long.” This was constant battle for Kara. She wanted everything had to be “perfect” before unveiling to her audience or corporate clients. She also realized that she was doing way too much work and stressing over the smallest details. Since she started, Kara has tried to live by the mantra, “Just get it done and refine later.” I’m sure she is well on her way.