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Welcome to The Vici Code, where we unlock real stories of small business owners who've battled chaos, crushed doubt, and conquered their challenges. Faith, family, and finances. No fluff, just raw, honest conversations that decode the path to victory, one story at a time. What is up? Thank you for joining us today as we explore our latest Purpose Driven Journey, The Maternal CEO, where we peel back the layers of servant leadership and systems, how to build a high-growth service business that empowers families, supports local communities, and reclaims the mom founder's quality of life. We're often told that as entrepreneurs, we have to choose the business or the family. Our guest today built a multimillion-dollar company specifically to prove that choice is a lie. Kelly Jadel is the University of Texas Hook 'em Horns alum with a background in Mary Kay leadership and medical sales. She founded Let Kelly in 2009, and today she leads a team of 45 generating over $2.4 million in revenue by taking her heat off of busy families. I met Kelly in the trenches of Dan Martell's Elite Business Class Masterclass. Her background in Mary Kay and medical sales provides a rich foundation for for discussing sales psychology, while, while her passion for salsa and fitness adds to the vibrant layer of the Vici pillars. We are exploring the power of delegation. We're diving into how Kelly transitioned from a single mom managing teams to a CEO who helps other women have it all through systems and lifestyle management. We'll

filter her journey through our 4 pillars: 1:48

faith, Family Fitness and Finance to see how she maintains her rhythm both on the salsa floor and in the boardroom. Kelly, thank you so much for joining us today. Welcome to the show. Thank you, Joe. I'm so excited to be here. I appreciate it. I like sharing my story and I love— I enjoy listening to your podcast. I appreciate it. And as you, as you can probably tell from the podcast, we jump right in. We want to hear about the breakthrough moment, early stages. Your background includes leading a large team of Mary Kay entrepreneurs. How did that experience in pink Cadillac territory shape the way you lead a team of 45 employees today at Latt Kelly? Oh my gosh. Yeah, I was in Mary Kay for 10 years. I started when I was 19, so it was all through college and through my early 20s when I was— I had my daughter, married. Like, it was— it was a wonderful opportunity. The Mary Kay way, they teach you how to build up teams. They teach you about leadership, time management, inventory. They teach you how— it's a wonderful company. I now no longer support that multi-level marketing, but it's, it's definitely a piece of my mindset past. And all of the conferences that I went to, it helped me so, so much on how to care for my clients. They really do a great job teaching you how to to just take care of people really in general. It was a wonderful way of learning. I'm very grateful that I had that foundation. Aren't those early— aren't those early positions just everything? You know, my kids, my oldest is 17, the next one below him is 15. I got a couple of younger ones, but it's all about getting that, like, that early life experience. And it's more than just like, oh, I'm too good for this job. It's like, what do you— what else are you learning? You're learning how to deal with people. You're learning how to handle cash. You're learning how to You know, there's so much from those early career moves that they're priceless. They really paved the foundation. You've scaled to 2.4 million in a service industry, traditionally a high churn space. What is the secret to building a team that stays and culture that cares? Oh man. Yeah, I, I was, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and one thing that's real that I feel like is a magic for me is part of my magic is really the culture of my company. So I really, really like lean into caring for my team and coaching them in a way that inspires them to want to be their best and be loyal to the company. So we have strict policies for cancellations for clients, which takes care of the team, which takes care of the company so that they stay, their hours are consistent, their pay is good, they get great They have benefits of taking time off if they need for their families or their health or whatever, and that the hours and the jobs are consistent so they can really rely on their paycheck to take care of their families. And they feel supported and appreciated at work. I greet them, and every day it's important to me to smile and say hi and have my light— my eyes light up when they walk in the room. And it's important for me to thank them at the end of the day. I, I— if people will comment on that, it's like, I thank them for working. Like, it's almost— and, and the Mary Kay was like, you treat your team like volunteers, and it's like they're volunteering their time. Now, of course, I'm also like a leader, and so I have policies and rules to kind of help my admin staff support the rules that we have. But also just like, just being grateful that they're human doing a job for our company. I'm very grateful and very appreciative of that, and I think that just goes a long way with people, especially service industry industry because they are using their hands and their bodies to move forward with the client's needs and desires. Yeah, it doesn't get much better than a culture of gratitude. It goes so far, and it's one of the main reasons I wanted to start my own business as well. I, I've said it for years leading up to it, I just want to create a space where accountants just feel valued and there's just so much more gratitude in the hallways. So, uh, I, I can connect with you on that one. Um, when was the breakthrough moment you realized your business wasn't just about cleaning but about uplifting a whole community? Well, I started with that. So my whole desire to start this company, it wasn't some passion for having clean homes, you know. I'm not like— I'm not some neat freak, even though I'm a military brat. Um, so I, you know, I was born and raised Air Force, so I do understand there are ways to do things. Um, but that's not like my, my true nature, you know. I, I love to live in a lived-in home. I want you to come over and feel comfortable in my, my home, not that you're scared to touch things. And so, um, from the very, very beginning, my desire was to help women so that they could focus on what they wanted to do, their passions in life, and, and they could have some of the chores and the errands taken off their plates so they don't have to do that if they didn't want to. I wanted them to have that choice. And so the service industry really gave them— this service business gave them an opportunity to do something else if that wasn't the, the main reason why they wanted to, um, you know, do their life. If they didn't want to clean their house, they didn't have to. And for those listening right now, that's how it's done. You start with the why, then you work on the how, right, Kel? Yeah, exactly. I did start with the why, and the how just figured itself out. Exactly. Um, let's talk about burnout. You know, you speak often about burnout recovery. For the mom founders listening, who feel like they are drowning in an endless list of responsibilities, what is the first system they need to implement to take the heat off? And I think the reality is being a human is exhausting at times. Like, there are just those moments. And when you're a business owner and a parent, there's going to be times when you're just tired. And I think it's just good to recognize that we don't have to be perfect. Like, our children can see us fail, and that's when they learn that failure is— it's okay. You just fix it and move on. Like, you just fix it and move on. Mom's tired right now. I need to sit down. Like, we're not going to have a cooked meal tonight. Like, we're just warming something up. And so I had a friend of mine, a client who reached out to me not too long ago with that same question. Like, I'm exhausted. Like, what do you do? And I said, I told her, I'm not going to pretend like I don't feel the same way sometimes. Like, we as humans do that. And at my level, I have people where I can call and pay, you know, like, very quickly. But I also still am human. And there are things that just affect me hugely, like the, you know, the death of my father or, you know, my daughter moving away to college. Like, those things, those— you're just exhausted. Like, you don't feel like getting up and doing things. And so I think it's very important for us to acknowledge that, just Acknowledge that and ask, you know, if God is part of your life, ask God for help. Like, have people come into your life. That's what we all do. We help each other and serve each other. And I think when we have that kind of grace for others and ourselves, then our children can step up and support us. They see that. They see that love. Like, it's— there's so much grace around what we need. But having and asking for help is really important. And having systems in your life where you do ask yourself to do things and you make yourself do those things, like working out, it's very important. It's great for energy, it's great for health, it's great for mindset. Eating well, like doing all the things, but making yourself do those hard things on those days is even more important. Yeah. And what I hear, the common theme I heard on all that was, was like mindset. You got to have the right mindset, right? And I did a, I did a piece the other day about Uh, at work, when there's a fire drill, we drop everything, whatever we're doing, and we, we focus on that fire drill. And it's important that you have to have your own personal fire. You have to treat yourself as a fire drill. Sometimes you have to treat your family as a fire drill. You have to stop everything, put the phone down, put the work down and be present. And that's what I'm hearing right now, Kelly, is you gotta have a mind— you have to have a powerful mindset in order to not burn yourself out. Right. Yeah, you have to invest in yourself when you do have the bandwidth so that when you don't, there's a little bit of grace there. Because if you're never taking care of yourself and those bad days come, you're just going to hit it out, hit rock bottom. But if you're constantly filling up your cup and taking care of yourself, then when the bad days come, you can pull yourself out a little easier. But if you don't make that investment, it— the bad days are really gonna hit hard. Yeah. Now, why is it so hard for high-achieving women to delegate, and how do you coach them through that mental hurdle? I, I do, I do claim to be hyper-independent, and I was, I was raised that way. Um, and I think that socially, I think socially, um, kind of part of like a badge of honor that, you know, like we can do it ourselves themselves and, you know, watch me win and watch me strive. Um, I know that in my life, my— in my business life, I am great at delegating. Master pro. You can— I mean, you can see it, just the results, right? Yeah. But in my personal life, um, I am— I'm not as good at it. And, and I know that. I know that about myself. And, and I, I true— I think that when I do pause and think about the things that I could have other people do that would support me, it really adds to my life and it gives to others. It gives them an opportunity to do their job or skill, and it allows me to feel cared for and to feel nurtured. And when I feel that loving nurture in my life as a woman, then I'm allowed to be in my feminine. The magic of who I am and what happens just blossoms. It's truly wonderful for me. That's amazing. I agree. And more on the, on the personal side, we, we talk about fitness as a cornerstone of leadership. You're an avid hiker and a salsa dancer. How does the rhythm of the dance floor help you navigate the chaos of running a large business? Well, running I've said it many times, running and dancing are two areas where I can just really relax into just letting my body be just taken off. When I'm dancing, I am not in charge. I am being led. I'm a follower. So you can choose that as a woman, but I follow when I dance. And so I let my partner lead and I have to let go. And it's a huge lifting point for me. It's amazing. It's practice, like letting go to allow someone to lead me in my life. And I love that. I love that practice. I love that feeling. I love to see what happens when they choose to make the decisions they make on the dance floor. And when I'm running, I let everything go. Like, it's a peaceful time for me that I can just relax. I just recently got back into running and oh my gosh, I love it. I'm so glad to be back. So it's just— it's good. Some of my, some of my best thinking, some of my best thoughts happen, you know, while I'm running. And, and back to your point is, you know, being able to have those moments where like you're in charge, you know, all the time, but those moments where you can just trust somebody and be able to, to not make decisions. I look forward to that because I am very Type A. Um, I like order, I like process, I like systems. My wife is the complete opposite. Um, organized chaos is more her thing, and very common. I justify it, I justify like all the type A stuff, I tell her, I'm like, not when I'm with you, that all goes away. I promise. Let me, let me do my things my way over in this area. Then I can say, you know, I can be the yes man, whatever, whatever you want to do. And I do that for my whole family because they can only handle so much structure. It just takes the fun and the memory out of it. So I try to be intentional with my, with my family to be less in charge and be more, well, what do you guys want to do? And because I'm so type A in those other areas of my life, it gives gives me the, the sense of accomplishment and the, the sense of freedom that, like, I've— I, I can walk away from that and know that I'm, I'm good, and now I can just do what you guys want to do and be a lot more flexible. So I, I do love that sense of relief of, you know, being in somebody else's, uh, control, um, when you walk away from, you know, being the boss. Yeah, yeah. And I, I will talk to clients often who struggle with letting go and letting us come in and do the cleaning, and I, I've said many times over the years when I'm talking to a Type A like ourselves, I will say, you know, like, can— would it be okay with you if we just aim for a B-minus? Like, would that be okay with you? Because you do an A-plus job every single time and anybody who helps you does not. But it— would it help you? Would it help you if someone came in here and did at least a B or a B-minus? Would that service in that— at that level be okay with you? And, and it's always like, uh, and the end result is usually yes. Like, it done is done, like, whether it's perfect or not. And so it's like, we need progress. It's not going to be perfection, but at least the microwave was clean and the floors were clean. And, you know, maybe there was a spot here or there, but the whole house is clean and whole house is taken care of. And we, we can kind of pull back on the micromanaging just a little bit to just Check that off the list. It reminds me when Dan Martell says, uh, 80% done right is 100% awesome. That's exactly true. 80% is a B minus. I have to tell myself that. I don't know about you, I, I have to tell myself that when my, my, when I'm handing things off to my team. And I do like the 10-80-10. It's always good to kind of get them ramped up, walk away, let them do the 80%, and then we kind you know, finish the deal towards the end. And, and that's just helped me buy back so much of my time. Yeah, no, I struggle with that with my team because they don't, they don't do it the way that I did it. And so there's, there's constantly like reframing, and there's training, and there's room for improvement and opportunity growth and all of that. And so that, you know, I'm talking to the clients, I'm like, yes, I understand that should have been done, and I'm so, so sorry that it didn't allow us to come back, or let me give you a discount, or, you know, like, we're, you know, having those conversations often. And it's Yeah, I think that's one of the challenges with ownership. It's just letting someone else do not the same is a tricky part. Yeah. And I like the reframe of like, you know, what do we— are we, are we removing an opportunity for them to grow and get better? That's always helped me to kind of step away from that. But I digress. I want to go back to, you know, I had mentioned that some of my best ideas happen on the trail. Does your time on local trails serve as a think time for the business, or is that your total disconnect from the CEO role time? So I feel like I agree with you. Some of my best thoughts come when, when I'm exercising. And I also understand that I heard not maybe not too long ago, a few years ago, that we as creatives, as human creatives, especially like people that are building things, we need blank space. So we need that white space on our calendar. We need boredom. We need the— boredom is one of the words they use. So when you're bored, your brain can create things. And so it's like, I need that time, that space where nothing is scheduled. And so when I'm working out, when I'm running, when I'm on my bike, it's just me and whatever my body is doing. And I I don't have an agenda. And so that boredom, that free time, that white space is where my brain can just completely zone out. And it is when I get those thoughts, just different. I'm like, oh, didn't think of that before. We've been doing this for 17 years and haven't thought of that. You're like, oh yeah, here we go. So yeah, it's super helpful. It sounds like you're similar to me where it's more of a blend. It's like you may carry some thoughts into the workout, but the workout kind of takes over and your mind just kind of goes where it goes. And hopefully sometimes for me, sometimes it just goes into like exhaustion and I'm not thinking about anything and I'm just like, yeah, I do CrossFit. So like that, it's hard to really do some deep thinking in CrossFit, but it's like more like when I'm on my, when I'm doing my zone 2 recovery on a stationary bike and I got, you know, 45 minutes to just think, you know, I'll just ebb and flow. I may not, maybe sometimes I'll have something heavy I'm thinking through. Sometimes it'll just, I'll just let it flow and go where it goes. And then I either way. In, in both situations, I'm walking away feeling really good about my mind space, you know? Yeah, yeah. No, it's great. I just recently in November switched gyms, and I'm in a new gym. So just like 2 weeks ago, I was like, oh, I, I'm— I hit, I hit that point of rhythm. I hit that point of routine where I'm in the flow, and that's when the magic happens. 100%. Yeah, because when you're creating the routine, you know, the first, you know, 4, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, whatever, with the holidays and all that nonsense, but like once you get into that flow and your body's just doing the thing, your your brain can just go so many other places. And I, I, I, I'm addicted to that feeling. I love that. Yeah, I love that. So digging deeper into the personal side, let's talk family and then let's connect some of that creative stuff with the New York City connection you have. Your daughter is a musical theater professional in New York City. As a single mom who built this empire, how do you— how did your finance and family pillars work together to support her dreams while building your own? Yeah, that kid, she is, she is talented. We have a very, very special relationship. One thing that comes from being, um, a person of, of honesty and ethics is you get respect from your children, and that's powerful. So my daughter respects me, and she watched me build this business. She was 6 years old when I started my company, and she's 23 now. And she told me when she was about 3 years old, she wanted to be on TV. And I live a life of making my own rules, right? Because I'm an entrepreneur, I build things. And so it's like, I absolutely— baby girl, if that's what you want to do, let's go. She started dance class and all of that. We got— I— her father and I got divorced when she was about 3. And then, you know, he was— he wasn't quite on board with that. So around 10, I was like, okay, we're gonna get you headshots. And so we, we She was in dance the whole time when she was growing up, and then she got into theater when she was— oh gosh, she was like 6 or 7. And then finally got her headshots and she started taking off with her career. And so we got Dad on board around high school, and then she went to conservatory college in New Jersey and just graduated from that school and has been auditioning for more parts. She's been a performer and all the time. And so we just really worked together as she was growing up on her dream. And very rare is when a, when a person knows, like, what they want to do and they do that, like, in life. That's just very rare. And so she's just one of those people who she's like, she knew what she wanted to do, and we just, we walked that road with her. And there were many, many, many long days of Momager, the mom theater manager, where, you know, we would— she would go to school, I would to work, and then I would pick her up and we'd go straight to rehearsal, and she'd have a show, and then we'd do that 18-hour day for what, you know, a show runs for 6 weeks or whatever. Right. And I was her bath butler. We would come home and put her in the bath and soak her feet and, you know, do all the things, the PT and the, all the strength training, because she was basically like an athlete in heels, you know, is what dancers are. I mean, it's just phenomenal what they put their bodies through. She's little tiny. She's like up to here. She's like 4, 5 foot but nothing. And like, you know, don't tell her that. She's taller than that. Yeah. And, um, and, uh, she's a bigger, huge personality, just bigger than life. So singing, dancing, acting, so smart. Like, she could have taken the, you know, math and science route that her dad was in. He's an engineer, and she could have gone that route and, um, just chose not to. So she wanted to follow her passion and And she is fantastic. Fantastic. You can tell, you can tell your heart's so full. And that's what you want as a parent, to have your heart full and like to be so proud that you're, that she's doing what she loves and you know, that she's expressive with her passion in life. And that's, that's another thing that we want as parents. We want our, we want our children to be able to express themselves in a, in a healthy way. And what better way than to express yourself through, through dance and the arts, uh, rather than through the alternative, through like, you know, drugs and the scene and the drinking. And, you know, it's like, yeah, so, so many kids go down that road because they don't know how to express themselves, so they rebel and they just do these things. Um, but you, you— or that gray area in between where you just kind of get lost in the, you know, the day-to-day, and you just, you get yourself your first, you know, 8-to-5 job, and then you stick there and you just stay in that routine because that's what you know. I mean, that a lot of, a lot of people do that. I would say probably most of people do that. You get stuck in a rut. Yeah, my next question is about faith. And like, to me, that in, in faith, that's called drifting, right? You're just in the rat race and you're drifting and you have no purpose and you just, you kind of lose that, that zest for life. In terms of faith, what is the core belief that kept you going in 2009 when the business was just starting out? Oh my gosh, I have a strong faith. God is very present in my life. I meditate every single morning. Um, and, um, I'm very much called to, um, just hearing what he has to say for my life. I'm— I feel like I have a, um, a gift that he's been given me that even Dan said that on a call. I don't know if you're on that call, um, that when God gives you something as big as he's given me with my business, there's a reason. Absolutely. And amen. And so I'm I'm still on that path of seeing where the, where the actual, you know, road is taking me because I feel like there's more. And so we're— I'm exploring that right now and I'm very excited about that. With my daughter just graduating, it kind of opens up another door of opportunity for me. So she's, you know, taken her responsibility. But yeah, God has given me many, many opportunities in this lifetime to pursue his dream and passion. you know, for many people in my life and me included. I'm very, very grateful. Amen. That's great. I'm excited to see what the next chapters, uh, uh, uh, show for you. And, you know, for our listeners that, uh, want to follow you, where can our listeners find you online or hire Let Kelly if they're in the— are you only in Texas? To tell our, uh, our audience a little bit about how they can stay in touch with you. So we do our— my cleaning and organizing businesses is in the Austin, Texas area. Georgia so far, just in that area right now. Um, I do, um, coaching for small businesses, you know, wherever, um, in the United States, probably even other, other places. Um, and then, um, my— the best place to find me is on Instagram, which is my name, um, Kelly Yately. And then, um, my website is letkelly.com for the business. And all those links are going to be in the show notes, so if you didn't catch that that, just check out the show notes and you'll be good. Uh, Kelly, we're coming towards the end. I just wanna go over a couple recaps just to drive home some really key points here. The power of community-centric leadership, right? We, we led off with that of being, you know, creating that culture of gratitude. It is so important. There's a lot of people that get into business that are good at what they do, where things just don't tend to translate really well is when they start growing that team. That is that's the, that's the deal breaker, right? That's, that's the, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? But you know, if you can't make that transition to being, you know, a community leader, it just makes things a lot more difficult. And that dream of owning a business and having financial freedom becomes more of a nightmare. So really invest in, in your leadership skills, uh, especially if you plan on being more than just a man in a van and you want to be somebody that, uh, can have that can magnify, you know, what you're, what you're, what you're doing. And also lifestyle management. It's the ultimate luxury for entrepreneurs buying back your time. You know, we've talked about that, you know, really having a balance of shutting it off, being present. It's just so important to live a lifestyle and work to live, not live to work. Right, Kel? Exactly. Exactly. Also, you know, we heard, you know, Kelly uses her communications degree to lead with heart and accountability. Always be open to the opportunity to continue learning. It doesn't have to be a degree, but learn from your clients, learn from your team members, learn from your family, learn from your kids. There's so much you can learn. I've learned so much about myself by just opening my heart and being held accountable. Just always be a student of life. Kelly, thank you so much for your vulnerability and mission to support entrepreneurial moms. If you're a busy professional ready to lighten your load, visit kelly.com. Again, her, her, her handles, Instagram and LinkedIn and Facebook, it's all in the show notes. Stay blessed, stay in rhythm, and remember, you don't have to choose. We'll see you on the next episode of The Vici Code. Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to The Vici Code, where the underdogs rise and the numbers finally make sense. If today's story hit home, share it. And remember, faith fuels a fight, and your comeback is already in progress.