Meet Trailblazer KC Baker

Today we’d like to introduce you to KC Baker.

KC, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The art of giving a great speech was a big thing in my family growing up. My dad was the national debate champion when he was in college, and so growing up, my dad and I bonded over writing talks.

I’d get up in my living room to practice them and then I’d go off and run for student council. I never dreamed that two decades later, I’d be running a women’s public speaking and leadership training company, but that’s exactly what happened.

However, my passion for this work really came after I left investment banking in my early twenties and realized that I’d been trained to effectively share about other people’s ideas… but what about mine?

Finding my own unique voice, and the freedom to share it has been my deep personal quest, and one I’ve now been blessed to share with thousands of women around the world.

I’ve developed highly unique practices that support women in embracing themselves fully as they are, rather than trying to be more like men in order to be heard and taken seriously. I’ve been teaching this work for a decade around the world, even at the United Nations in Switzerland, which was a total thrill.

With WomanSpeak, we now train women to teach this work to other women in their local communities. We have WomanSpeak Circles throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia, and we are growing quickly. It is definitely THE time for women’s voices and ideas.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest challenge by far has been dealing with my own fear of being “stupid” every time I’ve had to learn something new to grow my business to the next level. I used to let it stall me for long periods of time, but over the years I’ve learned that being humble and a constant learner is part of the process. The secret is to reach out and ask someone who is a step ahead of you, or who is a specialist in the area you need to grow, what your next step should be. Learn from others! Constantly educate yourself. Everyone doing anything meaningful in the world has to do it too. No one has it all figured out.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am the founder of WomanSpeak, an international organization that trains women in public speaking and leadership skills. We train women to become WomanSpeak Leaders and to lead WomanSpeak Circles in their local communities.

The members of each WomanSpeak Circle come together in person twice per month to practice speaking and delivering powerful talks and presentations.

WomanSpeak’s practices are different. In most public speaking and leadership training programs, a more masculine style of speaking is taught. We support women in being fully who they are and to speak straight from the heart as they stand up to speak and lead. The culture of our WomanSpeak Circles is also big on celebration so we have a lot of fun.

I’m proud that we have grown so quickly in under two years. We even were invited to present our work at the United Nations. It’s an exciting time for women’s voices.

We are hosting the WomanSpeak International Festival in Sedona May 17-19….three days of celebrating women’s innovative ideas and world class training on women’s thought leadership. Is it possible to put something about that in the article? The link is womanspeak.com/festival2019 and tickets are $347-647.

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
I think there are two big barriers. One is that women continue to feel that they need to be “more like men” in order to be heard and taken seriously. It’s time for that paradigm to change.

It’s crucial that women feel free to fully be themselves, as that is the only way we will reap the benefits of a woman’s full intelligence, brilliance, and impact.

Secondly, it is imperative we support more women of color in having their voices be heard. We will never have access to the full power of the women’s movement until it is truly diverse and inclusive of all women’s voices.

Contact Info:

• Website: WomanSpeak.com
• Email: support@womanspeak.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/womanspeakinc
• Facebook: facebook.com/womanspeaksociety

 

Image Credit:
Syvonne Kozuch

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