Sisters in Success: A Journey in Business and Podcasting | Ep #149

In this inspiring episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, we welcome sisters Kelly Fox and Jessica Colarco, the dynamic duo behind the Chasing Brighter Podcast. Join us as we dive into their incredible journey from successful corporate careers to becoming business owners, and now advocating for women's empowerment and personal growth through their podcast. Learn how Kelly and Jessica navigated major career pivots, overcame personal challenges, and ultimately found fulfillment in entrepreneurship. Discover their insights on balancing professional ambitions with personal life, the power of storytelling, and their mission to uplift and inspire women everywhere through their podcast. Whether you're considering a career change or seeking motivation to follow your dreams, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and heartfelt stories.

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Transcript

Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - Sisters in Success: A Journey from Corporate Careers to Business and Podcasting | Ep #149
Episode - #149
Host: Shannon Russell
Guest: Kelly Fox and Jessica Colarco
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)


[00:00:00] 

Have you been wondering if now is the right time to change careers? If you have been asking yourself that question, you are not alone. I created a new 10 question quiz that will give you the clarity you need. Download the quiz at 2ndactsuccess. co forward slash quiz. You will get results quick. Plus, you'll get action items for you to implement right away.

I am also including private podcast links to give you even more information on how you can move forward to pursue your 2nd Act career. You can grab it now at 2ndActSuccess. co forward slash quiz. Good luck.

[00:00:39] Shannon Russell: Hey, you, are you feeling stuck, desperate for a career change or thinking of starting a business, but you're just not sure how to make your first move? I'm television producer turned career coach, Shannon Russell, and this is the second act success career podcast. This is where you will not only get the career advice you've been craving, but you'll get [00:01:00] tips from career and business experts.

along with inspiration from others who have made a career transition to find second act success. Let's get started.

Hello. And welcome back to the show today. I am bringing on two amazing women. I met Kelly and Jessica at a recent podcasting conference. They are not only incredibly accomplished women, they are sisters and together, they decided to create a podcast called chasing brighter. Kelly and Jessica are passionate advocates for women's empowerment, through storytelling and personal growth. These two sisters live miles apart. Yet they come together to create this podcast in the hopes of helping others. We are going to dive into their own personal career stories. Both Kelly and Jessica worked in the corporate world and then pivoted to open their own businesses. We're going to talk about that 

and why they chose to come together now to create a [00:02:00] podcast. 

Here. They are my friends, Kelly and Jessica from the Chasing Brighter Podcast

kelly and Jessica, welcome to Second Act Success. I'm so excited to have you here. 

[00:02:12] Kelly Fox: We are very happy to be here.

Absolutely. 

[00:02:15] Shannon Russell: Well, we all met just to let the listeners know the three of us met at Podfest in Orlando this year and just really hit it off. We got to know each other and I guess it on your podcast, which was so fun. So much fun, and I really couldn't wait to introduce everyone in the Second Act Success world to you two, because not only do you have a podcast together, but you're sisters and you're just both amazing, amazing women.

, so let's just start, Jess, why don't you start with telling me where you began your career? 

[00:02:45] Jessica Colarco: Well, I changed my major all the time. I'm very impressionable. So I would get a professor like, Oh, I want to do that.

Right. So I started College of the Intent to be a physician because that's what smart people do. , and I, , ended up, [00:03:00] becoming an American studies major because my roommate said that would be fun. And I fell into, , volunteering with the homeless and spent a summer in San Diego. And that changed everything for me.

And I started studying, kind of sociology to finish out that degree and went to go work with, With the homeless, and I was a children's advocate and very passionate about the feminization of poverty and, for my husband's career, he, went to medical school in Philadelphia and Philadelphia is a very high concentration as I'm sure you're aware , of colleges.

And so to move on my career and do something more, I really had to get a graduate degree. So I went, to go to school , to get my MSW, my Master's in Social Work, and I really thought I was going to do macro practice and study non profit administration, but I ended up, working as a therapist, in the Puerto Rican community in North Philadelphia and loved therapy and then just kind of, continued working with adolescents and children.

We moved to San Diego again for my [00:04:00] husband's career, Sacramento husband's career. Now I'm in Vegas. And, I, really had unfortunately, some negative experiences. A lot of the children I was seeing were from divorced families. So I'm kind of getting the crosshairs of, the divorced parents who were fighting.

And so I was kind of done with it and decided to, Buckle down on some training and went to become a cognitive behavioral therapist specializing in anxiety disorders, which includes OCD, PTSD, panic disorders, and trauma, I was staying home with my kids for five years and, Started, just kind of doing 1099 therapy stuff and someone's office.

And I had a friend who was like, I'm going to start my own practice. I'm going to get an office, come with me. And she kind of dragged me. I wasn't ready, but, so proud of myself. Like I completed my, all the paperwork by myself I became a limited liability company, filled out everything myself and started my own practice.

And so, I'm going to be, seven years. [00:05:00] 7 years of my own practice, in, in the Henderson area. And so , that's what I've been doing. 

[00:05:05] Shannon Russell: That's amazing work. And just having met you like that first time, I was like, she is an amazing therapist. Like you can just tell just the way your soft sound of your voice and just how you talk to people.

what an incredible journey to find yourself there. 

[00:05:21] Jessica Colarco: Yeah. 

Well, I love that. Yes, you've really gone through different ways of figuring out what it is that is your true passion, and you found it. So that's really exciting. Kelly, how about you? Tell us about your career and how you got to where you are now. 

[00:05:37] Kelly Fox: Yeah. So I think I, when I went off to college, I either wanted to save the environment or be an ad executive.

Those were like my two, I think I was influenced by all the environmental movement that was happening. And then also I realized, I think it was Rose from, don't Tell Mom the babysitter's dead. I mean, she was like favorite [00:06:00] executive. She had amazing outfits and she was just in this power position.

I was like, I wanna do that. So when I went off to college, I initially started in engineering and I hated it. I was very unhappy and not so successful, . And so I quickly pivoted to marketing and I loved it. And I wanted to move to Chicago after I graduated, but I couldn't afford it on my own.

And so I just kind of stayed local and I ended up getting a corporate gig. And I think, you know, when you're young and you don't have a lot of responsibilities, I said yes to a lot of things. And so I moved up and got a lot of great experiences at a young age and that continued to kind of help.

Propel me. I'm not only corporate America, but also doing consulting, which I absolutely loved consulting. And I kind of bounced back and forth between the two for a few years then you start a family and you get busy. And I found that , the more challenging the work was, which I found to be very rewarding, the less flexibility I had.

And there was a moment where I missed my oldest son's hockey game on a Friday night at seven [00:07:00] o'clock, because there was some sort of a C suite executive that needed a report. And my boss at the time and everybody I was with were like unhappy about it, but they're willing to be okay with it.

And nobody was really going to bat to be like, no, like plan ahead. This is a last minute thing is inappropriate and happened multiple times. And that's when I knew I had to kind of make a change. And, you know, I really enjoy always the jobs I had, the people I worked with, but, I knew I had to do something for myself.

And so I started looking. For another opportunity and ended up, similar to Jess in some way where I ended up finding an opportunity where it was a contracting gig. And I literally overnight created my own LLC and became an independent business owner. And I've been doing that ever since. And I'm about, I think six to seven years in as well.

And it's hard. , but it's definitely been rewarding of having, having, the flexibility and it's not only the flexibility to, in terms of your schedule, but also the kind of work. [00:08:00] I do. I, just kind of took a general consulting role and, I'm able to take on all kinds of different projects, which is what I like.

I like the project work. I like more of a broader, experience or are challenges than just something that when you're in a specific job, you don't really have that flexibility. So, yeah. 

[00:08:19] Shannon Russell: Yeah, you're wearing more hats too, right? If you were at your corporate job, you were focused on X, Y, and Z, and now you can do what you want to and really.

Yes. 

[00:08:30] Jessica Colarco: And I remember Kelly and I talking pretty young, like we wanted to be CEOs. And then we had children. I remember her and I were talking, I don't know if you remember this, Kelly. And we were like, we'll just be happy with middle management. You know, like we were like, Oh, nevermind.

Like, that's not the kind of parent that we want to be. and then as things go on, I think, cause Kelly and I are both problem solvers, I'm always looking for solutions. It was like, okay, we need to work for ourselves at this point. and that way we can run our schedules and we can pick [00:09:00] and choose our client base.

[00:09:03] Kelly Fox: Kind of resetting our own expectations, you know, about what it is that we want and being okay with it, not feeling that we're like, compromising, right. Or settling for something less, has been, I think, part of the journey for us. 

[00:09:18] Shannon Russell: I agree. And the CEO is what we see in movies and on television.

No one tells you how you can juggle that with kids and people can, but It's up to you and , what kind of a parent you want to be and how you want to run your household and what you want your days to look like. And do you want to be called at 7pm on a Friday? After hours to write the report, you know, I think the three of us being business owners.

We are able to say, Nope, I'm shutting the computer at 3 p. m. 2 p. m. if we want to. And that's going to be work for the day. We're able to control that. And there's something so powerful in that that I think is even more powerful than [00:10:00] being a CEO at a big corporation. Yeah, 

[00:10:02] Kelly Fox: absolutely. 

[00:10:04] Shannon Russell: There was just this, trend going around on TikTok that I noticed that was, you know, just give me the chill job.

I don't know if you've seen this, but it was just about people. At this point, you're trying to climb the ladder, but now you just want a chill job. Get me a job at a fast food restaurant that pays me. And then I can just go home and turn off my brain at night. And I was like, wow, there is something to that.

That if you just really Don't want to think about things you just want to earn a paycheck a chill job might just be right for you But I thought it was a really funny 

[00:10:36] Kelly Fox: Yeah Around I joke about that. I still think I want to be a barista. It's gonna be like my fourth act success I think shannon, but I think the other part is is that all sounds fine and dandy but I don't know about you guys, but I get bored so fast and I think some of those types of Roles I would struggle with and so part of that I think maybe as you get older, right?

It's just kind of understanding yourself [00:11:00] And how you really are wired. That's 

[00:11:03] Jessica Colarco: how I was like here. Okay, if I were barista Two weeks in, I would be like, you guys, we need to totally reorganize the countertop. Right. I would immediately go to like, trying to change every single thing in there.

Like Kelly, you say, when you know your role or what you end up doing, like, Early on, I ended up becoming the president of the PTO. And I was like, what the hell happened? That was not what I wouldn't be doing. But, you know, sometimes we just kind of, I'm a bossy, I'm a bossy lady. 

[00:11:30] Shannon Russell: Yeah. Me too. Like Taipei all the way.

[00:11:33] Jessica Colarco: I couldn't just do the freaking job. No, 

[00:11:36] Shannon Russell: no. And that's, what's really fun about being business owners is being able to like, Oh, do I want to do this? Do I want to add this on? You can try different things and, and I guess that brings me to really talking about the podcast because nothing is more creative than a podcast and making that what you want.

And so, just so our listeners know, you two are sisters, but you don't live near each other. [00:12:00] We've got Las Vegas and Chicago here. So, you know, you're obviously very close. I can tell. Tell me about the idea of the podcast, and who came up with it and how it kind of came to be.

[00:12:13] Jessica Colarco: Well, I think that we were both looking for a passion project at the time. I was working with a colleague 2019 to kind of create a course and she wasn't really kind of getting back to me a little bit. And I just work at a different pace and I was like, wait a minute, do I want to get into business with someone who that's how it's going to be?

And, I had gone to therapy, was going through some changes in my marriage and like reading all of these great books. And, Kelly, you can speak on your journey a little bit, but I was like, okay, as a therapist, particularly with trauma, I can only see so many people a day. I did at a time where I was seeing seven, eight clients a day, but I no longer do that.

And my five. I wanted to have, another stream of income, but I didn't [00:13:00] want it to be therapy based. I want it to be creative. I wanted to create something and do something. and then Kelly was at a similar, point in her life. If you want to share where you were at Cal.

[00:13:10] Kelly Fox: Yeah. Jesse and I, , we are sisters and we are the only two siblings and we're like 18 months apart. And we always say, I feel like we were treated like twins growing up. there's a lot of things that are crazy. happen at similar times for us in our lives, which is like kind of creepy and strange.

But one of them was we both were going through our own kind of like personal crisis, when we started to kind of come out of that I had even been burnout with my own work because I had a particular client that was just like eating my soul.

We were trying to find something to do. We always had talked about maybe going into business together or something, even though we live.apart, but we kind of started to think about what that looked like. And it really started to resonate. The idea of Chasing Brighter really started to resonate with us because we do have a lot of friends who were in similar kind of positions [00:14:00] or were in different stages of that, and we had a lot to share that we found our friends.

[00:14:05] Kelly Fox: Found to be kind of a resonated with them. And so it's kind of snowballed and we are having an absolute blast with the podcast. 

[00:14:13] Jessica Colarco: we're resources a lot for our friends. Like a lot of our friends will come to us. Well, how did you do that? Where'd you get that?

, what book did you read? We love fashion. We love shopping. We love traveling. And they're like, how'd you know about this? And so it's like, I was when I was doing courses her. For myself \ , and going down the rabbit hole of creating a course, they say, if you find yourself repeating the same thing over and over, record it and sell it.

[00:14:37] Jessica Colarco: I don't know if you've heard that Shannon. And so it was like, okay, well, we need to figure out how to like package this, because I think we can help more people. We can help people and guide them, right? We can be a resource for them sharing our journey, interviewing others who are sharing their own journey and trying to inspire our listeners to go on their own journey to joy.

[00:14:59] Shannon Russell: I [00:15:00] love that. And in your bio, it says that it's not just a podcast, it's a movement. And that's how you explained it, right? You just want to bring the ideas of really. Making yourself have a brighter life, right? Finding your passion, finding your joy and living a more well rounded life. Would you say? 

[00:15:19] Kelly Fox: Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. one of the things that we're talking about more recently is like just. A mindset and having an abundance mindset. And you know, I think sometimes, as woman in the world and a business person where you're out there and you're like, everybody has the same view as me. They're already doing these things.

Why should I do that too? we were talking about abundance mindset where it's like, so what? Like everybody has everything to share. We want to inspire others and we are inspired by others at the same time. You know, we've had some really great, success stories with listeners who listened [00:16:00] to an episode.

We had a couple episodes on,mindful drinking and just, thinking about how you, how you drink and why you do that and you know, how that changed, you know, behavior for listeners or how some of our listeners, we inspired to take up new sports or make, make changes in their own health and wellness journey.

Just because, I think for us, we're not perfect and we're not telling everybody exactly how to do it. It's really about like, think about what that means for them, right? Cause everyone's journey is very personal. 

[00:16:29] Jessica Colarco: And we do a monthly book club. And, just the other day, my friends were texting me.

We had Jessica met Ian on and she has first moon manual. And it's a book of poems and letters, for girls who start their first menstrual cycle. And my friend was texting my best friends. And she was like, I was like, I'm going to skip over this because this is just going to be. Crap, the episode and she goes, Oh my gosh, I listened to it.

I ordered the book for my daughter and it was a loop with another friend. And my other friend was like, Oh my gosh, I already listened to it. And I've been [00:17:00] totally changing the conversation around periods with my two girls and just hearing how that simple thing, how we inspired them then change the way they're parenting and talking about our bodies with their daughters.

I just think that's so fun. we can get that feedback from our listeners. 

[00:17:16] Shannon Russell: That is an incredible example of what , you share with your audience , and you have guests on and then you also talk with each other and you have really amazing conversations that people like me can relate to as well and our listeners.

And so , when you're coming up with concepts, are you thinking of things in your real life that you're like, Oh, that would make for a great episode. Or is it stuff from your friends or your kids? , where do you come up with the topics that you're going to have for the show? 

[00:17:44] Kelly Fox: I think it varies.

I am a very structured person. So Jess and I are different people, which I think is what works as well. it really compliments each other. Maybe drives each other crazy. Sometimes too, maybe drives me crazy more [00:18:00] than you. So it would be so 

[00:18:01] Jessica Colarco: Shannon, if you were like, Hey, right now, you're like, guys, let's just do an episode of real quick on potting plants.

It'd be like, okay, let's go. Okay. I'm just gonna, let's just go off. And Kelly would be like, Whoa, hold on. I have like an outline. I need to research what kind of plants, what region of the plants are we doing? 

[00:18:17] Shannon Russell: Yes. 

[00:18:18] Jessica Colarco: Yes. So Kelly has 

[00:18:19] Shannon Russell: to reel you in Jess and all of your ideas. Yeah, 

[00:18:21] Jessica Colarco: I, I am a dreamer guys. I am a dreamer.

So 

[00:18:26] Kelly Fox: I'm always like, she'll send an outline of something. And I'm like, this has no structure. There's not like a logic to follow here. And she's like, wow, who cares about how we feel? We're learning more about each other too, which is fun, but, we have a content calendar and really try to think about.

Things in a monthly format for a lot of our shows, we evolved from having a lot of guests to really doing more research ourselves, which we enjoy. And that's really where we've leaned in a lot, too. And then we have our free form conversation each week to where we just [00:19:00] kind of talk about our lives.

And that's been fun because what we've also found is we love hearing about other people's lives as well. And so just kind of sharing what we're going through, things that we're learning, maybe it's pop culture, maybe it's something that happened on spring break, whatever those things are, we're just talking about them.

And that's been fun because. A lot of those conversations we end up talking to followers and they hear that and it, like you were saying, it really resonates with them as well. So, we kind of have two formats right now in our podcast and it seems to be working. 

[00:19:31] Jessica Colarco: So Kelly and I are the ideal audience, right? And so it is a lot about what we're experiencing, what we're going through as women, as business owners, as parents, what's kind of happening in the tone of where we're living and what's going on and, and kind of like what were tips and tools we might have needed early in our journey.

we talk a lot about a journey of self discovery, And now we're talking about refreshing that journey, right? So let's say you're like us and you've been on this journey to your authentic self, you feel like you're [00:20:00] living fully,, and you're five years in. And how do we keep that going?

How do we keep inspiring ourselves, and finding more tools and resources, to keep that going? 

[00:20:10] Shannon Russell: It's constant, right? We're constantly changing. And as we get older, our likes will change. And so you're constantly, which is great for you because you have new content to come up with all the 

[00:20:20] Jessica Colarco: time.

[00:20:21] Shannon Russell: And Shannon, 

[00:20:21] Jessica Colarco: have you read The Middle Finger Project? Because I think you would really like it. , she is so fun and I just think she would align with your values.

Her name is, Ash Ambrege. Okay. And she just wrote a lot about, you go into the workforce. And you think it's supposed to be this one way and then you're not gratified and you're really unhappy and you're in this grind and you're like, this is it. And like Kelly, you know, it says the famous quote, there is no there there and it's like you get there and there's no there and also she speaks particularly to women and being a woman, in the workforce and how she kind of just, gave that the middle finger and went out on her own.

And that book is [00:21:00] incredibly inspiring of just like, wait, we ourselves. You know, Jessica is a business, and Jessica has a lot that she can contribute to the world. And Kelly has a lot she can contribute. And Shannon, we each have so much we can contribute, that we can make a business based on ourselves, because we are all unique with talents and skills.

And so that was really inspiring. And I thought of you, I think you and your listeners would like that. 

[00:21:22] Shannon Russell: Yes, gonna get it. And you're picking such great books, too, because you told me about the Shonda Rhimes. 

[00:21:27] Kelly Fox: That was awesome. 

[00:21:28] Shannon Russell: Yeah. So those are both will be on my list.

just to talk about that, last night I went and gave a speech, at my college alumni networking event and it was younger, alumni, so professional working, men and women in New York city, ages probably about 25 to 30 or so. And they are so scared after I was talking about career navigation and, you know, thinking about your next step.

I was having these one on one conversations where they were like, there's layoffs happening left and right. And these big [00:22:00] corporations in the city, especially in finance. And what do I do? How do I take this experience? I've only been working for five years. How can I turn this into something? I'm afraid I'm constantly going to be jumping from job to job.

And a lot of them are talking about the business. Aspect of things and creating a business around their experience and you know asking me my opinion Is it scary and I'm like, yeah, it's scary to run a business and there's no guarantees with business But there's also no guarantees staying in the corporate world.

[00:22:31] Kelly Fox: That's right. It's 

[00:22:32] Shannon Russell: not the way our parents went through it was eye opening to me, because I was there the only one with two children and I was explaining my story and they were relating to me so much saying like, We want to be you in a few years of knowing that you can have kids and you can have that stability and And creating something else. I love that. Yeah. And it was, refreshing to me to have those [00:23:00] conversations and see that, you know, younger people are, are kind of starting to think about what the three of us just discovered in the past few years.

Right. 

[00:23:09] Jessica Colarco: I love it. That's, that's my goal too, is that people get on that journey, way before your forties. Hey, if you can get that, get that going in your twenties, yay for you. Right. I love that. And I think too, like we were trained like mom and pop shops for closing left and right when we were growing up.

And so it was like, don't do small business. Don't do a small business. That's before the internet guys. That's before the global economy. Now we can sit right here and on our computer and create and connect to everybody with no overhead. Right. And so it is a very, very different world too. 

[00:23:41] Shannon Russell: and there's no reason that everyone can't be a part of it, you know, and that's an 

[00:23:45] Jessica Colarco: abundance mindset, right?

You can be successful. I can be successful. There's enough for everybody. Mm 

[00:23:51] Kelly Fox: hmm. 

[00:23:51] Shannon Russell: We're very lucky. It's a 

[00:23:52] Jessica Colarco: different kind of stress. Like, you know, my husband still works for the man and we talk about it, right? Like, yes, there is,, some comfort in [00:24:00] his role and what he has, but, but like, none of it's his.

And when it's all yours, it's very different. And it's like, I'll take that trust because it's mine. and, I get to make all the decisions, which is fun. 

[00:24:12] Shannon Russell: And you're really giving that spark to your listeners. You're giving new ideas and a fresh way to look at it and you're opening up that conversation.

And I think, my listeners are right there with us, trying to figure it out, figure out the next step and that transitions can be, , not.

Opening a business or changing jobs, but you know, starting a podcast, book, whatever it is, taking a painting full time, whatever you want to do at this stage of your life. have you had friends ask you about, starting a podcast? What would you say to someone who's thinking about that as their second act?

[00:24:51] Kelly Fox: We have, I think more and more, it's funny where a lot of people want to do it and , , it's not that hard. There's a lot of resources out [00:25:00] there, and it just depends on your personality type in some way, but I think about it as like, technically, I want to do it. How am I going to do it?

I got to record something. I got to, you know, distribute it. But there's so many tools out there. And I think the one thing that Jess and I have learned At a very young age is to be resourceful and to figure out how to get things done. Things weren't always easy for us to get what we wanted. And so, I think that really helped us kind of get this podcast off the ground.

And I don't know about you, but it's like, there are so many podcasts I listened to now. I love all of them in their own way. , I think that's the fun part about podcasting is, just really learning from other people all the time. My advice is to just do it. I mean,

[00:25:47] Jessica Colarco: record, you don't have, there's no recipe for you.

You can put it on YouTube, record it. I remember that was my push for Kelly, right? 

[00:25:56] Kelly Fox: Yeah. I'm like waiting for all the things. I was like, we're launching, 

[00:25:59] Jessica Colarco: we're [00:26:00] doing it, we're launching it and this is happening. , I watched a YouTuber and he Was saying, Oh my gosh, I went and deleted by early content because it's so embarrassing and he's like huge with millions of followers.

And he was like, but you got to start. He was just like, I'm glad I started. You just start, you record, you put it out there and you get better. And so that's what I would recommend for people. I know we've inspired a few other people to start a podcast, which I love. Felt like I wanted to jump in, jump in, and now I, and then I felt like when we jumped in, it's too late.

Like we jumped in too late. Now everyone has a podcast, but it's not too late. Right? It's not. , and if you have something to say, like record it and put it out there, I think, , the key I would say to someone new is consistency. So decide. When you're going to drop and keep it consistent, even if only if it's only once a week, once a month, that's fine.

But consistency is the key there. 

[00:26:46] Kelly Fox: The other thing I would add is podcasts have about have been around for a long time. And maybe you don't stay committed to it, but it's not a silver bullet. , you're not going to be like a smart list podcast overnight and you get out what you put in as with everything else.

It's a slow build. [00:27:00] Yeah. 

[00:27:00] Shannon Russell: I was actually talking with one of my best friends today who asked me about if she should start a podcast, and I thought it was interesting because the first thing I said to her is, you're not going to make money right away. Like podcasting is more of a passion, it's something creative that you want to do, and the money will follow down the road, but you're not going to leave your 9 to 5 job and think you're going to make a salary with podcasting.

But if someone does want to start a podcast, you never know where it can go and lead you down the road. We've had this conversation, the three of us, you guys are starting to make, , partnerships with companies and think, you know, you had your bracelets you were selling and you can have merch and there's just different ways to make money and grow it.

In time, but to know that it's going to help 

[00:27:48] Jessica Colarco: you, I think, and I know we learned that at podfest too, but like, you think you have to do one thing, but you can do, you can do all the things, right. You can have subscription, you can have courses, you can have bootcamps, you [00:28:00] know, and I think that's so fun. It gets those juices flowing.

You're like, wow, I can have a lot, my hand in all of these things. And that's so fun to feed our creative souls. Yeah. 

[00:28:12] Shannon Russell: It is , it's really endless and then the connections you make too Like that's always one of the number one things I say is that my favorite part Is making friends from all over and being able to say Hey, come on my show or I want to recommend you to someone because you guys would be Great for each other shows and just having these connections that you make that, down the road You could be doing a summit and you're like, oh I want shannon to join or vice versa and you just Feel connected to people that are like you and that, just feed your soul in a different way.

[00:28:45] Kelly Fox: Absolutely. I mean, one of the things that we talk about on almost every single episode is the fact that human connection is really that human experience is really the key driver for us [00:29:00] all feeling fulfilled and really getting the most out of it. And so that's the one thing I do think, you know, all these topics really start to hit on, right.

Is us connecting with other people, not feeling alone, right. Feeling like we all have a sense of belonging. 

[00:29:15] Shannon Russell: Yeah, because it gets lonely when you're a mom and you're, you know, working and doing all of the things and you're, you don't have that time for yourself. So even if you're just driving in the car for school pickup or drop off and you listen to Chasing Brighter and you're like, Oh, I'm not so alone.

There's my friend on the other side and, yeah, there's something so reassuring about that to know that you can listen at any time. 



[00:29:45] Shannon Russell: So the first question is, name one thing that these different chapters in your life have taught you.

[00:29:51] Kelly Fox: Perseverance. Patience. 

[00:29:54] Shannon Russell: Would you recommend taking a leap into a big life change to your best friend? 

[00:29:59] Jessica Colarco: [00:30:00] 100 percent. Yes. Bet on yourself. 

[00:30:02] Shannon Russell: One life, right? That's all. Yes. YOLO. What is one piece of advice that you would give to someone who is about to start their second act today? 

[00:30:14] Jessica Colarco: You are already an expert.

Approach it like you are the world's best at it. 

[00:30:20] Kelly Fox: Yeah, I fake it till you make it. I know that's kind of a cliche, but I think what I mean by that is, you know, you might be feeling unsure about yourself, but just keep, keep with it, keep focused and you'll get there. 

[00:30:34] Shannon Russell: Great advice. So what does the next act look like for you to with the podcast with your businesses?

What's next? 

[00:30:44] Jessica Colarco: We have so much of the dreamer, the dreamer over here. We're talking, Kelly and I would like, I don't know if it's gonna be 2024. but we would like , to publish. A book.and, another thing we're talking about is putting together, like a boot [00:31:00] camp horse type thing.

[00:31:01] Kelly Fox: Yeah, I mean we, Chasing Brighter is about chasing the best version of yourself. And, you know, we all want to be somebody we're the idea is that we all want to continue to like improve ourselves. And that's the fun part about the journey, right, is going through that. And so I think we're super excited. We have season three coming up in the fall, and we have a lot of fun ideas, and we want to continue to grow.

not only our followers, but just like the enriched amount of content and inspiration we can provide others. And we're thinking about, , in the future, having not only a bootcamp, but maybe it's like a retreat, doing some local meetups, especially in Vegas and Chicago, where we are, where we are continuing to meet with, you know, meet with and connect with our followers.

So we're excited about a lot of things we have in store. 

[00:31:52] Shannon Russell: The whole time you were talking, Kelly, I was like, I'm going to interject here because you have to do some kind of an in person retreat. 

[00:31:58] Kelly Fox: Yes. I 

[00:31:59] Shannon Russell: [00:32:00] just think that would be incredible. Go to a beautiful place and just work on all the different areas that can make you happier, more fulfilled.

Yes. Exactly. I can see that and I will be the first person to do that.. 

[00:32:11] Jessica Colarco: right. 

This will be us working on it. Three. We'll take your schedule. Yes. 

[00:32:15] Shannon Russell: You know what, that would be an event where you go home and you're feeling just refreshed and energized and better yourself.

[00:32:22] Kelly Fox: Exactly. 

[00:32:24] Shannon Russell: We're going to manifest it. It's going to happen. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. All right. So how can everyone get in touch with you and connect and listen? 

[00:32:32] Jessica Colarco: All of our handles are @chasingbrighter. We have a website and weekly blog chasingbrigher.Com we're on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tik TOK, the podcast is on all the ways you can hear your podcast, Apple, Spotify, Amazon.

We have LinkedIn at Chasing Brighter. 

I'm missing anything. How our podcast is available where you listen to podcasts and check them out. 

[00:32:58] Shannon Russell: Well, Jess and Kelly are [00:33:00] everywhere. I'm going to link to everything in the show notes and girls, this was just so fun. And I just could talk to you all day.

I love everything that you're doing and the people that you are. So thank you. Likewise, Shannon. Thanks for having 

[00:33:13] Kelly Fox: us. 



[00:33:13] Jessica Colarco: One more thing, Shannon. We have an opportunity for your listeners to have a chance to win one of our swag bags. Yeah. Some Chasing Brighter swag.

So if they follow you on Instagram, follow us on Instagram and DM us their favorite part of this episode. They'll be entered for a chance to win swag. 

[00:33:34] Shannon Russell: That's so generous. I love that. Okay, great. I'm going to post about that and put that in the show notes as well. So lovely ladies. Thank you so much.

[00:34:00]