Career Growth Advice from Karina Marie Diaz, Executive Leadership Coach | Career Tips for Women in Business and Tech
2B Bolder Podcast – Episode 144
Featuring Karina Marie Diaz
Episode Title: #144 Karina Marie Diaz on Turning Down The Static, Turning Up You
Host: Mary Killelea
Guest: Karina Marie Diaz
Mary Killelea (Host): Hi there, my name is Mary Killelea. Welcome to the 2B Bolder podcast, providing career insights for the next generation of women in business and tech. 2B Bolder was created out of my love for technology and marketing, my desire to bring together like-minded women, and my hope to be a great role model and source of inspiration for my two girls and other young women like you. Encouraging you guys to show up and to be bolder and to know that anything you guys dream of, it's totally possible. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation.
Have you ever met someone and felt like they had the ability to tap into a higher power and were grounded in a way that you only dreamt about? Well, that's exactly what happened when I met Karina Marie Diaz a few months back after connecting on LinkedIn. What started out as a short introductory call turned into a 2-hour conversation, rich and meaningful. I knew right then and there I had to feature her on the show. Karina is a leadership coach who works one-on-one with founders, CEOs, presidents, and senior executives. Her clients are high performing leaders who want to live fulfilling, invigorating lives both personally and professionally. She is certified in vertical leadership development for coaching and an energy leadership index master practitioner and has her health coach certification from the institute of integrative nutrition. She also is a professional fellow with the institute of coaching at man hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Her journey is so interesting. I can't wait to dive. I'm serious. I seriously cannot wait to dive into this today. So Karina, great to have you here. Thanks for being here.
Karina Marie Diaz (Guest): Thank you so much for having me, Mary. It's an absolute honor. You are just a spark and a light for everyone in this world and it means so much to me that you thought to have me on and include me with this incredible program that you offer for everyone.
Mary Killelea: Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, I mean, you were impactful to me and so I want to share that. So I want to talk about your approach to coaching. How would you describe it in your words?
Karina Marie Diaz: This is my approach to coaching. Let's say you're my client. Most importantly, I meet you where you are and I'm invested in being present with you as much as possible. And in that process of being with you and being completely curious, we're now in a collaboration with each other and in a conversation and an experience around where you are in your life and what you want for yourself. And that's the core of what is crucial to have opportunity created and openings created, which is what we want, right? We want to have more access to what's possible for us with as much ease as we can have. And so this is one of the ways I would describe an aspect of what I do.
Mary Killelea: Well, I love it because when we did talk and like I said in the intro, we had just met, but the way you drew out things in me and the way we spoke during, you know, that initial conversation that led to two hours, I could just tell that you were an empathetic leader with a high emotional intelligence, which, you know, is is rare. So, let's focus on your client base as high performing professionals. Why did you focus on them and share maybe some of the obstacles or challenges that you see them uniquely have and how you help?
Karina Marie Diaz: Truthfully, I don't feel like I really choose my clients. They choose me, right? Because what I do, I do some things too. I provide context regarding what I see and who I am so that they can determine if they will choose me because they really have to choose me to get results. Change is an active investment, not a passive one. And in our consultation, I'm pretty thorough by nature. So, if they choose me, there's a good chance that we're a beautiful fit. And many of my clients have actually been referred to me by their loved ones. So that is also a part of why they might choose me, right? Because I've already been chosen by someone they love and trust that saw me for them and them for me. So that trust is important, right? So that's a privilege that I've had that I'm really grateful for. And also I'm in awe of those people that think of that because it is a bold move to put yourself out there to say I think this coach could really be amazing for you. You know, a lot of people could take that many different ways, but you know, with the right person in the right moment, obviously, and with my clients, it has been incredibly heart expanding to have someone care in that way, that depth and that intimacy where they care and they, you know, you know that person has been wanting everything for you. That's, you know, that's how my clients have felt. They know, they trust that this person usually wants a family member. It's kind of fun in that way. It makes you know makes the whole process a little bit more smooth I think because they understand who I am. So then another part of that answer would be that I do you know I choose high performing professionals in a sense because they have to have the willpower to do the work. There are people who are already driven, right? Because, you know, they got to become a high performing professional somehow. And usually it's not because they were on the couch, a bunch of chips all day. So, they're driven. They're hungry, you know, and it takes courage and drive to create change. And high performing professionals are already doing that. So, that makes the change that we create so much more fun. because I can also think very quickly and communicate really quickly. And this isn't to say that I can't pace with someone at whatever point they're at. However, I do think there is something I look across all my clients, you know, ages 20 to 70, men and women, a lot of corporate leaders, innovators, influencers, speakers, and what they have in common is they're they're driven, they're curious, and they're intelligent, and they tend to laugh easily. So, it's the recipe for success. So, let's say you're my client in this scenario. Okay. I know. You're my and I am. What am I?
Mary Killelea: You're my coach. Go on.
Karina Marie Diaz: Or am I a knob on an old fashioned radio? That's kind of what I think sometimes I am. And I turn up the dial on the volume of your station. So, through our collaboration, you become more clearly tuned into your own channel. And this gives you more of yourself to relish in and hear clearly and vividly. And because sometimes it takes energy to listen to a song with static. And when that static is gone, there's so much more beauty in the music. And now that you can hear it, it also happens to be your own music. You've actually created this music. So that is sometimes how I would feel if I was going to describe the feeling that my clients share with me in their reactions and their response to the evolution of our work together. It's like clarity and freedom and joy tuning out that noise that isn't isn't like why is that taking up space? Like you I can cognitively be aware that I don't want that static there but do I have a way to remove it you know and so if I was a conductor I would be handing you the baton and instead of feeling pressure it feels like it's coming home to the best parts of yourself like normally you might be like excuse me no I do not want that baton I'm not going to be in charge of this orchestra but in this case it's like it's your truest self so You are so happy.
Mary Killelea: Speaking of happiness, I want to go back to when you were a photographer. Tell me about your career as a photographer, how you ended up there, because I know you were very successful. What made you decide to leave photography? So, let's take a step back in time.
Karina Marie Diaz: Thank you. Well, as a photographer, I think it was a really natural place for me to be because I love to amplify other people's superpowers and their beauty and their way of moving through the world with lines and light and emotion. And so being acutely attuned to all of those aspects of, you know, what makes the person tick and then how to translate that into an image that moves their family or themselves to a point that they feel that they recognize themselves in it and like that version of themselves. That's also the skills that you know that I know well skills that I've honed that are used in coaching. For me, coaching really felt like coming home without all the extra. It would be like, you know, when you're camping and you're not wearing makeup and you feel great and everything's beautiful and you're like, you know, I mean, almost like being a photographer was like the makeup. It was this extra step that almost got in the way of the work that I love to do, which is I love to go deep and have things move. So, it was also a beautiful time because I do love light and lines and beauty and I have an eye for things that have been developed over decades. So, and a passion for it. So, it was amazing. It was incredible. It was how I felt about my job as a photographer. It was like, pinch me. I can't believe this is real. How is this possible? What people are paying me to capture the happiest day of their life or you know show them how beautiful they are and reflect that back to them like this is literally it was just like paying me to be myself like there was no effort. It was just joy. So it would seem illogical that would happen because you learn as a child that you're supposed to go to work and do something hard and then I mean of course there's tons of hard aspects to it separately. But yeah, I was internationally published. I traveled all over the world photographing weddings. I remember one client who called me from New York City because I was published, you know, in all the major wedding magazines, Modern Bride and everything. My family in Norway could see, you know, pick him up at the safe, you know, equivalent Safeway in Norway. And they said, "Oh, well, we'd like you to go to Egypt and to capture the wedding and a cruise on the Nile." And it's going to be 600 guests and I said, "Well, here's the deal. If you want to get on camels in front of the pyramids at sunset in your wedding outfits, I'm in.
Mary Killelea: And they did.
Karina Marie Diaz: And it was so much fun. They did. Oh, yeah. It was amazing. It was so fun. I'm on a horse, though. Because Yeah, they're on cameras. But it was really great.
Mary Killelea: Oh, how beautiful. I can only imagine that photograph. Wow. So, you were able to successfully obviously transition.
There's a lot of women these days who are transitioning themselves. So, what advice do you give women who transition right now from one career to the next, and maybe they're similar, maybe they're completely different. Through my conversations with women leaders, I've learned just how urgent the need is for AI strategies that actually make sense. It's not about adopting tools just to keep up. It's about building a smart foundation. That's exactly what Beyondoft is doing. Go check out their data plus AI playlist on YouTube to learn more.
Karina Marie Diaz: What's most important is to become an expert at listening. Like listening with everything you've got. Like between the lines. Listen to yourself. Listen to what you love. Listen to what lights you up. Listen to the stories that you've told yourself that aren't true and get really clear about surrounding yourself with people that want to listen to you when you talk about what you want to create because pity parties don't get anywhere. and people that are in the conversation of creation, friends and everyone in the world. There's so many kind, loving people that are willing and interested, you know, in that conversation. But being really listening into that conversation, I think, is crucial because often there is a little map, but it's hidden. It's like a treasure map to our future. And sometimes it's not fun to be lost on our own map. And it's scary. It's terrifying. It's not fun. I've been very lost in my own map. Like, where am I? Why can't I just be, can't ways just take me there quickly. Come on. I swear this is my destination. Take now. It was like, no, sorry. you have to listen some more and figure out what you're doing and get clarity before you you know can draw this to yourself because I feel like I've just I mean in working with my clients I've seen it so much more intimately and so much like firsthand right I mean just watching their whole lives transform in ways that are so meaningful from the smallest like the smallest turn right you know we know this is true But it's hard to remember that in the moment of transition that this next small turn, this next conversation could be the one that leads me home to the best version of myself and helps me to build the life that is even better that I'm looking forward to that I didn't even know I would want or could have. So that kind of stuff is I think crucial to be in and for me it has been in that lane. And of course we all have our own way but that would be the stuff that makes my question marks phase of my transitions a little more enjoyable.
Mary Killelea: What would you tell your younger self? What would be one piece of career advice that you would give your younger self?
Karina Marie Diaz: I would say no matter what I think of myself and my abilities, I would say go ask anyone and everyone about what they see for me. What they loved in their life and how they got to where they are. Because sometimes it's hard to imagine something being possible if you don't even know it exists. And through those types of conversations, it's unbelievable how many people there are that are just so loving and supportive and they're like craving. They're sitting there, they don't know you or they know you and you just haven't even gone into the question, you know, because you for me, I probably just thought I wasn't smart enough to have a right to ask. You know, I was just thinking that's not true. That's not good. You know, for sure, but I'm telling you the truth. I just thought that was not and you know I certainly I found those conversations naturally organically and they came up and they happened and those relationships were there though if I was like going to coach some like yeah and whispering in my ear I'd be like go there go there anytime anytime you see someone that you're curious that you like that if you're excited by anything that they do just ask them for a moment like can I can you tell me more about what it's like to be I'm so curious. I think that it's hard to know where you're going to go if you don't know anything about going places. So,
Mary Killelea: Absolutely. And that's and that's you know why I love bringing on women like you and others who have experienced life and dreamed of you know taking a photo of a bride and a groom on a camel in front of a pyramid. I mean, might not be an idea I had, but obviously you had it, and I'm like, well, why wouldn't I have thought of that? That's a brilliant idea. What does to be bolder mean to you?
Karina Marie Diaz: To be bolder means not knowing and staying open and practicing the art of choosing to be curious. It is like a thirst for the unknown. And truly, most people can't handle that or stomach that, let alone choose it actively and stay with it. We teach what we most need to learn as well. So, I'm here learning with everyone, how to be bolder. And here I am on this on your amazing podcast. So, thank you. Practicing being bolder. This is why I design my coaching as collaboration. If I'm not learning, I'm stuck. I can't expect my clients to grow any to grow or actually I can't expect my clients to grow or go anywhere if they have to pull me, which is the energy of working with someone who hasn't integrated their own work. Yeah, that makes so much sense. You're described by others as fun. creative, patient and absolutely brilliant. What is your secret to success?
Karina Marie Diaz: That is so kind. Thank you. So my secret to success if it is defined by those words is to value truth highly highly value truth. knowing that without distinguishing between what I should be or think I should be sometimes that can be a distracting fog. So committing to pursuing a deeper understanding of my truth in order to invest in strategy research research and interviewing people and listening to what makes their hearts sing and their hopes sink. Then I can track the ven where my nature meets the market so that I can live as much as possible in my lane where I'm lit up, moved, inspired, and called to bold action. I invest the time in what I call Olympic level emotional thought cardio. I think that's a great way to create success. I think about what I'll get from continuing my patterns and habits in 5, 10, 30 years. And I think about what I'd like to feel in that timeline. And so much matters, but what matters most is to do my best to be thoughtful with myself, my loved ones, my friends, and my family and reverse engineer these steps to tweak my outcome by adopting varied habits real time. So this practice helps me sharpen and focus my lens on life and my approach to each day. And I think that's a great recipe for success.
Mary Killelea: Sounds like a perfect recipe. Alright, last question. Before we close it out. What do you hope someone listening takes away from this conversation,
Karina Marie Diaz: That if you ever feel like you've tried everything, there is another way. There is a way to build. There's a way to build, to be, to see, to feel, to realize life in a way that has more ease. doesn't mean it's easy though. If you feel something that draws you to this conversation, if you feel there's something that draws you to this conversation, lean into it. There's a reason and it's worth listening to. And if there's something that feels like an itch that you can't scratch that you'd like to get at, it's one of my absolute favorite things to do in the world is to get to be in the discovery and creation of what is possible with you.
Mary Killelea: That's fantastic. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. How can people find more about you and get in touch? Are you on LinkedIn?
Karina Marie Diaz: Yes, LinkedIn is an excellent way to reach me. Thank you so much. And I want to say I want you to know, Mary, that I'm so moved to like happy tears by how you've held me in my life transition with your vast capacity to be open-minded. I'm no cookie cutter LinkedIn profile. And it means everything to me that in this conversation of empowering other women that you're in that you are being what you are promoting. It is one thing to say women support women. It is entirely another thing to deliver to show up and to champion me in the way that you have. And I've had one enriching deep conversation with you. And I'm moved by how often you cross my mind and how I feel grounded, inspired, and expanded just by your nature. I'm listening to this type of influence and impact more than I ever have before because these are the qualities of relationships that I'm filling up my future with. So, thank you for seeing me and being my advocate. Being invited on the podcast, See, I'm getting I'm so Bevarted on the podcast is spectacular in and of itself. And what makes my heart sing is the way that you've made me feel coming on my first podcast in 20 years and any client of yours is in for a huge good surprise. Thank you for inviting me into your beautiful bold world.
Mary Killelea: Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to the episode today. It was really fun chatting with my guest. If you liked our show, please like it and share it with your friends. If you want to learn what we're up to, please go check out our website at 2bbolder.com. That's the number 2 little bbolder.com.