‘Resilience and Growth’: Kim Ward (of Life By Design Solutions, LLC) Discusses Her Perspective on Trust, Transformation, and Triumph

“I will continue to be loyal to the people who helped grow this business: our followers, clients, and students.”

Kim Ward is a 3X best-selling author and a 3X best-selling producer of the Life By Design anthologies. She has appeared on the Zondra TV Network, next to Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Dustin Stanton on Elite Leadership with J.J. Mahoney, and was recently featured on the cover of Brainz Magazine. Kim is a competitive spirit, placing as the third global finalist on the Play to Win reality show by Ray and Jessica Higdon. Kim unplugs from the digital world every day to create loving memories with her husband, three children, her father, and their crazy farm in Tennessee.

The Silicon Review reached out to Kim Ward for an interview, and here’s what she had to say.

Interview Highlights

How would you describe your professional journey so far? Tell us about a few roadblocks and learning lessons that helped you grow through the years.

My entrepreneurial journey began in 2014. I was eight months pregnant with my daughter; it was three days after Christmas, and I had received a phone call informing me that my mother had just taken her life. In that moment, I truly realized how precious time is, and I instantly lost the desire to return to my corporate life. The idea of going back to an office and paying someone else to raise my baby was no longer a viable solution, so I turned to the internet and started searching for ways to make money from home. I quickly learned about network marketing and affiliate marketing. It was intriguing, so I signed up with a company so that I could promote their products and earn a commission when I made a sale. I remember thinking, “I’m going to be rich and be able to raise my own children!” For the next four months, I had nothing but crickets in my new online business, so I turned to a mentor that I had met through my new venture. One thing led to another, and within six months, I was making enough money to support the goals we had for our family. That’s when I unlocked a love and passion for digital marketing that I never knew existed, so I kept at it. The online space was treating me well, and my husband was reaching a point in the fire service where it was time for him to consider early retirement. He had served for 23 years and had an opportunity to leave with a full pension, so we accepted that offer and soon realized that my business wasn’t earning enough for what we needed, so he went back to the office, working in construction. It was brutal on him and on our family. We had all adapted to a firefighter schedule; we weren’t used to him being out of the house five full days every week, which added new and additional stress. I urged him to quit and kept promising him that business would pick up, but it hadn’t yet. Then the day came. On January 19, 2020, my husband called me and said, “Babe, have you got us?” I heard myself blurt out, “Of course!” His response was, “Great, because I just quit my job and I am on my way home.” We hung up the phone, and I dropped to my knees and balled my eyes out. In that moment, I knew I was facing pressure perform or pressure paralyze; I chose pressure perform and went to work. That was the best thing that ever happened to our family. Within five months, I grew the business to six figures because I wasn’t wasting time or doing just the busy work. Today we have scaled to a multiple six-figure-a-year business, and he isn’t a ‘work-at-home dad’ or a ‘stay-at-home dad’. We call him ‘do whatever he wants, dad’!

Q. Trust is one of the most important currencies of leadership and requires authenticity and consistency to maintain. What’s your take on this?

Trust is absolutely everything. One of the reasons I have built such a loyal following is because of my authenticity and the trust that I have built with my audience and my clients. Trust is built through being authentic, doing the right thing, and doing what you say you will.

Q. As the CEO of the company, what are your major roles and responsibilities?

In my current role, I serve as the representative of the company. It’s critical in the digital marketing space that I continuously educate myself on current trends, what’s effective, and what’s no longer effective so I can continue to lead the brand and our employees. I work with our team to strategize how we will position our offers in the marketplace and what those offers look like. As a small business with a staff of four, I am very hands-on. That’s what built this brand, and I will continue to be loyal to the people who helped grow this business: our followers, clients, and students.

Q. Can you introduce us to your solutions? What are their key features?

Our solutions for our clients and students include business coaching and consulting to teach business owners how to be effective in their digital marketing, how to create leverage, and how to lean on semi-automation when that makes sense for the brand and their goals. We also offer done-for-you digital marketing solutions so that the business can do what they do best and leave the marketing up to us.

Q. How do you see Life By Design Solutions changing in five years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?

Over the next five years, I see Life By Design Solutions, LLC listening to and leaning into the needs and demands of the marketplace. The digital space changes so rapidly that it’s difficult to predict what the world will look like five years from now. What I do know is that people will always come before profits, and we will continue to be flexible and fluid with the ever-changing needs of business.

“I chose pressure perform and went to work. That was the best thing that ever happened to our family. Within five months, I grew the business to six-figures because I wasn’t wasting time or doing just the busy work.”