Kim-adele Randall is a business coach, author, speaker and mum with a career spanning over 30 years.
She tells us that, “I started Authentic Achievements 5 years ago with the mission to help people to gain belief and achieve their dreams. Since starting I have had the privilege to launch a podcast, a TV show and have three international best selling books and a TEDx which is testament to the power of belief.”
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your professional journey/venture/initiative and what inspired you to choose this career.
My childhood was a joyous time, brimming with love, camaraderie, and delightful moments. Growing up on a small farm, I imbibed the essence of hard work early on, learning to tend to the vegetables, flowers, and animals. My journey into the workforce began at 9 with a newspaper round, paving the way for my passion for hairdressing that started at 12. It was the start of a dream that led me to open my own salon at just 18. Life took an unexpected turn at 24 when severe allergies forced me to bid farewell to my beloved career. Transitioning into banking and IT, I spent over two decades climbing the ladder to board level, nurturing my love for business and people along the way. Welcoming motherhood in my 40s prompted a shift; recognizing the need to prioritize family, I pivoted to become a coach, driven by the desire to support others—this was the birth of Authentic Achievements.
Was there any turning point in your life that changed your journey? If so, what was it? Please tell us the backstory behind it.
I made a deliberate shift from my career to prioritise my children and take on more non-executive roles. Unfortunately, this coincided with the breakdown of my marriage while I was also facing a serious illness. It became one of the most challenging periods of my life. Suddenly, I found myself as an unemployed single mother preparing for surgery, a label I neither desired nor accepted.
In response, I took on an interim position leading a company for a private equity firm and began anew. However, nearly a year later, I ended up in intensive care due to pneumonia. This experience was a wake-up call—I realised I hadn’t been caring for myself, and my life was out of balance. Upon leaving the hospital, I made a significant decision to depart from my role and establish Authentic Achievements.
Tell us about your goals, interests, and role models.
I have a passion for people and believe we all have untapped potential and a gift to share with the world. I love cooking, photography and dancing and my happiest times are with my little girl and puppy, making memories with friends or family.
Everyone has their own set of challenges when starting an entrepreneurial journey. Still, the most essential part for others to learn is how you deal with those. Would you like to share with us your challenges and your coping mechanisms?
Life has given me many opportunities to learn and grow, from divorce to miscarriage there have been many times I have felt crushed, yet I have learnt that everything in life is either a lesson, a blessing or both. When I don’t feel blessed I look for the lesson and the blessing appears.
When I am overwhelmed I look for one thing I can do no matter how small and I do it, as long as we keep moving forward it is amazing what we can overcome.
What impact do you feel you have been able to create with your work so far and how would you want to grow in the next few years?
I have been blessed to help numerous leaders to balance financial success with a life they enjoy and gives them true fulfillment.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
I was about a year into my business when COVID-19 hit and it was a huge challenge as it was for us all, up until then my business was delivering face to face interim work which stopped overnight. I was also in lockdown with a 3 year old as a single mum so learning the art of balance was vital.Like many of us it caused me to look at how else could I serve my clients, after all the problem they faced hadn’t gone away, we just needed a new way to solve it. I moved into writing books, running virtual events and found the next iteration for my business.
Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
One of the scariest and most rewarding achievements was doing my TEDx on the power of belief, to hopefully inspire others to take a leap of faith.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
I would love to see the world embrace it’s humanity and for us each to be listened to, understood and respected, so we can learn and grow together and create a brighter more joy filled future for ourselves and the generations to come
What’s the most important thing you have learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
My daughter and I have a family mission statement – to live a life of passionate curiosity and to pass our thoughts, words and deeds through the lenses of is it kind, is it honest and does it add value.
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women’s leadership today?
As we navigate the always on way of living, leadership needs to have the balance of kindness, empathy and courage. Women leaders are demonstrating this balance and the impacts are palpable. We need more women to be courageous enough to step into the leader within so they can make a bigger difference to all.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
I wrote this for my daughter and I believe it to be true of us all “Be kind, take action, dream big and believe, because you are proof miracles happen”
