kara
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[00:00:00] What's good? What's good? It's the Jeremy Haselwood show. What's good? What's good? Let's get ready to go. Welcome to the Jeremy Haselwood show. Plug in, turn it up. Let's go. Hey, hey. Welcome to the Jeremy Haselwood show. Push play, let it roll. Let's go. What's good? Welcome to my show. In three, two, one. Let's go
Jeremy: Hello and welcome to the Jeremy Haselwood Show. This podcast is all about exploring a wide range of topics that spark curiosity, build community, inspire action, and deepen our understanding of the world around us.
Before we get started, make sure you subscribe now to whatever platform you are seeing or hearing this on by smashing or tapping that follow or subscribe button. Season three, we're shining the spotlight on women business owners, the trailblazers, innovators, and leaders who are redefining what it means to build with purpose.
Each episode will bring you [00:01:00] stories, strategies, and inspiration straight from the women who are creating businesses that make an impact. This season we're going to celebrate and learn from the powerful voices of women in business. Today's guest is the founder of In The Loop and the author of the book, the Golden Goose, the Ultimate Guide to Dating in Your Lane.
Welcome to the show, Kara Donahue.
Kara Donahue: Hello, Jeremy.
Jeremy: we're gonna start at once upon a time. So once upon a time, what was your very first job and how old were you?
Kara Donahue: Okay. Wow. Okay. My very first job was at Pietro Pizza when I was 15 years old, but that was a follow up to when I actually worked doing some marketing at Fred Meyer, which is like a Kmart, and I
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: of loo apple. And I was, yeah, I was standing there
Jeremy: Yes.
Kara Donahue: underpants
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: yeah, selling pro promoting Fruit of Loom. And then I was a singing waitress at a at a dinner theater in [00:02:00] Auburn, Washington,
Jeremy: Wait, did you do all these at the same time?
Kara Donahue: Well, I started off, I was
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: terminated from P Hos, I believe,
Jeremy: Oh, wow.
Kara Donahue: weeks,
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: some marketing and then I
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: to, I was a singing waitress, and I, I did that quite a
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: Yeah,
Jeremy: I was really hoping you weren't fired from being a fruit of fruit of the loo. Like how, like what's the criteria for it? Like please don't get fired from that.
Kara Donahue: I wanted to be the fig leaf, but the pants they had feet in 'em and I couldn't pull 'em up over my behind. And
Jeremy: Oh my gosh.
Kara Donahue: the apple had a bigger thing that went over my
Jeremy: Okay.
Oh my goodness. That's hilarious. So you've come a long way. So let's, let's fast forward to today from the, the olden days of working in, in the pizza. We're, we're gonna fancy it, the pizza industry and the early pioneer cosplay industry. And let's tell me about your company In the loop.
Kara Donahue: In The Loop has been [00:03:00] around for 11 years now and it's an activity and travel club for singles. We're not a dating service, so basically what we do is we plan about 25 to 30 events every month,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: six to seven trips a year for singles. So I
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: locations. We do have Seattle, Denver, Austin, and Nashville.
So any given month, we have about a hundred or so events going on in the four different locations. And
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: We just got back from our single summer camp two
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: Colorado.
Jeremy: fun.
Kara Donahue: And we yeah. So basically what we do is we work with singles who wanna meet other singles face to face while they're doing
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kara Donahue: and
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: the apps.
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. you're, you're doing 30 events per market, or that's like per month or That's
Kara Donahue: about 25 to 30 events a month in each market. Yeah.
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: yeah, there's sometimes people will call me and say, what are you guys doing this weekend? I'm like, I'm not
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: I
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: you know, helps me
Jeremy: That's like,
Kara Donahue: Yeah,
Jeremy: that's almost [00:04:00] every day though. So it's like, if you miss one, like it's easy to, to catch and and do another one.
Kara Donahue: yeah. And the
Jeremy: So,
Kara Donahue: doesn't go to 20 events a month to go to three or
Jeremy: right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So this adult summer camp, is it just like, it sounds like old school, you're sleeping in a cabin. Like tell me about it.
Kara Donahue: ish. Yeah. Our single summer camp was at a place called Glenwood Canyon Resort, which is in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. And it's on the
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: So there's actual, like camping spots where they can pitch a tent
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: like air conditioned cabins with kitchens and, and bathrooms.
And so what it's kind of like is going to, girl Scout camp and you're. A young girl plus guys in Patron. I mean, it's like we do the same things you do at camp. You know,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: camp scavenger hunt, we do the in
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: You know,
Jeremy: Oh my gosh.
Kara Donahue: you know, we go river
Jeremy: Nice.
Kara Donahue: Yeah. We put people on teams.
Jeremy: Oh, nice.
Kara Donahue: it's usually the worst weekend of my life because
Jeremy: Yeah. There's so much. Yeah,
Kara Donahue: in, and when we do it in [00:05:00] Denver, people come from the other states sometimes where nothing's legal. And so.
Jeremy: true. Okay,
Kara Donahue: Yeah,
Jeremy: it. All right. So it's like summertime sponsored by Patron. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: it's adult camp and it's, it's really fun. It's just people can make a lot of friends and,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: from all four locations, which is pretty cool.
Jeremy: Oh, that's cool. Okay, cool, cool. So do you have to be a member in one of these markets to, or one of those cities to go to the adult summer camp, or can anyone across the country? Okay.
Kara Donahue: but you do ultimately you can go on a guest pass. 'cause if you are a friend of a member, you can go on a guest pass and go with
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: But yeah, you do have to sign up to participate in our activities and trips unless you're a
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: Yeah.
Jeremy: Yeah. let's take it to the beginning of this, like what made you decide to say, I wanna start a company to connect singles? What was the origin of that?
Kara Donahue: I worked for a company, our competition now called Events Ventures, and they did activities for singles.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: that, my career with them in Nashville.
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: [00:06:00] reading this. Quote, and this is not the exact quote, but it said something. It's something from Richard Branson, from Virgin,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: something along the lines, if you are working for a company, you can do it better than they can.
You need to start your own.
Jeremy: Mm. Wow.
Kara Donahue: I did.
Jeremy: Nice.
Kara Donahue: So what I realized is when I was working for the competition, which, you know, they did a good job
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: for singles, but I didn't like the way that the culture in which they ran it, I didn't like,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: I, I was like, oh, I wish I would just do it my way.
And so
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: know what, I'm gonna piece out and start my own thing.
Jeremy: Nice.
Kara Donahue: VP at the time and so I did.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: I started off in Seattle 'cause. I'm originally from Seattle, it's my home
Jeremy: Okay. Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: launched Denver and Austin and Nashville. So we have four
Jeremy: Okay.
You know what's interesting as I talked to you and thinking on some of the other conversations this season is the guests have always found something was missing. You know, there's like a niche that hasn't been filled or kind of like your story, like [00:07:00] there's something that exists, but it's missing something.
Kara Donahue: Yeah.
Jeremy: So having that vision and almost the lack of fear to say, well, this is already here so I'm not gonna do it because this already exists. They have a name. what gave you like the courage to just. Even though there was already another organization doing this, I guess maybe it, it was a different market as well, but just to say they already have a name and a brand.
I'm gonna start it anyway just because I believe in what I'm doing.
Kara Donahue: honestly locations when I ran. and adventures were like number one, you know,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: could do it
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: a lot of confidence that I could do it, but I, I really loved what I was doing and I wanted to do it in a way that I felt was more member centric, you
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: who, who joined this. And I like to work for myself. And sometimes I'd sit there and listen to somebody who I don't respect a lot, or somebody who their ideas aren't as creative as mine. And I'm sitting there just kind of doing that work where it's like, you know, I can do this myself and I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: it myself and I'd like to[00:08:00]
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: myself.
'cause I'd much rather work 70 hours a week for myself than 50 hours a week for somebody else.
Jeremy: Right, right.
Kara Donahue: that was kind of like, I knew I could do it. I felt really confident in my abilities to execute this,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: had a lot of ideas that were just like popping that I wanted to implement, and so I needed to own my own to do so.
Jeremy: No, that's great. And for single people out there, is there a screening process like, or is this just anyone who's single can join? How does it work?
Kara Donahue: No, we do meet and screen all of our members just to make sure everybody's single. They don't have a felony. They can talk to us for 45 minutes without a, a weirdo. I mean, just basics. We're talking, you know what I mean? I mean, we have a wide variety of people who joined us. You
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah.
Kara Donahue: want normal singles who wanna meet other normal singles regardless, you know, of what they do necessarily for a living.
But we do want everybody to just kind of be on the same page. And most of the people who join are, you know, single or divorced, and their friends are married, or we get a lot of people that are new in towners. You know, if you're
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: new in town, sometimes it's hard to create [00:09:00] this like, new, circle of single friends.
Jeremy: And good way to meet people,
Kara Donahue: And the cities
Jeremy: right?
Kara Donahue: up in are typically cities that are growing pretty fast. So we have a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: who wanna join, you
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. That makes sense. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: people, some people hate meeting people online. It's a drudge. So they'd
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: just, go to top golf or go on a
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: cocktail party and meet people while they're doing something.
They just enjoy.
Jeremy: Yeah. and I have friends, I know people like that. Like they don't wanna do the apps, they don't want to go to, to dating sites. Like I just wanna meet someone, quote unquote, the old fashioned way. Yeah, organically, but you know what I also feel like the old is, is the new, because I've been hosting some events out here in Atlanta, more like networking, business related events, but just people being able to connect in person.
There's just something that you, you can, there's no way to duplicate that online and actually have a conversation, the body language, and build that memory and that moment together.
Kara Donahue: for sure.
Jeremy: this is not a singles club, but obviously people are single, so relationships [00:10:00] probably happen out of this, I would assume.
So for you as the owner of the company, what's it like for you when you see people connect that actually spark that relationship?
Kara Donahue: it's exciting. Actually, I've had people come into my office and tell me, I just had my birthday and my mom and my sister came and that was it,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: then I see them a year later on their birthday and it's like, there's 20 people there.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: it's life changing. It's not just for the people who find their special, someone,
Jeremy: Sure.
Kara Donahue: recently went to a wedding in Mexico for my
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: Danielle, and she married a guy that she met eight years ago in our Seattle location,
Jeremy: Oh, wow. Okay.
Kara Donahue: and
Jeremy: awesome.
Kara Donahue: so we've had, I think it's a little over 70 couples who've gotten married
Jeremy: Wow. Okay.
Kara Donahue: And so it's pretty cool.
But aside from just the people who've gotten married, it's the people who their lives have changed through
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: friends or, you know, it's like you're on a party bus with somebody and you start talking about business and all of a sudden you're interviewing for their [00:11:00] company two weeks
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: You
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: it people, sometimes people use it just to make friends.
Sometimes
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: travel the world, not by themselves. And some people wanna meet somebody special. So it's a
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: of why people do this, but,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: I just had a big birthday in Vegas, a year ago, and
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: 30 of my friends came and half 'em
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: So
Jeremy: yeah. it worked for me, you know,
That's awesome.
Kara Donahue: For sure.
It's
Jeremy: That's great.
Kara Donahue: see people live their lives
Jeremy: Yeah, and that says a lot about you, Kara. Like for people to travel. Yes, it's Vegas, but there's people that don't like Vegas, but just to, to come out and travel. It says a lot for what you're creating or what you've created as a business and how connected people feel to you for what you're doing and how you're building and connecting other people.
Kara Donahue: it's great. I mean, how great is it to have somebody come over to you and give you a hug and say, oh my gosh, I, just had this huge, surprise birthday party and I didn't really know anybody in Denver last year.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: what I love the most about my business. And it's awesome, you know, to see people meet somebody special.
A couple [00:12:00] of our ex members just had uh, baby uh, a couple months ago, so you
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: too, which is
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. Different life phases, and they've created a community almost for people to be connected with and support them through these different life phases, so That's awesome.
Kara Donahue: I do like being a wingman. There's something great about being like, Hey Jennifer, code red. Get your
Jeremy: Oh,
Kara Donahue: to the cocktail party On set. because you
Jeremy: oh my.
Kara Donahue: and I
Jeremy: All right.
Kara Donahue: I call it sometimes for sure I'm not a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: but I have
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: and I'm not
Jeremy: but I was gonna say, it's kind of, yeah, it's a little in the matchmaking category. Yeah,
Kara Donahue: get a little bit of a vibe from somebody and you're like, Hey, and some of the people I get a vibe from might be 70 or 22. I mean, we have
Jeremy: right.
Kara Donahue: seventies who join and
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: in the twenties who join for sure.
Jeremy: Yeah.
that's why you are the golden goose.
Kara Donahue: Oh
Jeremy: wrote The Ultimate Guide to Dating in Your Lane? It's the name of your book. Uh, I believe it's available on Amazon. Is that correct? [00:13:00] Alright, so tell me about this book.
Kara Donahue: about a 45 minute read. It's about this big,
Jeremy: Nice. Just how I like it.
Kara Donahue: hits the most important parts about dating, I feel.
Jeremy: Yeah. So tell me like, why would who, who's this book for and why would they pick it up?
Kara Donahue: is how it came about and this is what I wanna say. This is what my, the voice of my book is this,
Jeremy: okay.
Kara Donahue: I meet with people one-on-one, and they're single, obviously, and they talk to me about, Hey, you know I'm single. Maybe I don't wanna be single. And then I see some of the things they say to me.
I'm like, Hmm, there's a reason why. They perhaps aren't meeting more people. And a
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: is, I feel like with the digital age, people have this idea, this perfect idea of what people need to look like and what they need to be before they'll ever meet them. Or even attempt to have a cup of coffee. And I find that oftentimes people don't wanna date in their lane.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: I did write a book in regards to just putting yourself out there. And really opening yourself up [00:14:00] to a slightly larger range of people,
Jeremy: Mm.
Kara Donahue: never know, like, I'm really tall, I'm five foot 10, and who's to
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: if my future husband might be five nine, but I, swipe past him online because he is five nine. But
Jeremy: Mm. True.
Kara Donahue: be. Fantastic in the sack, who's to say, you know? And so he could
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: but
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: is that what's happening is that people are just not giving people a chance. And I feel like if they just would open themselves up a bit more to
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: a wide variety of people, that would be
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: I think sometimes people don't know where to start.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: and they're like, how am I? What am I supposed to do?
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: say. Start meeting people, just
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: out there. 'cause instead of watching the football game at your house, Mr. Wright doesn't know where you live.
You know, get outta the house and go to a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: and actually talk to people,
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. yeah. So the dating in your lane, is the lane, 'cause what you described almost seems like you're widening your lane [00:15:00] because,
Kara Donahue: Is.
Jeremy: okay. Yeah. Tell me what that means.
Kara Donahue: more harsh,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: somebody come into my office and let's say the guy's 55 and let's
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: 80 pounds overweight and
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: is making minimum wage. He'll
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: I would like to meet a woman between 35 and 40 with a six pack
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: Making some money?
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: put down the crack pipe and let's have a real conversation. So
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: mean is sometimes that man might say to himself, his lane is, I wanna meet somebody who's 35 to 40. By the way,
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: the same thing. It's not just the
Jeremy: yeah.
Kara Donahue: but
Jeremy: Sure, sure.
Kara Donahue: so I say, let's open up that lane a little bit, sir.
Like, okay. Because
Jeremy: Gotcha. Gotcha.
Kara Donahue: like. that are like them. A lot of times if
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: and
Jeremy: I,
Kara Donahue: you wanna make funny and snappy, you
Jeremy: yeah.
Kara Donahue: if you're really fit, like I, I don't think a really fit, fit guy wants to date me because I don't wanna run a triathlon with him.
I wanna sit on my ass and eat brunch with him, you know?
So if he [00:16:00] is cool with
Jeremy: yeah,
Kara Donahue: with a
Jeremy: yeah,
Kara Donahue: you know,
Jeremy: yeah. And likes brunch.
Kara Donahue: yes,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: going to just say, well, I only want a guy with a six pack, even though I don't have a
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: See
Jeremy: Yeah, exactly.
Kara Donahue: Or, Hey, I only wanna date this exact thing. And sometimes everyone likes what they like,
Jeremy: Yeah, of course.
Kara Donahue: open it up a little bit and think about who you are,
Jeremy: Yeah. Just being realistic with that. Yeah, exactly. Yep, yep.
Kara Donahue: like the amount of people who are like, I want somebody who looks like Halle Berry Cir circa 1990. I'm like, sir, come on. Come on.
Jeremy: Yeah, it's not gonna happen,
Kara Donahue: it's
Jeremy: sir. It's
Kara Donahue: So
Jeremy: happen, sir.
Kara Donahue: be alone,
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: to, you know, take some inventory on yourself
Jeremy: true. True.
Kara Donahue: And then
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: okay, these are the things that I really want. And oh, I heard something really great said to me one time that I thought was great. If you're looking for a mate, this is what you need to do.
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: to write down the top five things you really want in that [00:17:00] mate.
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: look at that list and say, am I bringing all five of those things to the table?
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kara Donahue: you're not,
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: to cross that off your,
Jeremy: Okay. Nice. That's great advice. And before you say anything else, because we need people to buy the book, we don't want to give it all away, the Golden Goose, the Ultimate Guide to Dating In Your Lane by Kara Donahue, available on Amazon. Go check it out. And I will try to remember to put it in the show notes whenever I post this on YouTube and on the platforms.
So
Kara Donahue: really quick, Jeremy, is when they
Jeremy: yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kara Donahue: do get the book,
there is a little test you can take
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: to figure out what your lane is.
Thanks.
Jeremy: that's amazing. going back to the business in the loop, is this the first company that you've ever started?
Kara Donahue: yes and no.
I used to sing in a band for a living,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: a band called Moxie and
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: and we actually about 50 weekends a year as a cover band for maybe four or five years. And
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: Started a company called funky [00:18:00] Diva. DJs and I used
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: weddings. The
Jeremy: Nice.
Kara Donahue: that was I DJ'ed a friend's wedding instead of singing at the wedding. And I made more money DJing than I
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: in an awesome band,
Jeremy: Yeah. And there's so much to put together with the band versus a dj. Not to discredit the DJs, but it's just, you know, there's more that you have to put together.
Kara Donahue: And my
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: like just doing weddings. So yes, I owned that. I owned a band and I own that company. So I was used to, I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: my own four H group when I was in junior high school, the big buckaroos. And so I've been
Jeremy: Nice. You've been finding little businesses here and there, but I take it, do you, do you still dj, are you still, do you still jam with the band every now and then, or is that you've moved on in life.
Kara Donahue: I jam with the band once in a while. I
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: I only DJ if I absolutely have to.
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: events, the DJ didn't show and I had to do
Jeremy: I,
Kara Donahue: don't, I'm not good. not [00:19:00] like a good dj. I'm
Jeremy: yeah.
Kara Donahue: I'm below. I'm a C minus. I'm a c. Maybe a D
Jeremy: Hey.
Kara Donahue: I'm B minus
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: yeah. So I mean, yeah, it's still fun.
I can really, you know, wow them at karaoke to Applebee's on a Saturday night,
Jeremy: Right. Oh my gosh. Yeah,
Kara Donahue: ass and taking names.
Jeremy: right. You know, but as long as the money's like, B minus to a minus money with talent, who knows? I don't know, That's awesome. No, it's always interesting to hear, you know, business owners like what else they've done before or what they're doing now on the side, because I, I do know people who, you know, aren't necessarily making money from music or band, but even though they own a business, like they may still play bass in a band on weekends or something like that.
'cause it's still like that creative outlet for them.
Kara Donahue: for
Jeremy: So it doesn't always have to just be work, work, work. I think there's this perception amongst entrepreneurs that if you own a business, you're working 80, a hundred [00:20:00] hours a week, you don't sleep, you don't have a life, and it doesn't have to be that way.
Kara Donahue: I agree with you, but it is that way for me.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: And so, I mean, I, I a hundred percent agree with you. I haven't had the work-life balance luxury
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: That also has to do with being a single mom, because if I had, you know, a mate who could provide me with like, I don't know, health insurance,
Jeremy: yeah.
Kara Donahue: it would be a slightly
Jeremy: Just for example. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: health
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: that I
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: myself, things like that.
Then
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: probably be a little bit of a different landscape for me where I could
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: work life balance.
Jeremy: well talk about that with your son and you, you being a single mother and running your business, like how do you manage family with all that?
Kara Donahue: I am the absolute best mom I feel like I can be
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: the hours that I work and not
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: That's
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: my whole life is running my business and taking care of my son.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: luckily running my business could be to a Nuggets game, you know, or
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: single [00:21:00] summer camps.
It's definitely hard, and I think that the single moms out there know that
Jeremy: yeah.
Kara Donahue: moms
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: own their own business, it's like, if I don't, sell this membership. I may not make rent.
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: to work
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: I don't know how moms do it that have three. I have one
Jeremy: Oh, right, right, right.
Kara Donahue: I think that my son sees a mother who him
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: is working her ass off. Is trying to make sure that he is covered. And when he's an adult, he'll see that.
He'll say, okay, maybe my mom wasn't a part of the PTA but she, you know what I mean? Or I couldn't
Jeremy: not missing much there.
Kara Donahue: Yeah.
Jeremy: Yeah. As a former PTA president, you're not missing much. Not going to the meetings.
Kara Donahue: But yeah, I feel like it's hard for anybody, but it
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: hard when you own your own business and the buck sauces with you.
Jeremy: Sure, sure. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: doing okay.
Jeremy: I think part of it is just allowing grace for yourself and, you love your son, you love family, and just having a space for you [00:22:00] to know that your son is going to, like, he's watching you. I know that just from seeing you work, you're instilling that work ethic in him.
And I'm sure he feels love because it's, it's the two of you, you know? when he gets older, there's certain things that he will understand then that he may not understand now, but one thing that he will understand is the value of hard work and getting out there. And if you wanna make it happen, you have to, you have to do it, you know?
So, and I think it's one thing or another. Either he's gonna see you and be like, I want to be like my mom have my own business. They're like, you know what? I don't ever wanna do that. It's too crazy and I'm gonna work somewhere else. But either way, he's learning something.
Kara Donahue: He
Jeremy: Oh, does he really? Oh, yes.
The heir to the throne.
Kara Donahue: well, yeah, I had him help me. We were like setting up, they have a, a reservoir here where we're like setting up, you know, like a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: a paddleboard event and you have to walk like three blocks
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: bringing all the coolers and stuff this summer in the tent. And I said, well, I'll give you $20 if you help me. And he goes, that's not even minimum wage.
Jeremy: Oh my gosh.
Kara Donahue: So I had him look it up and,[00:23:00]
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: he said to me, okay, well minimum wage whatever is four $14 an hour in, in,
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: And then I said to him, well, here's the deal. You either get $20 or you get zero. So make a
Jeremy: there you go. Right. It's your choice. Let's learn the value of work. And are you, you're gonna end up better than where you were when you woke up out of the bed this morning.
Kara Donahue: Exactly. Yeah.
Jeremy: Oh my goodness.
Kara Donahue: he hustles, he knows.
Jeremy: So for this company, you know, just starting it up, what was the funding like? Not ne, I'm not necessarily looking for a number, but like where did you get the funding?
Was this like you funded it yourself? Did you have investors? How did that work?
Kara Donahue: I had an investor that invested 150,000. And then
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: about 40, so I started
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: $200,000 our
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: We just really boomed, but it was a hard, road ahoe when you start your own business and. You have to remember to pay yourself,
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: scared.
And I went from a pretty cushy job as a VP
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: this, but I did [00:24:00] have just a small investment made and then I pulled out the money that I had and put myself into it. but the one thing that I knew, and I feel like it's really important when you get your seed money. Is I knew I could sell it.
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kara Donahue: it. I mean, I knew I could book an appointment, sell that person. I knew I could run the events and, and create a calendar of activities. And I knew I could do all aspects of the job. that's my particular kind of business.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: find it interesting when people start a business, like if you start a cupcake company, but you've never made a cupcake.
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: it's kinda like, you know what I mean? Or
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: never sold one. And
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: to say, well, okay, you wanna own this cupcake company,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: you don't know the ingredients of a cupcake. You don't know how to frost a cupcake. You don't know how to sell it. You don't how to market it. I knew
Jeremy: Yep.
Kara Donahue: those things.
Jeremy: True.
Kara Donahue: looking back, maybe I was naive. I thought I could do it, but I I did surround myself with some solid people,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: and and attorney and things like that to get me
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: [00:25:00] going in the right direction.
Jeremy: Well, and it's been 11 years, so whatever you're doing is, is working. I'm not even gonna say flawless because I know business can have plenty of challenges. And speaking of those, like what are some things that you've learned along the way? Like the challenges where you're like, man, if I could have done this different, I probably would've done this instead,
Kara Donahue: I think a lot of, times when you own your own business, the hardest part is, people, you know, is, is employees and how to deal with that. I've been very lucky to have some amazing employees. That have done work for me. Some of the people who work for me have been with me the whole time.
I have two people who've
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: 10 years.
Jeremy: That's awesome.
Kara Donahue: I would say that looking back, if I could have maybe found a mentor to
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: instead of having to learn, learn it the hard way, whatever
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: way is, that
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: So I try to do that for other people. I think that, making sure that when I do hire people, you wanna make sure that you still have that boss, you're the leader and
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: Because with what we do, it's such a [00:26:00] social thing
Jeremy: Right.
Kara Donahue: really good friends with somebody and really, really like them, having that gray area that can be a little bit fuzzy when they're not doing their
Jeremy: Yeah, that makes sense.
Kara Donahue: Is, you know, not just be friends of the people you work with, I think is important, to hold that. and also ask, if you don't know something, don't just assume, just ask,
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: asked so many questions, it's like, I have a degree in music. I didn't
Jeremy: yeah,
Kara Donahue: to get a merchant account, you know, and
Jeremy: yeah. Right, right.
Kara Donahue: great to talk to a couple other business owners to say, Hey listen know, when you get a merchant account, what, what is a high, you know, interest rate? Like, you know, things like that where
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: ask people some questions.
And I feel like with a lot of female owned businesses,
there's not the mentorship male, male businesses
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: of us.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: I feel like if you are a woman and you're starting a business, you know, try to connect with other women. 'cause the one thing women are connectors and we share
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: and
Jeremy: yeah,
Kara Donahue: help you. And I should have done that because I'm so independent and I, [00:27:00] I didn't do that enough and I should have.
Jeremy: Well,
Kara Donahue: looking back, I,
Jeremy: yeah.
Kara Donahue: I would've done a bit more of.
Jeremy: What's good with what you're saying though is just having that, that wisdom that you've gained through the years, and it sounds like it's reinforced and importance for you. To give back to other women who are starting businesses or need a help or possibly a mentor, just even offering some tips of advice.
going through what you've gone through has given you that kind of wisdom to help the next people that come behind you. So it, it's still all value, so that's really good. What would you say is the hardest part of owning your business?
Kara Donahue: I would say the hardest part is not having a day off, and that's my fault.
Jeremy: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: I've made myself too accessible in some ways to some
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: like, I'll give you an example.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: lady texted me at 9:00 AM on Christmas morning asking me to sign her up for the bowling event the following week. Now
Jeremy: Nice.
Kara Donahue: have gotten her ass online and is
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: into the website and signed up. I [00:28:00] feel like you do have to have. some barriers,
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kara Donahue: do that. And I feel like that's something I'm learning to do,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: some boundaries with your clients so that I'm not on 24 7 is something
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: I think other people can, learn from me to not
Jeremy: Sure. Sure. that makes sense. And on the flip side, what's the best thing about having your own business?
Kara Donahue: The best thing is that it's my creation.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: this and I like it that it's mine. As in if I wanna be creative and say, oh my gosh, wouldn't it be really fun for us to do this theme party? Or I'm going to Ireland in March. I'm going to St. Lucia in May. I'm doing
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: July.
You know, is planning these trips and actually going on them and seeing
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: enjoy their lives. So the best part is the creativity
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: able to, own that. And then
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: seeing the fruits of the labor, which is our happy clients,
that's the best part,
Jeremy: yeah, it's almost like your [00:29:00] history of being in a band. You're still kind of doing that. You're still the lead singer and you've got the different players and the band that you're bringing together. whenever you, you're creating these events and everyone kind of plays their role and has a good time.
So it's just being executed a different way from than what it was back when you were. A wedding DJ and back. Gosh, I wish there, there's gotta be footage of that somewhere. I would, I would love to see footage of you, like behind the turntables with your, your headset on.
Kara Donahue: like walk, walk, walk. I'm
Jeremy: Oh man.
Kara Donahue: and
Jeremy: You're just like, push play.
Kara Donahue: I
Jeremy: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kara Donahue: We just have to, I could
Jeremy: Oh gosh.
Kara Donahue: and out a little bit. Yeah, it was, it
Jeremy: Ooh. All the tricks. All the tricks. Yeah. So out of your vacation places or activities rather. what is your favorite activity to do with your groups?
Kara Donahue: I would say that we do this thing called the in the Loop Olympics, which is
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: field day, and it is
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: It's the worst pH games I can think of. You [00:30:00] know, it's, it's the stupidest thing, but we put people on teams.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: so you have the red team and the blue team, and the yellow team, and the green team, and you guys
Jeremy: Mm.
Kara Donahue: it out on the field. And
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: it's like, I've bought those, you know those things, those round balls when you're a kid, you sit on and you bounce on those
Jeremy: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. Did they have the handles on 'em or no?
Kara Donahue: Yeah.
Jeremy: I remember those. Yep.
Kara Donahue: or, you
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: we'll, we'll just do, you know, when you pop the balloons between each other's bodies,
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kara Donahue: and instead of doing a pie eating event, which has made somebody sick in the past, I just, do a bowl of cool whip instead. 'cause I feel like cool, if it's fine,
Jeremy: Yeah, dogs can eat it. So
Kara Donahue: pie. Yeah.
Jeremy: true. True.
Kara Donahue: In the Loop Olympics because it's like team building, but it's, but the pictures I have of it and the videos I have are beyond hilarious.
That's
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: favorite. And then I love theme parties. I love
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: Christmas parties, and then, you
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Kara Donahue: I love that
Jeremy: Nice. And then when you [00:31:00] vacation, whether it's with the group or not, where's your favorite place to go?
Kara Donahue: Oh my gosh, man. I would probably say I do love Italy. I know you love
Jeremy: Okay. I do love Italy.
Kara Donahue: yeah, Italy and Ireland. I love
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: love Ireland. I can, I could live in either place for sure.
I just visited Scotland and it was fantastic,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: I, I enjoy that too. But I think Italy and Ireland, and I do love to go to New York City and go to the theater, so that's what.
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. New York is always a good trip. I enjoy going to New York as well.
Kara Donahue: Right.
Jeremy: So tell me what you've learned about yourself through this whole entrepreneurship journey.
Kara Donahue: I think what I've learned is I'm more capable than I thought I was. I have learned, I've had to be tough, being a female business owner. I can't tell you how many times, but he is like, well, don't like the answer I'm giving 'em. So they're like, well, let me talk to your husband.
Jeremy: Mm.
Kara Donahue: don't have a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: And when I did, he didn't own this business. So what, you know, so I guess I've learned about myself is that can do it it [00:32:00] just may not be in the timeline. I want it, I've learned
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: learned that I, I do need a break sometimes. you know, you gotta be forgiving of yourself.
If you don't get everything done or you it's not perfect,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: be a little bit more accepting for
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: that I can handle it. I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: than I thought I could.
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's great insight. And you've done plenty and taken some bumps along the way, but also had some victories along the way. So being able to sit in that and look at yourself and say what you've learned is, is really powerful, and I think it can help other people. if you were able to instill hope in another woman who's considering starting her own thing, what would you say to her?
Kara Donahue: I would say make a plan. because if whatever you wanna do, you know, whatever that business is, write it down and make a plan. Somebody said to me something that like, eating an elephant is one bite at a time, you
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: and so I feel like always look at your plan and cross off, after you get a task done, just do it and [00:33:00] persevere. Because it
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: than you think, and it may be harder than you think, put yourself out there. Keep on meeting people. You never know who the next person is, who might wanna invest in your
Jeremy: True.
Kara Donahue: find out about funding yourself. You know,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: AI out there.
You can actually find out a lot, you know?
Jeremy: A lot easier now.
Kara Donahue: just, stick it out. Just keep on going. 'cause at some point, since it's gonna give. but don't stop. And, and also, I can't tell you how many people would roll their eyes at me. I go, I'm gonna open my own activities club for singles.
And they'd be like, yeah.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: I'm like, yeah. And now I have four. So, yeah. So
Jeremy: That's right. Show them.
Kara Donahue: yeah, show them I'm,
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kara Donahue: I'm gonna have my own band. And I was
Jeremy: exactly.
Kara Donahue: And it's like I
Jeremy: And you did it. Right, right. I'm gonna DJ weddings.
Kara Donahue: I'm a dj. That was weddings. No,
Jeremy: but that's it. It's like the naysayers. It's like, yeah, don't, don't let the naysayers talk you down. if you believe in something, just go after it.
Kara Donahue: siblings,
Jeremy: [00:34:00] Oh my gosh,
Kara Donahue: may be. Yeah.
Jeremy: yes.
Kara Donahue: who,
Jeremy: The closest to you.
Kara Donahue: have the vision.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Exactly. That's mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: the moxie
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: it.
Jeremy: There you go. Now that, that's great advice. Now. Thank you for sharing that. That's wonderful advice.
So we've come to the part where we're breaking out the clarity cards.
Kara Donahue: the clarity cards.
Jeremy: clarity cards, and your question is, when was a time that you felt different from other people? When was a time that you felt different from other people?
Kara Donahue: I would say that in the second grade. by the way, just as, just to say this, I've always felt different than other
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: You know, even if
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kara Donahue: wasn't, even if
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: that unique or that special in my
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: felt I was different. But I remember when I was in the second grade, a little pageant, a little Christmas pageant,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: and I remember I sang. Go tell it on the mountain. Do you know that song? [00:35:00] Go
Jeremy: of course.
Kara Donahue: mountain. You
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: I remember some of the kids were like, I
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kara Donahue: like, I'm gonna do my thing, and I just felt different than them I was, I was just different. I just felt I was different and unique when I was in the second grade singing, go tell it on the mountain,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: and I didn't mind being center of attention and I didn't mind being different.
And I didn't care if they talked about me. Go ahead and talk. I, I remember that in the second grade,
Jeremy: Hmm. Wow.
Kara Donahue: felt I was just wired a little different,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Wow.
Kara Donahue: but I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: in, but I've always felt like I had something to say and that what I had to say was important. if it's not, you know, so, so yeah. I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kara Donahue: different in the second grade.
Jeremy: Wow, that's interesting. Like all the way back to second grade because some of the things that, that you just shared of you singing and people talking is still some of the things that, in my words maybe inspired or motivated you to do things anyways, they, they chattered when you were singing the segment where you're like, I'm gonna sing this.
Anyway, they may have [00:36:00] talked about you when you were gonna start a band. You did it anyway and we've talked about you when you were gonna start a singles business. You did it anyway. So it's like this theme, like you're gonna do it anyway. And it's almost, and I don't wanna speak for you 'cause now this is like my own stuff.
Like I get inspired like by the haters and the people who encourage me. So. It sounds like kind of the haters in a way, or the talker is like, okay, I'm gonna show you and I'm gonna do it anyways.
Kara Donahue: Yeah, and I also feel like people hear so much of that they,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: something negative about yourself. did an off-Broadway cabaret when I was like 20 in New York City when I
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: And I remember people loved it and they thought it was so great. And one girl said, well, you looked really fat in that red dress at the end.
And I
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: after that all was a narrative in my head was
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: I looked like in that red dress. Right? And after
Jeremy: Wow.
Kara Donahue: I thought to myself, she probably wouldn't be saying that to me if she was doing an off-Broadway cabaret.
Jeremy: mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: And
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah,
Kara Donahue: hate the haters, but it was like, well, you're [00:37:00] not gonna front a band because I'm too tall or too chunky or whatever it
Jeremy: yeah,
Kara Donahue: it looks like, it's like, well, that's not true
Jeremy: yeah. Yeah.
Kara Donahue: carve your own space,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: know? And it's not even about the haters, but it's about like, who cares down deep? You just have to say, I don't really care.
Jeremy: exactly.
Kara Donahue: I have to like what I'm doing and I
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kara Donahue: like working for myself better than I did working for somebody else.
Jeremy: Right, right. No,
Kara Donahue: of the
Jeremy: uh, right. Most of the time.
Kara Donahue: it would be nice to not get a call and on Christmas morning.
Jeremy: Right. Especially for something that can be resolved online, it's like, did you Google it first? I'm like five levels beyond you Googling. If you can't, that's like option one and I'm like option five.
Kara Donahue: Yeah, exactly. I'm
Jeremy: No, yeah, I get that. No. Well, Kara, thank you so much. I've enjoyed our discussion. What's a good way that people can reach out to if they want to contact you?
Kara Donahue: You know what? They can look, go to my website, which is in the loop [00:38:00] singles.com,
Jeremy: Okay.
Kara Donahue: all that information's on there just in the loop singles.com and
I'm on LinkedIn under Kara Donahue.
Jeremy: Okay, perfect. Thank you. And to the listener, thank you for tuning into the Jeremy Haywood show. If you enjoy today's episode, don't forget to follow or subscribe, so you're always up to date when the new episodes drop. And until next time, keep following your dream to find your purpose.
Kara Donahue: Hey.
Jeremy: All right, I'm going to thank you,
[00:39:00]
