Identifying Personal Strengths and Passions with Kirsten A. Fry

How do you uncover your strengths? Your passions? Your values?

Each week within The Confident Woman Impact Accelerator we’re joined by experts to talk us through a new aspect of unveiling our dream life.

In our second week of the program, we are joined by marketing expert and owner of Crinkle Cut Creative, Kirsten A. Fry, to share her thoughts on Identifying Personal Strengths and Passions.

Here are her thoughts:

Can you explain the importance of identifying personal strengths and passions in achieving success?

Identifying your personal strengths and passions is exactly what sets you up to find joy in your everyday life. When you can find the activities that fill up your cup and turn them into a profitable venture, you reach a level of success that feels fulfilling financially and personally!

How can someone discover their unique strengths and talents?

Discovering your strengths and talents comes from a little bit of self-realization and “customer” research – aka asking your friends and family!

For me, that meant taking time to sit down and ask myself, “What is something that people always ask for my help/guidance with?” And doing some brainstorming around what that could really mean.

Personally, I always get asked by family and friends to review and revise their resumes and cover letters. And with that realization, I then had to do some digging. Yes, I could offer that as a business, but that didn’t light me up. So I needed to go deeper – what were they really asking me for?

In some deep searching, I realized they wanted my help and guidance in storytelling. THAT is what lit me up. And from there, I began to uncover all the ways storytelling is a strength of mine and how I could use that in my work.

What are some common obstacles that prevent people from recognizing their passions and values?

I think one major thing that holds us back from recognizing and chasing our passions is imposter syndrome. Often times we can find the things we love, but get stuck in the “but, do I know enough about it to be an ”expert”?” doubtful mindset.

We talk ourselves out of chasing the things we love because they may be different from our current path or background, and we may not be taking a ”conventional” path. However, the rewards of chasing those values far exceed the worries!

How can individuals identify their passions and values, and why is it important to align them with their goals?

Similar to identifying your unique strengths and talents, you have to take the time to do some self-discovery and ask yourself important questions. Here’s where I like to start:

Create a safe space to daydream. Put on some music you love and light some candles to create a calm space, then close your eyes and ask yourself these questions:

When someone asked me how I would spend my dream day, or dream week, what type of things would I be doing? What types of people would I be surrounding myself with? What types of conversations would I be having? – Write down all of these details for yourself, from the way you feel in your body to the type of breakfast you enjoy and where you live, no detail is too small!

What specific values can extract from your dream day/week? If you prioritized conversations with friends, perhaps community is one of your values. If you thought about yourself enjoying something creative- say, singing, painting, gardening, etc. – perhaps creativity is one of your values. Extract the values that felt like a priority in that story. 

Do the same for uncovering your passions! How did you spend your time and money in your dream day/week? We tend to focus our time, energy, and money on things we really care about. List the things that come up for you.

Craving more? Join us in the challenge here!

The Confident Woman Impact Accelerator is a program dedicated to empowering women to reach their full potential and make a positive impact on others. Through a virtual membership featuring live, weekly masterminds with industry thought leaders and weekly prompts with a guided workbook, you will emerge from the 8-week program and become the confident woman you were created to be.

Kirsten A. Fry is a content strategist and owner of Crinkle Cut Creative, a boutique marketing agency focused on strategic marketing for growing brands. Kirsten has experience working with small businesses and national brands building brand awareness and scaling marketing efforts to drive sales and create customers for life. She has worked across a variety of industries (Food Industry, Retail, Financial Services, & more) including work with brands like Jimmy John’s, Amazon, Too Good Eats, and more. Passionate about storytelling, her “superpower” is developing a unique content strategy that helps a brand thrive. Using words to expand a brand’s reach, cultivate an authentic connection with its target community, and convert profitable consumers. A true brand marketing partner, she is always eager to tackle new projects with a new lens and creative direction to see a positive return on investment. For more, visit https://crinklecutcreative.com/