In this inspiring episode, host Lorie Jones welcomes powerhouse entrepreneur Carrie Hunter, CEO and founder of It’s Not That Serious. Carrie’s story weaves an unconventional path from touring jazz musician to executive leader in construction tech—industries where women are rarely seen at the head of the table.
She shares bold lessons on taking smart risks, building true confidence, and finding purpose even when the journey is anything but linear. You will discover how Carrie learned to silence negative self-talk, embrace gratitude, and create a career and life she truly loves.
Packed with real strategies and motivating wisdom, this conversation is perfect for ambitious women ready to own the room and make their next big move. Tune in for energizing advice and relatable stories sure to spark self-belief and meaningful action!
Show Highlights:
- Pick up The Alchemist for the road to your “personal legend.” [03:47]
- Why the best investment you can make is in taking risks. [13:30]
- How to assess risks worth taking with a checklist approach. [16:21]
- The 100% value of advice and not letting it dictate decisions. [20:22]
- What’s the difference between a regret vs. a lesson? [23:48]
- Is home ownership a cornerstone to prioritize for stability? [28:04]
- Lessons for managing fear and winning on “pretzel” career paths. [30:40]
- Strategies for confidence for women in male-dominated fields. [34:29]
- Learn a mental trick to stop negative self-talk and master positivity. [37:06]
- How the transformative power of gratitude creates wellbeing. [40:13]
- Advice for young women to be curious and ask questions. [46:24]
To learn more about Carrie Hunter and connect with her, visit her website https://itsnotthatserious.com/.
Find Carrie on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriehunter/ or email her directly at thecarriehunter@gmail.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:01.37
Lorie Jones
Good morning, Fearless Females. So today we have with us Keri Hunter. She’s CEO and founder of It’s Not That Serious. And I had a chance just to chat with Keri a little bit a couple weeks ago, and i I really think you’re going to enjoy this podcast. Thank you, Keri, so much for coming on and just sharing your journey and your story with us.
00:23.19
Carrie Hunter
Absolutely. I’m so happy to be here. I think what you’re doing is really cool.
00:27.48
Lorie Jones
So my first question is always the same and it’s always my favorite. What is your favorite book?
00:33.97
Carrie Hunter
I have thought about this deeply because like unlike you, i am not a huge reader. I always feel like I never have time and not half the time I’m listening to them through my Spotify. But um to actually sit down with a book is a rare a rarity in my life these days. but I recently read a book that resonated so much with me. It is not the deep steamy and romance novel or anything like that or anything wild like that, but it’s The Alchemist. I’m sure you’ve read it. um
01:07.48
Carrie Hunter
But it’s such, I feel like it is so in line with where I’m at in my life now. Have you ever read it before?
01:18.17
Lorie Jones
I actually haven’t read The Alchemist, so…
01:20.57
Carrie Hunter
Okay, so to give your reader or your listeners, excuse me, an idea, of readers, hello. To give your listeners an idea, it’s ah it’s a relatively short book. So, you know, if you don’t have time for reading massive novels, it’s a great one to do in between on trips and things like that. um But it’s about pursuing your personal legend and with the idea that, you know, everyone has a unique purpose and trusting the journey, even when it feels…
01:48.28
Carrie Hunter
uncertain. um And it’s it’s like following this young shepherd through his life in Spain, and then he goes to Egypt. And it’s like, it’s just following him on his journey, but it’s really about following your intuition and perseverance. And that, again, about, you know, trusting thing, the journey, even when it’s like not the perfect, doesn’t make total sense. um But the the it’s just the treasure of finding.
02:19.18
Carrie Hunter
It’s not about finding a specific treasure of gold or something. It’s about finding what your purpose in life is and what your personal legend is. And so it just it really resonated with me. So it’s not necessarily my favorite, but it’s definitely top 10.
02:33.18
Carrie Hunter
top ten
02:34.41
Lorie Jones
That sounds really interesting. Yeah, that’s, I, i kind of, am I need to read books that sort of bring me back to my why, right?
02:43.64
Lorie Jones
You know, Simon Sinek, Start With Why, this, this kind of like, what is your purpose?
02:44.60
Carrie Hunter
Exactly.
02:49.12
Lorie Jones
And did you stray too far from it since you last read a book about it? Yeah.
02:54.33
Carrie Hunter
Yes, exactly.
02:55.90
Lorie Jones
Yeah. So I think I really would enjoy that just to kind of get me back on my path and be like, remind me, because sometimes you do get caught up in what you’re doing. And, and even though you’re starting out on this straight journey towards your goal and your value and the best that you can be, you kind of, you kind of take this windy route because you get, you get distracted by other shiny things along the road.
03:19.42
Lorie Jones
So thanks. Thanks for sharing that. I think that’s going to be great.
03:22.10
Carrie Hunter
Yes.
03:23.58
Lorie Jones
And I like that it’s short because my pile has gotten rather large.
03:27.32
Carrie Hunter
i know I was just looking through because I knew you were going to ask me this question. um i was looking through my books and I was like, oh my gosh, I was like, i I am so behind. And I’m like, I have such a huge stack and there’s stacks everywhere. And I’m like, oh my gosh. But it really resonated with me. And And also it’s a fun story to like, to read, or you can listen to it too, but it’s a fun story to read because it takes you kind of on this fun little adventure with this underlying message. But it’s not just like, ah you know, then you do this, then you do that. It’s just a fun story. And then it, you know, circles back and reminds you that finding, finding your, your purpose is really, really important.
04:12.34
Lorie Jones
i love that. So tell me a little bit about your journey, Carrie. Like, where did you get started? how did you figure out what you wanted to, how did you figure out your purpose in life? Like, what, what are you doing now? kind of talk me through that.
04:27.10
Carrie Hunter
Well, you know, my line, my journey has definitely not been a straight line. um I was, when I was young, I was a and musician. I was a jazz study and I actually went to college. I was a music major and I ended up recording my own jazz album and touring and doing all of that wild fun stuff. um And I did that at the same time. I did it simultaneously as I was building a business career and Straight out of college, I started working for in telecommunications and started doing sales and managing people.
05:03.99
Carrie Hunter
And I became a single mother um when my daughter was two. And so I had to kind of, i was doing these two careers like kind of side by side. And then I had to decide, okay, what am I doing with my life? What am to do? am I going to be a struggling musician forever? Or I’m going to go down this business path. So I chose business. And um ended up taking a, like I said, a ah goofy way, doing all kinds of things, doing a lot of sales, doing a lot of of management, but I ended up working my way into, um communications and then into technology and that technology. serving the construction industry. So I ended up for many, many years being an executive leader in the tech space serving construction. So working with all men and you know I’d either be on a job site in steel toed boots and hard hats, or I’d be in a suit talking to C-suite folks.
06:04.89
Carrie Hunter
um And in that space, I also then spent a lot of time with executive women and leadership programs and networks. And then i also started doing a lot of mentoring. And within that construction space, I did a lot of stuff for women in construction, diversity in construction and mental health. And over many years, I started…
06:33.94
Carrie Hunter
um feeling like there was a real need for a safe space for women where we can network, where we can connect, where we can rely on companies that are um helpful and positive for women. So that’s where it then brought me to It’s Not That Serious, which I created that company. I got my LLC in March of 24. And then I actually launched in September of 25 while I was still in my executive role, VP role. And
07:09.62
Carrie Hunter
And really the the purpose of what we do is to connect, celebrate and uplift women. And so I kind of did this wacky shift of, you know, being in tech, being in construction, working with all men to now literally being surrounded by women, working with women and helping uplift and celebrate women and, and uplift and share women in business and and their companies. So I kind of did a full 180, but there was no direct path for me to get there. And it’s kind of some of my mentoring advice for for younger folks is just like, there isn’t one straight path to get where you’re going. It can be a smorgasbord of different ways to get there.
07:51.99
Lorie Jones
Decisions, yeah. So that, it’s interesting that you ended up in almost, you know, construction and tech are like almost completely male-dominated industries. um And you were working in you were working in this, in, with the C-suite executives with them and a lot of communication pieces and stuff like that.
08:11.34
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
08:13.30
Carrie Hunter
Yeah. So in, um, in my role, uh, I had a couple roles that served that space, um, both were, were VP roles. So I was in that, um, high level executive role. Um, and you know, I loved it, like absolutely loved it and was able to really connect people. But in that space, I then,
08:37.91
Carrie Hunter
like I said, I, you know, I did a lot of work with women in construction and women in tech and over time and you know, exec executive leaders that were women. And over time, I just felt like there were some things missing that we were all kind of looking for. And a lot of women felt really alone. And I just thought, you know, it’s just about connecting these people because they’re not alone. And it’s just a matter of, of putting the right people together. So, um, it was really a Talking about personal legend is it really a passion project to start with that turned into as soon as I launched in September of 25, it was kind of like all bets were off and and and has been really well received. So that’s been really lovely.
09:20.72
Lorie Jones
That’s great. I am a big fan of women’s organizations and groups that empower women in all sorts of different spaces. um And finance, you know, being, again, you know, more male than female feels like a good space for that. But construction, airplane pilots, like I’ve, I’ve engineers, I’ve like ran into so many professions that are just, you um A lot of times they’re the only woman in the room a lot of times.
09:52.36
Lorie Jones
And that’s, um you’re right. Sometimes it feels a little bit lonely. It feels a little bit like, where are all my people that look like me?
10:00.18
Carrie Hunter
Yes. Yes. And, and like I said, I did a total one 80. So I went from literally being like the only woman in the room to now being fully surrounded by women. So it’s been a really lovely shift. I loved, I loved the other way too. Like I said, I loved all my tech folks and, and, and tech guys and, and construction guys, but it definitely has been a significant shift. And And it’s been lovely. It’s been it’s been really fun and rewarding watching women shine and watching women celebrate themselves and being able to add to that celebration.
10:36.51
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Carrie, as you look back along your journey, what is the best investment that you’ve made in yourself? Can you think of something that that you’ve done that you’re like, oh, I’m so glad I did that because it just really made all the difference in my career?
10:55.83
Carrie Hunter
Definitely. um There’s definitely been a hint been a handful of things, um whether that was work I did with Cornell, um whether that was like going back to it after many years um or whether it was particular um leadership groups or courses that I took or invested time and money into. But I think the biggest thing um It wasn’t really a um necessarily a investment as just as more ah more of a of way of life is that I, the best investment and or thing I’ve been able to do up my career throughout my career has been taking risks.
11:44.16
Carrie Hunter
And I think sometimes fear, speaking of fearless females, fear oftentimes stops us or blocks us from reaching our fullest potential.
11:49.12
Lorie Jones
you
11:54.30
Carrie Hunter
Because we get too caught up in the what ifs or the I’m not good enough so or that’s too scary. And I think um continuously throughout my career, being being willing to step over that ledge and take those risks I think that’s that’s some of, it’s not necessarily doesn’t fit that question perfectly as far as best investment, but it’s definitely been the best um reminder for myself. The biggest reward rewards have come from the biggest investment.
12:29.03
Carrie Hunter
risks that I’ve taken. And it’s been a turning point or an aha moment for me in that it has kept me taking risks, um not being afraid to make mistakes because everybody’s going make mistakes.
12:42.33
Carrie Hunter
Absolutely. Everyone will will screw up sometime at some point. So why not do that in something that you have total passion for? Why not do that in something that is maybe scary,
12:55.64
Carrie Hunter
maybe scary but more of your passion as opposed to something that you just don’t like or you hate or um that is making you stressed or anxious or sad.
12:57.46
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
13:07.73
Carrie Hunter
um why not Why not go for it? So I think, you know, definitely as a younger executive, kind of catching that early, catching that understanding of taking these risks um is worth it.
13:23.46
Carrie Hunter
It’s getting out of our own way.
13:26.30
Lorie Jones
So this brings up a question for me where I’m always like, I i agree. i think taking risk is important and you know it plays into the job that I do in financial advising quite a bit. But like how do you know you’re not taking stupid risks? like Is there some magic formula for where you’re like, okay, this is a calculated risk. It’s a little scary. I’m a little worried, but But you know what? This is a good risk for me to take versus like I’m stepping off the building. There’s probably not ah a net down there and ah it’s going to be bad. Like, how do you, is there a way to know?
14:05.17
Carrie Hunter
I don’t think there’s ever a way to know no. um i think that’s part of the risk is that you don’t totally know. it could be amazing. It could be terrible. But I think if you if you do it smartly. So I do think that you can’t just be willy nilly taking risks without thinking things through. i think that, you know, I may i oftentimes do a negative and and positive. Like, what is the worst thing that could happen?
14:34.55
Carrie Hunter
Um, what is the, what are the benefits of taking this risk? What are the negatives? And really analyzing it that way before you go about it. I mean, I definitely do that. And, ah you know, I always think of when I think of risks, taking risks, I think of the movie along came Polly. And I think of like Jennifer Aniston and, um, Oh gosh, who’s the guy in the, in that movie? Um,
15:00.18
Carrie Hunter
the her husband or her boyfriend or whatever that is in that movie, he’s like, you know, he’s ah an insurance risk analyst, so he never takes risks. And she’s this like, you know, cute yoga chick that has a pet parrot. And she’s like, doesn’t even think about anything. She’s just like doing whatever. I’m somewhere in the middle. um Probably for my more ah risk averse friends, they might say, oh, she’s way over on the Jennifer Aniston side. But i do have I do have that in me. um where i am analyzing what i’m doing it’s not like i’m just if if you’re like oh my gosh i can’t believe she do she did that i probably had months of thinking it through of weighing the benefits and the negatives um before i made it took any action but at the end of the day again it’s about like what’s going to make me the happiest what’s going to be the best for me um and my life and my family
15:56.44
Lorie Jones
yeah That’s really an important point to like the risk of staying where you’re at. There’s risk inherent in all the different decisions that you’re making. And you are choosing a risk of staying where you’re at doing what you’re doing.
16:10.65
Lorie Jones
And it’s the risk of, you know, not not realizing your dreams or not um not finding out whether you could do that other thing. And and I love the checklist idea.
16:22.01
Lorie Jones
Like I thought this through, i put my pluses, my minuses, like you got you had me it at checklist. Yeah. Yeah.
16:29.14
Carrie Hunter
ah That doesn’t surprise me for you for what you do for a living. But, you know, I think also the other thing is when you make the checklist,
16:33.40
Lorie Jones
yeah
16:38.58
Carrie Hunter
It doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s going to be 50 things on the positive side and two things on the negative side. They might be relatively similar.
16:47.06
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
16:47.83
Carrie Hunter
Maybe they both sides have 10 things or maybe one side has 11 and the other one has eight. And it’s like not that big of a difference. I think the checklist makes you hammer out the the things you’re most afraid of happening and the best case scenarios.
17:04.43
Carrie Hunter
And then when you have that instinct inside of you, like when you’re looking at this list of, let’s say an even list of 10 on each side, the things that light you up, the best case scenarios are, i think, kind of the the, they carry a little more weight for me.
17:22.80
Carrie Hunter
Now, I think for a lot of people, the worst case scenario um may carry more weight for other people because it’s that fear, right?
17:23.19
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
17:31.16
Carrie Hunter
It’s getting over that fear. It’s getting… over ourselves. But I think you take the list, you analyze it, you break it down and say, you know, what’s most important to me.
17:44.60
Carrie Hunter
And when you are actually looking at it on paper, sometimes the scary things become less scary because you’re like, but that really fun thing or that great positive thing sounds amazing.
17:53.91
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. What if, what if, what if you could, what if you could, what would that be?
17:58.97
Carrie Hunter
what What if you fly, i right
18:01.01
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. What is the worst advice you’ve ever gotten, Carrie? Can you think of some like really bad advice and did you take it or did you not take it? I’m always so curious about that part.
18:14.94
Carrie Hunter
I rarely 100% take advice. but
18:19.69
Lorie Jones
Okay.
18:20.38
Carrie Hunter
So I absolutely consider advice and I absolutely use it to add to my negative and positive list and add to my analyzation of whether I’m going to do something.
18:34.78
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
18:35.03
Carrie Hunter
But I don’t let it carry… the weight of a hundred percent. So, you know, I may take people’s advice and, and throw it into this bucket of like, you know, here’s the advice of all these people that that they’ve given me. And it’s going to carry, let’s say it’s going to carry like, you know, 30% weight. Like it does matter. And I do consider it, But it’s not going to outweigh what’s in my heart. So I think the worst advice that I ever got, I don’t know that I ever got like just terrible advice, but I think um oftentimes you get advice of people that are scared to move.
19:18.62
Carrie Hunter
they’re scared to like make, make a scary move. And so their advice is like, do nothing.
19:22.69
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
19:23.54
Carrie Hunter
Their advice is like, go with a steady course, go with like the, the safe thing. And, you know, i again, I don’t think it’s bad advice necessarily, but i just don’t 100% put all the weight into that.
19:42.68
Carrie Hunter
Like, again, I consider it, but I think, you know, people that get stuck in life and end up miserable after 20 years of doing the same thing, they were afraid to move. They were afraid to take that that step off the edge. and And then now here they are after all of this time in this career, because we’re all going to work unless unless you hit the jackpot, right? We’re all going to be working for many years. So you might as well be doing something you love.
20:12.50
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I agree. And i think that I think that’s so interesting and insightful just to think about. Again, we’re kind of talking about the opportunities that you miss, right? If you don’t choose growth,
20:26.61
Lorie Jones
if you don’t choose growth a little bit of risk or, or that kind of um opportunity to do something you haven’t done before, you are on the opposite side. You’re choosing to stay where you’re at. You’re choosing to continue the life that you have. And if that is making you a hundred percent happy, go for it. But if you’re choosing um no instead of yes, there there’s got to be a really good reason for it there you You have to be making a deliberate choice rather than just choosing the easier path.
21:01.82
Lorie Jones
So I really like the way you frame that.
21:02.68
Carrie Hunter
Right. you Right. I mean, it’s it’s it’s cliche, but it’s so true. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. You know, it’s 100% I think of that often.
21:18.17
Lorie Jones
What about a do-over? Can you think of a situation where you would go back and you’re like, oh, if I knew what I knew now, like, you know, they’re all learning experiences and we all go through them and therefore are good. But if you could take back, ah this is my genie wish, right? Every knowledge that you have right now and go back and do something differently.
21:39.77
Lorie Jones
what Can you think of a situation that that would be and how you would change it?
21:45.43
Carrie Hunter
You know, i I don’t think I would change anything. Now, that doesn’t mean that everything was fabulous. It doesn’t mean I made every right decision. But we, you know, um in my mentorship with many women, um I am often saying, you know, we don’t necessarily learn when we’re winning.
22:08.98
Carrie Hunter
When we’re winning, everything’s great. We learn when something’s really hard or when we lose, um when we fail. And so, again, it’s not that i have every situation I ever had in my career was fabulous. I definitely made errors, mistakes ah a ton. But you learn a lot about…
22:32.57
Carrie Hunter
what you want and what you don’t want. You learn about who you are and the strength that you have and the resilience that you have. So I don’t, I, I’m not a person that lives in regrets.
22:45.45
Carrie Hunter
Um, and that again, doesn’t mean that I don’t make mistakes, but I feel like worry and regret are wasted emotions. You know, as far as like, I can’t change that.
22:56.03
Carrie Hunter
I wore a pink shirt that day. I can’t change, you know, that’s the shirt I wore. Right. Or
23:00.22
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
23:01.59
Carrie Hunter
um or I can’t be worried about, oh, I’m going wear that pink shirt. I wonder, oh, I worry if if it’s going to fit or if it’s going to look right or whatever. Worry is just a waste of an emotion to me. So it’s like regret and worry. I don’t um i don’t spend a lot of time worrying about things. I think about things and I you know put a lot of time thinking about how I think so think I want to do things or how I think things should go. but So I don’t live with a lot of regret and in that I look at each situation as, what did I learn from this? How can i be better next time? How can I make a better decision next time?
23:40.54
Carrie Hunter
i look at it more as an opportunity to to learn rather than linger on, oh gosh, I wish I wouldn’t have done that.
23:48.28
Lorie Jones
yeah yeah well I and and I have those for sure absolutely where I’m like
23:48.28
Carrie Hunter
and
23:54.87
Lorie Jones
I’m not necessarily so grateful for them when I’m going through those learning situations.
24:00.06
Carrie Hunter
right
24:00.14
Lorie Jones
But but I find that the next time I come around, i just do things a little bit differently. I’m like, oh, oh, wait, I recognize this. I remember what I did last time. That wasn’t such a good idea.
24:11.14
Lorie Jones
I’m going to this this time. Do you think you have to go through those in order to learn? Or do you think you can?
24:17.91
Carrie Hunter
Absolutely. Absolutely. um I heard somebody say once, um like, I’m going butcher it, so I’m not going to say who it was or the context, but it was roughly about, like somebody said, do you think a trust fund person, trust fund kid has the same experience or knowledge that somebody that had to like,
24:43.32
Carrie Hunter
work for it went through? And the answer is absolutely not. um Now they may have some insight into different things that that that person that had to work for it may not know until they’re much older. um But there is something about the learning process. Again, i don’t think we’re learning a lot when we’re always succeeding. There are some really great things that happen when you’re succeeding, but you learn the most and take away the most from situations when there’s struggle or when there’s like, you know, ooh, that’s a mistake I never want to make again.
25:21.18
Carrie Hunter
um So I think you have to, I think you have to go through that tough stuff.
25:22.30
Lorie Jones
Oh, are you there?
25:25.50
Lorie Jones
ah Man, I was hoping there was a shortcut.
25:29.69
Carrie Hunter
I think we all are
25:33.08
Lorie Jones
So if you could go back and high five yourself for a really great financial decision in the past, what would it that be?
25:41.00
Carrie Hunter
Hmm. Well, when I was in my twenties, I was terrible with money. um and my family didn’t come from money. So it wasn’t like I was getting all these nuggets of, of great financial, um, you know, bits of wisdom that I should do or, or actions I should take in my twenties that were really, you know,
26:02.94
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
26:03.34
Carrie Hunter
life-changing. There was none of that happening. So um the 20s for me were a massive learning curve of what not to do. um I was in debt. I had collections. I settled debt that I found out later, like I thought I was doing the right thing and then it ended up killing my credit. And, you know, just all those lessons that you don’t learn until you go through them that are not fun.
26:30.90
Carrie Hunter
But I think the best um financial decision probably it would be for me, and this isn’t the same for everybody, but buying my home and or buying a home. I’ve owned more than one, but um that was a really big step for me because I feel like again, while it’s not the right fit for everybody, because everybody has their own path, their own story, and it makes sense for some people and it doesn’t make sense for others.
27:03.99
Carrie Hunter
um It helped me look at money differently, look at um look at opportunity differently.
27:14.09
Carrie Hunter
It wasn’t just about owning a home that I lived in. It was so much more than that as far as you know financial freedom and ability to do things differently.
27:24.34
Carrie Hunter
so I think that was would probably be, mean, I’ve invested in a lot of different things that were wonderful decisions, but I think that really was a cornerstone thing for me.
27:24.72
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
27:35.58
Carrie Hunter
it was such a big deal um when it happened. But I think that probably was one of the best past decisions, I would say, financially.
27:46.80
Carrie Hunter
It kind of led me in a new direction.
27:49.38
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that.
27:49.96
Carrie Hunter
Yeah.
27:50.42
Lorie Jones
And it kind of, it goes to the idea that you you made a goal, you saved towards that goal. And it wasn’t ah a short-term thing. It was something that you had to think long-term about and try in and invest.
28:05.57
Lorie Jones
And then it it does change the way that you look at decisions after that because you’re like, well, I have, you know, the responsibility of a home, but also um i’ like that you mentioned the the financial freedom that it brought to That’s that’s huge.
28:22.81
Carrie Hunter
Yeah. I mean, and nobody thinks like, oh I’m going to buy a home and it’s going to give me or well, I would say maybe nobody out of the financial sector thinks I’m going to buy a home and it’s go to it’s going to bring me financial freedom.
28:30.65
Lorie Jones
Yeah, we’re weird.
28:34.36
Carrie Hunter
But there are just so many great things that come out of owning a home, um assuming that you can handle the payment and that it’s not a you know money pit.
28:44.88
Lorie Jones
Yeah, right.
28:46.04
Carrie Hunter
you know There’s a lot of variables. Like I said, it doesn’t fit for everyone, but Gosh, and it just makes you feel so proud of what you’ve done, what you’ve been able to accomplish.
28:47.99
Lorie Jones
right
28:56.12
Carrie Hunter
And there’s just so many different reasons why I think that probably was a one of the great past decisions.
29:04.57
Lorie Jones
So what scared you the most when you kind of started down your journey? And maybe nothing, maybe nothing scared you. Maybe you were fearless, but, but what, what scared you as you started out and does it still scare you or did you learn how to deal with it?
29:20.26
Lorie Jones
Just tell me about that. Okay.
29:22.39
Carrie Hunter
I am definitely not fearless. I think that a lot of people might think that because I take a lot of scary risks in their eyes as far as what we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to do things. um But I think… um
29:41.91
Carrie Hunter
What scared me the most is that i initially starting my career, I didn’t have a traditional path. I was a music major. I had an entertainment career and then I was going to do this business thing. And then I went, then I started moving up the ladder and moving up the ladder. And then I’m in executive roles and I wasn’t the traditional person.
30:01.11
Carrie Hunter
You know, I went to Harvard and then I did this and then I did that exactly how I was supposed to do on the straight line up. That was never my path.
30:11.82
Carrie Hunter
My path was like, like, was like, I don’t even know a pretzel situation, but, um,
30:14.11
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
30:18.36
Carrie Hunter
But I think that scared me the most as far as, um you know, you feel insecure about your background. You feel insecure about what you’re bringing to the table. Everybody has those insecurities. And some of um some of us have those louder than others. And I think that um those fears, they didn’t stop me. And sometimes they can stop us. Again, those fears stop us from doing things or moving forward. But they didn’t stop me.
30:47.51
Carrie Hunter
But they made me like scrappier. They made me like, I need to prove myself. I’m going to, you know, show how amazing I am i am for this role. And i it was not only just for outsiders, but to prove it to myself too.
31:02.01
Carrie Hunter
And I think that still scares me. And it’s still something that I work through. And it’s still something that even after you go back through and you’ve got this, you know, 25, however, who’s who’s counting?
31:16.13
Carrie Hunter
um You’ve got this long career and you’ve done amazing things and you’ve led companies and you’ve had, ah you know, ah any, you know, 25 year old coming out of college is going to be like, oh my gosh, your resume, blah, blah, blah.
31:16.57
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
31:27.85
Carrie Hunter
But I still have those fears and i still work through those because I don’t, I mean, I am very confident in my abilities and I’m very confident in who I am.
31:40.99
Carrie Hunter
But I think that those fears never really go away because you’re always trying to prove yourself. You’re always trying to show, folks what you’re capable of and that they can trust you and believe in you.
31:53.27
Carrie Hunter
And so I think, I don’t think that, that fear ever goes away.
31:56.37
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
31:57.58
Carrie Hunter
So I think, yes, it does still scare me. And, um, I think I’ve worked through it differently as I’ve gotten older and as I’ve gotten further along in my career. um But I think if if things aren’t scaring you, then you’ve you should definitely should be switching things up because that that means that you’ you’ve gotten in a rut.
32:19.26
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I tend to think that’s true. I look at that. I look back on my life and I’m like the times when I’m like, okay, I got this. Everything. I know what I’m doing in every single situation.
32:30.04
Lorie Jones
um Then they would usually hand me a new baby or a new job, one of the two. And I’d be like, oh, I don’t got this. was just joking. have no idea what I’m doing and let me try and
32:40.59
Carrie Hunter
Right? right
32:41.50
Lorie Jones
and learn really quick. um But, but yeah, those, I like the, I like the idea that you never stop being in that place where you are a little bit unsure of your ability, but,
32:57.24
Lorie Jones
um but you’re willing to try it. Like you’re scared of it, but you’re going to do it anyway. Fearless. That’s my definition of fearless.
33:10.26
Lorie Jones
What about as you kind of went through your career? i’m I’m guessing since you worked a lot with, you know, being the only woman in the room, that there may have been some unique challenges that you faced as a woman as you were going through your path.
33:24.79
Carrie Hunter
Oh, heck yeah. I mean, um you know, in, in, as you know, in, in the financial space, but in tech and in construction, it is male dominated. I mean, period. It’s a lot of men. And i think sometimes um when you’re walking into those spaces as a woman,
33:47.42
Carrie Hunter
Um, there are automatically challenges right out of the gate because you’re changing, you’re shifting this, the energy in the space, regardless of what you look like, ah regardless of ability, regardless of education, um you are shifting the energy in that space. And so I think um the the unique challenge there is when you’re the only woman in the room is being confident that you’re there for a reason, that you’re supposed to be there and that you know what you’re doing. i think so many times we question ourselves and we’re like, you know,
34:26.46
Carrie Hunter
you could be you could be the most impressive person ah with the most impressive educational background and you’re and you’re walking into this space and you’re questioning yourself and you’re like, wait a minute, why why am I doing that?
34:38.74
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
34:39.30
Carrie Hunter
So I think um the challenges that I faced were really just you know, being confident in who I was and who I am in a room full of people that look different than me, differently than me. And that um may not have the same perspective as me and that may not have the same opinion as me, but that, um you know, it that my energy, my perception of, of
35:11.22
Carrie Hunter
whatever item my opinion is is a positive for that room so i think just reminding the unique challenges it really reminding yourself that um you know in those unique spaces where you’re the only one um reminding yourself that you’re there for a reason and that you’re supposed to be there and that this is going to help the group move forward in a better way um
35:18.72
Lorie Jones
you
35:37.27
Carrie Hunter
I, you know, I don’t know that a lot of um everybody has the experience of walking into a room where you’re the odd man out.
35:48.28
Carrie Hunter
um and And that does change how you come into a room. That does change how you deal with people. um And there are a lot of people that have that perspective. So I think just reminding yourself that You know, whether, whether, um, no matter what it is, it doesn’t have to be men and women.
36:08.26
Carrie Hunter
You know, there’s a lot of different scenarios where you’re the only one in the room and, um, you see things differently than, ah than other people.
36:10.17
Lorie Jones
Right.
36:15.29
Carrie Hunter
So I think it’s just remembering your value.
36:19.38
Lorie Jones
So how do you remind yourself of your value?
36:19.58
Carrie Hunter
And, um,
36:21.62
Lorie Jones
Is there a trick that you use or something that you you could consistently tell yourself as you’re walking into that scary spot?
36:30.16
Carrie Hunter
Gosh, you know, I think probably there’s not like ah i’m not like, ah you know, tapping my head three times and doing a circle or or, you know, there’s not some mantra that I’m saying to myself.
36:36.69
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
36:41.25
Carrie Hunter
I think it’s more of an unspoken like you’ve got this. You know, and sometimes i talk to myself a lot.
36:45.84
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
36:48.74
Carrie Hunter
I’m one of those people. So I may be saying it out loud half the time, but just reminding myself, you’ve got this. They need you here. They need to hear what you have to say. What you have to say is important.
37:00.26
Carrie Hunter
And i think just constantly reassuring, i don’t do any negative self-talk. And that took me many years to figure out and to master because it’s really easy.
37:12.18
Carrie Hunter
Like it’s really, really easy There is one little trick I will say, and I don’t necessarily mean this like right before a big meeting, but it could still apply to the same thing is, you know, sometimes when I was younger, I might be like, oh, gosh, Carrie, you look this way or or that what’s going on with that outfit or, you know, like it’s just we we do it naturally to ourselves.
37:29.23
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
37:34.88
Carrie Hunter
And I consciously started asking myself, I think of my best girlfriends, my sister, my mom, my daughter. um And I think of those people that I love so much.
37:47.29
Carrie Hunter
And I think, would you say that to her? No, you would never say that to her. So why are you saying it to yourself? And so I did that from the time I was, it took me a while, probably didn’t start doing that until I was in my 30s, maybe in my late twenty s But I just, so anytime i would have that thought of, oh, oh you look mu or whatever. um i would just say, like, would you say that to her?
38:15.96
Carrie Hunter
Meaning all those other women that are so important that I love so much. No, you wouldn’t. So stop that instead.
38:22.43
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
38:22.50
Carrie Hunter
Like, oh, you got this. You look good. Right. So I think it’s it was, it’s definitely a conscious effort that you have to shift because it’s so easy to just
38:25.37
Lorie Jones
yeah
38:32.66
Carrie Hunter
say all the negative things to ourselves.
38:35.22
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And it’s easier to find the negative things about yourself than it is to, um because you can see them so much better. And I love that. I really do like that idea of of being nice to yourself, talking positively and asking, Hey, would I say that to someone?
38:52.53
Lorie Jones
Would I say that to my daughter or my best friend, my mother? Would I, would I make that kind of a remark? Then I shouldn’t be making it about myself. I love that. That’s great advice.
39:01.69
Carrie Hunter
and And the answer, just in case you’re wondering, is unanimously no every time. Like, it doesn’t matter who you are.
39:07.43
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
39:09.21
Carrie Hunter
Like, it’s like you would you would never. And so it’s like a really easy thing to say to yourself to just get out of your own way. But it is a conscious thing. You have to, note number one, notice you’re doing it Because sometimes we don’t notice that we’re doing it.
39:24.05
Carrie Hunter
And then it’s like, near you know it’s like so like you said it’s just come so easy to think of things that we don’t love or like about ourselves and so you have to consciously make the show
39:28.41
Lorie Jones
you
39:33.98
Lorie Jones
here
39:38.26
Lorie Jones
Carrie, what is the thing that you are most proud of?
39:43.80
Carrie Hunter
oh gosh um You know, i think I would probably say the thing I’m most proud of is the life that I’ve created up until this point.
39:58.07
Carrie Hunter
um I have a beautiful daughter. I’m very proud of her, but i also have um a wonderful life. And I also have a life that’s filled with possibility and joy and hope. And I have a beautiful home and lovely car and you know I have things I’m proud of like physically but but outside of even just those um I have a really lovely life that I’ve been able to curate um and and
40:29.66
Carrie Hunter
If you had looked at my life in the beginning when I was younger, you might have seen this bad thing that happened or that bad thing that happened. And um you might go, oh, like, you know, i don’t know what’s going to happen with her. But I’ve been able to create this wonderful life and um beautiful family. And, um you know, i’m I’m very proud of that. You know, I think when we are able to.
40:56.25
Carrie Hunter
always find the the shiny pieces and the the stars in our life. um I think that’s really the best. and i And I am able to do that because I just am very consciously always living in gratitude, even when I’m feeling really crummy and not so positive.
41:15.87
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
41:16.61
Carrie Hunter
You know, nobody can be positive twenty four seven um But um I just find even if it’s like some days I’m grateful for really big things and, um you know, my house or my career or whatever. And sometimes it’s like, man,
41:31.86
Carrie Hunter
I really love that my favorite coffee mug was clean today and I didn’t have to wash it or whatever it is, you know, just finding the little things. And I think when you live in that space, when you’re constantly thinking about what you’re grateful for and you’re constantly thinking about that, it’s really hard to go negative. And it’s really hard not to be proud of of the life you’ve created and what you’ve built.
41:53.35
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. That is such a powerful reminder to to remind ourselves to find those gratitude. I do a gratitude journal, but I have to tell you, i am sporadic at it. where like i’ll go I’ll go really strong for like a month, and I’ve got my you know my three things that I’m grateful for, and then I’ll forget for a month. And so I think that’s that’s really important to remember both the big and small things and just be grateful for for this life that we live because, you know, there’s just, there’s, we have so much and we’re abundantly blessed.
42:26.11
Lorie Jones
It just makes, it makes a difference to live with gratitude.
42:29.40
Carrie Hunter
Yeah.
42:29.72
Lorie Jones
and You can, you can see it.
42:30.84
Carrie Hunter
Well, yeah. And, you know, I also think that, like, this is part of getting older and and finding these practices. It’s not like I, like, hopped out of bed at 21 and was like, oh, I’m doing my gratitude journal and I’m this and that. No, like, it’s over time you learn habits of, like,
42:49.17
Carrie Hunter
of of making yourself more efficient and doing things that are positive. So like you do the gratitude journal, that’s great. um I think the key as we get older is like, okay, what what how can I make it more consistent? And how do i you know when in the day is it gonna be most effective for me? I i have a practice of,
43:09.34
Carrie Hunter
Um, in the morning, i don’t do gratitude journal in the morning. Cause I’m like, I’m not going to sit up. I know myself. I’m like, I’m not going to sit up and write, start writing a novel in the morning, but I do,
43:15.49
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
43:21.40
Carrie Hunter
take before I check my phone, before I get out of bed, when I am awake, once I wake up and I’m actually not groggy, I do take a certain amount of time and ah this doesn’t have to be long. Again, it has to fit into your life. However, that is, you’ve got kids, it might be 30 seconds. If you’ve got like babies climbing into your bed, it you know might be 10 seconds, but um I take a certain ah certain amount of time in the morning, several minutes where I I’m thinking about my day. I’m very grateful. I’m thinking about what I’m grateful for in my life. And I do a little meditation there where I’m just kind of going through things in the morning. And then at night, I’m more of a night person. So I write at night and I,
44:04.12
Carrie Hunter
in order to break the habit of what you’re talking about where I was like being inconsistent ah with it and sometimes I’d write sometimes I wouldn’t I have my journals on my nightstand and my pens and I have if you came over to my house you’d be like why do you need so many pens and i have a bunch of pens because I’ve been writing before and I’ve been really into it and then i ran out of a pen and then I’m like oh I’m not going to go downstairs and get a new pen. And so then it kind of like stopped me from doing it. And so um so I think the part of getting older is just like understanding where our blocks are and how to remove those so that we stay consistent and that we remain in habit. And also that we don’t, that we remind ourselves that like, okay, i missed a month.
44:49.59
Carrie Hunter
big deal tomorrow ah today I started it again so today I’m back in the habit right like I think sometimes we also let like you know that month that went by that you didn’t journal like oh well like now we started again you know ah so I think we let sometimes that kind of stuff stop us from doing things also you know what i mean yeah yeah
45:11.26
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I get that where you’re like, well, I haven’t done it. So I’m just not good at this. This is not my thing. As opposed well, did it today.
45:21.88
Lorie Jones
and so I’ll do it tomorrow. And I am a person who writes in her gratitude journal every day. That is who I am. So some days, yeah, I like that. That’s an interesting, that’s a really good way of looking at things.
45:35.32
Lorie Jones
And I love that. I love your attitude of gratitude. That really does. um I think that it shines to people around you too. Like it it makes the world a little bit better place because you’re bringing that joy and gratitude and love to all those in your sphere and those people that you know. And that that makes their day just a little bit brighter too.
45:58.05
Carrie Hunter
thank you.
46:00.02
Lorie Jones
What about any advice for a young lady who’s kind of just starting down the path that you’re successful at? Is there something that you would tell that person, that young lady early on in her her journey.
46:14.87
Carrie Hunter
Absolutely. i would 100% definitely say to that young lady, I would say a couple things. One, i would say,
46:28.02
Carrie Hunter
um always remain curious. The smartest people that I’ve ever known and or been around were always the most curious and they were never afraid to quote unquote, ask a dumb question.
46:43.14
Carrie Hunter
They were always the ones asking the most questions. I think a lot of times we’re just afraid to speak up because we don’t want to sound dumb or look dumb or whatever. Um, and I think remaining curious is the key to remaining the smartest, you know, that, that, um, you’re not trying to be the smartest one in the room.
47:03.42
Carrie Hunter
I’m not suggesting that, but like, maybe you are, but, um, but just remaining curious will allow you
47:07.30
Lorie Jones
Thank
47:11.06
Carrie Hunter
two to elevate your knowledge about anything. And I think not being afraid to um ask the questions in that moment, um because again, the fear of like, ooh, I don’t want to sound this way, or I don’t want to look this way, or, you know, it it will prevent us from then gaining knowledge and then doing a better job and being better at whatever it is we’re attempting to do. so i would say I would say that remaining curious and I would also say um stop stopping negative self-talk. that The whole like, you know, you have the thought and then you consciously change it. i wish I would have thought of that earlier in my lifetime because i think it would have saved me a lot of heartache and um a lot of wasted energy on negativity. Like as far as just like feeling bad about myself and I was like,
48:05.98
Carrie Hunter
You know, they always say like, they say, but oh, that funny saying. Oh, gosh, i I’ll probably butcher this one, too. But um I wish I was as and I’m doing air quotes for anyone listening.
48:17.14
Carrie Hunter
I wish I was as fat as I was when I thought I was fat. Or I wish I was as skinny as I was when I thought I was fat.
48:22.23
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
48:24.62
Carrie Hunter
Because like, you know, when you’re young, when you’re like 20, you’re like, oh my gosh, I look terrible. I look, I look bad. I look whatever. I look this, I look that. And then you look back 20 years later and you’re like, oh my God, I look so good.
48:36.30
Carrie Hunter
And, and, you know, we, we just put these like weird in the moment, we put these weird parameters around ourselves. And it’s again, that negative self-talk of,
48:47.45
Carrie Hunter
Girl, you looked good. what What were you saying to yourself, right? So it’s like, I think I would say the two things, the biggest two things would be remain curious, always ask the questions. Don’t be afraid to ask the questions.
48:58.97
Carrie Hunter
That’s how you will go the farthest. And also consciously stop the negative negative talk, self-talk. So the minute it comes into your head is the minute you change it with it.
49:10.58
Carrie Hunter
It’s not like they’re not gonna come into your head. They are gonna come into your head. But um the minute that they do,
49:13.31
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
49:16.06
Carrie Hunter
change it. You know, would you say that to her? No, you wouldn’t. So change it to something positive. And eventually the magical thing is eventually those things start going away. I don’t think you ever get rid of them a hundred percent, but if you’re hearing them 90% of the time, by the time you get really good at that practice, you only hear them like maybe five or 10% of the time.
49:37.27
Carrie Hunter
And what a relief that is. Cause she can, that negative self-talk and she can be a real, you know what?
49:42.87
Lorie Jones
Yeah, she can be mean.
49:43.07
Carrie Hunter
Yeah.
49:44.27
Lorie Jones
Yeah, exactly. Well, I thank you, Carrie, so much for spending some time with us today and just sharing your experience and your journey and your wisdom. We’ve really appreciated it. If I have a young lady who wants to ask you some questions, how does she get in touch with you?
49:59.74
Carrie Hunter
Absolutely. um Definitely any any young ladies listening to this, a young, medium, old, whatever whatever, wherever you find yourself on the spectrum, go to itsnotthatserious.com. That is our website. It’s my company. Again, we’re ah we’re a women-led lifestyle brand and storytelling platform built to uplift, connect, and celebrate women.
50:21.28
Carrie Hunter
through intentional content and thoughtfully curated products. So you can go there, you can find all of this stuff, you can find all the ways to lift yourself, but you can also contact me through that website. You can also reach out to me at Carrie. It’s not that serious. Carrie at it’s not that serious. Um, but there, if you go to the website, if if all you can remember is it’s not that serious, you can get onto the website and you can, um, connect with us and it’ll shoot me an email directly to me. So, um, would love to connect with as many women as possible and, and just love what you’re doing here. I think it’s so powerful and it’s just a
50:56.60
Carrie Hunter
Another example of how important it is for us women to come together and lift each other up. it’s just It’s just so needed.
51:03.13
Lorie Jones
um Oh, I agree. I love that because that is that is exactly what we’re trying to do is lift all women and just empower them to show up and they already are cool. We’re just bringing a little bit of light to that. So thank you so much, Carrie, for your time today. I truly appreciate it.
51:22.36
Lorie Jones
Thanks.
51:23.80
Carrie Hunter
Thank you.