Case Study – Kara Lynch-Guthrie

March 2, 2017

Kara Lynch-Guthrie is a media industry veteran, wife, and mother of two boys. After working for several years in the media industry, Kara started her own company, which brought her great success. However, when the economy took a turn for the worse, Kara made the tough decision to walk away from her company, leading her to reevaluate her priorities and the direction of her life. One year after joining Six Figure Profession, Kara was earning as much as she had in her media career. How did Kara go from losing her company to earning six figures with time to spare? Here’s her story.

Life Before Six Figure Profession

Straight out of college, Kara began her career in the media industry, working in sales for her father’s rapidly growing media company for five years. She was living in Colorado and employed at one of the station’s satellite locations when she met her husband, Rob. A driven, successful professional in the medical industry, Kara knew that she had met her match. They soon moved back to the San Diego area, where Rob is now Chief Commercial Officer for a local company.

Kara continued to work hard in the media industry back in San Diego, moving up in the managerial ranks to become local sales manager at Clear Channel Communications. But after returning from maternity leave with her first child Reagan, now 15 years old, she found herself doing the work of three people in the aftermath of the company’s consolidation. “I came back to doing a job that me and two men had done previously… As time went on, there was an opportunity that I saw to really start something of our own.”

Realizing that working harder for less money didn’t make any sense, Kara approached her dad—who had been retired for 5+ years—convincing him to come out of retirement to help her start a sports radio station of their own. Throwing themselves into their new business, it grew quickly with the support of investors: within a year they launched a second station, and after five years their small company had transformed into a larger media group encompassing multiple stations. Kara and her dad enjoyed their rapid success—until the economy crashed and their media group faltered, leading them to make the tough choice to walk away from a company they had worked so hard to build.

Kara loved her career, but the turn that it had recently taken and the grueling hours she was putting in weekly really got her thinking. “I reevaluated what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I loved my career and the people that I worked with, but it wasn’t enough. Our family had grown to a point where I was spread very thin—being a mom with growing kids, I wanted to be there for them more consistently.”

With the solid reputation she had built in the media and sports industry, Kara had numerous opportunities to remain in the profession but, “it’s just not what I wanted,” she said. Although she was grateful to have family in town to help with their two boys, at the end of the day, she realized that she was paying a lot of different people to raise them in her absence. Work-life balance had been non-existent, and she realized that such a lifestyle “just wasn’t going to cut it anymore.”

Knowing that being her own boss was the only viable option to achieve the flexibility she sought, Kara looked into different opportunities in sports before a close family friend introduced her to Six Figure Profession. After meeting with one of the Six Figure Profession partners, Kara said, “I really trusted her and saw that this was an upstanding business that would really allow me to bring in a great income. I saw the kind of lifestyle this company partner was living and how she really designed her life around her kids’ schedule, and I knew that it was what I was looking for.”

Taking Back Control

Kara’s transition to Six Figure Profession was gradual—she designed it that way. “I wasn’t entirely ready to go back to work, and I really wanted to have a summer with the kids before diving in completely.” Kara took her time getting into the swing of things, working on Six Figure Profession for two months before taking a three-week break. After enjoying some much-needed quality time with Rob and their two boys, she jumped headfirst into building her business with Six Figure Profession. “That’s the beauty of running your own business. You’re responsible for the hours you work and you just have to make sure that your goals are aligned with the income,” Kara explained.

Within a year, Kara was bringing in a six-figure income that replaced what she made in media sales—and then some. “There are people on our team who have gotten to six figures faster, but a more gradual process was really what worked best for me.”

Living Life on Her Own Terms

Now, Kara has achieved the work-life balance she always wanted. Both Reagan and her second son Keenan, now 13, are avid athletes—between the two, they play football, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. “They keep me really busy,” said Kara, who is usually on a field or in the bleachers cheering them on. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I used to miss a lot, so I cherish this time with them.”

Being more present at home helped Kara notice that Keenan was struggling with some previously undiagnosed learning disabilities, despite maintaining good grades. A lack of calm around the house due to Kara and Rob’s fraught corporate careers had only exacerbated their son’s anxiety regarding his studies. “I think it probably could have gone undiagnosed for a long time had I not been home to really witness what was going on,” Kara shared. With the flexibility of her new career, she and Rob have been able to take the steps needed to help Keenan thrive. “I think it’s really changed everything for him. That’s again something you can’t put a price on.”

Thanks to her more accomodating schedule, Kara has also managed to find time for herself, admitting that she can often be found by the beach, taking a walk or going for a run. And when her husband Rob travels for work during the summer, the family is able to travel with him. “We balance work time with family time.”

Having found complete fulfillment with Six Figure Profession for the past 5 and a half years, Kara doesn’t miss the media industry one bit. “I love that it was part of my life. I was very passionate about it, but there’s a time and place for everything.” One of her favorite things about her new career is that she gets to make a difference in people’s lives—something that she didn’t really experience working in radio. “It’s very fulfilling,” she confessed.

Kara’s Advice for Other Corporate Women

Kara shared that she wants other women to know that it’s possible to achieve that peace of mind we all seem to be searching for: “My quality of life now is just a lot more peaceful than things used to be. This sense of calm, I think, has made me a better mom, a better wife, probably just a better person all around.”

Kara strongly encourages other corporate women to strive for achieving work-life balance—otherwise they’ll miss out on what really matters in life. “I’ve learned just how fast time goes by; it blows my mind that our oldest, Reagan, will be off to college in three years.”

“That’s what’s so great about Six Figure Profession: I don’t have to sacrifice missing this time with him.”

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