Well, welcome back to the Rhonda Swan Show, season 10. This is episode two, so you are right in the beginning. Make sure you stick around for all of the episodes, because we not only bring magic, but we talk about things that no one else likes to talk about. It's that entrepreneur's journey, the way that someone goes through to get to where they are. That's what we uncover here. And on episode two, I have an unbelievable guest. This woman is a complete rock star. In fact, she's like one of those that comes in a very small package, but she packs a very big punch, because she's not only the co-founder and the CEO of a company called Cat Tongue Grips, that's right, that's a lot in the mouth. However, it's a lot to do with helping people and serving humanity. How can a cat tongue grip do that well. Let's talk to Missy Kelly and find out exactly what she's doing, and how this company is now taking over the world. Missy Kelly, welcome to show. Thank you for letting me have that fun that I like to have in every introduction. All right, lovely. So, let's talk about this. Like, what? First off, what is cat tongue grip tape, and how did it start? Because it's so cool, and it's been, and it's everywhere right now.

Well, it started way back when, when my husband walked into a Verizon store to upgrade his phone, and he just noticed how slippery the back of the phone is, and he made a comment to me because he had put skateboard grip tape on the back of his phone, so I touched it, and I said, "Hey, this feels like a cat tongue, and it's gonna scratch everything in a house, like you can't have this." So he challenged me, the shopper of the family, to find something like it. Couldn't, so we decided to make it.

What,

So we sourced a manufacturer, and it took about 18 months and nine prototypes to get the material.

Okay, yeah.

And the material here, it had to feel good in the hands.

It's really slippery, it's like rubbery, plasticky,

Right? So it had to feel good in the hands, it had to be grippy, not sticky, and it actually had to do the job too, right? And it, it's recyclable. We wanted to create a sustainable product for the environment, so we launched our first product, which was a phone grip in November of 2017.

So, like, when you're putting it on the back,

So it doesn't slide around on your dash, on your hand, on your work space, wherever, but then customers started calling in, writing in, saying, "Hey, can I cut this, and can I put it on slippery tools, can I use it under furniture?" One woman asked if she could use it on her son's hearing aids if it would do the trick, and so that's when we realized that the value was actually in the material. So, why don't we put it on a roll so that the customer can do anything they want with the product?

Okay, I'm talking about the product, and I want to get into you with, like, this is not abrasive, antimicrobial, durable, waterproof, unprotected, and then, like, your whole, all this, everything in the back is like literally lists the amount of things that it can be on. Yes, and since then, now you've been in business for how long? You said this will be your eighth year.

So, what started as a phone grip is really interesting, because in 2019 when we just launched Gription, the roll, I met an incredible human named Chris Waddell. He's a Paralympian. He summited Mount Kilimanjaro in a hand cycle, and I met him at an event, and he said that stuff falls off his lap all day, every day. He could really use your product, right? So I gave him our phone grip, our laptop grip, and then the Gription roll, and I checked back in with him and he said, "Missy, you and Matt have created a product that truly is a life hack for people in my community, because for him he could actually put his phone on his dash and it wasn't going to go anywhere, because when it slides between the seats for him that's problematic,"

Right,

Or he was using the product on his wheelchair foot plates. For the first time, he was using the sandpaper stuff, and it would tear up his socks, so he never wore socks. And for the first time in 30 years, he could be at home in his socks and not worry about his foot falling off, or again would be,

But you, Matt, you don't think about this unless you are putting it in a position where it's actually effective. Since then, now you've been in, you're in hospitals, you're in, yeah,

Using it in the medical, we're selling into the US Navy, we're using the product at consumers, and a big one for us right now is the aging in place. So, for people like our age, my parents are 86 and 84 and they live independently, but what is the thing that we worry about most? A fall, slipping, right, falling and slipping. So, our product can be used in the shower, bathtub, shower grab rails, can be used. My mom has terrible arthritis. She uses it on all of her knives under cutting boards, so there's such a variety of ways that the product can really help people stay in their homes longer, and most importantly, feel independent.

Okay, this is magical. I mean, I not only love the product idea, but what I want to tap into is your journey, like, right? You're a woman CEO, you're partners with your husband, you know,

No business background,

No business background, no kidding.

Yeah,

So all right. So, tell us a bit about what were some of the biggest struggles that you've had growing, and how did you overcome them?

Yeah, so not, sometimes I feel that not having a set plan was the best plan, because for us and for me as a leader in the company, it was really listening to the market, so what was the customer desiring? Where the door of opportunity would open, and it's stepping through it, not knowing what's on the other side. In some ways, not I, our CFO say, you know, "Give me numbers on this," wanting to quantify, and I just felt it in my intuition that this is what needed to be done. So, I'd say that for me, growth, not only as a leader, but as a person, and really working on my mindset, because I did struggle with that perfectionism, imposter syndrome, you know, working in industries that are traditionally male dominated, and being the only woman with, you know, as I'd say at a trade show, sometimes Navy, US Navy is one of them, it's me, and you know, 25,000 men do, and maybe like 4,000 you know, women too, but you feel that, yeah,

For sure. I mean, you know, obviously I'm also a woman CEO, right? You know, want to run a large company, and do you often or ever feel like you've got to be perfect, or you have to have all the answers, and feel like you can't actually make a mistake?

I used to. Yeah, I used to. I'm pretty control-oriented. I'm a Virgo, and for me that was something I had to learn early on to know that I, even though I thought that my way was the highway, that was not the way we are going to grow our company, and it was really depending on the team, listening to the team, being empathetic, understanding that it's not necessarily my way, because there are a lot of amazing ways to do it that maybe I had never thought of.

Yeah, I can feel that. And when you don't have a lot of business background, right, were there others that were even smarter than you? They were like, oh

Yeah, my, I, I'm an intelligent person that I know, I'm not the smartest person in the room, especially when it comes to business. So, on the number side, especially diving in and putting people around me that and trusting in them and trusting in my intuition in hiring them and depending on them, it's been an incredible,

So you talk about intuition a lot, right, that's been coming up, I've heard you say it through,

Yes,

How does intuition play a role in not just like, "Okay, feel this, we should do this," but like, you know, many would say, "Oh, that's so airy fairy," right? All these women that are in CEO roles, they talk about intuition, they talk about empathy, but let's really talk about it, like, what role does it play, and how important is it, and what maybe gaps might be missing if some of these,

I think it's, you know, intuition ties in to me, or for me, with vision. So I had a vision very early on with this company to help millions of people improve their day-to-day living around the world, and that vision is grand. However, it's something that got me up, keeps getting me up every day. It's something that fires up my team, and to have that vision for where we're going to go, and that's the end vision. And there's going to be curveballs and good days, challenging days, so many things going on around us, pulling us in different directions, and that intuition to listen to my gut when something doesn't feel right. And then maybe I need to explore that further,

Or maybe your mind is saying, "No, this isn't good," and you're like, "There's something about,

Yes, it's that knowingness, it's really that knowingness and faith that I can see this through, and this product is a really good example of that. We launched this last year. It's a glow in the dark product, and that's what something that the customer was really desiring, especially when we work with safety with large corporations that use our products in their facilities to enhance safety for the employees, and it seemed like it would be a really easy thing to just add some photoluminescence. Let's create a glow in the dark product, but be told about three times along this journey it wasn't going to happen, but I knew it was going to happen, and I trusted that our manufacturer was going to figure it out, and he did, and this product is amazing, because you think of elderly people again,

Right,

In their homes, you can put this on light switches, you can put it on a tricky step, you can put it on items that they need to grab in the middle of the night,

My steps,

It's pretty, it actually glows for six to eight hours, and it's a bright, brilliant green, but that is an example of having a vision for where the product's going to go, and being told over and over, "No, it's not going to happen," but I knew, I knew it was, it was waiting to be birthed.

Yeah, I mean, and that's also more product development, that's more investing, right? So you got all your finance, all these usually it's the men going, "No, we can't do that, we can't do that, that's going to take us too much" all the time. True, but I mean, how do you decide which is intuition and which is ego?

Well, and I do feel that in this case, because we are—this product came out fairly recently, about a year ago. I had some backstory to help me in deciding, and maybe challenging those that said it couldn't happen, or that the expense of it wasn't gonna play out in the end, but I had made good decisions up until then.

Well, that's good. I mean, so let's go a little bit deeper now, because now that you've been eight years in business, you're co-founder of a company, you're CEO, you're a woman in a male-dominated industry, but you're now taking the work what you've learned, and you are looking to support other women in business, other CEOs in business. Share about what Born for Impact really is going to be about, and what are the type of people that you're looking for.

Well, I truly feel that each and every one of us is born for impact, no matter how great or how small. When you go about your day-to-day life, you are impacting people, whether you know it or not. The hello you say to the person checking out your groceries, the person that walks in front of you to hurry into the building, where you want to give them an elbow for cutting you off, but realizing and being empathetic to what they have to get somewhere past. I feel that for me, using my story and my platform that you can live life at any age amazingly abundantly, it's never too late to start your next chapter, that for me is really important because I feel that health, wealth, relationship, business, they're all so intricately entwined and mindset is everything. People ask me how I've been able to grow our company, you know, raise kids, be on boards, do the things that I do, and it's really

Like you're moving around a lot.

It's my mindset, it's my mindset of that vision, that desire to make it happen, that burning desire to wake up every day and want to make a difference, and it's the knowingness that it's done, it's going to happen, but it's taking that inspired action every day, and doesn't have to be big movements, it's those little things, those mini feats in your day that gets you closer to your journey,

Yeah. You know, and what do you think? Like, someone's like, "Okay, I get that, I do every day, but man, I'm tired. I've had so much to do." Like, what are some of the tools and techniques that you teach along with your coaching program that you do for this? Because I think that, you know, we can say, "Just get up every day and do the thing." You know, I would say you had energy to do the thing, just do the thing. However, sometimes I'm like, you know,

It's the will, and that's a piece of it, is that discipline, that's I think what I mean. Of course, there's those days I just want to lay in bed, it's snowing outside, watch Netflix, curl up with my dogs, right? And that's okay. That's having that self-care, that compassion, because I truly do feel that we have to put ourselves first.

Yeah,

And some would say that's selfish. No, self comes first.

Yeah,

And it's okay to be selfish, because that's how you're going to have the energy to serve everyone else around you.

In most women, it's hard for women,

So hard,

It is. I mean,

Right? We give it all, we give it all to our families, our partners, our children, our communities, our pets, and if we don't have any energy left at the end of the day for ourselves, then you're just going to burn out, you're going to be tapped out, you're not going to have that self-compassion, you're going to have those feelings that "I'm not doing enough." So I feel that if you can put yourself first and truly make the time for the care, make the time to be in nature, if that's what makes you happy, make the time to do nothing, read a good book, watch your television show, whatever.

Even the morning rituals, right? Morning,

So important. I feel that that's a major way to be able to set the boundaries for those around you, that this time I'm going to give to myself, setting time to get still, close your eyes, and some people say to me, "How long do you meditate for?" Well, it doesn't matter, if it's 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, as long as you're giving yourself that time to just get centered before your day starts.

Yeah, my morning ritual is so vitally important to me, and it doesn't even matter, like I'm always on the road, I got my slippers on, doesn't matter what time it is, I come down and I do my prayers and meditation, I have my fire on, talk to Grandpa Fire with American Indian roots, I sit there and I just do my thing, and even if it's five minutes, you know, it's just like that morning of space to give some, because my mind would rather be on the phone. I'm doing all the things I'm doing, and I think that just reminding people, giving them the permission that women like you, women like me are doing this type of work for themselves to help themselves get better and greater.

My family knows my morning ritual is non-negotiable, and even my dogs—I have three: a giant dog, a medium dog, and a little tiny dog, and it's hilarious. I get up, I feed them first, we go into the room, they know it's meditation time. And my family does too. My husband is really good about giving me that time, because he knows how important it is in my day.

I love it. It's so inspiring. So, what turns you on every day? Like, what does get you through those moments you're like, "I don't feel like doing this anymore"? What is it? Is there like something that you think about, or that you've done, or

It's that desire, it's that mission I have to truly help people with our product. Our product is something that can truly impact day-to-day living, whether like we mentioned, you're a person with a disability, whether you're a child with autism, whether you're just in the kitchen and you're tired of using a wet towel under your cutting board on the back of your devices, there's just so many ways that our product can help people in minute ways to improve their day-to-day lives, and I want to have it accessible to everyone, yeah.

What is the big wish list like? Where do you want to be? Let's say, even in, I never say five years, because five years seems like forever. Like, what you're like, "I want our Cat Tongue Grips to be in this"?

Well, household name, right? So you speak about the biggest, best-kept secret,

Yeah, yeah,

That's your phrase, right? And right now we still are a best-kept secret, even though we are a seven-figure company, and we are global people. When they learn about our product, they touch it, every single person knows someone that could benefit from it.

Yeah, well, this is exciting, because everyone on this show knows someone too. If you know someone that can utilize something like this, where do they find it? Or, like, where's the best?

Oh, Amazon, of course, but we're in True Value, Lowe's, Home Depot, all those stores.

Ask it by name, Cat Tongue Grip Gription Tape. I'll be your advertiser. I really just love it, Missy, and I love the work that you do, and how dedicated and passionate you are. Because when I said in the opener that you're like a small package that packs a very big punch, because I mean, you just go for it, and every one of us, women and men alike, need to see and be inspired by those who are just going for it. Like, do it messy, do it when you don't want to do it, do it scared, do it scared,

Do it scared, right? Even doing this, right? But it's just doing it scared. We all have fear,

Yeah.

It's impossible to eliminate fear,

Yeah.

And, but it's just, you got to do it scared, right?

Yeah, I love that. Okay, so we know where to find Cat Tongue Grip tape. How do we learn more about Born for Impact?

missykelly.com

Okay,

Yes,

missykelly.com. And you do live classes and whatnot, so everyone can join that.

I have a mastermind, I speak, I coach executives. Yeah, it's a super exciting... I wouldn't say it's a next chapter, it's a continuing chapter.

Yeah, I feel that. Yeah, it's like the extended play version,

Exactly.

But you're also an author in the upcoming Women Gone Wild book series, Leadership.

I am, and I believe leadership starts with me. Yes, the name of my chapter, and I feel that leading ourselves first, and we mentioned some of those things to do with self-care, with empathy, compassion for ourselves, going for it, doing it scared, all of that. Yeah, you can live your best life.

Yeah, start. I'm so inspired, because obviously we're telling these stories so that we can inspire more women. I do have a big vision too, to have 80,000 women in a coliseum. All wanting their wild stories. Hell yeah, we're all gonna do it. We're gonna be wearing our heels, dancing, putting down tongue grip tapes so we don't slip,

Exactly, Beyoncé,

Calling it out, Beyoncé. Who do you love? Adele, like I want to have a concert with women celebrating each other, you know? If Tony Robbins can do it, why can't we?

Why can't we,

Right? Yeah, so we're calling it all in.

I love it,

Missy. Thank you. Thank you for the work that you're doing, for not only putting yourself out there to support other CEOs. You don't have to do that. You're a busy lady, and I love when I see women that are creating big businesses, and you could just focus on Cat Tongue, but you're like, "You know what, everyone's born for impact, I'm gonna help them and move them through to get to the level you are." So inspiring, everyone deserves to not only be part of Born for Impact, to learn more about missykelly.com. Also, if you have someone that is in need, or you know an industry that could use this, and you've got the contact, contact missykelly.com, Cat Tongue Grips, make sure that they know, because this is what I love to do. The more we've got a message, the bigger the messages are, the bigger the platforms, your one ear. This is one big platform. I got a million ears. I want you all to listen. You got a mouth, share it, share it, tell more people about it, so that we can help change the world and leave an impact. Well, everyone, thanks for being here for episode two. Look forward to seeing you next time. Don't forget to be unstoppable and stay wild.