E107: The Power of Belief in Entrepreneurship

In this episode of the Kitchen Table Dreams podcast, Chef Kimberly Houston discusses the essential role of belief in achieving success as an entrepreneur. 

She emphasizes that belief is the foundation upon which all strategies and actions are built. The conversation explores common blocks to belief, such as imposter syndrome and comparing oneself to others, and provides a recipe for cultivating belief through vision, identity shifts, and daily affirmations. 

Kimberly encourages listeners to implement a belief practice that aligns with their goals and aspirations, reinforcing the idea that belief is a choice that can lead to transformative habits.

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Foundation of Belief
• 12:12 Common Blocks to Belief
• 12:41 The Recipe for Belief
• 19:38 Building Your Belief Practice

Transcript

Kimberly Houston (00:01.426)
Before the to-do list, before the strategy deck, before you post a single reel, before you do any of those things, you must have belief because if you don't believe it, you won't build it. Welcome back to the Kitchen Table Dreams podcast. I am your host, Chef Kimberly Houston, and I am so grateful that you guys have decided to tune in today. Listen up. We are

in the midst of a new series called Recipe For. On our first episode, we talked about the recipe for consistency. And now today we are going to talk about the recipe for belief. But before we jump fully into that, if you have not listened to the recipe for consistency, please go back and listen to that one. But just to give you kind of the cliff notes version of it, the three things you could take away from that episode is that

The three ingredients for the recipe for consistency are clear boundaries, batch planning, and aligned offers. Those three things will help you be able to show up consistently and authentically as an entrepreneur. But before you're able to do that, you have to believe in yourself and whatever it is that you are releasing out into the world, right?

So today we are going to be unpacking the real secret sauce behind your success, which is belief. And I'm going to give you the recipe to build it. Even on days you don't feel like it. In the last episode, I talked to you about this mantra that I've given myself in the last couple of weeks is that follow the plan, not your feelings. I don't always feel like getting up to do something. I don't always feel motivated to do something.

but I know that in order for me to reach a particular level of success, then I need to show up consistently. I need to show up in a very different way in this season than I have previously. And so because of that, I am making all of those concessions in order to do so and kind of sharing that journey as we move forward, right? And so as we talk about your belief, as we look into the recipe,

Kimberly Houston (02:20.206)
For belief, I want to tell you number one, why belief is the missing ingredient. As a coach, as a mindset coach, as a business strategist, as a coach for creatives and culinary entrepreneurs, I can tell you one of the number one things that stops people in their tracks is imposter syndrome. Now, whether or not some people actually have imposter syndrome or they have failure to launch syndrome,

Google them both and you can figure out where you fall, but they are not the same thing. Imposter syndrome is that you are overqualified for the thing and you still don't feel like you can own that space. That's imposter syndrome. If you have issues releasing things into the world, that's not imposter syndrome. Particularly if you do not have the qualifications to be doing it.

Right? This would be like the difference between a very academically accomplished therapist feeling like they can't show up in the way that they need to talking about the things that they have studied, the things they have researched, the things that they are literally a subject matter expert on. They feel like they can't do that. That's imposter syndrome.

But if you are just some average Joe on the street that's never been to school and you know nothing about how the human brain works, you know nothing about psychology, and then you complain that you can't launch a new membership that's gonna help people work on the executive functioning, that's not imposter syndrome. That's failure to launch, okay? Google it, two different things. All right, so imposter syndrome is one of the common blocks.

Another common block is comparing your beginning to someone else's middle. If you compare where you are at the start to somebody else who has been doing this thing for years, you will be let down. You will be let down. There are people who, one of the things that I learned when I was in school,

Kimberly Houston (04:37.654)
When it comes to coaching, we did some personality tests and my professor told me upfront, he was like, you're going to attract people who want to be you. You're going to attract the people who want to work with you because they're going to look at your success. They're going to look at the things that you put out and they're going to want to be able to do that. Let me explain something to you right now. One of the number one things that people say to me all the time as we move into coaching sessions is how do you do it?

How do you get it all done? Can I be real with you all for a second? I have had to learn so much as an entrepreneur, as a trauma response. We gonna keep it a book, all right? Yes, I am very talented. I am very skilled. A lot of times I am very disappointed.

Um, but I had to become this version of myself as a trauma response because I was unable to count on other people to help me in the past. And so, yes, I am a published author. Yes, I am currently working on a new book where I've only outsourced maybe 20 % of the book.

80 % of that book is all me. I shot my own photos. I created the recipes that were in it. I developed the recipes. I set up the schedule for my test kitchen families to test the recipes and give me their feedback. I went back and adjusted recipes based on that. I've had to learn how to do the job of multiple people because previously I was

unable to count on other people to show up for me in the way that I would show up for other people. And so when you look at all of the things that I have produced,

Kimberly Houston (06:52.618)
It's not just that I'm really good at it. It's that I've had to learn some skills that I typically or that the average person would not have simply based on the fact that I needed to get the things done. All right. So if you were looking at yourself and your journey and you're like, well, I want to have cookbooks and I want to have published work and I want to have multiple websites and I want to have blogs that make me money and

I want to have 13 streams of income, yada, yada, yada. You cannot look at your beginning in my middle and think that that's going to happen for you overnight. It took me years to get to this point. It took years and a lot of coaching, a lot of training, a lot of learning to be able to produce on the level that I produce without a team.

Do not compare your beginning to someone else's middle because you don't know what it took to get there. Then another common block is you have a belief in the idea, but you don't believe in yourself. I can't tell you the number of times this has happened to me. I am an ideation machine. It is one of my superpowers. That's why I'm a coach.

can come up with an idea so quickly, so easily, so fast. I am an idea generator.

But there are times where I have thought, man, this is a really good idea and didn't believe in myself. Case in point, case in point, I'm gonna go ahead and call this out. The Teach Me How to Bake book that I am working on right now is not new. The idea for that book happened in 2019.

Kimberly Houston (08:53.934)
The first book that I released in 2021, Cute, right? Based on who I was at that time in my life, based on the access to things that I had at that time in my life, I released the first book. I've grown. I've gone through a lot of things. I've learned new things. I've got new people around me. I believe in myself. I understand that I am a subject matter expert in baking education.

I understand that I am an expert in baking education for young people. I understand that that is a skill that a whole lot of people don't have. And because I understand this now, I now have a belief in myself that I don't know too many other people walking around on the face of the earth that can do it better than me.

But I did not have that belief in 2019 when I first had the thought to write Teach Me How to Bake, right? So it took me time to go from having a belief in the idea to having a belief in myself to be able to pull it off. And so if I had believed in myself in 2019, my life would probably look really, really differently right now because I would have taken 2020 in a very different direction than I did.

So those three things are common blocks for people when it comes to looking at beliefs and how this is a missing ingredient in our success. So let's review those one more time. Common blocks, number one, imposter syndrome or failure to launch. Number two, comparing your beginning to somebody else's middle. And then number three, having a belief in the idea but not in yourself.

I guess the simplest way I can put this is you can have the best strategy in the world, but if you don't believe in the person executing it, i.e. you don't believe in yourself, it's going to fall flat and it's not going to work. All right, so let's move on into what the actual recipe for belief would look like. right? So number one, the first ingredient in your recipe for belief is understanding your vision.

Kimberly Houston (11:15.31)
What would you build if you believed nothing could stop you? Every month I have it set on my calendar and it's been this way probably since 2018, believe. Monthly, I take time to dream big. If you're a reader, this idea came from the book, Love What You Do by Dana Spagnola, who is the founder of the clothing store Fabrique. Inside of her book,

I met her back in 2018 at a conference and inside of her book, she said that she takes time to dream big every month. Right? So that is something that I adopted is something that I tell people who coach with me all the time. I tell them that they like, have to start with the vision. Where are we going? I can't coach you to your next level if you don't know what that next level is. And the only way for you to know what that next level is, is for you to actually ask yourself the question.

What would you build if you believed that nothing could stop you? That's where we start with our vision. That is the first ingredient in this recipe for belief, what's the vision? Number two, identity shift. Who do you need to become to reach your next level? Once you identify who you need to become, be that person now. You can't wait till you get there to start making those decisions.

Back in December of 2024, I took my son to get their first tattoo. And the agreement was while my child got a tattoo, I would also get a tattoo. Okay. And so the tattoo that I got is on my shoulder and it says it's already yours. The reason

I went with it's already yours is because it is a constant reminder for me to be her now. Whoever that future version of me is, I have to do things for her today, right? If you have this desire yearning feeling that a future version of you is doing something, Like teach me how to bake has had me arrested in development.

Kimberly Houston (13:36.118)
honestly since 2019, right? And can't let it go. I cannot let this go. The reason I can't let it go is because there is a future version of me that is the CEO of Teach Me How To Bake. There's a future version of me who already has the business. And so in order for her to actually come to fruition, there are things that I have to do today to get us there.

Right? So what are the identity shifts that you need to be making in order for you to reach that next level? When I'm explaining that to other people, when I'm having these conversations with clients or with my kids, we talk about being in the timeline of your highest good. The timeline of your highest good simply means there is another version of you living the life you want to live.

And if that version of you already has it, what are the things you need to be doing right now to get you there? So everything that we're doing, it is aligned with the timeline of our highest good. And then number three, the third ingredient for the actual recipe of belief is daily affirmations. This is not super woo woo. This is not fake. This is not you having a ton of sticky notes all over your house.

This is literally you speaking things into existence. Speak the outcome into reality until your nervous system catches up. I was scrolling on social media recently and a lady does something with neurology and she said, I am is a declaration. I am is an order.

Whenever you say, am whatever follows it, that's what your brain thinks is real. So instead of saying, I am tired, I am exhausted, I am frustrated, am fed up. I am working to become a better version of myself. I am striving to be a better mother. I am an incredible entrepreneur. I am a creative and

Kimberly Houston (15:51.614)
I am rich. I am a creative and I am working on building better systems to grow my business. Whatever the I am is, that is a belief. Watch what you're saying because every time you say I am, you should be thinking I am affirming myself to that next level. Let's talk about your prep time when it comes to this recipe. There are breakthrough moments that do not require breakthroughs. I'm going say that one more time.

There are breakthrough moments that do not require a breakthrough. They require repetition. Sometimes you need to do something over and over and over again in order for it to become a habit, in order for it to become regular, in order for it to become a part of who you are.

Kimberly Houston (16:46.114)
Secondly, ask yourself two questions. Number one, where am I outsourcing my belief? Are you giving somebody else control of your beliefs? Stick with me. What does this look like? Are you running a business or building a business based on the belief of somebody else? Do you actually love what you do? Are you actually nice to yourself as a boss? Are you into entrepreneurship?

Because you should be? Are you running the business you want to run? Or are you running a business that somebody else said you should be?

Are you doing what you were called to do or are you doing what you think you should be doing? Ask yourself the question, where am I outsourcing my belief? Is this internal? Do you believe that this thing that you are doing is what you're supposed to be doing or are you doing it for somebody else? The second question is, do I believe I'm worthy of what I want or am I just hoping to be lucky? I think you can craft your own look.

I think you can take that by the reins and you can create your own look. I think that if the belief in yourself is strong enough, you don't have to just wait for luck to happen. think you can wish it. I think you can believe in it. I think you can make it happen. But the only way to make that happen is that you have to believe you are worthy of what you

Now, for those of you who have a little bit trouble with that, you might feel a little resistance to that. I would like to offer you a reframe and if that's okay, continue listening. Here's the reframe, belief is a choice before it becomes a habit.

Kimberly Houston (18:29.89)
Belief is a choice before it becomes a habit. And if you need to dig into that a little bit more, I would encourage you to go back and listen to the last podcast episode where we talked about the recipe for consistency. Because that is going to help you with building some habits in your life that will help you bring forth things you really want to happen. Now.

As we continue on in this recipe, let's talk about your serving suggestions. Last week we talked about the 3-2-1 rule. This week I want to talk to you about a five-minute belief practice.

This is something you could do in the morning, in the afternoons, you can do it when you don't feel quite yourself. It doesn't really matter. Just incorporate it whenever you want to, but incorporate it into something that you do daily.

I want you to think about one empowering I am affirmation. I want you to think about one thing you're really proud of. It could be that day, it could be that week, it could be something you're really proud of in this season of your life. And then one thing you're choosing to believe today, even if it feels far off. So that could look like I'm choosing to believe that a future version of me is no longer struggling. I'm choosing to believe that a future version of me

loves themselves unconditionally. I'm choosing to believe that a future version of me is in a relationship that is healthy, that is nourishing, and that it is something that I enjoy being a part of. Whatever that thing is for you, give that to yourself. I am building a business that supports my life and not one that drains it. Whatever the affirmation needs to be for yourself, I would ask that you begin this practice and start your day with it.

Kimberly Houston (20:20.98)
End your day with it. If you need to journal it, write it down. If you're a Notes app person, put it in your Notes app, but put it somewhere that you can pull back on it. Also, if you're an auditory learner, record yourself saying it in the morning and listen to it throughout the day. Now, I want to offer some ways for you to be able to continue this practice even when you begin to doubt yourself, right?

Number one, normalize the wobble. You're not broken, you're growing. You are not, again, in the whole do not measure your beginning against somebody else's middle. The things that I've had to go through over the last five years to get to the point where I can have a podcast where I talk about positive affirmations and I talk about being the positive voice in your head and I talk about refrains and I talk about

you know amygdala hijacks and all these psychology things. The things I had to go through to get here baby I promise you don't want to go through them. Okay I can promise I promise you don't want to. The thing that I need you to remember is you'll get there right in your own way during your own time. You are not broken you are growing and I need you to remember that. If you need to challenge some doubts the way that I love to do that is using my proof

method. Look for patterns of behavior, look for the root cause, and then I want you to think about your outcome, think about your opportunities, and then create future reframes of whatever is holding you back. If you're a journaler, I have a journal prompt for you. What would I do today if I believed this was going to work? Even if you don't like to write things out, again, voice note, record it for yourself.

What would I do today if I believed this was going to work out? I really hope that this series on recipe for various things is going to help you as an entrepreneur. This being our second episode in our recipe for a series being a recipe for belief, I want to wrap this up for you. Okay. So,

Kimberly Houston (22:43.104)
Remember to tap into your vision.

Create identity alignment. Who do you need to become in order to have it? And begin to implement a daily belief practice that is going to help you become that future version of yourself. Even if no one else can see it yet, you do. And that is more than enough.

That is more than enough. If you are a first time listener of this podcast, thank you so much for listening. If you've been rocking with me for a while, but you're not on my newsletter, I would love to invite you to go to kimberlyihuston.com backslash email. It's also down in the show notes and you can join the newsletter there. If you know someone who needs to hear this episode, please go ahead and send it to them.

right now and as always thank you guys so much for listening. you are ready to build a business that matches your belief I would love to invite you to the kitchen table dreams mastermind. You can find out more about that at teachmehowtobake.com backslash mastermind and until next time stay sweet friends.